I can’t even remember when the last time I wrote in here was, but I know a heck of a lot has happened since my last post and I really can’t figure out how to fit it all in 
.
We went to Hawaii in May to celebrate with my brother and my new sister in law and see them get hitched. Kauai is incredibly beautiful and it was an amazing get away. Leif didn’t take his work computer and we were actually able to relax and truly escape from the normal work load which gave us plenty of time to focus on the kids and each other. Which was convenient considering we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary the day before we came home. Our condo was spacious and right on the beach (which was actually more of a reef but beautiful none the less). We had a lot of fun snorkeling, playing on the beach, playing at the playground and sightseeing. We drove up the north shore, went to Waimea Canyon and toured the Na Aina Kai gardens. On our anniversary we took a boat tour to the fern grotto, hiked a little ways up to a view point of the Na Pali Coast and ate a wonderful dinner in Hanalei. The highlight of the trip was definitely the wedding, which was beautiful, sincere and a lot of fun. Getting to know our new family members was a blast and I hope we have another opportunity to hang out soon.
We came home to chaos, all the final activities to tie up the school year for Josh, Leif trying to catch up on all the work he fell behind on while on vacation and me trying to tie up all the loose ends in order to have everything done to graduate in June. But we managed to work it all out and I am now officially a college graduate! I don’t really know how to proceed from this point however since I really don’t know what exactly it is that I want to do. So for now I am keeping my options open, spending as much time as I can with the kids and looking into both work possibilities or possibly continuing on to get a master’s degree. I cannot express how lucky I feel to have such a wonderful and supportive husband and family. Thank you all so much for all the help, support and love.
In the beginning of July We went to Redding to celebrate Bruce and Martha’s 40th wedding anniversary. We stopped in Klamath to visit my dad and Linda then went down to Hat Creek to tour the radio observatory. The party was fun, getting all the family and friends together was so much fun and I love to see all of the cousins together. The kids stayed down with Grandma and Grandpa and had a blast camping, fishing, riding bikes, painting, and playing in the water. Leif and I shampooed carpets, sorted through boxes and paperwork, went out to the movies and dinner and went horse back riding. We enjoyed relaxing and getting lots of sleep but the house was altogether too quiet without the kids here and needless to say I am so very glad to have them back at home.
I think that about covers the last couple months for us. The kids are growing like crazy. Daniel has grown several inches in the last couple months and seems to be communicating much more efficiently. He is busy all the time, and wants to do everything by himself and will have a complete melt down when we try to help or tell him he can’t do something the exact way he would like to do it. We are just working on finding the balance between letting him have his independence and still maintaining some amount of control. He is still constantly causing trouble and while it half drives me crazy, I love how curious his mind is and that he is always willing to try something new.
Olivia is also growing a lot. Physically she has slowed down a bit but mentally and emotionally she has really developed lately. We are still working on her letters which she loves and she has pretty much all of her letter sounds down. We have started blending the letter sounds together to make words but she is a little unsure of herself and gets easily frustrated. She seems to be a perfectionist and at the slightest hint of struggle she gets anxious. It doesn’t take much to talk her through it though and I am really proud of her willingness and desire to learn new things. She is developing her problem solving skills and the many blow-ups we had between her and Daniel just a few months ago have dwindled. She is learning how to play with others and how to let us know when she needs a little time to herself. Amber cut her hair before we went to Hawaii. At Olivia’s request she cut it up to her chin which is so very cute but makes her look so much more like a big kid. She also dresses herself most of the time now which I love, but now that she is capable of picking out and changing her own clothes, she does… usually 3 or 4 times a day.
I don’t even know where to begin with Josh. He is coming into adolescence in full force. He looks so much older to me recently and is nearly as tall as I am now. His feet are huge, he wears a size 10 in mens, and he is starting to get facial hair. His emotions are all over the board and we have to keep in mind that a lot of the time when we don’t understand his reaction to something, that he probably doesn’t either. It has been fun in so many ways though. He really seems to be noticing the world around him and it is fun to have a conversation with him and hear his thoughts and ideas. He’s interested in a lot of the same things we are now and we can sit and watch tv or movies together after the little kids go to bed. He went to his first dance not too long ago and has a girlfriend (they mostly just email back and forth but it is a big step for Josh). He is a great big brother and a fantastic babysitter. And me? I just can’t believe we are here already. It seems like just yesterday he was playing with legos and hot wheels.
So besides the big stuff, we have also taken several trips to the zoo, to OMSI and various berry farms around town. We have also gone camping twice and worked on some bike riding and water playing. Josh and I got to go see a movie together Kala learned how to swim. We’ve had dinners with friends and family picnics. It’s been a fantastic summer and I am sad to see it coming to an end.
