End of Summer 2016

The end of the summer brought some fun adventures and the start of another school year.  I wasn't ready for summer to be over.  Summer just went by too fast. 

Nate took Gavin with him on a business trip to Portland in August.  They did some work but mostly just ate at all of Nate's favorite food places.  :) Here are some pictures of their food adventures.

The day before school started we took the kids to Boondocks and out to dinner.  We had a good time together for one last hurrah before school.

The first day of school felt really strange this year because it didn't feel like we had ever been out.  We just got right back into the routine like we had never been out.  It was sort of sad but the kids were happy to see their friends and have new teachers. 

Ashlyn with her best friend Claire.

5th grade!

7th grade!

2nd grade!

Nate took Ashlyn to our stake Father/Daughter campout in September.  She waits all year for her time with Dad!

While they were camping the boys and I went to Chuck-o-rama for dinner (Nate refuses to go there so it's the boys one chance to get here without dad) and then watched a couple movies.  

We spent Labor Day weekend up at Bear Lake.  I was so looking forward to a wonderful weekend but it ended up being a long stressful weekend.  Hazel started with a fever Friday night right after we got up to the lake.  Her diapers were sort of runny but other than that nothing was different so we were concerned that it might be UTI. Her fever was high and then there was blood in her stool so at 9pm that night Nate and I packed up Hazel and headed to Logan to the ER.  We were there until 1am and came away with the diagnosis of a stomach virus.  It was frustrating but we were glad to know she didn't have a UTI.  Her symptoms of the stomach virus got worse as the weekend went on and her fever stayed high most of the time.  She was miserable and we didn't get much sleep.  We were very happy to get home to our own beds. :)  It took about 2 weeks before Hazel was completely back to normal.  It was a rough time for her and me.  I am really hopeful for some wonderful weeks at Bear Lake next summer since this summer just didn't work out well for us up there. :)

Hanging at the ER.

Now onto Fall!

Hazel Overload

We interrupt our blog catch up for a Hazel Fern overload!  When you have a phone that makes it super easy to grab pictures of your growing baby you get a bunch of pictures.  Some taken by me and some by the kids.  Hazel is growing up way too fast.  She will be 6 months old on the 18th.  Time is flying! She is rolling over from her back to her tummy and is starting to do well sitting up with support.  It is sad to think that by the end of the next 6 months she'll be walking. We sure love having her in our family!

One of my favorites for sure.  Sister bond already!

Liam said when he saw Hazel wearing this onesie he immediately thought of this book!

The Hazel 'Dab'.

July 2016 in review

I am so behind on the happenings in our lives, but I have to post about them for family history sake. (I create blog books for my kids to have) so I am mashing a bunch of stuff together to try and get caught up this week!  So first we'll start with everything else that happened during July 2016. 

My parents ward had a pioneer trek at Martin's Cove so to get ready for it the ward had each family take a turn pushing/pulling the handcart around the neighborhood.  My parents enlisted the help of my kids and my sister who was visiting from Tennessee with her son Richard (who got to ride in the cart). Good times!

We had a mini Kohl family reunion in July.  Nate's sister Anna came from Illinois with her kids and Nate's grandpa and grandma Kohl came from Aiken to visit.  We spent a Saturday together eating, playing, and taking pictures.  It was so fun to have them all visit.  Wish we got to see them more often! 

Hazel with Great-Grandma Kohl

Nate's parents and all the grand-kids!

The whole family minus my brother-in-law Andy.

Nate and his parents and siblings.

All 16 grandchildren.  Another one is on the way!

Nate and his siblings.

Gavin got to go on his first week long scout camp at Camp Bartlett in Idaho.  He wasn't so sure about having to sleep in a tent for a week, but I think in the end he had a great time.  Nate went up for the first few days which helped Gavin to settle in and be comfortable about being gone for a week.  Gavin completed a bunch of merit badges, ate a ton of junk food, got really dirty and got to have a fish hook extracted from his chin!  It was an adventurous and memorable week for him! 

All the boys from the ward!

The 3 injuries from the week!

My niece Emma is awesome at crocheting!  She has made us so many cute things including this cute headband for Ashlyn!

July also brought us to the car dealership to get some recalls fixed on my car.  We ended up driving away that day with a new car!  We had been contemplating upgrading for a while and after test driving and negotiating with the dealer (which I hate) we traded in my 2004 Honda pilot and bought a new 2016 Honda Pilot.  I was so sad to say goodbye to my car, but realized it wasn't very reliable with almost 160,000 miles on it.  It was a great car!  I will admit though, that I do really like my new car.  It has taken me a bit to get use to it, but the new car features are awesome!  I still haven't taken a pic of the new car.  I'll have to get one soon! Here is my last goodbye to my old car!

Brothers.  They are two of a kind. So different and yet the same.  Almost the same height. Love them.

Our garden has been wonderful this year.  I always love the fresh produce of summer.  So sad that the growing season is almost over.  Store bought squash just isn't the same...

Girls selfie!

The boys spent every Wednesday during the summer playing golf.  They teamed up with two friends (also brothers) from their school and played in the Junior league at the local golf course.  I think they had a great time even on the hot days.  Gotta love the bright pink golf shirts!

Ashlyn has been losing teeth all summer.  She is getting to the point where she won't have any teeth left in the front of her mouth!  Her main complaint has been that she can't eat corn on the cob.  Not enough teeth up front! :)

Phew! Now onto August!