One Big Family

I love being from a big family.  I have never spent a day of my life feeling lonely, as there is always someone just a phone call away.  It's nice to know that there are 7 other people that come from the same mold as me.  We have the same humor, same mannerisms, and very similar quirks.  Our first night in Maui was the big anniversary celebration dinner, which lasted three hours.  Mom and dad were showered with cake, flowers, and and other unique gifts.  The following day was Sunday.  After church we took a small hike, had a gigantic potluck, and then crowded into my parents' hotel room to listen to stories of their dating and married life.  Sunday was my favorite day of the trip.

Maui

Wow... life has been busy.  We began late September with a trip to Maui, returned home to sell the house, spent only 4 weeks preparing for moving day, moved into Joseph's parents' house just in time to celebrate James' birthday, and now have hosted Joseph's sister and family for Thanksgiving week. In a few days we will be gearing up for James' baptism day with both grandparents traveling to visit us!  Very exciting!

Brief recap of Maui:  alone time, family time, pool time, snorkel time, food time, hiking time, ukulele time.  In honor of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, we traveled to Maui for a reunion with parents, siblings and spouses only.  It was amazing!  The weather was great, the water was warm, and everyone was healthy!  It was so special to have that time with my family.  It's nice to know that though we see each other rarely, the bond of family makes our together time fun and memorable.  We loved every minute!

Summer Randoms

A few summer randoms...most notably, the excited cougar crew!  Joseph's favorite time of year is football season.  We've gotten a kick out of the football drama this year.  The kids jump up and down and scream at the top of their lungs with each exciting play.. actually, we all do.  Go cougars!

David has a birthday!

David turned 11.  Along with his birthday came much excitement: the beginning of 5th grade and the passage from cubscouts to boyscouts.  For his birthday dinner, we had the usual hamburgers and raspberry pie.  We also surprised David with a pass to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.  He and Joseph went a few weeks later and had a blast!  I sure love my David.  He is thoughtful, creative, and has a strong desire to CTR.  He is also an amazing helper and is readily available for dishes or sibling duty.  We love you David!

Happy Birthday Joseph

Joseph, I love you!

Emmy is 3!

Emmy's birthday marks the beginning of our marathon of summer birthdays.  Fortunately, a three year old is pretty easy to please, but we did do a few fun things at her request.  Emmy loves to ride in the bike trailer, so we packed a picnic and spent the morning at the park.  That evening, we hosted Anna and her family for dinner and cupcakes.  Since Emmy is a pink enthusiast, we chose strawberry cupcakes.  The frosting was even made with real strawberries!  Because of her birth order, Emmy is definitely doted on by her older siblings.  The homemade gifts and cards were evidence of this.  I love having Emmy as my little companion during the day.  She is a good sport about heading off to do errands, being dropped off to play at a friend's house, or taking long walks in the neighborhood.  An exciting new development for her:  a big girl bed!  She and Ruth now share a room, which has been a fun change in our house.  If only potty training would be that smooth...

Beach and Swim

With four busy kids at home this summer, I knew that the more time we spent in the water, the more everyone would get along.  Between swim lessons, beach days, and multiple trips to the library, the summer days flew by.  These are some of my favorite pictures...  Of course, there is a story that goes along with each picture.  It turned out that James was the only kid in his swim class which meant private lessons for three weeks straight.  The girls did swimming with our favorite swim teacher, Miss Barbara.  Emmy screamed for about four days straight until she finally gave in and decided that it was okay to have fun.  James found a dead fish at the beach one day, which he insisted would still be a good pet (the picture of the fish was our compromise to leave it at the beach).