Friends and Playdates

A few months ago, a sweet family moved into our ward and has a cute cute girl Meg's age.  They have been such great friends.  :)

 Dress ups ROCK!

Meg took M to dance class with her one day.

During one playdate, they decided to play birthday party!  :)

Your HOW old?

Happy Birthday to ME!!!  This has been a rough year.  I had gallbladder surgery last September and haven't really felt well since.  Constant nausea and dizziness is the name of the game.  I've been to dr.'s and had test after test and nothing is wrong.  My uncle had a similar experience after his gallbladder surgery.  It took 2 years before he could eat anything besides oatmeal and grapes.  While on one had this is a bit discouraging.  2 years is a long long time to feel soooo bad.  HOWEVER, it is also a source of hope.  I will feel better.  I will get better.  In the meantime,  I have cut all fat out of my diet and am taking some supplements to help with the nausea.  Some days are horrible.  Other days are o.k., but I'm almost always uncomfortable.  I have a new found sympathy for anyone with chronic health problems.  It has been a mental, physical, and emotional challenge most every day.  I'm about 1 year down, hopefully only 1 year to go before I'm back to 'normal'.  WITH that said,  I wasn't feeling well enough to make my cake this year, so D made my cake :)  The kids wanted an igloo cake! :)  I'm glad that the kids were still excited for my birthday.  :)

Soo, happy birthday to me.  And hopefully next birthday will be even better!  :)

Happy Halloween!

My Awesome sister and her family moved to the neighboring state and we are THRILLED!!!  We all got together for Halloween.  We trick or treated, made caramel apples, and watched Hotel Transylvania.  I love family!  :)

Let's DANCE!

Meg is taking dance again this year and LOVES it!  She likes tap dance the best right now.  She loves being with the other girls and enjoys being social.

She got to dress up for Halloween and this is the costume she picked.  She is such a fun, happy, little one!  :)

I took a few pics and video of Meg during observation day.

This free scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Walk through the Woods

Our family REALLY likes to walk through woods.  We like to find new trails and go exploring.  This mostly happened on Sunday afternoons.  Sunday walks as a family are great.  Anyway, I found a few pictures on my phone and thought I'd share them.  :)  I absolutely love watching my kids explore the freedom of the woods.  There are so many times we are teaching them how to act/where... It's just nice to see them be kids!  :)

I think this is Ceasars Creek?

 I think these are the woods close to our house.

 Little Miami River

 I can't remember this place.  It was a new place.

Back to School!

Meg has been waiting for this day for MANY years!  She is so excited to get on the bus!  I'm excited for her.  She is one happy kindergartner!

 

 J and Lo are in the same school this year.  They are happy to ride the bus together this year.  4th and 6th grade.  Crazy how quickly they are growing up.

 Zander is so excited for 1st grade.  H is excited to eat lunch at school this year and thinks his new shoes are AWESOME!

Utah Summer Vacation

We loved our vacation this year.  We love to visit family!!!  It is about a 26 hr drive and our kids did it like CHAMPS!!  We had movies going and ipads, ipods, etc. which really helped.  ;)  It was long, but we made it.  The kids like to stay in a hotel half way through and swim!  While we were in Utah, we had fun with family at the 4th of July parade, hiking the wind caves, boating at Bear Lake, riding Papa's tractor, and playing with COUSINSSSSSS!!!!  We hit Arches National Park on our way home which was AWESOME!  It was hot, but super fun!  I loved meeting people from all over the world who had come to visit the famous ARCHES NATIONAL PARK!  :)  We had a WONDERFUL time and I miss family a lot, but so glad we were able visit and give hugs to all!

Here is the slew of pictures:

Grandma and Papa

Hiking the wind Caves up Logan Canyon

 ARCHES National Park

 The human arch! :)

 Double Arch

 One of the Window's

 J and Lo loved to rock climb!

 Double Arch family picture

 Riding on Papa's tractor with Uncle B.

 COUSINSSSSSS!!!

 Papa's Sheep

 Eating at Le Beau's after Boating at Bear Lake... sorry no pictures from Bear Lake.  :(

 Watching the 4th of July Parade at Grandma's and Papa's house.

 Picking up candy!

 Wind Caves

 The Smiths at the Wind Caves

We really had such a great time.  Now we have a month left and will get ready for school to start again!  CRAZY! :)  Summer is going fast!