***BOO!***

Did I scare ya?!  ...okay, well, I kinda figured, being it's the end of October and all, if I was gonna make a come-back and scare everyone, now would be the most fitting time!! ;)  Don't anyone pass out on me now!

I know, I know ...it has been a long, LONG time, and I've been a very BAD blogger.  I kind of defaulted to Facebook, and have stayed in touch with a handful of you on there, but it's just not the same, I know.  And I really, really MISS my bloggy friends!  So as for the lack of blogging, there are no real excuses, except for that when you start falling behind, it's hard to know *how/when/where* to jump back in and start again.  So rather than a long post in words, I'll give you a book in pictures to update the past few months, and hopefully I'll be better about keeping up on here after that.  I won't make any promises, except just to say that I'll TRY!!  :)  

So where to start? ~ How about "July" where I left off...

(* you can click on any of the pictures if you wish to see the full-size photo collage.) 

Khloe enjoying some playtime out in the rain.

Rodeo Fun!

Martin's 39th Birthday (Dawson was away at camp)

 Splash'in good times in the pool!  

 We rounded out July with a mini family reunion/camping trip in SE Minnesota.  

 ...camping and horse riding.

Dawson and Khloe preferred the mechanical horse in the grocery store! ;) 

August brought on our 20 year Class Reunion.

  We started out the day with a rainy Family Move & Grove  walk to raise scholarship money.  Thanks to the rain, the turn-out was slim, but we still had fun.  

Our class opted for a casual reunion for our 20th, so later that evening after the rain subsided, we gathered at one of our favorite teenage hang-out spots that we all enjoyed as we were growing up...  Zorbaz on the Lake! 

It proved to be SO much fun with about 1/2 of our classmates present.  Everyone was thankful for the 'senior photo' name tags I created, as there were a few that would've been tough to identify without them!  ;)  

Top center is my BFF (since the 4th grade!) Rhonda and I.  

 I thought you might enjoy seeing these senior photos of Martin and I 

~ needless to say, we've changed a bit!

(especially me!   I won't even hint at how much weight I've gained since then, but sadly it's obvious!)

  

Naturally, our reunion was even more fun since we both graduated from the same class.  

..."YES" we were high school sweethearts!

 We rounded out the summer with one last family camping trip to 

Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota.    

  Our last full day there, we rented a pontoon to do some fishing and enjoy the scenery.  It was absolutely breath-taking and a great way to end our stay at Itasca.

Khloe loved touching the fish that Breanna caught;

but her favorite part was when Daddy let her drive the pontoon!

As tradition would have it, 

we topped of our getaway with our final stop in Brainerd 

to play mini golf at Pirate's Cove!  

Khloe is still working on her 'technique.'

 

 

Before I knew it, the big kids were heading back to school!

Dawson is a 7th grader this year, and Breanna is a junior in high school.

Of course I had the kids pose for their annual  "on the front porch"  BTS photos...

Khloe was up bright and early to see them off and wave goodbye!

So I think that about rounds out the summer.  I have a few posts I'd like to add in for memory's sake, so those are yet to come.  But for now, I need to close this 'chapter' of the photo album book and move on.

Thank you to everyone who kept checking in on me over the past several months.  Yes, I'm still here and things are good.  Khloe is blossoming and growing like a weed, as you can see, so I promise to try and get better about keeping up so she doesn't change so much every time you see new photos of her!  I need to be better about journaling my big kids, too.  Breanna will be graduated and off to college before I know it, so I don't want to miss writing about these special years we have left with her at home.  I love my kiddos and I am just so blessed that God seen fit to make me their mom!!