First Haircut, First Camping + Grandparents Here

We had such a fun week with Grandma and Grandpa here.

They came to my Gospel Doctrine lesson on Sunday, and on Monday we went downtown to Walrus ice cream and walked around the splash pad area. I cut everyone's hair on their day off of school, and the next day was Grandpa's birthday! So fun to celebrate him. We had lasagna and pudding cake. He's always talking about wanting to have more lasagna traditions in life and I just wanted him to have that on his birthday because he's so great.

We cut Asher's hair for the first time, and it was semi-heartbreaking for me but he sure does look cute. We also had fun playing lots of games of Cover Your Assets. Then on Friday we took the family camping for the first time (for all of us together) and Asher had different plans. He cried and cried until I drove him home for the night and brought him back in the morning, so the boys would have some chance of getting some sleep.

I sure love my family. I know I'm in a sweet spot with their ages right now. 

Bro. Farr has been in our ward for a few months, and he somehow recognized me during one of my Sunday School lessons as someone he knew before -- turns out he was in my Salt Lake ward when I was 2 years old before moving to Cedar City. My dad was his Elders Quorum president when he got home from his mission. Fun that they were able to reconnect on the Farr's last Sunday when my parents were in town.

Cute little primary Bennett

I gave everyone haircuts on Monday and decided Asher should join the lineup for the first time. Cutting those cute little wings above his ears somehow added 8 months on his appearance and it made me so sad,
but he also looks very handsome. Cute boy.

I'm aware this looks 0% appetizing.
But two cheese enchiladas with rice and beans, after some chips and salsa, will forever be the greatest comfort food in the world to me.

We got to celebrate Grandpa's 74th birthday together!
Lasagna and pudding cake. Such a sweet person.

We took my parents on a tour of the Noosa dairy.
So fun seeing how they do things.

First full family camping trip. The boys were so excited to go.

Asher cried for a long while when I put him to bed, and when it got dark, I decided to just pack up and take off with him so that he didn't cry all night and keep all the boys up.

He was very happy to get in the car and get to his bed.

This one partied until about 11, couldn't handle the fun of sleeping right next to daddy.

We came back to the party in the morning, though :)

Big News, Big Swing Sets

 I'd like to say we're heading into fall but until we get out of the 90s I just don't think I can. My heat tolerance disappears in September! We're ready for fall over her.

But our happy news this week is that Michael is now a partner at his oral surgery office and we are happy, very happy, to be on the other side of that process. Michael is such a hard worker and great guy! That was a long road of tiring logistics and it feels really good to be done with the process. We're so grateful we landed where we landed. Michael works with the best people. We have the best neighbors. We live in the best city. We're just feeling grateful to be here and grateful when we look back at all the crossroads we went through that landed us here in the end. 

I love this stage with our boys. So much. I know that it's busy and tiring but that I will 100% look back on these days right now with such a sweet fondness. Packing lunches, walking to school, practicing piano with Westin, nursing Asher once at night, cracking up at toddler Camden's jokes, watching Bennett love who he loves with such a pure heart. These boys are just treasures right now. I know I'm going to love them when they're teenagers but I also know I'm really going to like scrolling through pictures of these days :) :)

We are now a swing set family! Our sweet neighbors are moving and we are going to miss them SO so much, but they sent their swing set our way in prep for their big move. The funny thing is that the previous owners of our house used to have this swing set, and when their kids got bigger they gave it to our neighbors a few years ago for their grandkids to play on. Now it's back to its roots in our yard and the boys are thrilled. On Saturday I went to a High Fitness class then came home and helped Michael take the swing set apart and move it over big piece by big piece and I was wiped out. We had had to call in reinforcements to help us lift the bottom part of the swing set, a little fort with real windows which is so super heavy. It was so nice of a couple ward friends to show up spur of the moment and help us move it over.

Other happy news is having grandma and grandpa here! We always feel so lucky when they visit. The boys love having them here so much and Michael and I always do, too. We're looking forward to our week with them!

My favorite part of teaching Gospel Doctrine today was focusing on how a soft answer truly does turn away wrath, and there's not much else that is more valuable when applied at home, I think. Keeping composure in the face of anger, maintaining calm when emotions are high, managing your energy when someone else isn't, these habits just go so far and offer a strength far beyond anything anger could ever do for you. I want to be that for my kids. It's a lot of work to maintain a soft-answer-demeanor and they deserve it.

Apples are coming on!
Camden is at the ready with his dump truck.

I was kind of dreading packing lunches but I've actually kind of liked it.
I'm sure that will fade :) But I like turning what we have into lunches and my boys eat much better at school than if I were to serve them the exact same food at home over the summer haha.
We had crepes for dinner one night in celebration of me FINALLY making a stockpile of strawberry jam in our freezer, so I packed turkey pesto crepes for their lunches the next day.
Michael likes that he gets lunches now too now that school has started haha. 

This boy has my heart.

We have chairs! I ordered dining chairs in March and here they are in September. 
Truthfully the folding chairs were stress free and great for those months in between and it wasn't a big deal, but then it was a pleasant surprise when they finally came around :)

My parents are always mailing us crosswords and newspaper jokes and ice cream money and I just love the happy mail they send our way so much. Such a sweet thing they do.

We have a grasshopper that stalks our doorbell camera.
Michael keeps throwing him far away but doesn't have the heart to kill him,
but he just comes back. It's cracking me up. 
I sent this to Michael at work and I just laugh when my watch notifies me 5+ times a day that someone is on my porch but really it's a grasshopper on my camera.

First time sitting in the cart together.
That carseat in the cart kind of helped keep Costco hauls under control,
but now we fill that basket up again. These boys consume a wild amount of food.
There are 138 eggs in my fridge right now, and that's not even far from our average.
138. It wasn't a typo.
138.

Westin loved helping with the swing set project.

Sweet Asher is just content wherever you set him... not much movement happening here.

Tomato harvesting with grandma

And we're a swing set family!
Putting down more and more roots all the time...
that swing set is never moving, is what I'm saying.