First of First

I have a child that goes to school all day long. Multiple times that first week I kept thinking I'd lost someone. It's weird. I have memories of 1st grade. Really weird. We're lucky she has a good teacher, a great school, and amazing friends in her class.

Emory, Kylene, and James

First time alone at the park, what to do?

First time running with one child in the double stroller. What a joy in this super, hilly neighborhood we live in!

We also had the Elders over for dinner the first time in Salem.

Cory's first wet suit. Let's just say it look some work, on both our parts, to get him into this thing.

The first surfing prayer circle I've witnessed. Amen.

Tessa's first bite of pita.

The first homeless person hangout I've dared enter. The girls kept wanting to go in there, but I'm positive the back corner was the "bathroom".

Done and Done

I vowed to finish the girl's room this summer. School starts tomorrow. Phew!

We'll miss the Dog Daze, but I'm looking forward to a schedule and some structure in our lives. I'm also looking forward to a having a 1st grader and preschooler =ing a little mom alone time.

Goodbye summer!

Camping

We camped at Beverly Beach last weekend with some friends. It was technically the "Ward Campout", but we barely saw anyone else from our ward. We have a great group of friends, with tons of littles to keep our kids entertained.

Our campground was, literally, Fern Gully. I forgot how the simplest things make kids the happiest. Camping was no different!

Awesome Tree Lady.

Tessa's true Oregonian layering is all the rage this fall.

Here are the kids climbing around Devil's Punchbowl.

The cool, mossy pools in the Bowl.

And, of course, surfing!

Back by popular demand...

This is what happens when Mom falls asleep, Emory decides to map constellations.

This is my personal favorite of Emory's creations:

one side of the paper is D'th Bear and the other is Facts About the D'th bear.

"The red part of D'th Bears face is it's mouth, which it uses to bite stuff. As soon as the rain touches it's skin, it turns into a box. The Mom Eyes, just like, kill the stuff that it sees. And the Dad Eyes, watch over the Baby Eyes that are on the tail. The Dog runs over to the toenails, and chews them off. He's thinking "!". The Cat runs to it's bottom, and a Baby Eye that's just born, and checks it. The little white Baby Eye, near the Poo Hole. Then the Cat runs to that Stinky Donut, eats it and dies."

Emory's poem for Adam, clearly a Bear theme going on here.

This is Tessa's latest letter to Adam.

Tessa said this in a fit of rage the other day. She was dead serious, and whisper/yelled it to Emory. "I wish you could get locked in an alligators mouth . . . and crunched . . . to death."

Emory and Tessa were playing pretend birds, pecking each other, and Emory said, "Hey Tessa, I just ate your Pecker off."

I was wearing a shirt similar to this and Tessa said, "Mom, you are looking gweat for Kawate (Karate)!" When I told her I don't do Karate she said, "It's okay, mom, go have fun with your Kawate fwiends!" It made me wish I had Karate Friends.

A ton of my friends are pregnant; cue my children's obsession with pregnancy and babies. Emory asked me, "What does breastfeeding feel like?" When I paused to think she suggested, "Tickling?" I wish!

We went to a favorite Thai restaurant that has an unusual Woodsman motif, saws and logging stuff all over the walls. (Only in rural, Oregon.) There was a particularly large saw hanging over our heads and when Tessa noticed it she ducked and whispered, "We're Suwounded."

Stuff

This is only 3/4 of my harvest this year, since I'm still doing blackberries. I think my Grandma will be great full for berry season to be over, since I send her a text and picture basically every other day, of my amazing picking! (Yes, my Grandma texts!)

Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Marionberries and Cherries.

More jam somehow got made and shoved into the freezer after this.

We picked these cherries for a really cool program called Salem Harvest. They were free, we just had to give half of what we picked to the Food Bank. This is our half, which I barely froze any of. I'm surprised we didn't have bowel issues!

We've been spending a lot of time at the coast; squeeze in the warm days while we can, I guess?

Cory has a new obsession . . . surfing.

Here he is learning.

Here he is mid-fall.

Here is his teacher.

Looking good! Plus, I love that lighthouse in the background.

The girls and I enjoyed the sun on the beach with our new friends. They moved into our ward a couple weeks after we did and we've quickly become Bosom Friends.

Merrick and Em.

Cory and Tyson, friend/surf instructor/reason-why-Cory-is-obsessed-with-surfing!

Cute girls Tessa, Emory, and Berkleigh.

Otter Rock, my favorite Oregon Beach thus far.

Cory thought he'd be funny and had me take this picture. He then photo-shopped it to look like he'd drawn a mustache and missing tooth on his friend's nice new bill board, welcoming him to his new Podiatric clinic. We think we're funnier than we are, cause when we sent them the picture, they thought we'd actually done it!

A different day at the coast and a different beach. People were scouring this beach for agate. Two seconds after this photo, the wave engulfed me. Not fun.

Tessa, of course, wanted a photo shoot. All the posing was her idea. She makes me laugh and scares me all at the same time.

Emory was content to play in the sand.