Busy

Hattie just asked me if I knew how to post stuff onto this blog. It's our homescreen on our web browser and she is tired of seeing "C-section Soap Box" for the last 11 months. Understandably so. Sadly with homeschooling, certain things get neglected...laundry, clean house, this blog. At least on not neglecting my kids, right? So in order to change things up, here's some pictures from the last 7 months. (and Len, I have partially started this up again for you :)

Anders has been our sweetest, easiest baby

Niels is generally smiley and loves to make us happy

He likes to snuggle in my bed

Laura and her kids came to visit last summer

And we had to stop at the zoo train

4th of July (with friend Savannah)

Northern California coast for a Dame reunion

Loved the sand (with cousin Sophie)

The boys and I hung out while Paul took the girls kayaking

I think this was Anna's fourth birthday to be celebrated at Grandma Dame's house...and she is only 5. She associates her birthday with cousins at Grandma's house

Fun with sisters...minus Laura

While on a trip to the Oregon coast, Paul hiked Mt. Saint Helens...

While I took a day hike with the kids

Rose gardens in Portland

Awesome Iverson reunion t-shirts

Paul did another Tough Mudder

And I did a lot of homeschooling

He's become obsessed with trains...anything with an engine actually

Hattie turned 7

Anders just got cuter

Anna lost her first tooth

We visited beautiful Door County in Wisconsin...gotta go back again

And our Lego Movie Halloween

Believe it our not, this was actually part of a history lesson...yes, homeschooling is great :)

The first snow of a very snowy winter

Family pictures!!!

Entertaining Anders while we try to do school

And a very cold, fun Packers game in December

With any luck, I'll post again soon...knock on wood. 

Recap: November

Somehow, with all of December's busyness, November was forgotten. Here are some highlights:

Niels has mastered the art of his baby walker (which we got for free at a rummage). He cruises all around the house and loves his freedom - and chasing his sisters. After his first tumble down the stairs (!) we quickly installed a gate and he is now relatively safe...unless one of his sisters forgets to lock the gate. 

One of autumn's greatest pleasures...jumping in leaves. Especially since we can't throw them in the garbage bin here, the only purpose of raking them is to jump in them.

Thanksgiving with the Elder Beech, Elder Harmon, and Paul's parents and brother. It was wonderful just being at home and not travelling.

The kids opened Christmas presents from Paul's sister Erika right after Thanksgiving...Christmas pajamas and a bunch of Christmas book! A great way to start off the season.

 And Erika included some $1 post-Halloween costumes...dress-up is always a favorite at our house.

And my chubby little Niels. He is growing so fast. He is crawling everywhere and wants to grab everything. He knows exactly how to turn on the iPad and I think he truly understands the sign for "all done" at dinner time. I can't believe his birthday is next month already!

Our recent adventures: San Antonio

I can't think of a time in our marriage that we have been more busy. Since I view this blog as a journal of sorts, I always try and make sure that I catch up when I get way behind. So hopefully over the next few days I can bring our family up to the present day.

Paul finished his last day of medical school on April 20th. That gave us 8 weeks of vacation before he starts his job June 18. So we began traveling. First, we drove five hours over to Dallas, left the girls with Paul's parents, and, accompanied by Niels, we flew to Milwaukee to find a place to live. We were there about 4 days and we loved it. It was rainy, overcast, and chilly the entire time, something that we rarely experience in Texas. We are very excited to move up there - snow and all. Gratefully we found a place to live so the trip was a success. Somehow no pictures were taken...I guess without the girls I don't seem to see as many Kodak moments.

We returned to our girls in Dallas and spent a few days there with Paul's family. Then we drove south to San Antonio. I have always wanted to go, and since we are leaving Texas for the foreseeable future, I made sure we included it in our travel plans. We were a little nervous about all the driving for Niels...he hasn't been the easiest baby, but gratefully, he did pretty well. We started our adventures by going to some caverns just outside of San Antonio.

Then we made our way to Mission San Jose. It was remarkably hot and humid...Lubbock is NOT at all humid, so we were a little unprepared. We loved wandering around and imagining what life must have been like for those living in the Spanish missions. But by the time we were done, the girls were just asking for water, not really caring about what we were seeing or doing.

And of course, the Alamo! With the kids, we didn't stay long and read every plaque, but it was neat to be there and experience some Texas history. At the Alamo, we met up with my childhood/high school/college friend, Jenny Walk Transtrum, who drove over from Houston with her family to hang out before we left Texas forever. Somehow I didn't get any picture with her! My one regret.

We went to Sea World the next day with the Transtrums. We had a wonderful time the first 3 hours, until Niels had a meltdown so Paul, in his frustration, took him to the car where he spent the next 3 hours. It was easier on me and the girls, but we were sad that Paul had to miss the afternoon time at the park.

Again, not a lot of pictures, partially because we were so busy trying to see everything that pictures were an afterthought. But we enjoyed the dolphins (above), lots of aquariums, and especially the orca show and the sea lion show.

Next we visited the Mercado, a Spanish market that pops up once a month. And since it was Cinco de Mayo, we thought it appropriate.

And to top it off, my mission friend Miranda Perry Livingston also drove over from Houston with her family (I have wonderful friends, eh?). We had lunch at Chunky Burgers, where Paul attempted the Four Horseman burger. He's going to blog on that later.

All told, it was a great road trip. Definitely some cranky kids due to numerous napless days, but they were pretty resilient and good troopers as we tried to squeeze as many activities in as possible.