August 2015 on FB

Aug. 5: As we were camping with Ryan and Heidi last night, Weaton and Clerissa joined us for dinner and to play the game "Things" after. During one round, the card read "Things you don't say to your doctor". Kanyon's answer to that was "Ass Hole"!!! He won the round because nobody guessed that an 8-year-old would have written that!! We all laughed so hard! I asked Kanyon where he got the idea to write that and he said "I just thought it in my head"; I swear neither Josh nor I have ever called a doctor that before!

Aug. 9: I had a dream last night that I was a guest on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show and I beat him in a contest of eating NY style cheesecake!! He didn't list my name, instead he said he was competing against a "celebrity". Everyone was calling me variations of that title after the show: "celebrittany" or "celebritsy" or "celebrikowsky", in an effort to figure out my real name. I felt so famous and so happy for winning the food contest, that I didn't want to wake up and end the dream this morning!

Aug. 11: I'm SOOOO excited that evening water aerobics at the pool will start again tonight!!! I've missed it this summer, after doing it the past few summers. It's always a good time, and my favorite way to exercise!

Aug. 12: I took the Praxis I (Core Academic Skills) Test today. It was a 5 hour test (with 3 different categories), and since I took it at BYU-I in Rexburg, I also had 5 hours of driving today. What a long day! I'm super tired, and nervous for what the results will be!

Aug 13: I can't believe today is the last day I will ever be 35! It feels strange to even admit I'm that old, let alone one year older tomorrow!

Aug. 14: I got serenaded to for the first time tonight! I was at the Elders Quorum Dinner Party, and John and Amanda sang "Thank you for being a friend". It was awesome! And embarrassing! And so thoughtful! It was like a surprise birthday party!!

Aug. 15: Well, it's official: fire season has begun in Salmon. When I woke up today, the sky was filled with smoke from lightning-caused forest fires as a result of yesterday's storms. Yuck.

Aug. 17: I took Ammon and Kanyon to Idaho Falls today for school shopping and Ammon's dentist appointment. He hasn't gone in 3 years, but surprisingly came out with a good report of no cavities! On the way home, I encountered this beautiful image in the sky: the bottom half was covered in smoke, which produced an orange hue, the top of the sky was still blue, and right in between, the sun was shining behind a single cloud, producing visible rays. It was just gorgeous--but all I had to take a picture with was my lousy phone, so unfortunately the quality isn't that great!

Aug. 18: As we were shopping at Wal-Mart in Idaho Falls yesterday, we walked by a display of silly string, and Kanyon picked one up and said "This is what I want". He'd brought his wallet, and that was the single thing he purchased for himself all day (I bought his school clothes and supplies, though). Today, he kept going outside to spray it (although at the time I didn't realize that's why he kept going in and out), and finally this afternoon, he came back inside and sadly said "Well, it's all gone now". That can of silly spray made this boy happy for one whole day!

Aug. 19: I went with Josh on a work errand to Montana today, and on the way home, we stopped at Hamilton and had lunch at "Naps", a place we've never tried before. The food was yummy, and I enjoyed a nice little day trip with my handsome hubby.

Aug. 20: It's been a productive summer for Kanyon. He learned to mow the lawn, he can now do his laundry all by himself, and last night, he finally learned how to tie his shoes!!!

Aug. 21: Today I got my scores back for the Praxis I test: 196 in Reading, 186 in Writing, and 176 in Math--all of which are {above average} passing scores! I was so elated when I read that, I began crying!!

Aug. 21: Took Kanyon on his monthly date tonight. We went to Bertram's again, but this time he ordered Prime Rib instead of Steak. I asked him afterwards which one he likes better, and he said "Steak, because it's smaller".

Aug. 22: Our whole family went to the ward wood-getting project today! It was the first time we've all gone together to it, and I was so impressed with the amazing work ethic of everyone!

Kanyon liked playing with this extra large stick as we were waiting
for trees to be cut down. We helped with the loading.

Aug. 22: We went to Abby's baptism this evening, and look who got all dressed up for it (it was even his own idea!!) They both looked so spiffy together!

Aug. 23: After stressing over hotels and flights, prices and details for weeks, I finally booked our Mexican Vacation (set for November) tonight!! I'm giddy with excitement!

Aug. 24: We ate fresh corn-on-the-cob straight from our garden tonight for the first time this summer! It was delicious! I also picked some onions, radishes, and raspberries today. I love harvesting our garden!

Aug. 25: HAHA! I still remember this from 5 years ago!!! [From Aug. 25, 2010: "I opened up the freezer and saw a plastic water bottle filled with frozen yellow liquid. I wondered where the lemonade had come from since I didn't buy it and I didn't make it. When I questioned the boys, the twins answered me. It wasn't lemonade. It was urine. They wanted to know if pee could freeze. Yep--it does. ew! so disgusting!!!"]

Aug. 25: I am so excited to have peaches growing on the peach trees for the very first time, but they aren't maturing and turning orange yet, which concerns me. Kanyon was looking at one today and said, "Look mom, it looks like Torch's butt!". btw, Torch is our male cat who hasn't been neutered yet (much to Josh's dismay). Disclaimer: we made an appointment once to have it done, but his foot became infected around that same time, and it wasn't healing, and I didn't want to create extra pain for him, and I've neglected to make an appointment again.

Aug. 25: I got my first smart phone today (Josh has been training me on it!), ate dinner with Josh at a place we've never tried before: "Taco Del Sol" (in Hamilton), and went to water aerobics tonight which totally kicked my butt (in a good way). It's been a nice day!

Aug. 26: Josh and I took Kanyon to Family Fun Night at the fair tonight (he loved that he could climb to the top of the rock wall while there because others couldn't). As we were walking through the exhibits, Josh said "so, I guess we didn't bring any produce from our gardens to enter in the fair this year". And I suddenly got all wide-eyed, because it didn't even occur to me until he said that!! The boys usually take pumpkins, potatoes, and other garden goods to enter in the fair, and I didn't even THINK once about doing it this year!!

Aug. 27: Went to go get a load of wood as a family this afternoon, and I escaped death while there. I was helping to push the tree down with a large stick as Josh cut it, but it started to fall backwards. I was trying to get away, but I got tangled in a mess of branches, and my shoe fell off and I tripped and fell. Thankfully, I was just far enough that it didn't land on me, but it scared Josh immensely and he was furious that I wasn't further away from the tree when it hit the ground.

Aug. 30: We got the school supplies all organized and ready tonight, and Jonah and Micah learned how to do combination locks for the first time so they can use them on their lockers at the Jr./Sr. High School! They were frustrated at first, which reminded me of when I used to have nightmares about having to open combination locks! But they practiced and practiced until they finally got their locks to open multiple times!

Aug. 31: I found a baby frog in the watering can this evening as I watered the flowers. It was a fun discovery (and a first--I've never found a frog at our house before!). Kanyon enjoyed playing with it and watching it swim, jump, and hide in the watering can.

P.S. I'm sure you noticed I took a lot of pictures of JUST Kanyon this month--that's because the other 3 boys were gone to sports practice a lot, and he and I had a lot of one-on-one time together as a result!