August!

September is nearly halfway over, so I guess I need to hurry and document August!  Strangely, August really didn't fly by like it usually does.  The kids started school early this year, so I had almost 3 weeks of free time before preschool started!  That actually made the time go slower.  In theory, I should have accomplished so much during my time off...

I did keep chipping away at my painting project.  I finished everything but the strip along the back because that is proving to be difficult.  It runs over the top of my back preschool stairs, and so it required that Dustin build a little stair spanner thing that extends the width of the stair to fit the ladder.  It is also going to require someone else painting it for me because I am absolutely terrified of heights and being 20 feet up on a ladder makes me feel like I might throw up.  

Here is a few pictures of the progression of the trim: 

It's coming along, slowly but surely!

We went to a Bee's game with our youth (and they thought I was super cool because I had BeReal, haha!)

We got lots of rain in August, and it greened everything up nicely and also brought out this little friend.  This is the third or fourth salamander we've found in our yard over the years.

I helped my friend with her daughter's baby shower one Saturday,

And then raced down to Utah county for a Montgomery Family Reunion, which was lots of fun!

Avery is doing so well on her mission!  She had her first official baptism and is as happy as can be!  We love our weekly facetime calls!

Avery also got to see family during August!!  Our niece, Khalina, went through the Seattle Temple and so Avery got to go through the temple with her.  She and I had talked about it before and she thought it might make her too homesick if Dustin and I went up, so we let her support in our behalf and take advantage of that neat opportunity while she is serving near Khalina.  It was so fun to get pictures and videos that day though!

We sent a package for Avery up with my parents, and the balloon didn't quite make it (but luckily the zucchini bread did!)

We dog sat for our friends for a few days and that was fun.

Before school even started, Ryan had his first cross country race.  He did awesome and got a great PR!

We went to lunch in Salt Lake City with Dustin's aunts and uncle and dad, to celebrate Rod's birthday.

School started early this year!  It started on August 17th.  Ryan is a Junior and Grant is in 9th grade.  It will be my last year of having multiple schools to deal with!

Maren still had a couple of weeks before she could move down to BYU, and most of her friends had already moved, so she got nice and bored and ready to leave in that time!  She worked and packed and cleaned out her room.  We hiked a little and went to lunch and it was fun to spend that time with her before she left.

Her t-shirt quilt I made her.

Last day of work at Mrs. Cavanaughs!

We took her to see a play for her 18th birthday present.

Ryan asked someone to Homecoming!  We finally got one of our kids to use the "wet my plants" method!  We've been trying for a few years now, but the girls were too embarrassed to do it.  Not Ryan!

And, he got answered.

The day finally came for Maren to move to BYU!!  It was very bittersweet!  She was definitely ready, and was more sad to leave the dog than to leave us, haha!  We got her all moved down and mostly settled and went to dinner and shopping and then said goodbye.  And she has done so well down in Provo!  She has been meeting new people and figuring out her classes and applying for jobs.  We miss her!  Our house is different as each child leaves!

Dustin had a ribbon cutting for Butterfield Trails, which has been a major project he has been working on for a long time.  It turned out so nice and it was fun to see!

We've had some cool sunsets

And some cool races

And lots of things that kept us busy in August!