Meanwhile last Saturday...

Last Saturday I promised some pictures to be posted of homecoming and finally here they are...

This is the girls all dressed up. The theme was the "wild, wild west". As you can see there is a variety of costumes from the saloon girls, cowgirls, and even a princess.the whole group...
Katie and her date (a friend from school).

It was pretty low-key. They went to the bakery in town and got pizza before the dance and were actually back at our house before 11pm to hang out for a little while longer because as they said "the dance was lame"...
her last homecoming...

Weekend projects...

Weekends can't be all fun, can they? After our fun weekend in Spokane going to a play and buying a new car, our last couple weekend's have been work! Two week-ends ago we did some trimming and Bob cut part of a tree down that was hanging over into the road. We had got a letter from the city telling us that it made it difficult for cars/buses to stay on their side of the road because of it, whoops!
goin to the dump!
This last week-end Bob and I spend the day on Saturday in the garage! I had planned to post pictures of that, all nice and clean and ready to park my car but we only got about 1/2 to 2/3's of the way done. (I was kinda hoping Bob would have it all finished by the time we got home from church but, sigh that didn't happen so maybe this Saturday...)
Katie got up early (well early for her anyway!) and went to a service project in Brewster for a few hours and the rest of the day was planning and participating in Homecoming. I will post pictures of that soon, she has the camera card upstairs...
It feels good to get stuff done!

Spoiled

This last weekend I said good-bye to my Acadia and hello to...my new car! (Katie wishes it was her new car!)
Notice she is in the car in the drivers seat...

but in the end she finally got the point it's not hers, it's mine and maybe, just maybe she can drive it when we go to YW or church (maybe)

I am going to just to say that

IT WAS NOT MY IDEA

there I said it.

This was all Bob.

He has been obsessed with getting rid of the Acadia for a few months now for several reasons including it has had multiple problems since the day we got it, it has almost 100,000 miles on it and our warranty expires at 100,000 miles, a smaller car will mean better gas mileage and it needed a new power steering pump a.s.a.p. and that is over 750$ (we replaced it about a year ago and in most vehicles you never even have to I guess...)

so,

this last weekend we went to Spokane. I had bought tickets to see South Pacific for his birthday so we saw the musical (it was really a fun play and we enjoyed it, I also noticed Wicked is coming to Spokane next spring so that is next on my list to see for sure!). We also traded in my car which is always a fiasco, I shopped for Sean's birthday later in the month and found Katie a new dress at Down East Outfitters which is my favorite store for dresses/skirts for church (cute, modest and always long enough).

So I know I'm spoiled but really I didn't want or ask for a new car, my husband insisted so now I will just suffer and drive it I guess... ;)

but I seriously preferred to drive my Acadia till it died, I feel guilty.

Seany!

We got to enjoy a short visit with David, Tiffany and Seany (Sean) last Wednesday. They arrived Wednesday afternoon about 5pm and left Thursday at 6pm. Just over 24 hours, so not much time but it was still great to see em.We were lucky enough to have great weather and got to enjoy a few hours at the parks in Pateros.
Sean loved playing peek-a boo here (above) and here (below).

short visit but sweet!

Our next visit will be to Seattle for Sean's 1 year birthday on Halloween.

almost did it!

I almost made it! I almost stayed at home on my day off! No Wenatchee. I had made a little goal for myself and it went something like this: I DO NOT need to go to Wenatchee to shop every single week! I might want to go every single week, but I do not need to go.

so...As my dogs relaxed on the couch, I kept myself busy.

Not everything I did was productive, but there was some productivity mixed in with some wasting time. I did let myself watch a little of the Today show, watched some interesting segments on what is hot this fall in hand bags and perfect jeans for your body type. I also watched some of Ellen, I love Ellen! Her show is so funny and light and just what I need sometimes to put me in a good mood.

