End of Summer Blues...

So I was looking through my pictures and thought I'd post some of our last days of summer that I'd forgotten about. The Spokane Shock (Spokane's Arena Football Team) ended up making it to the Championships and had the Championship game here in Spokane. It was really fun! Tucker, my sister-in-law, Angie, my mom and I were even all on the news. They were interviewing the guy who sits in front of us at the games who is a crazy fanatic fan, so we were just in the background being dumb. But still, we were on the news that night! :) Angie and I both happened to wearing green, and didn't realize that the other teams colors were green and white. We were the only ones wearing green in a sea of orange and blue. oops!

I kept on trying to get Tucker to look at me for a picture, but he just wanted to watch the game! He loved it! It was a really fun game and came down to a one point difference (unfortunately, The Shock didn't win) but it was SO loud!

They were giving out these megaphones, and Tucker was loving it!

How come I love this guy so much?

We also went to the lake with our good friends, the Enloes. We love the Enloes! Their daughter, Olivia (who is 4 and about the same size as Tucker) loves Tucker and Tucker loves Olivia! She is probably one of the funniest girls I've ever met, never a dull moment with her! :) There is a restaurant on the lake out by their cabin, Shooters, so we went there for dinner and these two just ran around and around and around the table ALL night!

The next day we went out on the lake and had a great day! Thanks so much you guys!

Here they are again.

By the end of the day, we had some pretty worn out kids. All of them looked like this on the boat ride back to the cabin.

Another reason we are sad to have the summer end is because we have going to the park to enjoy Hawaiian shaved ice as often as we can! We will sure miss those delicious treats!

As much as I love the summer, I ALSO love the fall and SO look forward to bundling up and going to Greenbluff and carving pumpkins and all the beautiful fall colors and wonderful smells. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place that has four very different and distinct and beautiful seasons! Our summer has been wonderful and busy and down-right exhausting some days, and we are grateful for our family and friends with whom we get to enjoy our lives with!

So Long, Summer...

Traditionally, here in the Northwest, Labor day weekend is the official end of the summer. Sad, but true, the time has already come and gone and it is definitely turning into Fall outside. I seriously can't believe how literally, on September 1st, the weather changed and it was Fall! Luckily for us, our Summer went out with a bang this year! My best friend from Jr. High, (yes, that's right, Jr. High-14 years ago!) Cookie, came up to visit from Utah with her daughter, Olivia; mom, Tonie; and little sister, Rosie. I love them all so much! It was a blast! They turned our basement into the Moncrief Hotel and I couldn't have been happier to have them here! I still miss them! Our other best-friend from Jr. High, Jessy was also in town from New York visiting her family for a few weeks, and so of course we had a little reunion. Here are me, Cookie and Jessy.

I still love these girls! I can not tell you how fun it was being all together again! The last time we were all together was at Jessy's wedding reception in Utah, 8 years ago!

I especially loved getting to know these two little ones:

Jessy's little guy, Baby Will: ('Baby Whheeel' as Tucker says)

And Cookies gorgeous little one, Olivia:

We had a little reunion with girls that we grew up with. We went to the park and had a picnic. It was great to catch up with everyone.

Tiffany, Jessy, Rosie, Cookie, Erica and me.

Tucker was showing off the whole time Olivia was here. It was so funny, when they first got here and he saw Olivia crawling, we told him to show her how to walk so he started like Marching around her, walking with his legs really high. It was really funny, he has never done this before, but walked so he was right next to Olivia, put one arm on the coffee table, and one arm on the couch and just hung there for a few seconds, his face turning red and all-I was dying !Here he is showing Cookie and Olivia how high he can jump. Such a show off.

But who wouldn't want to show off for this cute girl!!! :) Who is also like the best baby ever! Seriously, so cute, so easy, so close to walking, so much FUN!

They kind of fought like brother and sister some of the time, but the two were fast friends! :) Tucker even held her bottle for her in the car one night! Now that's love!

And of course when all of us get together, there has to be a photo shoot.

Here are Meg, Jessy and Tonie. (Cookie and Rosies mom)

And Cookie and I.

Lots of posing and lots of being silly!

Rosie, Me, Cookie, Jessy and Meg-I love these girls, I seriously can't believe its been so long, it kind of felt like we were 13 year olds all over again! :)

We headed downtown to Riverfront Park one day to visit the garbage goat, (by far the coolest attraction in Spokane) and we lucked out and discovered that 'Pig out in the Park' was happening, so we got to partake of lots of yummy food! The garbage goat sucks up garbage in his mouth.

We ended the weekend with the best BBQ ever- thanks to Erica and Jeff! They have the cutest kids and Jeff made the best hamburgers! We even got to help Alyssa pick out her outfit for her first day of kindergarten-we were so lucky!

The weekend was perfect! It was so much fun having them here. Tucker just asked me, 'Baby Olivia go home?' after he saw her picture on the computer. I could tell he was missing her, just like I am. Ben even sent them off in style by backing into their parked car in our driveway on their last night here! It was great--we really know how to treat our guests while they're here! :) I think that he was secretly trying to keep them here longer, since he obviously enjoyed the company so much! :) Luckily Tonie is like the sweetest, most understanding person in the world, and did her best to not make Ben feel bad, even though he felt awful about it! So anyway, thanks so much for coming you guys, seriously, we need to do it again, REAL soon!

Tagged...

I've Been Tagged

I've always tried to steer clear of these tags, but I finally got it! And since I actually have a few guilt-free minutes, I thought I'd share.

About me and my hubby...

