The Triplets Go To School

So since Emmett moved into the neighborhood this summer he gets to go to school with our kids! We were so thrilled. He didn't get in the same class but that's OK. They still go to school together some days and apparently play at recess. Avery says she sees Emmett, runs and finds Alex, tells him where Emmett is and then they all play. They also look for the girls to play with too. I LOVE that they all have each other at school!!! Happy times. Love these little guys so much!!!

First Day!!

Oh Happy Day!!!

Hailey Grade 4
Mr. Summers (the all time favorite 4th grade teacher that every kid wants!)

Karis Grade 2
Miss Moore "She's as pretty as a teenager" Karis said.
"She practically is a teenager." I said.

Avery Kindergarten
P.M. Mrs. Stred - Karis had her too and loved her

Alex Kindergarten
P.M. Mrs. Stred

Mt. Raineer and Wilde!

Every summer (well the last 2) and from now on we try to get together with Alex's little buddy Wilde. If you remember, we travelled to Haiti on our court trip with his parents and really bonded with them. Something about leaving your sons in an orphanage for who knows how long and the heart-wrenching drive away from them as you all do the ugly cry pretty much cements you as friends for life. Then going through the earthquake and process after with them! They live in Canada and since we STILL DON'T have citizenship for Alex and can't travel out of the country with them, we have to meet them somewhere in the US. Well this summer we met in a random little town in between us going to Oregon and them being at Great Wolf Lodge! We  had hoped to go to Great Wolf with them but the 2 weekends we were in Washington was my 20year reunion and Michael's wedding. More on those later.

Anyway we had a great time. Went to a park and had a picnic, took a walk, and went to ice cream. It was so fun to reconnect!! The boys just start right in playing, laughing, and giggling! Love the bond they share!!! It is so amazing!!

On the way we stopped and looked at Mt. Raineer. Loved it and it was so fun to see it through our kid's eyes.

Grandpa!

One of the fun things we did this summer was see Grandpa Hoefer and the Prosser relatives! Grtandpa is really struggling with dementia right now so it was sad to see him and realize how far the dementia had progressed. I was really glad I was able to get a picture of him with the kiddos. He has recently moved into a care facility since it was no longer safe for him on his own. We are so blessed that three of Scott's siblings and their spouses live close by and take such good care of him. Scott being the youngest and the only sibling with young children at home and living in Idaho has not had the responsibility that his siblings have with him. They have loved him and taken care of him every single day in such a loving and respectful way. We are so blessed to have such a large family of love!!

Can I Get an "AWWW"?!

I posted on Facebook this summer that one of the best things about having more than one child is that they can sleep together at night! Thus, freeing the parent's bed from the kid invasion. (Sometimes this works.) We have gone through times with all our kids where they seem to be more scared at night or have a harder time settling down. By the end of the day though, I am often not really wanted to spend my few free adult minutes with kids, but rather with my husband! So a great solution has been putting kids in the same room or same bed. Alex and Avery do amazing sleeping in the same bed. They usually fall asleep faster than on their own in fact. And look how adorable they look?!!

Visitors!

Another highlight of our summer was when our friends the Brooks came to visit. I go all the way back to college with Denise. She was actually on staff at George Fox and the two of us spent quite a bit of time together. After college we kept up our friendship through all the significant stuff. Our wedding, a few moves, babies being born, kids being adopted, etc. Scott loves her family also so it was so exciting when they told us they were driving through Boise and wanted to hang out! Our kids LOVED their kids and we all had a blast.