Lots of little things

August was a busy month.  We were still in recovery mode from the kitchen.  We did take the kids to the annual BYU Kickoff.  They love it- especially the face painting.

Kaitlyn's favorite was the gymnastics mat.  She must have run up and flipped a dozen times.

We took another quick trip with our camping trailer to Lake Palisade.  My husband's favorite part of that trip is that he spotted a sign for a 5K every Saturday morning at the campground.  He was the only person that showed up, so he just followed the arrows and had a good morning run.  As a joke, he popped his head into the front office to say "what did I win?" at the end.  They told him that if he had paid $5 and signed up in advance, the winner gets a free canoe rental for the day.  "Well, sign me up!"

And that is how we got a free canoe rental for the day.

The only sad part is that I didn't bring a camera on that trip.  So you'll have to take my word for it.

Tyler's favorite part was a swim dock that was floating a bit from shore.  He loves to horse around with Daddy as they throw each other in the water . .  . and with his lack of social boundaries, he decided that everyone on the swim deck was a friend he could try and push in.  I'm so glad everyone was good about it, but it was a bit embarrassing. Kaitlyn spent most of the day fishing with Daddy.

Christopher's brother in law had a company party that we got to come to.   I hadn't been to 7 Peaks in years.  The kids had a lot of fun swimming, but once again, facepaint makes it awesome.

Before I knew it, it was time for a new school year.  Kaitlyn started one week, Tyler the next week, and Jasmine a couple of weeks later.  So I have a few "first day of school" pictures.

One . . .

Then two . . .

Then all three.

I was nervous about Tyler's new teacher, since Mr. Josh is a first year teacher that also happens to be the Principal's son.  Did he want this job and know what he is doing, or did Mom just need to hire another teacher?  Luckily, it has been great so far.  In fact, he read a book to the class in the first week that Tyler was so excited about, that when I happened to coincidentally buy the same book at the thrift store for him, he refused to put it down.  It was the first time I have ever seen Tyler pick up a book and read voluntarily, with no one forcing him to read every sentence.  Victory!

I was worried about him settling back into working hard at school after a summer of computer time while Mommy and Daddy disassembled a kitchen, but he is doing well.  At least, if our morning reading time is any indication.  Just like last year, we arrive to his school too early for him to go inside.  I'm actually really grateful, because we use that extra 20 minutes as our reading time every day.  He is improving a LOT in his reading.  He loves Fly Guy books right now, and can read one of them with very little help.

Kaitlyn likes her new teacher a lot, too.  Jasmine is going to a friend's house for preschool twice a week, and I feel really lucky that we have the opportunity.  She is loving it!

By the beginning of September, we had recovered enough to make more progress on the kitchen.  A backsplash!

Outlets and a vent hood quickly followed, and then we were finally done with the kitchen part of the renovation.  The only thing left is the baseboard, and that waits until we get up the energy to rip out the carpet in the front room and put the same new flooring in there, too.

Another trip planned long ago was to Yuba Lake.  Christopher wanted to run the triathlon they have there every fall.  A couple of our friends even came, too.

He wasn't as ready as he hoped to be, due to our busy summer, but he still loves running triathlons anyway.

Oh, and Christopher took his little buddy to one of the BYU football games.  Tyler stays up late every night, so he didn't have any problem with the 8:15 kickoff.  And since he has his Dad wrapped around his finger, he got a cherished "Cougar Tail" donut to eat all night.

The rest of September disappeared in a quick blur, it seems.  I was sick for most of it, and Christopher had an overwhelming project at work that didn't clear up until early October.