Nancy and Shad offered our family tickets to the Jack Johnson concert at Usana Ampitheater. Our kids have never been to a real concert before so although they don't know Jack Johnson songs we went. It was a fun night just sitting on the grass listening to music and having fun.
I've been wanting to do this as a family for a long time but we finally hiked up and went on a tour of Mt Timpanogos Caves. The hike wasn't too bad and Siena who is our hiker that hates hiking survived as well. We made it up pretty fast and had to wait a while for our tour time but it was worth it. The caves were really cool (literally cool as well) and it was fun to learn about them and see everything inside.
My birthday started with a trip to the Orthodontist with the girls. They've had their expander in for a month and needed a check up. Everything looked good. Then we decided to go get donuts and we headed over to my parents to let Gus out since my parents were out of town. So we played with Gus and ate donuts all before school started. While the kids were at school Shane and I went to lunch and shopping. I got new shoes and a BYU sweatshirt. That night the kids had stuff going on so Shane made us dinner and we opened presents and went about our night as normal. It was a fun day and Shane and kids always make me feel special and loved!
The saddest thing happened this month. Aria's cute bird Scottie died. It was pretty traumatic. Aria was getting ready for school and had Scottie in the bathroom with her and something startled Scottie and she flew into the mirror and broke her neck. We weren't exactly sure what was going on and was hoping she was just stunned and scared so we put her back in her cage and within about 30 minutes she had passed away. Aria was very upset, especially since she saw it happen and it was a very sad day. We had a little funeral and as we went outside Aria crying said 'Now you can go outside, I always wanted to take you outside' Heartbreaking. She cried and cried all day and did for a few days. Jennifer was so thoughtful and came over that night and brought Aria a stuffed animal owl that Aria named Waddie. Aria slept with and cuddled Waddie every day and night for weeks. Scottie was seriously the cutest bird and loved to sit in our trees, be held and always let Aria hold her, pet her and sit on Aria's glasses and shoulder. She really was a special bird and I was even sad that she died. I know she will always have a special place in Aria's heart.
Siena decided she wanted to do a little more competitive basketball than just Jr. Jazz rec teams. So we put her in some basketball camps this summer and in September she tried out for Bantam. This is through the high school you are in the boundaries for. She made the Lone Peak 5/6 grade combined team. She is excited to start practicing and will play games after Thanksgiving through February.
Jaron made his 4th grade Utah Cake which is the tradition here in Utah schools and had to document it.
After Scottie died we found out her horse riding instructor, Scott, got cancer and was not going to teach for a while since he was in treatments. So Aria tried to think of other things she could do with animals. She isn't old enough to volunteer at the Humane Society but we found out she could go read to cats. So one Saturday morning we drove up to Murray to the main humane society and read to cats. Honestly the cats didn't really care about us reading but it was fun for her (Siena came too) to see them pet them and they had a fun time.
We went to a BYU Men's Soccer game as a family one night. It was fun to see older players play and they were hustling up and down the field. Jaron loved it and watched intently. The Pace's came and it was kind of interesting cuz the boys just wanted to go play and mess around and Jaron was like no thanks I'll just sit here and watch the game.
Westfield, the school Jaron goes to now puts on a school carnival every fall. It was a fun night and the kids had fun rock climbing, playing games and going on the bounce houses.
I got to meet Jeff and Whitney's newest little girl, Hazel. She's so darling and cute and everyone is in love with her.
We had a shower for Ella who is getting married in October. Since they met in Hawaii it was Hawaiian themed and such a fun night. That night we realized Brigitte is almost as tall as Brigitte. Just another inch or so.
Jaron got to go biking with his friend Aiden and then Parker invited him and Graham to bike in Provo canyon and then stop by his dad's work on a Saturday to eat snacks and play games there. He works for Qualtrics in Provo.
