Our Re-Directed Purpose

Autumn has brought us some the most beautiful sky we have seen in quite a while.  August was all smoke and now the air is crisp and clean and it is marvelous. 

We are trying to settle into our new school year routine.  I am feeling like this year is more busy than last but the kids still have happy attitudes and enough energy to be Rescue Bots when they get home, jump along the couches, and diving off to rescue or fight some new foe.

Tommy joined us on Sunday morning and sometimes I just can't refuse a good snuggle from my little babes.  I know they wont want to climb in my bed forever but they will always be welcome! Haha!  I remember coming home to visit for the first time from college and it was the middle of the night when I got in.  I went in and lay in between my mom and dad and they both woke up to talk with me and help me feel welcome again.  I hope my kids know they will always be welcome to do that.

Elsy was in her first Primary Program this year!  She was excited and she memorized her part so nicely.  Our primary sent out questions for us to ask our kids and they compiled all the answers and let them say what their answers were.  The questions were how did Jesus chose the right?  and how can you follow His example?  Elsy's speaking part was, "Jesus chose the right when he died on the cross.  I can show Jesus I love him by being nice to my brother Tommy and to my friends."  She said it perfectly and I had several people come tell me after that she was just so cute up there!  She knew almost all the words to the songs and I could hear her singing.  I was playing the piano for the program so it was fun to be up there with her.

I loved the program so much.  I loved how they asked all the kids and let them share their own answers and testimonies.  I was struck by the simplicity but also the depth of the kids testimonies and knowledge of the gospel.   This week was a rough one for me, I just was really struggling with my focus and purpose.  I started to realize how selfish I have been in many ways and I started to think more about the love my Savior has for me.  When Elsy shared her speaking part, even though we had practiced it together so many times, I suddenly heard what she was saying during the program.  Jesus really did die for me on the cross and I am so grateful for His love for me in his willingness to do that.  I can show my gratitude to him by being kind to my family and to those around me.

Logan and I had a family council that night.  We both decided we have been focusing on good things, but not the best things in our lives.  We set some goals to attend the temple on a regular basis.  And then we set some parenting goals, like being present and not distracted (we deleted Facebook and Instagram from our phones), decided to put the Switch on a vacation, and try to be better listeners to each other and to our kids.  We also talked about trying to say yes as often as possible to the kids.  I love the quote by Marjorie Hinkley, "When it comes to parenting whenever possible say yes, they are only children once."  We both realized we have been saying no a lot just because we are being lazy or wanting to do our own thing and we realized we need to not let our children think they are inconveniences but the lights of our lives.  I am grateful that Logan and I have been having weekly check-ins with each other.  I learn so much about him as we do and we are able to re-set for the week and get back on the same page with our goals in life.

At church I noticed a little lizard running down the hall, so of course I grabbed him!  I taped two paper plates together, poked some holes in the top, and carried him around with me until we got to go home and play with him!  Tommy wanted to name it Golden Link and Elsy wanted to name it Unicorn so we just ended up putting all three together.  I thought about getting a terrarium and keeping it for the winter but decided against it when the kids kept trying to play with it while I wasn't around.  They were both so sad when we let it go that evening but they agreed it was best after some coaxing from Logan.  

We took them both out to take some individual pictures as well as sibling photos.  They were so cute... and so absolutely crazy.  Logan hasn't edited them yet but I am excited to frame them.

Watching Planet Earth II!

Waiting for Daddy to come home!

With Logan and I both working at our new goals, and we had more that I didn't share, I have noticed my life in stark contrast from last weeks grumpiness.  My life is so beautiful, despite the hardships we are facing.  I read a conference talk that quoted John 6:38, "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."  The Savior truly is the perfect example.  I know that my desire when I chose to come to earth was to do the will of my Heavenly Father.  But because I am not as perfect as the Savior, I often forget.  I wrote this scripture on my chalkboard in my kitchen so I could remember that I came here to earth, not do do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.  It is hard to not just remember this but to do it.  But we are trying over here in the Bean house.  Maybe you could try it, too.

School Year Start

I think I should start keeping a tally on how many people ask me if these two are twins.  Tommy is almost the same size as Elsy, especially when they are sitting next to each other.

Logan is the new Executive Secretary in our ward, which makes for lonely Sundays without him.  Tuesday nights are also busy because he needs to be in the church building while the bishop does interviews.  He has been working hard and learning a lot from out great bishop, Bishop Spataro.

