Go Cougs

Soooo this may be my longest absence from the blog - whoops. Good news is that life kept going and we kept track along the way. Football season was a blast - there was lots of fun, good wins, late nights, new friends, and so much more!

Baby Shower and Moses Lake Fair

Over fair weekend in August, I hosted a triple baby shower - that's not a mommy expecting three babies, but three mommies expecting 1 baby each! Jared's sister and 2 cousins are all expecting within weeks of each other. We are getting our first niece and the other two cousins are having boys - a nice change for the one who already has a girl and the other cousin, Whitney, is having her first. We are incredibly excited to meet each of these little ones in just a few weeks!!

Sisters - Becky and Ashley

Sisters - Courtney, Caitlin, and Christine

Mamas - Whitney (boy), Ashley (girl) and Courtney (boy)

Whitney and her mama Laurie

Ashley and her mama Cindy

Courtney and her mama Angie

Kids roaming the yard in the powerwheel

Whit's girlfriends

Of course, if you're in Moses Lake over fair weekend, then you must go to the fair. The kids ate spaceburgers which is impressive since they had 'salad' (lettuce) in them. And of course we found Nana Cindy's niche in the floral building. We also got to catch up with friends and make the most of a busy weekend!

 

petting the bunny

Ryan was not too excited to take a picture with Sydney

The Helvy fam eating a lion ear

We even found the Baker fam! These boys are too busy to take pictures.

Baby Ethan even woke up for a pic!

 

First day of Pre-K

Ellie moved to the 4's room (Pre-K) at daycare following the Labor Day holiday. She's been looking forward to this all summer! She was thrilled for her first day when it finally arrived and has been doing fantastic per her teachers. Its even obvious at home because she's so exhausted in the evenings. The biggest change - no more naps. She still occasionally takes them at school when she wants, but she was really struggling when she had to in the 3's room, so it was time to move away from them.

New Car!

After 5 years with our Acura TL we had to finally get rid of her. She was horrible, if not impossible, to drive in the snow. Plus with a dog these days, we need to be able to get her around if we don't have the truck (lesson learned from last year's accident with the truck).

We purchased a Toyota Highlander and love it! We've had it about a month now and the kids love it - Ellie tells everyone "we got a new car, and it has cup holders!!" Which is a change for her since she can actually reach them. We have already taken advantage of the third row for extra company, although its down most of the time.

McKinstry Picnic

McKinstry does a summer family picnic every year. This year they hosted on a weeknight and did a carnival theme. Which was funny since the kids had done a carnival earlier that same day at school with almost the exact same activities! They still had a blast and even got their faces painted!

Ryan picked "Jake" or pirate from Jake and the Neverland Pirates (Disney show)

Butterfly Ellie

 

Ryan loved the cotton candy and probably ate two sticks worth!!

Friends Birthdays

So after a year at the new daycare we finally attended the first friend's birthday party. It was at Chuck E Cheese which was also a first for us. It took Ellie quite some time to get comfortable there and with the rides. And she and the birthday girl were totally petrified of Chuck E Cheese (the b-day girl accidently put her foot in the side of her cake trying to climb up her mom to get away from him).

Can you tell Ellie is totally freaked out in this truck that literally moves back and forth?

All smiles later!

Hot Cocoa Cup ride with the birthday girl, Memphis (middle) and another friend.