Oh where, oh where has my little blog gone?

I've been a little...absent from blogging for the last couple of months.  It's been crazy busy for our family!

Here goes the summer (minus birthdays 'cause I already blogged about those).

Grandpa Coach visited for Father's Day.  This was the first Father's Day I spent with him in I can't even begin to remember how long.   He was so impressed (?) by the amount of snow left (in fact, it snowed on Father's Day) that we had to snap this picture after our Father's Day brunch at Snowbird Ski Resort:

While Grandpa was here, we also took in a Salt Lake City Real soccer game.  It was actually a ton of fun.  Adam especially loved passing the Real banner overhead.

 

Adam also really enjoyed being schooled at Chess by his Grandpa.

Frankie (very bravely) read a poem that she wrote from the perspective as a child who has been abused at a Safety Fair/BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) anti-abuse rally.

Adam enjoyed the bouncy slide at the aforementioned safety fair (remember, I said SAFETY fair):

That is to say, he enjoyed it right up to the moment he landed on his foot, sprained it badly, and had to be carried to the car. 

The kids had a blast chasing down candy at our local Fort Herriman Days parade.  (They throw it from floats as they pass by).  Nothing like encouraging your kids to play in traffic ;-)

Not too shabby for a little local parade!

We spent some quality time at the library, and in our backyard.                              

Note the awesome swing set in the background:  It was a birthday gift to Thomas and Adam funded by the grandparents and built with the help of friends.  Lucky boys!

And, while on a family hike, we tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to take ONE good picture of all the kids together, looking at the camera.  Instead, we got:

Eyes closed (Thomas)

Awkward expression Adam

Silly monkey Max, Adam eyes closed, Frankie fake smile, and Thomas turned around

And, finally, "It's good enough.  Let's go.  I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes."

And so we move on to Fall:

I've been pursing my new business (purchasing precious metals - gold, silver, platinum).  Check out  my website! PGR - Platinum and Gold Refiners  My purchasing prices are phenomenal, so if you have any scrap precious metal to sell, please drop me a line!

So here's a little taste of what we've been up to in September and October:

Adam went back to public school.  And sadly, I cannot find the photo of his first day of school anywhere!  He is so happy to be back in "regular" school.  He misses spending time at home, but, he really relishes the opportunity to make friends and have social experiences.  Since I couldn't find the first day of school picture,  here's a picture of Adam (and Thomas) from earlier this summer.

Our enormous Thomas (seriously, the kid is as tall and big as a five year-old) started preschool and had his first field trip.  This little jaunt was to our local fire station.  I thought Thomas would be enthralled by the big red trucks and the noisy siren.  (Heaven knows he's the loudest member of our family).  Not so much.  Our big, giant, (not so) brave boy cried the whole time and wouldn't release his death grip on his teacher's arm.  Of course, for the week following, all he could talk about was "I go fire station wif Miss Jenny." 

Frankie went to homecoming and had a mystery dinner.  This was not a murder-mystery dinner.  This was a dinner for which we provided an encoded menu.  The kids (excuse me, teenagers) had no idea what they were ordering for each course.  They also had no idea what kind of plate or utensils or cups they were getting.  The girls unwittingly ordered their drinks in plastic sippy cups and got their dessert first.  The boys found themselves eating mashed potatoes with giant serving spoons.  Most of them got their salad dressing with their second course, and their salads as their dessert course.  They weren't allowed to hold any items from course to course.  They all seemed to enjoy it.

 

Max (aka Sven) and his betrothed (Gwen) played a lovely duet for us.

 Thomas and Max played in the pumpkin patch. 

 And Max explored...

 

  

...while Thomas emphatically refused to abandon the tractor.  

Tomorrow, we're heading to the pumpkin patch as a family and we'll carve our pumpkins as well.
We're heading into the busiest season of the year.  We told the kids their holiday wish lists had to be full and complete before Halloween, and they are. All I can say is thank heaven for Amazon!  So nice to have presents arrive and be stored in a secure brown box!


I have a fun Thomas story to share, so watch for it soon.