August

Beautiful Logan sunsets!

Had fun babysitting these cute kids after a long summer away from them. The twins grew up a lot while I was gone, and I even got Malachi to say my name!

Went on a few bike rides with my parents in the evening

 I got to go to Lagoon with Lindsey, Emma, Lydia, and Kendyl and Milly (Lindsey's nieces who were visiting from Washington). We had fun going on the rides, and playing at the water park.

I was babysitting the Hess' on the night that Carol asked us if we could come help her with some things in her classroom. I decided to bring the kids along so that they could play with Emma and Lydia at the playground, they had a great time! 

During the summer, the Hess' offered me a nanny job that would take the place of All About Kids. I decided to quit after working there for almost 5 years! Now, I am nannying for them every afternoon since Charlie is in first grade and can no longer go to the daycare. I pick him up from school, take him home to do some homework and then go pick up the girls from daycare and hang out with them until their parents get home around 6. I enjoy it much more than the daycare because of situations like this: My friend, Lindsey (who moved to Washington in the spring) called to invite me to go to Aggie ice-cream with her and the Galvins since she was in town. So, I was able to take the 3 kids and go, something I would not have been able to do if I worked at the daycare.

Kylee came for a very short weekend for her friend's wedding. She got here late Thursday night, and left Sunday evening. We were able to do some fun things while she was here... 

We went on a hike to the windcaves on Saturday morning. 

And had tin-foil dinners in the canyon with the Bundy's that night. 

We sat in the hot tub

And then had some family over for dinner on Sunday. Andy and Chelsea were in town, so they, the Bundy's and Grandma came. I knew that Brad was on his way home that day, but I didn't think he would be home until late.. so I was very excited when he walked in while we were eating dinner. After dinner, we played a few games before Dad and Kylee had to leave for the airport. 

We all went on a bike ride around campus and then played on the Hillcrest playground. Brad stayed home to take a nap since he stayed up all night driving home. 

 We enjoyed going to dinner with the Browns. We went to Hu Hot and it was very yummy! 

Last Week of Texas

Amarillo consisted of going to lots of antique stores, trying on hats and imagining what it would have been like to live back in the days. It was down to us three girls (Meghan, Krista, and I) so we tried to do some fun things to stay busy and to not get too bored.  

We went to lunch at Logan's Roadhouse. We thought it was pretty funny that there is a Logan's Roadhouse in Texas, and a Texas Roadhouse in Logan (although Texas does have a Texas Roadhouse as well) They were almost identical, right down to the peanuts and amazing rolls! We were looking for a place to get ice-cream after and we found Cowboy Gelato. We ended up going there again for lunch 2 other times. It was just a cute little local place and it sure was yummy. 

We decided to go to Palo Duro again with our friends Krista and Clayton. (we came here when we were in Amarillo two summers ago) We found a little cave that we climbed up into. It was a fun little activity for something different to do. 

We found this fun little trail that was really close to our hotel. Every few feet, there would be a couple of the same kind of trees, and then a sign saying what kind of tree they were. So before we got to the sign, we would try to guess what kind they were. There was also a gazebo in the middle of it.   

The original plan was for me to follow Krista and Clayton home on August 12th. Well, they decided to go home about a week early, and I still wanted to go with them so that I would have someone to follow and I knew I would be bored without Krista there. So with one days notice, we packed up all of our things and left on August 6th. I followed them to Fort Collins, and then they left to finish the rest of the drive. I spent 3 nights with Kylee and Brody. We went for a bike ride, watched Planet Earth, I helped Kylee with a few projects she was working on in her bathroom, and I went with her to a park with the kids she nannies and to their house after to hang out. It was so fun to be able to see and hang out with them and I'm so glad they let me stay for so long!

 The drive back to Utah was very boring, but I was happy as could be.. first when I saw Little America, then the sign coming into Utah, and then Bear Lake.. as I knew I was getting closer and closer to finally being home!

 I kept me coming home early a secret to my family, so when I got into Logan, I went to Mikell's house to see her and cute Paizley and so I could have her help me surprise my family. She had a big box, so we put ribbon on it. I sat on my parents front porch, then she put the box on top of me, rang the doorbell and ran. My mom answered the door and was VERY surprised when she saw me! It was so fun and I'm glad Mikell could help me. 

Second half of July

When it rains here- it floods the streets. So one night, Krista and I decided to go out and play in it.

I went to the National Ranching Heritage Center with the other wives. It was on Texas Tech Campus and it was free! Perfect! When we went the first day, the outdoor section was already closed, so we had to come back the next day so we could see it. It  had a bunch of historical structures including homes, windmills, a railroad, and more dating back to the 18th century. It was really neat to see it all, and it really reminded me of Peru!!

A day at the pool with treats and a jam box- what could get better than that!? Mindi left to go home with her girls, so we got bored pretty quick without children entertainment. 

After the pool, we thought it would be fun to go play pool, and this is what it turned into...

Getting a picture of all of us jumping on a self timer is much harder than you'd think! 

Date night to Red Lobster this hot husband of mine. 

Got to go Go-Karting with these friends.

(Nick, Meghan, Jess, Brad, Krista, Clayton)

We got to go to the Lubbock Temple with Krista and Clayton. Since it is such a small temple, they are only open at weird times and only for a few hours. So, the only time we could go was on a Thursday at 9am. When we got to the temple, I realized I forgot my recommend at our apartment! I usually always have it my bag, but since we weren't planning on bringing our clothes to Texas and just renting, (we later found out that we can't rent clothes at this temple so I brought them back with me after I went home to visit) I had it in my wallet so didn't even think to bring it with me. Bummer!! Luckily, they were able to look me up and let me in! :) 

Another date night. We usually try to go out to dinner every Saturday night. We went to Chili's again this night.

The guys ran out of area in Lubbock so we had to take the drive up to lovely Amarillo to finish off the summer. Amarillo is about 2 hours north of Lubbock, so it is nice that we are a little bit closer to home. We passed a place on the way called Happy. But the worst part? We have to stay in hotels. It honestly hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, but dinners are a little more tricky to make. 

First half of July

Since Texas Tech Campus is right by our apartments, we decided to walk around it one Sunday. It's a cool campus with tons of cool archways and older buildings.

We went outside to take pictures of these girls in their cute new dresses. 

I went to lunch with all the other wives before a few of them left to go home to Utah. 

We went to Old Navy and found out they had a big sale going on! Everything was over %50 off! So I bought 7 shirts for $16! Then we went to target and I found a cute dress for $8 and swim bottoms (that I needed) for $5. So it was a pretty good day! :)

We went to dinner again with the White's- this time to On the Border. Krista and I were matching and we didn't even plan it!

We went to Water Rampage with our friends. It was a pretty fun water park. They had a wave pool, two slides, a lazy river and a kiddy area. We brought yummy chicken salad sandwiches and snacks for lunch.

 We went to the hot tub at our apartments after with the White's. 

And just for fun... here are some pictures that we got photo bombed by our friends. :)