Kyle's 5th Birthday

Opening presents at 6:30 am on Kyle's birthday.   (Showing off his new remote- control car from grandma).

On November 10th, Kyle celebrated his 5th birthday.  It was actually more like "birthday week" for him, though, because we were celebrating it almost every day.  On Monday, for family home evening we went bowling for our activity, which was Kyle's choice, and kind-of for his birthday.  Tuesday I went to Kyle's preschool with him and brought cookies for his class and they sang to him.  He got to be the "helper" and wear a special birthday hat.   Wednesday was his actual birthday and we sang to him in the morning.  Daddy got up extra early and made everyone french toast, which was Kyle's choice for breakfast.   He also chose spaghetti for dinner that night.

Erika quizzing my parents with flashcards on their Vietnamese

Heidi and my Opa have a special bond.  
She loves to cuddle up to him. 

Erika with her great-Oma Erika

Later that evening, Oma and Opa Michel came to visit, as well as "great-Oma and great-Opa" (my dad's parents).   They stayed for dinner and played with the kids.    My parents have accepted a call to serve a mission in Vietnam.   They put their papers in this year and many of us were expecting them to be called to Germany or someplace similar where they both speak fluent German and were born there.   So, the call to Vietnam came as a surprise for most of us.  It is actually part of the Cambodia mission.

It is a welfare mission (no proselyting) and they are 2 of 8 missionaries in the entire country.  This will be  a challenge and adventure for them.  We will miss them a lot, but we are also so proud of them and thankful for the example they have set for us of service and obedience to the Lord's will.

Kyle trying out his new fishing gear he got from his Opa.  
He  just can't wait until he can go fishing with it!!

On Thursday we had a birthday party for Kyle with a bunch of neighbor friends.  I have found age 5 to be a fun age to do a party because the kids have made a few friends from the neighborhood and they get so excited about the smallest things.  It was a lot of fun!   We played a few simple games-  pin the nose on the clown, musical chairs, bingo, a pinata, and we also had cake and presents.  I love it because you don't have to do a whole lot and the kids have fun.  

Go, Erika!  She is really getting into it!

The birthday boy trying to hit the pinata.

I made Kyle a "Mater" cake, which is what he requested.  It was a little
tricky, and I only had limited time to do it, but it turned out okay.   

Blowing out his candle

We sure love our little boy!  He is growing up so fast and so much fun.  It is fun to watch him learn and make new friends.  He loves life and brings so much joy to our family.  

Halloween 2010

At Erika's school with some of her friends for the Halloween parade.  

All the kids getting ready to go trick-or-treating

We had a fun Halloween this year.   I took it a little easier on the costumes this year.  All I really had to make was the wig for Erika's costume.  She was "Jessie" from Toy Story.  Heidi wore the giraffe costume that Erika wore a long time ago, Jared wore the classic hot pepper costume Heidi wore 3 years ago, and Kyle, well, he just wore his pajamas  :)   I am not afraid to recycle!

Erika as Jessie from Toy Story

Kyle was Superman

What a cute little hot pepper!

We have a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating so that's what we do every year.  We go from house to house where there are a lot of good people we can trust.  We LOVE our neighborhood!!!  There are lots of young families with children.   We also enjoy all the kids who come in their costumes.

     Oma and Opa came up tonight to spend Halloween with the kids and go around the neighborhood.   The next day at church was our primary program, which I was leading the music for so they also got to be there for that.   We were so glad to have them come!!

 Heidi looks like she doesn't have a clue, but really, out of all the kids she was
 the most excited about trick-or-treating and candy and didn't want to stop!

School Days

August 28th was the big day for Erika.  She started 2nd grade.  She was really excited about school, but this was the first year she was also a little sad.  She had a fun summer this year and realized how nice summer can be.  She likes her new teacher and class this year.  One of her best friends last year isn't in her class, but she does pretty well adjusting and making new friends wherever she is.

Erika and her two friends Braxton and Lillie

Kyle started preschool for the 2nd year on Sept 1st.  He is in a different preschool with Mrs. Francom in Elwood, the same teacher Erika had 3 years ago.  He is really liking preschool and actually surprising us with his excitement for learning.  During the last 2 months, he has really picked up quickly on his letters and numbers and is writing a lot.  I am glad he will have this whole year to prepare for kindergarten.

Look at how small she looks in front of the school!

Heidi started preschool at the Early Learning Center in Corinne Sept 1st.  It was with mixed emotion that I dropped her off there.  She still seems so young to be going to preschool!!   Technically, she is only one year behind Kyle in school because they are only 18 months apart.  But, she has been behind Kyle in development and just doesn't seem ready.  I guess that's why she is going to this particular preschool where she qualifies for early intervention for kids who are behind developmentally.  They have a good program there and I was excited to have her start.  She has been my little buddy at home, though, and I would miss that.  She has been going to the center for 2 months now and I have been really pleased with her progress.  In the last month, she has started talking like crazy and expressing herself so much more!   We have all noticed a change.   I hope she continues to progress throughout the year.

Another nice thing about the Developmental preschool is that they have a bus pick her up and drop her off!    Heidi LOVES the bus.  When she is getting ready to go to school, she puts on her backpack and says "Bus, mom.  Go to school."  (Over and over and over...)

