End of August

Tuesday of this week I went over to Vanessa's to borrow a machine to process apples for apple sauce. I ended up unloading my kids with Vanessa while I went grocery shopping (mini vacation!! Thanks Vanessa!!) After shopping I headed back and we had a play date with Vanessa and her kids. Kendal made the sad comment that now that she'll be in school in afternoons and her cousins will be going in mornings that she'll see them less. It's a bummer, but I assured her we'll try to get together throughout the school year.
Tuesday Afternoon I turned the kitchen into an applesauce factory. Once I got a rhythm going things ran pretty smoothly. I was grateful for Vanessa's machine, but I also used the blender because I don't mind peels in my sauce. Casey walked in from football practice to a crazy kitchen and was kind enough to take the kids out to Arctic Circle to eat and get some energy out. (Thank you Hon!!) I ended up with thirteen quarts and ten pints of sauce. I'll put up peaches sometime and we'll see if I do pears.

Thursday Morning I got a call that my Aunt Margaret had a heart attack Monday, a second call a bit later told me that she had passed away earlier that morning. Margaret was 91 years old. Aunt Margaret was dubbed Aunt Marta by David as a kid because he couldn't say Margaret. We were so close with Margaret and Arnold growing up. I remember them joining our extended family for so many of our family gatherings. Margaret was so fun to play games with; especially Pollyanna. I think she changed the rules every time we played the game (mostly for her benefit ; ). She could be found telling stories, avoiding the camera when it came out, or sneaking sweets out of the pantry or Grandpa's sweets drawer as she passed. I remember as time passed and her eyesight was getting worse she could recognize us by our voices. I'd say hello and she'd know it was me. When we lived in Challis we passed Blackfoot on our way to Logan so we stopped to visit a few times; age and life had taken there tole and Margaret wasn't her old self, but it was nice to visit. It's a comfort to know she's with loved ones on the other side and she no longer has to bear any of her physical burdens. She will be whole body and mind! We love you Aunt Marta; till we meet again!

Thursday afternoon I took the kids to the park. They spent most of their time trying to climb back up the big slide and sliding down in a heap together. After that we made our way over and watched the end of Casey's football practice. The kids got a glimpse of what Daddy does as a coach and enjoyed seeing it all. Their favorite parts were Daddy saying "Whistle whistle whistle." to stop a play instead of actually blowing a whistle; and when he was talking with the group of players how they moved around the field with him like a bunch of Minions. When practice was over we all headed over the the Elementary school for back to school night. We found out Kendal with have afternoon Kindergarten with Mrs. Stastny. We've heard lots of people say how much they loved her as a teacher; and Casey happens to be teaching her son this year in his classes. Kendal only knows one or two kids in her class from primary. While they're not her best buds, she at least knows them and that's a start. We walked around with Kendal and got her used to where her class was, the office, the bathroom, and where the kindergartners play at recess. As Kindergarten has drawn closer Kendal is letting her nerves build up. She's excited as ever, but she keeps adding she's nervous as well. We've reassured her being nervous is ok, but just know all of her classmates are new and in the same situation, she will make friends, and have loads of fun. Casey will give her a father's blessing later today and We'll send her off in the morning full of positive thoughts.
Friday night we had Brett, Vanessa, and their kids over for dinner. Brett and Casey went over to the football game and the kids, Vanessa, and I stayed to play.
Saturday we drove down to Indian Hot springs and joined Rhett, Aria, and their girls to play at the pool. It's Janae's birthday today so they celebrated yesterday with a few friends. The girls were in heaven playing together, jumping off the diving board, going down the slides, and finding tubes to float on. Peter had to be coaxed into it all, but after a while we even had him relaxing and floating (with a life jacket) on his own next to Casey in the pool. 

After the pool we headed to Burley and spent time at Rhett and Aria's house. We've missed having these guys around since our simple college / early marriage days. I'm so glad we get them closer and our kids get to grow up as friends. We also joined them for a fiesta at their parents house / pond for dinner. (Aria's parents have a large property with a little lake that they rent out for reunions, parties, etc. You can swim, canoe, zip-line, paddle boat, or play on the playground. It's quite the place.) Peter was too into playing to eat much and he was over the moon when they pulled out a little train to take rides on. Kendal loved the bouncy house and playing on everything with Jenae.