We have a "playdate"

Which at our house seems to be where you invite some people over so that they can catch a cold from you...
Here is Zach Owen
Josh
Feeling a little shy about getting photographed.
And Martha and Caitlyn.
We had a small playdate, when we invite everyone in the field we have about 15 kids..which is a LOT for my house. We will try to plan a large playgroup soon. And about 2 hours before the playgroup Alexa started sneezing and her nose started running. I should have cancelled I suppose, but we had occupational therapy right before playgroup and I was too busy to think things through very well. Alexa ran a fever Thursday night, I was sick by Saturday. Josh and Zach were sick by Sunday, and Cherie, Owen and Caitlyn were missing from gospel meeting, so maybe we got them too..
I can't believe Alexa started school only a few weeks ago and we have already gotten the first cold. I expected the incidence of colds to be much lower this year since it is her second year of preschool.

OH-I forgot the big news. I am an auntie again. My brother Cody and his wife Chloe welcomed their third child into the world Friday. A baby girl named Avalon Joy. I haven't seen any pictures yet, but I am hoping soon!

The joy of taking out the trash.

Never diminishes

Are these people related to me?

I must face the fact that yes, this is Auntie Carolyn. We love her just the way she is..We had birthday dinner for Carolyn up in Salem yesterday. And today is our 6th anniversary. Alexa got glasses to correct an astigmatism. She seems to see better with them, and she leaves them on better than we expected her to.
David and I spent 4 hours Friday and 4 more Saturday at a class about international adoption. It was very helpful and informational. It is one of the requirements for international adoption. We are still in the process of getting all the paperwork done for the home study.
(Isn't she adorable in those glasses?)

Wagons and Blackberries

Sorry to have been absent from blogging for a week and a half. Things get so busy around here. This weekend we were home and got some things done. While David was weeding outside, Alexa took her wagon for a walk. She walked about four houses down and never looked back, despite the fact that we were yelling at her to come back. She stays on the sidewalk the whole time, she just doesn't seem to worry about getting far from us. We now have to work on teaching her the boundaries of our yard. Later we went to the park and pulled Alexa around on her scooterboard. She loves this so much.

And yesterday we went to Camp Adair to pick apples. There are a lot of apple trees there, but the ones we found were covered in blackberry bushes. We still managed to get enough apples for another batch of applesauce. Then we picked blackberries, and after initial skepticism, Alexa decided she like them.
Of course, this meant that we got home with about 15 blackberries because she could eat them faster than David and I could pick them.
And her shirt got stained, so we took it off. She was a very purple girl!

The first day of school

Alexa's first day of school was yesterday. She had her new backpack on and a big bag of school supplies. (a bag of pull-ups, 2 boxes of Kleenex, a couple boxes of snacks, and that is just the first load!)
This is pretty much how she feels about school. I am not sure who is more happy about school starting-but I am excited too!
The note that came home in her backpack from her teacher said "Alexa had a great day. Was very happy, and too happy to eat snack, so she may be hungry." Have you ever been too happy to eat?

Cousin Jamie's 8th Birthday Party.

Well we took another flying trip this weekend. We left on Sunday after meeting and drove to Seattle, picked Holly up from the airport and stayed overnight for Jamie's 8th birthday party. His birthday is actually today, but the party was yesterday. Here is the sister Sophia with a birthday hat. Those are candles sticking off the top. The cake was a train and was really cute. The party was at a park, which usually would have been perfect, but it was a little cold yesterday, and for some reason the bathrooms were locked. Holly and I got Starbucks on the way to the party, so you can imagine our desperation three hours later. Alexa fell asleep and took a nap on a pile of coats on the ground, but she did enjoy the first hour of the party.
There was a pack of boys running around, I think Jamie had fun. He is such a good kid. He is kind to his friends and appreciative of his gifts. He even sat and talked to me for a while when we first got there while all his friends were running around playing..
Then we drove back home last night. Alexa was so good in the car. She didn't nap during the drive because of the nap during the party, but she didn't whine hardly at all. She sat looking out the window quietly. We got home at about 10 last night. Alexa starts school today. We are pretty excited about that. Last week when we went to the school to register she was so happy. She kept laughing and bouncing around. Her teachers and all the aides love her because she is so happy and joyful to be at school.