I have been trying to find ways to not get frustrated with the kids, especially when trying to get out the door.  I have discovered that if I get the kids ready before I get myself ready life is so much better and less chaotic.  My theory is I can hurry myself way easier than hurrying the kiddos.  I get them changed, teeth brushed, and hair done before I start myself.  I have even gone as far on a few occasions to get their shoes on, all while I am still in my pj's and un-showered.  It really has made all the difference for me though.  I am 100% less cranky when it comes to getting out the door now days, and it has helped a lot with Sunday mornings in keeping the peace.

I think I am just going to be one of those moms that is bummed when school starts.  I just want my kids around all the time and I miss them when they are gone.  I started getting sad about it and just wanted to spend every second with Elsy before she started preschool last week.  She, of course, was beyond excited for preschool to start and has loved every moment of playing with her friends, doing crafts, and learning.  Although it took her all of two days there to get sick.

This year we are doing a cohort again with some ladies in our ward and stake.  We bought a curriculum called Mother Goose Time that sends you all the supplies and lesson plans.  It is less than $100 per kid for the whole school year and we just rotate houses every week, two days a week for three hours.

The epic Squid Kid pose.

Elsy has way way a lot and much energy all the time.  She go go goes until she hits her pillow at night and is out like a light.  Her body, mind, and mouth are constantly moving.  On the car ride home from the grocery store she just went on and on.... "Oh I got the silliest idea!  What if a string got married to a light?!" and then she would laugh and laugh.  "Oh I got the funniest idea, what if a tree got married to a mask?" (more laughter) "What if a CD got married to a hat? What if a SLUG got married to a hat!?"

And then today on the ride home from play group she would say, "Wanna hear number one?" And continue to sing a "Wigga wagga woooga wigggy" type song.  Then she would say "Wanna hear number two?" and then sing another variation of obnoxious gibberish.  At number nine she was out of ideas and I said, "How about number nine is..." and I turned to show tight lips and a straight face with no sound at all.  I thought that was pretty funny and I started to laugh, only for her to say, "No."

These two little buddies.  It just broke my heart when Tommy wanted to go with Elsy to school.  He and I are going to be buddies again this year.

Elsy has school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  On Thursdays we go to a Book of Mormon class (moms take turns watching the kids in the nursery) and on Tuesdays we have physical therapy for Tommy's arm now.

It has been close to three months since Tommy got his cast off.  He can fully straighten his arm but he still can not bend it completely.  He struggles to touch his ear and can't touch his shoulder at all.  X-rays at the time of the cast removal showed a bit of bone that had slipped from the pins, possibly from when he had fallen off the bed right after breaking his arm.  She was worried it may be knocking the other bone and be preventing it from bending fully.  She said only time would tell and that the bone that was sticking out should naturally wear away over time.

I had been working with him a bit at home, but the doc said we probably didn't need to do much, just natural use should do the trick.  But after so long with no improvement at all we started doing physical therapy.  After three weeks of PT the physical therapist said nothing was improving and to go back to the doctor for new X-rays.  We got the X-rays this week and the visual results were good - that the bone is wearing away really nicely and shouldn't be causing a problem with the bending of his arm.  The doctor said to just keep working with him and in a year if he is still having problems then they will possibly do a surgery where they go in and cut the bone, re-position it, pin it in place, and put him in a cast for 4-6 weeks again... so basically back to square one - minus the traumatic fall and ambulance ride.  That was sad news, but we have a several more months to keep working with him.  The doc said if there is no improvement, that would mean that the bone healed with a slight curve at the end, which would cause him to be able to over-extend his arm when it is straight and then not be able to bend it all the way.  So we will have to be patient as we see how things pan out.

Tommy works so hard at PT and he is a pretty good sport about the stretches, massages, and exercises we are supposed to be doing at home.  I love his look of determination and his little grunts of exertion.  He has been a trooper through this whole process.

We have had several people tell us that Logan looks like Tanner Mangum, the BYU football quarterback.  After my mom sent us this photo Logan tried to take a look alike... Haha!  We had a good laugh.  Even as I was writting on this blog Tommy saw these pictures and said, "Theres Daddy, theres another Daddy!"  Haha, to funny.

