August 2011

Between San Fransisco and Phoenix, Scott was out of town on business a lot this month. We managed to squeeze in some fun when we could. Here are our highlights from August:
Summer storms were in full swing and August was no exception. On this particular day it POURED so the girls went out to enjoy it, of coarse!
You can't have a complete summer without visits to the ice cream truck!

Life is good!

On the 3rd Kaleigh finally lost her 8th tooth...yay!

Shay ♥'s Dex!

Kay does too!

Kaleigh is one of the craftiness and talented kids I've ever met. She LOVES to sew and designs her own Barbie clothes. This girl has some serious talent!

I love the view out our back door. Especially when there's a rainbow!

Someone regularly highlights the edges of the clouds with a pink highlighter! ;)

On the 6th we took Kaleigh out on a Daughter Date. She won an award at school and chose to redeem her free meal at Chuck-O-Rama. :)

We were so full that we decided to take a long walk around the Draper Temple before proceeding on with our night. It was a gorgeous evening!

Then Kay chose to go to Boondocks for some rides. She is such a sweet and perfect daughter and we loved every minute of our date with her. We feel so blessed to have her! We had a blast.

On our way to taking Scott to one of his many airport drop-offs, Peyton and I decided to grab breakfast and take him to the Lake to spend a little quality time before he left. (Kay & Shay were at school)

Feeding the ducks is one of our favorite summer activities!

My cousins wife unexpectedly passed away (at the age of only 34) on 6th so on the 12th Peyton, Mom and I headed to Brigham City for the funeral. Neither of us had been there so we did some sight seeing before the funeral. We saw the new Brigham City Temple, under construction, and it was beautiful!

This tiny cottage once housed a man, woman and their TWELVE kids at one point. Unbelievable! Brigham City is soooo pretty! Here's little Peyton in front of the cottage...

Mom and Peytie Pie♥

Obviously the day was sad, but it was so nice to get to spend some time with my Aunt Melanie. She is TRULY one of the sweetest and most beautiful people you'll ever meet. I was so glad I went.

In August we did lots of swimming, at the Lake, the Rec Center and our backyard. Even Dexter got in on the swimming! :)

This is how Kaleigh prefers to spend her pool time. Lol!

My favorite tradition? Camp outs in the back yard! Yes, we pitch our tent and have a fire and all. It's so much better that way. I LOVE our fire pit! (And smores)Goodnight...Biehn-style!

Almost every week during the summer Suzie and I head to the Lake on Tuesday nights to lay around on the dock and talk each others ears off. It's the best!

Regardless of how often we, and I, go we can never get over how serene and peaceful it is there.

And the sunsets! Oh the sunsets!

Jeremy flew up here on the 18th to attend a conference at The U so we got to spend some quality time with him. What would someone do with Jerm? Go to Sweet Aftons Candy Shoppe, of coarse!

Scott and Jeremy had some "brother time" one night so Suz and I took the girls to Movie In The Park and watched Tangled under the stars. That's the best!

The month ended on a GREAT note. The 31st was a HUGE day for my family. After ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN DAYS in the hospital & Rehab Centers Dad was finally released and cleared to come home!!!!!! It was one of the best days of my life. My Dad is a miracle, a fighter, an inspiration and HERO! I am so proud of the fight he fought. He is unbelievably courageous and strong. We took him out to dinner to his favorite place, Chuck O Rama, to celebrate. Congrats Daddy!

I decorated their house for his homecoming with tons of balloons and a huge banner that read, "Welcome Home Superman!" (my nickname for him). The Ward decorated their lawn with pictures that all the Primary kids drew for him. It was so cute!

Yes, WELCOME HOME SUPERMAN!!! What a long trial this was for us all, mostly Dad!The girls love Grandpa and were so glad to bring him home!

I made Dad a cherry cheesecake to celebrate! :)

I can't even tell you how grateful I am that Dad is home and happy now. It is nothing short of a blessing and miracle. It was so painful to watch dad have to fight for his life. It was so unfair. He fought an uphill battle and continues to do it, and with a smile! He is my hero. I hate watching him fight this fight. It hurts. I wish he didn't have to go through this. It's awful to watch your Dad be stripped of everything because of cancer. After all, he's my DAD! I had a lot of months to question why he has to go through what he does. I still don't know why. I had the opportunity to spend the night watching him at the hospital when things were at their worst. It was so depressing and sad. I learned something though. It gave me something wonderful....called PERSPECTIVE. I have it good. I have never had to fight for my life. I have never been stripped of my health, abilities and passions. I have never had someone tell me that there is something growing inside me that might kill me. I have NOTHING to complain about and when I think I do, I reflect on those moments sitting by my Dad's bedside, holding his hand, and watching him struggle to even just know his own name and breathe. I am thankful for that perspective. His trials are real and they are enormous and yet he never complains. He is so positive and thankful for the good. He's amazing. Absolutely amazing. I am thankful for that perspective, really. I just wish I could pass that on to others who need it.