the rest of summer 2015

 i'm calling it.
i have tried and tried to play catch up but this summer has been BONKERS.

we have been building our home. and it has taken OVER our summer. we tried to make it fun for the kids doing little things.. like sprinklers, and picnics in the yard, and swim at granmdas. but really.. tyler and i have been barley keeping things together. he's working full time tractor salesman and i'm trying to clean both houses and do laundry and keep a normal feeling around this house. it's just been crazy. definetly a summer to remember! or maybe..forget? haha
bottom line is it was another beatiful summer. our babies all grew a little bigger. i'm going to write a few things about each girl from the summer then maybe get to lyn's first day of school :)

 i started a hastag on instagram for all the funny places taht callie falls asleep. she stopped taking "naps" this summer. but still needs some extra zzzz's in the afternoon. and she started just falling asleep. on the ground. in the car. everywhere! it's so funnny. and something that i am going to miss os much when she outgrows that. (maybe she wotn?!) she decided that PINK IS HER COLOR. and she recently tells me what she wants to wear. she can be very indecisive these days, and it's a curse! she loves toast with butter. and green smoothies. she LOVES nursery. she is smart. and senistive. she loves lyn, and they play together so well. she's still my little cuddle bug and climbs into bed with me just about everymorning. i cherish those quiet moments nose to nose. she's potty trained this summer! and just started not wearing a diaper to bed either. she still asks for help just about everytime she needs to go "tinks". she's still our tiny little thing. and we love her so much.

  ELLS BELLS! this one is the sweetest of all the babies in all the lands. her rolls are never ending. and her sweet smile is the best. she grew 4 teeth this summer. and i've had to replace her earrings three times! grrr! she army crawled now she crawls for real. she is just starting to stand on her own. she still naps either one long one or two quickies a day. she loves her baba's and she loves FOOD. she is just so easy. one thing that i'm loving right now is how she will HUG ME. she wasn't my cuddly baby. but now she loves her mama! and i just soak it up everytime she'll give me those loves. she has been an angel baby while building. she plays in the playpin for HOURS and never makes a peep! i am so thankful for this chubby little happy thing in our lives. she is just one of us through and through!! she looks like mini tyler. and she is very mechanical minded, i can already tell! its so funny to watch her be so focused on the way things work! i love it. and her. shes about to be ONE. AND I CAN'T HANDLE IT!

LYNEY GIRL! this one is just growing up before our EYES. she lost both her front teeth this summer. i have one on video and it is THE BEST VIDEO EVER. she is SOOO my little helper i have no idea what i would do without her in my life. she is my little sidekick in all things. she really learned how to swim this summer. at the end she wasn't ever wearing alife jacket (still scares me to death) she killed alot of spiders for me haha she's brave. she was the little mama to her two baby sisters while i worked. she played in the dirt ALOT. hha she did lots of things with her friends, and she's really loving her cousin marcus who moved here in august. she helped me so much on our long drives to utah. she's starting to get things about life. and tonight i had to say all the bad words (ughhh) because she's starting to hear swear words at school and asked me what it meant when you put your middle finger at someone. dang it. my babe is just getting out in the world and I DO NOT LIKE IT. at all. but i'm trying to arm her with the armor of god every morning. and lots of hugs and kisses and reminding her to choose the right, even if others aren't. and to be kind. and to be polite. and to follow instructions aka OBEY YOUR MAMA FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME. she has opened my eyes to parenting an olderish child. and holy cow it is HARD. the exhaustion of being in punishment mode too often was taking a toll on me. and we went back and forth for like 2 weeks straight. but.. i think we're coming out of it now. something's clicked and she's really doing much better. anyways, i love taht girl. she is so great. and i dunno what wed do without her.

 Tyler has been such a good general contracor this summer. and such a good JD salesman. i dunno how he juggles all that he does. but he makes it look kinda easy, even though i know its NOT. many sleepless nights. many cuts and scrapes and bruises and sore muscles and early early mornings and LATE nights. i am very thankful for the man that he is, and the way that he makes things HAPPEN. that's a quality that i dont possess i think. and i just stand in awe at his BRAIN. how does it work that way?! how are you not intimateded by anything?? haha

 i have just been trying to play all the roles. sister. daughter. mother. wife. house builder. daughter in law (not always great at that one) friend. visiting teacher. i dunno. it's been alot. but.. i just feel so so blessed. like.. all the leaps of faith. all the tearful prayers. all the scary choices. all the sleepless nights. they were for this. today. we were meant to be HERE. and how thankful i am for an all knowing loving God. truly, all glory to HIM. besides the building of our home, jakes new drug keytruda looks like it is working. and in my journal i go into more depth the miracle taht that is in our lives. but, i am forever changed. i will never deny the power of PRAYER. and i will never ever deny that every prayer we utter, no matter what state we are in. no matter the doubt or faith behind that uttered prayer, we are HEARD. and someitmes we don't get answers. sometimes those answers change. but sometiems, we get answers. we get miracles that we've begged, pleaded for. and i don't know if i actually believed that was possible. i wanted to. but now i KNOW. miracles are real. God is there for us. and we are 100% without a doubt heard. and loved.
that has been the underlying fabric for my summer. everything else was put into perspective by jakes cancer for me.
and i stopped sweating the small stuff. i was thankful for everything. and i am a changed girl, forever.

i am so thankful for this summer 2015. time passes so quickly. and these little girls will soemday be big, soemday they will leave my home, leave me. start families of their own. and i will never forget this awesome summer. i hope that they always know how much we loved them. how much they changed us. how much they taught us. how we would give anything for them. do anything for them. i hope that they had a good summer too. that they felt all the love. that they were protected from grown up things. heres to the next season of life, literally. may God continue to bless our little family.