More of August 2013: St Stephen's Day, start of school and Nash going to BYU

August 20 is St. Stephen's Day  in Hungary.  They celebrate it as a national holiday and do everything Hungarian.  We love the festivals that they have going on all over the city on this day.  We went downtown to go to castle hill.  They have booths and food all along the path going up to the castle.  The greatest was being able to walk through this great tunnel that was closed to traffic!

 Mallory and Grant coming out of the tunnel 

 Just below castle hill with the chain bridge in the background.

 We met some friends there and the boys had fun walking up to the castle while the moms shopped at the booths!

 Mallory in front of some Hungarian handicraft booths.

 At the top of castle hill with our favorite treat!

 For the holiday, they have traditional dancers and singers on stages they've set up all over the city.  Here, I spotted some of the dancers in their traditional costumes waiting for their performance.

 I love their colorful dresses!

 And so it begins...SCHOOL!!

 Traditional 'first day of school' picture.  Luke beginning 8th grade, Mallory 3rd and Grant 10th.

 At the end of August, Creed flew out to Utah to spend a week with Nash getting him ready for college.  They loaded up his car and headed down to Provo.

 Nash in his dorm unpacking.  Notice the flags.

And so it begins for Nash...

August 2013: Thomas family campout and more summer fun

 Every year we have the great Thomas family camping trip.  We have had this camping trip since I was very small.  We love going up to Idaho and being with all our extended family.  My aunts and uncles, my cousins and their kids. 

 Some of the family prefer sleeping in cabins, over tents...um, my back thanks me every year.  This year we all gathered at the cabin my family was staying in to play some games.  My sister brought the greatest game ever!  It was obviously intended for boys...which works perfectly since the majority of grandchildren in our family are boys.  You spin the spinner, it tells you what color of jelly bean to get.  You choose an opponent. You both get the same color jelly bean.  The trick is, each jelly bean will have one of two flavors.  For example, black was black licorice or skunk.  You never knew what you would get.  Let me just say, it was priceless to watch the faces as people ate their jelly bean!  My favorite in this picture though is my sisters face! (standing on the left)

 My nephew challenged his Mom.  She won.

 Almost the entire extended Thomas family. My grandma would be so happy to see us all together. 

 Obviously, it runs in the family.

 I love my siblings.  I wish we could get together more often.

 The fun never stops!  Luke at Airborne.  I love this place because it completely wears everyone out!

My dad read in the paper that they were going to do a hot air balloon launch not far from their home so Mallory, her cousin, my dad and I got up early and went to watch.  It was a beautiful  morning.

My boys!  This was just before we left for the airport to come back to Hungary.  We sure miss having Nash around here.  

Good friends and a HIKE!

 One thing we love about going to Utah for the summer is the chance to catch up with good friends.  We were lucky enough this summer to be able to get together with two families we knew in Michigan.  Good friends!

Time flies!  It's amazing how much they have all grown.  Nash and Josh were just 4th grade boys when we left Michigan.  Now they have both graduated! 

 Another thing we love is the WADLEY FAMILY!!  We love seeing them each year.  We have lots of memories with this fine family!  

 My brother is the scout master for his ward.  He has taken all of our boys to numerous scout camps and both Nash and Grant on the 50 mile hike.  This summer, it was Luke's turn.   We haven't been able to do scouts in the various places we have lived, but we wanted the boys to experience what they could in the great scouting program.  Thanks to my brother, they've been able to.  Here Luke is getting his pack ready.

 Luke's pack weighed in at around 30 pounds.  That's a weeks worth of clothes and food.  

 My great sister-in-law made this sign for the troop when they returned from their week long hike.  YIPPY LUKE!  You made it!!

Nash had an extra special treat at the end of July.  He was able to get his wisdom teeth out.  We had the special treat of filming him as he was coming out of the anesthetic and those videos...they are gems!  Major blackmail material.  

Fishing in Utah

 Luke had to go on one more long hike in preparation for his 50 miler so Creed took up hiking in Utah not far from my parents home.  They got up early one morning and hit the trail. 

We miss these beautiful Utah mountains.  

 Luke at the top of the trail.  

 Something about Luke...Luke loves to fish. He loves to fish and is in a family that doesn't fish. Sorry Luke.   They even had time to fish at the top of the trail on Luke's hike.  Luke was in heaven.

 Caught one!

What a beautiful shot!  

July 2013: USA!!

 We love going to the US for the summer.  Especially being able to celebrate the 4th of July!

 We had a great Miller reunion in July.  We spent 4 days at the YMCA family camp in Colorado.  It was great to spend so much time with all the Miller clan.  We don't get to see each other as often as we would like to.

 The middle half of the Miller cousins.  

 Mallory really loved being able to rock climb at the reunion.  She has no fear!

 Flashback to the 80's!  We had a blast roller skating.

 Grab onto the Miller train!

 While up in the beautiful mountains of Colorado we TRIED to get a few good photos of all the kids together. TRIED is the key word!

 Luke, contemplating the....plant...

 Have you ever planked in the middle of the field?

 THOSE BOYS!

 Nice pose!

 YMCA!

 I call this,' between the trees.'

 These two crack me up!

We enjoyed a hike with all the Millers.