But,

I also cleaned 3 bathrooms, vacuumed upstairs, cleaned my room, chatted on the phone with my sis, went to the school to sign a couple notes for Katie and give her some money for the bus today (she can't play volleyball but she goes with the team and does stats), and I did lots and lots of

laundry...

I had plans to take a little nap, go on a walk, and wash all my tile floors on my hands and knees.

Then my husband called and needed me to follow him to Cashmere where he needed to drop off his motorcycle for a new tire and an oil change.

Alas, I almost did it! I almost managed to stay home on my day off.

With my husband in the car with me on the way home however, we drove right past Target, Old Navy, Pier 1, the mall, Fred Meyer etc...

we went straight to Costco and then home.

So I would say that I partially fulfilled my little goal don't you think so??

p.s. my husband did take a little pity on me and bought me a shirt at Costco, haha!

she can walk!

good-bye crutches! hopefully forever and ever...

Katie said it was the "best day of her life"

she can walk with her new boot, she got to do some more school shopping and get a pedicure and fake nails! (don't worry I don't think she is really that shallow, she's had other "best days of her life")

but it was a pretty good day! the only thing that would of made it better is if the doctor had said she could play volleyball but that didn't happen.

It might be early but I waited as long as I could

to get out and decorate with my Fall decorations!
I love fall. Let me say it again
"I love fall!"
So I know according to the calendar fall hasn't officially arrived but by my calendar it arrives after Labor Day. We have really had some fall like weather around here as well. Maybe a little too fall like but I am not going to complain. I don't have to worry that it is going to be scorching hot like it was last year at fair (mid 90's last year), we will be lucky to be in the low 70's.
And speaking of fair, wish me luck. I am not excited in the least. (multiple reasons) But I will survive and this will be my last year.

I Know You Know

I think everyone has heard the very exciting news:

Kyle will begin filling out mission papers in October!

But what kind of a mom would I be if I didn't blog about it, I mean seriously! In all seriousness this is a small miracle, a tender mercy, an answer to many prayers, a life changed, and most likely one of the most life changing decisions Kyle has made in his life up until now! It is overwhelming to think how blessed his life and his future posterity will be because of this choice. This one choice, to go or not to go has far reaching effects on so many. I can tell however, that it is not going to be any easier the second time around...

goodbye again!

I knew the good-byes were coming so I didn't expect to have such a sad day today! The house went from full and busy to almost empty and quiet. Sigh. As of right now they are in Rexburg staying at an friend's house (Andrew Armstrong & his new wife - I'm sure she is thrilled to have them). They will get settled in tomorrow and take care of business. I just keep telling myself this is the way it is supposed to be...

last days of summer...

Well summer of 2010 is just about history. I must say this summer was full of some very high high's as well as some low low's! But we won't go into that. We decided to go to Lakeview Drive for one last family outing before everyone goes their separate ways. It is been tough even finding a few hours to spend together with various work schedules so we managed to squeeze it in before Kyle went to work at 1:30.

it's my own fault

Showing off his missionary plaque, it has his picture, where he served and one of his favorite scriptures.

Enjoying family, friends and food after church. Especially enjoying the ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings.

just goofing around.

It was super fun having everyone who could make it for the homecoming and the BBQ afterwards!

The reason I titled my post "it's my own fault" it that I waited so long to post these pictures I knew someone would beat me to it (mom)! So that's my own fault, go check out mom's blog for some different pictures. I didn't want to post the same ones she did.

In bed before 9:30?

it can only mean either:

a. she's sick

or

b. seminary has started

First Day of her last year...

My last child to start her last year...how did my kids get so old so fast??

Katie might have a broken leg...

but she can still make an awesome welcome home sign! (with the help of a friend)

I finally took it down this afternoon after our little party. Everyone was tired of ducking under it when they had to go up or down the stairs.

This is what 500 bucks can buy at Costco...

That was just the first trip I made with mom on Tuesday (day before Brian came home). The second trip was only 290. I am going to try and stay away from Costco for a couple weeks.