August

Aug 1

It's beginning to take shape. It's not just a huge whole in the ground. 

 Aug 4
I don't know if you can really tell in this picture, but I came home from work to find Jesse totally coated in saw dust. I had to take a picture to show him.

 Aug 6- First Day of Tackle Football Practice

I was really hesitant at first to sign Ryker up for padded football, but as it started I found myself really looking forward to watching the growth he would experience. Cheering him on on the sidelines sounded really fun as well.  Ryker loves football so much that it makes me love it too.

As I dropped him off at practice that night I watched him run across the field towards his team. About halfway across the field he turns around to look at me and held his hand high in the air until I saw his hand in the sign language "I love you".

I gushed.

 Aug 7
Starting to see the vision.... My future kitchen vision.

...and the back patio. The corrugated steel that you see here covers Jesse's shop at the back of the garage. There will eventually be a suspended slab of concrete back there to serve as a patio. 

 Aug 8- Boating with my Family

When I found out that Manda and her family would be here for a whole week in August we decided to plan a boating day with the whole family.

I don't feel like I need to say very much about it, I think the pictures speak for themselves. We always enjoy a day at the lake. 

 Aug 9 -First Scrimmage

I think Ryker was a little anxious about this. Probably just because he didn't know what to expect. It ended up being great (minus the fact that they started almost an hour late).

Ryker did have one play that he got the ball and he looked really good running it to get a touch down. I was proud.

Aug 10- Family Photoshoot
Our favorite thing in the world. Yay!

Jesse had worked a 24 hour shift the day before then had gone straight to class at 8am until 4ish. Then came home to get ready for pictures. He was no thrilled to be there.

I love how they turned out though.

One of the girls in my ward who started coming to me for hair is a photographer. Tessa and her husband Johnny have their own photography company. She's the photographer and he's the videographer. By the end of the shoot Johnny showed up and shot a few photos with his camera as well.

My siblings actually went in on a gift for my Mom's birthday and gave her this photo shoot. So since my own little family gets our pictures done every year I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone. I paid a little extra and we met 30 mins before the the main photo shoot to get some pictures of just my family for my wall.

Some of my favorites...

Me, Jessica, Chan and Manda

Tyler, Aaron, Jesse and Tyson

Top Row: Max(almost 6), Ryker(10), Dad, Phoenix(14 months), Mom, Cyrus(7)
Bottom Row: Fynn (almost 3), Mary (1.5) Arie (4) Jacklyyn(almost 3)

 Aug 11- Widflower

This was Amazing.  They have a climb up the back side of Big Mountain that is a beast. So much of challenge that they time only that section and the fastest one up to the top of the mountain wins a new set of wheels. What? WHAT?!?

I wanted it so bad so I pushed hard for it. And I didn't quite make it to first, but for it being my first time I feel like I kicked butt. Not only did I push through the climb I pushed the whole rest of the ride. 70 miles. I was the first 70 miler across the finish line. Even though there wasn't a prize for that I was happy with myself.

My time to the top of the mountain was 35:39 putting me in 6th place overall and 3rd in my age group.

I thank Heavenly Father everyday for this vessle of mine that allows me to do hard things.

 Aug 13
Occasionally I tend Nix for Chan when she goes to work. The boys love having him around. And he's super happy all the time.

 Aug 14- Ben Lomen

Another bucket list for my summer was to hike Ben Lomond. It's 15 miles and 3557 ft of elevation gain.

We started early in the morning so we could beat the heat and not be gone all day long. So as we were coming up on the first over look over Pineview/Eden we could see the sun rising. Plus you could really see all the smoke from the fires in the valley.

There is our destination in the background. She's a beauty.

And this tree was irresistible not to climb.

And the scenery was something to behold. I think that we had just missed all of the flowers. Next year we will have to try and do it earlier time if we want to see flowers.

Right at the summit it had bouldery that we had to scale the side of the mountain.

Being up there you could really see how smoky the whole valley really was. It kind of took away from the view, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

This might be one of my all time favorite photos. I'm no yogy, but I t'll pretend.

Jesse's low back and hamstrings were really tight, so he was stretching. When I found him doing this I laughed because it looks like he's meditating in the mountains.

