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It seems like we couldn't have crammed anything else into our August! We lived it up before school started at the end of the month. First off, Levi always keeps us on our toes! His nature is active, determined, and full of energy. He loves cars and dinosaurs and likes to line up his toys in a row.
One of the highlights of the month was Averie's first time at Young Women's Girls Camp. This is the only picture I got of her, I don't know how that happened. But as you can see, she had a great time!
We had been looking forward to our new temple for many months and were able to go have a tour as a family. There were tours all throughout the month of August and September until the Cultural Celebration in October. For me, it was a beautiful experience to go through with my children. There was such a wonderful reverence felt by especially the oldest three. It is a beautiful temple and I am so grateful to have a temple closer.
Kempton and I enjoyed planting and growing our first Wyoming garden together. Laramie can be tough for gardening and lets just say there's room for improvement. haha! We think we may get a few brussel sprouts, some tomatoes, and a load of Kale. But we planted MUCH more than that! oops! Kempton was my right hand man, he tended to the garden like it was his baby. Gardening is one of those things that teaches a lot of life's lessons and we learn a lot together. Dad called this tomato the $100 tomato that Kempton and his friend William split in half. haha!
The "refined-palleted" Kempton and I also worked together to make homemade pickles in a jar. They turned out delicious and we were able to mark one of the last few things off of our Summer Bucket List!
Daddy's birthday is in August and since he's hanging on tight to his 30's, we needed to make it special. The kids made him a candy gram, Kempton helped me make his favorite pie (coconut cream), he and I went to lunch, and we spent time just as a family. He doesn't like a big celebration, so this was exactly what he wanted.
Instagram post- "If you know this 39-year-old man at all, then you know that never has there been a bigger stinker on their birthday than him! Doesn't want anyone to spend money on him, doesn't want any attention, and never has anything on his wish list. His only wish this year was that I not spend time cooking for him, that whatever I do doesn't take time or make a mess to clean up. haha Even thought he's a stinker, he's my stinker. And he deserves an "I Love You" and "Am glad you were born" on his birthday. Love you honey, and if you weren't born, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be laughing as much as I do through this crazy life!"
It's crazy how we are now old enough to have Ben be off of his mission and now married! We had such a fun time at Ben and Kimberlee's wedding. We don't see all of Cale's siblings all together very much but this was a great opportunity to be all together and especially support Trisha.
That same day, we were able to witness the sealing of July to her new husband. It was an honor to be there and see her so happy and content. We love Julie. It was also fun to see a few familiar faces from our Michigan days. A sweet weekend filled with love, family, and friends.
Cute and Crazy cousins...in their cute and funky glasses!
At the end of the day, it's just gonna be me and him, the rock and the diamond!
(from Ben's speech at the ring ceremony ha!)
We stayed til the end, dancing, eating, and partying with our family.
After such a fun August, we had to finally settle down and get back into the swing of things. We started a new tradition of a back to school dinner with a Theme.
Happy kids ready for school!
Instagram post: "We have a middle-schooler (eek! Averie 6th) and two in the big kid wing (Kempton 4th, Brenna 3rd). Now it's time for me to get reacquainted with my toddlers...and possibly accomplish something during the day...or maybe even have a clean house...and how bout I actually read to my babies? LOL I'm a little giddy right now thinking of all the possibilities. ;)
Then it was Kinlee's turn a week later. Her first year of "real preschool" with miss Natalie. These poses that she came up with by herself are deceiving. ;) Her body language is telling us that she can't wait to start this big chapter in her life. But inside she is dreading it and has been worried for this day all throughout the summer. Anyone who knows our Kinlee knows that she needs to ease into unfamiliar social situations. There was some persuading to get her there, but she was very brave and said she had a great day!
Being the scenes confession:
I got the preschool start time wrong in my head so we were 30 minutes late. #momfail