Catching up: September

I bet that everyone has given up on this blog!  But I haven't!  I just have not had motivation since my knee surgeries to do a lot of things, blogging for some reason was one of them.  I know I have dug myself quite the hole, but this blog, and documenting the events of our little family, is super important to me, so I will do my best to catch up and then keep it up!   It has been long enough since I posted (December) and even longer since what I last wrote about (September soccer!).  

So to start here is finishing up the month of September! :)

Dustin found a few pieces of free sod.  So yes, to go along with our ghetto chicken wire fence, we laid those few pieces of sod in our back yard!  The boys were excited to help dad water, and have some grass to jump on and do somersaults on!  (And when we had our winter storms later on, that patch was perfect to play on and avoid the mud underneath!)  

Gotta love Fall rain storms! We had fun going out and splashing in puddles as a family one Sunday afternoon!  We were a mess after, but it was a lot of fun.  (It reminded me of the my younger years when we were complete "gutter children!"  Nothin' wrong with that!  Ha!)   :)

One day I rode my bike and pulled the boys in the trailer around the UW campus. We stopped and took a random trip to the Dinosaur Museum there on campus.  
One of the biggest events of September was Jack starting his first day of Preschool!  He went to a cute, new Christian Preschool in town called The Ranch.  He was so excited to have a new Cars backpack and head into school!  That kid loves to learn! Even though he was super excited, this Mommy was a little emotional about her baby starting school!    
Here is the beautiful church where Jack's preschool is held.

Jack with his teacher, Miss Stephanie, on his first day!  

Jack went to The Rånch on Mondays and Wednesdays.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we did a little home preschool with some kids from church - Jack, Kinlee, Addie, Jonah, and Josie.  Us moms took turns teaching each week in our homes.  It was fun and the kids were able to do some fun things.  It was fun, but it definitely solidified for me why I am a secondary education teacher.  Here is a picture from one of their fun adventures - a field trip to the Fire Station.

There was a celebration downtown one day to kick of Fall, the beginning of school, and kind of celebrate UW athletics, so I took the boys.  The boys had fun meeting up with friends (the Anderson boys) getting their faces painted by cheerleaders, playing a few games, and then dancing to the music!

And of course, the highlight, at least for Jack, meeting Pistol Pete (Cowboy Joe as my boys call him!)  

Here they are showing off their awesome dance moves. Then it was a wonderful treat to go to a football game with Daddy actually sitting with us!

The last weekend of September, Dustin's paren'ts came out for a short weekend visit so they could come to the Nebraska vs. Wyoming football game. We found some good Wyoming gear for them and it was fun to have them at the football game with us.  Lynn got to spend the game with Dustin on the sidelines while Patty helped me juggle the kids!   I love these pictures of Dustin with his parents, especially showing how short his cute mom is between the two tall guys! :)    

Also in September, I got to head to Utah (without kids!)  to go to Time Out for Women with my mom, Lisa, Stacy, and Amy.  It was amazing!  The music and speakers were so great and inspiring.  It was weird to be without kids for the weekend, but it was a wonderful trip!  Here are some pictures from TOFW and with our lovely bags we got!  :)  (Love the pic of Lisa pretending to punch my mom in the head!)

That weekend we also were able to do a cute wood craft that said AUTUMN.  I love my crafty sis-in-law!  I love getting new decorations for my house!   

I had such a wonderful time with these amazing ladies!

 At the end of September I had to have knee surgery.....again.  We needed a fun outing before I was gimpy, so we went up into the mountains and did a little hiking and exploring.  

Our Family!  

Enjoying some  time out back before my surgery the next morning.  

So for my 3rd knee surgery, I needed my torn meniscus fixed, some cartilage trimmed out, and even though they couldn't do my ACL repair yet, they prepared my knee to have an ACL repair in 6 months by filling the old bone tunnels with bone tissue to let harden so they could drill again for my next surgery. Here I am post surgery in the chair I didn't leave much.  I was on crutches for awhile, and thankfully my boys were willing to come and do some snuggling with me!  (I think they actually got sick so they were more willing to sit still for longer amounts of time!)   Our ward and friends were AMAZING in taking care of meals for us and watching the boys while I was laid up!  

I will end this lengthy post with a few more random pictures of the kids being silly, showing off pajamas, having fun, making messes,  climbing in dryers, playing with Daddy, etc!  I sure love this handsome, silly guy! :)

Zander Man!   

 Being goobers! :)