Brothers-in-law Summit Mt. St. Helens

September 29th, 2012:  Kirk and Tom hiked to the very top of Mount Saint Helens early (very early) this morning.  This picture was taken from the very lip of the crater (elev. 8365').  The hike was great - beautiful 1 hour below the tree line then 3 hours straight up, over boulders and scree.  The only downside was the crater was filled with clouds.  So here it is!  Adventure of the day!

It was very windy at the top.  Tom lost a hat into the crater!

Little Personalities

Since we live so far away from everyone here's a glimpse of what the girls are like these days. Mostly  I just needed to capture it because Elise is growing up so fast. Nathan made the girls root beer floats for the first time this weekend. I was just trying to catch Elise's smile, but she was squinting too fast... Then as a bonus you can see her "surprised face" which she makes at every opportunity it seems.

Now for some other snapshots of life recently. Making room in the garden for a little campfire to roast marshmallows. The big girls also got to go backyard camping with Dad. Claire's suggestion the next day was that we should try "frontyard" camping next. You know, for the change in scenery. 

We do have blocks at our house, but macaroni boxes make houses just the right size for ponies and beanie babies. They played with these boxes for hours over the course of 2 days, no joke. Then after I squished a few boxes by stepping on them I put them in the cupboard to save for another day. Wouldn't want the novelty to wear off on this toy. 

First Day - Thiel Edition

Today was our "official" first day of school. Can you sense the excitement? 

Claire is 5 1/2 and in Kindergarten. Daryn is 4 and in Pre-K. Elise is not-quite-two and along for the ride. This year we are doing school work at home. We've been practicing intermittently all summer and this first day went really well.

(Claire really isn't that much taller than Daryn, she's on her tip toes. They often get mistaken as twins.)

And I guess a big help is going to be our newest family addition: 

 

Some may say it's about time for us to get a bigger car... and yeah, it pretty much is with baby on the way. With just 3 carseats in the back our Sentra was about to burst at the seams, but what a trooper. 

New School Year

Hello Family!  

 Thank you for your extra prayers and good-luck wishes as we go through the big day of our IVF cycle tomorrow.  I'll be home after 3pm and then on bedrest for a while, so I'm sure I'll be available on the phone!  Cross your fingers.

On the more "normal" side of things, it's time for school over here!  Our goal for Labor Day was to have a "Family Adventure".  So Tom found a great, challenging day hike to do, and off we went.  The destination for the loop trail was Ramona Falls - a beautiful surprise at the peak of our climb.  Here are photos of us at the base of Mount Hood.

Here is J's first day of second grade photo from this morning.  He reports that he had a good time and had "more good things than bad things".  He likes his teacher (fabulous lady who has been teaching challenge for over 15 years!), likes his classmates (though he admits he thinks making friends isn't the easiest thing to do on your own), likes the reading nook, liked 3rd recess, and like his lunchbox items.  He especially likes that we are carpooling instead of riding a bus (he changed schools this year and we have a 5x longer drive -- haha, that sounds like a lot, but it was from 3 minutes to 15 minutes).  I'm grateful for an amazing carpool group we have of kids in our neighborhood who are going to the same school.  I'll only have to drive 2-3 mornings a WEEK.  (Only mornings!!!)  What a blessing so I can be home to teach my 3:30 students without stressing.  

Here he is (behind the kid with the yellow backpack) going into his classroom for the first "official" time. 

 Look how attentive he is!  Keep it up, little guy!