First Day of 2nd Grade

First of all, I can't believe that Erik is already in 2nd grade. I am so not old enough to have a second grader. That being said, Erik was super excited for this year. He has the same teacher as he did in first grade. His school does something called looping for 1st and 2nd grade. They feel that because they are developing their basic reading skills during these grades, having the same teacher throughout the process is a good idea. I agree, but then I really like his teacher Mrs. Stangeland. She is wonderful with Erik. He just loves school, and I know that has a great deal to do with her. Erik is ready to get back to work, and see all his school friends again. Go Erik!!!
P.S. The first day of School was actually August 26, 2008

One Sunday I just decided to take pictures of the girls in their special summer
dresses. They were not very cooperative, but I did manage to get some cute pictures.
I really did end up chasing them around the house. My girls do NOT like to take pictures. They would much rather be getting into trouble. I blame Rus!

Summer Vacation, Northern Wisconsin and Porcupine Mountain State Park

Lydie, Erik and Maddy getting ready to leave on vacation!

Katie and Sarah crossing a bridge made of planks!

The boys cabin is hidden by some trees. Andrew is getting ready to dock the boat.

Rus carried Lydie the whole time we hiked. He is Superman!!!

We hiked along the river at Porcupine Mountain State Park. It was a beautiful place.

The trail could get a bit treacherous, but it was a lot of fun.

Summer vacation...better late than never

I know that I am way behind in my blog. I feel really bad about it. So, here are some pictures from our vacation with my family. We went up to Northern Wisconsin. The girls and boys each had their own cabin. The boys' cabin was right on a lake. They did a whole lot of fishing. The girls were in a really nice cabin a few miles from the boys. We had lots of fun swimming, boating, and sand castle building(I will have to post those later..Rus has those pics)! We got to hike around Porcupine Mountains, and spend a lot of time visiting. On our last night we had a fish fry to eat all of the fish caught throughout the week. It was really yummy. Our boys did a great job. They even filleted the fish all by themselves. Erik had a great time fishing. He actually caught fish!! The little girls and I had fun too. We had to work at keeping Lydie from drowning herself(she really likes the water), and Maddy loved playing in the sand(she isn't a big fan of the water).
We were so glad we got the chace to go. We all had a lot of fun!

"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam!"

I have decided that after your first child, all the others that follow grow up twice as fast. I only turned away for one second, and now Maddy is in primary. It seems like just yesterday that I was counting down to her first day in nursery (and I did really look forward to that day!).
Maddy has taken to primary very easily. No transition problems for this little girl!!! Her teacher, Sister Wickham, made little totes for them all. Inside each tote was a Book of Mormon with their name on it. Maddy takes it with her everywhere. She is very proud of her very own Book of Mormon!

Surprise...uh, yeah okay.

So, Santa brought us an aquarium this year. Santa thought everyone would be super excited, because everyone (Erik and Maddy) had been complaining that we didn't have a pet (I kept telling them that they had brothers and sisters instead. It didn't seem to help). Santa thought, wow, they will be super excited about this...not so much. As you can see, the reaction wasn't all that Santa had hoped it would be..*sigh* Maybe next year!

Another New Beginning

Well, it is after all a new year. So with that thought I have done some blog remodeling. Thanks to my friend Hilary (who is awesome at trying to explain how to change things with html...and then is very patient when I don't get it, and then does it for me...you're awesome!) I have a wonderful new colorful blog. With stereo sound!!! It is fabulous! I am renewed and revived! I am ready to keep up with pictures and journaling...at least that is my goal. I am going to start one month at a time..baby steps. So here it goes..wish me luck!!!