The month of August was one in which my heart was filled to overflowing with gratitude.
I just couldn't stop dwelling on how I am so blessed.
Here are some of the things that made me so thankful this month.
First of all, it's no secret that I have an amazing mom. I'm so grateful to have her in my life; she is one of my best friends. The first weekend of August, she arranged a trip for our whole family to visit California. (Sadly, Tyler and Taylor couldn't join us.) We had a wonderful time together as an extended family and made some wonderful memories together!
The first night in California, we visited Downtown Disney for dinner and some sightseeing. Katelee enjoyed dancing to the live music!
The kids loved the Lego store! They built their own cars and raced them. :)
Grandma generously gave each of the grandkids some spending money. Blake chose this adorable stuffed Pluto. :) He loves it and now sleeps with his arm around Pluto every single night.
Katelee saved most of her money for Sea World, but did enjoy a giant lollipop!
Todd, Brittany, Wyatt, Katelee enjoying the sights.
The next day we went to Sea World!
We had a really fun day!
Both the kids loved looking at the sea animals. Katelee also loved the thrill rides! Mommy and Blake watched from the side. :)
Our final day in California we spent at the beach! We fed our little pirates a quick lunch before heading out for some sun and sand.
Both of the kiddos really loved the beach. Though the entire trip was tons of fun, I think the beach might have been my favorite part as well! We had a really fun, relaxing time!
My cute little beach bums!
Katelee and grandma!
Sandcastle building!
We also had a pool at our hotel, and the cousins had fun swimming!
What a wonderful trip. I am so grateful for the fun memories we made!
I am also profoundly thankful this month for my own little family. How I love them! Gerald is such a good man. He loves me and his kids and works hard to provide for us and make us happy. My heart is full of thanksgiving that I married such a remarkable person.
I am thankful for our sweet kids! They are both at really fun ages right now.
Oh, my bubbly, sweet, witty girl! I am so blessed to be Katelee's mom. The month of August was a big one for her! She lost her two front teeth! The first one she lost on our way to California while stopped for a quick hamburger.
She lost the second one just a few days later!
Katelee also started the FIRST GRADE in August!
She looked so grown-up and beautiful on her first day of school!
I am profoundly grateful that Katelee quickly made a best friend in her class, a
sweet little girl named Linnea, and that Katelee's teacher this year, Mrs. Peterson, has been wonderful so far. Katelee is happy to go to school, which is a huge relief to my mother heart and an answer to my prayers.
Yes, I am so thankful for my girl.
Blake has also had a big month! He got his first teeth - two little bottom teeth followed at the end of the month by his two little top teeth! He looks so cute. He is also pulling himself up on everything. This boy has loved to stand from the beginning, and he loves using those strong little legs.
He is eating his own finger foods and loves to play with us. His favorite game right now is chase. I'll start chanting, "I'm gonna get you!" and he'll usually squeal and start crawling away as fast as he can! I'll crawl after him and give him tickles and kisses when he's caught. And repeat, a dozen times. :) He also loves me to sing and read books to him (usually while he chews on the book) and play with his blocks or stacking toys. And he LOVES water. He loves the swimming pool and undoubtedly his favorite part of the day is bathtime. This is such a fun age!
Here is Blake having a ball with sister in the tub!
Here is a movie of Blake eating:
And one last movie of Blake playing:
Oh, how I love my boy!!
I am also thankful for extended family. Grandma Kaye let us stay at her house for a week and a half at the beginning of the month while we were still waiting to move into our new place. As always, she made every minute of staying with her a joy! She spoiled the kids with love and attention, made us good food, and was the best of company, as she always is. I even had a horrible toothache and a cold while there, and she took good care of me. I'm so grateful that she made weeks 8 and 9 of living out of suitcases and staying at someone else's home a pleasure! :)
Slip and sliding in Kaye's backyard.
Meg and her kiddos came and stayed a few days while we were there, and we had so much fun with them!
Dollar Store Silly String Fight!
Speaking of extended family, the second weekend of August we enjoyed going to the family reunion in Idaho at Grandma and Grandpa Klingler's house. It was so much fun to see everyone and laugh and play and eat grandma's good food. For part of the reunion, we went to a new water park in Rexburg. The kids loved it! Blake couldn't get enough of the lazy river and the splash pad. Katelee especially loved the big waterslides! We had a very fun time!
