September Catch Up

The second half of september seemed to just fly by.  We continued to work on the yard and took a few more trips to the greenhouse.  The rule for the backyard is pretty much all things edible.....cherry shrubs, raspberries, cranberries, saskatoon berries, apples, etc!  WR was my big "helper" each and every time.

 JA is non stop busy riding around the street with his buddies, there seems to always be a ramp or jump involved and almost daily band aids but it doesn't seem to slow him down (freshly bandaged knees)...WR is always hot on his trail ;)

T and I introduced our kids and ultimately every kid on the street to cap guns.  Talk about days of entertainmet (my apologies to every other neighbor that got to listen to the banging lol)

 And inspite of our landscape efforts this guy can ALWAYS be found on the side of the house in the dirt that is still waiting to be covered in rock.

 Who knew this dinner was the perfect makings of "meatball men"?

 One of the big highlights of september was the community event that was held "When Dragons Take Flight".  This was such a fun day of BBQ, bouncy houses, crafts, sword fights, etc and friends.

 The sense of community here is amazing.  I love looking around and feeling like I know and appreciate so many there!  We couldn't ask for a better place to raise our kids (unless of course it was a warmer place)

 My sister celebrated her birthday and I whipped out the horse cake pan I used for AL last yr and made her a beauty of a cake ;)  It was a total rush but I think she appreciated the gesture!

 We have ridden bikes to school most days and T finally got in on the action on one of his days off

 On the 26th my parents packed up and moved to their new house!!!  They had been storing clothes on rolling racks in the basement so my sweet husband decided it was more time efficient to just roll them the two blocks to their new place.  On his second trip he hit all the moms heading to the school to pick up kids and got a lot of laughs!

 Happy new home owner!

 I started a new calling at church that I am so unfamiliar with and is a serious learning curve.  Cub Scout Akeala!  I can't take selfies but had to attempt one of me in my uniform.  As much as I am out of my element I am loving it so far.  Getting to go explore, learn, play with a bunch of great 8-10 yr old boys is fun stuff.

 The other big highlight was taking a trip to the mountains to visit our friends at their getaway.

 My bestie owns part of this great condo with extended family and gets to have it about every 10 weeks and was so sweet to invite us to join in.

 We arrived mid friday afternoon and headed to the park across the street.  So much more fun playing in the mtns!

 My friend spoiled us with a delicious dinner and then we walked over to the Scoop and Moose for some delicious icecream.  I was introduced to the Moose Dropping Sundae and let me tell you it was amazing.

 The kids all got along amazingly well all weekend.  They spent friday evening playing Monopoly.

 Saturday was Chilly!  Like just above freezing cold.  We took the kids for a walk along the river in the morning and then headed to the Candy shop they had eyed up the night before.

 We threw rocks

 I seriously just soaked in all the beauty around us the entire time

 Later in the afternoon we headed out on another adventure to burn off some steam

 It was chilly and the kids covered some good ground but they were troopers

 The men snuck off and headed up to the mountain with bikes and rode around.  T came back looked pretty happy and declared he wishes he could do that every single day.  Success.  Us girls snuck out for dinner to celebrate LF's birthday and the men and kids enjoyed pizza and a popcorn movie night. 

Sunday the weather was gorgeous and warm.  We headed out to hike up to Grassi Lakes.  We took the "difficult" trail and enjoyed burning off WR's energy on this gradual incline.

 By the time we hit this waterfall and amazing view the trail seriously became a lot more difficult with small waterfalls running along the path and steep drop offs and "stairs" made of large boulders.  Thankfully WR was now ready to hop in my pack after his big climb.  The views were unreal.

 I had actually been hit pretty hard by a painful sinus infection in the middle of the night so this trek with my big boy on my back felt like an accomplishment at this point.  So worth it.

 Our destination did not dissapoint.  The beauty was stunning.

 After our hike and some lunch our quick trip came to an end and we headed home.  My parents had moved out the day before we left so when we arrived home we did a bedroom shuffle and JA took over the room they had been in (formerly the toy room) and now all three kids have their own room.

 It has been so nice to have each kid in their own place at bed time.  I'm looking forward to actually decorating their rooms over the winter.

 On the last Monday of September AL started basketball.  So far she is really loving it.  It has been a huge learning process for her but I seriously am blown away with how much she is learning and soaking in.  I love sitting on her bed when she gets home and rattles off all the skills she learned.  I loved basketball growing up and heck I still do.  I love seeing the same fire in her.

 One last September update.  The Terrible Two's have entered our lives with a vengance lol.  This kids can have some sweet tantrums, especially when being buckled in his seat.

 Good thing for the cute moments.