What is his name? Benjamin Taylor Pyper
How long have we been married? 5 years in September! Eeek!
How long did we date? 8 months, but we knew each other a while before that.
How old is he? 28
Who eats more? He definitely does, he's a pretty big eater; but I can hold my own, too!
Who said "I love you" first? He tells me he did-but honestly I don't remember it. (I'm really bad at remembering things like that.)
Who is taller? He is-and I love being able to wear my heels!
Who sings better? He actually does, but hardly ever sings. I just know its not me, because I can't sing worth crap.
Who is smarter? He is, I'd say. He's very quick with his wit and humor. I'm smart too, though! :)

Whose temper is worse? Mine-hands down.
Who pays the bills? I do.
Who does the laundry? I do-and hate every minute of it!
Who cooks dinner? He does. He is amazing like that, he can just go in a kitchen and create things, I on the other hand can count with one hand how many times I've actually cooked for him. (ok, its not that bad, but close)
Who drives when together? He does.
Who is more stubborn? That’s a toss up, but I'm pretty sure it’s me.
Who is the first to admit when wrong? He definitely would!
Who wears the pants in the family? Hmmmm....Tucker!

Who mows the lawn? He does the lawn mowing-always; but I take care of everything else outside!
Who kissed who first? He kissed me! He shocked me in the airport, the first time I had seen him since we were 'elder pyper' and 'hermana campbell'!

Who asked out who first? I guess that he asked me out first, since he asked me to come to Alabama for his homecoming. :)
Who proposed? He did-In Chicago (not while we were missionaries!) :)
What is my favorite thing about him? His humor and wit and definitely his smile are what first attracted me to him! He is the best dad ever and Tucker just adores him! He is honest and sincere and I know that he just wants the best for me and Tucker and our family! I can't ask for much more than that, right! :)

Never a dull moment with this child...

It has been extraordinarily hot around these parts the past week or so. It has even gotten to the 100's! It was one of those days I didn't feel like going anywhere, so we decided to spend a day at home and made the best of it! We busted out the kiddie pool...

He loves playing with the hose.

Here he is figuring out that he can make the water go anywhere he wants! :)

And figuring out that he can drink from it! YUM!

And then it got him and that was the end of playing with the hose! :)

We decided to head to the trampoline to dry off. I swear the kid would spend every minute of the day on the trampoline if he could. (all of you debating on weather or not to get one, it was the BEST purchase ever, he loves it! I got ours for cheap on craigslist)

I finally got him to smile-normally!

I was so excited I decided to jump on and get in one with him!

After drying off we decided to make pizzas. Tucker helped in every step. Putting on the sauce. (he calls it dip-and would dip his finger in and lick it off.)

And then the cheese and pepperoni.

It was Tuckers lucky day today...Daddy brought home a frog they caught at his office! I wouldn't let him actually hold it, I was afraid he would squish it, and I personally didn't want to see a frog get squished!

Another exciting day we got to Silverwood again, this time with Nathan and Angie (freshly home from their honeymoon!) and Angie's nephew, Max.

We rode the cars...

Tucker and Uncle Nathan even won a toy fishing!

Tucker wasn't a huge fan of the rides, not as much as I thought he'd be, but he rode a few of the little ones with Max. Nathan took him on a bigger ride (non life-threatening, of course) and Tucker held on to him for dear life the whole time. But when it was done I asked him if he had fun and he said 'Yes!', so who knows?!

I got to take him on the bumper boats, one of my personal favorites...

We also rode the train, again!

But we spent most of our time at the water park side. (which I didn't take any pictures of) And at the end of the day, we had two very happy (and very tired) boys!

I guess the only other things we've (well, I've) been doing to occupy my time are watching the Olympics and reading 'Breaking Dawn'. Here are a few pictures I found to prove that.

Yes, I did go to a Twilight Midnight Party at Barnes & Noble. :) And yes I did run into a few of my Young Women there! :) I mainly went out of peer pressure! :) I really had no intention of reading it that night (in fact, I still haven't finished it, I know, I'm bad), I just used it as a good excuse for a girls night out. :) And Yes, those are "I love Edward' stickers on my chest! :)

So we have had a pool membership this summer at a pool that a lot of our friends are members of--it has been so much fun! And getting into the Olympic spirit, we had some swimming races the other night. Ben was determined to win the Gold of Chester Hills Pool! And that turned into a 'feats of strength' contest as it so often does with Ben! (including chicken fights) :)

I am getting a bad rap with my friends around here, after every picture I take they tell me I can't 'blog it' until I have their approval! :) Seriously you guys, I don't have a blogging problem! :)

Fun times with Keyton...

Allen, Kelli & Keyton were in town for two whole weeks before Nathans wedding. Allen had to get his tonsils out here in Spokane, and got two weeks off for it, so they planned it around the wedding, and stayed up at my mom & dads house. They brought their 2 miniature wiener dogs with them, Cookie and Riley. We went up to my parents house a lot when they were here, and Tucker got a lot of good playing time in with the dogs. He loves dogs so much! In the mornings when he wakes up sometimes I ask him if he had any dreams (just to hear what he will say) and every morning while they were here, he would tell me that he had dreams about Cookie and Riley. We are definitely going to have to get a dog at some point in our lives. I hate dogs!

Grandpa sure does love his two grandsons! They spent a lot of time playing together in the backyard and made lots and lots of s'mores together.

One Sunday afternoon while they were here we busted out the sidewalk paint that my mom had gotten for them to play with. It turned out to be quite an adventure. The boys loved it!

The boys also did a lot of bug-hunting/bug-finding/bug-crushing.

They are so funny with their bugs.

Grandma also took us to the water-park one day! We had so much fun!

It was absolutely perfect!

We miss you guys!