The Last Gasp of Summer

The last few weeks turned out to be busier than we thought. Nile's brother, Scott, came arrived home from his mission on Friday, August 7th. It was fun to go to the airport to see him. I don't have any photos, though, because I forgot my camera. That same week we also enjoyed having Nile's grandma here visiting. She stayed with us the first part of the week and it was fun to hang out together. The day after Scott got home, Nile's sister Sarah went to the temple and we were able to go with her. I did remember the camera that day:

That is newly-returned Scott standing next to me. All of Nile's siblings were able to be there except for April (who didn't arrive from Chicago until very late that night.) Scott gave his homecoming talk in church the next day and did a great job.

The next day we headed out on an unexpected 3-day vacation to Park City, courtesy of Tim and Rachelle. I also forgot my camera so all the photos are courtesy of Rachelle. Before we left that morning, though, I sent Jumble off to band camp. So she wasn't with us, and we missed her, but she was happy to be off with all her band friends for the week, even if it wasn't to play but to work, work, work!

We stopped at Deer Creek Reservoir on our way to Park City--it was a beautiful setting.

Tim and Niles working to inflate the canoe and boat.

The kids start wading and skipping rocks.

Atom spent the entire time happily moving rocks from the shore back into the reservoir.

Jet was up to his neck in the water before I got done cleaning up lunch and could get him changed into his swimming suit. He loves water, that one!

So here he is dripping wet!

Minnie wades closer to shore.

Atom continues to throw rocks.

This photo of me and Minnie shows how windy it was.

Niles and Jet in the boat.

Once Jet was in his swimsuit, he stayed out of the water and stayed dry! (Izak and Timo are about to have a water fight with the oars!)

Once we arrived in Park City, most of the crew headed to the pool. Niles and Tim are teaching Atom and Gwen some swimming skills.

Jet in the water again.

All my boys!

The next day we went to the Alpine Slide. Minnie coming down, followed closely by Niles and Atom.

Niles and Atom on the slide.

Jet finishes the slide. He went so slow (he doesn't weigh enough!) he held up two people behind him, unfortunately for them!

Atom and Gwen enjoy the airplane ride.

We had a great time in Park City! It is so beautiful there and it was great to get away from the daily routine for a few days. We also visited Olympic Park but have no photos since Tim's family wasn't with us and we didn't have a camera. Niles went straight to work from there on Wednesday morning. I stayed with the kids until that evening when we met up with our ward's YW and went down the Alpine Slide again. We were able to get most of the school shopping done while we were there--at the outlet stores--so my kids got a few items of name-brand clothing that I could never afford at the normal store prices. The Wal-Mart there was also much less crowded than the one near my house so we were able to get some school shopping done there as well. Thanks for inviting us along on your vacation, Tim & Rachelle! We were extremely grateful to be included.

This Sunday we had dinner and the August birthday celebration with the Pews. It was fun to have Daniel join us--he's just arrived from Texas to start at BYU!

Giovanni is the lone local August birthday.

Yesterday we went to Seven Peaks Water Park. We had two free tickets we needed to use, so Niles took a day off and we all went together, along with Jumble's friend, Emi. We were going to leave in the early evening since Minnie and Jet had back-to-school nights, but we were having so much fun we decided to skip those and stayed until the park closed.

Jumble on one of the slides.

Jet-splash!

Minnie.

Atom in the wave pool.

Niles, Atom, Jet in the wave pool (on the tube.) Minnie is swimming at the far right.

So we partied hard until the last minutes of summer ended.

This morning Minnie started school (Jet and Jumble start tomorrow.) Here she is all ready to go:

Poor girl got pretty sunburned yesterday. We put on sunscreen but forgot that some medicine the dermatologist has her using on her face and upper back makes her super-sensitive to the sun. So those two spots still got sunburned and she gets to go back to school looking somewhat like a lobster.

I'm still in denial. I love summer and was so not ready for it to end.

Post Edit:

Oh, I forgot! Here is a close-up of Minnie showing her new braces. She's had them on the bottom teeth for awhile, but just got them on the top teeth last month. I don't think I've taken a close-up of her new smile before today.