September and part of October

I say this every month, I think, but I just can't believe how fast time has flown this year.  It's already mid-October!  SLOW DOWN, time!!!

Some pictures from the past few weeks...

Eli has been playing soccer again this fall, and he loves it!  Two of his church friends are on his team (Ethan and CJ).

Crazy hair night at Awana!

He won for craziest hair in Sparks.  He came home and said, "Mommy!  I was the crazy hair-est!"  :)

I love peeking into his room and seeing things like this (coloring on the floor):

A random shot of Hank, who feels that he has just as much of a right to the comfortable furniture and pillows as we do!

Another room-scene that I love...  Eli coloring at his desk, which was MY desk that my dad built for me as a girl.

We went to the Texas State Fair and took CJ along with us.

Entering the insanity of the Midway:

We rode the ferris wheel- the largest ferris wheel in North America.  

I love this picture, even though it's blurry- they're so happy.

Big Tex, Medium CJ, and Little Eli.  :)

Their soccer team picture- complete with a silly hand-under-the-chin pose for the front row.  :)

PLENTY of this going on all the time:

My mom and sister Kelly and I got to go on a short trip to Maine last week to visit my grandparents.  It was just perfect!  Here are Kelly and me halfway up a hike we took:

The three of us before a really fun dinner out.

 We spent a day at the beach, too.  I love the beach, no matter the weather!

Kelly and I walked 3 miles down to this pier, and 3 miles back (duh).

We were so blessed to be able to see this GORGEOUS sunset one night- it was insane!

We spent a day at the Fryeburg Fair, which was a blast!  Lots of animals...

An excessive amount of eating...

And just an all-around fun and memorable day with these people I love so much!  I'm SO thankful for our time together!

And now, despite the temperature STILL being in the mid-90s, we continue on with our fall!  Have a great day!

End of July and August

And here we are at the tail end of August, amazingly!  Following are a few pictures to wrap up our summer, which was a really good one!

Last day of Sidekicks soccer camp, which he looooooooved:

Heather and the kids came for a visit at the end of July.  It was great to spend lots of time all together!  As always, it's hard to say goodbye.

Plenty of time spent right here:

This picture makes me laugh because it makes Eli look even tinier than he is (he's standing in a hole).

We ended July with a trip to Splash Kingdom with Elizabeth and CJ.  Eli shocked me with his bravery, riding even the tallest, scariest slides!

These two are great friends.

 We took Eli to his first Rodeo.  He loved it!

Eli came with me to work one day a week this summer.  He came up with interesting ways to amuse himself, including making superhero capes for his animals.  :)

We ended the summer on a really great note.  We spent the weekend in Wimberly, Texas (south of Austin) with the Heinzes and my parents.  We ate at the Salt Lick- best BBQ in Texas!

A horrible picture of the three kiddos by the fire pit, with the meat master himself.

They're all three looking in different directions.  :)

I looooooove this sweet kid!

We spent all day Saturday at the Blue Hole, a really neat swimming place on the river in Wimberly.  

Today was the first day of school!  Here's our 2nd grader!  

He's holding up two fingers for 2nd grade.  He was SUPER excited about going back to school.  When I woke him up this morning he said, "My heart is beating so fast!"  He found his friends right away, and we all walked into the first day assembly together.  I gave him a hug goodbye and left him sitting there with his class, looking so big and so small at the same time.  I'm sure all moms can relate to that feeling of simultaneous joy and ache that comes with seeing your child do something independently and bravely...  I'm so thankful to get to be his mom!

We had a fantastic summer, and we're looking forward to what the fall has in store for us.

July, so far

A few pictures from our July...  It's been a really nice month after the busy-ness of June.  We've enjoyed being home, and the more relaxed pace of summer.

Fourth of July sparklers!

And the fireworks that I was told were "legal within city limits," but then found out later were "not exactly legal, just quiet."  :)  I loooooooove this shot of the three boys watching.  This is how I always want to remember summer.

Sweet little profiles. 

My mom took the kids to the Gentle Zoo to feed the animals and play. 

Eli is spending every morning this week at soccer camp (INDOOR, thankfully!).  It's hosted by the Dallas Sidekicks, and the players are there teaching the kids the skills- it's awesome!  Eli LOVES it, and is absolutely exhausted by the time I pick him up.  :)

We have a few more fun things planned for July and August, and then it's back to school!  

June 2015

June!  The first part of June was pretty low-key, which was great, and then we concluded with a trip to Lake Tahoe, California for the last week, which was also great!  :)  Some pictures...

LOTS of swimming in June...

Annual trip to Hamm's Orchards for lunch and lots of peaches and blackberries:

We went to the Aquatic Center with some friends...

And now a few pictures from Lake Tahoe!

The scenery was breathtaking.  It was hard to even believe that we were looking at such beauty- crystal clear, deep blue water, mountains all around...  God's creation is so amazing.

You'll see this one on our Christmas card this year, for sure.  :)

Every day we did quite a bit of hiking, and we always ended up at a beach, too.  The water was FREEZING- like take-your-breath-away, make-your-limbs-numb freezing- but we still got in!  We couldn't resist swimming in that amazingly clear, blue water.

I love this picture!  One day, we started up here at the top, and hiked down to the beach (Emerald Bay) way down below.  The hike back up again was much harder!  :)

Pretty waterfall...

One day we drove south a few hours to see the giant Sequoias, something we have all three always wanted to see.  Words can't describe that experience- to be standing next to these amazing trees was humbling and emotional.  We hiked a 5-mile loop looking at all the trees and praising God for his stunning work.

This was at the base of the biggest tree we saw.

I love this shot, on another hike.

And another beach, also freezing cold, but equally gorgeous!

June was fantastic, and we're looking forward to a fun July as well.