Reid and Stefani Adopt

Esther has turned 9.  One more year until she breaks double digits.  We were in Houston for her birthday, so we had to keep it on the down low.  My mom made her a cake, since our air b'n'b didn't have a big enough pan to cook a cake in handy. We also forgot that we had no matches or lighters, seeing how none of us smoke.  So we had to hold a candle to the stove and hope it got hot enough to light.  It did.  Crisis averted.   She was able to spend all day at the children's museum in Houston, which she loved.  She didn't get most of her presents until we got home, but we hit the target when we got her a plush lizard that zipped open and was full of  baby lizards.  We also got her an animal anatomy coloring book, which she also loves.  Our money is on her she becoming a veterinarian.     Most of Esther's presents were on their way via Amazon to our house, so I bought her a Kinder Egg to open. It was a bunny. Esther's bir...

 Happy Belated Thanksgiving!  We took our crew to Houston, TX for a week to visit with my parents.  They are on a mission for our church right now preserving family history records by scanning them and making them searchable by computer.  They literally spend all day scanning page after page of books.  It's boring work, but if you can find your ancestors through these books, it's worth it. Anyway, I will just tell about each picture as it popped up since I have no desire to try and organize our week.   On the train at the Houston Zoo. That was Wednesday,  November 23rd.  Houston's Wall of Water.  Basically a very tall manmade waterfall.  That was Thanksgiving Day. Houston's Museum of Natural History. Tuesday, November 22nd. Houston's Museum of Natural History. Tuesday, November 22nd. Houston Zoo. Wednesday. Houston's Museum of Natural History. Tuesday, November 22nd. Houston's Museum of Natural History. Tuesday, Novem...

 Our church sponsored a mother daughter campout for all the units in our stake.  It was full of Esther catching lizards and grasshoppers, experimenting on beans, checking out giant spiders, feeding horses, and enjoying the "water slide" at the camp.  I also got a nice tree climb in right before we had to leave.  I'm glad I have a daughter that is okay with wildlife and wilderness.   View in a tree looking up. This is my sacred space.  The spider that we couldn't ignore it was so big.  Esther feeding the horses grass.  We tried 3 times to see them, and finally they were next to the fence.  Esther was elated! Esther's mudstache. Proof that I was there too.

 Here is another little gem.  Isaac was actually trying to cross the ball to his friend so he could score, but ended up scoring himself.  Isaac is in the white shirt that says #10.  

 Here are some new family photos for your enjoyment.

 Can you believe my firstborn is in 5th grade?! On the first day of school, they literally biked away without me!  They were chomping on the bit to get to school. Isaac also made the news. I wish I had footage of it! The news people showed up in the school parking lot on registration day and filmed the kids as they were walking into school. 

 This past Wednesday we went to the beach for the last time during their summer break. It just happened to be the one day this summer that there were jellyfish all over the place. Luckily they had no stingers.  And they really do feel like jelly. At the end of the day, we took a picture of all those who were regulars every Wednesday at beach day. Apparently Esther was way down the beach looking for seashells. So, not pictured. 😕

Isaac is 10!  Double digits, baby.  It's hard to fathom, really.  This year it was all about soccer.  He wanted to play soccer for his birthday, with his soccer team, and have soccer cake. He got a full sized soccer goal outside in the back yard to play with, which he PROMISED he would use every day for 15 minutes.  😏 Guess who hasn't played soccer on his new goal every day for 15 minutes....      The boys hanging around with red faces after playing soccer in the heat. The balloons kept popping and scaring all the guests. Dad made this cake.  I ain't claiming it.  I don't even know how to draw lines on a soccer field correctly.