Oh what a beautiful morning..

As many of you know, I get up pretty early for my daily workout.  Besides the perk of having a little girlfriend chat time and some stress relief, there are some other benefits - this was one that greeted Kristy and I a couple weeks ago as we were leaving the gym.  Love it. 

Fun with family

We had both a week of family time when La-La, Greg, and Julia came to visit all their family in Utah.  We went to Gardner Village, Farm Country, and even the circus!  Here are some photo highlights of the fun

This is how exhausted we all felt at the end of the circus!

11 years old!

Our sweet boy has turned 11.  Honestly, 11 is OLD!  So many changes this year - no more cub scouts, last year of primary, basketball will have rules (beyond the traveling rule, ha ha), and I'm so excited and sad at the same time!  Two weeks ago, he accompanied the Primary on I am a Child of God for the Primary Program!  He's talented, kind, intelligent, thoughtful, and I love him SOOO much.  I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up - he wants to be an artist and a software gaming designer.  I think whatever he decides, he'll do it.  Love you sweet boy - and slow down all this growing up stuff just a little, please.

Oh, and this year Hunter had a date with his mom for his Birthday.  We went to the Muse concert!  We were in the nose bleed section, but it was awesome.  We both hated the opening band, but loved the rest of the concert.  It was a tough sacrifice for Shayne to stay home with the little kids, but I sure appreciated the chance to do something "cool" with him.

New business idea

A couple of weeks ago, Cole and I had this conversation on the way to school:

C: Mommy, I was thinking I could start my own business to take care of sea creatures.
M: Ok
C: Really?!?!  I can do my business and I can have sea creatures in our house?
M: Well, what kind of sea creatures are you talking about?  We don't have an ocean by us.
C: Yeah, well, I was thinking fish, like goldfish, and stuff like that, is that ok?
M: Sure.
C:  Awesome!  Cause I'm saving to go on a cruise with Connor (his BFF).
M: Oh, really!?
C: Yeah, and Connor's mom said we can do our business too. Well, she just stayed quiet so, I think that means yes.  So, can you put me on the internet?
M: On the internet?
C: Yeah, so people will know about my business.
M: Where on the internet?
C: Just put me on YouTube.

A few days after, he made the cutest business cards - his job is:

Good Work Job
And his name and his phone number are written there as well.  He hasn't passed the cards out yet, but I love that business name - he's so clever!  Gotta love that boy to pieces!

Typical

This is a typical afternoon in my backyard with the two little boys - love, love hearing the basketball in action and seeing the little fingers reaching for berries!

Our new pet...

One of my clarinet students gave us a Monarch caterpillar - we found milkweed for it and took care of it until we left for our little vacation at Bear Lake.  Then our neighbors took care of our pet and when we returned he made his chrysalis!  1 week later, we had a new friend emerge - BEAUTIFUL!

PS We did let our little friend fly away when he was ready!  

Bear Lake - Labor Day Vacation

We went to Bear Lake over Labor Day with Grandma/Grandpa.  We camped in our huge, HUGE tent, and Grandma and Grandpa had their tent trailer.  Cherae and Chanins' families came and joined the fun for a day too, but mostly, it was us just chilling with the grandparents.  It was a great weekend - couldn't have had better weather - well, except the last day it decided to rain!  Shayne did a first and biked 50 miles with me - it was a great ride!  The kids went with Grandma/Grandpa to fun spots (I still need those pics!) while we pedaled, pedaled, and pedaled more all the way around the lake.  I didn't get the camera out very much - but here's what I did get - pics of the Minnetonka Cave and a little bit of our fun on the beach with the cousins.  Time to plan the next vacation with Grandma & Grandpa - we love to be with them!