books

*A friend of mine wrote about a book she and her daughter had gone through. I decided to get it for Kendall and I. Kendall LOVES it and I do too. She is daily asking if we can, "Do our book". :) I would highly recommend it.

I had such a hard time finding a good one for Chris and Cam. There are sooo many more books for girls. Chris ended up finding one. He and Cam have read a few chapters and so far, Chris said it's really good.

Another book I highly recommend deals with worry/anxiety for kids. Cam and I started this one over the summer. I was looking for strategies to help him in this area. While it looks like a little kid book, the concepts are awesome and very practical.

I wish I could recommend a book I'm reading...however it has been an embarrassingly long time since I've actually read a book. :(

*One or two times a year Chris' brother has a work conference out in the desert. He'll let Chris know the dates and offers for the kids to use the hotel pool. It has become somewhat of a tradition and the kids always look forward to it. It's usually while I'm still at work, so it turns into a fun outing with dad. 

Chris made it all the more exciting by including a trip to Krispy Kreme. :)

*The kids are back in the swing of things and both kids are really enjoying their teachers, classes, etc. Chris is back in the groove of taxi service to and from, I'm in the making lunch groove, and we are all in sadly the, "no more lazy mornings" groove. :(

*The kids and my new favorite song is Sam Hunt's, "House Party". Even this afternoon, there was a little not so great mood floating around the house. I cranked the song and it immediately disappeared. :)

*Cameron will become an official teenager in a couple of weeks. To celebrate, we invited the boys from his small group at church to a scavenger hunt. I gave them a booklet of clues, which included instructions at each destination (i.e. "Take a picture of a Lego set with more than 1000 pieces" -Target). They ended with a pizza lunch and cupcakes. Cam had a blast and I'm so thankful it turned out so well! 

Kendall was so excited to play her role. The boys went to Chick-fil-A and had to find a unicorn, who then gave them money for a soda. :)

*Yesterday the kids and I finished the second Hunger Games book and just finished the movie this afternoon. 

bass lake

I'm fully back in the swing of things with work, however the kids are finishing off their summer up with my in-laws. Our last family hoorah came in the form of a fantastic week with family at Bass Lake. My in-laws rented an amazing house right on the lake, which meant the kids could literally run out back and jump in. We are sooo grateful to them for providing such a fun place to spend the week together.

This was our backyard. Here Lauren and Kendall are working on something...not quite sure why they chose a floating dock to do writing. :)

This pic wasn't posed, which made it so much sweeter.

Chris' brother's family and our family piled into one car and made the drive to Yosemite one day. It was extremely hot, but didn't disappoint and was just so beautiful.

We rented a boat one day and it was a huge hit with the kids. They loved being pulled around (this is actually a pic of Chris falling off after attempting to stand up!).

Some of my favorite parts about these vacations are all the down times we have to just hang out and talk, both inside...

..and outside on the dock.

My MIL brought a Karaoke machine and Kendall and Lauren put together a party for everyone one night (including dancing!). 

Several games of Monopoly were played.

The entire vacation was amazing and more fun than I could have pictured us having. Unfortunately the end of the week yielded a few people who got sick. Chris' aunt Noonie is doing better, but we are still praying for her recovery. Cam and Kendall had gone home with my in-laws (they always watch them the first week that I have to go back to work), however not to go into too much detail, we ended up going to pick them up early as Cam got pretty sick. The kids were SOOO sad to have to leave, so we were able to work out a way for them to continue their stay after we had him home for a few days.

The kids get back Wednesday...then life for all four of us starts!!