Back to School & Routine!

First Day of School!!! I'm not sure who was more excited the children or me! :) We really have had a great summer; however, there is something to be said for routine and a schedule that helps get things done :) The children had a good time seeing friends, and meeting their teachers. It should be a great year!

Driving Megan to middle school!

On our way to the bus for Anna and Zachary :)

Anna in her new classroom this morning....Zachary was too embarrassed to have his picture taken in class ;)

Amelia and I stayed home and got a couple things done that I've been wanting to do all summer, but couldn't. However, I had unrealistic views of how the day was going to be, and I soon realized that having Amelia home by herself will still require my time and energy to keep her busy! She wanted to pick from the family fun jar, and the slip she drew was "Making Fruit Loop Necklaces", which kept her very entertained ;)

Cookie Dough Sculptures!

Today the children had some friends over and wanted to draw an activity from the Family Fun Jar :) They each got to pick one, and then they voted on their favorite. The winner was Pie Crust Sculptures, which was quickly changed to Cookie Dough Sculptures! Here are the artists hard at work...

Unfortunately, I can not take credit for dressing this one.... ;)

Here are the finished sculptures ready to go into the oven...starting from the top: 2 slugs; Fuzzy (the pet Caterpillar that passed away...the bucket home that the children created for him didn't prove too smart during the pouring rain); a square die; a snowman; a smiley face; a cloud; a small smiley face; a sideways happy face :)

I didn't get any pictures of the cookie creations after they came out of the oven, but pretty much any of them that were tall before they went into the oven were not, when they came out ;)

Our New "Fuzzy" Friend

The children found a fuzzy Caterpillar today, and they have decided that "Fuzzy" is their pet. They have made a home for him in a bucket, and can't wait until it turns into a butterfly :) I think they will be disappointed when either 1) it dies because it doesn't have enough food, or 2) it actually continues it's life cycle and becomes a moth, not a butterfly! :)

NEW Hobby Blog!! :)

Okay, I've been wanting to start a new hobby blog for awhile that allows me to post some of my favorite recipes! I started it this week, and it's titled "scrumdiddlyumptious"!! My focus will be "Culinary creations which strive for the status of scrumdiddlyumptious!" I plan on posting often...daily if I can, and each day will be a different focus. I plan on posting a recipe, maybe a picture and the family critiques :) I would love to hear about your successes or failures with the recipes, and your opinions on the taste as well! Hope you enjoy! :)

Welcome to the World!

We have four new babies in our family this year! Mostly boys so far :)

My sister Cori had Quinten a couple months ago, my sister Honor just had baby Quinn a couple days ago, my sister-in-law Veronique is scheduled to have their baby this coming Monday, and we will find out if they are having a boy or a girl (it's still a surprise!), and my sister Siri is due in January with her 2nd boy! Such fun!

Here is a little tribute to our new additions:

It's the same old story
Yes it's nothing new,
Just a gift from heaven
Just a dream come true.
In a flash of glory,
In a ray of light,
Welcome to the world
That will hold you tight.

Welcome to the world,
That is shiny and new.
Welcome to a lifetime,
Of dreams come true.
Welcome to the joy,
Of living each day.
Love is all around you,
And here to stay.

Little Clips of the Past 2 Months!

Last week the children and I were able to go to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast for a Family Reunion of sorts with part of the family. Lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, Grandma Judie and Grandpa George! I only took pictures on the first day, and the only shots I got were the cousins finding a message in a bottle! They were all so excited, and we didn't want to spoil their fun by telling them that we didn't think the bottle had traveled very far. We all had fun...

Some close friends recently went on a hike to Greenwater Lakes, and I was reminded what a fun hike it is for children, so we did the same hike a couple weeks ago. We loved the bridges along the hike and the fishing...not so much the mud...

The MUD...AHHH! It was everywhere...

Zachary's first time water-skiing and he loved it...

We went to the Buckley Log Show for the first time, and we loved watching the competitions! We decided that all the Logger type guys looked a lot like Uncle Tom, Brian's Sister's Husband. Many times we would have to do a double take because we thought we saw Uncle Tom...

Anna's Dance Recital as a dancing flower...(the first picture is a clip from a video I took, because I can't manage to post videos, so I clipped a scene)...

Amelia blowing bubbles in the sun....

Tulla's 5th Birthday Celebration with a homemade dog food "cake"....

Feeding the sheep at Grandpa & Grandma Kayner's on Father's Day...

Baseball games for Zachary occupied much of June...

The Memory of Memorial Day

I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile now! For Memorial Day we visited Dyan and her family at Lake Tapps, and the children had a blast swimming in the cold, cold lake! Megan and Amelia's first dip in the lake...Amelia wasn't too happy!

"That was Cold!!"....

Cold Anna taking a break from the freezing lake...

To end our day we went to Grandma Judie and Grandpa George's house to enjoy some family time. My brother's family came up with some fun games for the children to play! Here are the participants of the First Annual Memorial Day Games...

The Egg Run was the first challenge of the day!

The children LOVED the donut eating contest...

Water games, that required help from Grandpa ;)

In the end, they all just wanted to get wet...

Should He Stay or Should He Go??

Brian forwarded the following email to me with a request to fill one of the temporary positions...I of course said no, but do you all think I was a bit too hasty with my decision??

EMAIL in Question:

The Office of International Aviation is soliciting qualified candidates for technical positions in Afghanistan and Iraq to help rebuild the civil aviation systems in those countries. Chosen candidates will have the opportunity to enhance their careers with experience in a challenging and rewarding international environment while supporting top U.S. foreign policy objectives. Each position offers an attractive compensation and benefits package and return rights to the FAA at the completion of the foreign assignment. Below are the vacancy announcements for these positions:

Kabul, Afghanistan (Temporary, NTE 18 Months)

Baghdad, Iraq (Temporary, NTE 12 Months)

New York

My friend, Dyan, and I had a wonderful opportunity to go to New York City! We stayed in Times Square and toured through the city, did some shopping, went to the Broadway production "Wicked", participated in the studio audience of the Live with Regis and Kelly, had some laughable experiences trying to use the Subway, and witnessed the aggressive tango of pedestrians and drivers! All in all we had a great time!

One of the highlights of our trip was serving in the Manhatten, NY temple.

We enjoyed some amazing views in NY...From the top of the Rock...

View from our hotel window...yum, yum chocolate...

View of Lower Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry...

We took a tour on the first day of our trip, and we LOVED it! We were able to highlight all the NY treasures and learn some very interesting history. Here is a collage of some of my favorite places that we visited on our tour...