Goodbye Summer…Hello Fall!

Well...it is officially Fall and I feel like I never quite finished up summer! It went from hot to freezing cold WAY too fast for me! I do love season changes and the fun holidays that Fall brings BUT I will miss summer...mostly the sunshine and warmness, the days that stay light forever, the playing outdoors, and the carefreeness of it all!!

So before I can begin Fall, I felt like I had to wrap up the rest of our summer so I won't forget what a great summer we really had! Dakota has come along so much that I feel like this was the first summer where we got to really play and not stress too much about him. Since he is happier and easier then he has ever been we  got to enjoy summer more then we ever have since his accident.
Lucky for us we got a lot of family time with my family and Zach's and lots of friend time!! I love being around the people I love...even if we do nothing at all!! You never know what tomorrow will bring so I really treasure my time with these people!!

My sister Annie and her cute family got to come up for one last visit before the end of summer! This is always heaven for us to get to have them 24 hours a day in our home for several days…just makes it hard when they leave!


Trai snuggling Dakota and giving him his succor! She is seriously the best cousin he could ever ask for!



We took them for a Ranger ride with our friends!



Dakota liked having his girlfriend Hadlee along for the ride! ;)


 
We played Tom and Jerry at the park…Dakota really did have fun I promise! ;) These little kids are faster then they look!

 
Dakota was always entertained! His cousins even helped him with therapy!



We all crammed in Zach’s truck to go to the drive-ins. Only the kids stayed awake!



We played games…I LOVE games but never have anyone to play with since Zach is a party pooper with games and Dakota can’t really play with me! It was LOTS of fun!



Dakota’s cousins LOVED his new trampoline!!



It was hard to say goodbye after SO much fun! ALWAYS looking forward to the next time!
We also got a visit from my parents and my brother’s little family! That was a treat for sure!!!



Dakota sure loved his little cousin Toree!! So did I!


Dakota got one last ride in with Papa! He was a lucky boy!

He had to take turns with Toree though!



Sure love these guys!!


We celebrated our sweet nephew Tate’s first birthday! He is so cute! His little face sometimes reminds me of Dakota’s when he was little!

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We had some fun girls nights with just us Friedli girls! I LOVE girls nights…

Especially with these girls!


We had lots of fun times with friends this summer!


We made it to the zoo with some fun, little, cute boys we love…Dempsey and Memphis!

Never a dull moment with these 3!!



My sweet friend Sarahn was so sweet to help Dakota feel included. He is touching some elephant teeth!


The panda bear was my favorite…he was so active and busy swimming around and around!

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Dakota sure had fun!!



We went on Ranger rides with friends…



Had bbq’s with friends…

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Dakota got to go on his first boat ride and I had my first wake boarding experience…




We went to lots of summer movies! Dakota sat really good through them as long as I had a succor to keep him happy when he got bored. It was fun to get to go with him each week and let him be a normal kid!


He loved having these cute girls go with him! ;)


We of course made it to one of my favorite things of the year…Peach Days!!

I ran the 10k because it has become a tradition. The race itself is really crappy and hard because there are SOOO many hills but I love the atmosphere of it and I just love our little town! I was hoping to at least beat my last years time but that didn’t happen…I was a little bit longer..but I am getting old so I guess that’s ok…right?!


I got 3rd place overall for woman but Dakota was still not very impressed…look at that face! ;)


Afterwards we made it to the parade! It is always such a fun and huge parade. It was a little crowded where we were at so I’m not sure how much Dakota got to really see but it was fun!

Love these boys!!


We finished the day off with some yummy peach cobbler…it would be a crime not to get some there! ;)

This summer Zach and I got to get away and play a little bit ourselves…

We took a Ranger ride trip from Hardware Ranch to Bear Lake and spent the day being lazy in the sun/clouds with our friends! It was such a fun adventure and a much needed relaxing trip.
The ride took us a couple of hours but it was a beautiful ride with beautiful scenery. We even saw some antelope.

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We are getting closer…



There is the lake! (What is Jake and Zach doing??)

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We paddle boarded, played horse shoes, boys wrestled, and we laid around and ate!



The whole crew!


When we started to load up to come home on the Ranger it started downpouring!! Luckily the Hutchens were nice and let us girls ride in their truck home while Zach, Jake, and Clayton had to ride it out in the storm! To say they were wet and freezing is an understatement but they survived! ;)

Still smiling because they are just getting started! :)


It was SO fun though…Zach was ready to go again as soon as we got home…at least if it stopped raining!

