The first pumpkin!

We carved our first pumpkin last night...it really got us in the spirit. The first one was based on Sam's design, which he drew. Dad carved it because, well, knives are sharp and stuff... Here is Sam's sketch and the final product. Enjoy!

Kindergarten!

I used to tell people, "when your kid goes off to kindergarten they are virtually grown up and 18 and going off to college." I am so sorry that I said this to ANYONE. I am not ready for Sam to grow up and go to college.

The morning started very smooth, but alarming... I set and alarm for the first time in I can't tell you how long. We determined last night that we would all have a marble in our pockets all day in case we needed each other to feel better. (they were very helpful for ALL of us, even Amy who played with hers at the store today.) We walked to school as a family and then kissed Sam and sent him to his seat in the class. We were so proud of him no tears for him (a few for mom).

As we all picked him up after school, his class was (it seemed) the last to come out of the school. It felt like waiting for your child who has been gone to Europe for six months coming off the plane. He looked tired but so GREAT! A banana and ice cream and he was good to go until 7pm where he crashed and burned into a pile of tears where he needed his pillow and some good books and the eyes shut on a very memorable day...

Thank you all for your love and support! Here are a couple of great pictures from the day.

PS the most excited to pick up Sam was ... AMY! "ME (my) SAM!" with a huge hug to follow.

Congratulations TTLLP

Chris is the team captain for his Lawyer league softball team for his office. It is a time commitment and sometimes a pain in my side after a long day. After making it to the playoffs a couple years in a row, they finally won! I am really excited for them. Here is to another great year!!

Black Butte Makes Me Happy!

We got a T-shirt for Quinn two days ago that said "Black Butte Makes Me Happy!" Oh so true. Here are some things that help make us happy in Black Butte:

• Fun Dip

• Reading in the morning as a group.

• swimming.
  

More Happiness in Black Butte later...

TWO WHEELS!

Sam on 2 wheels!

2 wheels + happy kids + happy parents = Great vacation!

Day 1

Random Things

1. I LOVE the library. The other day when I was renewing our library books I got a message for the first time, "this book can no longer be renewed." Basically what they were telling me, you have renewed this book for one year and you have to let someone else read this book. So, we sadly returned one of our favorites.

2. We are on VACATION! We love vacation with our very favorite friends. As the adults were trying to set up the house and get dinner going, our children had some bathroom issues, drew with blue marker on each others faces (the girls, pictures to follow), and the boys ran around stirring up fun in their super hero costumes that are so too small for them. It was a great way to start vacation!

3. I sold my very first item on Craigslist today! Go Me Go!

Cheers

Tradition!

Ever since Sarah was pregnant with Sam (5 years ago, almost ready to pop), we have made an annual Independence Day pilgrimage to the Pumpkin Patch farm on Sauvie Island. This was our 6th such trip, and each year, I've taken the same picture of Sarah and our kid(s) in the same spot in line, getting ready to buy berries and honey sticks. The series of 6 pictures is below (top row, l-r: 2004, 2005, 2006; bottom row, l-r: 2007, 2008, 2009).

I could look at this progression for hours. 5 years goes by quick.