Trip to Sandpoint, Idaho

Wow, this is an official photo dump. Out of 309 pictures, I present roughly 10%, or 32 pictures. 

The kids in the Life Flight helicopter. Hopefully this is the only time they will ever be in it. 

 Isaac lost his second tooth! On August 5th. This time he did not swallow it and he put it under his pillow. The tooth fairy gave him $1. 

 Now the rest of the pictures are of our trip to Sandpoint, Idaho. It was kind of for Taj's wedding, but technically only Nana and Boompa were invited to the the actual wedding. We crashed the pancake breakfast the next morning and besides we had lots of fun on and around the lake.

 Getting ready to go on the pontoon boat.

 On the pontoon boat, on Lake Pend Oreille.

 Auntie Anna wanted to jump in with Sonia.

 This is how Sonia felt about that.

 Of course Boomps and I did what we do best. Eat the snacks.

 Beautiful Nana.

 We took turns riding on the inner tube/flotation thing. It was fun!

 The next morning we went to church.

 Then, we crashed the pancake breakfast. The kids played in the sand and water. 

 We went to a family festival to meet up with some other cousins later in the day.

 Nana got some pictures of London and Pinja. They are just about the same size with their cute blonde hair!

 On the way back there was a beautiful sunset on the Columbia River Gorge! We got out and took some pictures.

I love a good family vacation! 

a new year

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but it's been hard since losing Uncle Greggy. But, it's a new year and we should probably at least record some things. 

We went to Seattle for New Year's - Sonia stayed up 'til 1:30 a.m. Isaac fell asleep at 10. Here is Sonia wishing Isaac happy New Year!

 and a new year's kiss

 Sonia and I partied pretty hard, but we were still with it enough that we dropped the boys back off at our friend's house, then went to Mass first thing (well, 9 am, but that's first thing for New Year's day) and afterwards we went to Krispy Kreme to get ourselves some doughnuts. Look at that little cute, funny face.

 That evening we went over to Fantastic Aunt Kathy's and had an awesome dinner with cousins. We got to see cousin Katie too, which is a rare occurrence, so that was fun! Pat and Mike were both there too, and Mike's kids too. Sonia, however, unfortunately slept most of the party, so she didn't get to play with anyone. Isaac and Louisa had fun playing together though.

 Then of course we went back home. Isaac got Rascal the rabbit for two days (stuffed rabbit they send home from his class) so we took some pictures of him with it.

Of course when Sonia and I got  home, Sonia claimed the rabbit as her own and wouldn't give it back.

That actually pretty much sums it up. Sonia is 2. Isaac is in kindergarten. There really isn't much else you need to know. That tells you a lot!

Lydie and September

Well, it's about time we have a brief update before September passes us by without a blog update! (haha, I guess it did. October too. Wow.)

The big thing this month has been Lydie, one of Isaac and Sonia's tanties, coming to visit us! We have been pretty busy each weekend and working during the week. The first weekend we went to Central Oregon to our very good friend Craig and Lisa's wedding, then went by Crater Lake.

The second weekend, we went to Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel. Ignore my face. The chicken was really good.

Then we went to the Portland Zoo.

Then Lydie went to Newport for two days with my family.

 (Photo by London)

The next weekend we went to Seattle (almost immediately after we picked up Ibrahim, Papa's nephew). Obviously the goal was to show Lydie as many places as possible in one month. :) We stayed with a friend from Burkina who we have been meaning to see for awhile, (but we have always cancelled our trips because, well, things come up...) Victorien and his family.

 Funny story - the sandals I am wearing in this picture broke while we were in Seattle. I bought them about 2 years ago when Isaac and I were visiting Seattle and the only pair of sandals I had brought broke. I guess they just wanted to make it back to Seattle before giving out on me.

We got to see Victorien's daughter play in her soccer game too, and on the way back, got to stop by a birthday party for Auntie Fritz and meet Uncle Doug, Great Aunt Christy and Great Aunt Kathy and Great Uncles John and George in one fell swoop. So, it was a nice, although exhausting weekend. Driving tires me out and we couldn't quite fit everyone in one car so we took two. 

The next weekend was special because it was the wedding reception of one of my best childhood friends and bridesmaids, Chel, and her new husband Kai! Many happy years to you two! They are a ridiculously good-looking couple. :) Apparently, though, I did not get a flattering picture of them. Don't worry, I didn't overdo it and ruin all their wedding photos with the flash. Just the three I tried didn't turn out well enough to put here.

They had the reception at a neat location where I didn't have to worry about the kids getting run over if they ran off :) and they had a special play area just for the kids too. The ArtFarm Barn in Seal Rock. Artsy.

I felt kind of dumb because I told Auntie Anna that it would be fine to leave London with us and she could go home to study, then London had a total meltdown and we almost had to leave early. Next time I will NOT do that if it is near bedtime.

We loved having you here, Tantie Lydie!

Sonia still asks, "Where's Tantie Lydie?"  She will actually answer her own question now. "She's in Burkina."