I am behind on these posts again, but I didn't want to miss August. We had a great month as a family in August, enjoying summer while it lasted! The kids swam in Grandma Lindi's pool a bunch, Rylee had her birthday, we did the Anderson family reunion, and we got to spend a lot of time with friends and family--despite all getting some pretty bad colds in the middle of the month.
The girls and I went to a local live theater performance. They do a kids' production (everyone in the show is 8-14) and it's always a fun one!
The kids had a ton of fun with water as well. They lost our sprinkler, so they made their own with a plastic bag and it actually worked okay for them to play in. (They also took their own photos of it, if you can't tell XD)
The kids have been doing gymnastics tricks all summer long together.
We also love our library day each week (*most weeks). Parker built this house and wanted to take some pictures of it.
And of course, the kids are always finding bugs and snakes and frogs everywhere we go.
More library!
And more stunts!
When it's rainy and cold out, but you want to go outside and all that's available is a giant coat 😂
It's fun having Makenzie and Koy living so close! These are Ashtyn and Lizzy's pictures of how they spend their time at the treat when we go to Makenzie's for it.
Parker's creation iwth dominoes.
And a picture Parker drew and was very proud of. She used a marker that was starting to dry out to get the different looking texture.
They also have loved getting out Legos and making worlds out of them.
And of course, Perler beads!
This was a pulley system Ashtyn and Elizabeth made up on our stairs. It actually worked pretty well, if you put rocks in it to get it to go down.
Blocks at the libary!
Ashtyn never ended up doing this (maybe next summer, when I have more capacity because we don't have a new baby), but this was an idea she had for a business and then made a flyer for it.
When we officially started school up again at the end of August, I had put "math worksheet" on Ashtyn's list but hadn't gotten the worksheet printed yet. She solved that by making her own. She told me, "I tried to write down problems that wouldn't be so easy that I just could do them, but also make them easy enough that I could actually do them."
Oliver gave his first talk in primary in August. He helped me write the talk beforehand and then I walked up with him. He said the first line into the microphone, but then got shy and had me say the rest. I'm proud of him for getting up there.
I also got my 2026 bullet journal to start working on. I usually don't get it this early in the year, but I knew I wouldn't have as much time to work on it.
Helping Mom make muffins 🩷 I had to be careful to not get a "secret ingredient" (AKA her drool) in the muffins.
I love snuggling Oliver.
When you stay up late with sisters, sometimes you still need a little nap.
Hugs and kisses for Leah, always.
Ashtyn has discovered she loves to put on makeup sometimes. This is her "teenager" look.
I love how much they love each other. 🩷
Parker changing Leah's diaper.
These videos were just a couple of snapshots of our day, when I was feeling particularly grateful for the day to day life that I get to live.
Photos and video cred: Parker
He's such a cutie pie. He often falls asleep while I'm reading aloud.
I accidentally ran over Oliver's balance bike. I didn't realize at first and was at our neighbor's house on the road. It was stuck and I had to get Ben to help me get it out. The handlebars got bent and the seat got some damage, but we were able to fix the handlebars and it is still ridable, thank goodness.
Naps on the go aren't very common any more and they're always short,
but sometimes they are necessary.
Leah had spit up a litte on the floor, so I was turning around to get a spitup rag and as I turned, she spit up all over my chair. The joys of a baby 😂
Sucking on her fingers while sleeping 😍
Leah started getting better at grabbing things and playing with them in August.
We love seeing her play.
When you're supposed to be asleep ...
She rolled over and started playing with the book.
She did not like her exercauser at first.
She has a such sweet voice.
Leah also got to try some solid foods in August. I was sitting down with food while holding her and she was just acting like she really wanted some, so I went and got a banana. I let her try some pieces of it and she loved it, but struggled to eat it a little. This is the second time she had banana, she had already figured out how to chew it up and swallow it. She loves solid food, especially banana.
Leah doesn't actually love walks in the stroller,
but she'll (sometimes) tolerate it while I get my walk in.
Leah loves rolling over and is getting really good at being on her tummy (even back in August, though she is obviously even better now). She still rarely rolls from her stomach to her back.
At the very end of August (the last day of the month), we drove out to West Jordan for the day. We woke up and got in the car after feeding Leah. We stopped in Heber to use the bathroom and get lunch at Wendy's (the kids' favorite place to eat) and feed Leah again. Leah did not sleep a lot, but she hardly cried at all on the drive out. We drove to my mom's house to spend the afternoon there.
In the evening, we went over to my brother's house for my niece's first birthday party. It was a huge party with tons of people there. The kids had a blast playing in their house and are convinced it's the best house ever. It was fun to see some people I haven't for awhile, like my grandparents and Jon and Amanda.
Then we loaded back up in the car and did the drive home. It was not very fun. Leah hadn't napped well during the day (she struggles to nap on the go) and was exhausted. She fell asleep basically right away, but then woke up when we got to Heber. It ended up turning into a very late nap. We stopped at Panda real quick and fed Leah (we just stayed in the car for this stop), got gas and used the bathroom and got the kids ready for bed and then started the rest of the drive home. Leah was not very happy, but also wasn't going to sleep because of her little nap. Oliver fell asleep pretty fast.
We got stopped at Strawberry because of an accident and sat for about an hour while they cleared it up. It was really stressful at first because Leah was crying, but we didn't want to get her out of her carseat in case we started driving (and we definitely didn't want to get stuck behind a giant line of cars). Luckily, she only took about 10 minutes to fall asleep. Once she and Oliver were asleep, it was a lot less stressful, though our drive would have been a lot better if we hadn't gotten stuck there (both Oliver and Leah woke up in the last hour of driving, crying, and I couldn't help but think that if we hadn't gotten stuck, they'd be home in bed already).
We listened to the book One Wrong Step by Jennifer A. Neilsen, a historical middle grade about a group of climbers attempting Mt. Everest. We started it on the way out and finished it when we were close to Vernal on the way home (we managed to finish because of our 1 hour delay). We all loved the book (except Oliver, who still doesn't usually follow the family audiobook closely). Even Ben had us pause while he ran into Panda to grab the food so he wouldn't miss anything. It was fun. And then just a couple days later, Ben and I were doing the NYT Mini together and it asked a question about Mt. Everest that we knew becuase of the book! I was way too happy about it.
August was a full and happy month for our family. We feel so blessed to have so much family to spend time with and I always love the warm summer days.
