New Vehicle!

A super long time ago (or at least, it feels that way) we purchased a vehicle to replace the "Man Van". 

It was time. Was the van practical? Yes. But did Nik and I love it? No. There were other reasons too.

As you know, Nik is always searching for vehicles. We had narrowed it down to two different ones, and the Nissan Murano won!

I introduce you to our new (to us) vehicle....

If you want more details than I gave - text Nik. I don't even know the year - haha!

Three Things

Here is a little family update for you!

Zane

With Zane now being in first grade, he was able to participate in something special our church does for kids entering first grade. They call it "Promotion Sunday". On this particular Sunday - each first grader (and parents) are asked to stand in front of everyone, on the stage. They are presented with a new Bible and the parents are given an opportunity to speak a blessing over their child (not mic'd - just between the parents and the kid). It was super sweet and Zane is so excited about his new Bible! The other day we were in the car and he was "reading" his Bible out loud (he does not read, but was flipping pages and re-telling a Bible story). 

 

Zane is still Mr. Social! He loves to play with friends, and asks to play with friends all.the.time. He even has a new friend in our neighborhood we just discovered. Between all his friends on our street Zane is not home very often. And neither are his socks, shoes, bike, or toys (as he often leaves them somewhere in our neighborhood). Funny story, one night a neighbor was out on a walk and they dropped off Zane's bike. They said they found it in their yard (but no Zane). Haha!

Zane is signed up to play flag football again and is pumped. He had to miss his first practice this week because he was up the night before - throwing up. Poor kid. He was feeling better the next day, but was still lathargic. Don’t worry - I'll post all the cute pics of him in his jersey. And no - I'm not coaching this year! Actually, Jaxen's flag football coach will also be coaching Zane's team!   

 

Jaxen

Jaxen is now involved in what our church calls "Dig 56". It's basically like a pre-youth group. He is still technically in Children's Sunday School and Wednesday night classes - but this Dig 56 group does some other special activities... hang out's every other month, a retreat, a missions trip.... so Jaxen is super excited to get involved in all that! His first hang out is this Friday. 

Jaxen thinks fifth grade is turning out to be pretty cool (so far). He is really loving all the extra curricular activities… he will start "Safety Patrol" in the mornings next week; he will be involved in Math Club every Tuesday; Special Chorus…. and he is also is interested in the Band/Orchestra! The school spends a lot of time with the kids teaching them about instruments and helping them choose what will be best for each of them. We also attended an event at the high school where he got to talk to students and see them play the instrument, ask questions and even try some of them out. Currently - he is between picking the trumpet or cello. Stay tuned!

 

Jaxen has also signed up to play flag football again this year. He had a really good first practice and he is now ready for his first game - haha! The "tackle" games have already started in our neighborhood in the evenings.

Carla

Allergy season has hit me hard - with hives. Yikes! They come and go but are super annoying, painful at times, itchy always…. I am on some medication right now that seems to be helping. I sure hope they go away soon though. This is not fun.

As most of you know, I have been deep in the migration of one of our main systems at work for the past year. Well - it is officially "live" now. We made it. It was a very exhausting road though...and is still a bit bumpy and at times very stressful. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel - finally! 

I will also start traveling some for work. I am taking two trips this year - one, to Portland, OR for a fundraising event and then to Nampa, ID for a Board of Director's Meeting. It has been a while since I traveled for work so I am having to get all my "travel" items and learn how to pack in just a carry on again!  

Nik

Our grill/smoker has been giving us fits so Nik purchased a new one this week (on clearance!). I mentioned to him that we could learn how to live with out a grill and Nik did not agree - haha! I'm glad... because I really don't want to live in a world without grilled food! Ignore my very dirty back porch - it needs to be swept and power washed. One day. It is on the list!

This past weekend Nik dragged the family out to KC's Ethinc Entrichment Festival and it was really neat! I say “dragged” because no one else wanted to go! They had so many booths setup giving information, selling goods/food from a particular country. They also had little passports that the kids could get signed in all the different countries. They had a stage setup where people played/danced from different countries - we heard bagpipes, saw hula dancers, and few other ethnic dance groups. It was packed and the lines were long but it was still fun! Nik lived his best life eating from the Bangladesh booth (chicken 65 and butter chicken) along with drinking a mango lassi and then having a few dolmades from Greece. The boys enjoyed sno-cones and the kids music station where they could try out a few different instruments. 

