Once we got Emma's baptism all wrapped up there just wasn't much summer left, and it was going to go by in a blink. With Chase starting high school and Romney staring middle school there were going to be many days of registration and orientations plus the shopping too. We managed to squeeze in a few last adventures though.
Chase got to spend a weekend at Youth Conference, our ward's outing for the teens. They went on some great adventures, including a red-neck water slide, a working ranch, and to a couple of temples.
Also, the Missionary Training Center in Provo had a major addition and they hosted an open house for the general public to come and check it out. I didn't really know about it until social media slowly started showing more and more of my friends going and I realized that maybe something was going on. I checked it out and it turned out that the open house was almost over and there were barely any tickets left. Luckily I was able to nab enough for our family plus our good friends. We drove down, hopped on the bus that took us to the MTC itself, and took the tour. Emily and I walked in those front doors, took one breath and said, "It smells exactly the same!!!" It really did. There was just that MTC smell. Sort of food-ish with cleaning products thrown in...can't quite describe it but I'll never forget it! It was really fun to see the old campus as well as the new beautiful buildings. Sure did bring back a lot of memories!
One miserably hot Sunday afternoon we decided to head up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Cecret Lake. Many other folks had the same idea we did, but we managed to find parking a ways down the canyon. The hike was lovely and the kids did great. They often grumble about getting dragged out of their comfy spots on the couch when we do stuff like this, but this day they all were really happy and just loved the lake. There's a little amphibious creature that lives in those waters called an axolotl. It's a type of salamander with these frilled gills at the side of its head. The lake is filled with them, and Chase especially had a great time hunting for them. He never got his hands on any but had a ball roaming the shores and investigating the depths.
Random photo shoot: we had to capture this spectacular bed head of Romney's:
Another very exciting event in August was the removal of Chase's braces. He had them on for just under two years though that sometimes felt like an eternity. I was a little afraid that the orthodontist might change his mind at the last minute because one of Chase's front teeth looked like it had over-corrected and popped out of place. Indeed that was exactly what had happened but apparently teeth are pretty wiggly during this process and he just popped it right back in place and glued in the retainer and that was that. Chase was so thrilled. I think, even more than a month later, that he is still reveling in his braces-free and straight-toothed mouth.
Both Chase and Romney had no-parents-allowed orientation days the Friday before school started. Neither of them would let me take their pictures so I had to be sly.
I did a LOT of driving that day between our house and the high school and the middle school. I'm so grateful I don't have to do that every day.
For the final weekend of summer we got up on Saturday morning and drove up Milcreek Canyon for our favorite breakfast of biscuits and gravy. If you ever need a really good recipe for this you call me because I was given one by my sister-in-law Tonja and they are the best biscuits you will ever have.
How we love our Inigo, the Toyota from Spain. Troy got this new roof rack and it is awesome.
I guess that about wraps up our summer! We ALMOST got enough shaved ice, we ALMOST had enough fun. But never quite. I guess there is always another summer to look forward to!
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