On Wednesday, September 21 Raine turned 8 years old.

I joined her for lunch at school. It was Pizza Hut day — perfect for Raine.

Raine picked McDonalds for dinner (yuck!) and I picked Celebrity Bakery for cake (yum!).

After dinner, Raine opened her presents.

She received leather scriptures with her name on them — a family tradition.

Another family tradition is that Grandma Anderson makes the grandkids a quilt for their 8th birthday. Raine’s was covered in stars, she loved it!

After presents we sang Happy Birthday and ate cake.

Raine is quite an individual. She is highly academic and spends her free-time reading and researching whatever topic strikes her fancy. A September birthday is perfect for Raine because the absolute best gift for her is a bag full of office/school supplies! She is always creating something.

Raine is very tender-hearted. She loves nature, animals, and bugs — sometimes to a fault. She started an animal rescue club and a bug hospital with her friends.

Raine also loves being a spy. She created the International Spy League so that she and her friends could solve mysteries.

Some good words to describe Raine include: passionate, determined, creative, inventive, smart, and sassy. She has a big personality that sometimes gets her in trouble when Mom and Dad “just don’t get it.” Sometimes I worry about what she is going to be like as a teenager because it surely couldn’t get any more dramatic than this, but I’m sure it will!

We love Raine so much. Carter thinks the world of her and she is a great big sister. I’m excited to see what she grows into. I know she will be highly successful in life and do some great things.

June 4 – Raine got new glasses; and she is actually going to wear them now.

June 4 – swimming at LifeTime

July 1 – Carter picked a clown nose as his prize for the library reading program.

July 7 – Raine worked on her rollerskating a lot this summer.

July 24 – Carter “helped” me make bread to eat with the homemade strawberry jam that Raine made.

July 27 – Our nanny didn’t work out and the kids ended up having to come to work with me because I didn’t have a backup.

July 29 – Library reading program end of summer party

Raine in the petting zoo.

Raine riding a horse.

Carter sliding down the water slide.

Carter and Raine both picked a clown nose as one of their prizes.

August 8 – Grandma and Grandpa Anderson left to serve a mission Sao Paulo, Brazil. Their flight had a layover at DFW so we went to see them for an hour.

August 18 – We helped assemble lunches for the “Feed Our Kids” summer lunch program. Afterward, we walked across the street to Olympic swimmer Katie Meili’s house to plant some flags on which we had written words of encouragement. Katie won bronze in the 100m breast stroke and gold on the 400m medley relay at the Rio games.

August 30 – Raine begged us all summer to go climbing with her at LifeTime so she could show us how well she was doing. We finally made a family trip to the climbing wall before the kids’ and my memberships expired.

Raine climbing her favorite wall. She made it to the top in no time.

Carter reluctantly climbed the easy wall.

Raine worked at this wall for a while and made it higher than she has ever gone before.

Carter preferred to shoot hoops.

September 10 – We went to an FC Dallas professional soccer game.

Dallas lost to Colorado, but it was a really fun game to watch.

Raine started 3rd grade, Cater started 1st grade.

Mom and Dad got stuck carrying the supply-laden backpacks while these two whizzed off on their scooters.

And so begins another school year . . .

Carter planted an herb garden this summer and the basil was finally ready to harvest today so we made some spaghetti. Carter ate 3 plate-fulls! It was yummy.

Carter has started putting clothes on with absolutely no regard to their proper orientation. He frequently goes places with his clothes on inside-out, backward, or both!

Here is the recipe we used:

1/4 cup onion, grated
2 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (Pomi or Victoria brand)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup grated onion. Saute 2 minutes. Add oregano and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook while stirring 3 minutes until onions begin to brown. Add crushed garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes and sugar. Turn heat to high and cook while stirring until simmering. Turn heat to medium low, simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in olive oil and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta.

Makes enough sauce for 1 lb. of spaghetti.

