More Highlights in September

One of the greatest opportunities of my life came when the sisters in our area were invited to sing in the choir for the General Relief Society Meeting in the conference center. The whole experience was amazing. Our practices were amazing. Our Choir director was AMAZING. Later we learned that she starred in the mormon flick '17 Miracles'. And to sing in the conference center with over 300 ladies trying to share our testimony with the sisters around the world. This experience changed me forever.

Me and the other ladies from my ward.


Me and my good friend Rachael.


We love caterpillars and butterflies! Every few years my mom will find the larvae for the caterpillars that turn into monarch butterflies in her yard. We were lucky this year to get 2. Anna and I saw them both go into their crysalis and when they emerged as butterflies! So cool.





Ethan putting Elizabeth down for her nap. So cute.


For weeks Elizabeth was obsessed with these bunny ears. She wore them constantly around the house, to the store, and anywhere else.


More progress in the back yard!

Elizabeth's First Birthday!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! Oh, how you warm our hearts. There is a lot of lady stuffed into that little body. This one is all girl and LOVES her accessories. None of my other babes would don a hat for more than a few seconds.
She is a fast crawler and puts her head down to go into turbo mode. Her first word was "uh-oh". She can now say mama, daddy, Anna, doggy, kitty, oree (horsey). As evidence of her word choices she loves animals. She freaks out when ever she gets close to one.
To put her to bed I put her blanket over my shoulder and she automatically lays on it. I just pat her back for minute while singing or humming 'Mary had a little lamb'. Then I just lay her in bed, give her her blanket, she rolls over onto her tummy, tucks her legs underneath her and goes right to sleep. Blissful.
She loves to eat, especially in the morning. A bottle first then half a banana, then a bowl of oatmeal. That will get her by for a little while but in just an hour she's gonna need a snack. But she sleeps almost 12 hours so if a morning feeding frenzy is what she has to do to sleep that long, I am happy to oblige. Lately when she takes a first bite of anything she turns to me and says, "Mmmm," in the cutest little high pitched voice. I made all of Elizabeth's baby food. All the vegetables came frozen from Costco. I would steam them in huge batches, blend them up, and freeze them in ice cube trays. Later, using the same process I made entrees like chicken pot pie, lasagna, pork tacos, chicken and rice, etc. Then when she is ready to eat I take a couple out, pop them in the microwave, add some baby cereal and viola! a fast and healthy meal. She will eat almost anything which makes things so much easier for me.
She loves to be chased. She loves peek-a-boo. She loves books and singing songs. Most of the time she is content to wander around the house and see what she can find. She like to disappear downstairs.
I love this 1 yr stage. They are so fun. I wish I could just bottle up all of their little sounds and keep them forever.

First Day of School

Really. Where did this summer go? We have had a busy and fun summer and I am not ready to send the kids back to school yet. I really needed a few more weeks but, here we go...

Who is this big kid? Ethan starts 4th grade this year! He is in Spanish immersion and has Spanish for half the day with one teacher (Sr. Smithee)and then the other half of the day is spent with his English teacher (Sra. Luiz). His Spanish teacher is very strict about only speaking Spanish in his classroom in fact, if you have to go in to talk to him you need to have your student with you so they can translate! Or, he will schedule an appointment with you.


Sydney starts 2nd grade this year!! She is also in Spanish immersion and this is the first year of duel immersion at their school. So, one day she will be with her Spanish teacher Sra. Duran and the next day she will be with her English teacher, Ms. McPherson.


Anna starts kindergarten at the new Elementary school just down the road from our house. She will have to decide wheter to go with Ethan and Syd and do Spanish or stay at her school and do Mandarin. Whoa!

August Odds and Ends

I thought this was so funny of Syd who was not wanting to practice piano and that moment.


Progress on the yard thanks to my uncle Jeff and his serious dirt skills.


A frequent night-time visitor. The first time we met I was dead asleep in bed, Lance out of town, this mongrel tips over the bucket with a huge CRASH! Cue fight or flight response!


Makeovers by Sam...


