Beautiful September

Julian showing off his rocket Hyrum helped him build for the Cub Scout rocket derby.  These little suckers shot way up in the air!

Took advantage of a sunny day and picked some fresh peaches.  It took me only about 5 minutes to pick all these peaches.  They were SOOOO delicious!

Hyrum took me on a date for the season opening of the Oregon Symphony.  They played some beautiful pieces and the guest narrator was George Takei.  We had great seats, just about 7 rows from the front.

I coached Julian's soccer team this year...

...it was a bit crazy!

Julian's class dressed up like ducks for the annual "Panther Dash" at school.  They were so cute!

It started to sprinkle, then rain, then pour down rain!  Poor kids were all soaked after running for 15 minutes.  I was so proud of him that he ran the whole time, even wet and cold.

We took advantage of a sunny Saturday to go for a bike ride at Champoeg State Park.

Hyrum's brother Jason joined us for the ride.  Also, the little dog Hyrum is holding in the family picture is Jason's roommates dog that he was babysitting for the weekend.

Hike up Saddle Mountain

Kids are in school, weather is beautiful, what should I do with my time?  How about a hike in the mountains?  Not usually my first choice of activity but my friend Hannah Holt sent out an open invitation to anyone that wanted to join her on this hike.  I have to admit, I'm not a great fan of hiking but the beautiful day made up for the fact that I couldn't breathe and had to take it pretty slow on the last 1/4 mile because it was so steep and I'm so out of shape:)  The trail was 4.5 miles long but was very steep in some places.  I'm glad I went with ladies that didn't mind stopping a lot;)

Our view from about halfway up.  It was super foggy and clouded in down below but just gorgeous blue skies once you got above the clouds.

Taking a break at a scenic point.  You can see how cloudy it was just below us.  It actually made for a fun "walk in the clouds" sort of feel.

I'm on top of the world!

The view from the top.  You are supposed to see all the way to the coast and some of the surrounding volcanoes but it was too cloudy.  I guess I'll have to come back:)

Group shot of the 4 of us that went on the hike.  Me, Elizabeth VanHorne, Cynthia Greathouse and Hannah Holt.  Such a fun group of ladies to spend the day with!

Back to School

Julian started 3rd grade on Tuesday September 5th.  The boys didn't have to start school until the next day so I took them and some friends bowling.  I'm such a nice mom:)  The next day when all my kids were in school I went for a motorcycle ride with a  friend out to lunch to celebrate my freedom:)

Julian at his desk on the first day of school.  Hyrum and I walked him to school and he seemed excited but a bit nervous.

Bowling with some crazy 13 year olds while Julian was at school

I brought Julian his schultuete after school.  He was super excited.  This is his 3rd grade teacher Ms. Marshall.  She was also Townsend's 3rd grade teacher:)

Back to school for the twins...8th GRADE!!

Freedom!!!  Celebrating with my friend Karen Rust.

I had to take a photo of these before I threw them away.  These are the lunch bags my twins have taken to school every year since kindergarten.  They had a good long run but I finally decided it was time to buy the boys new bags.  These ones were quite dirty and the velcro was coming off.  Still impressed they lasted 8 years!