 

And lastly... we have family coming to see us over the next few months - we are looking forward to time with them!

 

Comparison

Oops - I forgot to post this last week!

 

 Look at Zane from last year to this year...

 

and Jaxen...

 

They both have grown so much!

 

I have a post coming (hopefully soon) of all the things the boys have been up to lately - so stay tuned!

Back to School

It's school time!

The boys had their first (1/2) day today and all went well! 

On Monday we were able to go into the school, find classrooms, meet teachers and drop off school supplies. I know some parents don't like that and do not participate - but I think it is super helpful. One reason being the kid does not have to lug all the supplies to school on the first day - especially since it is more that what can fit in a backpack! And most important, I think, is that it's gets the kids a bit more excited! Once they see their friends (and for my boys, their lockers) - they are all smiles. 

See what I mean?

And here is the official 1st day of school pics....

They both really had a great day! Although, I think Zane is becoming shy. It's hard for me to imagine my kids being shy but recently I have noticed that Zane does not want too much attention pointed at him. Here is what caught my attention - Zane's teacher sent home a bag with each kid on Monday and asked that they place 3 items in that bag that tells something about them. When I asked Zane to get his items together he hesitated and told me he did not want to do it. So much so, that I ended up picking out 3 items and placing them in his backpack. I told him I did it, but let him know he could tell his teacher if he really did not want to participate. Guess what? After school I asked him about it. And he DID NOT participate. So weird, right?! 

Zane also has not wanted to wear glasses... for months now! We cannot get him to wear them. I think he is just self-conscious and does not want to draw attention to himself. We can all relate in some way, right?! Haha! That's a problem for another day...

Anyway - happy first day of school to my boys!

P.S. Yes, Zane has green hair. On purpose. 

Zane’s Best Life

Guess who missed Jaxen the most while he was away at camp? Zane. But don’t worry - Zane was living his best life every evening - at the POOL! Zane wants to go to the pool everyday - Jaxen does not. It’s been a bit of a struggle this summer. But when Jaxen left for camp (Sunday afternoon) - we hit up the pool. Then again Monday and Tuesday nights. 

My view most of the time…sitting in the shade watching Zane do tricks... or reading a book.

He will talk me into throwing him in the pool or throwing the football at least for awhile :)

It’s really sad he has no personality! 

Jaxen at Camp

Two weeks ago, Jaxen was away at our church’s District Kids Camp. He went for the first time, last year and was really looking forward to going back.

Here are some pics I received…

And that afternoon, we had an errand to run and this is what Jaxen looked like:

Haha!

This past Tuesday, the kids were invited to the opening service of our District Assembly to sing one of their camp songs. Jaxen was ready to go!

It’s really hard to pick him out unless you know exactly where he was standing - but look at that huge group of kids singing!!

Jaxen (and now Zane) are already talking about going next year!

Life Lately

Here is a peak at a little life lately…

We hit the road over the July 4th weekend to see some grandparents!

 

While there, we hit up a splash park one afternoon.

I love watching my boys do things they love. This summer it has been basketball. I have been watching this particular team (Jaxen’s) for a few years now and I am so proud of every single one of them! So far this summer season, they are undefeated. Only 3 more games!

The boys and I went to watch a baseball game one night. The team we were watching had 2 kids on it from Jaxen’s basketball team and one other kid we knew. It was a beautiful night for a ball game. Plus I met some new people!

I have started working from home 1-2 days a week and so I decided to set up my home office downstairs (away from the noise of my boys during the summer!). Please notice the colorings Zane added to my space.

Here I am, after my birthday wearing a new nail polish and smelling my new candle, while working in a sweatshirt (because downstairs was nice and cool)!

Jaxen has been trying out photography lately and having a great time taking shots and making mini-movies.

Lastly, some of my co-workers went on a trip to West Africa. This is one of the pictures we received - a  showing of the movie JESUS, to the locals. This is the ministry I work for! The vision is to give every person an opportunity to hear about Jesus. How cool, right?!