Catch up #3 - Keeping cool!

One thing no one can deny about the valley is that it is HOT in the summer.
We try to swim as much as possible (thank you Gillums and Pimentels) - but that is for another post.

So when we have to make the trip to Fresno, and aren't in a total rush, we try to pack swim suits (or a dry set of clothes). Then we hit Fashion Fair mall.

They're always initially shocked by the spouts of water...

But it doesn't take long for the Jedi battle to ensue - Gotta love boys!








I know this picture is blurry, but I just love it - I love how you can tell Mason is loving the attack on the water. AND I love how it shows Molly's approach to the water as well.




She LOVES playing in water...




Oh the anticipation of the fountain shooting up. It got her in the face a couple of times.

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Catch up #2 - FIRSTS

July held a couple of FIRSTS for my boys.

Mason lost his first tooth...




And Merritt got glasses...



(you can see more pictures of Merritt with his new glasses here.)

As for Molly...
Well, Molly has firsts all the time. She is only 2.
And while there is much to update for Molly, she really needs her own posts.
So those will come soon.
I am glad to report though that she has decided that she will no longer put her fingers in her diaper to check for poo. That was getting old really quickly!

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Catch up #1

I decided to start where I left off...
With the Africa team coming home.
My mom was in Southern CA with my sister and her new babies on the day the team flew into San Francisco, so I packed the kids up and we took a family trip to get daddy.
They loved the trip.
They missed their dad A LOT and the anticipation of seeing him was almost too much to handle. We were all giddy!

We arrived at the airport about 10 minutes before their plane was scheduled to land, but we had a LONG wait until they actually walked through the doors and into our arms. And we weren't the only ones anxiously awaiting our loved ones from the Epic team.



In the International Arrival Terminal, there is a monitor that shows who is about to come out the doors (AFTER going through customs and getting their baggage from baggage claim. Thus the almost 1 hour wait for us.)


The kids watched for daddy for awhile, but an hour is a long time.
They played around, danced, sat - you get the picture.


They made friends with the lady reading the magazine in this picture...


And FINALLY we saw Amanda, and the first greeting was made.


And we continued to wait (Amanda said they were held up in baggage waiting for some over-sized pieces.) until eventually...


Mason took off running with Merritt close on his heels.



Molly hadn't seen daddy on the screen, but followed her brothers.

And when she spotted him, well...


She kept telling me "That's my daddy."
And she asked Bruce if he was home on a regular basis for a couple of weeks.
Once the greetings were made THE question flew off both of the boys lips.
"Daddy did you bring me something?"


What a great daddy. He had at least one item easily accessible for each child.





She LOVES baby dolls



And when we got home, there were more gifts, but the boys wanted pictures in these...

We are so glad to have Bruce home!!!

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Back To School

Summer vacation is over.
We are officially back in school.









The boys were pretty excited for their first day of school.
Mason already knew that one of his buddies from last year and from t-ball was going to be in his class. (They called each other as soon as they got their class lists to see if they would be in the same class again.) And Merritt knew of one friend that would be in his class that lives down the street.
But the anticipation was high about who else they would share a class with this year.
I mean, really, its all about who is in your class (and, for Mason, who will notice your new shoes and think they're cool.)

I'm happy to report good things all around!

For the last couple of years, Merritt has anticipated a specific friend possibly being in his class, but it hasn't ever happened. This year Merritt hadn't even mentioned him in his anticipation of the new class, but to his great surprise, not only is his friend in his class, but they are seated next to each other.
(Although I'm not too confident that will last very long for my social child.)
As a matter of fact, he is one of the first friends we ran into when we got to school this morning and he was excited to tell Merritt the news that they were finally in the same class.



Once we dropped the boys off, guess what Mom, Dad & Molly did...



We haven't had this kind of morning all summer.

One more picture, just because...



Hope you had a great day today!

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I'm still here...

Yes, I'm alive and still here.
Sorry I've been such an awful blogger.
I have so many reasons why I haven't been HERE, but I hope you forgive me and don't abandon me.

The kids started school today.
I can't believe the summer is over.

I promise update posts throughout the week today,
starting with photos of the first day back at school later today.

In the meantime, check out these blogs that I designed, helped update the design of, and have nothing to do with, but its brand new to encourage women and so far I love it.

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