Whew!

It feels really good to just dump all these pictures on here and tell myself I am now updated.  We have been really busy since we got home and so to make my life easier I am just going to post the pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Letty moved to Provo :( so before she left we tried to see her as much as possible.  One night she stayed over and we took lots of goofy pictures including this duck face.  So attractive.

Jason turned 32!  On his actual birthday we went and saw the Bourne Legacy and got sushi.  I had a bigger surprise planned for the weekend.

 I am so in love with these boys it isn't even funny!  Seriously, how are they so cute?

They helped me bake Jason a carrot cake.  The day after his birthday we had a happy birthday Jason/farewell Letty party with some of our extended family.  

 That Friday night we had planned on getting together with one of Jason's best childhood friends.  I found out that one of our favorite singers, Brandi Carlile would be in Grass Valley.  So without telling Jason, I rescheduled our plans with his friend, bought the tickets, and arranged a babysitter.  He didn't know anything until the babysitter showed up that night.  Even then I didn't tell him what we were doing.  He saw this poster as we passed by the concert hall and he was really excited.  We had seen a band I liked (Citizen Cope) in SLC when we lived in Provo, probably about 6 years ago.  Brandi Carlile was there and she was amazing.  We have bought every one of her albums since.  It was so fun to see her again, she is so amazing live.  Check her out!

 The next day Jason's friend Jessica got married in Garden Valley.  My mother in law watched the kids and we headed up for the afternoon.  It was a beautiful wedding, with beautiful scenery.  We were able to catch up with a lot of Jason's friends so it was really fun.

Then on Monday night some of our best friends, the Burtons were in town.  Jason and Jared grew up together and are still such great friends with so much in common, and I love Jared's wife Shannon.  It was so fun to visit with them and see their cute kids.  We really hope someday we will all live by each other.

Jamison and Ollie are only a couple months apart.  They were so cute together on their tiny Specialized bikes and got along right away.

Avery, their daughter, is just the sweetest, petite little thing.

She really wanted some of Ollie's otter pop.  Look at her open mouth!  Ollie was happy to oblige.

A few nights later we were able to get together with Jennie, another one of Jason's best friends.  She was in town for her brother's wedding.  We love Jennie, she is so much fun.

Last week I started covering another hygienists maternity leave.  I am working 3 days a week for 6-8 weeks.  Three days is more than I usually like to work, but since it is temporary I decided to do it.  It has been going well, and I know it is a blessing since Jason will be leaving soon and I want to stay busy.

 Friday night my parents (who didn't "get" to babysit all summer) watched the kids so Jason and I could have a night away.  We went up to Placerville which is a cute little town about 30 minutes from us.  We stayed at the Cary House Hotel which is very old and rumored to be haunted.  It also has the 2nd oldest elevator West of the Mississippi :)  It was a cute place.  Here is Jason in front of one of the haunted rooms.

 While we were there we at a BBQ place that we absolutely love.  We had been there before. We also got a dessert pot pie at Z pie, yum.  The next day we walked around and looked in all the antique shops.  It was so nice to just hang out together.

Looking into the lobby of the hotel. 

 On fast Sundays we rotate having dinner between us, the Boatmans, and my parents (and we recently added Jason's parents).  This month it was our turn to host.  We had 13 adults for dinner.  I made Cafe Rio salads.  It was a lot of fun.  After dinner, as per tradition at our house, we went on a walk.  We were quite the large group.

Owen and Max holding hands.  

Ollie spent the night with Jason's parents Sunday night, so Monday morning, Max, Owen and I headed to Lincoln and I ran a 5k with my dad.  It was fun, although I hadn't run in about a month so I was pretty sore the next day.  I was proud of my 29:37 time since I am usually a little slower than that.

My mom got this good action shot. I always sprint at the finish.

That afternoon I took the boys swimming at Jennie's house.  They set up a big slip n' slide which was super fun.  Here I am ready to go down.

And there I am at the bottom.  Lets just say I had grass EVERYWHERE.

In other news, Jason finally shaved off the beard he has been growing for the last 3 months.  I told him I wanted a picture of him with a mustache, but then it needed to come right off!  I like Jason with a little scruff, it is sexy, but this beard was getting out of control.  I'm happy to have my clean shaven husband back.

I thought he looked like Tom Selleck with his mustache.

Today Ollie started preschool again.  This year he is in pre-K and goes 3 days a week.  He has been so excited and he had a great time.  Here he is holding up a two for his second year at preschool.

And last but not least we bought a treadmill.  I did so well on one this summer and I have been feeling super lazy since we got home.   I told Jason we needed to get one ASAP.  We found this awesome deal on Craigslist (oh how I love Craigslist).  This baby retails at $4200, and we got it for $400.  I can customize workouts and yada yada yada, the most important feature is that it has a pause button so I don't have to completely stop my workout to deal with my children :)  Super pumped about that.

Ok I'm caught up.  What a relief.  Jason leaves to go back to North Dakota to wrap things up out there, in about a week and a half.  I am DREADING it.   He will be gone 4-6 weeks.  I love my husband and  don't like the idea of being away that long.  I have decided this is the only year we will do this, from here on out we will make other arrangements (i.e.: the boys and I will stay out there with him).  I think working will keep me busy and sane so I am really grateful for that blessing.  Other than that we are looking forward to the weather cooling down, and gearing up for the holidays and time together as a family.