September

September started with the Boise Balloon Classic bright and early! I love this tradition. We ran into some extended family, Brandon and Tangi, they were part of the Star Wars crew (he was one of the storm troopers). And then I even ran into my friend Melissa from high school! It was so fun to chat with her, meet her not-so-new baby, AND we learned her daughter even loves dinosaurs!

Don't you think Nate is rocking the baby carrier??

We made a trip to the zoo with our BFFs and thankfully their moms are really good at taking pictures!

My mom and I decided to join my sister last minute and do a triathlon. Even though I was the slowest of the 3 of us, I won for my age group! Haha. And for 10 weeks postpartum I was pleased with how I did. The biking was significantly harder than I was prepared for and I wouldn't recommend a 1 speed.

We hiked up to Table Rock with my dad and Kade did  awesome for his first time in the ergo, sleeping most of the way. Spencer also did awesome and hiked the whole way up and down by himself. When we got to the top her yelled, "I can see everything from us here, even the ocean!" We didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't the ocean after he worked so hard to get there.

Near the end of the month we ran in the YMCAs Race for Steaks. Nate did the 15k and me, my sister, and brother in law did the 5k. It was my favorite run to date and mostly because they fed us a catered steak dinner at the end, and a little because I beat my brother in law;). There was also a kids race before the adult race so Spence ran with his cousins and it was pretty darn cute!
Nate choked on the steak which was for sure my least favorite part.

Not my most flattering pic, but proof I did it

Allison and Dallin came to visit to keep up with their every-two-week visit. They actually came to run a race but it was fun seeing so much of them this summer! They both did awesome and it was fun to go cheer them on with their kids! Allison actually won the half marathon which was fun to be there for! And Dallin got (I think) 9th in the marathon (they're nuts)!

Afterward we stopped at my parents to let the runners cool off in the pool. And even though we forgot the kids' swimsuits it didn;t stop them!

Nate entertaining the big kids 

(I can't fine my pic of the babies in the stroller)

who needs swimsuits?!

me and Lizzy twinning!

Nate and I were also video interviewed by one of the cute youth from our ward in PA, though I guess she's not a youth anymore, she's a young adult at BYU-I! She interviewed us about our relationship for a class and it was so fun to see her and her brother, and I hope we gave her some good material but I'm not positive we did that .;)

no pix of this, so here's one of his first baby smiles

Funny things Spencer said in September (at least the one I remembered to write down):
September 7: Spencer at the dinner table: mmmm, this is good! Thanks for making dinner, Linds!

the big 2 month old, sneezing during his photo shoot!

August

August 2 our baby was 1 month old!! Time with him has just flown and I want him to stay my sweet little baby a while longer! But at the same time we are loving watching him grow and change. And watching him and Spencer interact more is adorable. They already love each other and I am convinced they were best buddies in heaven and are so excited to be reunited! Kade loves when Spencer plays next to or on top of him, he will smile the whole time and watch him until he's out of sight.

When Kade was 7 weeks old we blessed him in church. Uncle Brayden flew in from SC for the week (we missed Madison!), grandma and grandpa from Tucson came up, Jake and Emily came in from Rexburg, Allison and Dallin came down from Pullman, and even Aaron and Alyssa (who luckily happened to be in Utah) came up! It was so fun to have so much family here and to celebrate Kade! We had lots of fun going to the Western Idaho Fair, eating out, hiking Adelmann mine, swimming and BBQ-ing, and cramming everyone into our little house :)

While everyone was here they went hiking and had a pool party, it was so fun to have so many people we love here!

Naturally, Nate gave our boy the sweetest blessing and Kade was lucky to have so many men who love him standing in the circle around him. He was blessed to be strong and listen to the spirit, to have strength to withstand trials, blessed to be a pillar of strength, he was blessed to see light and truth in this world, and to seek to serve the Lord. We sure love this baby and feel so blessed that he picked us to be his family!

The Monday following the blessing was another big day, August 21, the solar eclipse! Nate took the day off work so we woke up early and drove up to Garden Valley to view it in totality. I was a little hesitant to go but I'm so glad I did! Boise/Nampa was supposed to see 99% totality which I thought would be good enough, but it's amazing what difference that 1% makes! Seeing totality was worth it, and I'm SO glad Nate talked me into going, even if it did take us twice as long to get home.

