School Days are here again!

(Jace and Dallon eating lunch in the cafeteria.)

So school is here again! Its a big relief for me since I've been a single parent for most of the summer. It will be nice to have some time to get my house unpacked and in order without all of the little people running around :)

(Dallon writing his name)

Dallon started school on Aug 31st at Powder Valley School in North Powder. We stayed in a motel down the street from the school for the first 2 weeks before we moved into our house. Dallon's Kindergarten teacher is AMAZING! He goes to school from 8-1:30 Mon-Thur. On the first day of school, the special ed teacher found me and told me she had looked at Dallon's file and felt that he would benefit from a 1 on 1 aid, so they were going to hire one for him! What a change from where we were! Powder Valley changed from a public school to a charter school, and they are doing really well. It is K-12 and there are only about 15 kids per class (last years graduating class was only 12).

Jace also started school. He is going to the Early Intervention classroom in Baker City. Its about 18 miles from our house to school, and thankfully they made arrangements for him to ride the bus from our house. He attends Tues-Thur from 9-11:30. His teachers say he is doing great. I'm hoping his speech will catch up this year, and next year I can put him in a regular preschool.

(Conner wondering why we're just lingering in Jace's classroom)

Jace doesn't seem to like his picture taken lately, but his expressions are great anyway!

Country Road, Take Me Home...

So this is the place we will be living in when we move. It is a rental (none of our attempts to buy worked out, which has actually turned out to be a good thing). Our move-in date is set for Sept 15th. The house has a Haines address, on the way toward Anthony Lake Ski Resort. Its 4 beds and 2 baths and sits on about 2 acres. Just above the property is a Fish & Wildlife elk/deer feeding ground.

The views are BEAUTIFUL!! The utilities are dirt cheap, and the price is great (only $800/mo)!

It has a recently updated kitchen and bathrooms, and practically new carpet. I am stoked! We'll have lots of room, and we can easily afford it while we save and look for something to buy (if we ever want to after living this cheap!).
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Dallon starts school on Monday (Aug 31st) and Jace starts pre-school on Sept 8th. Its a little complicated with us not in our house yet. We'll be staying in the hotel with Chris for the first couple of weeks of school, and we'll be home in Hermiston on the weekends (school is only mon-thur so we'll have long weekends). I'm getting very anxious to get moved and settled. With both Dallon and Jace gone to school, Conner and I won't know what to do with ourselves in all that silence (I'm sure it will be enjoyed at least for the first few weeks).
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Remember, visitors are always welcome, and there's plenty to do year-round!

THE BABY IS NOT A TOY!

Dallon LOVES baby Conner, but unfortunately he also thinks that he's more like a toy than a real person. These picts were both from today. Dallon thought Conner might look good with Transformer stickers on his arms (which is apparently where transformers prefer to have their Autobot or Decepticon emblems). He also thought that sunglasses were the perfect accessory. Conner is a trooper, and actually seems like he enjoys the attention--even if its a little rough sometimes. I guess as long as he doesn't try anything with something especially dangerous (like knives or swimming pools) I think Conner should be OK.

We had a great time at McNary beach today, I wish I would have remembered my camera! We'll have to go again, the boys were covered in sand and were loving the cool river water. I was a little anxious trying not to take my eyes off of them, so even if I had the camera, I might not have used it...Oh well, next time we'll bring Daddy.

As Summer comes to an end...

...I wanted to post a few more pictures of our trip to Portland and mention some of the other activities we've been up to lately.

This is a picture of Jace and Bianca in the back of the Yukon on our way to Portland. Jace, of course, is CONSTANTLY picking at his face (especially his nose). Thankfully, his little nose is finally almost healed. He has a huge scar starting on the bridge of his nose between his eyes and goes all the way down to the very tip of his nose. Now he only has a small scab left and it seems to be healing--and he isn't picking as agressively at it now.

Dallon is not impressed with having his picture taken these days, but I caught him with his guard down (distracted by the movie playing).

Chris is also not enthusiastic about having his picture taken.

Conner in his favorite position--upright and almost free of any assistance! This can't be good. But darn it, he sure is adorable.

