The Last Half of Summer

Brielle on "Red"! She looks so tiny!

Emma learning how to "lead" Red

A friend of mine invited the girls over to ride her horse, Red. They got to brush, feed, and bathe him, too! They were in heaven!

The girls at the Davis County Fair's petting farm

Riding the ponies at the Davis County Fair. Worth the 45 min wait!

My pretty girls in front of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

it was a little windy, but we still had fun

What else screams summer like Popsicles and Snowie's?

Lagoon! We truly enjoyed our season passes this year!

Emma favorite ride this year was "The Bat" so we took a picture in front of their cage! (You can see their red eyes when it's enlarged).

One thing I learned from Nick's last hospital stay was that my kids were totally thrown off with both of us gone. I know we tried to make the best of the situation and we were very blessed to have so many family members and friends willing to take care of them for about two weeks while Nick was so critical. But once I came home, it became harder to drop Brielle off in nursery or at her baby sitter's. She was very clingy for at least a month. Emma was busy finishing the year with preschool and dance, but I know she was worried that one day she would wake up and we would be gone again. She was very leery anytime Nick had a doctor's appointment or I was going to the hospital by myself.

So, with Nick's most recent stay in the hospital, I tried to be at home with the girls as much as possible. It helped that Nick was not as "critical" and his family was very willing to stay overnight with him. I'd like to think that the girls were less affected this time. We tried to keep doing the fun things that we already had planned even though Nick couldn't be there. Here are a few things we did that I actually had my camera for!