First Day of School

The boys first day of school was on September 5th.  Katrina (Hyrum's sister) had a tradition of serving donuts and juice on the first day of school for all the neighborhood kids.  I guess since we bought Katrina's house we are now in charge of keeping this tradition going.  Katrina helped us out this year by buying all the goodies but I have a feeling we'll be on our own next year.

Townsend and Emerson are now in 3rd grade.  They are both excited about school and especially love being able to walk to and from school.  They leave the front door and walk about 2 blocks and they are at their school...it's fabulous!  No more bus rides.  The only problem is they walk through my door in the afternoon at 2:15, that's pretty early to have the kids home but I'll take this small sacrifice of my afternoon to have my boys off that long bus ride.

Julian started preschool on September 11th.  He only goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30, so it's not like I have lost my little man all week.  He LOVES school and loves that he gets to go to school like his big brothers.  He is going to Calvary Lutheran preschool and I'm so happy with the teachers and the program, and Pastor Matthew is pretty cool too.

 The first day of school donut tradition:)

Emerson, Milo, Grant and Townsend enjoying some donuts.

Townsend with his teacher Ms. Marshall

Emerson with his teacher Miss Delplanche.  I continued the tradition of bringing a German schultute for them on their first day of school.  I wasn't going to this year (because we aren't in Germany anymore) but they asked for one and I felt it would help them transition to their new school.

Julian on his first day of preschool

Julian with his teacher Miss Christy

Solo Trip to Utah

In 1994 I went to Brisbane, Australia for a year as an exchange student.  I was 16 years old.  I was a real pain in the butt and I'm pretty sure my parents just wanted to get rid of me.  I was moody.  I was spoiled.  I was selfish.  I guess I was just a silly girl that hadn't grown up yet.  My time in Australia changed all that.  I became confident, co-operative, giving and basically a happy and well adjusted young adult.  I have my fabulous host family to thank for a lot of that "growing up."

One of my host brothers, Adam, now lives in Utah with his American wife, Kacy.  They recently added two beautiful girls to their family.  My host mom and one of my host sisters, Corrine, came to Utah to see the babies and I decided that I just had to go down and see everyone.  After all, it's a lot cheaper to fly to Utah then it is to fly to Australia.

Since it was just a few short days I decided to fly down on my own.  Oma flew into Portland to help watch my crazy family and I got an awesome break from my kids!  It was so much fun seeing everyone again.  I have been so lucky to have the Heindorff family in my life and I will always be grateful for their love and guidance during my year in Australia.

 My host "Mum" and Corinne at Cafe Rio.  I mean, come on, you can't get this stuff Down Under:)

The two precious angels straight from heaven, Eden and Lauren.  I spent a lot of time snuggling these two babies and remembering what it was like 8 years ago with my own little ones.

While in Utah I stayed with Hyrum's sister, Andrea.  Here we are with her family at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.

My Mum with Adam and Kacy's three older children.  I can't imagine having twins after already having  3 kids to take care of but I know Adam and Kacy will have a fabulous time with their five happy and beautiful kiddos.

End of Summer Fun

And just like that, the summer is done.  Here a few quick shots of what we did the last weeks of summer vacation.  

 Townsend, Milo and Emerson at a park in downtown Portland.  Milo is a year older than the boys but he is pretty fun to hang out with and very easy going.  Maybe it will rub off on the twins?

 We found some yummy home made ice-cream in Portland.  Not as good as gelato but way better than Baskin Robbins!

 How cute is this face?  Our last trip to the beach for the summer.  When we first got to the beach it was foggy and cold but then the clouds rolled away and we had blue skies.  Pretty lucky for a day on the Oregon Coast.

 My three boys, what can I say?

 I love this photo of Julian.  He is so content to just hang out and play on his own.

 Julian's hair really needed a cut.  I took him to a cute little salon where he could sit in a taxi and pretend drive the whole time.  

 Julian and Oma on a hike near Portland.

 Grant, Townsend and Emerson on the hike.  Grant is the same age as the boys and pretty crazy himself.  A perfect match?

The boys showed their true European identity when they found this lake up in the mountains.  What a bunch of cute little bums:)