I feel like the past month has been an absolute whirlwind.
Summer Wind-up
As the school year approached we went into a mad dash to squeeze in as much fun as possible before the end of Summer. We managed to start the first annual "Bye to Summer Biathlon" at the start park that is right down the road from us. Of course the day was rainy, but quite warm as we swam in the lake and ran around the park. The girls all won "recycled" trophies and we stuffed ourselves with donuts and cupcakes afterwards. The attendance was small but it was a great hit and will do it again next Summer.
The big highlight for me was getting an e-mail from Casey Swoyer saying he was coming into town for a week. We were able to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening with him for dinner, looking at scrapbooks and watching the sunset over the Olympic mountains as a bagpiper played. I loved spending time with him and witnessing first hand what an amazing person he has grown into. Later in the week, the girls and I went on a hike with him to Twin Falls. It is hard to put into words the emotions and thoughts I had as I watched my girls bounce around him as we hiked and then Liv taking his hand. If you would have told me 20 years ago I would be living that scene I wouldn't have been able to imagine how cool and how much joy it would bring me. 
Jeremy managed to bookend the Summer mountain climbs but stayed sort of local for the last one and climbed Mt. Adams the end of August.
We also hit a Storm game (WNBA) had the teens we MA and PA'ed at TREK over for a pizza dinner.
School, 1st Grade, 3rd Grade
School officially started August 30 for us. Aja is in 3rd grade with the only male teacher in the school and super excited to have him. Anna is in 1st Grade with only 3 other kids she knew from last year. Liv is doing pre-school at the elementary school as well and loves it so much. She goes in the afternoon and starts asking me how many more hours until school at 8:48am when her sisters get on the bus. It is good to be back in school and I am pleased with all the girls classroom situations.
Early Morning Seminary
I started teaching early morning seminary this past week (6-7am). Wednesdays are off. Our course of study is the "Old Testament" and I have 24 sophomores in my class (23 have been coming). I teach with a team teacher, but am still feeling like this is a daunting task. I am excited about the opportunity to teach and preparing. The hard part is giving up my early morning exercise time. I am pretty amazed that the kids are so committed to come. It isn't easy. I am starving by 10:30 in the morning and I can squeeze a nap in if really need to. The kids have to go straight to school and many of them have sports after. It is a good thing they are young. They inspire me.
Kelso, WA
Yesterday, we got up at 6 am and headed to Kelso, WA (2 hour drive) for a Highland Dance competition. Aja and Anna both competed and did better than I had expected after a month of no classes and even less practice (end of Summer fun got in the way). The day was beautiful and it is always fun to wonder around a Scottish Highland Games. It really is its own sub-culture/world. After the awards we drove out to the WA coast to an area called Long Beach. The temperature dropped about 25 degrees on the beach but that didn't stop our girls from jumping in the surf. They get plenty of beach time but we don't get to the ocean very often. It has such a beauty, power and peace about it.
