July Reflections.

I'm sitting here today wondering where July went. How can August be 1/3 of the way done too? We anticipated that this summer would be busier than last, and it was. But I never dreaded it because there were so many trips and family activities to look forward to. What I didn't anticipate was how the summer would not only be busy, but would feel like a whirlwind. A very good whirlwind, but tornado-ish nonetheless. It was a flurry of activity and now it's over. Well not quite, but close enough. We have three more things planned before school starts--our Anniversary, the boys' Grandma/Grandpa camp, and our family olympics/back-to-school party. And school is just two weeks away...Enough about that. It's not time to pull out the tissues yet--we still have TWO WEEKS OF SUMMER LEFT!!! YAY!!!!

So here are the photos I found on my phone today. Bits and pieces of July's memories.

Our clean garage came about as a result of a Saturday afternoon. I should have taken a before picture--it was a wreck!!

 I love walking in our garage now. It's so clean and even beautiful!

We've been enjoying our CSA shares of fruit from Perry this year.

Another highlight of July is starting my "Take a Daily Question to the Scriptures for 30 Days Experiment." I cannot believe how incredible the Lord is. How He intricately places our answers amidst the pages of scriptures amazes me every time.

This is one of the brilliant sunsets I captured this summer. It struck me the other night as I was driving home from the store and watching the sunset, how each day the Lord surprises us with a new sunset. Every single day's sunset is unique and different. I think I take for granted how kind and generous our Father is in providing us with this brilliant gift each and every day. It leaves me wonderstruck.

And this is just Flashlight in one of her temporary favorite beds (my travel bag).

When we drove Easton up to visit Gram and Pop a few weeks back, Maylie latched on to Gram and decided she had a found a new playmate. (And I was not invited :) She reminds me of someone I know... ;)

This is our beautiful dog Pola (aka Pola Bear according to me, aka the Grim/Sirius Black from Harry Potter according to Papa)

 I love my wolf dog!

 One day Tate and Maylie and I discovered this sweet little movie series on Netflix based on one of my absolute favorite books...

Last Satruday the boys and Patrick went on an Elder's Quorum 4-Wheeler ride. It lasted all day and they had a blast. They came home grimy but they shined up nicely! (Meanwhile, Maylie and I went over to Logan to do some shopping...the beginnings of my new decorating project).

And lastly, this was the day of the very first "Messy Buns" for Maylie. She loved them. and I thought they captured her personality so well...

 I think doing hair is one of the best things about having my little girl!

 And someday, she'll have her own...

THE END

What I've been up to...

1. Playing with, potty training, and babysitting our new puppy Pola.

Story:  After years of wanting to find a dog similar in breed to my Gus growing up (see this post), we finally made the leap and got ourselves a little 7-week-old puppy.  We drove an hour and a half to pick her out and I studied all 9 puppies for 20 minutes trying to find just the right one for us.

I chose her because of her perfect little face and deep eyes.  My dad gave us this wisdom when we went to pick out a puppy.  "Just look at his eyes," he said.  And you will know.

Well, I did.  And I'm so glad Heavenly Father answered my silent prayers to pick the right one.  She's been perfect (and a lot of work and quite a handful all at the same time:)

She rode like this (see below) nearly the whole way home, keeping Maylie giggling.  And after awhile, I brought her up front with me on my lap and then down by my feet.

She is playful and sweet, a perfect combination of spunk and sugar.  She slept in a crate in our basement for the first 2 weeks and only whined for a few minutes when we would put her inside.  But after two weeks of taking her outside every 2 hours to use the bathroom, I began to feel a bit weary (that may be an understatement) and so yesterday, my sweet Patrick went to IFA and bought her an outside chain link kennel to use until we get a yard (which may be several months away) and a fence (which may be several years away).  He put it together perfectly and only got one battle wound from the experience.  Now he and Tate are twinners with their cuts above their left eyebrows.

So, all in all, we love her and are so glad she's here!

{Most recent picture from a couple of days ago}

2. Immersing myself in photography.

Story: Now that we're settled, I have been feeling the pull to get my photography business up and running here.  For the past several years I have been slowly building my portfolio and gaining experience.  And now I'm ready to take it to the next level.

So for the last little while I have been enrolling in a photography class, studying a photography textbook, talking to a friend who shares the same photography interests as me, reading hundreds of photography articles, honing down my own unique photography style, delving into photoshop to create my personal post-processing workflow, working with a graphic designer to redesign my website, and completely revamping my whole business.  It's going to be great.  And I'm so excited.