Here are the kiddos all dressed up for Halloween. Lane was a scary ghoul, Meron was a flower, Shelby was Hannah Montana (of course!), and Ty was a werewolf. The boys had to hide their masks off to the side because everytime Meron would see them she would shriek in fear. I wasn't sure she was going to be too thrilled about her first Halloween, because at first it seemed like it was over-whelming and scary to her, until we got to the trick-or-treating part. It didn't take her long to catch on and like going up to the houses for a treat! After about five houses her litttle legs were worn out and she was happy to sit in the stroller and look at all of the other trick-or-treaters. Thank goodness she didn't see any scary ones. The boys went with some friends and of course came back with the old pillow case full of candy. They have enough sweets to last them for two years! And lucky for Shelby, Meron doesn't eat candy yet so she got all of hers, so she too has enough junk food to last for entirely too long! Anybody want any candy?
This summer we went to Utah to visit some of Brandt's family. It is so beautiful there. We had a great time seeing everyone.
We stayed with Brandt's cousin Annalyse and her family. We had such a great time with them. Their children are the same age as ours, and the kids had such a blast together. This is Shelby and Josie. Their second day together they siad, "Yesterday, we didn't really know each other and now we're like sisters!" Too cute!
This is Ty and Lane hanging out with Taylor and Brenden. I wish we all lived closer together. We always have such a good time getting together.
This is the whole gang together for a pool party.
Brandt's uncle and aunt took us on a hike up in the mountains to this beautiful waterfall.
At the car auction, Ty found his dream car, or one of many. :)
We also had the great opportunity to meet some new friends and celebrate the Ethiopian New Year, which is September 12th. My mother-in-law met a great couple from Ethiopia, that live in the area and she told them about Meron. They have several friends in the area that have also moved here from Ethiopia and on Ethiopian holidays they get together and have traditional celebrations. We were blessed that they invited us to come and celebrate with them. What a great gift! We plan on teaching Meron about her culture as much as we can. But being told about your culture and being able to experience it are completely different. In the above picture Shelby and Meron are joining in the traditional dancing. They did great, and loved it. I tried too, but have a feeling I wasn't that great at it!
This is a traditional coffee ceremony, she roasted the raw beans over fire. It smelled so good! Then she brewed it and served it with popcorn. When we were in Ethiopia, they served pocorn with your coffee everyday. It is kind of like desert. The coffee is sooo good. It is the only coffee I like black. If you like coffee, you should give Ethiopian coffee a try.
Maybe I put it in my nose.
Or was it for my head?
Oh yeah, I think it goes in my ear.
Here have a taste! She dug into a chocolate cake for her party.
She's got the cheese for the camera thing down pat!
Shelby had poetry for mom night at her school. All of the kids wrote poems about their moms, then took turns getting up and reading them in front of the parents. Very sweet.
Ty demonstrating some of his vertical ability. :)
Meron grew in her "fangs" before her upper middle teeth, which we thought was pretty appropriate considering she likes to scare people by saying "rraaarr".
Punk rock baby!
Lane had his fifth grade parents breakfast. They handed out awards to the students and showed a slide show from events during the year. It was a celebration of transitioning from elementary school to middle school in the fall. Where did the time go?
On the last day of school the kids get to have field day. They have fun events like water balloon toss, tug-o-war, sack races, etc.
