Welcome Fall

Autumn has arrived and I am loving the changing colors all around us. Joel and I took the kids along with Aunt Becca for a drive around the Alpine Loop to see all of the pretty leaves. We ended the drive at Sundance and decided to take the ski lift for a fun ride and a better view of the beautiful setting. I think that this is going to be my favorite season. I do reserve the right to change my mind, though after all of the leaves fall off of the 11 trees around our house. =)



Becca and Anna rode on another bench in front of us.

Rolling Over is Hard Work!

I just wanted to post this video along with the one in the previous post. It shows how hard she has had to work to be able to roll over with out the help of her legs. It is so cute how proud she is of herself at the end of this clip. Enjoy.

Lily Rolls Over

Lily got her foot brace removed in the beginning of August. Now she just has to wear it at night. As soon as the brace came off she started to roll over from her stomach to her back. We have been working with her in physical therapy on rolling over for quite a while. So we are so proud of her big milestone. She amazes us all with her happy nature and her strength.

Summer Visitors

These are some of Betsy's girls sandwiched in the middle of my kids. They are gorgeous. Below is Elli, Betsy's oldest, holding Lily. Elli loved holding her and spending time with her.


We had a lot of fun this summer with visiting family. Early in the summer my brother Mike and his family came. I don't think I took any pictures of that visit. Joel's cousin Mikki''s family came as well. Then Joel's parents came on their way to and from Scotland. We love having them and always wish that they could stay longer. Hawaii feels very far away for parents/grandparents to be. Finally at the end of the summer we had Betsy's family. She has five girls, so it was just one big girl party. It is great to be living in a place with space for visitors. We hope to have more in the future!

A New Niece

She already looks so different from this picture. But isn't she adorable?


It was like 3am in this picture and the pic was taken after the cream was put in her eyes. So she is a little shiny looking. =)

I got to witness the birth of my new niece (born to Emily) this summer. My mom and I felt so blessed to be a part of this event which was extremely peaceful and sweet. We look forward to getting to know this cute little girl. We are also very pleased that Lily will have a girl cousin so close in age.

First Day of School

The girls are back in school as of a few weeks ago. Anna is in 2nd grade and Eryn is my kindergartener. Both are loving school so far and doing well.

Before sending Eryn off to kindergarten I took the opportunity to take her out on a little date. It was such a great experience being one-on-one with my 2nd child with no distractions. We bought some school clothes and a backpack. Then we went out to dinner. Now every time we pass Chilli's restaurant she reminds me that we went there together and that she loves that place. I need to take more opportunities to be one-on-one with my kids. It is always memorable and worthwhile.

Lily

This is an unusual moment with her shoes and brace off. She wears that thing all day long and only gets to take it off for bath time. I thought I would post this to show how great her feet look. They are nice and flat and positioned very well. She gets to stop wearing the brace all day at the end of the month. We are looking forward to it, although we have really gotten used to dealing with it.


Lily has finally started trying some baby food. She loves it all so far. She is sitting in her little bumbo chair up to the table here. I just love how only her nose and up are showing. Such a cutie.


Always hanging out with her brother and sisters close by for entertainment and fun. That boppy pillow has turned out to be a great tool for physical therapy and just for a comfortable way to elevate her head a little.


This Bumbo chair is going to be her good friend for a while, I think. It really supports her upper body very well, so that she can sit upright and enjoy that position for quite a while. Hopefully when she is older she will be strong enough to sit up on her own with her hands as help to prop her up.

Dr. visits have finally slowed down and we are just enjoying our little girl. She is a happy, patient, sweet soul.

Happy 4th of July!

The kids participated in a kids parade as part of our 4th of July celebration. They were so thrilled to be in a real parade and had a good time. Joel was probably the only Hawaii representation in his red white and blue aloha wear. But I guess he had to represent. =)

Eryn Graduates and turns 5!

Eryn is 5 years old! She had such a happy birthday. We did a puppy party (because she has been obsessed for over a year now with dogs and dalmations). She insisted on having a dalmation cake and dog pinata. The party got rained out, so we did it all in-doors. But she really enjoyed herself. Only I felt a little extra stress with so many kids inside and watching a pinata get knocked around in my basement.

Eryn adds so much to our family. She has a very giving, sweet nature and is such a joy to us.



Eryn successfully finished her little preschool at the end of May. This preschool was such a blessing to Eryn and to our family. In Hawaii we talked about putting her into a preschool, but I was not comfortable with it being every day and the price was soooo high! There really weren't a lot of good choices. So when we moved here we were thrilled to have so many options in price, level of schooling and days and times. She just went two days a week for two hours. It was just enough for her to get a little experience and confidence as well as socialization. Kindergarten is only half day here, so it was a great prep for the next step which will be 3 hours five days a week.

Lily's Doing Well

Lily got her last set of casts removed about three weeks ago. We decided to really sign them up, since we didn't on her other casts. She looks funny in this picture because she was half crying. Anyway, I wanted to do a little dance when her last casts came off in celebration. Dr. says her feet look great.
Now Lily is on to the phase where she wears a brace attached to special shoes. The brace and shoes keep her feet in a good position and hopefully her feet will not be tempted to turn back into their original club foot position. She gets to wear this contraption for three months all day long and then will only need to wear it at nap and bedtime until she is three. I can't believe I am actually getting used to it, but I am. The shoes had quite the dramatic start, though. She immediately got sores and blisters on her feet because they did not fit right. Then her feet swelled up really bad. I was very upset about it and felt semi-responsible for not asking more questions when I thought they didn't fit properly. Anyway, luckily it all worked out over a period of about two weeks once we got the new shoes. Otherwise she is growing really well and enjoying life.