 

It has been nice for me to have some "quiet time" on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon when Heidi and Kyle are both at preschool at the same time.  It was weird the first day driving home with just me and Jared (But it was easy to get used to :)   During this "quiet time" I have been able to go to Erika and Kyle's schools and help out, which has also been a nice thing.  I am hoping to be a little more informed and involved in their schooling this year.

Our trip to Oregon

From August 17-22nd we took a trip up to Oregon to visit Aaron's brother and his family.  It was a lot of fun!  It was a long drive (about 12 hrs) so the first and last day were spent just driving. 

The first day, we went to the Oregon coast where we saw the Astoria column.  From the top, we enjoyed an amazing view of the Columbia River where you could see over to Washington.  It was so beautiful!  This is one of the places where Lewis and Clark explored along with many others.  

Enjoying the beautiful view of the Columbia River.
(The picture doesn't do it justice.)

We couldn't miss stopping to see the sea-lions out by the dock.   They are big and smelly but fun to watch!

After that, we headed to the beach where we enjoyed fairly nice weather.  We had to wear jackets and the water was really cold, but the skies were blue and it was beautiful!  Kyle had fun flying a "Lightning McQueen" kite.  

Amber and Tara catching the sun with their babes.  (Seaside beach)

We also went over to Canon Beach where we saw "Haystack Rock".  It was just a beautiful day!!

Aaron and Dave at Haystack Rock

At Canon Beach, we saw a few jellyfish that hat washed up onto  the shore.    This kind of spooked the kids a little as they didn't want to step on them.  They had a lot of fun splashing in the water and running from the waves. 

The next day, Friday,  after a round of golf for the guys, we had the chance to go berry-picking, which was a the top of the list for me.  I LOVE berries, and dream of having fields of them!!   We also realized why they cost so much- it is tedious work to pick them.  They were already pretty picked-over as we were late in the season there, but we still got a lot.  Aaron must really love me, because while I sat and nursed the baby in the shade, he continued to pick more berries for me so we could get alot.  I came home and made a bunch of my homemade raspberry jam.  

Heidi and Lincoln on the tire swing at the berry farm.  

 Friday night we went to the air show in Hillsboro which was simply amazing!!  We watched huge fighter planes take off.  It was pretty impressive to FEEL the power from yards away as they flew by.   Then we watched some stunt pilots do some amazing tricks.  There were planes all lit up in the night sky, some with fireworks coming out of their wings.  It was really cool!

Yes, that really is a person STANDING on top of the plane as it is flying!!

Kyle and Erika had fun with the ear-muffs that were supposed to be used to protect their ears from the noise. 

Saturday we visited the college where Dave goes to school.  It was neat to see where he spends a lot of his time.    Not too much longer and he will be practicing as an optometrist.  We are so excited for him!

We also went to the Portland Rose garden which was so beautiful!!  It reminded me a little of Alice in Wonderland for some reason.  It was a huge garden full of the most beautiful roses we'd ever seen, all types and colors.  We tried to get a good picture of our family here but it was a little tricky.  :)

On Sunday before church, I got a picture of Jared and Benson chillin'.  They are only a month apart and already have so much in common!  Two little cuties, with so much to talk about.

The kids also had a great time swimming in the pool at the hotel and playing at the park.  We are so grateful to Dave and Tara for showing us around and letting us spend time with them.  We had a wonderful time.

After church, we headed home.  To break up the drive, we stopped on the way at the Minnetonka falls, which is just right off the freeway.  It is a really pretty waterfall that is very, very long.  You can only see a small part in the picture.   

A Busy August

There are some other fun things that happened in the month of August that I am just getting around to writing about.  (I guess better late than never, huh?)

On August 8th we had a free weekend so we headed up to Promontory, Utah where we visited the Golden Spike Museum.   It was pretty neat!   It is only an hour away from our house and I really can't believe this is the first time we've been there after living here for 8 years!   

They did a reenactment of the Golden Spike where the two railroads met and even had the trains driving together.  The text from the reenactment was taken from the actual text of the ceremony.  They have a museum where we watched a few videos and looked at displays.  It was really educational.  

 The next weekend of August 14th we spent up at the cabin at Strawberry for the 1st annual Ollie Michel  reunion.  It was fun to spend time with my siblings and parents and just relax.  One highlight was the "treasure hunt" put together by Nathan and Jordan, who really went all out as you can see from the picture.  They all dressed up like pirates and found a treasure literally buried under ground.   In the box were a bunch of fun toys, games, and treats for the kids.  Thanks Nate and Jordan- you're awesome!

  On the way up to the cabin, we stopped in to visit my sister Amanda who had just had her baby that week.  His name is Gabriel John and he is a real cutie!!  We love you Amanda and hope that the adjustment to motherhood goes smoothly for you.

That Saturday after our visit to the cabin, we had a visit from our good friends, Andy and Sarah and their  4 beautiful girls.  It was so good to spend some time with them.  They announced that they will be moving to Georgia!!   We are excited for them, but also a little sad- we'll miss them and wish them the best.  

One of our big projects this summer has been putting together a swingset for the kids in the backyard.  We had to dig down over a foot and then put down weed barrier.  Then, we brought in a big dump truck full of sand.  On top of this we put the swingset which was an old one my brother gave us from one of his houses.  Aaron sanded it down and we painted it.  The kids love it and it is a great place for them to play!

This picture was taken the day we put the sand in, before we moved the swingset onto it.