August Nuts and Bolts

Here's our entry for last month's happenings. Enjoy!

We’ve done the whole calendar entry before, but let’s try it backward (living on the edge, I know!):
08.31: We had a wonderful fifth Sunday lesson, consisting of a panel of experienced parents talking about raising children. Later that evening, we had a delightful dinner up at Grandma Nelson’s house.
08.30: We were happy to participate in the pear picking at Grandpa and Grandma Smith’s house. BYU won its season opener, although we opted for a fun day as a family instead of the game.
08.29: How much can we pack into one day?! David had his annual supervisors’ retreat, with Elizabeth and the girls joining them for lunch at Brick Oven. He sure loves these students and can’t wait for the semester to start. We headed up with our friends, the Segebergs, up to Midway’s Swiss Days and had a ball. To finish the evening up, we played games with some neighbors. All in a day’s work!
08.26-08.27: Elizabeth and Tayah joined David for BYU’s university breakfast (he absolutely loves to show his girls off and Tayah did a marvelous job being cute). David attended the joint session Tuesday, followed by the Advancement Retreat Wednesday. Kadence enjoyed a dress-up, tea party with her friends!
08.22: Welcome to the world and to our family Gavin Smith! We loved meeting our nephew/cousin the next day. Tayah went to a neighborhood one-year olds’ birthday party. For the record, five baby girls were born on our street within a eight week span. So fun to have such good little friends nearby!
08.18-08.22: While Education Week is a fine idea, David hates having the campus being inundated with people who don’t know how to drive and have no clue which building is which .
08.15-08.17: Elizabeth and David participated in a very successful youth conference. Friday saw us taking the YM/YW up the SLC (thanks to Kara for doing girl duty all day). We toured Temple Square and the Humanitarian Center, gorged ourselves at Tucano’s, watched the Joseph Smith movie and had a pizza party to cap off the day. Saturday started with a huge breakfast, followed by a ropes course and swim party. David finished Sunday off by presenting a fireside for them. We love our youth and hope they had a spiritual, growing time!
08.14: Kadence and Tayah were mesmerized by the Cougar Cheerleaders, as we hit the Cougar Kickoff… we even have the photos to prove it (they let them hold them!). Go Cougars!
08.13: Finished up another successful semester with the Telefund crew. We’re having our best year ever, in spite of some challenging economic times.
08.12: A bishopric barbeque at the Christensens’ was a delight. We sure love serving together with such dear friends. The night finished with a rousing game of Ring-A-Round the Rosies with too many toddlers to count!
08.11: Thanks to the Lymans for a stellar Smith FHE up the canyon. The girls loved the carnival games and prizes.
08.08: The Primary put on a talent show to remember. It is so good to be with these three ladies again!
08.04-08.07: David was rendered a bachelor again and realized why he didn’t miss it! Elizabeth took the girls down to the traditional week at Lake Powell with the Torgesens. Minus some storms, they had a blast in the sun and came home with smiles and suntans to boot. David spent some time up in SLC with Sarah, taking in a few fun movies (Iron Man and Mamma Mia!). He managed to get home sick at home!
Other August happenings: Tayah added some words to her verbal repertoire- apple, book, Grandpa, Grandma, help, cup, and up (although the last three all sounds the same!). Kadence made some progress potty-wise, but we’ve miles to go before we sleep (borrowing from Robert Frost). Unfortunately, she is digressing with her sleep habits, getting out of bed repeatedly and often sleeping on the floor! They are both getting more and more outgoing when it comes to people not named Mommy and Daddy. Besides Youth Conference, Elizabeth enjoyed a quiet month with Young Women. She attended a few Enrichment activities. David interviewed a lot of people, as is the norm come August.
Quite a wonderful month, no matter which direction you take. Let’s hope for another great month in September!