Update

Last week I was able to take a trip to Utah with a friend. It was so wonderful!! I did miss my kiddos, but I came home feeling like my normal self again. I really have had a busy summer, and it was great to get away for a few days. I can't give enough thanks to JW & Alli, and Mike & Sherrie for watching the kids for us while I was gone. They had so much fun that they can't wait for me to leave town again.

I went to Utah for a Dressing Your Truth conference, and I had a great time. If you haven't heard of Dressing Your Truth before, it really is worth checking out. It is a lot of money up front, but it has been so worth it to me. My friend and I stayed with Nate's brother, Steve and his wife Taunya, which was so great. I loved being able to visit with them for a little bit and just wish I could have had more time with them. I also got to have dinner with Robin one night, and I stopped in for a second to see Megan at the coffee shop she is working at in downtown Salt Lake. Then I headed down to Orem and spent a couple of days with the Littles. I love them so much. It's just not fair that we live on opposite sides of the country!

My friend's niece was in an accident this spring that left her paralyzed, so she is now quadriplegic. She is almost ready to come home from the hospital, and we got to spend one afternoon visiting her at Primary Children's Hospital. She was amazing. I can't believe her incredible attitude. The day we were there she was trying to put on her makeup by herself. It was so hard to sit and watch and not help her, but of course she has to work through it on her own. I really enjoyed getting to meet her and her family, and I know she is going to have such an incredible impact on everyone she meets for the rest of her life.

This week we are trying to recover from summer and get into a good routine for our upcoming school year. I'm so excited to have this time to just focus on my children. I think having a busy summer was probably a good thing for me because I am so ready to get rid of all the distractions and just make our days together my biggest priority. We started Spanish this morning and as soon as I get Ryan down for a nap (which needs to happen right now!) we'll break out the Latin and see what that's all about.

I finished my last mini food storage class for Relief Society last night. Can I just say -- Whew!! It was a lot of fun, but I ended up worrying and preparing for it more than I had counted on. I hope somebody got something useful out of it, anyway. I know I did!!

I made these hair bows with the girls yesterday -- okay, Hannah burned herself with the hot glue at the beginning of the project and I ended up doing the rest, but it really was going to be a great project to do together. Then Ryan wanted in on the photo shoot. It just reminded me that I do need to get his 3-year-old pictures taken. Yes, his birthday was during my trip, and yes that makes me a terrible mother, but since he's 3 hopefully I'll do better and he won't ever know what a terrible mother I am.

Speaking of his 3rd birthday...

why do I always do this to myself? It's so fun to me, but at the same time it's torturous. I am so crazy. He wants a red cake, and all he has been asking for as far as presents go are trains (and he's been asking since May). So, I found a cool Thomas the Train cake tutorial online and plan on adapting it to make James, since he's red. Hopefully the face was the hardest part. :) Hannah wanted to make one, too. Hers is the one on the left. She decided that since he's not so smooth, he's just a grandpa train and he lost his eyebrow in the war. :) She makes me laugh. So, we'll see in a couple of days if we actually get a red train cake, or a last-minute 13 x 9.