August 2014

Taking the girls to visit Grandpa Bill. I love this guy!

 

I have so many fun memories in this basement.  There was always so much Christmas magic down there, and the rice pudding!!! I think this is where I learned to love ham and cheese on rolls.

Grandma Pat's birthday party!

 

I caught Quincy lounging on these mini chairs and thought it was so cute!

 Annual swim party at aunt Sandra's. The water was pretty cold this year, but the big girls still braved it a few times.

 

By the time we left Quincy was super tired.

Heber Fair Days Parade. Jeremy wonders why we even bother going to parades after we've been to Mardi Gras, but there is just something about small town parades that is so fun. Of course they loved it.

Ah, the ol' alma mater Swiss Miss float.

Jed and Emily driving the truck for Cole's La Cross team, Jed is the coach too, so I guess it's fitting.

 Cousin pictures.

You can see Sara's foot in this picture. She had to hide behind Ana and hold her so she would stay in the picture. I was surprised that Quincy was as content as she was with Abby holding her.

Abby has been super good with Quincy. It's a lot of fun to watch them.

Jeremy's update from Louisiana.

 We decided to try out the new Provo Recreation Center one day and it was A-MAZING!  It was like $3 or $5 to get in and there was an entire indoor and outdoor water park to play in. Complete with water slides and scenery and a lazy river.

Ana was a little more wary of the water than Quincy but they still had fun playing.

Our last night in town we rode the Heber Creeper. I always think these things sound so fun until it comes down to it and then its a bit stressful and the ride is, well, just a ride.  Overall I am glad we did it, but it's definitely not an every year thing.  Plus we happened to go on a night when they oversold tickets by like 100 people.  We made it work, but for awhile it was crazy thinking we weren't even going to have a seat!

 Poor grandparents.

Quincy kept sticking more and more of herself out the window. I had to hold her back pretty forcefully a few times.

I love this barn. It's called the Tate barn and was listed in some historic and artistic barn books. It has since been torn down and rebuilt but I still think its beautiful.

All packed up and ready to head back to the Bayou with Gunner in tow.

Seriously?  Peed on again. While Gunner wasn't able to have a seat by us, we actually did fine on the plane. It was the layover where he was such a lifesaver.  We tried to just take a little break and let them run around a bit upstairs in Denver, but they kept going really far so that didn't work. Then lunch was a little chaotic since they all wanted something different and we had to go to two terminals. (I would not have appeased them if Gunner hadn't been there, but he was and we had time to kill).  They spilled about a million drinks while we were eating and Quincy was trying to push a stroller around and it was pretty much a disaster, but I kept my cool and we all survived.  I am pretty sure Jeremy would have lost his patience with both me and the kids.

Jer had one of our favorite Louisiana treats waiting for us when we got back in the car!  Café Du Monde Beignets!

He also had a few other surprises at home!  Two hamsters for the girls, and a portable phone battery for me!

and of course he decorated the bedrooms. BYU for Quincy and LSU for Lia and Ash.

A trip to the city and the aquarium with Gunner.

 

 We had a day or two once we got back to get Lia off to school...1st day of 1st grade!

 

Took Gunner to Kliebert's alligator farm.  It's sad I knew about the time frame when this branch fell since I go there so often. 

Crush...the 14+ foot gator that is the highlight of the tour.

One of Crush's girlfriends.

Ash was pretty brave.

YUMMY thin fried catfish from New Orleans Burger and Seafood company.

Picture day!

Ashlyn labeled Quincy with return address labels.

Jeremy and Gunner's chartered fishing trip.

 

Some Northlake Nature Center Adventures. The girls have been begging to take "dad" on the trail we helped clean up for our brag tag. They were super excited since they had been on a trail that he hadn't.

 

 

Frying up their catch of the day!  It was actually REALLY good. Better than anything I've ever tried to fry...especially since it was their first try.

 

Excited to go to the pool.

 Our tour of St. Joseph's.  Quincy was a pretty big pain but that was ok since I'd been. I was glad that was something Gunner wanted to do.

Ashlyn drew pictures of my mom, dad and Zak so we wouldn't miss them.

She also drew a picture of Jeremy and Quincy and hung it in Quincy's crib so she wouldn't miss dad while he was at work. I love the sweet things she thinks up.

