Grand Canyon

 On our way out of town we decided to detour to the Grand Canyon.  It was a bit chaotic, but the girls had fun hiking around and it was well worth the extra time it took.  It really is a majestic sight.

 

Our trip home was pretty crappy.  There was a really bad accident on the 10 and we were at a stand still for about three hours.  Thankfully Emery was happy watching movies, Sage and Charlotte were happy with me shoved in between their seats, and Miss Ivy was completely enthralled with my bubble gum blowing.  She would wait with this look of terror on her face until I blew and popped my gum then she would bust up laughing.  It was the BEST.

Terror on the left, big laughs on the right.

{4th of JULY}

 WEDDING day!  

The announcement of Monte's wedding was quite a shock.  Like, no one believed him.  :)  He was the brother who was never getting married, didn't really believe in the idea of marriage, etc.  So we basically planned on his being a solo guy for forever.  We are SO GLAD he fooled us!  Kasey is the perfect fit for him and I'm excited to get to know her better as my sister.  

Their wedding venue was at a saloon in Williams, with BBQ, dancing, and lots of fun.  The girls had a ball and so did we.

 

Side note:

Sage and Charlotte slept with grandma and grandpa in their hotel room, so Clint had a bed, I shared with little Em, and Ivy slept in her pack and play.  And also did a lot of playing with mom in the middle of the night.

 

Weekend in Williams

Clint's brother, Monte, got married in Williams over the 4th of July weekend, so we had a nice reprieve from the heat and spent a few days playing.  It was nice and relaxing and very much needed!  Our first day in town, we met up with everyone for pizza and yummy food at a super nice cabin.  We thought it was a good omen to see double rainbows!
The following day, the 4th, we walked around main street and played at the park the first half of the day before heading back to the hotel to change for the wedding.

New SCHOOL year

I am having severe anxiety this year.  I am so not ready to send two of my gals off to school and it is killing me! School for Sage and Charlotte starts in ONE week, and I am seriously having panic attacks about it.  The school we love and are signed up for has extremely weird bell schedules, and the decisions of AM/PM is driving me nuts.  Right now, I have Sage signed up for PM TOPS, which means it's a condensed day and excludes lunch and one recess, and she goes from 11-4.  Charlotte is signed up for PM Kinder, with an additional Kinder care hour where she will play games and do crafts, etc.  This way she will also go from 11-4.  I originally signed  them up for this schedule so they would go and come at the same time, and also because we are slow morning movers.  But now that our schedule is more routine and it's actually time to go, I think I want AM.  Sage would go from 8-2:40 and Charlotte would go from 7:40-11:20.  So way different times.  I would be back and forth at the school 4x a day unless I work out a carpool, which I think I could do.  The reason this option sounds appealing to me is because I could drop both off at 7:30, get to the gym by 8 and run any errands I need to run before picking Charlotte up on my way home.  Also our school day would be done earlier, so they could still take gymnastics and have time to actually play when they got home.  Last year when Sage was in school till almost 4 every day I felt like it was a constant rush to get homework done, get dinner on the table and do the night routine.  Plus with the PM schedule I really don't like the idea of taking them to the gym with me in the morning, only to go right to school all day.  I would feel too guilty taking them, and yet I don't do well working out in the afternoons which would be my only other option.  So I'm leaning way more toward the AM schedule, but now it's too late to switch unless an AM kinder drops out.  I know, I know.  Major problems.  I'm glad this is the extent of my problems right now.  :)  Aside from the schedule drama, I am so depressed to have them leaving me.  Our summer schedule has been so laid back and fun.  I know only having two at home with me will be much easier and I'm sure I'll enjoy the break, but I'm going to miss S and C so much.  They are such good girls and I just want to keep them in my protective little bubble for as long as I can. 

Nick

This guy.  

(building a lego house and car for Charlotte)

I love each of my siblings so much.  I would do basically anything and everything for them.  Nick went to the dermatologist after fighting skin rashes and eye twitches and random pain in his arms for over a year.  He had a mole removed and had a biopsy done on it to reveal that he has stage 4 melanoma cancer.  

Learning this was such a shock.  He seems and acts so healthy, so knowing his body is sick is devastating.  Our entire family has come together to fast and pray and lean on each other during this really difficult time.  It's so wonderful to know that family has your back no matter what.  I love my family so darn much.  After weeks and weeks of waiting, he was finally able to meet with his surgeon today to find out more.  THANKFULLY, I think they originally prepared him and all of us for the absolute worst.  He was told today that he would have his surgery soon to remove as much, if not all, of the cancer that they could, and then he would be checked every few months to make sure it doesn't return.  So as of right now, it has not gotten past his muscle into his organs.  We are so grateful for this news!  Seriously.  I have learned I am a major stress eater and have gained a lot of weight from being so worried.  I know he still has a ways to go, but knowing that he WILL be ok is such a relief.  I love how our family banned together and had a plan of attack and were all willing to pay medical bills and do whatever needed to be done to keep Nick with us and safe.  I'm so grateful for my eternal family.

Ivy is TEN months

 TEN months!

Wow.

So hard for me to wrap my head around that.  I want to inhale this baby.  Seriously.  I can't get enough of her fuzzy hair and big eyes.  I want to freeze this stage and keep her little forever!  She has two bottom teeth and four top teeth.  Is crawling EVERYWHERE and is into EVERYTHING.  She stood up for the first time while I was away at girls camp in July and has done it a few times since.  She still doesn't love table foods and LOVES her bottles best. 

 After fighting sleep for three hours at church, she finally gave in about 3 minutes before it was time to go.  I didn't want to move!  My babies never sleep on me so this felt like heaven.

 I am constantly having to wake up this poor chick.  When I woke her up this particular day, she was so conked out she didn't even flinch when I first took her blanket away, then took her pacifier away, then started talking to her. 

 

Emery

 This chick continues to be naughty.  And she obviously thinks its super cool to embarrass mom with her naughty behavior in public.   It's exhausting!!  She screams pretty much non stop lately.  And refuses to listen.  And is completely on either one side of the crazy train or the other.  She is such a headstrong child and she is really teaching me patience.  I forget who mentioned this, but they said that maybe it's a good thing she is so strong willed and stubborn, because she will be growing up in really hard times and will need to be head strong.  So I'm holding on to the hope that her stubbornness is a good thing. 

Despite how hard she is, she is the most beautiful and sensitive little crap.  Her big brown eyes and huge lips seriously melt me.  I have said this before and I will probably say it a million times again, but I love her so fiercely.