The other day Elsy asked, "Mommy can we go to Old McDonald?" so sweetly I couldn't turn her down.  We spent an afternoon at McDonalds and the kids played on the indoor playground for forever! 

These two look calm in this photo, but they have become quite the rambunctious and hyper duo.  They are constantly shouting, screaming, giggling, fighting, rescuing, jibber-jabbering, and spazing out.  I am so glad they are such good friends but it is getting to be a little nutso.  They will just stand in front of the mirror and wiggle, whack, and squak at their reflections.  Their favorite thing is to bring in their "motorcycles" (Tommy's balance bike and Elsy's Micro scooter) and race across the longest part of our apartment.  They are Heat Wave and Chase, the Rescue Bots and they want to let everyone know about it.

Logan and I got to go on a date on Friday.  We ordered some Pad Thai take-out and drove up into the mountains for a little canoeing adventure together.  Although Logan asked the lady that gave us the food if she gave us forks and she assured us she did, we ended up in the mountains with no forks and a bunch of delicious noodles.  Luckily, Logan had his 72 hour kit in his car and that had a camping fork/spoon that I used and he made himself some chopsticks from some twigs with the knife from the backpack.  Then we pumped up our canoe and went all over Rattlesnake Lake together.  It was a gorgeous evening, the summer has ended and the beautiful autumn air was just perfect.

It was so nice to talk with each other about some things we have been stressed about without getting interrupted by our kiddos.  I think we need more dates like that.  Typically we just go out to dinner but it was fun to do something new.

Logan brought his camera to take pictures of the peak.  I hadn't seen this pose in a long time so I had to snap a quick shot.  Photography and film used to be Logan's hobby, but these days he does so much of it for work he doesn't do much of it at home.  So that was fun to see.

Ever since we took away this guys pacifier I just can't get enough of his cute, puckered lips he has when he sleeps!  I am realizing Tommy is the same age as Elsy was when we first moved here!  Wow!  I often forget how old he his because he is my 'baby' and I am starting to realize he needs to be treated older than that.  He has such a crazy personality and loves to talk about robots, cars, and of course, bad guys.  Bad guys are everywhere to him and he always must fight them.

He also says some pretty funny things.  One of my favorite words he says is ginormous. The other day I spent some time making homemade meatballs for dinner.  Tommy did not want to try his.  He finally said, "I'n going pretend dat's a ginormous poop."  Oh brother.

Elsy has had a little problem of 'holding it' a little too long until she has a little accident.  She just wants to play!  They are not big, just a little mark of pee in her panties before she runs to the potty.  Often times she wouldn't tell me about it, which I thought was really gross.  So we started a sticker chart.  For every time she went to the potty without me telling her to she would get a sticker.  She decided her reward was to go on a date with Daddy.  She worked really hard and earned her date!  She was so excited and he took her to Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream.

And of course, Tommy and I didn't want to stay home so we just went on our own date... to Cold Stone so we wouldn't become date crashers.  :)

I just loved this picture of Tommy in his rain boots and shorts... he stole my milkshake and didn't want his blue ice cream that he had wanted so badly.  Next time we are totally just going to share.

We had preschool at our house this week!  So much fun!

Summers End

Tommy's new shout toward the end of the day is, "Is getting darker and darker!".  When his life for so long has been going to sleep before the setting of the sun and waking up after it has already risen, he doesn't seem to remember what real darkness is like.  Whenever this time of year comes around, when it gets "darker and darker" out, I can feel Logan and my anxiety start on the upward slope.  Summer has been so good to us, but it hasn't been so good to us that we have not forgotten all the rain last winter dumped on us and we are just not looking forward to another wet season when the dry one has been so much fun and way to short.

September has been welcoming to us, though.  The sun has been out and we have not had more than a sprinkling of rain yet so we are keeping our shorts and sandals in the front of our clothing drawers.

