I can't believe summer is over!!!!

This summer has been amazing but has come and gone so fast. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to come visit or experience the wonderful world of Idaho you won't completely understand or appreciate what I am saying. For starters, summer really starts in June. Spending the majority of my life in Arizona I used to think it's February, time for shorts. Now I think hmm it's June and maybe shorts but I better bring a sweatshirt, just in case. The spring and summer here are so beautiful but there just isn't enough time to do or see everything. It is August and I can say fall is well on it's way. The mornings are getting pretty brisk and the days are getting shorter.

We happened to be home this weekend with nothing planned. YEAH!!! This has only occurred because I am on-call for work. We sat down and realized that our lives are so busy that we can hardly take advantage of all the things we should do and see right here in our own backyard. Dave and I were sitting on the front porch last night looking up at the stars for the first time this summer. He leans over and says, this is really great we need to do this more often. I took it like we need to spend more time like this together even though I am sure he was talking about how amazing the night was. From our front porch you can see a couple of mountain ranges and because we live up in the mountains it's almost like you can just reach up and catch the shooting the stars. They are so bright and the night was so clear. It's night and moments like this that I can really say I love this place.

This summer has been go..go..go. I have been labeled at work as the vacation queen. We do vacation a lot, but most are mini, of course. We live so close to both of our families now that we do tend to visit one or both of our parents each month. We have gone camping a couple of times, made our way to Tahoe, Sacramento for a family reunion and then spent a couple of days with Dave's entire family on the Oregon coast. Road Trip!!! We had so much fun. We have taken a couple of road trips around here too. We went to these water fall hot springs in June that were pretty neat. The scenery here is unheard of.

The kids have really enjoyed this summer too. They love to play outside. Nysa played t-ball this year. She was so excited to start. She kept telling us how much fun she was going to have and that she was going to make so many new little girls friends. She thought they were all going to love her new pick glove. She didn't take it quite as well as we would have liked when she found out she happened to be the only girls on her team. We made it through and have decided as a group that maybe we would try ballet or gymnastics this fall. We also take long walks and bike rides pretty often. Nysa is pretty amazing on her little bike. Peyton loves to do anything Nysa can do, but the only problem with it is that she simply can't. She honestly does not think she is a little kids, she thinks she is big. The other day at the little water park two little girls under two but older than Peyton were playing next to her. I tried to encourage her to socialize with them and she defiantly gave me the look like " umm mom they are babies, can't you see I am playing with the big kids." I don't know what I am going to do with her. She is really starting to talk too. Her new favorite saying is, "mom I no like it". She tells me this about almost anything. She also learned to say, beat it, but she says " bean it mom" She is quite the little character.

Dave has started to embrace the sport of fly fishing. I guess it's a gimme living here, but I really think he is enjoying it. At times you can catch fish every time the line touches the water. It's great. He has been so busy with work this summer that at times I feel like I have to force him into just taking a break and having a little fun. Hopefully by next summer things will just come a little easier. His business is expanding, after hiring and firing several guys, he has finally found someone capable. So far so good. Let's everyone just keep our fingers crossed for now.

I was suckered into playing coed softball this summer again. It was fun, but I think I have come to the conclusion that I just don't have time for everything. Might have to pass next summer and probably until the kids are old enough to come and watch. They wanted both of us to play but we figured there was no way.

School starts Monday so I guess this is the end of most of our vacations :( and our summer. I think I am going to need to find a mom's support group. I am not taking this whole thing very well. Will keep you posted....
Etta