Finally, on August 24, Gerald's grandma, Rea Reynolds, celebrated her 90th birthday! What an accomplishment! I am sad that I forgot my camera for the occasion. We had a lovely party for grandma, full of friends, ward members and family. There was a program, including all the great-grandchildren singing to grandma. They were so cute. Grandma was able to meet Blake for the first time. (Blake is named, in part, for her husband, Blake Reynolds, who has already passed away.) It was so nice to see all the family and to celebrate grandma, who is a very amazing lady!
So grateful for family.
On August 18, we moved into our new townhome!! We are renting it from some dear friends, which has turned out for us to be a really ideal situation. Our new home is in our ward boundaries that we lived in before, and it has been fun to return to our old stomping grounds. :) It's so nice to have instant friends and an instant social life, for me and my kids.
I have to say, I have never appreciated home so much in my life. We stayed with our wonderful, supportive family members all summer long without a home of our own, but it was the best feeling in the world to move into my own space once again! I love using my own dishes, bedding, etc. I love that my kids have their own beds and rooms again. I love setting up and organizing everything into the perfect spots. And I love that for the first time in three years I have space again!! After being crowded into a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment, it's so nice to spread out and feel like there is actually room for everything to go!
Everything is unpacked, organized, and put into it's place
That does not mean that I have everything perfect yet. We still don't have living room furniture. I have plans for some curtains that aren't hung, etc. But, most everything is how it's going to stay for awhile.
Let me take you on little tour of our new place!
The view from the front doormat. Notice the 'book' wreath I made!
If you step inside the doorway and look to your right, you see the kitchen.
I am so thankful for my own kitchen again! I've been baking, cooking, and bottling tons, just because I can!
I love this little office nook in the kitchen.
If you stand in the doorway and look to your left, you see the living room.
The living room is lame right now. We don't have any couches or an entertainment center. All in good time. :) I'm holding out to get something new! I've never had new living room furniture! But we will have to wait for awhile. And until we get furniture, I don't want to hang anything on the walls or choose curtains. So for now, it's just a big empty room. But it's amazing how little we've missed having couches. We have great new carpet! And the kids love to use this room as their tumbling/dance/gymnastics/play area. :)
Beyond the living room, at the back of the room, is the dining area.
We've also used the dining area as a small library space. Someday it's my dream to have a whole room, nook or loft dedicated just to books and reading space . . .
Just to the left of the kitchen table is a sliding glass door which opens out into our own little yard. It's small, but it's private and it's ours!
There are three doors off the kitchen. One is a half bath:
There are three doors off the kitchen. One is a half bath:
One is the LARGEST pantry I've ever had. (So grateful for a HUGE pantry!!) It's a like a large walk-in room under the stairs, and I am in love with it! The third room is the laundry room, which exits out to the garage where we have managed to create a storage area large enough to hold all our tools, camping, keepsake, and holiday bins AND still park the car. Woot!
A view going up the stairs:
From the top of the stairs looking down:
On the landing at the top of the stairs is one of my favorite spaces in our whole house. The owners built in a desk top, and we've turned the space into a creating/crafting space for our family.
A bulletin board for showing off artwork, desktop bins full of crayons, markers, colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks and stamps, and drawers underneath full of coloring books, paper of all types, stickers, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and more make this a super fun space to sit and create. I love that I find new Katelee projects here almost daily.
Upstairs you will also find the kids' bathroom. I am SO thankful that they finally have their own bathtub again. Katelee can finally take baths again! I worry about germs, and so Katelee wasn't allowed to bathe in our shared tub in Colorado unless I had just scrubbed it and no one had showered yet. She almost always had to shower, so since we moved in she takes a bath almost every night and enjoys it immensely! And Blake really loves taking a bath in a 'big' bathtub, not just his little baby bath!
I am thankful to have enough rooms so that my kids can have their own rooms now. They both sleep so much better than before now - something that I am very, very, very grateful about! :)
Here are some pictures of Blake showing off his new room.
The views from the doorway.
Here's my laundry basket! :)
This kid has more books and toys than he knows what to do with! Most are inherited from his big sister, but I don't think he is need of anything, that's for sure.
And here is Katelee giving us a clockwise tour of her girly-girl bedroom! (We can be girly again now that she isn't sharing with her brother.)
The view from the doorway:
Finally, the master bedroom. I am thankful to have a large room. We were crowded into such a small room in our past place. The master bedroom is plenty spacious, which is nice since we also put our office space in here. Here is the view from the doorway.
If you stand at the foot of the bed, you can look towards the closets and bathroom.
Love the his and her closets on either side!
The shower is to the right of the counter, the toilet room to the left.
And that's my house! And if you're still reading, you must really love me!
A loving family, a home of my own, a beautiful country to live in, supportive friends, and time to spend with those I love.
I am so blessed.