The only downside, so far, to September has been all the forest fires in Washington and the surrounding states.  The air everywhere has been full of haze and smoke.  It varies from day to day but this last week has been so smoky it seems overcast, with ash falling from the sky and the smell of smoke in the air.  At times you can hardly see across the Issaquah valley.   The sun has been red and the light outside a strange orange hue.  I have been wondering about the moon and this morning saw a friend post a picture of a blood red moon.  I couldn't help but think of the prophecies that talk about 'the moon turning to blood'.  When looking at a picture of the region there are fires EVERYWHERE.  One source stated there were 998 in the region.  On top of that there has been Hurricane Harvey down in Texas.  My sister lives near Waco and says they didn't get any flooding but got lots of wind and rain.  Flooding has been catastrophic down there.  There was an earthquake in Mexico yesterday and more flooding in India, with various other disasters throughout the world.  It is heartbreaking to hear and see the challenges that have fallen on so many thousands of people.  We have been praying for their comfort and safety.  I am a firm believer in the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  And while I do not know when that will be, I can not deny that many of the signs before His coming have already been taking place.  Prophets have foretold of our day for centuries.  And who knows, maybe there will still be another century before He comes, but I do know that I look forward to that day and plan to be there, either in person or as a resurrected being.  And although I look forward to that day with anticipation and excitement, I can't help but dread the calamities that will continue to befall our earth before that day.  There will be much fear and dread, but I also know there will be many marvelous miracles in the days ahead.  I came across a video put out by the church two months ago that quoted the scripture, "Fear not, I am with thee." - Isaiah 41:10.  I know that as we choose to put our faith in our Lord and keep His commandments, we will have no need to fear for He truly will be with us.

Besides all of the worrisome commotion going on across the earth with natural disasters, a different kind natural phenomenon had us all gathering in awe.  On August 21st there was a solar eclipse!  Logan built us a camera obscura that could fit most of our family so we could view it safely without going blind.  Logan took the morning off and we all headed to Grand View park, because of its wide open sky and high up location to hopefully see more of the scenery.  Logan was one of those who were quite excited about it.  He spent a lot of time reading about it and we were both wondering what it would be like!  Because our area was going to have something like 95% totality coverage we figured it would get pretty dark.  Sadly, this was not the case.  The biggest change was the temperature, which dropped about 10-15 degrees or so.  The light outside got about as dim as 8pm on a summer evening.  We were a little bummed it didn't get darker but it was still fun to be out with the crowds as well as stuffing all of us into the box Logan had made.  If you look at the above picture you will see three sets of legs in there!

The shadows were long and they even did some fun shapes.  As we were walking back to the car Elsy shouted that we had missed the eclipse! We had told her it would get darker and she was also disappointed.

Here is a picture of what it was like inside our box!  We later watched videos of what it was like to experience the eclipse in 100% totality.  What an amazing site!  My cousin who was there said it was one of the most amazing things she has experienced.  We began to wish we had driven into the path of totality.... until someone next to us at the park said their friend drove to Portland (usually a 3 hour trip) and it took them 12 hours and they ran out of gas and there was none to be found in the area! Then we were no longer jealous.

I have been feeling really busy lately so I have been trying to have some relaxation time with the kids more often to de-stress and just give them more of my time and attention.  We go to the blacktop at our complex a lot the kids ride their scooters and bikes while I read a book.

My little Tom boy has been quite the grump lately but we love him all the same.  Whenever I try to make him smile he responds with a big pouty lipped scowl or a crinkled up nose.

But sometimes he is just the chipperest dude around.  We went blackberry picking and picked tons of berries.  I don't think a single berry made it into Thomas' bucket!  The only ones that did were the handfuls from my bucket into his and then they somehow disappeared!  I don't know what I was thinking, we all were wearing shorts and short sleeves... except Logan!  Who came with long pants, tennis shoes and gloves.  He is always so prepared.

Elsy faithfully picked and picked.  Yum!  We made a giant cobbler and had the missionaries over for dinner to help us eat it.  I just love cobbler!  But try as I might, mine never tastes as good as my dad's, even though I use his same recipe.

I think I have been feeling a little frantic, knowing that summer is almost over.  So we have been trying to enjoy the sun in many ways.  We had a little picnic at our complex's pool.

And we spent some time at the park!  Our ward does Park Days and this particular day Tommy was caught running as fast as he could with another little boy across a big field that led to a street under construction.  It appeared they were wanting to look at all the dump trucks.  When the other kids mom and I discovered they were missing and saw them already getting close to the road we ran as fast as we could, yelling for the boys to stop.  When I got to Tommy I tried not to get mad, because I knew he was just being curious, and said, "Tommy you made me so worried!  I thought you were lost and I couldn't find you!"  I had already told him a few times not to leave the wood chip area.  He got his pouty face on and said, "Not true!" in a very hurt way.  After asking him some questions he ended up telling me that he had been chasing the other little boy, trying to tell him not to leave the wood chip area.  But since the other kiddo didn't listen he thought he better follow and keep telling him.  He  really is the sweetest.  And I was pretty astounded that he understood the concept of truth.  I feel like that is something I have struggled to help Elsy understand so he seemed very mature to me in that moment.  I decided to commend him for his efforts instead of get him in trouble.  Sometimes, even if a kid is making a mistake, they are trying and have the best intentions.

