Summer Catch-Up!

The girls and I have had a very fun, very relaxing summer while Jesse has maintained his busy work schedule. The bills have to be paid :)
Brooklynn had performance in gymnastics and did a wonderful job.  She loves her gymnastics classes and takes them very seriously.  My girl definitely has a game face.

June brought a visit from my Grandpa and Grandma Carter from Michigan.  As Irelyn kept calling them her "great, great, great grandparents".  Grandpa and Grandma had not met the youngest great grandchildren, Noah and Irelyn.  It was so nice having them out here for the week and making some fun memories for our girls.

Back Row: Jesse, Grandpa Carter, Nommie (my mom), Grandma Carter, Julie (my sister),

Middle Row: Erin, Austin, Connor (my sister's twin boys)

Front Row: Noah (my sister's youngest boy), Brooklynn, Irelyn

Connor - it has taken me 11 years but I've finally got a good picture of him smiling :)

We signed the girls up for organized swim lessons, much different than what I got as a child.  We were also able to sign up for lessons with Bailey, a great friend of the girls' and our next door neighbor.

Right before the first lesson started.

Irelyn appears to be listening closely to her teacher.

A few of the kids from Irelyn's class including Bailey (rainbow suit next to Irelyn)

The girls and I made a trip to Billings over a long weekend to visit some of our good friends, Wally and Becky.  We had so much fun in Billings playing on the slip-n-slide, going to the water park, learning how to knit, and hanging out on their fabulous deck!

Olga and Nadia from the old country :)

We made our annual trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for the 4th of July weekend.  This was a tradition Jesse and I started when we were first dating and it has now turned into a fun family trip.  We get to stay at Triple Play which has the hotel, water slides, go-carts, mini golf, arcade and rock climbing.  We were also able to fit in an afternoon at Silverwood Theme Park (roller coasters and rides, oh my!).  Then down to the lake to watch the fire works.  It is one of the best weekends of our year.  Something the girls will always remember.

Irelyn was so happy that she was tall enough to ride on the go-carts this year.

The manager at Red Lobster was such a great guy and introduced the girls to one of "his favorite lobsters".

We found a brand new park in Coeur d'Alene and the girls went crazy!

A fun scooter ride down by the lake.

We are now gearing up for another school year.  Brooklynn will be starting 1st grade (how is that possible?) in a couple of weeks and Irelyn will be continuing preschool at UCCC Preschool with Ms. Meagan. I will be back to coaching gymnastics 5 mornings a week and as I said earlier, Jesse's schedule doesn't seem to change.  

We hope you are all doing great and were able to fit in some fun into your summer.