These were a few of the highlights of the summer that got away from me, but we had a great time enjoying the sun. It was super hot here at times and we love it! In between work, the kids and I spent many days at the beach, the park, and the spray-park, making Scott jealous of our time and our tans. We spent time at grandma's playing with cousins. At the beginning of summer, before Scott's bike broke, we also spent a lot of time at the track. We went out riding again on the long weekend at a spot near our house, and miraculously, Raeley has started to like riding her dirt bike, WITHOUT training wheels. She got pretty brave and even did a little jump. Cason can't get enough of bikes and trucks and all things boy, Scott is pretty sure he will be riding Raeley's dirtbike next year. He already tries to ride it, and the runner bike and the scooter, so he's well on his way. Of course, Mya is right in there and she really wants to ride too. Now, we're getting into the swing of things with grade 3, preschool, and gymnastics. Lots of fun!

Still here...Happy B-day Mya!

A princess for a princess. Mya was pretty excited about this cake, isn't she beautiful?

Cason really enjoyed the cake too!The presents!

Mya's new Rapunzel tower. She loves the movie and thought this toy was pretty great.

Of course, a new princess dress, she wore her old favorite out. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Scott for the fun panda family, all of the kids like to play with them.

The kids love our dirt-pile and Cason is no exception. So much fun. You should see the bottom of the tub when they are done though, it's pretty gross! Oh well, keeps 'em busy.

Mya, Sam and Raeley each crawled into a hole that Thor has dug. He's been busy! If Raeley puts her feet to the bottom of the one she is in, you can't even see her head!

Ballet

Yesterday was Raeley's year-end ballet performance. She was lucky to have both sets of grandparents come to watch her dance so beautifully! She of course LOVED her costume. I enjoyed seeing her facial expressions in the pics, how she's trying to be so graceful and looks like such a ballerina. Most of the pics are of the ballet portion, she also does tap in her class. She looked lovely and we are proud of her. It's too bad she tells me this is her last year of dance.....

Thor

You got a glimpse of our dog in my last post and I promised more pics. After ten years, I have given in to Scott and we have a puppy. He is a golden lab who is now 4 months old. I hate to admit it, but it is not as horrible as I imagined it being. He is a very good-tempered dog and learns very quickly. We have had him at home 6 weeks now and he's only had a few peeing in the house incidents. He will be an outside dog, but we wanted to kennel-train and potty-train him first, so he is in the house often. Good thing is, he is only allowed on the lino in the kitchen and he knows this. It's kinda funny to see him stop abruptly at the carpet when following/chasing kids. That being said, there is not a lot of chasing being done, he's a pretty lazy puppy, I keep thinking there is something wrong with him! He sleeps a lot. Just in the past week I've seen him perk up a bit more and he's wandering from home a bit. Before when we left him at home he would just sit on the deck all lonely. He's awesome with the kids. Cason hits and pokes and walks on him and he takes it all in stride. Scott's dream is now fulfilled - family, truck with dirtbikes and dog in tow!

Here, he is about 1.5 mths old, then right after we brought him home at about 3 months, and just this past weekend.

This is what he does a lot of.

Scott cuddles with Thor when he gets home from work, I think he loves him more than his kids!

Good thing we have this sandpile in our backyard, he's diggin' to China. This was a week ago, now all you can see is his butt sticking out. Then he gets really tired and has to rest!

Recent Pics

I have not been on the ball lately, I felt really busy. Anyway, here's a quick update!

Cason has gone from this...To this...To this...He wanted to walk so badly and was so excited, he just kept trying. He doesn't walk all of the time, but is lovin' when he does. He's doing awesome

After 10 years, I have given in to Scott and we now have a dog, who Cason likes quite a bit. He's a golden lab named Thor(more pics to come)

Too cute and he loves the bathNot too pleased...It starts... (this one was supposed to show up first) Scott was out of town by the wayHere's a glimpse of the girls as teenagers with their beautiful makeup...

