What a BIRTHDAY!!

I guess 36 is pretty special!

At least for Jon it is.

He got a new toy....

And we are doing this together on Oct. 16th!!!

We also had get togethers with his parents and another with close friends.
Happy birthday, Jonny.
You deserve it ALL... and then some.

Cade's First Day of Preschool!

This handsome kid started preschool!

Teacher: Ms. Naomi (Rook)

He has been LOVING it and learning lots already.

The rest of us, on the other hand, are a little melancholy. ;)

Jay Jay wishes he could go, too!

Jersey Party!

Welcome

Jersey Jane Larson

A few of us girls in the family put on a baby shower for Andrew and Cassie's little GIRL (after 3 boys...) @ our place.

(LtoR:Lizzy Gatten, Kiah Morton, Cassie and Jersey Larson, Mikin Morton, Brynne)

The two girls of the hour!
Of course, great company, fun games, yummy food,

and lots of cute girl stuff!

Cass and Drew and Dusty and Angie moved to cd'a area in August, too. We are happy to have even more family around!

Where's my BABY?

The other day, I walked in to Cade like this.

It was one of those moments where you take a step back and think, "wow, where does the time go?"

It seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant with this guy... and now he is a person. We have conversations, we laugh, he does chores, we barter, we battle, we give "lovies" and he is becoming so independent.

He starts pre school next week. Already 3 days a week for two hours he's not with me anymore!

::sigh:: I can't help but think this is the beginning of him entering the world.

Cade, you made me a mom, and I am so blessed to have you.

I love you.

North Idaho Fair

We finish off the summer with the fair every year thanks to our awesome

ELEPHANT EAR BOOTH

where we make ears for missions!

Between all of our shifts and babysitting, we took our boys hit some food, toys and rides (which they LOVED...can you tell?)

And thier favorite thing is always looking at the animals.

But this year they TURNED INTO animals.....??!!?

horse face!!
They sure keep life exciting. :)

COUPLE'S RETREAT!!

BACKPACKING

Here we are above Bonners Ferry, ID with 4 of our closest friends!!

The movie "couple's retreat" spurred the trip, we invited a bundle of other couples and it ended up being the "original 6":

LtoR: Tim and Sara Bastedo, Amy and Kirk Holding, Jon and Brynne

The beginning!

Tim, Jon, Kirk, Amy, Sara

The first lake we hiked to: BIG FISHER. So beautiful!!

the water was COLD!! We swam & had lunch.

the men!

Zoey came, too. Such a loyal pup!

the whole first day was climb! (and yeah, we sang the song by Mylie Cyrus!) Here we are on the ascent, almost to the top and soon to drop into the second lake, TROUT LAKE!

The Bastedos "the chefs"

In lieu of couple's retreat....here's us. ;)

The Holdings

me and my girl!

Here we are above the world!! (and Trout Lake)

Our camp at trout lake

Yeah, we had to climb to the top of that peak to get out!!

We ate SOO good! Tim made us steak, potatoes, and green beans.

We also had fresh trout thanks to us!! :)

The trip was about 15 miles in 2 days. Lots of memories in such a short time!! It was a tough hike, but was so nice to get out in God's country with great company and work hard. We'll never forget the skinny dipping (shhh! crazy boys.), rock jumping, the awesome trail "medley", etc. As Kirk would say, "Such a neat, neat time."

Love you all!

Coeur d'Alene Olympic Triathlon

...and @ 7 am we're OFF!

The 1 mile swim

(in cda lake)

Pulling my swim cap off in the zebra top. My bro, Tim, is right behind me in red.

breathing hard to transition!
getting ready to bike 26 miles. (again I'm looking @ Tim behind in red/gray stripe)
starting the 6.2 mile run!

the lone Gatten representatives this year!

My #1 and only support crew member...love you, Babe!!

Although I added 9 mins to my time from last year (probably from doing most of my training in a gym due to Jon's newer position with Zoll) I was able to keep my title as the "REIGNING ATHENA"

and won my division again. :)

So, as I went to Jon's parents' in Hayden after the race, I came home to this:

Thanks for the support everyone!!