Hey friend! Did you miss me? I have totally fallen off the face of the blogging world this summer. I left you high and dry in the middle of our vacation. I didn't fill you in on any of the exciting things we did for OVER THREE MONTHS!!! I am ashamed and so very sorry. But here's the thing. Whoever came up with the saying "the lazy days of summer" was NOT a single mom of two crazy kids who works at an EXTREMELY needy job, and is trying to put down roots for themselves and their family! There was nothing Lazy about this summer for us! Unfortunately there wasn't much that would be considered interesting or newsworthy, and then things that were, I just happened to have forgotten my camera. Every. Single. Time! I did manage to take a few shots with my phone, but even those leave much to be desired. So I totally screwed up the summer from a blogging point of view. But no matter because I have been gone so long I probably don't have any readers anymore anyway. But just in case there are a few stragglers out there, here are a few of the highlights you missed...
Ethan graduated 5th grade, and moved on to MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!
Look at him still sporting his Sweet California vacation tan!
(Yes, the is the most enthusiastic smile I could get out of him)
I had big plans of taking stunning photographs of the SUPER MOON. Unfortunately I had to save a young boy from his drunk mom, so I missed it (long story). So the only picture I have of it is this one of it setting that I snapped with my phone as I was driving 69MPH down the highway. :(
One day Adia went to visit Aunt Bobbi while I was at work. About half way through the day when I checked my email I was SHOCKED to find these cute little pictures in my inbox... It seems Adia thought a pixie cut would look nice, so they chopped her hair right off. Turns out I love it, so it's alright, but WHEW talk about a surprise! Remind me not to let those two hang out alone too often, they are partners in crime! :)
My super fun cousin took my kids to the Dinosaur museum here in town. (See, we have culture here, in fact there are several museums in Blanding.... of course, one of them is built inside a guy's house... back to the subject...) Adia bought a dinosaur egg and so we stuck it in a jar of water and hatched it... this is something Adia INSISTED I include in my recap of the summer, so it must have been significant.
In June we celebrated our "Famiversary" which is what we call the day we were all sealed as a family in the temple. Get it?
On a side note, if you are local, or if you ever pass through Blanding, stop there!!! I had the Chicken Carbonara, which was delightful, but Adia had THE BEST Alfredo I have EVER tasted and Ethan had some AMAZING tortellini with tomatoes, basil and pine nuts - it was out of this world!
We went to a wonderful 4th of July celebration. This town really knows how to party! We watched a crazy parade where the spectators lit fireworks in the street between floats, and no one thought it was strange (or frighteningly dangerous) Then we went to the park where we ate SO MUCH DELICIOUS FOOD I ALMOST EXPLODED!!! Then we shopped at booths, played games, went to the pool, had a BBQ in the back yard, then went to the fireworks.
We watched a phenomenal fireworks show, but after taking one test shot my battery died (I'm not sure why because I hadn't used it ALL SUMMER LONG!!!) So we just relaxed and enjoyed the show instead of taking pictures.
We went to the Fuller Family Reunion at Pallisade State Park. It was tons of fun, but I didn't take any pictures there either, so I stole this one from my cousin Tawna's facebook page, because she's awesome and takes pictures like a good mom. Ethan's evil grin is because we were playing water bomb, and he was just about to get me good.
We went fishing a lot of times, but this picture was taken by my parents when they took the kids camping at a fish pond my dad built a few years ago in Salina. My kids are used to catching tiny brook trout so this one is a monster to them.
My Grandpa Dale had open heart surgery. This is my dad, my grandpa and my uncle Kendall before he went in to surgery. (It makes me laugh because they look like the same guy, just at different ages) The surgery went well, but complications such as blood clots, infection, and emergency surgeries have prevented him from leaving the ICU for several weeks now. Things aren't looking too good for him, which is hard, but I'm thankful that I have wonderful memories if him, and that my kids have wonderful memories of him. I'm thankful that my kids and I took the opportunity to tell him how much we love him right before he left to have surgery so that we don't have any regrets, no matter how things turn out. But most of all I'm so grateful that I have an understanding of what comes after this life, and an unbending faith that families are families forever, not just for now.
We swam like fishes all summer long. Our town has a super cool place called the wellness center. You can pay $25 a month for a family membership which lets you into the pool or gym as often as you want! We took advantage of it like you wouldn't believe.
Started bad....
and got worse...
and...
Progressively...
worse...
Until we just quit trying.
Ethan went to middle school and I was terrified! He couldn't wait to have different classes and a locker, and be a big kid. All I could see is him getting lost, and losing 7 different classes' homework, and forgetting his locker combination and having a melt down and being late for class because of it... Well, unfortunately we all got what we expected... It took him 3 weeks to learn his schedule (That's what Fetal Alcohol Syndrome does for you kids, let this be a warning!) In fact, one time he went to a class (8th grade math) that he didn't even belong in and no one even noticed until the class was over! But once we got over that, and figured out the tardy policy (yes, he had to spend 2 days in lunch detention over that one) and got the school on board with a homework folder, things have been great. So great, in fact that just last week we had the best parent teacher conference we have ever had!!! Usually those things make me sick - literally! I hate going and hearing how bad my kid is and how bad a parent I am, and how we all suck! (Okay, so no one has ever said that, but it's how I leave there feeling every. single. time.) But this time all we heard was praise. Ethan is so responsible, Ethan is doing GREAT in MATH, Ethan has tons of friends, and is well behaved, and has manners. (The teacher even said Ethan's MOM was doing a great job, which is always nice to hear:) So, while we are just at midterm of the first quarter, and I'm sure there is plenty of drama still to come, I do have to admit, middle school isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. - Except, my office is right across the street from his school, and at first I thought that would be great because I could run over there if there was a problem. Instead it just makes me crazy wondering what's going on just yards from my office window, to the point that I am considering pretending to take up smoking so I can have short breaks throughout the day to sneak over and see how it's going. But I haven't... yet... really.
So that pretty much sums it up. I worked WAY too much, my mom saved my life by babysitting the kids, and we all survived it. And I'm going to *TRY* to blog more regularly, so keep checking in now and then to see what craziness we have going on around here.
