After a VERY long, drawn out winter, and relatively short spring, and a hard-hitting and HOT summer, we reluctently wind our way into Autumn, dragging the last few days of shorts-and-flip-flop days with us. Fall marks a number of starts for our family, and a few stops. We Start school, sweaters, closed-toed shoes, crock-pot meals, cozy evenings typically dragging blankets with us as we walk, locating and washing winter gear. We Stop wearing flip flops and shorts, grilling (okay, so Dave never actually stops grilling), evening walks to the duck pond, late late late nights since it stays light out so long, and having to mow the lawn quite as often! All are welcomed departures from the prior season's rituals.
The kids are both excited to start a new school year. Brian will be a 9th grader at Fort Herriman Middle School. He's taking some fun classes ~ Spanish 2, Introduction to Engineering, Computer Technology, World Geography, and NO P.E.! Sarah will start her classes as Salt Lake Community College this week and has a tough row to hoe ~ English 2010, Chemistry, Biology, and Psychology, plus two labs, a study group, and a role as Assistant Chair to the Fine Arts & Lectures leadership board. As you probably know, she's heading toward a BSN (Bachelor's in Nursing), so she plans to get a year or so of general classes out of the way at SLCC and will then transfer to a four-year school. It should be a challenging year for both of them!
We will finish out our summertime frolicing over Labor Day weekend at Lake Powell, and will stay in a hotel (What's that you say? What about the camper we just bought? Oh yeah, that. Well, it doesn't have air conditioning and, considering the forecast is 110+ degrees, we though a nice cool room and refreshing pool sounded better!) and take the boat for some wakeboarding, tubing, and swimming in that beautiful water. We are very excited! Hopefully we can take the camper out at least for an overnighter sometime before the snow flies.