End of Summer

August was a rough month. There were a lot of difficulties and trials. But I know through prayer and our faith that all would be well, we got through them We finally made it to the end of August ... and can I just say, the end was 100% better than the beginning.

A few snapshots of the month:

 hard to believe Breahna is big enough for the big kid swings

 cotton candy at the local park was a huge hit

 my mom and dad and a niece Jasmine came for a visit.

They slept over Sunday night. Monday morning we headed to Yellowstone. We had a cabin to stay in for the next two nights.
Yellowstone!
Always lots of bison causing traffic jams:

 Alexander was very excited by all the geysers. Most of us were geysered out but Alexander had enough enthusiasm and geyser spirit to keep us all going. He would run ahead shouting "follow me! On to the geyser! Look! Steam! Yeah!"

Old Faithful:

 We forgot an entire bag of food back at the house. All our dry goods. Cans of food for our dinners, bread, chips, and such for lunches, all the snacks, paper goods, etc. Being in the middle of Yellowstone you can't just run to a local grocery store ... there isn't one.
Thankfully my mom brought a pan of her delicious zucchini chocolate chip brownies. They made a great lunch. And once we got to the cabin it was was well stocked with enough odds n' ends of food we didn't starve. Even if there was no Nutella for the boys, they survived.

The cabin was in a beautiful area and had lots of fun things to do. A 4X4 that the boys were super excited about:

 my family has never ridden 4-wheelers. I didn't learn to drive one, or sit on one until I met Jake (okay, there was one other boyfriend in high school that had one, but yeah)
Jake taught Jasmine how to drive. She loved it and was soon in love and wanted to keep riding. My mom didn't want to drive but she did sit on the back and I took her for a ride.

Jake only stayed one night. He opted to head back early since Kaleb needed to start school and someone needed to take him. He actually took Kaleb and Breahna back with him. It was so nice to have a peaceful night.
We have now entered our first foray into public school - we have a kindergartner!

I am so excited for Kaleb. I know this will be a great opportunity for him. He really likes going to school and looks forward to his alphabet homework that he brings home afterward.

One of the reasons for my parents trip was to attend my cousins wedding here in town - I have 59 cousins! It was a grand all day event. I got the opportunity to attend their temple sealing ... Jake again stayed home to get Kaleb to school. Later Jasmine babysat so Jake and I could go to the luncheon then all of us went to the reception later in the evening.
I don't get many opportunities to dress up so I decided it would be fun to.
17 weeks pregnant, good thing my formal dress is stretchy! Jake also pointed out that I was just as pregnant last time I wore this dress.

We had a really enjoyable week with grandpa, grandma, and Jasmine. We always love when they come for a visit.