and so it begins

The beginning of the school year feels more like a time I should set "New Years" resolutions than it does in January. One thing on my list is starting a new praise system for the kids, which I still need to finalize. I have had a terrible itch to decorate or something around here but since we are moving soon that doesn't make much sense. Perhaps it's the fall weather we are having that is making me feel like a change. I guess I'll have to settle on purging and cleaning.

We had a short Sunday again (30 min.) and then T-man headed off to clean out some flood damaged houses. It is very cool to have the ward come together in such a physical and spiritual way all in the name of service. He came home dirty and smelling rotten from the slimy mud he was shoveling. He enjoyed helping out.

Little A just had a check up and came in weighing 17.7 lbs putting her in the 25-50% and measuring 30 1/4 inches and in the 95-97%


First day of 2nd grade
First day of preschool. Gracie is attending preschool twice a week run by four other ladies and myself (mommy preschool).
This is their cute attendance sign. She is so happy and excited to be going to "school."

Gracie was pretty worn out last week with her new school schedule. She and Letty also started gymnastics once a week, they love it! Especially since two of their friends are in it also. Gracie has always been my sleeper. She was the weird baby who would go to her crib and say "nigh nigh" as she would peer in. This little girls just crashes wherever and whenever its convenient.
The girls had a special treat on Friday when they got to go with Dad on a Father/Daughter camp out, good times!

Restoration

Palmyra, New York-

We enjoyed a fabulous Labor Day weekend in upstate New York joined by K-Rae, visiting church history sites and witnessing the raw and mighty power of Niagara Falls. Completely by Chance Pika and Pato were headed there as well so it made for a mini family reunion.


We visited Sis. Lovell while there and found her to be her wonderful personable and lovable self. True to her calling and in a very thoughtful way she issued challenges to each of us to teach, invite, fellowship and share the message of the Savior. We love our sister and aunt.



Niagra Falls (Canadian side which is by far the nicer side)

Beautiful, Awesome and inspiring Niagara Falls, taken on the Maid of the Mist
It turned out to be a rather hot afternoon, so the mist was refreshing.

Just outside the Sacred Grove, such a beautiful place.

PS. A is now crawling. Watch out world!

Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Giant catipillars! Oh my!

Irene passed through today and fortunately we weathered it very well. While we were dumped on with rain, we have seen very little damage due to the winds.

At about 2am we saw that the canals near our home have overflown and were flowing through our yard. Some of that carried on into the morning as you can get the feeling for in these pictures. However at night, the view from the back yard was a lake that only ended half way up our neighbor's driveway.



Backyard view of the lake and Giles home.

Lovell home premier of the The Little Red Hen.

It's amazing the things you'll find under your couch. Little A is getting ready to crawl. She needs to so that she stops scooting herself backward into tight spots. :)

I'm not sure what allure a gigantic hungry caterpillar has to a child, but despite the odd sight of it, Letty seemed to like it and Gracie at least tolerated the visitor to the Pottery Barn Kids story hour.

She did it!

She conquered her fears and finally rode on her own! We are very proud of the hard work Letty has put in to be able to ride without training wheels. She was VERY happy!

An afternoon at the community pool. Baby LOVES the water.
An interesting expression in the middle of a happy squirm
My babysitter while I was making dinner
A lovely and very talented seamstress in our ward is teaching a Mom and daughter sewing class. Letty really enjoys it. She very frequently asks me, "when do we have sewing class?" We have only had one class because our teacher got sick but she should have three more. I thought she was too young to use the machine, but what do I know?

Disney fun and more...

So we decided to make a "jaunt" over to California to visit S's family. What our kids didn't know was that we would be making a pit stop at Disneyland first. We stayed our first night in a nearby motel with an adjoining room that, unbeknown to both our girls, connected to the room of their Lake cousins(who arrived late at night). The next morning when a knock came at the adjoining door, Letty was so surprised that she bolted to her feet. Unfortunately she happened to be under a cabinet and hit her head pretty well. Poor girl, she didn't want to see anyone after that. Still after seeing her cousin, she ran and gave her a big hug! They didn't know Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt J were coming until they showed up in Disneyland. The girls had a great time with their cousins and the rest of T-man's family. We had a great time surprising them!

The six Lovell grandgirls at Minnie's house in Toon Town.


Of course, no Disneyland family trip is complete without a picture in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. By the way, I was surprised to see that inside the castle is no fairy tale, its dark and filled with Maleficent demons... enter carefully and keep small children close by.

Letty and Gracie with cousins Curly and Lou


La Jolla beach near San Diego. T-man with the girls.


Solider Letty at the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center. A very cool experience. The church has done a very nice job of restoring and upgrading this center into an interactive experience.

Most memorable moment - the Lake baby ejecting an entire bottle of milk onto the floor.


The adults enjoyed a nice relaxing authentic Mexican dinner in old town San Diego while Grandpa sat with the girls.

"Aren't I cute?"


Watching the killer whales at Seaworld. For this show we needed to cool off so hung out in the shade of the walkway.

The Lingerfelt portion of our trip:
Great Grandma Lingerfelt - 95 years old and still sharp!

Gracie flying a kite at Grandma Lingerfelt's


And Letty helping out. It was a great day for kites. We enjoyed awesome weather our entire trip!
S's good friend Jen, expecting her first baby soon. S has been friends with the Balverts since she was a baby.

Visiting S's adopted Godmother, Rose.
What a great friend, Campbell came over from the bay area to see us.

Grandpa and Grandma Lingerfelt


"Don't laugh, we're working on starting a new trend." Letty and cousin Joshie coloring 3D pictures during Julia's birthday party.


"Oh! Pick me! Pick me!" Letty, Gracie and cousin Julia.


The Lingerfelt grandchildren. Our kids with Joshie, Jared and Julia.

A super fun trip on both ends, yeah for family!!

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Catching up

Happy Happy Birthday Letty (on the 5th). My little toothless ball of energy is 7! How is that possible? She enjoyed her 7 balls of ice cream that got plopped in her root beer float (her requested treat) yum and super easy :) We love you Letty!! Thanks for being you.



So on her birthday she decided to donate



12 inches later...
Her new cute is darling thanks to my friend Becky

Gracie couldn't miss out on the action, although I wouldn't let her go short.Happy 4th!

We had a great BBQ with our friends the Robinsons and Giles. We love you guys!