Random Questions

Thanks to my sister Jen, for starting this, it's fun to read what you all had to say. I too have not much to add to the blog lately, so I'll keep it going.

1.What time did you go to bed last night and were you alone?

About midnight, and no, Scott was with me. I should have gone to bed alone, as Scott is obsessed with his snowmobiles and sometimes lives in the garage, but for some reason I almost always wait til he comes in to go to bed!

2.If you could be given ANY gift, what would it be?
More patience, for my children. Oh, and the weekend alone Jen wants, that would help.

3.What was the last filmed that really moved/disturbed/thrilled you and why?
Inception. Funny that this is common, but really it is the first/last movie I've seen in FOREVER. And it was really good. Was it really a dream.....?

4.What is your favorite TV show of all time ie you have seen them all, can watch it over and over again and can quote lines from it?
I honestly don't think I have one. Don't get me wrong, I like TV, but most things don't fit into this category. I am gonna say that Big Bang Theory may be becoming the one though.

5.What's your favorite way to wake up and what's the first thing you do?
I hate waking up! But if I have to choose, it's slowly and on a warm day, and I do go pee first thing.

6.What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?
No answer, Mandy is me.

7.If you had to do a bushtucker challenge (you have to eat insects/bugs/etc) what would be the worst thing you had to eat?
Spiders, or anything leggy and crawly

8.What's the worst/most embarrassing cd/album you ever owned and do you still have it?
TLC, yes

9.What characteristic do you dislike in yourself?
I wish I were more outgoing.

10.Your favorite item of clothing and why?
Boots, I've commented recently to Scott that I could own very many pairs (I believe I said 10 but I could have more) and would be happy. I don't know why, I just love them.

11.If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and who would it be with?
I would love to go to Tahiti or Fiji, or really anywhere that has a beach, with Scott.

12.If you could have any animal/creature, what would your ultimate pet be?
Honestly, I don't like pets much. I have a thing about hair and slobber and animals on me.

13.What did you want to be when you were little and do you think you ever will be?
I think nurse, doctor, chiropractor, lots of medical things and nope. I found my niche in x-ray and they were all medicine-related and I don't want to go back to school.

14.What's the next planned event you're looking forward to in your life?
Hopefully, a weekend away for our 10-year anniversary, or at least a night!

15.What were you doing before you started this?
Preparing my relief society lesson, yay.

16.What was the last thing you ate that you really shouldn't have?
A good portion of a costco-size bag of mini eggs!

17.If you were an icecream flavor, what would you be?
Don't know, but I'd eat cookie dough icecream.

18.Who was the last person you spoke to that you didn't want to?
Today, customer service reperesentative from Roger's, I just talked to someone else yesterday, stop phoning me I don't want to pay for more stuff for our cell phones!

19.What was your favorite toy as a child?
I don't remember, I have more fond memories of playing outside by the creek.

20.When was the last time you cried laughing and why?
This might sound stupid, but I know I just did a week or so ago and I have no idea why. I think Scott may have been tickling me.

21.What is stashed under your bed/mattress?
Duffel bags, books, dust. (hopefully in that order)

22.What did you dream about last night?
Nothing

23.What are you really afraid of?
Being outside alone at night, and movies with faces/dead people in water creep me out.

Trouble

Our baby is turning into a toddler too fast. He has decided recently that "real" crawling is better than his army crawl. He can do stairs. He stands up against everything and creeps along, that's him getting his favorite toy, the phone. I found it the other day and it had been on for 2 hours! oops. He gets into every cupboard and pulls out everything. He's our little terror. He loves the toilet and unrolling the toilet paper. And he's fast, I gotta keep an eye on him constantly! And then he gives you his squinty-eye smile and how can you be mad? It's funny how he scrunches up his face. The last pic is him on a Saturday a couple weeks ago when we had some friends over to ride on the toboggan behind the snowmobile. He loved this suit! We had a lot of fun.