August

 August was such a fun month.  We went on a small vacation and then got ready to head back to school. 

At the beginning of the month we headed down to St. George to roast in the sun and do lots of swimming. We stopped at the Creamery in Beaver on the way there.  We ate lots of food and did a little shopping.  It was a fun stop! 

The first night we arrived we headed to Tuacahn to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It was a perfect night, we had a great seats and the show was very well done.  It was very silly and had us laughing a lot.  We loved it! 

The next morning we got breakfast at First Watch.  It was great! 

On most vacations we go on the kids just want to swim, swim and swim some more.  This vacation was devoted to swimming.  After breakfast we headed to the pool. 

We stayed at the same resort we did a few years ago.  It has tons of pools and wasn't very busy.  

We also met up with the Petersons which made the swimming way more fun! 

For dinner we went to The Pasta Factory and stopped for ice cream as well.  It was a great day! 

The next day we headed to Pinkbox for some donuts.  Mia was excited to take a picture. 

The view from our condo.  

Ready for more swimming.  It was so hot while we were there.  I can't imagine living there.  

Mia has been looking forward to going back to Sweet Rolled Tacos even though they have one in Riverton now.  It was delicious.  

Our last morning we tried one more breakfast place called the Bear Paw Café.  We had a long wait for our table but it ended up being worth the wait.  It was so good! 

Last day of swimming.  

On the last day Alex suddenly got very tired and couldn't swim anymore. We think he had a bit of sun stroke.  We were happy to be done though.  

The next day we got up nice and early to head home.  We wanted to make it home early so that Mia could make it to a birthday party by 11:30.  Brandon is the champion and not only drove the whole way while we slept but was also able to take pictures of us all.  

After our vacation it was time to prepare to head back to school.  Both the kids wanted their hair cut.  Mia's hadn't been cut in over a year.  I didn't really get an after picture but it is very cute. 

Alex went to the "walk about" at his school to find all his new classes for the year. It is nice I just got to drop him off this time with his friends.  

We did lots of back to school shopping this month.  I really liked this coat and made Mia try it on.  She did not like it however and we didn't get it.  

A treat is necessary when doing lots of shopping.  This year we went to the mall for the first time and Mia was in heaven.  Alex was not.  She found too many clothes and Alex found a few that he would tolerate.  

Brandon and I went to see Newsies one night this month.  There were a few parts that made us laugh but over all we really liked it! 

One of our Saturdays this month was devoted to cleaning out our garage.  The kids were very thrilled to help.  Its been several years since we've cleaned it so it was so nice to get it done.  

Fall sports started this month. In between rain storms Alex has had a couple of baseball games.  He is playing great as always. 

We also went to Mia's back to school night.  She is very excited to go back to school because she really loves it.  I can't believe she is in 4th grade.

We are still seeing lots of our humming bird friends.  I was able to snag a few pictures of them one day. 

Our kids suddenly got back into going to the park so we visited a few different parks during the evenings this month.  It's been a lot of fun. Brandon and I get to play pickleball or walk around while they play. 

It was a beautiful night. 

Mia has started another solo this year.  She is working with Savanah this year.  Mia had a lot of very specific ideas about what she wanted and Savanah has been so kind to make her dreams come true.  It's been so fun to see Mia improve each year as well.

Sadly we almost made it the whole summer without having an outdoor movie night.  Luckily we snuck one in at the end.  Alex chose Jurassic Park and it was perfect for outside.  It was a lot of fun! 

And before we knew it, it was time to head back to school.  Summer went so fast this year and I am sad it is already over.  Alex was not excited either but so far he is doing great.  He doesn't get any electives this year because of the French program but he will get Art next semester.  He is also taking weightlifting and two different French classes.  He is also in National Junior Honors Society this year.  We are so proud of him! 

Mia was very thrilled to go back to school.  She loves being with her friends, planning outfits and she loves her new teachers.  It's going to be a great year! 

Brandon let them choose what they wanted for the first day of school breakfast and they chose crepes.  Spoiled kids! 

Her little teenage outfits kill me!

One night while I was at Young Womens (Alex didn't have Young Mens for some reason) the kids suckered Brandon into taking them to Baskin Robbins.  They are so lucky.  

Mia got to give a talk in primary this month.  

Also this month we got to attend a murder mystery party at the Hettinger's house.  We were each given a specific character to be.  Brandon was Tobias from Arrested Development, I was Meredith from the Office, Alex was Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and Mia was Wednesday from the Addams Family. 

We weren't great at discovering who the murderer was but we had a lot of fun! 

Then the wrestling broke out.  

Believe it or not all the cousins are in this photo.  Some of them are just buried. 

And of course at the end of the month we got to celebrate Brandon's birthday!

Boo wasn't going to let Dudley stop her from getting a drink. Gus seems confused. 

Brandon was able to take the day off on his actual birthday.  We played pickle ball and then we got to go see a movie while the kids were in school. 

I'm not sure what Mia was mad about. 

At night we went to dinner at Rodizio Grill downtown and then stopped for one of Brandon's favorites, soft serve ice cream at Arctic Circle.  It was a great day!