We went to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate Mom's 71st birthday. She is so organized. For her birthday at the end of September, she was already thinking about Christmas cards. As you can see by my posting a September event in December that I am NOT organized. These are a couple pictures from that day.
I love the funny picture. If you look closely, Kenna looks like she is licking my Dad's head.
For Jacie's birthday she had a sleepover. Yes, we are still in September, for those of you who are keeping track :) I was wayyyy behind. Anyway, it was a fun evening with hardly any sleep. We made our own pizza and rubber band bracelets. Then, we went to the Olson's to watch a movie. The kids got to swim and watch a movie on the wall. We came back for another movie outside on our garage wall and sleeping, or not sleeping as the case may be, on the trampoline all night.
I don't know who started the "Christmas in July" concept (probably the retail business), but that is what I feel like today. It's barely in the 30's and I am posting pictures from July.
In July our family was divided, at least by gender. Blake took Carter camping for an evening. We dropped them off and left them to the elements. The girls and I headed to Morro Bay to the luxury of a hotel. We didn't need the car either. We hoofed it the remainder of our trip. We walked downtown and by the water. We went to a little aquarium where we could feed sea lions. We also took a bay cruise which was kind of neat to see because our tour guide brought us around the harbor and filled us in on the history of the area. Then he took us to the peninsula where we could frolic around for a bit. After the cruise we went back to our hotel and got ready for our dinner out.
It was a nice time together. We started a journal of what I hope will be filled out annually, of each of our perspective of the trip. Later the next day, we picked Blake and Carter up to spend one more night at the hotel.
Carter had root beer and orange floats for the his Kindergarten class. We also played Lego Bingo. The kids seemed to enjoy looking for all the characters on their cards.
We drove straight to our next camping trip from Pismo to be with some friends for one night. It was worth packing up at one campground and setting up an hour or so later at the next place. It reminded us of our trip last summer.
Now that school has started and I have a little bit more free time, I can post our Summer happenings. Our Summers always starts off at Pismo with my family. Here are a few pics to represent that week. As you can see, the kids LOVE their Opa and Oma. Opa and Oma brought the kiddos to the candy store. The thing my kids were looking forward to on this annual trek was the big jaw breaker. It was a great time. We noticed this year a new-found freedom. The kids played so well together that we adults got to hang out a bit more.
Well, actually, first half-day back. Here we are again. I know everyone says time flies, it really does. First day of school for all my fam. Carter starts Kindergarten today (insert sad face for mom and happy face for C-dawg), Avery starts 2nd grade, Kenna starts 4th grade, Jacie starts 5th grade, and Blakey starts his 18th? year of teaching. WOW! It was a big day here because Carter had to say "goodbye" to his blankie today and Jacie starts rotating classes. My first load of laundry today contains P.E. clothes and a blankie. Usually laundry brings me to tears but not because of milestones but rather the amount. I know it is all good and we are truly blessed. The kids (and Blake) have a great school to go to everyday.
Blake and I were blessed to be able to see Kenna get the "Fruit of the Spirit" award for Faithfulness. The pictures says it all to me. Mrs. Girard and Mrs. Janzen have been great teachers for Kenna this year. They have been faithful to her and guiding her along in such positive ways. Thank you to teachers and all your hard work that you put into your students throughout the year.
We were lucky to be invited along to see how honey is processed. It was a very neat experience to see. The kids really enjoyed the talk. Kenna, always our inquisitive one, rarely had her hand down at her side because she had so many questions. After the "field trip" we went out for dinner with everyone. All the kids had fun playing in the park and putting on a show for us.
Avery's class put on a performance highlighting their reading abilities. It was cute to see them so excited as we arrived. They did a great job acting and reading. Afterwards, we were able to share a lunch with her out on the grass.
What is more fun than going to your sister's friend's barbeque? Having one of your friends that is a sibling of your sister's friend. Avery was excited to play with her friend.
A couple weeks ago our family had a fun opportunity to hang out with Kenna's friends and their families one afternoon. We had a picnic, played, and went for horse rides around the property. We are missing a couple kids from the picture but most are smiling for the camera.
I never knew I could pray so much about so many things when it comes to these 4 little people. They truly are a gift. We pray constantly for their futures. Words like "integrity" "compassion" "God-fearing" crop up a lot. I can't believe God thinks I can raise them up. It's a lot to bear sometimes. But then I am reminded that I am not doing this alone and I am thankful for that. He is in control of all things!
