First day of school 2015

Paige and Kate were both really excited to start school this year. Our summer felt very long and boring to all of us, I think. This was the first summer that I felt the huge difference between having children in school/preschool and having them home all day, everyday. The kids did swimming lessons and we played outside quite a bit during the day, but still... the days were just long. After a while, the kids were fighting more and more, and I think we all needed a break from each other. That's normal and healthy, right? I think my kids are happier when they get that social time during the day. And so am I. So the first day of school was exciting for all of us.

 

 

Paige's first day of 3rd grade

 

Kate's first day of kindergarten 

 

 

It was sad to send Kate off on the bus to the kindergarten center. I wished that I could have walked her into her class. The teachers told us that it's best for them to get right into their routine though. Kate was really excited to line up with her friends and ride a bus for the first time.

 

(Our elementary school is overcrowded, so kindergarteners get bussed to a kindergarten center a few miles away.)

 

^^ I drop them both off at the elementary school each morning and then Kate hops right on the kindergarten bus. 

 

I had to get a picture of Paige with some of her classmates. I'm already embarrassing my 8 year old. Don't you love how short she is? I think it's cute. She doesn't think so. 

 

And this is Kate with some of her kindergarten friends from our ward.

 

Kate was a little nervous, but mostly excited. I got teary seeing them drive away. It's always a bittersweet moment sending them off to school.

 

 

So far they are both doing really well this year, and they enjoy school, which is a relief.

Our trip to Banff, AB

Nate and I had been wanting to visit Banff, AB in Canada for quite a while, and in mid-August, we impulsively planned a quick trip to visit the area. I am so glad we did. I loved it there. It was absolutely beautiful. When you're there, you feel like you're in the Swiss Alps or something. It's magical. I will say that August is a busy time there, and there were crowds at some of the attractions (Lake Louise, especially), but it was still a really great trip. I want to go back again and spend a little more time there.

 

 

 

This is inside Chateau Lake Louise, a beautiful, historic hotel

 

 

 Lake Louise

 

 Chateau Lake Louise

 

We rode the Banff Gondola, which was surprisingly terrifying for all of us. But beautiful.  

Once you get to the top, you walk up hundreds of stairs, which was exhausting. The views make it worth it though.

 



 

 This was a place called Cave and Basin, with hot springs to look at. We also swam in some hot springs, which was slightly overrated, if you ask me.

 

There were quite a few Bighorn sheep off the side of the road, and they would even wander around some of the little towns. 

 Luke endured all the driving pretty well.

Halle, the rockstar

This girl is hilarious.

Luke's Big Day

 Luke's long-awaited surgery day finally came. It was on June 4th at Seattle Children's Hospital. It went much better than I imagined.

Luke's doctor (Dr. Jonathan Perkins) specializes in vascular malformations, so we were very blessed to have him. I felt like we were in great hands. We had a pre-op appointment on Wednesday, and the surgery was on Thursday morning.

It was sad knowing that Luke had no idea what was coming. I cried when they carried him away. He just looked back at me as they walked down the hall with him. I was so nervous that something would go wrong in surgery. It's always scary when your baby has to go under general anesthesia.

 

Waiting for the surgery...

 

Don't let my smile fool you, I was really scared.

 

We had to wait over 4 hours from the time they took him away, until the time we could see him again. A lot longer than I expected. The doctor met with us and said everything went well. He showed us some (really graphic) images of the mass that they removed from Luke's head and it was kind of terrifying. It was much larger than I thought it was. The incision on his head was twice as long as I thought it was going to be, so that was disappointing.

This is the day after surgery. Luke recovered so quickly. It was truly amazing.

We went for a walk around the hospital and happened to see this poster about Luke's doctor. Look at the before and after pictures of that little girl. He does amazing work.

The picture above was a week or so after the surgery.


And this was when all the bandages came off:

 

YIKES!!! Scary, huh? It was really swollen and irritated when he pulled of the surgical tape.

 

 

And this is how it looks now, 2 months later:

 

Hopefully in a month or two his hair will completely cover the scar. We are so, so thankful that everything has gone well for him and I just hope that nothing grows back. The doctor said that there is a slight possibility of that, but we're all hopeful that it won't happen. If it does, at least there is a treatment/surgery for it. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

Halle's 3rd Birthday

Halle turned 3 on the same day as Trevor and Sam's wedding (in Utah), so we celebrated her birthday the day after the wedding. We were all together in Huntsville, so it was fun to be with family.

 

We didn't do much... just cupcakes and presents. But Halle seemed happy. She loves Ariel right now, if you can't tell.

 

 

We LOVE Halle so much. She is such a happy, fun little girl. She's so funny too. She loves to dance and sing. I will post some videos soon to show off those talents. I really wish I could freeze time because she's at such a fun age.

The girls' rooms

Hello, I'm back. Lots of blogging to catch up on. I have a terrible memory, so I want to keep up with this blog.

A couple months ago, I did some decorating in the girls' rooms and I thought I'd share some pics.

I painted an accent wall in Paige and Kate's room:

And did these fabric embroidery hoops in Halle's room: