August 2018

The First of August always starts off with a very special day. Chandler turned 17 this year. I made his birthday sign to have his Soundcloud logo in the background- Slingshot!  And of course, Chandler is sporting  his Hardwell T-shirt.  His whole world is listening to and writing electronic dance music.

 It's ironic that the child of mine who usually ends up with  the most cavities also wanted her own dental kit. Kaylee worked hard and saved her money to buy these official dental tools. So cute! She especially loves the tiny mirror. Maybe she'll be a hygienist someday?

 I took Micah  grocery shopping at Sprouts. I guess I was taking a little too long picking out produce because when I turned around, Micah was standing by the potatoes sculpting a man on a chair with twistie ties. Just another example of Micah's endearing personality.

Piper is the new baby we watch Mondays through Fridays. All of the kids love her... and... I'm pretty sure Millie does too... Amillia is just having a very hard time with this transition . At least I was able to capture a small happy moment she had with her.

Chandler's good friend, Brandon, left on his mission this month. The morning Brandon left for the MTC, Chandler got up at 4:30am to ride the train to the airport.  Unfortunately, he missed his friend by a few minutes and was unable to see him off.  Chandler was pretty upset that he went through all the trouble to show Brandon support  only to get to the airport too late. When Chandler walked in the house later that day, Micah could see the disappointment on his face. 

A few minutes after Chandler's return, I witnessed Micah dash out of the house and head down the street to the 7Eleven. He returned home quickly searching for a piece of paper to attach to some goodies he had just purchased with his own hard-earned money from the convenience store. My heart melted!

Kaylee had fun making this little board game with her 4H Mentor. Joseph and I both tested it out and played several rounds with her. It was actually pretty fun and quite clever. 

Chandler's first day of being a Senior and Miriam's first day of being a Sophomore. And by the way, this is the classic face Chandler has made every year when school starts. Gotta love the enthusiasm! 

This month was Amillia's first ever birthday being a part of our family. She didn't get to see any of her biological family this year because we are taking a six month break from them in order for us to bond more closely with her. She can feel the loss and it has been a roller-coaster. I know that's why she acts out most of the time with her emotional melt-downs and is so excessively clingy with me. But for a good portion, she has been taking it in stride and continues to increase in resilience and strength. We love her and we're going to get through this!

Grandpa Manwill with Millie

We had a little family picnic up at Theater in the Pines. Lots of memories here. We love this place!

Watch out for photo-bombers. ;)

I spy Joseph and Miriam having a mid-week afternoon daddy-daughter date hanging out at the river next to his work. The kids love their one-on-one time with dad. Miriam is able to go up on her online school days.  The only kid who doesn't do this with Joseph is Chandler but that's because on the every-other-day he is out of school for his online classes, he's at work from 9am to 5pm. 

I canned peaches for the very first time in my life! And now that I've done it several times already this season, I'm pretty fast at it.  It felt good to learn something new... and it felt good to put my mom's canning supplies to use. I only wish I had done it last season when she was still around so I could show her. I'm sure heaven has a pretty good view though and that she is smiling from above.