Slowly but Surely

Summer is fading away!It took so long for us to have summer like weather that we're all feeling a bit let down with school starting in one week! We've played hard this summer, especially in the last month, and its tough to let that go.

The plus side of all this is that Dylan will be in fifth grade this year and Lyndsi will be a second grader! They are very excited about their upcoming school year, as am I. I get to be the luckiest mom/teacher alive again this year and have my second child in my class. Not many people are so lucky! Hope we both survive!

August 17

Have you ever seen a Jerusalem Cricket? Well, now you have. We have these guys around here - yuck! The first time I saw one I thought it was some kind of alien ant creature. They're huge! This monster is a bit smaller than the first one I ever saw but he was big enough! I found him wandering the halls at school.

August 18

Steve took off on a backpacking adventure with a couple of guys from work. They had a great time despite the ups and downs of their chosen trails. I think Steve was in bed by 8 the day they got home and he didn't get up until 10 the next morning! Sounded like an excursion I would not have enjoyed but it was fun listening to Steve recount the experience. They even ran into a couple bear!

August 19
Amy and I wanted to experiment with some Vietnamese cooking to share with Dennis and Julia so we put our heads together and came up with a couple of recipes. We invited the neighbors and told them to come with open minds! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the wraps and patties we came up with. The food was fabulous - just not plentiful enough! Next time we'll know better.


August 20
Welcome Snell family! We rarely get Spokane visitors, other than our devoted families, so it was exciting to hear that our friends Rick and Kara and their 3 children, Kiela, Matthew and Andrea, were driving over to pick up a puppy. The kids and I spent the day with this lovely family and even got to help them choose little Buddy! You may recognize him - he's in the photo of Dylan from July 22!

August 21

Grandma is such a good sport! She was coming to visit for a couple of days and Lyndsi really wanted her to sleep on the bottom bunk. So she did! She says she slept well but I'm not sure how comfortable she was!

August 22

School shopping madness! Between Grandma, Nana and mom I think the kids are ready for school! There are even a couple of things in there for Steve and I!

August 23

Grandma was taking the kids to Loon Lake for a couple of days. This is their parting shot just before driving away leaving Steve and I alone!