My favorite time of day

Here I sit. The house is quiet. The sounds of night settling around me. No interruptions. Everyone safe and snug in their own beds. I do love this time of day. Jason prefers the mornings. I always feel hurried in the mornings, knowing all the daunting tasks that lie ahead of me, the thought that at any moment a child may wake wanting my attention, wondering how much longer I should be still. But when the day is done, peace fills my soul. Another day ending, a fresh start in the morning.

Another Tooth Gone!!

Nora was slow to lose her first tooth, but now she has lost four in the last three weeks. She let me pull two of them, I did bribe her on one of them. She is looking older and cuter!!

Our Friends, the Osiers

We spend our summers up at camp.  Mountain Meadow Ranch in Christopher Creek is our home for three to four weeks of the summer.  The Osier family lives at camp and our families have so much fun together.  The photo above is Caleb's fourth birthday party.  It was the fastest birthday party every.  Singing, presents, cake and popsicles in less than twenty minutes!!  There were so many kids there, it was crazy fun.

We had Nora's birthday celebration at Tracie's house over the summer.
Every summer we take the Osier/Ellis kid photo on this swing in the Osier's backyard.  It has been fun to watch the kids grow.

The VELK

Jason had his sixth annual Verbarg, Ellis, Kuyper and Lynch golf tournament (the VELK).  They left the house at five.  Beckie fixed them a scrupmtious breakfast then they headed out for three rounds of golf.  I think it may have been the hottest and most humid day of the summer.    When they walked in the door at seven forty five they looked completely wiped.  It was a great day, Caleb and Shane walked away with all the jackets.

Jason was exhausted beyond words.  I thought this picture captured the essence of how he was feeling.

This was the group of people assembled to celebrate the sixth annual VELK.  We swam, barbequed, laughed and played.

Cousins...

We had a houseful last night.  David and Bonny came over with Mordecai and Noah.  My mom and dad came too, and Alisa is visiting from California with her daughter.  We all hung out and ate and played together.  Noah is full of smiles.  He is growing so quickly.

Lost Teeth, Lucy, Emolyn...

Nora lost three teeth over eight days.  We had corn on the cob the other night and she was so excited, she loves corn on the cob.  Then her expression changed to sadness as she realized her two front teeth are gone!! She managed with those left in her mouth and enjoyed the corn any ways!

Nora and Megan decided to bathe Lucy.  They had been swimming and came up with the idea to fill this tub with bubbles.  Lucy was not to happy.  I had to put her in the tub.  The girls also used the watering can!!  

Emolyn came over last night and Nora spent some time reading to her.  My kids took turns holding her, and were not happy when I made them go to bed.

A Fun Photo

Benjamin spends time up in this tree every trip up to Mountain Meadows.  He now can get up there on his own.  When he was little Jason would set him up there and he would jump in to his daddy's arms.  Now he just jumps off, how times have changed.

A Weekend Up at Camp

It was the leaders retreat up at Mountain Meadow Ranch in Christopher Creek.  We had a great time.    There were a total of twelve kids (I decided Emolyn doesn't count since she cannot fight/argue/bicker with any of the other children!).  The kids are at an age where they can have more freedom up there.  They played so hard.  The boys made bows and arrows.

Nora caught this horny toad.  She said it knows how to swim.  I wonder if it was swimming out of a desire to escape small children.  Elijah was trying to convince his mother he needed to take it home.  (I cannot figure out why sometimes pictures are sideways even if I turn them before I load them!!)

Chuck held Emolyn for awhile.  It was her first trip to camp.  This photo turned out so cute.  I love the look on her face!

Winston and Wesley are worn out!!  Winston was sure he was starving before every meal.  The weather had Wesley down.  The thunder always makes him very nervous.  We love being at camp!!  Nora and Winston would like to live there.

Mordecai's First Twinkie

Mordecai had his first Twinkie last night at Winston's birthday party!!  His Uncle Jason gave it to him.  He was one happy kid! 

Happy Birthday Winston

Winston turned nine yesterday. Time goes by so quickly. Our family looked back at his baby pictures remembering when he was so small. Winston loves: Legos, food, candy, lazing around, cool clothes, little stuff, a good television show/movie, his cousin Wesley, sleeping in, and life in general. Winston takes life as it comes to him. He likes to take his time to do things right. I loving being this kids mom!

On Saturday he and three friends went to see the new Star Wars movie and loved it. They had a ton of candy and soda. Then his favorite meal right now is CHEAP frozen pizza. The boys all went swimming. It was a great day.

Monday was his actual birthday and we celebrated will all the cousins. Jason hosted an olympics complete with a torch. No one was injured (oh wait, Wesley hit Benjamin with a torpedo, gave him a nice lump under one eye.) It was fun and chaotic!! Happy Birthday.

First Day of School...

Monday was the first day of school.  It always seems too early to be heading back, but everyone in my house was excited.  Benjamin is in fifth grade. For the first time ever we had to wake him up for school!  I think he is turning into a preteen.  Winston is now in third grade and did not need me to walk him to class.  Nora is in second grade and was the most excited for school to start.   Grandma Beckie, Aunt Nicole T and Uncle Shawn took all three kids school clothes shopping.  Everyone was wearing new clothes.  

The Hunters met us at our house and we all walked to school.  Quinn is in fifth, Wesley is in fourth, Anna is in first and Jane still gets to stay home.

We all have decided we miss Benjamin's long hair, it has already grown.

After school, we had a swim extravaganza!  It's going to be a great year!

Nora Lost Her Tooth!

Nora lost her tooth!!  The other one is loose.  I think she may be able to sing  "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."

Winston took this picture of Emolyn.   My kids are crazy about their cousins!

Palm Springs

After San Diego, we headed to Palm Springs.  We did almost nothing.  After we got home, we asked the kids for their favorite part of vacation.  Winston said,"Laying around, watching T.V. and eating." We watched the food network and lots of Sponge Bob.  

We played a lot of Settlers of Catan and swam.  The picture of Nora was taken on our drive home.  She went on the water slide for over two hours and it wiped her out!!  Our drive home was hot.  We left late Thursday night to avoid some of the heat (the air conditioning in the suburban went out).  It ended up being a beautiful drive.  That was the night of  the big storm in Phoenix.  We had quite a lightening show on our way home.  We arrived home and got to unload in the cool rain.

A Great Vacation...

We had a great time in Legoland.  It was amazing to see what they can build out of legos: a life size car, people, Mount Rushmore, dinosaurs...

The kids had the most fun driving these little electric cars.  They go to drive around this little city with stop lights! 

We did spend one day at the beach.  The Verbargs met us there for the day.  The boys were in the ocean for hours boogie boarding.  We all got a little sunburned, Benjamin got it the worst.  Even his eyeballs were sunburned!