As we left the park I told the kids to stop by some pretty flowers to take a picture.  Instead Tommy wanted to take a picture on the train tracks.  This was the best I could get.  Elsy doing a Squid Kid pose and Tommy being crazy with rocks.

Despite the pure torture of our last ward camp out, we decided to withdraw our oaths of never camping again and give it another go this year.  Last year Tommy was up all night long out of pure terror so I figured there was nowhere to go but up from that experience?  Logan came home from work a little early and we headed up to Ensign Ranch with our ward.

Upon arrival I gave us all each a good layer of bug spray.  Regretfully, I didn't think to have the kids sit still while it dried.  Logan and I put up the tent and then looked at our children.  They had dirt stuck to all of their skin from where I had sprayed them.  The pictures literally do not do it justice, in fact, you can barely see it in the pictures but their legs were completely brown and their faces a smeared mess.

It was fun being up with the ward members and making new friends.  We went down to the creek river and after several attempts to keep shoes dry I ended up just stripping them off and letting the kids get as wet as they wanted.

I just love the cozy feeling of us all being in warm jammies and socks in a little 4-man tent surrounded by sleeping bags, pads, and blankets.

The kids slept all night long, a drastic change from the year before.  I have begun to think there may be more camping in our future after all.  The only problem in the night were some kiddos running about, shouting/screaming and playing games until close to 2am.  Thankfully my kids slept through it!

Nora, Abby, Elsy, and Haley

Our ward has a lot of girls Elsy's age and she has made such good friends with them all!

A new family moved into our ward!  They are actually the ones that came in answer to my prayer about finding another kid to be in Elsy's preschool group.  Rachel (who is pregnant with a little boy) and her daughter Abby came up for the camp out (her husband was sick so he kept their youngest home with him).  We hung out with them a lot and got to know them better.

Saturday morning we went out on the canoe.  The kids never wanted us to stop.

That night, the night after the camp out, we decided to take away Tommy's fadoo (pacifier).  I figured he was so tired he would sleep through all the commotion of decorating and whatnot.  So the Fadoo Fairy made another show at our house, cleaning out all the fadoos and leaving a gift for the little dude.  He was ecstatic to get two squirt guns (or Splatoon guns, really, is what they pretend they are).  He has been so kind to share the blue one with Elsy and they play with them every day.  The other day they took them to the grocery store with us which was pretty funny.

Tommy has done really well without his pacifier.  He didn't cry at all.  He has shown up at the side of my bed in the middle of the night, which has never happened before until now.  But he is fairly good about going back into his bed.  He just wiggles so much, his pacifier helped calm him down so much.  Now he just rolls and rolls all over his bed and doesn't know how to calm himself.  He told me, "Don't like that Fadoo Fairy." a few times.  His anger has melted into sadness though.  Now when I put him down for a nap he will say, "I miss my fadoo." in a sad sad voice.

My desire to make healthy meals has again been activated.  We love the show "Cooked" which is a four episode documentary on the history of food and how it has shaped cultures and things.  It also talks about how important it is to make your own food and other healthy type things.  We have watched the episodes several times, and each time it renews my desire to eat wholesome food in our home.  One of the things they say in the show that I really liked was something along the lines of, "Eat anything you want!  If you want an apple pie with ice cream and cookies, do it!  The only rule is you have to make everything yourself, you can't buy it from the store.  Odds are, you probably won't be having pie, ice cream, and cookies tonight."  I like that as a general rule of thumb though, the more you make yourself, the more healthy it will be for you.  I'm not going crazy and cleaning everything out of my cabinets and only cooking organic and everything from scratch.  But I am trying to up my game.  Our goal is to have fruits and veggies on the table for every meal.  I have been doing good except for breakfast.  Eek.  That one is harder for some reason.  

