Blogger, oh sweet Blogger, how you have supported my family history efforts over the years. But lately I can't get pictures to upload, and since my IT guy is traveling all over the Midwest to check out his corn babies, I will just have to settle for a post without pictures today, Gaston-style. I would say that my height of blogging was grad school and early Ankeny years, when I was quick to document happy happenings and random sayings and such. Those were the days!
There are seven deer zipping and jumping all over the yard this morning. I think they are trying out for Santa's sleigh team, and they are driving Laney crazy. One of them just got spooked by a squirell.
The insane late summer heat has been roasting all of us lately, but a huge thunderstorm finally cooled things down. Unfortunately it also washed out the Friendship Bridge. Pictures coming soon, maybe. I'm not sure what the future of the far side of the zipline will be, but it's currently quite a mess.
The big and beautiful cottonwood tree in our backyard is dropping its leaves, as it always does first each fall. Summer is just about over, and I'm not entirely sad about it.
Life hack- a pretty surefire way to increase your willingness to wake up in the morning is to go to bed at a reasonable time the night before.
These days, I get up at 5:30 and take Laney outside before joining the big kids in the kitchen. There are usually stars and planets and a moon of some brightness all out to greet me in the last few hours of the darkness. It's an amazing sight, and one that I'd gladly trade for a few more hours in bed.
Emma has caught the expected and usual back-to-school cold, and has still managed to push through early morning marching band practice, long days at school, play practice, show choir, voice lessons and a few social gatherings here and there. She is a high schooler now!
Adam unloaded the dishwasher this morning, helped people into the PAC with his umbrella during the storm (which another parent texted me to report), picks up Emma after school whenever he can, and reminds me that he's less than a year from becoming a legal adult (gross). He is actually the GOAT.
Noah' braces work is moving along so quickly that I'd dare say he's already halfway done. He's never thrilled about the adjustments, but I have a feeling that he's going to have less of them than any of his siblings did. Amazing.
Laney is most likely going to need a little surgery to fix her gimpy leg. She's only seven and shouldn't be hopping around like a tripod for the rest of her life!
I am quite enjoying my time in the elementary school office each morning. I kept fresh flowers at my desk for the first three weeks and they brightened up my days! Stay tuned for how we feel about getting up and out the door in the middle of the freezing, dark winter, but if my babies can do it, so can I!
We're having the missionaries over for dinner tonight. If I can't feed Leah, I'll feed them.
When Jason goes out of town, my bed is up for sleepovers. Once a while I still get a taker!
I'm going out to lunch today with a friend who just sent her youngest off to preschool for the first time. What a heartbreaking and exciting milestone! We're going to celebrate. I kind of hate it when I'm trying to feel my feelings about the motherhood milestones that I'm currently experiencing and older mothers just nod and imply that bigger and harder things are yet to come. Also, I do that too. If only my biggest chunk of time away from my babies these days was the three hours that they were at gymnastics preschool!
I made some incredible chicken pot pie crumble the other day. No pictures to wish I could post because it gone too fast!
️ Lil Jose got baptized!!!!! It was lowkey STRESSFUL because the night before we had problems with his records and form and everything but we got it figured out! And we went 3 hours early to fill the font which was interesting! But it went well and he was so excited! 
Spanish word of the week: ándale pues
Bug of the week: butterflies! There have been butterflies everywhere this week and theyre so cute! 
spiritual thought: we talked in district council this week about rededicating your call to Jesus Christ. And how when sometimes you feel stretched thin, it's actually because you've bound yourself to Christ with your covenants, but sometimes you pull away from him when you focus on the wrong things. So you feel stretched apart because He's still holding onto you, but your will isnt aligned with His. So when you realign your will with Jesus Christ's will, you can feel your burden's lightened and focus on what's most important! We also talked about burying your weapons of war , like in Alma 24. Go read it and pick a "weapon of war" to bury thus week in order to be more centered in Christ! 
rip mac n cheese 
Bug of the week: cricket... in flour form! That's right, there's a guy in our ward who knows how to make banana bread with Cricket flour, and we ate some - 8/10 would eat again! 
Spanish word of the week: "así es". Its kind of like "yup", this is what we say when someone is talking and we don't really know exactly what they said but we want to show that we were listening. We say it a lot when we're stuck with a yapper and trying to leave.
