New 'Neighbors', New School Year, New Job

We have had quite a month with getting the boys back into school, starting to nanny Ada full-time, and best of all: having Grandy & Gpa Paul move in next door!

silly mustache fun during a playdate

taking Ada to the pool

falling asleep at Lincoln's meet-the-teacher night

Grandy-granddaughter snack time

I love the way Parker plays with Ada after school

their funny little games help him unwind after a long day of learning

Anndra adores all living creatures - even worms!

teaching Ada how to make pizza - notice the alligator under Anndra's arm... she never does anything without a stuffed animal or two in her hands these days

showing off the sunflower book he made at school

thanks to Ada, Anndra has re-discovered the joy of swinging

even the boys have gotten in on it

this little lady brings some much-needed sparkle into my day

lately playing 'dress-up' is about jewelry, not costumes

we call Lincoln our little monkey - he can climb anything!

walking up the path at Logan Pass

picking flowers and enjoying the view

Camping at Hungry Horse Labor Day weekend

We finished off our summer with a great family camp-out.

Ada & Anndra went up early with me to claim our spot...

...and set up the tent (which Ada thought was a grand adventure in itself).

P's friend Graham and his family were just a few campsites away.

We did LOTS of kayaking, but since I don't have any pics of that you get these of us milling about the campsite instead

Lincoln pretending to be a little old man

Anndra's favorite thing (wearing pajamas EVERYWHERE) works for camping too!

The Papa kept a great fire going for his chilly children.

Such a great little smile

Linc took this ugly pic of me, but since it is the ONLY one - I have to include it to prove I was there!

Utah trip (mid August)

We made the drive down to Utah (once again!) because we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Erika and her girls before their move to Germany.

The cousins (except Ellie & Jane) at FHE Sunday (with Gpa Paul in the back)

Jessie helping Jane read a story from the friend for FHE lesson

Ellie chillin' in Relief Society

Running errands with Grandy & Gpa Paul on Monday

On our way to the Ogden Temple open house on Tuesday

The whole gang (including Aunt Camile & Uncle Tod) at Ogden Temple

The boys messing around on the driveway Wednesday

With so many girl cousins, these fellas have to stick together

Anndra excited about new pajamas

Aquarium on Thursday

Parker & Bruce

Lincoln & Maren

Kate, Anndra, Addie (and Ellie running by)

Everyone loved the rope bridge!

Addie being so brave

Parker couldn't believe he didn't have to help any little ones

Our three 4-year-olds in Jessie's backyard - playing ponies of course!

These girls are so wonderfully unique - it's a small miracle anytime they actually agree on something

Jane and Lincoln at the park Friday

Erika and Addie

Mini-golf on Saturday

Carousel at the pizza place

August- Huckleberry picking, Scout camp, more summer fun

We finally tried our luck at the great Montana tradition of picking huckleberries.

We drove up the mountain above Whitefish Lake.

3 excited faces

the leader of our adventure (I wasn't good for much with my bad ankle)

We didn't find very many huckleberries, but we had a lot of fun trying!

Parker went on a camping trip with all the 11-year-old scouts.

Taking his turn working the stove

Enjoying his taco

Building his wood-chopping muscles

We took another trip to Tally Lake with a friend of Parker's.

3 boys (P, D, & L) on the dock, Anndra in the water

Little ones resting after all the swimming (big boys still on dock)

Miscellaneous silliness:

Brother-sister moment

Streamer mummy

Tickles and giggles

more swimming at Foys Lake

The other 2 big events in August were our trip to Utah and a family camp-out at Hungry Horse Reservoir, which I will cover in separate posts.