Monday, October 20, 2014

September 2014

September 1st- Labor Day, LaborQ

^We had our second annual LaborQ (BBQ) for our neighborhood. It's a great time to mingle with neighbors and our "neighborhood" band, Cold Storage, plays during it. :)
^We are a little more official with a name now and have a page on Facebook. Check out Cold Storage and like us! ;)

Sept 3-
 ^Kai started Preschool (again- year 3). He is super smart and energetic. He was definitely ready. He's a July birthday, so he'll start Kindergarten next year as one of the oldest instead of the youngest. Good fit for him.
^ I got a new calling as an Activity Days leader. I think it will be great. We dehydrated fruit for this activity. Cute girls.

Sept 4-
^We had an RS activity and made fresh salsa there. Ever since then I've been addicted! Fresh garden tomatoes on hand that need to be used up. ..good way to do it!
 ^I go to our neighborhood book club. We read a book called "The Rent Collector" from a Utah author, Cameron Wright. One of the ladies got him to come speak to our group about the book. Interesting to hear details and learn more. Great book! I recommend it!
^Ed took the kids to the Ogden Temple open house the same evening with family. Good man. I'll catch one with them soon. Luckily lots of happenings with temples here. :)

Sept 5-
 ^Ed went with a group of guys in the neighborhood to do some boating/surfing. He had a great time!

Sept 6-
 ^ Ed's work schedule and the summer got busy, so we've decided it's not to late to do some fun hikes and things with the kids. The weather is actually perfect. We took the kids up to Cecret Lake.
^Standing on a big rock overlooking beautiful scenery.
 ^I don't think it will ever get old. Family time doing an activity in nature is golden.
^We got to the lake and sat out on the water on a rock and ate lunch.
 ^The views are amazing!
 ^For the beauty of the earth...
^Madison and the kids got some energy out and got sleepy by the end of the hike. We passed up doing yard work to do this hike on a whim and didn't feel any regret at all.
^In the evening, one of Ed's high school friends (who he hadn't seen since then) had some extra tickets to Thompson Twins and Howard Jones. 80's pop. Not a huge fan, but live entertainment outdoors is pretty great, and I knew a few songs. ;)

Sept 8-
^Sarah is growing up! She's such a helper. I came down one morning surprised to see she had gotten Madison out of bed and got them both breakfast. Sweet! I like it!

Sept 9-
 ^Ed and his cars....
He still takes pics to admire. It is a beauty though! :)
^Madison starting to say prayers. So sweet. :)

Sept 10-
 ^Ed got home from work one day while I was at the pool with the kids. I thought he was going to mow the lawn, but instead he came up to the pool and swam with the kids. We were all thrilled. Kids love it because daddy always gets in the pool! ;)

 Sept 13-
^Our sweet friends, the Wades, came in town from North Carolina to bless their sweet baby Ashton among family and friends. They had an intimate gathering on Saturday to bless the babe and we were lucky to be among the group. Always so great to see them. It's amazing that friendships can thrive and remain rich even with distance. Love the Wade family. 
 ^After the blessing I went to our stake activity days activity. Busy day! Cute girls.
 ^In the evening we met with friends, the Hanks and the Merrills for dinner and then another live music show.
^Such a great performer and songwriter.  Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband!
^These guys are pure entertainment!
^Love his music!

 Sept 14-
^Sarah's Chinese teacher, Ms. Xia, lives in our neighborhood and was able to join us for dinner one evening.  Ed's brother Randy and his wife Audrey (from China) joined as well. It was fun to hear Chinese spoken and Sarah thought it was so neat to have her teacher there.

Sept 15-
^Ed and I watched my brother's kids for a couple days. It's about time we return the favor!:)  I'm glad we live close enough to do it now, and the kids do great together.

Sept 17-
^Going from 3 to 6 kids isn't too crazy. Just mealtimes and bed get a little crazy. But color coding dishes for the day helps a lot! :) We mostly hung out at home, but braved the pool one day.

Sept 19-
^Kai is doing T-ball again! He's not extremely interested, but tries to be. :) 
Practicing my smize (ANTM fans) on my way to Bunko one night. Good selfies are hard to come by. Ha!

 Sept 20-
^Neighborhood fundraiser train ride for the kids. 
^Went out with some of our bests one night. Yeates and Ryans. Dinner at Flemmings and then dessert.
^Food on a stick to start the trip and to end it! Good times and laughs. Great evening out! Thanks friends!

Sept 24-28- Harman Family Trip, Lake Powell
^The scenery shots began immediately. Utah is beautiful. Everyone should experience this Lake. Nothing like it.
 ^We left early morning on Wednesday. We met up in Wahweep, got our houseboat rental, loaded up and found a beach and got set up. We beached at the end of a cove. Great spot.

 ^Lots of beach play on little cliff jumping.

 ^Ski boat rides pretty much constantly.
 ^I LOVE just chillin' on the boat. Hot weather and winds to chill. Music. Family. The best!
 ^Boat naps! Great memories of these. Long drives exploring!
 ^Close ups on the boat! We are lucky the ski boat is big enough for almost everyone to come!
^Island Oasis was a nice way to keep cool.
 ^THUMBS UP!!
 ^The kids fished and most everyone caught one. Best entertainment vaca.

 ^House boat chillin'
 ^Houseboat jumping, flips and slide.
^Paddle boarding galore!
 ^Sarah skied and kneeboarded. Kai skied too. Somehow missed a pic.:( Start 'em young!
 ^Adult ski time.
 ^Adult surf time. First time for most of us and everyone got up that tried!
^Edward

^Lots of swimming! Lost my contacts first time down the slide with Madison. Glasses worked until I found my spare of contacts. :) 
Grandma Harman overcame a fear and got in the water for the first time in...??? Yay! We all celebrated with her. 
 ^Slight mishap. Island in the middle of the lake that we came upon abruptly. :( Knee deep, we pushed the boat out with 10 adults while another boat pulled it. Luckily Jeff had another prop and so nicely fixed it all quickly and we were back on the water. :)
 ^Tubing. Even for Madison.
^Silliness/ugliness at game time in the evenings. ;)
 ^Games and sleep time. Hot to sleep!
 ^ More serene shots.

This Lake Powell trip was a huge success! It left all of us wanting more!! So much to do, the kids are easily entertained, less technology, more family! The last time we went with the Harman family was 10 years ago, right after Ed and I were married. 7 new additions to the family since then. We hope the  whole Harman family will come next year! Missed you Chris, Randy and families!

 Sept 30-
^We came hope to my other brother's kids to watch them for a couple days. :) Pretty chill, but fun to have cousins around!

Full, eventful, September. You were good to us.

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