Summer has come to an end.

Probably one of the most depressing blog post titles.  Don't get me wrong, I am excited to get back to work and in the 'swing' of things, but the end of summer has always been a sad day for me.  I am definitely a summer lover and will miss it for another year.  I might be especially sad this time around because this summer has been very good to us.  We were SO busy doing all kinds of fun things.  Let's do a little recap, yeah?

All throughout June I was still teaching (we do a summer quarter at my school) but that didn't keep us from taking off every weekend!  We attempted to become fishers...failed.  And we went boating and camping up north in AF Canyon, Cedar Canyon, and Bryce National Park.  We also spent the day in Zion National Park, but since we live so close we just drove home and slept in our beds afterwards :) The furthest we had to drive to get to any of these is 3 hours...I heart Utah so much.  It really is one of the best places for outdoorsy stuff! We weren't great at taking pictures but here are a few we did snag....

Bryce National Park:

Hottest couple ever, amiright? We ran the rim trail at Bryce...one of the coolest runs ever!

Boating with Nate's family.

This is from when we went fishing one night...that hair, that hat, and that beard...hahaha. He likes duck dynasty a little too much maybe...

Once I was finally done teaching, we left straight to Canada for a week.  We explored Victoria Island and had an awesome time.  You can read about about it HERE.  The week after we got back from Canada was time to put on the Tour de Run again!  It went a lot smoother this year and the competition was awesome!  Putting on that race is super stressful, but it always turns out well and we have fun doing it :) This year was especially cool because we were able to dedicate the last stage to our Brother-in-law's Brother's wife (follow that?).  She recently died of cancer and left two babies and her husband behind.  The race wasn't huge, but we wanted to help out as much as we could.  We ended up raising $2,000 for her family! I was amazed at the generosity of our racers and their families.  Made me feel real good that we could help out :)

(Photo credit Jake Krong)

The top 5 women after the 1st stage

Nate being an amazing race director :)

The overall men's winner. Note: the yellow jersey.  The leading person after every stage gets to wear the yellow jersey in the next stage.

Top 10 overall women!

Then a little over a week after the race we left on our last big summer trip to Lake Powell with Nate's family.  I was a little nervous to go to Lake Powell being over 6.5 months pregnant because I didn't think I would be able to do anything.  But it turned out to be super fun.  The nights were a little too hot for my liking, but other than that, the water felt awesome and it was so nice to spend time with the family.

Nate taking awesome pictures, of course.  This was our first night there...we sat up on top of our house boat and watched the storm.

Our houseboat in the little cove that Nate and I discovered while kayaking

One of my favorite activities while there.  That water felt soooo nice.

Lots of this happened too.

The crew right before we left on the last day

On a little hike to Native American ruins

BELLY.

Swimming/cliff jumping. Nate climbed this crack...I thought he was going to die like 10 times, but he pulled it off! Stud.

Made it!

Nate looking so fly.

This was the extent of my boating activities...they wouldn't even go fast enough to make the tube sit up all the way! haha :)

We stopped at Capitol Reef National Park on the way home...it had some sweet ruins.

Nate and I loved kayaking around...this was one of the many nights we went out.  We also tried to fish while kayaking...didn't work out so well.

The last hurrah was probably our first baby shower for our little man.  My best friend, Christa, and sister and mom threw one for me up north.  They went all out and made me feel so loved.  Having lots of baby stuff has made get more and more excited.  Especially since we have also been painting/decorating the little guys bed room (pictures to come shortly...we are almost done!).  It's getting surreal that in 2 months we are going to be parents.  As big of a change as it is, I think I'm about ready for it :) Here's to a fast 2 months!

Some of the crew...lots had already left.  But I loved that Christa brought mustaches for everyone! haha :)

I was SOOO happy that this beautiful girl showed up.  Megan and I ran at the U of U together and I hadn't seen her in years. It was great catching up!

 

My best friend Christa.  Seriously the best any girl could ask for. We could always call each other sisters and I really feel like that is what she is! I hope I can be as good of a Momma as she is :)

After the baby shower my baby sister, Aisha, and Momma drove down to Cedar City with me and Jazzer to help move her in and help us paint the baby room!  It was so fun having them here and I really was bummed out when they left on Sunday.  Love my sisters and Momma and I'm glad my sista Jazzmancool is back living in Cedar!

 I am going out in style these last few days being sick, home alone, and planning lessons the whole day long...party! haha :) But, Summer, you have been so good to us.  So many fun vacations, seeing family and friends, growing our garden (I'll have to do a separate post about that one...we love our little garden), fixing up/improving our little home, and just enjoying your sunshine and warmth. Thank you, Summer.  It's been a good one!

And, as always, a bump picture.  We took this last week...I am currently 31 weeks now and having so much fun with baby boy lounging on my bladder ;)