paper rockets

Saturday August 27 in the evening, the kids and I went to the big stake summer activity.  It was an outdoor carnival kind of night with several bouncy houses, free hot dogs, cotton candy,  and snow cones--my kids' dream come true.  I think they loved the little petting zoo the most.

My neighbor Melanie, William, and pony.

Bunnies.

The car Sam wants for Christmas.

Olivia and good friend Tracy.

Sam helped William and Caitlin build paper rockets.

Our friend Brother Teng shot them off into the sky.

   

nickle city

Saturday, August 27,  Olivia took a few friends and the siblings to Nickle City for her birthday party.

One if the first pictures I've taken of Sophie walking.

starting school

Monday morning was the first day of school. Sam left first.  His first day of high school.  Didn't phase me until about Thursday when he needed me to drop him off there, then I felt that feeling of I can't believe how time has passed so quickly.

Ben started eighth grade.

Caitlin started kindergarten.

Elementary school kids.

Anti-climactic start with the bus.  It didn't show up so I piled in as many kids from the ward as possible.

 I'm grateful to be on this side of last week of mid-terms. I have two quizzes tomorrow and a cranial sacral final on Tuesday morning. Since I survived last week, I'm starting this one with more faith in myself and one-after-another episodes of angelic intervention. Still not wanting to be overconfident.

Other grateful moments. Caitlin and her new best friend discovered they had matching bangs, warranting a photo shoot.

Thursday evening classes and tests were over for the week (still had Friday clinic though.)  I stopped to buy delicious and cheap beans and chips at Saydah's favorite Mexican Market..  I refrained from buying cream horns and elephant ears by taking pictures instead.

  Elephant ears not pictured.

I wish you could see the liquid sunshine.  It was raining where Kyle was sitting but not where I was standing.

candles

Olivia's birthday in the morning.

I came home from school and it was time for Back to School night.  Caitlin's kindergarten class.

Then we went to Pizza Pie Cafe.

All the kids.

Sophie's stealing.

Presents.

Candles.

I love you Olivia.

new home

Something happened in June that I didn't have the courage to even speak about.

 I've been learning that our cells keep memories,  I felt the need to pack up a few of mine and send them off to the inner cellular storehouses of my deepest connective tissue. Memories of our June move.

What's so traumatic about around the corner? It was extracting ourselves from the old townhouse. This time, with my school, stomach flu, big kids off to boyscout camp, everything made for a perfect moving week storm. The Relief Society sisters came to help me clean out drawers in the kitchen, wash walls, scrub sofas, and I worked by their side of course, except for the few moments when I had to run to the bathroom to cry my prideful tears. When you realize you really can't do it alone it kind of hurts.

But here we are now. We feel very happy and blessed to be here.  This is the yin house.  The shady side of the hill.  We don't face the park anymore, but we have this wonderful common grassy area.  We face the church and the mountains. North. 

This is our view to the East.

This tree is a new friend.

This is a very good longtime friend.  She and her family visited us. We knew them in Beijing.

Our neighbors invited us to have a barbecue at their home.  This is their dog and this was the first time that  we saw Sophie stand up her own.

This was our own barbecue.  We have a perfect little nook for it.

Close-up.  We like cheese I guess.

And we had another pet passing, but not without a proper burial.  This was our sweet Frank Moses, the pastel parakeet.