August - September

- We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!

*Sorry, this is the most recent picture of both Dan and I together. It's from this past summer in Oregon*

-Mckenzie and Abby's new word is "TOTALLY". Example: Abby said, "Chocolate is TOTALLY my favorite candy!"

-Red Sox game - Every time we go to a Sox game, they loose... REALLY BADLY... So, I figured I was their "bad luck charm". This year, the Red Sox were having an AWESOME year and we were able to go to a Red Sox vs. Yankees game! It was so much fun AND the highlight of the night was that they won... BIG TIME! However, I must still be their "bad luck charm" because after that game, the Sox went downhill... FAST! They went from win after to win to loss after loss after loss. I really shouldn't go to anymore baseball games. Oh well, it was a lot of fun!

-"Hurrincane Irene" became a "tropical storm" right before it hit us. There was a good amount of damage, but we were completely safe and never lost power. A lot of our friends weren't so lucky, including the elementary school which caused a delay in the start of the school year.

-Mckenzie started kindergarten and she LOVES it!!!

Mckenzie's first day of school was lot's of fun! She wore her new clothes and her new purple flowered headband! It was so fun to see her excitement as she got ready for school and walked to the bus stop. She gave us all hugs and off she went! It made my heart melt when she looked through the bus window and waved good-bye and signed "I LOVE YOU". She may only be 5 years old, but she's growing up! As for Abby, she had no idea what to do without her big sister. She was so sad and cried "Mckenzie's never ever coming back!!!". She was so sad, but once she realized that she had mom's full attention (Katie takes naps in the mornings) and when she realized that Mckenzie indeed would come back, she quickly became used to it all. As for me, it was a tender moment and I couldn't help but reminisce about times like when we found out we were pregnant, finding out she was a GIRL (now that's a funny story), going through the pregnancy with preclampsia (don't wish that upon anyone), having an emergency c-section, her being in the hospital learning to breathe and eat, learning of her fascination with music (I'm so glad we learned that early or we would've had even worse nights), refusing to go to anyone but her momma :D, learning that while driving to help calm her down, you do NOT stop at stop signs or she will cry!!!, watching her roll over, crawl, stand up, walk, get into EVERYTHING, learning to talk, learning her ABC's and numbers, making friends, melting hearts, dancing, singing, reading, soccer, swimming and so much more. Mckenzie is such a sweet blessing to our lives and it's awesome to watch her grow and learn!

-Katie becomes a walker!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

-Mckenzie cracks us up with how she talks in her sleep.



Mckenzie and Abby are pretty good about going to bed. However, there are some nights where they stay up late talking and giggling. This is how I found them one night. They must have crashed while laughing.

-Abby decided that she doesn't like her name and insists that she should be called "Mckenzie".

-Jessica has officially folded 1,590 American flags! Does that make her a professional flag folder? If not, what constitutes becoming one?

-While cleaning out the girls' toy boxes, Jessica discovered a HUGE swarm of fruit flies and under some toys, she found a bag of VERY old, soggy, rotten carrots covered in more fruit flies. Upon cleaning out the toys and box, Jessica learned that fruit fly eggs are STICKY! At least our kids sneak veggies to eat rather than cookies and candy, right???

-Mckenzie came home from school showing me the sign for needing to go to the bathroom. It's a RUSSIAN FIG!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Dan's Triathlon

Dan has worked with the Young Men in our church all but about 3 months we've lived on the east coast and really enjoys it, especially since he's able to all the things that boys/men like to do. Last year, he put on a young men vs. old men sporting competition for our ward. They played basketball, soccer and then finished up with a triathlon. It was such a huge success last year, that they did it again! This year, they played ultimate frisbee, softball and then the triathlon. Dan's goal last year was to at least finish the race, and he did! THIS year, he didn't want to come in last. He trained Monday-Friday. He'd leave home just before 6 AM to train! Now, if you know Dan at all, you know that he is NOT a morning person, let alone doesn't like exercise. So, this took a lot of effort on his part. His effort paid off! For the swim part of the triathlon, he cut off 4 minutes from his training times AND for his overall finishing time, he shaved off 30 MINUTES!!! HE DID AWESOME! I'm so proud of him for his diligence! His next goal is the "Tough Mudder" that will be held in Vermont May 2012! Google it. It's a pretty crazy race!

A Dehydrating Maniac!

Saturday-Wednesday Dan was dehydrating all kinds of things in preparation for the Young Men's 30 mile, 3 day hike in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. He bought 15 lbs. of meat to turn into jerky, pineapples, strawberries, blueberries, apricots, etc. He was so diligent. He had 3 dehydraters going almost non-stop for 4 days. Lot's of late nights! I love the way the fruit smelled, not so much the jerky.

Legos

I love that Legos can occupy children for long periods of time!

Washable Paints

Mckenzie got a huge artist set for Christmas from her Grandma and Grandpa Bastian. It included washable paints, an eisle, tons of super nice paint brushes, jumbo ink pads (washable too) and lot's of paper! The girls absolutely love it and I LOVE it because it keeps them entertained for hours AND I've learned that when this company says "washable" they mean washable!!! (I'll post some pictures of their paintings later)