Summer 2011

I had this post written almost 2 months ago but never finished putting pictures on it...I'm finally getting around to it...how sad. I do have a good excuse but I'll probably wait to post about it another time...you know, in a few months ;)

SUMMER IS OVER!!! (6 weeks ago...) I haven't posted anything since summer began but it wasn't because of a lack of activity with our family. It's because we were so busy I couldn't find a second to catch my breath, let alone, sit down and write it all out for everyone's enjoyment. I don't think we've ever had a summer as busy as this one. And although I need a vacation from our summer, I hope all our summers are as jam-packed and fun as 2011 :) Both of my boys are taking naps right now, so I'll start at the beginning and fill you in on the excitement we had!

The Monday following Ben's graduation, he had a 3-week summer grad school class, so I guess technically he's been a grad student since May. That pretty much took up the rest of that month. The only other thing we did was look for a home to rent. After 3 years of apartment living, Ben was definitely ready for some space and I'll admit, I was too! We spent a lot of time looking for something within our price range, still in our ward, with lots of space and clean!!! (Which seemed to be the most difficult requirement to fulfill! I don't understand how some people live!) Anyway, we found a place we loved and after a lot of stress and prayers, we got it!

So June consisted of packing, moving, cleaning and all the hassle that comes along with a new house. You need a lot of stuff (mostly yard stuff) to keep a house in order and I think we've already doubled the amount of stuff we have for our next move (which I'm already dreading). I hate, HATE moving and I'm trying to convince Ben that we need a moving service for our next move...we'll see. We love our new place, Luke loves having so much space and it is quiet here.

Luke enjoyed his "fort"

The house really was pretty clean but I still didn't want other people's germs around :)

Before turning in the keys to our old apartment, we tried to use the awesome pool as much as possible! Luke definitely loves the water!


July was spent unpacking and trying to stay cool! We even made it up to Lake Tahoe when my sister and her family came to visit from Denver. I thought Luke would hate the sand because he doesn't like having his hands dirty. But he loved it! He played in the sand and water all day. I tried to get him to take a nap in the little pop-up tent we had but he wouldn't. But he was asleep in the car before we left the parking lot.

Luke loves playing with his cousins, especially Callie! I love it :)

Right after getting in the car...

...literally, 30 seconds later.

We had to stop in Incline to get some T's! Luke eventually woke up and loved it as much as his Daddy does!

Luke loved being outside, so we did all we could outside! We started meeting my sister, Kris and her family at the school tennis courts to play around during the summer evenings.

August started out with a visit to Denver to see my sister Nikole and her family. It was our one trip this summer and it was great! We took Luke to the aquarium and the zoo! We loved spending time with Luke's cousins, Mailon, Hunter and Owen. They have a really fun house, with fun toys! Luke even learned how to come down stairs at their home. Thanks for letting us come visit!

He was a good traveler but snacks always help!

Luke kept running up and hitting the glass in front of this Komodo Dragon.

I love giraffes!

I took Ben to Chic-fil-A while we were in Denver! I love it and he's never been. The food didn't disappoint! But the best part was the ketchup! The Steele Family loves ketchup and they had it in the coolest little containers! I loved it so much I had to take a picture!

Luke loved it too!

We went to the Grass Valley Fair with Ben's family. As we were walking in the gates, I started getting a migraine and Ben's allergies were awful! We "drugged" up and within an hour were feeling much better. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures but we still had a blast!

As Ben would say, It was "way freakin' hot!"

For me, the end of Summer and beginning of Fall is marked by the Rib Cook-Off. We enjoyed the ribs and crafts but by far, Luke loved the water best! He was drenched but took a really good nap when we got home!






I hope everyone had a good summer! We sure did! A lot is going on with our little family right now. Now that we're all settled in our new place and back to the grind of school and work, I hope to keep more up to date with our posts! :)