Tuesday, August 16 – our final day

Raine and I started the day shopping for a baptism dress. This was my favorite, but not Raine’s and so not the one we ended up buying.

After packing up our suitcases, we stopped by Pace’s Dairy Ann to pick up lunch before we headed to the park to meet everyone else. Daddy had to introduce his kids to “the rainbow.” It was pretty good and I know it brought back many memories for him.

At the park the kids played until it was time to leave for the airport. Bella and Raine could not be convinced to look at the camera.

Final good-bye with all the cousins…

Cooper, Tessa, Bella, Camille, Coleman, Parker, Milo, Rachel, Raine, Carter, and Bryce

… and all the adults.

Uncle Paul, Aunt Katie, Aunt Karin, Aunt Sarah, Momma, and Daddy

Then we were off to the airport to catch our ride home.

Monday, August 15 – Park City

On our way up to Park City we met the Browns at Waffle Love. YUM!

When we got to Park City we went to the ticket office to pick up our passes and found out that 7-year-old Raine is too tall for a kid’s pass! I was floored. Not sure when she passed 4’6″ but that extra 1/2-inch cost us an additional $30! Plus, it meant that she couldn’t ride the alpine slide with an adult, she had to ride solo. She didn’t mind but she had a hard time pushing down the lever to lift the break so she didn’t go very fast. I’m sure the people going down behind her minded!

Raine couldn’t wait to go “bungee jumping,” as she called it. The poor girl inherited my lack of coordination so it took her a while to get the hang of things. But she was determined to do a flip — good thing she has no fear.

Eventually she figured it out.

Her second attempt, later in the day, was much better.

Carter was in one of his moods when we arrived. He wasn’t going to do ANYTHING! (The problem was that he thought we were going to be hiking the mountain, not riding down it on a slide.) He eventually agreed to play mini-golf while everyone else was riding the mountain coaster.

Carter and I went on a short hike before lunch. After calming down a bit — and eating the snow-cone that I bribed him with — he agreed to ride the chairlift up to the top so he could hike around. I just about had him convinced to ride the slide, assuring him that it was completely safe, when some teenage goof comes sailing around the last curve and FLIES OFF THE TRACK! Seriously. Right in front of us. Fortunately, after the hike, Daddy was able to convince Carter to ride the slide.

That first ride was all it took, he was hooked. He went down as many times as he could before we had to leave.

Raine spent some time on the rock wall. She developed a love of climbing at LifeTime camp this summer and she is pretty good. This wall was really difficult — the hand holds were spaced far apart and there were several outcrops to overcome. She did pretty well.

She also navigated the ropes course a couple times.

Soon enough, it was time to leave. We stopped by the Main Street Bakery for some ice cream before we left town. Somebody was tired, and when he gets tired it doesn’t matter where he is or what is going on!

Back on the other side of the mountain we stopped at Uncle Geoff Gabbott’s house for dinner.

Raine and Coleman

Carter and Bryce were best buddies.

The Dewey family held their first-ever family reunion this year.

Saturday, August 13 – we started bright and early with family photos at the Garden Park Ward chapel. It was gorgeous, I can’t wait to see the final product. Here are a few photos that I took with my phone.

Here are some of the professional photos.

After photos, we went to Bountiful Park for a picnic. I didn’t manage to get any photos except this one of Daddy with his birthday cake!

We headed next door to the Rec Center to swim. Raine found a rock wall on the way to the locker rooms and made it to the top in her flip-flops. The only problem is that she isn’t used to climbing back down and she ended up loosing her grip. Fortunately, Daddy was right there to catch her!

We stayed at Grandma’s house while we were in Utah, along with Aunt Katie’s family. Raine and Bella were instant besties and could hardly be separated the entire time we were there.

Sunday, August 14 – After church, Carter taught Grandma how to play Pokemon. It was hilarious to hear her say phrases like, “I give you a tail smack.”

