Wow, has another month gone by again?

I cannot believe summer is almost over and in two short weeks Brynn will be starting Kindergarten. I, myself have mixed emotions about this new chapter in our lives; but as far as she is concerned, the first day cannot come fast enough. For her the only disappointment is she will not be riding the big yellow school bus.

I am looking forward to having some time with just Braden and me before he heads off to Mother's Day Out after Labor Day. I am not sure he will feel the same way, Brynn is his best friend and he will miss her dearly while she is at school.

This past month the kids and I have stayed busy with play dates, trips to the Library (which they love), staying cool in the water (it is the only way when it is 100 degrees), doing arts & crafts and baking. We even made cookies the old fashion way! Brynn could not believe it took so many ingredients to make cookies. And more recently we baked eight loafs (yes, I said eight) of banana bread, which I discovered you can pull out of the oven even when they have been baking for 15 minutes to add two very important ingredients you left out (salt and baking soda). Surprisingly, they still tasted delicious.

The last few weeks, I have been redecorating our living room, which has been the same color for the past eight years (a record for me). I started with caulking and repainting all the baseboards bright white and then moving to the framework and doors. I love the cleanliness white gives. I painted most of the living room a Soft Carmel color and accented two walls with the color Coffee (which is not near as dark as a I thought it would be). My original inspiration came from artwork I found on-line, but then I headed in a completely different direction after a trip to IKEA (that store gets me every time). My inspiration now, this pillow:

July 30th, we celebrated Danny's dad, John's 80th birthday. We threw him a big party at the local recreation center and had a wonderful turnout of family and friends. My mom, Jerry and Erin came in from New Mexico to celebrate with us, which turned, into double the fun for Brynn and Braden.

The picture on the cake is when John was in the Marines, he is 22 years old.

John with the last two grandchildren (Brynn and Braden) and five of the nine great-grandchildren.

In addition, probably the best and most unexpected news came on Saturday, July 24th. Danny was offered a permanent position at Applied Materials where he has been contracting the past seven months. He became a full-time employee with benefits August 2nd and I cannot explain the heaviness that has been lifted from us. We are so relieved and feel like we can breathe again. We will be facing several changes in the months to come, as he will be moving to a new group with new opportunities.