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OWEN and BENNETT  HAVE THEIR VERY OWN BLOGS!  Check them out!

Infamous Incident

Everyone looks so happy in the above photo taken at Lagoon-a-Beach... You would never know that Jason had just...

RIPPED A MASSIVE HOLE IN HIS SWIM TRUNKS! Yikes!

That's right. Disaster struck last Friday evening at the very crowded Lagoon-a-Beach when Jason went down a slide with Jake and landed on his rear-end very hard. "That really hurt," he thought, but had no idea that he had literally shredded his trousers in the landing. He proceeded to wander through the water park, bending over to push the boys on the swings, paying little attention to the strange looks he was getting from the woman on a bench behind him. It wasn't until he himself tried to sit on one of the swings that Bennett saw the damage to his trunks and shouted, "Dad! You have a hole in your shorts!" Sure enough, when he reached behind to check, he felt... skin. So Jason, mortified and visibly shaken, had to clutch the torn fabric in his hands as he wound his way through the crowds over to the shady area at the back of the park where I was hanging out with Finn. I thought he had perhaps had some sort of accident by the way he was holding his backside and walking really slowly, and from the shocked look on his face. I COULD NOT get control of my laughter as he was telling me the story. I am laughing out loud as I type it right now. And no, I did not ask permission to share his new most embarrassing moment. But he can laugh too, so he's a better sport than I am. If it had happened to ME, I would be in hiding. Or therapy. Along with all those who had witnessed the event!!

Ch ch ch ch changes...

Don't you love the first morning you wake up at the end of summer and realize you don't want to get out of bed because it's just a little bit chilly out? Mmmmmm. Love it. The weather has cooled down to perfection, and not a moment too soon. Dad and I were moving some items into my brother's Lee's new apartment last Saturday near USU campus. Dad mentioned that he loves finally feeling that cooler breeze that means fall is just around the corner, and suddenly I felt it too! Autumn is fast approaching. Break out the sweaters!

This time of year also brings a mom's mixed emotions of sending child off to school. Having Bennett in first grade means he is gone from 8-2:30 every day. It's so exciting, but also so hard for me. He loves his teacher and is having fun with new and old friends. It's just me worrying.

My favorite thing right now is to lay by him at night when he is sleepy and more willing to talk about his day. I love hearing about all the intricacies of life in the first grade; some of it is hilarious, and some of it is heartbreaking. Like the little girl, Jocelyn, in his class who speaks no English, has no friends and sits alone at recess! We talked about some ways that he could make her feel welcome even if they speak different languages. He wondered out loud what it would be like to be in a classroom where you don't understand what anyone is saying, and you don't have a friend. Bennett noticed me crying as we talked about her, and I surely didn't need to explain why. He is anxious to try smiling and saying hello to her at school tomorrow. I am interested to hear more about Jocelyn and see how her year goes. I hope she'll make some little friends SOON! Bennett will keep me posted, and I'm excited to meet her when I start volunteering in their class next week. So see... there's a lot more than academics being learned in first grade. I am glad for Bennett's sensitivity, and also his extreme brilliance. :)

ALSO happening at Bennett's school is... drumroll please... a new art program! That's right! The excellent new principal has set aside a short period of time each week for art. All children will get art every week this year! This is huge! The best part for me is that I have been able to take part in planning the new program. It has been so fun, and I am happy to have a background in art education so I can be useful. Bennett had his first art class today, and really liked it. He was surprised when he found out that I had planned his art project. Cool!

Big Boy

Finn turned 3 months last week! I can't believe it. He is so cute and sweet unless we are at a restaurant, family party, or other gathering where we need him to behave. :) During his happy moments he has the greatest giggles ever!

