Sunday afternoon

I've been wanting to get some new photos of Tessa....
We are thinking about our Grandma's and Grandpa's that we don't keep in touch with enough!









After my photo spree the boys wanted to borrow the camera.
Here's a few of their funny shots:






The world through the eyes of little boys is pretty interesting.

"Spooktacular"

We were so excited to take a little trip for the weekend to the temple and to Sea World!
Tessa got to enjoy it more this time. (We haven't been back since she was six months old.) She even did well with the long car ride --no crying spells!


She is big enough to do a "ride."


We saw some of our old favorite shows and a new favorite one "Count-down to Halloween."


Jordan was so excited to see the dolphins again! and Michael got to do a big ride with Dad.




Our regular daily routine now with Michael in school is a little less exciting. There isn't much time for outings after homework and dinner.
We enjoyed every minute of our get-away!

One year old!

I love birthdays! and I really enjoyed celebrating with Tessa!


She had some help from excited brothers to open gifts.


I had to include lots of these photos so grandma could see!


Thanks for the gifts!



We've come a long way baby!

She knows that she is big stuff!
What a blessing she is!
Somehow with each child I have more fun(and more chaos).

Yes, Michael started school

all day. every day.
and he still can't get enough. This is his third week.
I asked him today, "What is your favorite part of school?" (I think for him it is definitely the friends, social systems, etc. and I wondered if he would recognize that.)
He just said, "pretty much every part of school is my favorite mom."


Here is the classic photo:
-- getting ready to walk to school on the first day


We saw this turtle at the beach on Monday.
Michael's class is the Trefry Turtles (Ms. Trefry).



Jordan and Tessa are becoming quite the duo.
Jordan is participating in a preschool coop at home and he is trying out a tumbling class. At the end of the first class he said, "Mom I want to do more." I was impressed with his attention span and determination!


As of today Tessa is taking four steps at a time and then plop... Her balance isn't quite there yet, but she has caught the vision.

one last picture of labor day in Florida--just because.
We enjoyed the beautiful sky and a new beach.

Back Home Again

I love this photo of law school friends. We took it in May before we parted ways.... Our babies were born within three months of each other--in a wave of girls. Some other ladies in our group of students are due in the next few months with a wave of boys this time!
We were excited to come home to our last year of school and the great community that gets us through it!


As soon as we returned to Florida we finished packing our old condo and moved on-campus. We are really excited for the simplicity of living across the street from both Jared's and Michael's schools.


Some neighbors took the boys out to play in the rain while I unpacked. (There's no pool at the new place). I couldn't figure out why the photos looked so foggy...till I wiped the lens...!



Florida home means the beach. and we finally made it back to play. Here's our Florida baby:

As soon as I set her down, she made a dash for the water.

some last shin-digs and good-byes...

-love those mountains






We got to see Cam perform in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Old Barn Theatre. It was the day before his birthday. Soo Fun!!





Ely's baby blessing provided the occasion for a great get-together with lots of family...and food ;)






We loved going to Tyler's house throughout our summer in Utah!!!


Jordan had a budding friendship with Toby

Our "homes"

It was quite the challenge to transport a family life across the country for 10 weeks of the summer. but we found that we definitely had a home or two away from home.
A few weeks after we arrived, we were visiting in Garland with the Clarks. For family prayer at Grandma Deanie's house Jordan said, "Thank you for all our homes." Even he recognized that we were really blessed to have wonderful places to stay in all our traveling.
We are so grateful for the many people who hosted us and put up with us...!