Fall Happenings

Date Night with Dan out to a new restaurant here in town!  We had prime rib, mashed potatoes and asparagus - and it was delicious!

In church the 5th graders are becoming pen pals with kids in Brazil and were writing them letters to tell them about their selves!

Grammy and Grandad came to cheer Megan on - and it was the last game of the day at NVVA - and sooooo quiet (which is not normal)!

Dan used static electricity to get this balloon to stick in his beard :)  

Our final haul from our CSA!  Yummy radishes, butternut squashes, kale, peppers, apples and much more!

Jack and Kylie accompanied me to a Young Life committee meeting and chilled in their basement while we had the meeting!  They were great!

Uncle Johnny and Karen

Uncle Johnny and Karen came to visit the other week!  It was great to see them and catch up, even if it wasn't for long!  Dan and I always enjoy getting to talk to them and feel like it hasn't been a long enough of a time to chat :)

Kylie especially loved seeing him and talking his ear off :)

All the kiddos (no Abby or Hannah), Johnny and Karen

Sports

Kylie's team practicing

Her team picture

Jack being captain

Jack practicing

Megan serving

Her team picture

And her getting ready to serve

Beginning of the School Year

Beau and his buddy Maisie - they love to wrestle and rarely run out of energy to just sit.  This is one of those few times though!

Kylie attended an awesome Spa Birthday party for her friend!  She was given this cute robe to put on when she entered and had a sleepover spa night!  Pedicures, manicures, massages, dinner, cake, movies, fun!

We're teaching the 5th graders at church - and this was the first week of the large group gathering!

We went to a Young Life meeting and brought our kiddos - Dan and Megan relaxed briefly outside in fun chairs

And the kiddos loved their dogs!

We found Jack some new sneakers and socks at the outlets!

I went in to have lunch with Kylie and her friends!  It was so fun to see her and meet some of her new classmates!  Jack didn't want me to come in, so I didn't for him :)

Our neighbor has a huge projector, so he set up a night and put on the Lego Movie for the neighborhood kids!  It was awesome!  They also made popcorn and koolaid for them all and had glow necklaces!

First Week of School

Dan took off the first week of school for two reasons: to be there for the kiddos during their first week of school (because he was home last year for the first week and loved it!) and to get some things done around the house!

He managed to hang our vent hood over the stove and then worked on finishing our bathroom cabinet and sink so we could have a working sink in the half bath!

Measuring and cutting to finish off the sink base

Work in progress

What it will look like with the barn style doors he built me!

I've since filled holes, sanded it and painted it Charcoal and waxed it!

And one of my projects - sanding these cafe chairs, spray painting them and refinishing the seats for them that Dan cut out for me!

First Day of School

Jack - 5th

Kylie - 3rd

Megan - 7th

Cute kiddos!

Dan took the week off so we could do some projects together and be there for the kids' first week of school!  Beau got to walk up to say goodbye to the kiddos :)

Rachel, Avery, Kylie and Jack

The Megan's

And arriving home after school!  Beau so excited to greet them!

Pics

Soccer started and Kylie wanted a picture of the first practice!

Jack headed out to his first challenge soccer practice

Megan watching them at soccer - and taking copious amounts of pics on my phone :)

This ISN'T what Beau normally does at soccer - he's normally sniffing all around and chewing on sticks, but he did get super tired and passed out curled up next to his bag :)

Jack asked almost every couple of days if they could have a water gun fight because he purchased a bin of 10 water guns at the beginning of the summer.  This is one of the times they got to have a water fight!

Our buddy Savo came over to spend Labor Day with us - and ended up wearing his Punisher tshirt while Dan had on his Captain America shirt!

And Beau - how he travels between sports with me!

Dan's Motorcycle Ride with Supe

For Dan's last birthday in March, he asked for a class to get his motorcycle license reinstated.  He originally got it when he was in high school, but they wouldn't renew it the last time we were overseas, since we were applying for a renewal while living overseas...some glitch in the system.  He took the motorcycle class in February, passed and got his motorcycle license reinstated...and doesn't own a motorcycle, so hadn't had a chance to ride one!  

He pinged his buddy Supe (who's real name is Dave) and asked him if Dan could come down, borrow Supe's bike and Supe could borrow a friend's to go on a ride.  Supe wrote back in under a minute that he had it all set up and it was good to go!  

Dan drove down on a Friday afternoon, hung out with Supe, spent the night and then met up with Supe's buddies to go on a ride through some pretty areas and get lunch!  They had a great time and Supe was super nice to let Dan ride his bike :)

Supe's buddy, Dan and Supe

Stopped at a yummy restaurant for lunch

Dan's sandwich and chips

And the view at a stop

End of Summer Happenings

Jack and the other rising 5th graders from church went on a hike and had a cookout!  Dan hiked with them!

Kylie got clothes from Mary Kate (and shoes!) and loves wearing them to church!

Abby and Maddie did their volleyball camps again - Megan attended 2 of them and loved them!

I got to go to a baby shower for a friend of mine from Kuwait!  It was so fun to be there and celebrate the pending arrival of their baby!

She and her husband are both engineers, so she got a book called "Introductory Calculus for Infants".  It is awesome!  

Jack got to attend training to be a Safety Patrol!

We took Beau to the local farm to play

He got to go down the slides with the kiddos

Jack decided he wanted contacts - so we got them!  He looks great in them, doesn't fuss about putting them in or taking them out at all!

We took Mary Kate and Cole tubing with us (and this is what happens when the girls have my phone for a minute)!  We had a blast!  It was so nice and relaxing!

And our car on the ride home - Megan, Mary Kate and Kylie sound asleep in the backseat - then Cole and Jack soon  followed in the middle seats!

And it's blurry, but we got to cheer on Abby and Maddie at one of their first games of the season against our local high school!  Maddie and Abby won and did a great job!