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Grandma Katherine, a.k.a. "Damma Taffawin" is every kid's favorite person. We were able to have a b-day dinner with some of the kids on Monday night. It was very nice, and Bennett and Owen could hardly wait to give her their gifts. Both of them came from their very special collections. Bennett's choice: a tiny crystal from a geode he got at Dino Camp. Owen's choice: a bottlecap from his bottlecap collection. Precious gifts for our very wonderful Grandma/ Mom. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Glory Be

Look at all the amazing stuff in my backyard. I didn't plant a single one of these sunflowers. They are wild fellas, and leftovers from last year, and I love them! I can't believe all the varieties there are! Also, here is a plant I highly recommend: Grandpa Ott's Heirloom Morning Glory. It is stunning and grows like mad. It is growing up the trellises in the garden where I had Black-Eyed Susan Vine last year, which I also loved.

Oregon Coast 2008

We stayed in Portland with Jason's fabulous sister, Elizabeth, in her incredible house. The boys had the best time in her backyard the next morning, cutting down bamboo from her bamboo grove (I'm serious) to make the coolest fort ever. They will never be satisfied with my low-tech blanket forts again. Thank you, Elizabeth and Kent! We also stopped by the Portland Saturday Market, where we were quite the spectacle with four children and a bike.

We were so excited to arrive in Newport, where temps ranged from 60-70 degrees. We were happy to leave the high nineties at home for a little sweater weather. The ocean in Oregon is cold, but the kids obviously didn't care. Our beach house was a tiny little walk through the trees to the water. It was gorgeous!

We went on a whale-watching adventure one day, which was incredible. We actually saw a whale! It was my first up-close whale experience (okay, except for Sea World), and it was amazing to be that close to one. I do have photos, but they are the worst photos ever. My camera didn't seem to want to cooperate, so you'll just have to trust that we really saw one.

What trip to Newport would be complete without a trip to Mo's?
Well, Owen didn't seem very impressed.

Jason went surfing on the only cold, rainy day of our trip. What a trooper. He took a lesson to improve his sweet skills. The only problem I can see for his career as a pro surfer is that he got seasick while practicing rolling under the waves in the surf. Uh-oh.
Andy, Lee, Cami, and Tyler went out on a crab boat one day and brought home a gigantic load of crab. I don't know what became of all that crab-meat...

We cooked hot dogs on the beach on the night of this amazing sunset. See if you can find the photo of Andy savoring the splendid scenery.

Note: Seaweed makes excellent Indiana Jones whips!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the most wonderful week! We loved it all!

More fun with friends...

Julie and Brittney invited us to come along for a ramble along the river this morning. It was beautiful, and so fun to be with the ladies.  Brittney is waiting to have a baby girl any second now, and looks so beautiful.  When we first arrived, Bennett claimed that he saw a snake, and brought everyone over to see.  It had disappeared, but he stuck to his story. Was it just a stick??  Of course I was skeptical until we saw another snake near the railroad tracks!!  Julie was NOT excited about it.  Well, she was excited, but not in a positive way.  :)  Just a friendly little water snake, but creepy all the same!  Jake was imitating our slithery little friend when we got home, wriggling across the wood floors. 

Summer Sampler

We're baaaaack!

We're back from a wonderful, beautiful family vacation in the lovely Northwest. We were able to spend a week on the Oregon coast with my family, and then headed up to Bellingham for the 2008 Lambert Family Reunion. Every single day was amazing!

Jason has the Oregon photos on his computer, so those will go up later. But here are some from the Washington end of the trip. The reunion had a superhero theme this year, which the kids loved especially. We enjoyed the traditional talent show at Linda and Amory's and the carnival at Grammy Deb's. The boys couldn't get enough swimming in gorgeous Lake Whatcom, and non-stop playing with the cousins. They were so happy. I loved visiting with Jason's family and introducing them to baby Finn for the first time.

Jason and I spent some time in Fairhaven Village checking out the new boardwalk out over the bay, and made our traditional pilgrimage to Village Books and the Colophon Cafe for the biggest piece of chocolate cake you've ever seen. By the way, guess what book I bought at Village Books??? Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn of course. I read it on the way home, which was a great way to cope with the looooong ride and crying children. It was nice to get sucked into another one of those darn books, but it was a long, lonely ride home for Jason since I barely said 2 words the whole way. I also did some more serious reading on the trip to balance it out. :)