Summer 2016

It has been one crazy summer full of ups and downs but in the middle of all the craziness we've been doing some fun things.

We had tickets to Newsies at Gammage for about a year and then wasn't sure if we would make it with my chemo schedule right around that time, but we must have been inspired with the date because it happened right as I recovered from my last chemo treatment. It was a great show and worth the wait!

The kids were in the pool early again this year, they just can't stand waiting for it to be quite warm enough.

Yes, they are freezing.

Scott even got in a time or two with them, good sport!

The after swim warm up.

We have two new pets in the neighborhood.  The Robinson's got a cat, Zombie, and the Benesch's got a dog, Peanut.  Their goal is to get Riley to love them and play with them.  They have been introduced on a couple of occasions.  It didn't end up being the disaster that I thought it would, but I don't think there is any motivation on either side to make friends.

Staring contest.

Yep, just staring.

Riley's favorite spot.  Peace at last.

The Robinson's like to surprise Riley with a pig's ear once in a while and she goes nuts....

....until I take it away so she won't eat the whole thing at once.

The neighborhood kids spent a lot of their time over here this summer which was fun for me. 

Twister is always done in an interesting way.

They love baking things....

....and eating them!

They like doing "late nights" at the Klundt's.....

Homemade pizza and pudding pops are always a big hit.

And games, games, games....

My BYU roomie and best bud, Ellen and her husband Gary came down over Labor Day weekend to watch the BYU game.  It was so fun spending time with them since it doesn't happen nearly enough!

Friday night at The Spaghetti Factory.

Sunday at our house complete with ping pong...

...and games, of course.

It was Ellen's birthday!

The following weekend we headed up to Prescott to celebrate Ashley's birthday.  It turned out that Cori and Jordan both happened to have the day off work and so they were able to come with us which was so fun. We went out for lunch, did some antique shopping, played games, and celebrated.

Super yummy choice for lunch Ashley!

Opening gifts...

Pretty serious game playing.....

Ok, not that serious.

Happy birthday Ash!!

Oreo cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory....does it get any better?

I never was a big puzzle lover but have found lately that 300 piece puzzles are just my cup of tea and Scott and I have been enjoying putting some together.  It can be done in one sitting!

We finally made arrangements at the beginning of the summer to have our pool deck replaced.  They gave us a discount if we waited until the end of the summer so they finally came a couple weeks ago.  Although what was suppose to be a one day job turned into a two day job spaced two weeks apart, it is finally done almost....they have to come back in a couple weeks to paint the edge and finish up but it looks great.

This is how it was left after Day 1 when they decided they weren't going to finish.

They finally came back and got it all cleaned out.

 

The kids were fascinated.  They watched for about an hour.

Our nice new deck. 

I have been feeling very grateful that I am on this side of the cancer.  It's been a long and difficult year that we weren't expecting but one filled with lots of blessings, mostly in the form of family, friends and love.  I am still getting over radiation side effects that came up after the radiation ended, but that is normal and not that bad considering. I'm just glad radiation is over.  It was emotionally draining going in every day.  So grateful for Scott and his love and support...and a chain that gave me a smile every day of radiation...

Pulling the last one off....best thing ever!

We are looking forward to a wonderful end to this year! We have planned a really fun anniversary trip and a few other things besides.  Until next time...