Luke's Birthday

Better late than never! Here are pictures from Luke's birthday.

Slept in LATE and then had Luke's choice for breakfast: Chocolate chip pancakes and bacon! 7 years old and we still need to work on holding a fork.

This boy makes me smile.

Got ready for the beach and then went to Luke's choice for lunch on the way out of town: Chevy's

Opened presents while we waited for our food. Star Wars Legos of course!

The very second we stepped outside, Kate lost her balloon. We watched it until we couldn't see it anymore. Kate was a little distraught.

Trying to get a group shot outside the restaurant. Kate was still worried about her balloon.

Luke gave Kate his balloon and she entertained herself with it the whole way.

Luke wanted a pirate ice cream cake this year.

And then before we went to bed, we watched this over and over again and laughed. I love how Luke taunts Allie.

It was a perfect day of celebrating Luke.

Labor Day

Trying to play catch up on the blog. On Labor Day, we slept in and then went to a church picnic. Then we went to the very last Portland Beavers Game-ever. (PGE park is making way for Portland's MLS team) It was kind of sad to see baseball leave Portland. The game was great--homeruns, double plays, and of course the home team won. After the game we decided it was too late to cook dinner, so we stopped by New Seasons and had dinner. It was a perfect ending to summer.

Homerun Happiness

I love Michael's guts to wear a soccer jersey to the last game of a baseball teamed being evicted by a soccer team.

Luke's tongue is always poking out where his teeth used to be.

Luke's Primary Talk

Luke was asked to give a talk in Primary today. (That's the class for all of the children at church) Here's the talk that he wrote (with a little bit of prompting). He did a great job!

Jesus said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew 21: 22

This scripture means that you should believe that Heavenly Father will answer your prayers. He wants to answer our prayers because he loves us.

Just a few weeks ago, Heavenly Father answered my prayers. We went to the beach for my birthday. And then when we left, there was a big hill. And I fell and lost Hoppy, my Littlest Pet Shop Frog. And then I prayed and my mom went down to the beach again and she found Hoppy. Heavenly Father heard my prayer and he blessed me. He helped my mom find Hoppy. He had the Spirit tell her to look on the beach. He answered my prayer. And I know my Savior loves me, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Yes, we know that Littlest Pet Shops are girl toys, but Luke is man enough to pull it off.

***Here's a little more of what happened. As we were walking up the sandy hill, Luke fell and noticed that Hoppy was gone. He was in tears and we suggested he say a prayer. I thought he would just say a little prayer in his head, but he went down to his knees right there on the beach. It was humbling to see the way he was praying. He was definitely talking to Heavenly Father and asking him for help. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father hears our prayers--and cares enough to answer even the little ones.

First Day of School

Summer is officially over. It was dark and rainy when we woke up. When I woke Luke up, he said, "Could you please leave for minute so I can close my eyes". After enduring the traditional pictures, the kids settled into their new classes well. Allie keeps saying that she is excited about 4th grade because that means she's almost in 5th grade. Luke is just worried that he might have too many friends! Should be a great year.

Allie was gracious enough to give me a smile before she ignored me.

Luke said "What? I have to do work already?"

Kate is happy for the quiet. She is busy potty training herself. I had mentioned potty training her when school started. Evidently she doesn't want to waste any time because she has spent most of the morning in the bathroom.

It's Like Wearing Binoculars All the Time

In the spring, we realized that Allie would need glasses when we took her to the eye dr. Her eyesight isn't too bad so she was able to last the summer without them. With school starting it seemed like the ideal time to get them so last week we picked some out. This weekend Allie got to wear them for the first time. She has enjoyed being able to see long distances again. She says it's like wearing binoculars all the time. I would have to agree.