On Kade's one month birthday, I left him with Nate for the first time to have a girl's night to celebrate Bekah's birthday! It was so fun to get have dinner and frosties with the girls and Kade, Nate and Spencer did great! 

We spent lots of time playing outside, trying to catch up on summer after spending a week or so inside after Kade was born.

We went to Smoky the Bear's birthday party and played in the splash pad

My cousin Jake got married. 

They released doves. 

When Spencer saw them he yelled, "Look, marry birds!"

We went on lots of walks to lunch at the park with our friends! 

We even spent some REALLY hot days at jump time!

We love summer!

And here's some funny moments from the month of August:
August 17
Spencer: It stinks in here, it smells like dad!

August 28
For 2 weeks Nate and I have been backing our car out of the garage, stopping, and getting out to close it using the key pad because when pressed, the garage door opener in the car would just cause the light in the garage to blink a bunch. We thought the battery died and we just hadn't had time to replace it. So today I bought new batteries only to find out it wasn't the batteries at all. The opener on the wall in the garage has a "lock" button that had been pressed. All I had to do was push it again to unlock it.

August 31
Trying to teach Spencer "guess what? chicken butt!"
Me: guess what?
Spencer: what?
Me: chicken butt! Guess who?
Spencer: who?
Me: chicken poo! Guess why?
Spencer: why?
Me: chicken thigh!
Spencer: mom guess what?
Me: what?
Spencer: tiger bum.

July

July started off with a bang! Baby Kade arrived on the 2nd and I already did a whole post dedicated to him so I won't mention any more.

Me and Kade spent our 4th of July at home resting and snuggling. Nate took Spencer to our friends house as their neighbor puts on a great show. They had fun and stayed for hours and I loved the quiet time with my new boy!

We sort of forgot about Spencer for a while after we got back home ;)

Have I mentioned I have some really great friends in this ward?? Not only did I get so many delicious dinners, but Bekah took Spencer one day to Cars 3 and I think even other things that I've already forgot (and we just found out they're moving and I am devastated!!!).

We had Kade's newborn photos done when he was 9 days old by a great family friend. He was kind of a stink for it. He wouldn't go to sleep or stay asleep and would just cry. We'd get one good pic, he'd cry, I'd sit and feed him for 10 min, we'd get another good pic and the cycle would start over. There were lots of jokes about "tit for tat" ;). But the good ones turned out SO good!! I love them! Jeannie did a great job!

this is my favorite, our little baby Moses in the basket

My birthday was a little understated, which was fine since having a baby was far superior! But I suddenly feel old being in the LAST year of my 20's! I am noticing "fine lines" and also weight not coming off like I'd like ;) I don't think we got any pictures, but my parents came over for dinner and my mom made my favorite strawberry angel food cake.

It's a small world. My neighbor from growing up, Ren, and his family are moving to none other than Waynesboro, PA! They were going out early to look at houses and I convinced them to check out Krumpes Donuts in Hagerstown, MD. They brought me a souvenir. If only it was a donut...

We had a visit from Allison and Dallin on their way to a long summer vacation! Spencer and Lizzy had fun playing as always! And Max was so cute following Nate all over and playing with Callie through the sliding glass door.

We went to the Library for some reptile show/exhibit. Spencer loved touching all the lizards and holding the snakes, except some kind of horned lizard, he said it was too pokey.

And here's some random July photos:

Having a baby brother is exhausting!

we checked out the Lego exhibit at the mall.

pretty impressive!

have I mentioned I have great friends who were so willing to take Spencer to have some fun while I recovered and tried to sleep?

7 month difference.

Kade Robert and his namesake. 

we stopped by the Canyon County fair to check out the animals and of course the tractors.

Kade's signature look.

My dad and Nate took the 4 oldest grandsons on an outing to Celebration park (I think? Opa, am I right?)

Funny things Spencer said this month:

July 1: Spencer asked me "mom, why does birthday cake don't wanna come out?"
July 2: Welcome baby Birthday Cake! And a whole day early at that!
July 22: Spencer- "hello humans, we come in pieces!"