Lots of Hawaii pictures

I told Joel he would be in a ton of trouble if he didn't take millions of pictures. He isn't a big picture taker so I knew I would have to threaten his life just so he would take some. Well he took almost all of the pictures in one day. I think it was the LAST day. Alyssa's smile looks like it hurts from all the smiling.

The Luau Hunk!! Wowza check out those muscles!!

Alyssa is REALLY excited :)

Our bathing beauty

Hawaii is sooo pretty. The little boy in the next group of pictures is a little boy named Blaze that Alyssa played with all the time. He was 3 and very much like Jayden. His family went to the other side of the island for half of their trip but drove back to that hotel just so he could play with Alyssa. He loved her!

Alyssa and Joel's Hawaii Trip

So we decided that when each of our children turn 10, they get to choose a place to go with their Dad on vacation. Alyssa and Joel went to Hawaii. They had a fabulous time together. Alyssa did an interactive dolphin encounter. She LOVED it and wants to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up. Kona was the one she got to kiss and dance with. Too cool!

She's beautiful even in a funny mask!

Too excited about the dolphins!

What a cute pair!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!!...oh & Jayden

This is what happens when you get a group of girls over for a sleepover. The closet gets raided and the camera has to capture the fun. Jayden you might not realize this yet but you will be the luckiest boy in Grants Pass in a few years. All of these girls adore you!!

They had so much fun this weekend.

Jayden and his back up dancers.

Jayden's First day of Preschool

Jayden is way too excited to control himself. Finally he gets to be on "MASON'S SIDE" at the Child Development Center. Last year he was to young to be on the Preschool side but enjoyed every minute of school anyway. All summer all he talked about was how he couldn't wait to go to school again because he could be with Mason (his cousin) and on HIS side of the school. He loves, loves, loves school and his focus teacher Shelby. Shelby is a high school student that follows Jayden thru the year and does a whole portfolio on him. We love her! I will get a picture soon of her.

Jayden and Mason dancing with excitement before going in to school. Apparantly excited to learn and think, think, think!!

Thanks Nana and Pa!!!

Nana and Pa always get the kids a new outfit for Back to School. Of course they had to match and chose these cute Gap outfits. They love them so much. Their cousin Berklee got the same outfit. So they will call eachother when they want to be triplets at school. They look super fantastic! We love you Nana and Pa!!!

Oregon Ducks Game w/ the Yount Family

Our good friends the Younts invited us to a Ducks game. We had a great time but Hallee had even more fun with these silly pompoms. As you can tell Hailey and Emily are die hard fans...always in their Duck gear. We on the other hand apparantly need to do some shopping. I had a guy stop me and tell me "You just don't wear purple to a Ducks game". Well at least now I know "the rules"!! We had a blast at the game. Thanks Ryan and Heather!!

Soccer

Soccer season has come and gone. I was so happy the girls were on the same team this season and Daddy coached again. The girls are getting ready to start their first game here. Alyssa wasn't too excited to stop for a photo. The team name was Lightning! The other Lincoln Team was named Thunder. Soccer season is always busy, busy, busy! Kinda glad its over :)

Lunch recess the first day of school!!!

Yes these pictures are from the first day of school. Where did the time go?

Alyssa with some of her good friends. So grateful to have some church girls at school too.

Hallee with cousin Berklee and friend Jenna.

Hallee and Jayden enjoying lunch together.

Thanks so much!

So I have to send a great big THANK YOU to a great friend who spent her last morning of summer at my house teaching me how to blog. I appreciate all you did and I want you to know I think you are amazing!!! Carey you rock this is soooo much fun!!! I love you!

First Day of School !!!

The girls woke up super giddy with excitement this morning. They jumped out of bed and got ready really quick. Alyssa requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and Hallee is happy just when we have sausage at breakfast. So they had a yummy breakfast and off we went. I could sense they were a little nervous too but they both said they were very excited!
Hallee and Berklee got desks right next to eachother in the middle of the classroom. They are thrilled to be in the same class this year.

Alyssa's teacher is Mr. Stutzman. This is her first male teacher and I wasn't sure how she would do. Well I am not sure why I was worried at all. Because when we stopped by the week before school started she met him and when we left she gave him a huge hug. If anyone doesn't know Alyssa is a hugger and gets along with just about anyone. She was also excited a good friend from church moved into Lincoln's school district. Elise, Alyssa is so excited you are in her class!!! You two watch out for eachother!

Hallee's teacher is Mrs. Lovelace. We were super happy to have her as a teacher for Hallee. She is a wonderful teacher and this should be a great class. Alyssa had her daughter Jasmine Schuttenhelm as her 2nd grade teacher. Joel knows the family well and grew up with Jasmine. I love small towns!!

Here are the girls backpacks they chose. They are bright colors and a bit loud. But they love them. Welcome back to the 80's. Yikes I didn't think that would ever make it back.

Yes I love taking pictures and Jayden loves being in them. I had to have the girls settle down their excitement just to get them to sit still long enough to take this picture. But inside they are bursting with excitement. What cutie pie's. I can't believe I have a third and fourth grader. Yowzer I am getting up their in age or at least it makes me feel like I am!! I can't wait to pick them up after school to see how their first day went.

Last Day of Summer Vacation

Usually I start the week before school starts to get my kids going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. Well this time I didn't do to well. So my husband had a great idea to wear out our kids so they would go to sleep at a decent hour. We decided to go on a long bike ride to Riverside Park, play for a while, and then ride to a Mexican Restaurant, eat, then ride home. We invited some friends and off we went. Here are the kids playing at the park. Jayden always comes up with the goofiest poses for the camera. His favorite is when he looks like a chipmunk. Not sure where that came from.

This tire swing was a big hit with all of the kids. Although Jayden and Emily starting looking a bit green after a while.

Jayden and his Em. They have so much fun together.

Sorry about the picture choice Joel, but Hallee has a HUGE smile and that doesn't always come easy to capture!!

See there's our little chipmunk...what a NUT!

Needless to say Jayden fell asleep on the couch fresh out of his shower and still just wrapped in his towel. The girls were asleep by about 8:30. Which is great considering they were night owls all summer. Thanks for thinking of this fun evening Joel!

Redding Waterslides!!

So my amazing in-laws treated my family and our cousins to a trip to the Redding waterslides for an end of summer escape. The kids had a blast and so did I. Thank you Nana and Pa- You Rock!!

All of the kids got ice cream cones tht were enormous but super yum. Hallee and Berklee are enjoying their's.

Jayden wasn't tall enough for some of the bigger rides but he definately didn't mind. He had a ton of fun in the area he could play at.

The girls got this huge 3 person raft and had a blast going down lots of the rides together.

GoodBye Summer Hello Fall!!!

Harris Beach fun!!!