This is was 15 miles of hiking will do to your feet.

Aug 18-
I have learned that I can't leave Fynn in the kitchen alone, not even to run to the bathroom because you'll come back to this... (He flipped all the pancakes and it was a mess). He takes manners into his own hands quite often. By pushing the piano bench up next to the counter he does whatever wants.

Preseason Game! I was kinda giddy seeing him in that uniform for the first time.

Grandma and Grandpa came out to see him play. Emily happened to be in town as well so she brought Sterling and Evie to play with my boys as well. I thought this picture of grandpa with the 2 littles in his lap was precious.

The preseason game may not have been a win..... it was a little bit embarrassing really. Half of our team is playing for the first time this year, so their first game was a bit a a learning game for them. Thankfully it was a preseason game and it didn't go against them.

Since this was the last Saturday before school started I really wanted to do one last summer activity with my boys. And nothing says summer like a water park and a groupon.

It also worked out that Grandma. Emily, Sterling and Evie could all join us. These 2 littles are so cute together.

I can't even. Look at Fynn's face. Oh my goodness. I think he's trying to wink. Oh he's so funny. And Cy is being silly as always. And I can always count on Ryker to have a big smile on his face for any picture. You can totally see their personalities through this picture.

Then Ryker suggested we "dab". So we are dabbing our way out of summer.

That night it was Cy's turn to say the prayer. In his prayer he says "...and thank you for Mom being the best mom ever..." 

Ryker after the prayer says...

"True fact mom. If there was a competition and they put cameras around our house, and even though you yell at us, you'd definitely win best mom."

Boy, I didn't feel like I deserved that, but that didn't stop my heart from swelling... or my eyes from watering. I love when it's "pay day". 

 Aug 20- First Day of School

Every year I say this and every year it's still true... I am never ready for school to start.

I walked them inside to get them settled in their classrooms. 5th...

...and 2nd grade this year. WHAT!?!
How? When did this happen?

When I got back to my truck I found myself getting choked up. Why does it hurt that they are growing up? I love those boys so much... That's why!

Aug 23- My Superman

Ok we have upgraded to the superman costume (that Cy wore for Halloween several years ago) from undies only. So now it's superman and "excabators".

Superman, "BowDozers" and dirt... What more could a boy ask for?

Also I was loving the fact that he missed the school cut off by 2 days because then I get to keep him home for a whole extra year. I know I'm going to bawl when he starts preschool. I'll miss having my little buddy around. But for now I will soak up all of his cuteness... as much as I can.

Aug 27 Fynn Feeding Nix

Another example of Fynn taking matters into his own hands...

I was supervising Fynn as he was feeding Nix some Oatmeal. I thought everything was ok enough to change the laundry. After a minute I heard Nix kinda fussing and when I got back to the kitchen I found that Fynn had dumped an entire carton of almond milk all over Nix. He was soaked with milk and freezing because it had just come from the fridge. I took a video so that I could show Chan and I forgot to take a photo of it. The whole tray was filled with milk, the seat was dripping and the chair had a waterfall into the puddle around the chair. His hair was wet and he was shivering. It was quite funny.

They both ended up in the bathtub.

July

July 3 Lumber Delivery

Waited 6 weeks for the lumber to come. I remember Jesse shopped around for bids to find out the best price for everything that was needed. He like the bid from Burton Lumber the best, but we weren't in a situation to have it delivered yet and we didn't know it would take 6 weeks to get. So when we waited until we were ready for it we had to wait even longer AND the price went up $5000 in 2 months. Oh what a stab in the gut. If only we would have ordered it when we got the original bid. Then we wouldn't have had to wait 6 extra weeks and pay $5000 more. Hind sight is always 20/20. 

 July 4-
One of the earlier memories I have of Harm is her inviting us to watch the Centerville Parade with her family. Their house is really close to the start of the parade and we could just walk up to the corner and camp-out. Then after the parade we would go over to their house for breakfast.

Well since this year she was gone, her dad, Bill found me at my new salon and invited me to come over to their house. I was really excited that he would think of me.

Jesse worked a 24 hour shift the day before and when he got off at 8am he met us at the parade route. It was a crazy shift. He went on 21 calls in 24 hours. He was exhausted when he met us that morning and he still had a smile on his face. The boys ran to hug him when they saw him.

