4-year-old preschool.

In early September Clara started her second year of preschool.  She was super excited to go back and see her friends, and she was especially excited to see her friends.  She was a little surprised that there were some different friends in her class, but she was thrilled at the same time!

Here she is, excited to go to her first day!

(Don't mind her upside down sign...I blame my pregnant brain (no, I'm no longer pregnant - but I was then and my hormones were obviously ruining my ability to think)).

Here is lovely Miss Diane, Clara's teacher!  We all just love this woman!!!  Clara is so fortunate to be in such a loving learning environment!  I can't believe this is her last year of preschool!

A new home.

We said good-bye to our house of 5 years on Ice Bear Way, and moved to south Boise.  We love our new place.  It is closer to my work (Kurtis has to drive a little farther now...), and has made my daily commute a lot better!  Here are the littles on moving day enjoying popsicles on the back deck.

Our new yard is paradise, for the birds and for us!

Plus, it came with a hot tub which we all love!

There are a few quirks about this house that I don't love (ex. these black sinks and black soaker tub with black and white tiles in the master bath) but we're really pleased with this place!

Kurtis says he's never moving again, so I guess it's a good thing we like it!

Gwen.

I bought Gwen as a graduation present to myself for $25... and I think I had to borrow like 4 bucks from my mom in order to have the full amount of cash. Gwen lived with us for 11 happy years. She was my running buddy, Clara's pal, and goosed everyone that entered our home. Her spunky personality matched her wild fur. She could've won jumping competitions into the swimming pool off the diving board! In fact, I'm pretty sure she chose Kurtis for me, because when he'd come over to visit, she'd jump up on him and hug him and wouldn't get down. She adored him from the very beginning. On August 12 we lost Gwen the wonder dog. Our hearts are broken. I miss hearing her running in her sleep next to my bed, the smell of her ears, and her constant smile. But I'm comforted in knowing that she's able to run again in doggy heaven with back legs that work once again. Gwen and I were together for 1/3 of my life, and even months later I still think of her multiple times a day and cry over her loss often.  I love you Gwen, I miss you terribly, and I'll always remember you as my first love.

Here are some pics of our dear girl in her last days.

Sob.

Galena Summit pics 29 years apart.

Camping over the 4th of July.

For the 4th of July, we headed up to the Stanley basin with Brad and Angie to camp for a few days.  It was packed!  And we didn't roll in until about 11 pm.  We drove around for an hour and a half (and had to back the trailer out of a precarious spot...ugh), but finally found a spot right on the Salmon River.

Of course, Clara had a blast.  It's obvious that her favorite part about this spot was the moon dust that she perpetually covered herself in.  The girl had countless baths in the river that weekend.

Posing in front of the Sawtooths

Eating a Fiber 1 bar (which Clara calls five-year-old bar - stinkin' cute)

We hiked on Saturday and Clara did really well...she got a little tired but walked most of the way on her own.  She's impressive, that girl!

I took this pic on top of Galena Summit.  What a cutie!

Family shot at the top

Glowsticks are a camping must have.  They are fun to play with in the evening and act as a great night light in the camper.  Perfect!

Kurtis snuck away for a few minutes to catch a salmon.  I'm glad Brad was there to snap this pic!

It was an awesome 4th!  Nothing is better than camping in the summer!

Summer fun.

It's my last day of summer vacation, so I want to recap some of the fun we had this summer.

We enjoyed watching the garden grow and the fun visitors to the yard (see the quail in front of the geraniums - she had 3 babies with her).

We were lucky to have lots of cousin time!

We swam in Oma and Opa's pool quite a bit - this time it was with our friends!

Clara started taking piano lessons from Oma.  Here she is working on her theory.

We spent lots of days at the water park.  Many days, we went with Grandma!  It was always a good time!

Water park with cousins!

We put our Zoo Boise pass to use a few times during the hot months!

Clara as a meerkat - you should see the video that accompanied this pose!  Too bad it is too long to post!

Elliott joined the cousins for a bath after a night of swimming!

Clara got really into Lego's this summer, thanks to cousin Ben.  What an awesome activity for kids!  I just watched her spatial awareness capabilities blossom and thought about how much this will benefit her.  Great toys!

Clara drew a family picture...note there are 4 people in our family!  Surprise!  The fourth person is Teacher Diane, who Clara just adores!  I loved it!

Hanging out with Mac laying on her...he weighs 100 pounds.

Cooking with Oma

Hanging by the pool...Clara drinking Ginger Ale before nap time.  I guess anything goes at the grandparents' houses!

Eating the first garden carrot

My sisters and Mom and I went to the Book of Mormon musical.  Entertaining!

And before the play we brunched at Fork!

Clara took the BEST Zumba kids class.  It was 5 weeks long and 2 days a week.   It was incredible tow watch her follow directions and shake it.  She loved it!!

As summer wound down, we spent some days in my classroom.  Clara always finds fun things to do there, and this day she worked hard to write lots of words and letters on my white boards.  What fun! I dreamed of doing this as a kid (nerdy teacher truth).

It was a fabulous summer, and I'm sad to see it come to a close!  But I love my job and look forward to getting back in routine.  I know Kurtis is looking forward to that too.  I stay up way too late in the summer, and in turn, he does too!