Blue Berries

We went blueberry picking today. The berries have been late this year and the weather today and cold and cloudy, but not raining. Katie ate them and Addie picked some, but mostly we just bought them and tonight after dinner we will have yummy blueberry cobbler.

First Day of School

Noah started second grade today and here is his report. First the good things:

His new teacher is really nice.

He made lots of new friends and found some old ones.

Recess was super fun.

Now here's the things that weren't perfect:

He forgot his brand new sweatshirt in the cafeteria.

He got put on the wrong bus and got off on a weird stop, giving his mother a small heart attack trying to find out where he was.

His shoes felt a little too big and kept slipping off his feet.

So I have been letting Noah's hair grow a little longer than usual and I think he looks really handsome. Jason is thinking shaggy is a better word for it. I guess I will cut it before it gets too long. I missed Noah, but I will say I was glad to not have to referee the boys' fighting today. Here's hoping for a great school year!!

Soccer's Starting

...and Addie can't believe he finally gets to play this year. Check out the awesome shin guards and kleats. Once he had them on he said, "Noah try to punch my leg. It will not hurt me, just your hand."

Lucky

Katie is home at last after spending most of the week at the hospital and we are so happy to have her sweet little self gracing our home again. I'd really rather not recap the whole ordeal, since none of us particularly want to remember it, but there is something else we definitely don't want to forget. Surprisingly, it's times like these that really shed some light on your blessings.

We are so fortunate with our three healthy children and sometimes it's easy to forget that. We have the greatest family who just comes through completely for us. Watching our boys so we could be at the hospital, whiling away the long hours at the hospital with us, always ready to lend an ear and moral support and an "everything will be alright." We have amazing friends, very willing to make our problems their problems. We are so grateful for all the kid watching, hospital visits, prayers, flowers, food and phone calls full of kind words. We really wouldn't want to forget all of that, and right now we feel very, very blessed, lucky, and thankful.

Great Wolf Lodge

Last weekend we went to Great Wolf Lodge with Grammy & Papa, Michelle & Aaron, and Mike. We had a really fun couple of days and loved the water park. It was basically kid heaven. Noah and Addie both really loved the water slides and Noah was such a dare devil he even went on the big one. After going on it myself I was worried that he would fly off on the bump, but fortunately he has quite a death grip when he's scared. Katie loved being in the water at the little kid's play area and in the hot tub, but she wasn't a fan of the wave pool or the giant bucket that dumps tons of water. The rest of us thought the giant bucket was really cool. When we went to dinner after playing in the park that night the boys just sat watching it dump through the window for a long time. Addie loved body surfing in the wave pool, although he made me nervous because he didn't want me to touch him, just watch him. We had a really great time, and can't wait to go back again soon.

G & G's House

We just got back from our week long visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a great time, the kids loved being there with their grandparents. They loved swimming and would have spent the whole week in the pool if we had let them. Noah swam the entire time with his goggles on. It was pretty cute. We treasure hunted, of course, went the to ag museum, bowled, played in the fountains, ate In-n-out, and bounced in the bounce house. Grandpa took the boys out golfing, not mini golf, but real golf. They even got to drive the cart. Grandma got out the old doll house she had saved from when Jason's sisters were little and Katie loved playing with it. Nathan and Noah were still thick as thieves and loved being together. The boys were so proud to learn how to swing themselves. We got to spend lots of time with Aunt Amanda, who we all love so much. We left just in time for everyone to get Katie's cold and hopefully by the time they are reading this post they have forgiven us and are feeling better. Lloyd and Laura thank you so much for a wonderful time, we will miss you till we see you in September.