Zach and I also spent a weekend at Country Explosion in Tooele. It was quite the experience! Neither of us had ever been but I LOVE country music and have convinced Zach it is pretty dang good since we have been married! We thought it would be a fun little outing.

I enjoyed every minute of it but it was a little hot during the day. So we decided to leave and come back just for the evening performances. Zach was a little country musiced out by the end but I LOVED every performance!

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My hot date! I kinda love him! ;)


I even got to meet Tate Stevens who won X-Factor! He is awesome!!!

Zach really likes him too but not enough to get a picture with him. He thought I was a total nerd! ;)


Since Zach was all countried out I went to Jason Aldean with one of my besties Amanda! We totally rocked it out together!!


Don’t mind the bright spotlight taking over her head! ;)


Since we didn’t have dates we found our own! ;)

I mean…who could resist these 2 cute cowboys!?


I recently got to go to Colorado to surprise one of my best friends from high school on her 30th birthday! That’s right 30!!! (We are getting old!)


Her cute husband flew me and our other friend Abbey in to surprise her and boy was she surprised!

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Shhh…here we come!


It was quite the adventure to get to their house because it was when all of the flooding was happening in Colorado. It took her poor husband about 5 hours of driving their and back instead of 2 just to pick us up and get us there.

We had the best weekend together…talking, laughing, playing games, shopping, and just being together! Even though the three of us hardly get to all be together since we are in 3 different states, we don’t skip a beat when we are together! It always feels just like it was yesterday!
Love these girls!!


Katie, me, and Abbey

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Gaming it up (game like charades if you can’t tell)…quite hilarious stuff going on here! ;)

We of course had to pamper Katie and take her to get her nails done!

She didn’t know her husband had planned a big surprise party for her that night with all of her friends! ;)


It was so fun to see her surprised and meet all of her friends in Colorado. She just kept saying this is the BEST birthday…to be with ALL the people I love!!





We played a mean game of shuffle board at the restaurant where her party was…



unfortunately for her, Abbey and I had to beat her and her sister on her birthday! ;)

OUCH!


I will definitely make my way back to Colorado some time…1 for the amazing company and 2 because they had my FAVORITE fast food place that I loved in South Dakota…Taco Johns!
I about died when I saw that they had it..I made them go there just for me. It was just as good as I remember!


YUM!!!


BEST and MOST needed trip EVER!!! Love these girls!




We also had to work of course this summer too…it wasn’t ALL fun and games!


Zach played in the dirt doing his landscaping a lot of the summer! It’s a dirty job that’s for sure!

LOVE these hardworking hands!


Dakota still had to go to therapy even though it was summer…but they always make it fun!

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The only bummer thing is that he had to have serial casting done again on his ankle. Because of the brain injury, it makes his muscles stiffen up a lot and he is constantly pointing his toes and straightening his body. If you don’t get enough stretch in the ankle then his muscle behind his calf will shorten and they will have to do a surgery to cut it. The casting is a progression of stretches to help give the muscle a constant stretch to avoid the surgery. Luckily it helped but it was not fun having a cast on for about 4 weeks with little breaks between each week.


Poor buddy. He was a good sport with his succor! Love his little chicken legs and tiny feet!


Uncle Ryan hooked him up on one of his casts though with some sweet minions!

Thanks Uncle Ryan for sharing your awesome talent!


My jobs were to work in the garden…sometimes I got a little behind!


Oops! But we loved having our fresh veggies…especially to make all of Dakota’s food! We use LOTS of veggies around here!


I did get some canning in this summer! So much (at least for me) that I don’t even wanna look at another bottle!

Got some peaches, pears, tomato juice, tomato soup, and banana peppers done.


It’s like a crime around here if you don’t can because of all the fresh fruits and veggies that are so abundant at the fruit stands!

I snuck a couple of hikes in…which I love! Wish I could have gotten more!


Loved this hike with my friend Holly…mostly for the gorgeous flowers that were all along the trail. On the way down I picked myself a nice looking bouquet!





I think that about FINALLY wraps it up! Too much to blog about too little time! So grateful for the happy memories that are filling our lives.
Now I can start Fall! ;)