Everything I Haven't Told You...

My last post was dated in August and here we are in October.  In between the trips to Tahoe and Oahu and the birthday parties, we had a splendid summer!  Here are a few of the left over pictures that never made it to the blog...

The girls did a fun photoshoot in the park.  These are a few favorites that they took of each other.

Ella took a life-changing youth group trip to Estes Park, Colorado where she was challenged with amazing speakers, recharged with passionate worship, dazzled by the magnificent mountain scenery, and bonded with her sweet group of friends.

We were blessed to host some dear friends for a day!  Loved catching up with Amy and her kids, and I am blown away by how BIG everyone in the picture below is!

We celebrated the Fourth of July with some fun festivities.

We visited the local Farmers' Market every Thursday night, usually meeting friends there for dinner or dessert, one time climbing and hopping a fence when our car got locked in! :)

We survived another busy week of VBS, once again telling Bible stories (me and Dave), acting as the main part in the daily dramas (Cam Track, aka Delia) and leading arts and crafts (Ella).

The kids kept busy for a week with Drama Camp, this year learning legit choreography for songs to Newsies from a local dance studio who donated their teachers to come instruct our drama kids!

We met our friends' new batch of baby bunnies.

We spent one of our last summer days at Pinecrest with some friends.  There was swimming, hiking, and the most intense paddle boating we've ever done!

Ivy got all the love.

Delia completed her Invisalign Journey and now has the most beautiful smile, matching Ella's!  Our family is officially braces-free!

We helped our Drama Director move the week before school started.  The skills Dave learned during a summer of working for a moving company during seminary coming in handy once again!

We started school...and we started totally normal with no restrictions, hallelujah!

Ella got her license and our lives changed!  It is VERY nice to let her drive herself to her many social engagements and extra curricular activities!

We celebrated my birthday.

Ella took a trip to Apple Hill with some girl friends to pick apples and take fall pictures.

We enjoyed dress up days at school.  After two weeks of jungle print and cowboy gear for me in the preschool, the girls had a fun week of movie dress up.  The first day was "Back to the Future" where they had to dress from a different decade.

And probably the biggest news-- both girls landed significant parts in the fall musical, Hello Dolly, which debuts next weekend!  Producing a show is always a series of peaks and valleys.  This one has had more lows as it's a HUGE show with a lot to learn and being stressed has been a big part of it.  But, after the first week of Dress & Tech, it's looking good and the excitement to perform is always a peak!  I'm proud of both girls, but Delia especially, who is in the song and dance company and leads with her work ethic, earning this little shout out on social media from our director.

That is the super condensed Cliff Notes version of June-October!  But, let me get deeper for a moment here and tell you what the pictures hint at-- we are in a GREAT stage of life!  Both my girls are loving high school, their teachers, their classes, their activities, their friends.  This may be my favorite stage of parenting yet!  As the girls mature and test out independence, I am enjoying a subtle shift, especially with Ella, to more of a friendship relationship.  I love laughing with them.  I love having their people fill my house for movies and pizza and games.  I love when they ask for advice about relationships and their futures.  I love watching them lead and use their gifts.  I haven't blogged in a while, but it's not because life is not good or worth recording!