A Day At The Beach With Grandma!

On the Saturday after school started, Gra ndma Phelon came to visit for Kenyon's baptism.  She came a week early in time for Labor Day weekend.  On Labor Day we went to the coast for the day.  It was a gorgeous day, warm and not windy at all, which is amazing on the Oregon Coast.  We went to Pacific city and the the three older kids walked up the huge sand dune all by themselves.  I was so amazed at how well Shaylee did.  She had on a bright blue dress, so we were able to keep track of them the whole way up.  Pete built Jaron a sand castle and Jaron loved it.  They tried to put water in the moat, but it just kept sinking back into the sand.  After we left Pacific City, we headed to the outlets at Lincoln City.  That was kind of a waste of time.  We were all tired and there just weren't any good deals.  We got a few things at Old Navy and then headed via Tillamook.  We stopped at the cheese factory, of course, and got a yummy ice cream cone.  It was such a great day, we had a good time sharing it with Grandma.

 

 

 

 

 

  

                            

 

 

                    

 

            

First Day of School

September 1st was the first day of school for the boys this year.  It started on a Wednesday and they were pretty excited to get back to school and to see all their friends.  Brandon started fourth grade and Kenyon is in third.  They were both excited about their teachers this year and so far it is shaping up to be a good year.  Brandon’s class had a bit of a change two weeks into the school year.  The school had too many fifth graders and not enough fourth graders, so they moved the kids around a bit and made Brandon’s class a fourth/fifth combined class. The split is nine fourth graders and fourteen fifth graders.   I think this will be fine for Brandon, but we did have a bit of a rough start with some fifth graders calling the fourth graders names at recess.  Brandon’s class goes to recess with the fourth graders for first recess, the fifth graders for second recess and then it’s a combined recess for third recess.  But, it seems to have calmed down and I think everything will end up being fine.

Shaylee started Kindergarten this year.  They did a smart start for the first week.  So, the Kinders only went to school one day that week.  Because they did that, their were only about six or seven kids in her class that day.  She has Miss Price as her Kindergarten teacher, Brandon and Kenyon also had her for Kindergarten, so we were very excited that Shaylee got her, too.

A couple weeks after that Jaron started his own little preschool/playgroup.  We swap the kids and each take a turn every five weeks.  He wasn’t so sure about it at first, but seems to be enjoying it now.  This will be really good for him and next year we will have him go to Children’s World.

  

 

 

 

  

Shaylee’s class the first day!  She just happened to have three of her friends from church in her class that day.  Yea!

HAPPY 40TH, PETE!!!!!!

On August 27th, Pete turned the BIG 4-0!  We had a big trip planned for his birthday present, but had to postpone it until September due to his leg issue.  So, we had a fun time celebrating with our little ones.  We got Burgerville and took it to the river to have a picnic.  Then we went on a walk along the river and threw rocks into the river.  One of our kids favorite past times.  Then on Saturday night, Pete and I went to the temple and to the Cheesecake factory.  YUM!  I LOVE the cheesecake factory.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed having a weekend of just family.
On Pete's extra special day I want to list TEN things I LOVE about my man:

• Pete is funny!  He keeps me laughing and that is important in all relationships.
• Pete is so generous.  He is always willing to help others.
• He is an awesome dad!  Our kids adore him.
• He is a hard worker.  He gives his all in everything he does.
• I love how his eyes sparkle when he says something outrageous and you don't know whether or not to believe him until you see the sweet sparkle. 
• When he is passionate about something, everyone knows.  Can you say CLEVELAND?!
• He is very intelligent.
• He is very involved with his family, we are number one to him.  And he is very supportive of me in all my "hobbies". 
• He is so handsome, I love to look at him!
• And most important he loves the Lord.

 

 

End of Summer fun!

When we got back from Utah, we did some fun things at the end of summer.  We had some friends over to use our new playground set in a new and different way.  The kids loved sliding into the kiddie pool.  It was a lot of fun for them.  The friends seemed to enjoy it, too.

 

We headed to Vancouver Lake with some friends and had a great time basking in the sun and swimming in the lake.

 

  

 

 

 

On the last day before school started we went bowling at Big Al’s and then out to lunch at Wendy’s.  It was pouring rain, so this was the perfect activity to do before school started again.

 

Kenyon’s Party!!

This is our off year for friend parties, so we just do a family one.  Pete was still recovering from his strep infection, so we needed to do something that was fun, but still would allow Pete to put up his leg.  We took them to Kids Club in Salmon Creek.  They were able to play in the jungle land and we went swimming.  They loved it and there was a great area to sit out by the jungle land where Pete could put up his leg.  The pool had two slides, tubes and a basketball hoop they could play with.  After we went to Kids Club we took the kids to eat at IHOP for dinner.  We went to the new IHOP by IKEA and it was so nice.  They gave Kenyon a free dinner and an awesome ice cream sundae!  It was great and Kenyon LOVED it.  We did donuts and ice cream on Sunday, his birthday and opened presents.  It was a good birthday and now Kenyon is one year older!  CRAZY!!!