October 2013

It has been a busy few months for our little family of four, previously five.  August brought my 34th birthday which I celebrated with great enthusiasm, as always.  I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!  The following day our littlest, furriest family member Tequila Rose, passed away.  The girls handled this much better than I did.  Tiki was my little snuggle buddy for 10 years.  I had Tiki before I had Jesse :)  She will be greatly missed around our house.

The end of August brought Irelyn's 4th birthday.

 Our little Buga-Boo is turning into such a funny character.  She definitely has a lot of "spirit" and likes to demand things be done her way.  Things rarely do get done her way but she likes to continue to try. Irelyn likes to remind us that she is "only 4" but she has a lot planned for when she is 5.  Whenever we ask her if she wants to try something new, skiing, ice skating, rides at the fair, swim lessons....she always says "no thanks, I'll do that when I'm 5."

 A birthday celebration with her friends!

"I was coming home from kindergarten - well they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. It's good for a kid to know how to make gloves."

Ellen DeGeneres

August 28, 2013 - Brooklynn's 1st day of kindergarten, hopefully a little bit different than Ellen's!  Our girls are growing up so fast.  She was so extremely excited and ready to head off to school with Mr. Schaefer.  Unfortunately the buses weren't running the first day of school but Brooklynn insisted on walking to her bus stop (3 blocks from our house) and having Jesse follow her in the truck.  He then picked her up at the bus stop and took her the rest of the way to school. In the four weeks since school has started, she is now reading simple sentences and making several new friends.  Her favorite part of school is gym and recess....thats my girl!

Some tears were shed on this big, important day...mine not hers.  I was sad to see the end of our fun days at home.

Off to the bus stop :)

Labor Day weekend brought our annual camping trip with Opa and Oma.  We were all very excited to hear that Uncle Jason (Jesse's brother) and his very sweet girlfriend Shanon would also be camping with us.  It was a very fun weekend for all of us.

 Chocolate pudding!

Smores!!

September 4, 2013 - Irelyn's 1st day of preschool! Irelyn is attending the same preschool Brooklynn did and has the same sweet, amazing teacher, Ms. Edie.  Irelyn is a little slower to transition to new experiences but is now warming up to the idea of 15+ years of formal education.

I was so excited to hear that my Grandma Esther was going to make it out to Montana for a visit in September.  Brooklynn was only 1 1/2 the last time she met Grandma Essy and Irelyn had never met her.  Grandma Esther is 87 years young and can still tell a dirty joke like a sailor.  We love our Michigan family and wish we could see all of them much more often.  We love you Grandma!!

My sister Julie, myself, Grandma Esther and my dad.

We are moving into my favorite time of year....Halloween, Thanksgiving, excitement to see snow, and then Christmas and New Years.  This is all followed closely by a whole lot of nothing and sick of seeing snow, but I'll take it.  God Bless your family and keep in touch!