August brought the end of summer and beginning of school (music to my mom-of-four-kids ears). We said goodbye to our dear friends the Beverleys and threw them a big going away party, and to our niece Emma who left on an 18-month mission for our church to Belgium and the Netherlands. There were last minute swim parties, a trip to Virginia with Sophie to visit my family, lots of hot cross country practice sessions for the high schoolers, the beginning of a new club cross country team for my younger two, the start of Friday Nights at the Farm here in Green Valley with the chef from our favorite Port Costa restaurant, Bull Valley Roadhouse , trips to the flower fields and evening bike rides past the vineyards. We had a few hot days but for the most part it was beautiful. Here are a few snapshots from our August days!

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Sophie and I had a great week-long trip to Virginia to spend time with my siblings and parents. It was flat out awesome. I love spending time with my family and really love Williamsburg. It was a perfect match. Also Sophie has inherited my travel bug and loves all things travel.

I spent time either in the flower fields of Larry’s Produce or planting things in our backyard. I recently started planting succulents, herbs and a Mexican palm in half winebarrels and I am in love with the look.

Green Valley was beautiful as always. I say it all the time but this place has such a hold on my heart. I can’t imagine ever permanently leaving.

Went to Friday at the Farm inaugural opening with Stoneroot Field and Sea in Green Valley and it was basically heavenly. Also, that ceviche was TO DIE FOR. I couldn’t scoop it into my face hole fast enough and didn’t really share with anyone and I’m not sorry.

I did a little job for Walgreens with three of my kids for their back to school campaign. I love how these photos turned out; you can see the whole post here.

It was National Dog Day so here is me and my daily sidekick Bebe while she helped (I am using that term veeeeeeeeeery loosely) me make apple pie tacos.

We said goodbye and good luck to our beautiful Emma in advance of her serving an 18 month mission for our church to Belgium and the Netherlands. Missions are an incredible opportunity for youth roughly 18-21ish to serve and learn and teach. Simon is planning to serve a mission for our church shortly after graduation from high school. Sam served a mission in Japan years ago. Missions are awesome and such a unique opportunity to put the world and daily life on hold for 18 months to two years and simply teach and serve. We are so proud of Emma and excited for her adventures! Plus she will be fluent in Dutch by the time she gets back! To learn more about missionary work please go here.

I upped my game with my wood burning and branched out (ha!) to some different kinds of trees. The smell alone is worth doing this activity. So relaxing, so beautifully creative. I’m so glad that I learned how to do this over the summer.

We threw a BIG going away party for our friends the Beverley Family. It was so hard to see them go. Our lives have been intertwined with theirs for the past seven years and we miss them so much. The party was a blast and thankfully cooler breezes came in the night of the get together because it had been 100 degrees all week until that Friday night. Blessings for sure.

A benefit of having a big party at your house is that you get to see all of your favorite people and generally, your friends help you clean up when it is over. Plus you don’t have to pack anything up to take home at the end of the night. Win win.

I started working at the temple and it is one of the very best things in my life right now. To learn more about our temples please go here. When I say that I love the temple and love to be in the temple I’m not saying that lightly. This is truly the number one place on earth where I feel complete peace and am able to really communicate with God and listen without distractions. It is heaven on earth for me.

The kids went back to school and all of the sudden birds were singing, food tasted better and my blood pressure went down. All kidding aside, it was great having summer with them and great when we got back into the routine of learning. Plus, my younger two really need to be in school for as long as possible :).

Simon finished up work at the Napa Deli after a busy summer on the cooking line. One of his co-workers took this photo and sent it to me and I’m so glad that I have it. First job! So proud of this kid for working hard and learning a lot this summer.

Evening bike ride with Sebastian. He is an interesting kid. I’m so curious to see what he is like as he gets older.

That’s all for now! Happy hot days of August!

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