Elizabeth is 11 months and full of mischief. She loves to be chased. She loves her blankies. She loves her stuffed animals. I mean really loves them. And she is all about the accesories. Let's face it. That just isn't taught. Her recent favorite...a pair of bunny ears.

Seattle

Hooray for cousins! I love how it takes about 3 minutes and then they just pick up where they left off.


Mariners game! Perfect seats, perfect weather, perfect company and they won!
This was the first time we met up with Matt and Joy and their family since they moved a year ago. Joy and I had to hug and cry a little. We miss them being close!


Ferry ride from Bremerton


Seahawks training camp. Syd won a trip down "autograph ally" and got Ethan's football signed by a bunch of players.


Lance in the tree securing a rope so they could take the tree out.


Oh, the blissful backyard. The kids played for hours.


Julia and Sydney performed for us


We called it the unplanned reunion. It was so great to see everyone!


All the cousins


Last year's baby boom. Six out of eight families of Lance's brothers and sisters got a new baby. Getting a picture was easier said than done.

July

Over 4th of July weekend we had a special opportunity to go to the temple with Lance's grandma Leora. We wished we lived closer to this wonderful lady.



After the temple we were lucky to go horse(and mule) riding with Wayne and his family. So fun!



Lance and his mule...






The kids with their great-grandma Jean on her birthday




Pioneer Day Celebration and Terry Family Reunion




Ethan won the giant taffy container by being the closest guess to the correct number of pieces. He missed it by 1!


Waiting for the parade...



Elizabeth got her first tooth.




Silly sisters...

Independence Day

This year on Independence Day I was overcome with gratitude to be a citizen of this country. It was a realization that my love of God and my love of country are inseparablby intertwined because I know that while God loves all of His children in every country equally it is in this country He brought forth the restoration of the Gospel. I know that the formation of this country did not happen just because of those seeking religious freedom but because God chose and inspired explorers and the founders of our country so that His purposes could be accomplished.
And then to think of all of those that have sacrificed to keep us free. There are just no words...The land of the free, because of the brave.

A Swimmin' Summer

The rest of June was spent in the pool! We were lucky to get the kids in swim lessons with a talented friend close to home. She was great at expanding the kids comfort zones and really got them swimming. By the end of the 2 weeks the girls could swim the length of the pool on their own! Hooray! Ethan's pass off challenge was to swim a full lap of each stroke without a break. He did it! Ethan has always felt right at home in the water.

San Diego and Seaworld

Who forgets their camera when they go to a major amusement park? Well, I did. It was a perfect day to be at Seaworld and it was so much fun to have older kids who really enjoyed all the shows! Mom and Dad had fun, too.

While Lance was at work we swam at the pool in the hotel. Its the kids favorite thing to do.

We also went to the beach but it was still a bit too cold to really enjoy it.

Fun with Friends

Recognize this house? As advertising for the upcoming Parade of Homes a builder in our area built the "UP" house. We just had to go see it.




One Friday night we rounded up all the troops and headed for the canyon. The river this year was overflowing and roaring down with immense power and force. I have never seen the water like this before and it was scarry.

So, we stayed away from the water and had a fun night with our good friends. We ate hotdogs, smores, and I taught the kids a funny camp song called "A Tutu Ta".

Let Summer Begin!

During the last week of school Lance came home from work and announced he was being sent to a company in San Diego, "So why don't we make a family vacation out of it?" he asked. Well, I didn't share his enthusiasm. A trip always sounds nice but then I just get bogged down in the logistics of it all. At the top of the list was a 10+ hour car ride with a very active 9 month old. Eventhough I drug my feet and wasn't being very fun, I eventually caught the vision and of course we have a wonderful time.

Our first item of vacation buisness was to get to Las Vegas to spend some time with Carli. First we played at a children's area at a outdoor mall. Wow, what a great place for the kids to play after being in the car for so long! Then we went to Circus Circus to play some carnival games and watch the acrobat shows, then to Excaliber to see the Tournament of Kings, and last to Bellagio to watch the water show. It was a day full of adventure. Thanks, Carli!!