We're half way into September and I'm not sure what happened to August. So here's a quick recap before I get even more behind. The kids started school on August 24. Carter is in 3rd Grade and Hali is in 1st this year. They have great teachers and are loving school. Paige sure misses them though!
About a week before school started, I looked at the school district job postings and saw 2 part-time Kindergarten teacher openings. Thinking that might be fun, I spent a few hours filling out an application, later to find out they had already been filled. Thursday (20th) night, I looked at the job postings again before I went to bed and saw a new posting for the same position at a different school. The next morning (21st), I got a phone call at 9:00 am asking me if I could come in for an interview as soon as possible. I had an interview at 12:00 pm and got a call offering me the job around 2:00pm. Talk about a crazy day! I walked into my empty classroom and knew I had a long weekend ahead of me. We were able to find enough tables and chairs to get started and Todd helped me put things up and get as organized as I could. Hali asked me the cutest question after I worked in my room on Friday. She looked at me and said, "Do you have a nice teacher's chair?" I told her I didn't even have one in my room. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she said, "You don't even have a teacher's chair?" Afterall, what teacher doesn't have a teacher's chair! It's funny to hear what kids think about. I went in again Saturday and by Monday morning, I had 18 Kindergarteners lined up at my door. And I was relieved to be able to tell Hali that I finally got my chair!
I am enjoying my job. It's really nice to only work in the morning and then have the rest of the day at home. I love the people I work with and it's really nice to be able to stay in the same building, too! When I taught in Utah, I split my day between 2 schools in South Jordan. This is so much more relaxing. I'm in a great place and look forward to a great year!
We had the Pingel Family Reunion August 7-10 at Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth National Forest. It was great to see everyone! We had a large group with 46 people at one point, missing 7 family members who could not be there. We missed them! It was raining the day we got there, so we set up our tent in the rain. What a great start! It rained off and on through Saturday. I was amazed at how cold the air got when the sun would go behind a cloud. We always had to take a sweatshirt with us! The temperature fell to the 30's at night. I think we took every blanket we own, but we stayed warm!
We had a great time fishing out on the lake. We didn't catch anything, but the kids had a great time holding the poles and Carter became a pretty good little caster. 
When we came back from fishing, it was a little warmer and Scott's family was playing in the water. So the kids rolled up their pant legs and they played too. They loved having Briana and Nick cover their feet with sand!
On our way home, we stopped at the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge and walked through it. I could write about this for hours, but I will spare everyone the bordom. I absolutely loved this! It was so fascinating to see and learn how gold was mined. This is the front of the dredge. The rocks were scooped up in the black buckets behind the kids and dumped inside for sorting out the gold. 
This is the back of the dredge where the rocks were deposited back out into the river.
Inside the engine room of the dredge.
We drove up the road a little to Custer, an old mining town and enjoyed walking around there.
It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to the next reunion. 
We found the monkey's fascinating! We saw so many different kinds and sizes. We loved just watching them swing from rope to rope. There was this one monkey that would land on the ledge by the window whenever Todd turned to walk away. It hit the glass pretty hard the first time and scared us to death! We were prepared for it after that.
Carter and Hali spent 5 days in Utah with Grandma and Grandpa. Paige was so happy to have her playmates back. We sure missed them!
The mat slides are really fun! There were some additions to the slides this year to make them look like dragons, hence the name "Double Dragons."
It was not Paige's favorite ride. She was happy in Pirates Cove and on the Lazy River.
Cardiac Canyon is always a favorite! Hali was tall enough to go on it this year. She was a little scared at first but the fear quickly wore off and she was all smiles.
Todd's mom and sister, Julie, went with us and his brother Brad came up for a day. We enjoyed having them all there.
Hali & Todd
Kaden & Carter
Brooke & Hali
Paige
Kaden, Carter and Jaci
Dad on the run, being chased by Carter!
Allie, Kreed and Koy ganged up on Carter. Looks like the little kids won!
Dad, Kari, Kaden, Paige, Blaine and Diane
Kari, Jaci, Paige, Carter, Diane, Todd and Hali
Allie, Carter, Kaden, Brooke, Paige and Hali gathering up candy!
Todd was hiding by the corner of the house and Carter went looking for him. That's when it all started.
Hali wondered what was going on and then she got it too. 
"Where's my next victim?"
I should have known better than to be outside taking pictures during it all. Jaci and I were trying to be so careful, but we both eventually got it and joined in the fun. The kids were having a ball and the little kids started enjoying it once they figured out what was going on.
We came home and had homemade ice cream. YUM!!!!
the boys played Bocce,
and when you have 22 people in a house.......
there is a mess of shoes!
Koy, Brooke, Hali, Paige, Kaden, Carter and Kelsi