That evening we headed down to Aunt Karin’s house in Saratoga Springs for dinner with some of the Scharf family. The cousins had a blast and didn’t want to leave. In fact, Carter and Bryce were having so much fun that we ended up leaving Carter there for the night so that they could spend every minute possible together.

On August 12, Daddy turned the big 39 — he’s in the final countdown to 40.

Since we were boarding a plane to Utah that afternoon, we had to celebrate in the morning. The kids were excited for him to open the presents they had picked.

Designer socks and tie (by ‘designer’ I mean the design was definitely picked by kids, not that they were a particular brand); bike shorts and shirt; and an exercise shirt.

For breakfast, we fed him apple pie and sang “Happy Birthday”!

We’re so glad this guy is ours. He does a lot to make our household function day-to-day. The kids adore him and I think he is absolutely fabulous! He is patient and understanding. Just the other day Carter told me that there is only one person in this house who hasn’t yelled at everyone else — Daddy. Very true. He puts up with all our craziness and keeps the threads of our lives from completely unraveling! I wouldn’t be able to do what I love without him, and that means a lot to me.

July 16 was Carter’s birthday party. He wanted to play laser tag, but it took some looking to find a place that allows kids under 48 inches to play. Finally we found LaserWhirld and it was perfect for our party.

Carter is obsessed with mustaches. He loves them and wears the stick-on kind every chance he gets. I found a whole sheet of them for him to hand out at his party. Most of the kids put them on for at least a little while — it was hilarious!

Caleb, Carter, and Spencer sporting their ‘staches!

Once everyone arrived, they geared up for a round of laser tag.

Jack, Gunner, Carter, Spencer, and Caleb

The second time around, all the dads joined them. Carter loved playing with “Bob” — that’s what he calls his dad. It’s short for “Bob the Troll,” a name that Carter and Raine came up with for one of their plays. Carter religiously calls him “Bob” now, it is super odd in a hilarious sort of way.

Daddy, Spencer, Carter, and Jack

Gunner, Caleb, Jack, Caleb, Spencer, and Carter

After laser tag, the kids had pizza and gatorade (another of Carter’s favorites).

Next was cake.

Carter wouldn’t smile for me, he doesn’t like being the center of attention and he was getting a little goofy.

Opening presents was a group effort.

Spencer, Ben, Carter, Jack, and Gunner

They played a few video games, then everyone left. It was an awesome party!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of everyone. Evan and Jay managed to avoid my shutter.

July 12, Carter turned the big 6. DJ and I both skipped work so that we could celebrate all day long!

We started the day with Carter’s breakfast of choice: breakfast burritos.

After a little playing outside with the neighbors, we headed to LifeTime for a swim.

Carter thought it was cool that he could pick up his dad in the pool.

The library had a clown show at 2:00, so we went over after lunch.

Carter loves clown-humor. He is a bit of a clown himself a lot of the time.

Next stop was Rainforest Cafe for an early dinner.

I couldn’t get Carter to stand in front of the sign outside with Raine. He finally agreed once we were inside though.

Finally, it was time for presents…

Daddy and I gave Carter a (much needed) punching bag for his birthday. He LOVED it.

…and cake.

Carter has been scared of fire ever since “fire-safety day” in preschool. He got up out of his seat when DJ came to light the candles and it took a little convincing to get him to sit down so close to the flaming cake.

Current stats:
45.6 lbs
47.5 inches (so close to 4 feet; he grew almost 3 inches in the past year)

Carter is such a fun kid to have around. He is incredibly shy but deals with it by being goofy. He is a homebody and loves to make-believe with figurines (jungle animals, dinosaurs, pokemon, minecraft). He is always engaged in some sort of epic battle.

Carter is a good student, very obedient (in class, not always at home :), and a great little swimmer. He loves to cuddle up to read and has made some good progress in his reading abilities.

We recently came to the realization that Carter gets very hangery. When his blood sugar drops, he turns into a little hellion. It has made a huge difference to know this; now, instead of trying to manage the behavior, we simply feed him!

We really love this cute nut!