All About August

(scroll to the bottom of the page for pictures, etc.)

It hardly seems like the events of the last month could really have fit into thirty-one days. How they'll fit into a single issue of the Mitchell Messenger remains to be seen.

On August 1 we piled the kids into the van for the six hour drive from Salt Lake to Yellowstone National Park. Since we didn't know when we'd have another chance, we decided to take the long way around and visit Grandma Ruthie on the way (a few details of that visit are detailed in the Sweden post at the bottom of the page). We finally arrived at the super-nice cabin Chelsi had booked for our family reunion a little after dinnertime. We feasted (as we did at every meal--there are a surprising number of impressive chefs in the family), then shuttled the kids off to bed and spent the evening in the hot tub under the stars, catching up on funny anecdotes from our kids during our absence and sharing our experiences in Denmark and Sweden with everyone.

In the morning we woke to gorgeous weather and eggs benedict. Mmm. I love eating when I haven't done the cooking! We spent the morning outside the cabin, with the kids collecting armfuls of wildflowers. Theo and Addy were so sweet, talking non-stop about how they're best friends and getting excited to start school together as they wandered through the trees. It was a "time in a bottle" morning. We trekked over to the river later in the day so that Aaron and I could practice a little teamwork in a canoe. You can see an exerpt of our conversation in Humorous Happenings. Let it suffice to say that Aaron and I work really well when we're each the bosses of our own thing. We rock at mutual admiration. We're probably not ever going to make it as an Olympic kayaking team. And please don't nominate us for The Amazing Race.

So after that fun journey we headed back to the cabin for some cool activities Chelsi had planned. The big game of the evening was toilet paper charades. We pulled off respectable performances in Monsters Inc. and Green Eggs and Ham, but we didn't grab the Oscar until we performed Book of Mormon Stories: The Vision of the Tree of Life. Emerson won the night with his phenomenal performance as "the crazy mocking person in the great and spacious building." The kid has a future on the stage. We ended the night with some great family bonding, and of course another dip in the hot tub.

On Sunday we made the rounds in Yellowstone itself, driving and stopping at as many paint pots and hot springs as we could manage before Sera's incessant crying threw some very literal cold water (well, more like warm and salty I guess) on our spirits. The kids were enchanted with the brilliant colors and the steaming water, and Old Faithful, though late, made a sputtering appearance that we all enjoyed. Fast forward more delicious food, more good company, a great visit with my mom and Don, lots of snuggling with adorable LucyMae and darling Clark, and several dollars in change collected from the couches in the cabin by Paul and Howie, and we arrived, regretfully, at the end of our family reunion. We had such a great time, and really appreciate all the hard work Chelsi put in to make it happen—it was fab!

So after kissing everyone goodbye, we set out for another day in Yellowstone before making the trek back. Although we managed to miss the bear everyone else had seen, we had a lovely drive through the northern section of Yellowstone, stopping at the falls and finishing off with a visit to Mammoth Hot Springs. At one of our last view areas, Theo happened upon a power converter lying on the ground (he misses nothing) which Aaron then used to plug in our laptop and book us a night at a hotel in Billings. We sped through Montana, arriving late at our hotel, to the disappointment of the kids who had been eagerly anticipating a swim. So the next morning we woke up early, had a delicious breakfast at the hotel restaurant (where the kids ate free—yay!), and managed to squeeze in an hour at the pool. Honestly, that was the highlight of the whole trip for the kids--they love hotels. A long drive later, we made it home.

Well, the next couple of weeks consisted of house-painting, watching the Olympics, shopping, and preparing for the school year. But we had to take a break for our tenth anniversary on August 21! Although we considered our trip to Denmark to be our big celebration, I thought it would be fun to surprise Aaron with a real date on the actual day. I secretly planned a babysitter and then kidnapped him to go to see Indiana Jones and have dinner at an awesome Greek restaurant nearby. It wasn’t fancy but it sure was fun. And it made me grateful and excited all over again at marrying a man who is such a perfect match for me! I couldn’t ask for a better partner—because we truly are partners in everything we do (except canoeing).

Then, to round out the month, the kids started school. The pictures really say it all. Theo and Addy wore American flag shirts on the first day. See, last year Theo was all into being Canadian. Then he watched the Olympics. This year both kids were proud to start the year as red, white and blue Americans!