August

Our summer, unintentionally, ended up being full of playing games and watching movies.

Now that the kids are older it was so fun to watch a bunch of classics with them.  We got through the first ten Fast and Furious movies, Dodgeball, Now You See Me, and so many more.  I think we played board games just about every evening Caleb was off, too. 

It seemed only fitting for a night out at the movies to be included in our summer festivities.  And I have to say, choosing the 10pm showing of Spiderman was definitely the correct choice.  We almost had the theater to ourselves and it ended up being one of the best movies we've ever seen.

We celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.  We had the perfect night ordering in and playing tons of games with the kids....I'm not lying when I say that really was our summer.  And I'm super thankful for another season of Sunday Ticket :)

We then, super last minute, decided to book a mini getaway to celebrate the end of summer and the end of Caleb's old job.  

This ended up being the absolute perfect spot for us.  The house was amazing.  We had a private lake to fish on and they had the perfect game choices already there.

Casen caught some really nice fish, but I was a little too far away to ever capture them well.  He even got Arya out in the boat, which is a small miracle if you know her at all.

Someone needed their emotional support blankies wherever he went

And then came the biggest news for our family in a really long time. 

After over 13 years working midnight shift on the road, Caleb has switched over to a recruiter and military liaison for the police department.  Proud of him is an understatement.  He crushed the interview process to get this job and is already killing it at the position.  We finally have normalish working hours and holidays home for the first time in our 20 years together.  There's just something about sleeping at night and taking away a little bit of worry that really really helps out a household.

The end of August meant, unfortunately, the kids were off to school.  Casen is a Junior this year and Arya started 8th grade. Casen's in Forensic Science this year that he's been enjoying so far and Arya made the cut for high school Art, which was the best news ever for her. This summer kind of felt like the last one of having them little for some reason.  Casen's working now and Arya's busy with a bunch of high school classes.  I'm really thankful to have such awesome kids.  They made us laugh the entire summer and I wasn't ready to send them back when the time came.

And now it's back to quiet days with this crazy nut.  His through training is still my favorite to practice.

July

 Our last full month off with the kids and I don't think any of us are ready for school to start back up this year.

A couple of months ago, Caleb got tickets for the kids to go and see a few of their favorite bands.  Since it was a couple of hours away and not all the way my music cup of tea, he took a solo mission.  I'm so thankful my kids ended up with the coolest dad.

They also got to do a quick meet up with PA cousins, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for pictures or to get to see Mac play softball.  It is on our list for one of these days!

I know everyone says their kids are good at everything, but I just have to brag on Ayra.  This summer her drawing talent with lots of practice has just gotten unreal.  I am loving getting to have the artwork in our house get to be drawn by her.

These two sure have enjoyed the summer together

Onto August, which brings back to school and some giant news for our family :)

June

 The only thing of note that really happened in May was Casen finishing the 10th grade and Arya finished the 7th grade.

So, onto June.  June is going to be one of the months that I remember for a really long time.

June started with a trip that will possibly only happen once for us.  Casen turned 16 and had zero birthday present requests.  He's just not a kid whose really into stuff.  So, Caleb and I decided to surprise him with a chartered boat trip with family for his big gift instead of things.  I'm so thankful family were able to make the long trek and be a part of his birthday trip.  His birthday wasn't until the 30th, but schedules worked out best for us to go the first week of June.

We got to hang out for a few days in a beautiful cabin and the weather ended up being perfect.

And then the boys go to head out on the big fishing adventure

Tasting some of their catch

I really hope it's something we're able to do again in the future.

And then Caleb's first day back at work after vacation, someone crashed into his police car.  Thankful for just bumps and bruises there.

And then I think I had one of my favorite birthdays so far.  Caleb and the kids went all out with decorations and I got really thoughtful gifts.  If you watch the office, you will appreciate my decor.

And then somehow, Casen turned 16.  He is such an incredible kid.  He loves his video games and fishing.  He still sets his alarm to wake up and go with me during the summer for my grocery shopping trips.  He's always making us laugh and has a great group of friends. He's just the best and I'm so thankful he's a part of our family.

We celebrated with a trip to the steak house and some brownie sundaes with black raspberry icecream.