September

 I was not prepared for September. We went from a summer of relative freedom, to family vacation, to school, soccer, choir, volleyball, gymnastics, piano and more. But there was so much good this month that I don't want to forget. 

Viv loves playing the "pawano" and even is particular about what book she uses each time and turns the pages to new songs as she plays. Of course there is singing along as well. 

"His Majesty King Asa's private fort" There are lots of forts being made most days. 

We got to have Bethany at our house on her birthday. It was so fun to spoil her a little. She's a favorite of ours. 

Mariah got to go to a football game and sit with friends

We finally got to go geode hunting. It was so interesting to see what could be found inside these round ugly rocks. The older kids had a blast digging around and trying to find treasures. 

Vivi and Eliza didn't last long on the geode hunt, instead they spent most of their time trying to "catch fish" at the creek. Their shoes and pants were only completely soaked by the end. 

This year for Chet's birthday he requested ice skating. We were going to be in Iowa City the week before, so after soccer games we went to the rink. Chet and Austin were fearless and fell a lot but had a blast. 

Asa was happy to be with dad until he saw me...then it wasn't so fun for him anymore.

Mariah was more cautious but by the end she was racing around with her brothers. 

Vivi was happy to just sit on the seal and Eliza took turns pushing her.

 

After skating Tanner left to get a tire replaced on our car so I decided to take the kids shoe shopping...in the mall...just me...Vivi refused to wear the too small shoes she insisted on wearing that day so by that point she was barefoot. We stopped off in H&M to grab her some shoes and then got the big kids some shoes at Scheels. I won't be doing that again for a long time. 

That night we dropped the kids off at the Newtons and we got to have a dinner with the other Bishops and their wives in the Stake. It was so nice to have some uninterrupted adult conversation. 

We have enjoyed the snacks from around the world subscription that I got for Tanner at Christmas. We especially liked the "bum cheeks" gummies from South Korea. They made me giggle every time. 

We had a special visitor at our house. The kids hadn't been getting as many eggs for a few days and then one morning Mariah came back to the house and said there was an adolescent possum in the coop. Tanner took it out to some trees and then the next day it was behind our garbage can. I picked it up and immediately fell in love. He was so ugly he was cute...those wrinkled ears, snout, rat tail...all of it. But after googling whether you can keep a possum as a pet in Iowa (you can't), we took Harry down to our timber. Later that night he was back up at our house because he loved us so much. But after putting him in another tree by our house we haven't seen him since. Hopefully all is well with Harry. 

Mariah decided she would have Chet build his own birthday present from her. She gave him the instructions but didn't tell him what it was and he was in heaven. When he finished, she filled it with candy she had been saving for months and it was a candy dispenser. 

Austin designed his own wrapping paper for Chet. He was excited to get him an unresponsive yoyo. 

Months earlier Chet had told me that he loved canned mandarin oranges so much and that he would be thrilled to get it for his birthday. Eliza did just that and he was as happy as he said he would be. 

Chet requested French Toast for breakfast and was a good sport about me leaving to get Kathleen and Esther at the airport. They watched a movie at home so he was pretty happy about that. 

Chet knew exactly how he wanted his birthday cake design to be. He made the fishing pole with a twig and some wire and it was so intricate. Besides me helping with the frosting he did most of the cake himself. 

Esther played Happy Birthday on the violin while we all sang along which made it fun. 

On Saturday Tanner took the youth on a temple trip so I did soccer by myself. We survived by eating lots of fun snacks and playing in the wagon. Austin played in three games so he was pretty tuckered out by the drive home. 

Tanner and Mariah found Kathleen and Esther in Nauvoo. The next day we went to the Hilton's for dinner and to spend more time with Kathleen and Esther. We're so glad they decided to come out for a visit. Who's coming next?