A Grand New Adventure!

It's been two months since I blogged, but life has been very bloggable during that time! We enjoyed a whirlwind second half of the summer, with one of the highlights being a visit from Phillip's sweetheart Tiffany (see July's blog). That was the beginning of our newest adventure, as, by the end of her stay, wedding dates were a definite topic of conversation.

I am happy to announce that on August 26, Phillip proposed to Tiffany - and she said yes - on the balcony at the top of a clock tower in downtown Denver, after a romantic horse carriage ride and a candle and rose petal-strewn climb to to the tower bell.

We are very happy to welcome Tiffany to our family and look forward to December 17, the day she and Phillip will be married in the Denver Temple.

She is a wonderful young lady, and we are honored to embrace her as a new daughter!!!
We are looking forward to Denver in December and will spend a week there with Tiffany's family after the wedding. After the kids' honeymoon to Winter Park we will all enjoy a bit of Christmas day with them. What a fun opportunity! And a great adventure for all of us.
Since I doubt I will catch up with the last two months of blogging, I will make a list of highlights here to jog my memory later:

• Summer swimming lessons at the lake with kids, shave ice on the concrete, lying out on beach towels with Zoe, easing into that refreshingly cold water on a hot day, watching Zoe swim out to the dock and back - with a whole crowd of folks cheering for her from the shore - junior lifeguarding
• Slidewaters: sliding away with the kids, the smell of sunscreen, bright blue sky, view of Lake Chelan from the top, sailboats dotting the water, sound of running water, splashing, long climbs to Tube Blaster, crashing down Thunder Rapids, summer fun!
• Getting to tag along while Phillip picked out Tiffany's diamond and bought her rings, talking, eating, shopping, a treasured day with my oldest son, of whom I am very proud
• The Covey Run with the kids, raising money for Children's Hospital, what a fabulous (and tiring, for this out-of-shape mama, Zoe beat me by a full three minutes this year) family tradition
• New American Girl Doll store in Seattle with Zoe, she was such a good girl and not greedy at all. Go Zoe!
• The beginning of school, Sam in seminary and xcountry, Zoe enjoying the new Options program
• Saturday Farmers Markets, raising money for Music Boosters, Sam, Joe and Willy playing tunes, dollar bills piles in the trumpet case in front of them, folks dancing to their music, big, juicy red heirloom tomatoes and our favorite apples and peaches
• Picking blueberries at Blueberry Hills - and eating blueberries and more blueberries and more and more blueberries, YUM!
• And this morning, Zoe sharing that it smelled like apple orchards as we waited for the school bus, I think fall is finally on the way
• Getting to talk about Graham's mission experience in sacrament meeting at church yesterday, the story of The Snakeskin Boots - Love my Graham!
  
• An inspiration to return to writing. I really miss it.
  

And a sneak preview of my next blog, stay-at-home mama goes professional in paradise: