Dare To Hope

I don't enjoy blogging.  Whatever...it is what it is.  But I also feel incredibly guilty that I'm not better at keeping some sort of journal about our family.  Well, tonight I had a brilliant idea.  My family has started sending monthly newsletters out so that we can stay connected with one another and I realized, I'm typing up a monthly update anyway, why not add it to the ol' blog?  

So, in an effort to dust this thing off and get it going again...that's what I'm going to start doing.  Nothing exciting, just a very short monthly recap of our family's events.  Does anyone even read blogs anymore???  If you feel so inclined, drop me a comment so I can see if I still have an audience.  But even if I'm blogging to an empty room (so to speak) I will still post my monthly updates for journaling purposes.  Here's the update for July and August.  

Well, July has been a very busy but super fun month for our family. Every weekend we've either had family staying with us or we've gone out of town. The kids have loved having so many cousins around. We had a blast with Tiff and her kids when they came to visit.  We did lots of swimming, went to the movies and to the children's museum. But my favorite part was probably meeting up with Lowell and Jeff and their families at Peter piper pizza.  We visited mom and dad in Thatcher on Pioneer Day. We enjoyed a parade, barbecue, and much cooler weather. And once again, my kids had a ball with Bryant and Alyssa, as Gary & Heidi were also there. The last two weeks Tanner has been in a summer camp called Sunshine Singers.  As you can probably imagine, he enjoyed hamming it up on stage for the performance. I got some pretty cute videos so hopefully I can share those soon.  The picture is of his 2 teachers and his friend, Monica.  Avie is just hanging out with me most days. She keeps me plenty busy and always loves singing me sweet songs. Her favorite right now is the ABC song. She also loves helping Nate with any projects he's got going. Other than that, we're just keeping busy with regular day to day life. We miss all of you and love you!

Pictures: 

1. Tanner and Monica w/Sunshine Singers teachers Miss Carrie and Miss Lynndsey

2. Tanner and Mom after Sunshine Singers show

3. Siblings! Jeff, Tiff, Corri & Lowell at Peter Piper Pizza

4. Avie helps Nate mow the lawn

5. Alyssa & Avie waiting for Pioneer Day fireworks

Hi all,

Here’s our recap for August.  We got to go visit Nate’s parents in Lakeside and attend the Snowflake Temple with his little sister, Janae, as she prepares to go on her mission to the Philippines.  It was cool to see the new video the church made for the endowment session.  We really enjoyed the cool weather, sitting around the fire with his family and playing games with his siblings.  The following Monday Tanner started preschool.  He has been really enjoying it.  He goes two days a week for 3 hours and one day for 5 hours.  On the long day he gets to take a lunch and eat with his friends, which he loves.  It’s good preparation for him to start full day kindergarten next year.  On his second day of school, I got a call from one of the other moms, to tell me a story about him.  She said, “Maddie told me after school that Spencer was being mean and kept knocking down her blocks but then it was okay because Tanner protected her and kept Spencer away.”  I was happy to hear that because at home, Tanner picks on Avie non-stop.  It’s good to know he isn’t like that at school, too.  J  Nate took the last week of August off and we did a little stay-cation.  Monday-Wednesday we stayed home and did stuff around Glendale.  We had a picnic, ate at a fancy Italian restaurant, toured a chocolate factory and went to an old-style pet store and saw lots of birds, pigs, goats, bunnies, etc.  Thursday-Saturday we stayed at The Westin Keirland Resort in Scottsdale and had a blast hanging out at the water park and participating in the activities there.  They had tons of stuff for families to do, which was great because we didn’t leave the hotel pretty much the whole time.  All in all, it was a great vacation!  

Pictures:

1. Kids worn out after 3 days of water park fun

2. Avie at the pet store

3. Giant chocolate bunny at chocolate factory
4. Tanner's first day of school
5. Avie at resort