This was Fynn's reaction when the jets flew over the parade route to begin.

That evening I wanted to try something new. An hour or so before sunset we started a hike. I wanted to get to a peak to watch the fireworks over the whole valley. We went for Twins Peak in Salt Lake City. It was on my bucket list for the summer to hike to a peak and watch fireworks. So I brought my whole family along.

I was dying over Fynn's little cammelbak on his cute little body.

The sun was setting right as we were almost to the top and it was just so pretty.

Little Fynnie got tired after awhile and required a ride. I was giggling so much at the crack that was peaking out of his pants.

It was quite a magical night watching the entire Salt Lake Valley twinkle with fireworks. I think we might have to make this a new 4th of July Tradition.

July 6
This is a very common sight to see Fynn outside in the dirt with all of his dirt toys. This kid played non-stop for hours. I had a built in babysitter.

No shoes or shirt required.

Taking a lunch break in his den. (Gosh he's brown).

 July 9- Framing on it's way

We have a floor people!!!

 July 12-Pentatonix Concert

A few months before this I came across cheap Pentatonix tickets on Groupon.

I took Ryker and Cy with me.

... and Chan because Jesse had to work.

Mike and Heidi watched Fynn for me and since they live pretty close to Usauna Ampitheater.

I loved being able to spend our summer nights like this with my boys and my sissy.

July 16-
Every year that I do Little Red in June I tend to hang up my bike and never ride it through the summer again. I find that when I sign up for rides and races that I force myself to go out and ride. This year I signed up for Wildflower and there was a big climb challenge in that. I talked with some of my biking friends and wanted to learn what I needed to do to get better at riding up hills faster... they all said to just ride on the hills.

I had a couple of friends that invited me to go with them and I sure felt schooled. I feel like a decent rider and I was shown differently that morning.  But that's ok. I needed to be humbled. lol. Also it got me thinking really why I was out there anyway. I talked about it with my friend and we both agreed that it was all about Sharpening the Saw. All the aspects of sharpening your saw are physical, emotional, spiritual and mental. We were commenting how biking was a way to sharpen our saws. Even thought getting up early in the morning is rough, it puts my spirit at ease and I'm ready to conquer the day. I take care of hundreds of clients, 3 boys, a husband, a calling in the YWs.  With all that is required of me I do need to fill my bucket so that I can use it to fill others buckets.

And who can't love that sunrise early in the morning going up Emigration Canyon?

Ryker picked up his football equipment and he was so excited to try it on. He felt like his helmet was really tight at first, but it really was just him needing to get used to it.

Fynnie wanted a turn too.

Then that evening Ryker got to go a Football Camp. Some of the players from UofU Football team were putting it on. I loved watching him be so giddy to go.

At the end of all the drills they had a tug of war

...and a big huddle of manly bondness. The UofU players were really great and encouraging to these young boys.

July  17-20 Girls Camp
 Girls Camp was one of the highlights of my summer. It was one of the best experiences I've had. I was able to tap into my younger self , yet still have the confidence of my older self. I connected with the girls and other leaders by sharing stories, testifying of truths, making friendship bracelets, hiking, drawing henna tattoos, playing "signs", staying up too late talking, listening to the most self growing firesides ever.

Driving the girls to the head of the hiking trail was so much fun. Everyone was laughing and we had such a blast.

The top of the hike was the random broken Buddha statue.

Oh the level of dirty I got was document-able.

And Best of all... we danced so much the last night at the dance party(DJ included).

I will never forget what I experienced there. I came out of camp with more cherished friends.

 July 24- Pioneer Day

Keeping with tradition we rode our bikes down the Rails to Trails trail. This time the Bohm family joined us.

After the trail was over we all shuttled over to the river to float down. I don't have any pictures of this because  I was afraid of getting my phone wet. But had so much fun. Jesse put a lot of effort into picking up rafts on his way home from work. He and his mom planned the whole day. 

 July 28- Iron Lung

I kinda signed up for this at the last minute because I thought it would be a good prep for Wildflower in August. I got Kelly and RaeLynn to sign up for the relay. We found out that the relay was new for this year and apparently we were the only relay team. But we still had fun.