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"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2015"

Cruz: You were such a good helper tonight, Cruz.  You helped us set the table, you sat by Mila to help her find just the right Elmo video while Daddy and I prepared dinner, and you went back and forth to the kitchen counter, grabbing grapes for her while she watched Feist sing 1234 on Sesame Street.  And then, to top it all off, you ate an entire taco without any coercing, a big feat for us at the dinner table.  We were both so proud of you tonight!

Mila: You've been sleeping 12 hour nights here lately, and boy are we proud of you for that!  Papa Curt watched you for a couple hours yesterday so we could go to church and listen to the teaching without working so hard to distract you.  We didn't know how he'd do on his own, but I think you loved every minute of it.  When we asked if you had fun, you yelled a big exuberant "Yeah!" He even changed a poopy diaper, a feat he hasn't conquered for at least a couple of decades!  We were all pretty proud of papa, too!

Good Things // Our August

Before we usher in a fall season of all things good (soup and flannel and pumpkin spice everything), we must bid farewell to one really great August.  It's always the calm before the storm, so to speak, with lots of birthday celebrations and simple summer days of pool afternoons and ice cream before bed.  So here, the last few weeks of our August, in pictures.

We attended the Junior League's Touch-A-Truck one overcast Saturday morning.  Cruz honked a lot of horns and we finally got to meet the other man in our life - the UPS man. :) 

After Touch-A-Truck, we had smoothies and sandwiches at Cottonwood Canyon.  If you've never been, I highly recommend this place.  Their portobello sandwich and strawberry smoothie is the best! 

Movie and popcorn nights on a Sunday night.  One blue sleeping bag, one pink one, and two excited little kiddos with mini bowls of popcorn resting on their chests. 

TGIF dance parties to Uptown Funk and Happy, two of Cruz's faves this summer. 

More swimming lessons.  And more jumping off that diving board!

Blanket forts on a humid Saturday morning.  Blanket forts are not a trade of mine, so imagine how excited the kids were when Beau assembled this one on the deck.  They rolled out sleeping bags, brought an entire closet of toys out there, and stayed out there most of the morning.

A clean house and a lot of progress made this summer.  I love living here.

80th birthday celebrations with Papa Merle.  I grew up about a block away from this man and was blessed to have him as a very present part of my life during my childhood.  Now, I'm continually blessed at how present he is for my own kids' childhood.  He doesn't seem a day over 60 to me, especially when he's picking up his four great grand kids and feeding them birthday cake!  He's a special guy and we pray we have many more Cyclone birthday cakes to share with him.

A beautiful Sunday afternoon hiking through Hartman Reserve.  We usually save this spot for fall, but realized how pretty it is in late summer, too, with its fields of yellow daisies and lush green leaves canopying above us.  We took our time, pointed out mushrooms and red berries and even a deer, and told Cruz stories about coming out here with him when he was Mila's age.  

For the longest time, she contentedly trudged behind us, humming to herself and taking her sweet old time.  Every time I'd turn around, she'd stop, stand up straight, and pose with this sweet little smirk on her face.

Our little explorer found this stick and said it looked like a smile.  Pretty funny...

I have a slew of pictures of Beau and Cruz that look so familiar to these.  Walking behind this scene makes it pretty hard to pay attention to the nature around us.

August, you were a good one.  But we're ready for all things fall!