The Dirty Dash

Today Rick, Darin, and I ran the Dirty Dash.

Ben was supposed to come too, but he had to work.
We missed you Ben!!

My parents were nice enough to watch our kids and take pictures!

THANKS DAD AND MOM!!

Our cheering section:

Matt and Lindsay had their own fun in the mud.

Rick and Darin were so fun to run with.

I felt like I was laughing the whole time.

Except for the part where Rick "helped" me over the dirt mountains,

and then continued to pull me over face first into the mud.  

Ok, that part was fun too!

I love the look on our kids' faces when we tried to kiss them.

My battle wound.

(It looks a lot worse than it actually was).

Dad and mom were EXTRA nice and took us out to lunch afterwards!

Thanks Pa and Ma!!

I fed Andrew while right after the race, and he was covered in dirt too!

Another WONDERFULLY fun and adventurous dirty dash!!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Last night Darin got some free tickets to the Bees game.

We went and had a great time!

The bees won the game 9-0 against Omaha.

The Reception

Wedding Bells

This has been a WONDERFUL week.
We were able to go to the Bountiful temple Tuesday night as Austin received her endowment.
Then we were able to got to the Salt Lake Temple today for Austin and Alex's sealing.

It was a BEAUTIFUL ceremony, and they are a lovely couple.
We are so excited for both of them!

After the temple, my handsome spouse took me to Nielson's for a little frozen custard.

AND A BIG THANK YOU to HEATHER 

for watching our kiddlets!!

BYU Bride

A few weeks ago we went down to Provo and got THESE cute pictures of the kids.

Well, the REAL reason we went down there was to get a few pictures of this cute bride as a surprise for her fiancé, Alex.

Go Cougars!!

Fall Bucket List

I'm a little bit in denial that summer is over.

I guess that the swimming pool closing really means that it is over.

At the beginning of summer we made THIS bucket list.

We kept the chalkboard on display in our kitchen.

Every time we did something, we crossed it off the list.

We did everything on the list except for two.

We decided to make another list for the fall.

What's on your fall bucket list?

Back To School

Going back to school.
Such mixed feelings and emotions for me.

Two years ago I wrote THIS post about how much I missed teaching.
This year, my feelings are completely different.

My feelings are similar to those feelings in college during finals week.
This is my last year with Matthew at home.
My own personal finals week.

Have I prepared Matt enough?
Does he know enough academically?
Will he be nice to the other kids and help everyone feel included?
Or do I need to use this last year for “cramming?”

I am so glad that I get to be home with this sweet boy.
And so glad that I get to teach him for one more year.
I think I might have a meltdown when he goes to kindergarten.

Here’s to the last year of having this boy all to myself!
And here’s to our last year of Pre-School!

And, oh boy, how this girl will miss her big brother next year!!

James Taylor

Friday night Darin and I went to the James Taylor concert.
I REALLY love James Taylor.
Without question in my top 10 favorite artists, probably even my top 5.

The concert was really fun, especially with my fun date.
Thank Heather for taking Andrew, and Becca taking Matt and Linds.

Time for a trip....

Our family has done a few "vacations" at home.  

I'm feeling the need for another "trip."
Any suggestions for where we should go next? 

So far our travels have consisted of:

Hawaii, China, Greece, France, Italy,  Canada, Germany, England, and Alaska

Open to all and any suggestions! 

Giddy Up!

Today we went to Francis Frontier Days.
Darin had to work but I decided to brave it, and I took all three kids up by myself!!
Thankfully Rick and Olivia were there, and helped a bunch!

After the rodeo, they had some fun races for the kids.

They got to race for pigs, chickens, rabbits, and kittens.
If they caught it, the could take it home.
I prayed that Matt wouldn’t catch one.
Thankfully, his only prize was a soda.

I kind of LOVE LOVE LOVE my nephews.
They are all super awesome!
They did great in their races, and they even rode some animals in the rodeo.
Eli won a trophy for staying on the sheep for the longest.

Thanks Rick and Olivia for letting us join in on the town celebration!
We LOVE you guys!

My little Cowgirl!

My big cowboy

I really love this little cowboy too!!

Thanks mom and dad Gunnerson for the cute outfit!!

I saw some pretty awesome mullets up there, 

but I think Andrew might have the mullet award in the bag!!

Look at Luke go!!
(He's in the red shirt).

Lindsay and Liv!  Love those two!