Welcoming September

Labor Day: I woke up early to run 3 miles before our day began. The sunrise was so beautiful!

We went hiking with friends! We all missed the CO mountains so, so much, but the trees were so lovely and we were pleasantly surprised how much we loved hiking in MO. It's always refreshing to be outside!

And more scrapping of ceilings. Aaron's becoming a master at this job. It's so messy but I keep trying to think about how great it will look when this is all finished!

Tuesday: Austin and Eleanor helped me clean up from the house project. They love to vacuum! We then headed to gymnastics. It's so fun watching Austin improve in this sport. He's a great listener and the teacher picks on him often to demonstrate to the small class what she wants them to do next. 

My new daily routine includes packing school lunches every day, except Friday when Eli asks if he can buy school lunch! It's fun packing a little lunch and I pray her feels loved by me when he's eating lunch at school. 

Friday: I pulled Eli out of school a few hours early and we make a quick dash up to North Dakota to celebrate Aaron's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. They were married on Sept. 7 and wanted to have a celebration on that day. We're about 8.5 hours from ND, but it felt quick compared to the other trips we've taken to ND when we've driven over 13+ hours. We made a dinner stop at Burger King and the kids loved the crowns. This was their first time having one and I remember loving these things when I was a kid! On our drive we played road trip games like would you rather and I spy. We laughed and sang songs together. There was complaining and fighting too, but overall it was a memorable road trip together. I love my little crew so, so much.

Where's Eleanor?!

Being together with lots of family is always special, but this time felt extra special because it was a celebration of 60 years of marriage and love. Grandpa Volk talked about wanting the song "How Great Thou Art" sung at his funeral by his daughters. It made me tear up! I loved seeing my kids with their great grandparents. I realize they may not remember much about this trip, but I hope that the pictures help them remember their heritage.

We made a quick stop for breakfast at Denny's with Grandpa Volk before the festivities began.

Here are wedding pictures Grandma Volk had in an album! Such a cute couple.

Duane is on the top left. His smile reminds me of my Austin!

Eleanor loved meeting them for the first time! Grandpa Volk had an Aunt Eleanor and he said she loved to sing! Eleanor loves making up little songs and I hope she'll always love to sing!

We were all spoiled with lots of yummy treats and lots of love! Eli cried when we said our goodbyes.

We left early Sunday morning and made it to a sacrament meeting at 12:30 p.m. in Iowa. We've tried really had to not travel on Sunday if possible - this time we weren't able to drive home on Monday so we were extra grateful we found a sacrament meeting that was right along our drive home and broke up our drive at the half way point!

We're grateful for time with family and cherish these tender moments with them.