My Summer Report

Possibly my most grievous blog-neglect to date. In a show of penance, I'm submitting a little throw-back to elementary school days: the report on "What I Did this Summer." But rather than really crappy crayon drawings, I will be including actual photos. I know, now you're wishing you could see my artistic renditions instead, but that will have to wait for another date. ;)

Park City Getaway

The "getaway" portion being from our two year old, whom we really do adore. But a little one-on-one time was awesome! And don't worry, she was happily bunking up at Grandma and Papa's house. The romantic weekend included breakfast at Ruth's Diner, seeing the newly released Harry Potter movie, an outdoor Chris Botti concert, overnight in a condo, riding the ski lift on a beautiful morning. So, so great!

PGHS 10 Year Anti-Reunion

I know, don't hate us Skipper (their class president), but we threw an anti-reunion same time, same date as Scott's graduating class' 10 year reunion. Scott and his friends decided that they're the coolest people they know anyway, and didn't need to pay to go see less-cool people, so Scott took matters into his own hands. (They're seriously not snobby, just hilarious). We had a pot luck BBQ at a cute little park in Lindon, played games, and let the kids run wild. It was a fabulous evening!

Stewart Family Cabin Retreat

I've previously blogged about my Grandpa Stewart's cabin in Obsidian Idaho, affectionately called, "The Office." We headed north with my parents and three out of my four siblings (the New Mexicans were too far away, sadness!), and a canoe borrowed from our fabulous Aunt Betsy and Uncle Kurt. The trip involved some surprise septic tank issues and ditch-digging, but that just made it more exciting. ;) Luckily, it also involved amazing food, card games, hiking, fishing, canoeing, swimming, picnicking, and more family/outdoor goodness. It was amazing, and as always, far too short.

The Month 'o Family

The month of August was awesome! We miraculously got to see every single member of both of our immediate families last month! All of the visits were far too brief, but oh so sweet. And my extreme apologies to the Tessems! Somehow we didn't get a single picture of any of our visits!! I blame it on the fact that there's always a dozen cameras going at Tessem get-togethers, so we feel like it's been sufficiently documented. I am full of chagrin. Maybe to make up for it, I should draw some pictures of the visits? ;)

We started off with a visit from our favorite New Mexicans. We cooked together, went to the duck pond, and let the toddlers run around together. It was glorious. Next, we got to see Melinda and the kiddos. We sadly missed Taylor, but were so happy to get to see them while we could! Then we headed up to Idaho for the blessing of Megan--Jason and Tiff's newest addition. We played with cousins, ate awesome food, and crashed there overnight. Ellie loved it--she wanted to live there forever. Next was visiting with my fam in Idaho, and then the grand finale--the North Carolinians! We went on a walking tour of Provo, got us some BYU creamery ice cream, went roller skating, and were introduced to the tastiness that is a shrimp boil.

Never take family for granted, man. They're the best!

Tessem Baby 2

And oh yeah, we made a baby. :) Productive summer, eh? Our next little addition is due February 27th, so he/she is now 16 weeks gestated. We find out in two weeks what the gender is. I'm pulling for a girl, but have been out-voted by the husband, the toddler, the mother-in-law, and every Latina who has laid hands on my belly, LOL! At this point, I think I will be genuinely surprised if it's a girl.

So there are the highlights of our summer, along with a promise to be less neglectful of the blog! Love y'all!