Winston's Fall

One of Phillip's friends wanted to help Winston off the trampoline...but of course he couldn't hold my heavy baby and Winston fell on his face...Ouch.
But Winston still loves the trampoline.



Einer von Phillips Freunden wollte Winston vom Trampolin runter helfen...aber natürlich konnte er mein schweres Baby nicht halten, und Winston fiel auf sein Gesicht...Aua.
Aber Winston liebt das Trampolin trotzdem.

July Camping, Continued

I guess, I got so carried away about the sleeping thing that I never told you about the actual camping/boating experience. So, after sweeping Talitha off the table sleeping position and into the car, we were on our way. We met Bob and the rest of the boys at the lake. They had already been on the lake (Yale Lake, near Mount St. Helens) fishing. We joined them for a while until we all had to go and set up the tent. Then we had dinner--well, the adults had dinner, the kids were too excited to really eat--and the obligatory roasted marshmallows and s'mores. The kids slept well, once they settled down enough to fall asleep, and I found out that I don't do so well on a thin pad on the floor anymore. Aparently I'm getting old. The next morning Earl, Ethan and Tyson (whom I forgot to mention, sorry, Earl's youngest son was there too) had to leave. But we were joined by Spencer's brother Adam and their sister Jill. And it's good that Jill was there with her camera, because I had no chance to take any pictures, what with all the awesome wakeboarding I did...OK so I never really got up...this time anyway. Spencer's the good one. All in all we had fun, although we only caught 2 fish (1 had to be thrown back) and the water was really rather on the cold side. Oh, and we saw 2 bald eagles. How cool is that?!

Me, trying to get up.
Bob
Spencer
Adam and Wade
Phillip

Talitha
Bald eagle





Thanks for the pictures, Jill, and sorry I don't have any of Earl, Ethan and Tyson.

July Camping

My father-in-law, grandpa, or Bob, likes to take his grandsons fishing. So he scheduled a Friday/Saturday fishing/boating trip with a one night stay at a campground (July 18 &19) for Spencer, Phillip, Earl (Spencer’s brother) and son Ethan, and Wade (another cousin). Spencer’s other brother, Adam (Wade’s dad), was scheduled to join the group on Saturday morning. Phillip was very excited.
Well, if you know me at all, that whole guy thing, girl thing just doesn’t sit well with me. It’s not that I think that guys shouldn’t have any fun on their own or that I have to do everything they do; but I do enjoy a lot of things that aren’t typically associated with girls. And I have noticed that the boys get to do things more often than the girls in this family. However, I know that this is not intentional. Bob likes to do outdoor stuff and girls usually don’t.
So, I may have said something to Spencer, ok, ok, I did definitely say something (don’t remember what) and my voice was heard…Therefore Maike plus daughter Talitha were also invited, as long as we didn’t mind sleeping in a big tent with a bunch of boys. On a side note, Winston was invited, but grandma and mommy agreed that it would be better for all of us to not bring a rather active, curious, mommy-attached, yet independent and loud 19-month-old. He stayed home with grandma.
Now Talitha got really excited, too. Bob left Friday morning with Phillip and Wade, Earl and Ethan. Spencer had to get some work done, so we wanted to leave in the afternoon with Talitha. I was getting stuff ready and Talitha got all dressed for camping and insisted on wearing her backpack around the house. I wanted her to eat something before we left, so I put her at the table with her food and continued getting ready. When I walked back into the kitchen I found her asleep at the table. I guess the excitement wore her out.
My family has a thing for falling asleep at the table--or other places--by the way.

Empty promises--hopefully not

So, I haven't blogged in forever, not that anyone's noticed, and I had these really good intentions to blog today...You know, after putting the kids to bed--Spencer had Scouts tonight, so he wouldn't distract me with his talking...But as it goes, it took longer to get the kids in bed than it should have. Well, truthfully, I just started late because the kids and I had a dance party, and how could I pass up the opportunity to impart some skill in rhythm and musicality to my children, seeing as they at times have seen their father “dance”. Therefore, kids to bed late, me catching up on emails, and now it’s late and I should go to bed. So, I’m still stuck in July and you have to wait a little longer to hear/see all about our camping adventures, mountain biking, crazy kids, Hawaii (yes, Spencer and I went to Hawaii and got back last week) and Halloween.

