Awesome August!

I tried to get this done last weekend, but ran out of time! I didn't have a spare minute during the week, so here we go a week late!

August started out with Girls Camp for me. It was a stake camp and only 3 days and 3 nights this year. (But that's LONG enough!) :) After setting up camp, our first activity was canoeing at Tibble Fork Reservoir. The girls were very excited for that. Of course, I HATE lake water and didn't even wear my swimming suit so no one would dunk me. I got splashed a lot, but that's a lot better than swimming with who-knows-what!
I mostly got to be the princess in the middle when I went out because the other leaders thought paddling was fun! But I did get my turn when we tried to tow an overturned canoe back to shore. I think our girls tipped about 15 canoes. The stake leader that was there with the rowboat sure got his workout that day!
That day we also got to complete the ropes/trust course. I didn't make it through this one this year! We also got to use the zipline later that day. I got to catch the girls at the bottom and pull them over to the ladder. I sure felt my arm muscles for the rest of the week! It was a really great week filled with service, hikes, food, testimonies, stake presidency talks, skits, and more. We had a great time - I sure love those girls!
I came home Friday to some excited girls and a relieved hubby! Steve had cleaned the house and it was so nice to get home! Jill had taken the girls for a day and then Steve took three days off to be with the girls. No Nebraska trip this year, but he did make sure to go have lots of fun with them. I had made a long list of potential activities and restaurants (mostly because I had coupons to them all:), but Steve had fun his own way! Here's some pics he took at the Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove. After I showered and rested a bit, we headed to Herriman to see the "UP" house in the Parade of Homes. Carl was waiting on the porch for us and let us take pictures with him! He was the nice version, luckily! While we were there, we were taped and interviewed for a news report. The kids liked seeing themselves on the computer!
Ella really liked the baby room.
The savings jar and Russel's scouting badges.
Carl and Ellie's chairs.
And their mailbox.
It was a very cute house. The portions that you see in the movie looked really authentic. But they took liberties with the rest of the house. In the two basement bedrooms, they showcased their Make-a-Wish rooms. One looked like Andy's room in Toy Story and another one was a Princess room.
Here's Russell with Carl.
We celebrated Ty's birthday at the Owlz game again.
And Steve, Paige, Lynn and I all ran another 5K! Well, it was Steve's first. We did Lindon Days this time. I really wasn't worried about it because I was running close to 5K about 3 times a week. But this course was HARD!! It was uphill ALL the way back!! Whoever planned that was apparently not a beginning runner. None of us could run the whole way. I did get pretty close, though. But I was proud of us - especially Steve - he hadn't even finished his training program yet! But Steve and I have been very diligent about each running 3 times a week!
Eden sure loves her monkeys!
We got the sad news after the race that Grandpa Tanner had passed away that morning. I liked how Lynn put it - As we were crossing the finish line to our running race, Grandpa was crossing his own finish line from this earthly life. It was an emotional time thinking about the wonderful life Grandpa lived and knowing I wouldn't ever see him again in this life. And it was also an exciting time to get to see my mom again from Japan as well as lots of other relatives.
Ella had a great time holding Hayden.
And Eden was in heaven holding his bottle!
Grandma brought lots of Japanese goodies for everyone. The girls have had a great time doing Japanese dances with their fans!
The viewing, funeral and graveside ceremony were beautiful. It was only the 2nd funeral I'd ever been to. The talks were wonderful and made you want to live a better life. The American Legion came out in full force to provide a wonderful military tribute to grandpa. There was police escorts and everything. I think it was a perfect day for grandpa. Grandma looked so sad. It will be hard to be without her earthly companion. But they'll have a great reunion soon.
We had a wonderful luncheon following the services and then we spent the day at Payson park.
The girls and I went bowling again. Ella got a strike on her first frame! These girls are good!
Scary how natural she looks with it!
And then we got Baskin' Robbin's ice cream!! Eden was in HEAVEN! And she got a lot of smiles from strangers as she eventually was covered in chocolate from head to toe!
Emily started soccer season again. I'm grateful Ella didn't want to!! Here she is getting a good kick in!
She's a super star!
And Ella and Eden found some fun dirt and lots of little boys to play with!
I spent a lot of time getting ready for preschool near the end of the month. When I saw a similar train like this online, I knew I had to make one! I had almost all the materials on hand, just needed some sheet metal, canvas, bar and buckets! I did invest in a cheap jigsaw and had fun learning how to utilize that and a miter saw I'd recently gotten at a yard sale to do all the cutting!
And I'm proud to say I did almost all the work by myself!! Steve helped me get it on the wall, but it was nice to be creative again!
I spent a LOT of time getting the preschool area back in order and ready for back to school night! Steve installed a new floor for me this year and it looks really nice down here!
Here's some pics from the girls' back to school night. Ella is in 1st grade with Mrs. Fox - we love her. I'm going to be Ella's room mom this year since I was Emily's last year.
Emily is in 3rd grade with Mrs. Call. She's new to the 3rd grade and it's her first solo class. Emily's seemed to really like her so far.
1st day pics! We did some last minute shopping the day before so they could get some new clothes for the first day of school. Ella looked like such a diva!
Emily chose a Jessie (from Toy Story) backpack and lunchbox.
And Ella has a Hello Kitty backpack and lunchbox.
So excited for me to take them to school on their first day!
Of course, we got stuck at the train tracks. We were sandwiched in between lots of cars and couldn't turn around. Finally enough cars behind us got tired of waiting for the phantom train that we could back out. We went through the neighborhood to the other crossing, since we figured there was just a glitch. However, right when we got to that crossing the train decided to show up! It was a bit stressful for a first day drop off. I had to take a quick picture and run them into their classes!
We are excited for a better school year this year. We've had a hard principal the last 3 years. Last year our school fell below the No Child Left Behind guidelines for the 2nd year in a row. So now we have the principal from the highest scoring school in the district, lots of Title 1 money, and the district and government really keeping an eye on us. We were kind of overlooked in the past. I guess things can only get better!
There they were posing in front of the bus after their first full day of school! They did great!

2nd day outfits!
I started school at the beginning of September. I had a lot of turnaround the last couple weeks of summer again, but luckily I filled all my spots. Steve calls it my "revolving door period." It's part of the business, but it sure is stressful! I don't have any children or nieces/nephews in my classes this year! Kind of sad! So I probably won't be posting many preschool pics on my family blog. If you're feeling bummed right now, you can ask for an invitation to my private preschool blog! But here's one quick pic on the last day of our All Aboard theme - the kids made their conductor hats and received a train whistle. We blew the whistle everytime we found an A in our A Hunt game.
I added a 3rd day option this year, so now I have a Wednesday morning class. It's nice to bring in a few extra bucks, but it does mean planning another day of preschool and having another busy day! I decided I can't volunteer weekly at the girls school this year, but I will be Ella's room mom and I am the PTA coordinator of Red Ribbon week coming up in October. I'm sure I'll still be at the school a lot this year despite the lack of a weekly commitment!