Happy 11th Dal!

Happy 11 years today my sweet oldest son. As always, I can hardly believe another year has flown by. I can't EVEN believe that next year you'll be 12. You're turning into a young man before my eyes and I am equally thrilled for you as I am scared out of my mind!

We've had a rough summer, you and I. I know that you have sensed a lot of the stresses that have been floating around this household. You would retreat into your world of tv and video games and fight me a bit when it came to leaving the house and doing the things that we usually love to do together. I'm sorry if I've caused you worry, or driven you away a little bit. My goal this year is to strengthen our relationship and re-enforce it as you continue to grow up and venture out into the world more and more. You are an incredible and smart kid. You impress me with your ability to relate to others and lift others up. You are a phenomenal oldest brother and I could not run this household without your constant help and assistance.

I love you so much. You changed my life 11 years ago and you continue to do so each day....for the better. I love you Dally.

Mom

McCall

Nate and I just got back from a lovely long weekend up in McCall. Nate had his defense council conference up there again. It's always so relaxing and wonderful to get away for a few days....especially after the insane summer we've been dealing with. We dropped the boys off at my parents house and enjoyed some time together with Anna. I remember a day back when one kid was stressful.....now its a full on vacation! Haha. We were a bit limited with our activities with Anna but mostly because I'm pretty much huge and get exhausted after just a short while. Seriously.....I am the biggest I have ever been in my life...EVER right now. Two babies back to back....not good on the old body.☺ We took a drive around the lake, I took Anna to the fish hatchery, we met up with our dear friends the Perry's and watched their son play football. We ate great food and soaked in the jacuzzi at night.....well, just my feet anyway. It was perfect. And oh so needed!

Lotoja

Nate raced in Lotoja again this year. He was on a team with 4 other guys and they had a huge goal this year....to take first place. Not only did they accomplish this goal. thery finished in 8 hours and 47 minutes. They beat the previous record by 10 minutes! CrAzY!

Unfortunately now that the little Miss is mobile and into EVERYTHING, I opted not to go and watch. I did have boys to take to football too. I'm so happy though that Nate continues to set and achieve the goals that he sets for himself. I'm proud to be his wife. ☺

First day of school!

Yesterday was finally the day! The boys headed back to school once again! They were all up and ready so early. I love the enthusiasm on the first day. Dallin is in 5th grade and has the same teacher and pretty much the same class that he had last year. Parker and Landon both have good teachers and they are so excited about having a few friends that they already know in their classes. I spent the day cleaning the house and running errands. I think I am going to like this.☺ Anna walked around looking for her big brothers but I think she did enjoy her long, uninterrupted nap in the afternoon. Excited for some routine around here! Yay!

Yellowstone 2013

I wasn't sure if we'd make it up to Yellowstone this year. With one week left until school started EE called, reservations were make and we jumped in the car and made it happen! We decided to end the "Summer of SUCK" on a high note. Both she and I are are DONE with this summer. ☺

We only saw a few animals this year....some elk, one bison, squirrels, and a couple of muskrats. We didn't hike a TON this time because my feet are getting tired from hauling this pregnant belly and this 20 pound baby girl around. We did stop at some new places this year which was really fun. We drove some new loops and saw some cool new places. 

 Of course we stopped at Old Faithful. Miss Anna was the pre-show entertainment. Everyone was watching her walk all over the place. Some Asian people were even taking pictures of her. I loved how Anna could care less about Old Faithful erupting. Everyone stopped and whipped their cameras out...Ooooing and Ahhing the entire time. And Anna kept  all of her focus on rocks and dirt. So cute.

 The boys would say their favorite part of the trip was staying at a hotel with a water slide. Oh yes, and they had the whole place to themselves. They swam for 3 hours straight!

 My favorite part of the trip was stopping at Big Springs on the way home. We found the most beautiful hike in the world. Seriously. It was so peaceful and serene. EE and I LOVED it. It was gorgeous.

 I think Anna liked it too!

It was a great last trip to welcome Fall. I know I will miss being with the boys all day long but I know they are ready to head back to school. Even though it has been a hard summer for me, we've still been able to make some special memories. Grateful for the chance we had to head up to one of my favorite places on earth. Grateful for my EE.