Daddy missed / Daddy vermisst

The first full week of July, Spencer went moutain biking with his Scouts for their high adventure. They had fun and everyone returned safely. Meanwhile at home, our kids (well mostly Phillip and Talitha; Winston just wants his mommy) missed their daddy sorely. So Phillip and Talitha had the idea to wear Spencer's shirts as pjs.



Die erste volle Woche im Juli, war Spencer mit seinen Scouts moutain biking. Sie hatten Spass und alle sind sicher wieder nach Hause gekommen. Inzwischen zu Hause, haben unsere Kinder ihren daddy sehr vermisst (na, hauptsächlich Phillip und Talitha; Winston will nur seine Mami). Also hatten Phillip und Talitha die Idee Spencers T-shirts als Nachthemden zu tragen.

4th of July

Meine Kinder / My kids

Der Tag an dem Winston seine Nase fand.
The day Winston found his nose.
Phillip und Talitha mussten die Entdeckung gleich mitfeiern.
Phillip and Talitha had to celebrate the discovery with him.

Erwischt!
Caught!

Fun with Auntie Jill and Tracey

The end of June my sister-in-law, Jill, had her friend Tracey plus children visiting from Utah. Since Tracey's kids and mine get along really well, we spent a bit of time together--at the Newport Aquarium and the beach, at Kid's Club, and at the zoo...









Ende Juni kam die Freundin meiner Schwägerin, Jill, aus Utah zu Besuch. Da Traceys Kinder sich gut mit meinen verstehen, haben wir einige Zeit miteinander verbracht--im Newport Aquarium und am Strand, im Kid's Club, und im Zoo.

Phillip's First Day of School / Phillips Erster Schultag

So I have to interrupt my catch-up time and quickly post Phillip's first day of Kindergarten, which was today. He was very excited last night. We picked out his clothes and got everything ready. When the kids were in bed, I proceeded to finish the "first day of school cone" for Phillip. That is a German tradition, all the children get a school cone from their parents on their very first day of school.
During the night Phillip had a bad dream and joined me in bed (Spencer is bear hunting with his dad and brothers). I got up early and wanted to study my scriptures, but Phillip woke up soon after, and kept asking if it was time to leave yet. We managed to get out the door before the other two woke up. Phillip got more nervous as we waited for the bus. When the bus finally came he looked worried but got on fine. When he arrived home (Winston, Talitha and I had to wait for quite a while by the side of the road--well, Winston took off to get some food or something from the house after he had had enough, but it worries me a little that we were so close to the road...Winston might think it's ok to run to the street now) Phillip was excited to unpack his school cone. It was a good day.
















Talitha wanted her picture taken as well.




Waiting for Phillip.





Phillip is home again.

Phillip's Birthday

Finally, I've arrived at Phillip's birthday (trying to catch up on my blog entries), which was my goal for today (it is past midnight, though).
We had a birthday party/BBQ on Saturday. Then his actual birthday on Sunday June 15, which was also Father's Day (Phillip was born on Father Day) and Winston's first day in nursery at church. Now my first baby is 5!

Endlich bin ich bei Phillips Geburtstag angekommen. Das war mein Ziel für heute (es ist allerdings nach Mitternacht).
Wir hatten eine Geburtstagsfeier am Samstag und dann am Sonntag, 15. Juni, war Phillips eigentlicher Geburtstag, und auch Vatertag in den USA (Phillip wurde an einem Vatertag geboren) und Winstons erstes mal im Kindergarten in der Kirche. Jetzt ist mein erstes Baby 5!



Spencer wanted to show Phillip the train set we had bought and set up before we went to church. The rest of the presents came after church when Auntie Jill joined us.
Spencer wollte dem Phillip unbedingt die Eisenbahn, die wir im gekauft und aufgebaut hatten, noch vor der Kirche zeigen. Der Rest der Geschenke kam nach der Kirche, als Tante Jill sich uns anschloß.