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August 2013

First off, I know I say this every year, but I LOVE THE FALL!  It seriously makes me incredibly happy every single year.  And September always feels like fall to me, schedules get back into place, it's usually not crazy hot anymore, and the sun starts going to bed a little earlier every day.  Happiness and pure joy.

But, this post is about August, so here we are.  August was a busy month.  I started getting ready for my music classes to start, we were dejunking to get ready for a yard sale we just had this past weekend, my cute parents and grandma came to visit, we all got strep, Eric's parents were going to visit the next weekend, and then his grandma took a turn for the worse and we ended up going to Utah to see her, rather than them coming here.  It was so interesting, because weeks before this happened, we had some friends coming in from Massachusetts to Utah, and Eric kept asking if he could go out to see them.  And I kept telling him his parents were coming here that weekend, but if he could make it work, then great, I would support him in it, but I didn't see how that could be.  And then we ended up being there.
 The month in pictures.
 Blackberry picking on a walk by our house one day.  Ellie loves them (and pretty much all food) if you can't tell.

 Jack making his own umbrella with a paper and a stick.  This boy comes up with new ideas and creations every single day.  He's pretty amazing.

 YAY!!  My parents and grandma came into town!  It was SOO fun having them here.  And I'm so glad none of them came down with strep.  We had all just gone through strep before they got here.

 Taking my family to Salmon Lake Park in Vancouver.  Again, it's my new favorite place.

Grandma Dottie as the kids called her.  She is amazing at 84 years old!

 Relaxing at the park.  Later I went with my dad went to the Nike store.  He got some shoes for him, and shoes for Josh.  It was great.

We made our decision to go to Utah in a period of a few hours since they gave Eric's grandma a day to a week to live after they determined her heart was inoperable.  We were frantically trying to get everything done and I wanted Ellie to sleep once we actually started driving, so I didn't put her down for her nap, I just laid her on the ground while we were finishing up our last few things.  And here she was completely asleep three minutes later.  

Ellie and Grandma Jo had a special connection in the hospital.  She started jabbering and wanted to get close to her when we went in her room.  It was really special.

 All of us with grandma Jo.  We had such a great visit.  What a great lady.

 Always finding the fun in things, she put different mustaches on her oxygen mask,  Jack and Avey chose this one for her.

 Love this smile of Jack's.

 Ellie liked eating her oxygen counter.

 What an important and wonderful lady Grandma Jo has been to Eric.

 On the left is a double cheeseburger ($1) on the right is a quarter double pounder ($3.50) Hmm, what is the difference besides $2.50?

 The Stevenson's took the kids to Thanksgiving Point on Friday, since Larry and Heidi had work off anyway since they were planning to come out to Oregon that week.

 This is a fun picture.

 This is how Ellie is around ANY food.  She LOVES to eat pretty much anything but bananas right now.

 Pony rides are so fun too.

 Jack and Avey had like 6 pony rides in a row since there weren't any other kids because school started in Utah that week.

 We also were able to go to a special family reunion in Tooele at my great grandma Droubay's house.  I remember going to this house often when I was little until my great grandma Annie died, and then I don't think I had been back until this mini-reunion.  It was so fun!  I reconnected with some cousins I hadn't seen in awhile, Katie and Emily- sorry no pictures, but I have great family!

 Eric in the hammock at the reunion.

 Mandi invited us over for dinner Thursday night, it was great and I love how our kids play so well together!

Photo: Jake's wedding


I also was able to be in town for my friend Jake's wedding reception- it was great to see him and his cute bride and all of our high school friends- I love weddings!!!

 Sunday dinner with the Barrus fam.  And Anna and Joe.  I didn't get to see Anna at the reception the night before, so she took time out of her busy day to come see me.

 Monday we went to the Children's museum downtown.  Our OMSI membership gets us into 256 other museums across the country for free, we got into the discovery museum, a free movie at the clark planetarium, and thanksgiving point, and there are like 4 other museums I can into for free in Utah too. (We just didn't have time for them.)  My brothers came with me since they were starting school the next day.  They were super helpful and the kids loved it.

 Ellie loved this water area.

 A playstructure area.  You create your own playground.

 Right before the movie started at the planetarium.

 Brendan!  Coming in from Mass.  Watch out BYU- here he comes!

 Zach.  Don't worry he worked at Mass Mutual this summer working full time hours as an IT intern.  And he's 14.

 The Hollands.  These were our lifeline and family out in Mass.  They are such a blessing in our lives.  We miss them so much.  It was great to see them again.

 Amy is the best.  Glad we got some good talks with this one.  And I got a new haircut, which I love.  We never get pictures with Christine Weiss because we're so busy having deep and fun conversations, but she came to visit us and we talked until 1 AM.  What a delight.

 Avey and Juju with Avey's new tangled backpack from her aunts.

Jack with his Jake and the Neverland pirates backpack.  They also spoiled the kids and got them lots of school supplies and new clothes for the new school year.

Our Utah trip worked out and felt like it was meant to be.  We mainly saw Eric's grandma and fit in a few other things that were already going on.  But we had some great visits with Eric's grandma, and then four days after we left she passed away in the night.  We will miss you grandma Jo, but your name lives on through Eric and Jack's middle names, (Waldrop) and Avey's name (which is the name of your mother).  We love you!




Comments

Awwww. Such great pictures! Glad we got to be in some of them. We are missing you all! Love you!
Maxmomma said…
Beautiful pics! We are so sorry to hear about the loss of Grandma Jo. She was an awesome lady from the stories I heard. I love that she put mustaches on the oxygen masks!

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