FHE at our lot

Last Monday we had a bon fire at our lot. They have done some plumbing for the basement and we needed to clean up some weeds (plus we had some limbs) to burn. We had a great time roasting hot dogs wrapped in cresant rolls, and marshmallows for smores. Lili came up with a new way to roast the marshmallow as well as the graham cracker.

swimming lessons

All of the kids are taking swimming lessons. Davis, Meili and Lili really need them and Reese and Mckenzie thought it would be fun (and I thought some good excercise) All are enjoying them and are learning a lot.

Mckenzie's summer project

This summer Mckenzie's class was assigned to read "The Scarlet Pimpernel" They had to create a project from the book. I was so suprised how great the project looked when I saw it. We did have a little problem with it...she used a glue gun to glue her characters down and when she went to move it to the school they all fell apart. This caused a bit of stress and we spent all of Labor Day fixing it but by the end of the day we had found glue that kept them all in one piece.

Mckenzie's new shoes

I love Mckenzie's new shoes. She loves them and was very excited to get the go ahead from her ballet teacher. She is taking a ballet class at school and also does an after school ballet class. I am glad her teacher is making her take the shoes slowly...I'd hate to have a broken toe or two.

The boys convinced me to let them play football. (well...Kim's thoughts at OMSI helped too) They are really enjoying it and learning a lot about the game. I'm not sure why I got a picture of the girls and Scott but not the game??? I will have to get some at their next games.

We finally have a marker at Ryan's grave. Not the most fun thing to do in your life. We went out to see it. It turned out very well. My parent's wanted a place to be able to sit and think so the bench won out in the end. It is actually comfortable and I'm glad they decided on it. The kids each had to perform a trick for Ryan. Reese and Davis have become great arm "tooters" (not our favorite thing) but they thought Ryan would be proud so they did this for him and Meili tickled where she thought his belly would be. not sure if this is appropriate graveside activity but it was their idea - I'm sure he was smiling from above.

Fun at Grandpa Randy's shop.

Baking with the little girls

The girls and I made some yummy cressant rolls. They begged to do the rolling and after watching them roll their first rolls I let them roll the whole pan. They did a great job and had a fun time!

Lili cracks us up again

Don't you love Lili's new hair piece? She found a soccer goal marker (can't remember the right words) and thought it would be great in her hair. Doesn't it look cute? She always provides us with a good laugh.

odd, yummy dinner

I have a new favorite website. It is www.dealstomeals.com . Take a look. It is fun but most of all very helpful. I had to try her odd favorite (hot dog cut in half with lots of mustard and mashed potatoes and cheese on top)...weird but all 7 of us agreed...yum.

I did it...I did it...I really, really did it(sing this to the tune from Dora). If I ever slack in posting please remind me how painful it is to catch up. I have posted way too many blogs for you to read (and have not proof read yet) but we will enjoy them for our journaling. The new ones go back to March (yep March)14 (some old posts are spread through these). I hope all is well and those who check my blog are updating theirs as well. I'm back!

first day of school (s)

Meili started school at the end of last week and the other three started the day after labor day. Meili LOVED her school. Mckenzie is thrilled to be in Jr. High and the boys think their teachers are pretty cool. Davis has our favorite and Reese has a man who speaks Chinese and Korean and just returned from living in China. We are excited with the hopes that he will learn a bit of Chinese and the culture as well as the many other things this year.
Each school year Scott gives the kids a father's blessing...so, I had to get a picture with the kids and dad. It is something they all look forward to. I'd love pictures of the smiles on the kid's faces while they receive them but decided it may not be too respectful to do so.
KIDNEY STONE UPDATE:
I took the girls to Boise for their ultra sounds and visit with the ped. nephrologist. He said both girls kidneys look fantastic. Lili's are growing and look like they are thriving!!! We do not need to return unless they show symptoms. YEA!!! We are so happy and relieved!!! and blessed!!! Such fantastic news for our family!!! A fun day wandering around Boise.

Webelos

Here we are earning our Citizen award. Judge (ie...Bishop) Bevan gave the boys a very cool tour of his office, court room and library. It was very interesting and the boys could not stop talking about it the whole way home.

Lili's self portraits

The little girls love taking my camera and taking pictures of lots of things. Here are samples of Lili's photo abilities.

Now he has it, now he does not

Davis finally lost his first tooth during FHE. He worked hard all night to get it out. Mckenzie made and decorated this yummy (well it was too cute to eat for a few days so we just enjoyed looking at it)cake for FHE. She and I have been going to cake decorating classes at the church this summer.