A few more favorites...

We are having so much fun walking down memory lane with Anneli, I have learned so much about her and have enjoyed every minute.

We went to the church building that Anneli was baptized at.  It was fun to see her old stompin' grounds and to see her talk to people that knew her when she was younger.

We love the ice cream

And the bakery's

And the ice cream

And the foods pretty good too

Good thing we are doing a lot of walking cause a lot of our favorites seem to be the food!

One of my favorites so far...

You can walk through fields and pick fresh peas and eat them straight from the pod, we did it yesterday YUMMY

FINLAND

We made it!!

It's late...1:24am...well I guess it's early.

We've gone 31 hours on airplane sleep, which we all know is not really sleep...

We're goin' to bed...zzzzz

Day 1 of year 2010-2011

They started back to school today...definitely bitter sweet.
Three in school all day is a big change around here.
I wasn't too worried about BH and Keeks cause they are use to the long days called school.  But my Mr BD is another story...his first year 5 days a week, all day long, I could tell he was a bit nervous.

Can't forget the cousin pictures...tradition...so much so, that cousin M is going to a new school cause they moved but her mom still brought her to her old school just for the picture with all the girls.  We have one for every year starting with Kinder.  Good thing they start an hour later or we would have had to stage it.

They are so lucky to have such a great support system at school!

Below is Mr. BD going into the school, he got in line and didn't look back, what was I worried about?  I think I was more worried about myself.  His teacher asked all the parents of her students to write on the first page of their composition book that they will be using throughout the year.  She asked us to express our thoughts and feelings for them as they begin their first grade year.   I wanted to document what I wrote to my little buddy...

August 8, 2010

Mr. BD,
Hey mister! I'm so excited for you to start first grade, you are getting so big. You will turn 7 this year. I'm excited for you to start reading chapter books and learn to love reading, it's so good for you! I'm gonna miss having you home but I know you will be having a wonderful time at school. You are so special to us and such a blessing to our family. You bring so much laughter to our home. Thank you for being so thoughtful and caring toward all of us at home, I hope you will use those traits at school also and treat your teacher and friends with the same respect, I know you will! Please be aware of those around you, help those who need your help, smile at someone who might be sad, include everyone, share your thoughts and ideas (they are great), stand up for what you know is right. You are growing up, you'll have choices to make, make good ones. Remember what Mama and Daddy teach you at home. We love you so much. You are going to have a great year!
Love,
Mama and Daddy

Number 9

Happy Birthday Miss Keeks! 

This year is a date year so we took Kiki out on the town!  We had so much fun with her.  She's all about shopping, shopping and more shopping.  Something her daddy isn't fond of, he kept sitting down saying it was making him tired. (probably cause he was thinking about all the work he would have to do to pay for the shopping)  She had her date all planned out, first ice skating (we got there and public skate had just ended, so we saved that for another day), then pedicures (we tried to talk daddy into getting one but he wouldn't give in), next dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (her pick, she loves the salad bar and that's what she had for her birthday dinner {salad and water}) and last Claires (her favorite place in the world).  Because she wasn't able to go ice skating we told her she could get an outfit, she was happy about that.

We had a ton of fun hanging out with her.  Thanks for making our date so fun Kiki!

Keeks at age 9:
very helpful
loves art and drawing
is very fashion conscious
a great babysitter to her siblings
did I say very helpful?
thoughtful
likes barbies
has braces and soon head gear
has a messy room
very helpful
excited for school to start tomorrow
a great friend
understanding
has her own sense of style
adventurous
likes to cook
very helpful

Kiki,
You brighten everyday!  We love having you in our family, you play such a special role, it wouldn't be the same without you.  Thank you for all you do around the home to help me without being asked.  You will be a great mom when the time comes.  Your smile makes me smile and your joy for life helps me remember how fun it was to be a kid and how important it is to have fun like a child.  Thank you for all you bring to our family!  We all love you!
Love,
Mom

After church this morning, opening gifts, nice outfit Keeks! (her own sense of style :)  Those suspenders are supposed to be for her nerd costume on Halloween...

Arizona Grand

Last week we went to the Arizona Grand Resort with the Bowen's.  We had a blast.  The big kids loved the slides and the wave pool, the little kids loved the wave pool and the kiddie pool.  Miss H loved that she could stand all by herself in the kiddie pool and was entertained just walking around.  BH loved that he was big enough to venture out on his own but took every opportunity to take D or I to the slides.  We were upgraded to a two bedroom suite that had a full kitchen and family area.  The kiddos rented a movie and the adults stayed up and talked till 2am.  Yeah...It was pretty hard to get up the next morning but completely worth it.

Thanks Bowen's for a fun getaway.  What are we gonna do next?