.it's coming on fall.

and just like that summer is over.  I have to admit a part of me is going to miss the warmer days, which is saying something because I detest heat, but having little people, those warm days are a breath of fresh air from the humdrum of the house.  Fall and is my favorite still by far, but the idea of being cooped up in a house on cold days with wound up children gives me just a slight bit of anxiety.  But it is what it is, and we have really enjoyed these past few weeks of summer.

The yard and garden have completely transformed in the year we've been here.  With much thanks to my mother and her green thumb we actually have flowers and trees that are growing abundantly.  Finn and I have waited eagerly for these dahlias to open up, and it was worth the wait...aren't they beautiful?

Over the summer, our neighborhood does group park days.  These were much look forward to at our house giving us a change of pace and a chance for the kids to play with all the neighbor kids.  Our last one was at the end of August up to Silver Lake.  I love being out in nature with the little dudes!

 and we love having our gaggle of neighbor kids!

 Roy and I were finally able to celebrate our anniversary with our sunset dinner and sailing excursion.  It was sweet, even if I did get a bit sea sick towards the end...I have no stomach for boats apparently.

8 years with this handsome boy!

seriously so beautiful!!!

At the end of August, I started dabbling with our cnc router that Roy got.  I started making a few things, and received such positive feedback from friends and family, that I started looking into doing this as a side business.  I still can't believe how much it has taken off in the last three weeks, just by word of mouth.  I'm hoping to get things set up soon for an etsy shop and see where it goes from there.  I feel like I'm supposed to pursue this for whatever reason, and hope that it does well.

At the beginning of September we celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday.  She is amazing, and loved by so many!  I'm blessed to call her mind!!!

Eisley made some giant leaps this month as well.  She finally took up walking, and has mastered it fairly quickly, she also somehow bypassed our child gate system and took her first tumble down the stairs...followed the next day with her first dose of pink eye.
She has recovered from both and is as spunky and happy as ever.

Finn started his second year of preschool, and has had some anxiety about it.  He tells me he doesn't like big groups of kids, and so he stresses out every time I drop him off, but when I pick him up he always says  he had a good time...so there's that.  I'm hoping it gets better as the year goes.

We family reunioned it up in conjunction with my Grandma's birthday and had a good old time.  Since my parents are on their mission, me and my sisters took on a lot of the work and planning.  It was A LOT of work, and we definitely missed the expertise of my mom and sister Kay, but I think it came off pretty well.  As you can see, being 90 does not stop my grandma from doing much.

 We played, ate, and danced ourselves silly!

We are still taking full advantage of the warm days by getting out and playing.  E and Ms. M had a skinny dipping session and really enjoyed splashing each other.

 E is mastering her hand eye coordination.

 One of the biggest things to happen this month is my first actual girls night over since being a mom.  So for the first time in nearly 5 years I had no babies with me during the night. It was very much appreciated and I love that I have good friends that will do things like this with me.  It wasn't actually very restful as we stayed up until 2 talking, but it was something I could get used to.

 Meg's latest thing is taking pictures.  My phone is loaded with blurred images of everyday life...like catching E in a falling moment.  It's pretty cute!

 Finn has been getting into puzzles a lot lately, and we recently acquired 5 new ones from a neighbor.  We spent a rainy afternoon together while his sisters slept.  Those are moments I won't trade for anything.

Meg is growing up too and now sleeps in her own big girl bed.  She tells me every night, "this my new bed mommy.  you like it?"  She also insists on sleeping with everything she can humanly scrounge up before bed ie. books, jewelry, dress up dresses, stickers, toys.  I go in after she's fallen asleep and clear the clutter so that she can actually sleep.

This is just a sampling of all the happenings this past month, but it's wonderful to look back and see all the goodness that is apart of our lives!