But we have given up the chicken dinosaurs for a while and we have been doing more sandwiches, pizza kabobs (above) and pittas with fruit and jam (below... although Tommy already ate all the raspberries off), things like that.  I have been getting a lot of great ideas from a website called Super Healthy Kids and they have a lot of fun recipes to try.  Elsy helped me look at a bunch of their recipes and wanted to make Hulk Muffins which are whole wheat and packed with spinach.  We made them together and she loved eating the green batter as well as the bright green muffins!  Tommy loved them too.  

 One of my meals I made fell off the baking sheet and landed on the floor in a heap.  Logan helped me salvage it but I was super close to dropping everything and going to Panda Express.

The kids loved a Daniel and the lions den themed FHE.

Andrea's family came to visit us!  We were sad because we don't know the next time we will see them. :(  But the kids just love each other!  We had pizza at the park.

We got to go to my grandpa and grandma Volmer's 60th wedding anniversary and Grandma's 80th birhtday celebration during Labor Day weekend.  I was so glad we made the trip because basically everyone was there.  My grandparents look a little bored in this photo but they were just waiting for the program to get going.  I just love the photo though because it shows them in a room surrounded by their posterity.  If anyone watched the Young Adult fireside by Elder Bednar this last Sunday, he talked about being a strong link in your family chain.  My grandparents have been very strong links in our family chain and I am so grateful for their examples they have set of sacrifice and faith.

The program was awesome, complete with clogging, singing, swing dancing, fun stories, and Elvis even showed for a bit.

Tommy loved getting to know some of my cousin's kids, and so did Elsy.  This is Charlotte, my cousin Alicia's daughter.

The kids were not all that impressed with the slide show and music, but they loved playing in the ice bucket for the water while the show went on.  Tommy even spent a lot of time under our table cloth for the program haha!

I found my brother Carl sleeping in a pew for the program as well.  I don't know, maybe I am just way into programs but I was just all teary eyed and star struck for the whole thing.  Everyone sang songs from the past that we used to listen to at Grandma's house or songs we all grew up with.  My dad sang "Everything That Glitters, Is Not Gold" by Dan Seals.  He used to sing us that song when we were little to go to sleep.  I learned that that was one of my Uncle Kenny's favorite songs.  Kenny was in a car accident only two or three weeks before he left for his mission and was killed.  This was when I was probably two years old and I don't remember him.  But I was grateful to learn the songs history and it made it all the more special to me.

And of course a Volmer party isn't a Volmer party with out gallons and gallons of Tillimook ice cream!  When I heard there was going to be ice cream I was a little bummed, imagining the cheap tubs for such a large group of people (there was close to 100), but when I walked back there and saw so much Tillimook amazingness my heart was overjoyed.  I am glad no traditions were dropped for such a momentous occasion. :P

The fam!
Becky, Mindy, Ben, David, Josh, Kathy, Andrea
Jenny, Grandpa Carl, Grandma Diane, and Amy

We partied hard all weekend.

Late that night all the older cousins got together for some really good laughs.  I miss all my cousins so much and it was so fun for us to get together for games and some hilarious stories.

For all those who couldn't make it, I can tell you we missed each one of you!  The cousin club lives on! Haha

The next day was my Dad's 52 birthday.  Elsy and Tommy gave him birthday spankings but he got them back.

That night everyone gathered in my grandparent's house for more ice cream (they honestly always have an endless supply in the freezer in their garage).  I should have taken a panorama because it was body to body packed all the way around the room, with the upstairs and outside swarming with kids, and the other sitting room full as well.  It is my dream to one day be like my grandparents, where I am surrounded by my posterity in old age.  I hope they are able to look around and know how much we love and appreciate the heritage the have left for us.

I also think I should mention my grandpa and ma Merkley, my mother's parents.  I wasn't able to attend their get together this year because it conflicted with the Bean reunion.  But they have left the same heritage of love and gentleness and service.  I love them with all my heart!

My cousin Alicia is expecting her fourth!  They had a gender reveal party which was a total hoot.

We left early on Tuesday morning to get back in time for Logan's work and Tommy's physical therapy for his arm.  We have learned not to try to drive to Seattle on a three day weekend.

I hardly have any pool pictures of these kids!  This was at the Primary of of summer party.

We ended the week with a Mother Goose Time Preschool open house.  The girls in Elsy's class are all so cute and they were all so excited to start off the school year!  Yay!