Hurricane--Tornado!

In late fall, we had a hurricane/tornado/I am not sure what it was at our house.  It all started when Jade and I were driving home from SLC.  We had been at an outing for my work and as we got closer to Orem, we say what looked like a funnel cloud over Utah Lake.  It was so weird...  We watched it rise closer to the mountains and with it the whole sky was turning black as night.  As we neared our house and got closer to the mountain, the wind was horrendous.  Just about a block away from our house, a steel trailer, not attached to the back of a truck, came blowing across the road right in front of my car.  I was lucky to dodge it at the last second!  We pulled into our driveway just in time to see giant branches from our tree blow across the road. As we ran inside to grab the camera...I saw our fence start to wobble...

And sure enough, it blew right over, snapped 3 posts that were cemented 3 feet in the ground!  It was crazy as we watched Ben try to hold them up.  It was the weirdest storm I have ever witnessed.  It felt like being in a tornado, so eery!

The next day, the damage around our neighborhood was crazy...broken fences and tree limbs strewn everywhere. 

Mommy's Little Helper

When I walk into the kitchen and find this little helper....doing this....it makes me smile! She kind of has an obsession with water and washing dishes.  Maybe it's not so much the dishes, just playing in the water!  But when I caught her today, she was so proud to tell me, "Mama, I help!"

Labor Day in E-town

After our adventure at Kaeli's, we headed up to Evanston for the annual Labor Day parade.  The girls were so excited for the parade.  Thank goodness for little towns that still have great traditions--I miss that!

Jade's new house...

Smiling with cousin Jax man!

Buddies!

And now for the parade...the girls anxiously awaiting the "candy!"  This was a rare moment when they were actually sitting down!

Most of the time they looked like this and I was chasing them back to the sidewalk so they did not get run over.  Oh the lure of candy being thrown at you!

If you wave, you get more candy!

They loved putting money into the Fireman's boots...

"Mama, I want to be a princess like that!"

Jax the Man and Grandma

So serious...

That afternoon we ended up at the fairgrounds for the crafts and fun they have there.  They were handing out free ice cream cones when we got there.  Kiera absolutely loves ice cream cones!  She has a bad habit though of always biting the wrong end first...

And then she wonders why it all leaks out the bottom!

Pony ride...Kiera was not super excited about this...

Jade absolutely loved it!

Happier by the end and holding Mommy's hand.

Finally we ended up at the girls favorite...the bouncy house!

Kiera was dying to touch this waterfall...so Uncle Cole obliged!

First Black Eye

We went to Aunt Kaeli's house on Labor Day weekend to visit and play.  All was well until Kiera took a dive off the playground!  Because it was right above her eye and it started swelling to the size of a small bouncy ball immediately...I ended up rushing her in to Instacare.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

By day four, it looked like this and then just started turning yellow and healing.  This little girl was such  a trooper and never whined at all.  She is super lucky she did not need stitches or anything.  

Summer BBQ with Old Friends

During the end of summer, we were able to have our good friends Ang, Tony & Boston and Steph, Nate, Eliza and Jonathan come over to our yard for a BBQ.  I love getting together with my friends, especially these ladies.  We shared so many memories during our years we taught school together. Now our kids are getting to know each other.  Fun times!

Miss Eliza

The girls were mesmerized by this giant fire their Daddy's built!  We definitely go big here!

This is how Kiera walked around most of the night, she thought the fire was "loud."

Loungin' around...

Apparently, baby Boston's toys were the only ones that interested Kiera!

Nate and Jonathan

Eliza's first S'more...

The girls enjoying their S'mores...yikes!

That's my girl!

Angie and Boston

Doesn't he look like a little man? Whose kids are born with that much hair?--certainly not mine!

Steph, Angie, Me

Kiera and Mommy--love this girl!