Surviving August...

So, all I can really say from the past 3 weeks is that we are surviving and learning every day...

We spent 7 days at the beginning of the month taking care of two boys in our ward while the rest of their family was on a vacation in Europe. It was a new experience for us! The boys are 7 and 11, and they are great kids. They introduced me to many new things like ChuckECheeses, Trafalga, some video games, and some movies I'd never seen. We ate lots of kid foods. Ramen. Tater Tots. Chicken Nuggets. Cheese Pizza. Cheese Quesadillas. Ketchup. Mac&Cheese. I did manage to get them to eat some veggies and fruit a couple times. They fixed their own food, almost always in the microwave, and we could either eat what they were eating or fix something else for us. Mostly we just ate whatever they did. We stayed in their nice house, slept in a king size bed, drove their fancy minivan, and they left money for the activities we did. Really, I felt a little spoiled for the week. When we came back home, we realized just how small our apartment is...oh well, it works right. And though we weren't really helping this family to get paid, they did give us a good amount of cash afterwards too, which was a nice little perk. Just yesterday at church, their dad came up to me and said that when they asked the boys what we did, they told them the cool activities, then asked what we ate, and they told them that we even ate all the things they ate, that we even ate ramen with them. And then he asked overall how they felt about the experience, and Connor, the 7 year old, said...Dad, they are a sweet family! He got all teary eyed there in church and thanked us for watching his boys and making such a good impression on them that his 7 year old would say that. Though it was pretty exhausting for me...overall, it was a really fun experience for us!

We came back home on Wednesday, and then on Thursday and Friday had BYU graduation stuff for Micah. Micah decided he would just watch and listen to commencement on the computer and radio instead of going. I got a picture of him attending it :) Then his parents put on a little barbeque in his honor Thursday night, and alot of his siblings were able to be there. On Friday, we went to his convocation which was held in the Smith Fieldhouse and then a luncheon afterwards. It was a pretty small group, so it didnt take too long. Micahs parents came too, and we did manage to get a few good pictures before Micah was done wearing his cap and gown. In the pictures you'll also see a red and white sash that he wore signifying his study abroad in Singapore. It was nice to be able to spot him easily! Micah also got his parents and Dallin and I white stoles of gratitude for supporting him through school. His official degree is a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering! We are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished!

On Saturday, we went to the infamous soccer game that Ashley got injured in, 5 minutes after subbing in for me. It was the last game of the summer, and it was too bad that it had to end with such an experience for them. After they went to the Instacare for a couple hours, they called us up to see if we could come take the kids. Course, we jumped right on it, offering any help that was needed. After the doctors determined she had a lacerated spleen and would need to stay for observation to determine if surgery was needed, we got the kids for 5 more days. Dallin loves his cousins so much, he was thrilled! It was pretty exhausting for me, but several friends did help out by taking the kids for a little while, while I had a little break. We were very happy to be able to help Ashley and Daniel through a tough time in the hospital. And we are glad she healed and didnt end up in surgery. The rest of the week after they got back home, I just mostly spent recouping. Micah was a great help through the week doing laundry, dishes, cleaning the kitchen, etc when I had no energy left. What a great husband he is!

This past Friday and Saturday, we decided to try the car shopping thing again. Only this time, our price limit was $2000. Basically we were looking for the cheapest thing we could find that runs well, has a working heater for the winter, and gets good gas mileage. Other than that, it could be a piece of junk, really. We found about 15 options on ksl that fit in our criteria and we set out to find one that would be good for us. It ended up to be a pretty lame excursion, a bunch of them had sold already, things go so quick, its crazy. And several had too many problems to be worth it. And we were tired of being in ghetto parts of Salt Lake. We mostly gave up by about 5pm, and decided to swing by a few houses for sale that looked interesting. I think we both enjoyed looking at the houses way more than the cars! Too bad we dont have a down payment yet, there are several pretty close to Micah's work that would be great for us and would solve our transportation issues. Oh well! Maybe next year... We did end up with maybe one decent option for a car...We'll see if we can fix the few issues it has...

Since school is starting this week, we are hoping to get a second car soon, so we can help out Daniel with the kiddos while he goes to his classes. Jaden is in 1st grade now and will be in school for a full day. So mostly I would be watching Hailey. Dallin will love it!

So anyways, we are surviving August so far, and are looking forward to a fun weekend in California for my bday this week and to see Derek and Keeley get married, and see Annie, Alex, and the boys...Cant Wait! :)

Here's some pics from this month...
Our little cutiepie...at 9 months...showin off his chompers...


Graduation Fun





This is what Dallin did during Daddy's Convocation...



This is Micah attending Commencement...


Dallin's first big fireworks experience...in August...he was mesmerized...