Life in August 2022

Aww, Jubal.  He is so fun.

Leo was diagnosed with pre-diabetes over the summer while I was gone to Utah.  When I got back, I started trying to cook more of a Mediterranean diet with a lot more beans and veggies.  I don't think we ate particularly unhealthy before, but Leo pretty much stopped eating any desserts whatsoever.  That man has an iron will.  Anyway, I have lots of food pictures due to that, and because we always share dinner photos on our WhatsApp group.  

I started running again as soon as my ankle healed, and check out the personal record below!!  Yep, I did that in the blistering, humid heat.  So yeah, hence the sweaty workout photo.  

Efraim, worn out from school. 

This is definitely not Mediterranean diet.  But yummy.  

Kansas did have lovely sunsets. 

I also got an instant pot, which I really like.  Mostly just because it makes it so I can still make beans even if I forgot about planning dinner in the morning.  

Cheese makes everything better.  

I always thought this was a hilarious name for the bakery near where the UPS store was that I dropped off all my Amazon returns.  😂

Cute boys!!!

Pizza isn't exactly Mediterranean diet either, but I made this in our smoker and it was heavenly.  

Nicolas asked for a suit coat like this with patches on the elbow in particular.  How could I refuse?!?  He looks so handsome!

My running trail.  

My running buddy. 

I also started using my dehydrator.  (I boxed it up again after and gave it to myself for Christmas.)

I wanted to make meals to take camping.  I had planned on going on lots of canoe camping trips the next summer and I wanted to stock up.  But you know, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. 

Isabel finished the quilt she'd been working on for the last year and a half.  So cute!! 

She said it killed her and that's her lying dead from it on the trampoline.  

Have I mentioned that I love our Camp Chef smoker?  Because I really, really do. 

Okay, ribs, again, not the healthiest but just look at that healthy quinoa and cauliflower.  😉

Start of School 2022

School started Aug 11th.  It was kind of nice that the kids went right to school because it was so hot that nobody wanted to leave the ac.

And yes, I failed.  I never got a picture of Elena.

But here she is with her cross country team.  

This was her cross country team when they went running near Lake Anton.

Sebas and Isabel ran cross country too.  They are all tougher than me.  

The kids rode the bus to school, well, until Elena got her license in January.  But I drove to pick them up after.  I would take the little boys to the splash pad and park in Goddard to play until the older kids finished with cross country practice 30-45 minutes later.  It was a fun after school down time.  We did it almost everyday while it was so hot.

Oklahoma Temple Visit

Another thing we managed to do before school started was to head down to the Oklahoma temple.  We went earlier in the day because we were trying to buy a weight set for Leo I saw on Facebook marketplace, but they had sold it just before we got there.  Anyway, that led to our detour through Yukon, OK and new places I hadn't seen before.  These pictures are backwards again, but this was the moon on the drive home. It was beautiful.

Isabel made a face.

The toad did not turn into a princess.

The kids just waited for us out in the parking lot.  Sebas caught a toad, so that's cooler anyway.

And I think Isabel entertained herself taking photos of the temple.

It was weird driving through/around Yukon. Definitely farm country, but not like I was used to.  More like big wealthy plantations and barns nicer than most of the houses in the farming areas I've been to before. 

So crazy.

And apparently, Garth Brooks lived there as a kid.