Yes, I bought him this shirt.

Dallon playing with Grandma and Grandpa's "old school" little people toys. They still have lots of their kids' old toys, and the kids love them!

Hello?

After Chris and I left for the reception (and after a lesson or two on service dog handling) Grandma and Grandpa took the boys to the park.

They actually stopped at a couple of parks, and then they saw a blow-up Spider Man bounce house set up for a birthday party. The birthday girl invited them to play, and they were worned completely down and ready to relax when they got back to the house.

On our way home the next day, we stopped at Chris' Grandma Dottie and Grandpa Bill's house. This is the first chance they've had to meet Conner, and he was in good form with the smiling and cooing and all the charm that goes with it.

Dallon and Jace watering the plants and themselves and anything else (like filling the bird bath to overflowing).

Dallon was "angry" and I decided to join him. He has been struggling to get out of his "angry" attitude lately, but we try to make the best of it.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying great-grandson #7.

Grandpa with great-grandson #1--giving hugs good-bye.

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We headed home shortly afterward, but had a good day or so visiting in Portland.

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Since then, we have gone to a "free movie" in Washington (it was Monsters vs Aliens--and it was much better than I expected). We went with some friends, and the boys had a great time (except for the tantrum that Jace threw in the lobby on our way out). We also went to the Umatilla County Fair last week. We looked at the animals, had some cotton candy, rode a few rides (which surprisingly Jace didn't like) and headed home. Jace got stung by a bee (probably because of the sticky cotton candy on his hands) and he was ready to head out when we left. I think Dallon would have stayed for hours.

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This week we are going to a birthday party at the beach by the river, and I think we might head up to another free movie on Thursday. Chris is in Caldwell for work, and will be home on Friday this week, YAY!

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Next week is the last week before school starts! I can't believe how fast this summer went. It was rough, and I was mostly a single-parent, but we made it! We'll be moved into our place in Baker soon, and I won't know what to do with myself all day. Dallon will be at school from 8-1:30 M-Th, and Jace will have school 3 days a week, too. Round-up is coming up, and Dallon is going to 'perform' in the Children's Rodeo--it should be great fun!

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We'll that's it so far...I'll be better about posting when we're all moved and I finally have some quiet time (at least until Conner is crawling!).

Happy 10th Anniversary!!!

It is amazing to me that we have already been married for 10 years, it does not seem that long ago. I was trying the other day to remember what it was like before I had Chris around--and I truly could not remember. We've been together 12 of our 30 years of life, so I guess that could explain it. I look around and see other relationships that seem like so much work, and am so thankful that ours has been relatively easy (not that life has been that easy, but staying close to each other has not been much of a challenge at all).

I'm sure the next 10 years will go by with surprising speed, and we'll find ourselves looking back on 10 more years of life that will have challenged us--but I'm sure we will still be just as close if not closer by then. Happy Anniversary Chris! I love you and need you more everyday, and I could not have asked for a better companion to share this life and on into eternity.

I didn't get much of a chance on our anniversary to post much, but I did get the little tribute to my marriage up just before midnight on our anniversary. Now I want to add a little more and let you all know what we did to commemorate it. The weekend before the big day (which fell on a Wednesday) we went to the Portland area. My cousin Rachel was having a reception that weekend--and since I had 3 cousins and my sister getting married this summer, I was glad I got a chance to get to at least one of my cousins' receptions! We dropped off the kids in Forest Grove with Grandma and Grandpa, then headed south to Woodburn.

(Conner, Rachel, and me at the reception)

(Conner and Daddy at the reception)

After the reception (which was lovely! Rachel looked so beautiful and very happy) we headed to Lake Oswego to have a fancy dinner and to drop by the Portland Temple. We were too late to visit inside the gates, but this temple is so beautiful--and it has a lot of significance for us. We visited this temple nearly once and month together with our small singles branch before we got married.

On Wednesday, Chris came home from Baker a couple of days early, and we just spent the night together eating take out and watching a movie. We've been so very blessed over the years, and we have so much to be thankful for today.