What September (and the last bit of August) Looked Like

One funny part about traveling all summer 

is that we don't really get to spend much time at the pool!

Natalie invited us to go with her one day when we got back.

Care Bear and Finley had a fabulous time playing together

and jumping off the diving boards.

I had fun playing with the babies!

I made it back just in time to go to the Winston-Salem open.

That's always a fun date night.

We got to watch the doubles championship.

At the end, they let fans go out on the 

court for the trophy presentation.

So cool!

 The weather was spotty and we ended up taking off.

I took Andrew to one of my favorite restaurants,

Alma Mexicana, where I sometimes meet Bea and Maureen

for lunch. The dinner menu is different, but still yummy.

I talked Whit into getting her eyebrows waxed.

I think they look so pretty!

She's still getting used to them.

Reppin Dixie State on my van

First day of school!

Big sixth grader!

She got almost all of her classes with Sarah,

so is SUPER excited about that.

She is taking Chorus and Theatre as her electives.

And our beautiful sophomore!

She has Chorus, Chemistry, Spanish, and World History

this semester. Hoping for another great year!

Labor Day Weekend = Lake day with the Pools! 

Such a fun bunch!

We miss all of our young adult boys who live out of state.

Now we're full of girls, girls girls!

Andrew's shoulder felt well enough to ski! Yippee!

Jayne was in town so we had a GNO at Viva Chicken.

Andrew and I had date night at NC FolkFest. 

Love it.

Sarah invited Caroline and I to join them

at UNCG for Collage again. It is a beautiful

showcase of chorus, band, orchestra, and ensembles.

Whitney got her permit!

She is a super cautious driver.

Also this month,

Whitney officially outgrew me!

I thought she was done growing...

I love spending time with

my favorite twin toddlers!

They are so fun.

Caroline and I decided to visit the Central Carolina Fair

this year. They have a discount day that we took

advantage of it.

I wasn't impressed.

I don't think we'll go back. 

She got to feed a camel.

And some goats.

And she loved doing the bungee trampoline.

It was hot and expensive.

We were impressed and freaked out by

their motorcycle-in-a-tiny-ball feats, though.

Found a praying mantis on my van!

That was a first.

Whitney and I helped out with a service project at the church

one Saturday. Loved chatting with Carrie while we worked.

B-train got a job in St. George!

He's working at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

There is A LOT to learn, but he really likes it. 

In honor of B, we stopped at our local RMCF and

got a delicious caramel apple to share.

I'm coaching volleyball again.

I ended up with TWO of Shelley's former dancers.

(Three, if you count Caroline!)

I thought that was hilarious and sent Shelley a pic.

Gigi and Grandpa went to St. George to visit B.

So kind of them!

They had fun going out to dinner and the movies,

things B hasn't done since he moved there!

I got the four of us tickets to the Broadway show Aladdin in Charlotte. 

It was SOOOO great.

But, I learned that if Andrew is going to come with us,

I can't get seats in the balcony.

ESPECIALLY not in the front row of the balcony.

Eeek!

It was fun walking around Charlotte at night.

It made me miss B, though.

He loves cities.

Date night to the Downton Abbey movie

Our temple in Raleigh is finally done being remodeled.

So, in September they had the open house. 

I got to play the piano in the chapel across the parking lot.

A Steinway!

(Apparently that's a big deal.

It was nice, but I'm not professional 

enough to appreciate the significance.)

I took a quick tour when I was done playing 

the piano. It is GORGEOUS. They've added

lots of local touches--dogwoods, acorns,

seagulls. I love it so much.

We went back as a family the next night 

so that we could all tour it.

We picked up Marion on the way.

She's my good shopping buddy friend

who has moved to Durham to live with her sons.

So happy she could be with us!

The open house was super busy that night

and we had to rush the tour. 

I was sad.

I didn't even get to show the girls the

mirrors in the sealing room. Boo.

Dentist day!

(She didn't want her pic taken. Obviously.)

C hard at work.

She had her first bouldering comp of the season in Chapel Hill.

She moved up to the next age division this year, Group C.

Since she's one of the younger ones in the group,

she just knew she would get her butt kicked at comps.

Boy was she wrong!

She took FOURTH place out of 13 girls in her age group. 

Woo hoo! Super proud of her.

There's a show on Netflix about high school

basketball on the Navajo reservation.

It was SOOO good.

Andrew and I loved watching it together.

It was so fun to see the beautiful desert

and lots of the high schools where I played

sports growing up.