I know Quincy is understanding more all the time.  When I was unloading groceries I handed her the diapers and said, "go put these in your room."  A few hours later I noticed the bag of diapers in my bathroom and got confused as to why they were there, then remembered Quincy had helped me with them. It made me smile.

I was up on a stool fixing some shelving in our closet and Quincy brought her chair in to help.

Playing on stage at the Children's Discovery center.  Ashlyn is really starting to include Quincy, especially when Ellia isn't around.

Quincy put this headband on all by herself and I think she did a dang good job.  She looks adorable if I do say so myself.

Helping daddy fix the dishwasher.

 

24th and 25th (jer gone, bows)

 

A little family hike to try out geocaching...we all got to wear our hiking boots!

We have a picture similar to this of all the girls.  Ellia kissed dad on the first try, Ashlyn slapped his face, and Quincy pointed to his lips.

Eventually we got what we wanted though.

Ellia 2009

 Ashlyn 2011

 

Navigating to our next cache.

Wahoo! Finished a year old project! I LOVE IT!

While waiting for the bus one day a neighbor drove up and asked us (Melissa, also a mother of 3 girls) if we wanted a bunch of bows since her kids were grown up.  Yes please! This is what was left AFTER Melissa went through them.  Some finished and some not.  I chose a bunch and then had a bow get together to spread the wealth. 

Our traditional breakfast for dinner out while Jeremy is away on business. This was the best yet in my opinion. I let them get whatever they want without a thought to cost or sugar or if they'd eat it.

Color Run Aug 23rd

While I dreaded the actual getting up early and doing the run, this ended up being so fun and memorable!  What a great group of ladies we had and even a TINY breeze that made it tolerable - sometimes.  Toward the end a few of us agreed that the only reason we were able to keep running in the heat was to GET THE DANG THING OVER WITH!

Someone got Laurie's behind!

Kate did it! She's been doing couch to 5k and she did awesome!

Then she attacked me with an entire green packet of dye.  The girls said I looked like an army toy so I tried to pose as if I were holding a gun.

Who signs up for this?  We do.  First having color thrown at us while we try to run on a hot and humid August day, then having someone use a leaf blower to try to get anything off that wasn't plastered down by sweat.

Such a fun group - but who is that chick with the gorilla arm?

We were all able to ride together which made it that much more fun.  Plus, Laurie brought cokes with "Share a coke with a Crazy Lady" on them for everyone.

The before shot.

After the race and headed to breakfast.  We did our best to clean up with baby wipes but we still got a lot of weird looks walking into the restaurant, and a few people even asked us why our hair and a few other places were covered in colors.  P.S. Kate took this selfie while driving...at least she was a at a stop light.

We were also brave enough to go dance on stage, at least it was bravery for me, I think it was natural for Jodi!

 The remnants once I got home. 

I had this blister on my finger and the blue seriously didn't go away for almost a week. That, and every q-tip I used for that long came out blue.

 

 A Houston Astro's game Jeremy went to on a business trip.

Good morning picture sent to dad while he was away.

 

 There was a social media fad this summer called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  It took a while but I was eventually nominated by Mia and Kelli.  I wasn't super excited about it but I used this bucket and donated to the cause!  Zak on the other hand filled the canoe with water and 40 lbs of ice when he got nominated.

I tried this service called Stitch Fix where you pay $20 and they send you 5 random pieces of clothing. You fill out a style profile online and your size so they have a good idea what you might like in advance.  IT WAS SO AWESOME!  Your $20 goes to anything you want to keep and you send the rest back for free.  I got some great pieces that I was really excited about.

Not so much my style.

These were three pieces that actually coordinated and while the pants were a but pricey so I decided to send the top and scarf back, I really do miss that shirt!

Here is a picture I took of things I already owned to show that they got my style pretty spot on AND the clothes they sent fit much better than what I was able to find - probably after a lot of searching and trying on.  Compare that to just walking out to the mailbox one day!

 

 Fun at the park.

Finally got around to painting Ashlyn's bed white! I love it! 

Making cookies.

Some of my favorite childhood pictures are of making cookies so I wanted to capture the moments with my girls.

1982

 

It was a celebratory night all around since LSU won!  (we did have to cook these at the neighbors house because our oven wouldn't turn on...but I think they were happy because the payout was a plate of cookies!)

My awesome stitch fix shirt that is gone forever.

Sunday afternoon trip to the beach.  We took lot's of Polly Pockets and even though some were nearly lost at sea I think we ended up coming home with all but one.