Back to school!

Today was a great day. My last child finally started school. It was so nice to be able to go to work without one or all of the kids in tow. Since I have been a slacker I decided I had better get the first day of school pictures up. So here goes:

• Madison started on August 18th. She was so excited to get back to school and she loves her teacher.

• Gabe started on the 19th of August. Gabe was a little nervous for all day school but he did so good. He also got a great teacher. We got lucky in that department this year.

• This is one of Gabes best friends, Kingi, from Kindergarten. As soon as he saw Gabe he came and gave him a great big hug.

• Last but not least, Eli started today, Sept. 3rd, at pre-school. He goes to the same pre-school he went last year. Eli was so excited to be "back-on-track". He thinks pre-school has tracks but it really doesn't. Shhhh, don't tell him!

Fun times! I am definitely relieved that summer is over and we can move on.

Jellystone

We went on our annual trip to Yellowstone this past weekend! We were affraid we might not make it this year because we were preoccupied with other events (Duh!). We had such a great time and got to see a lot of fun things. The kids loved sleeping in poppas motorhome. They fought over who got to sleep on the floor (only our kids would do that).


Here are a few pictures of the trip:

We went to Bear World. The kids loved it!






Sleeping bear...look at that tongue!


Baby bears.


This pig was named Annabelle. Everytime the kids would even get near her she would grunt. She was their favorite part of the whole trip!

Madison on her sign. We do this every year.

Old Faithful. Duh!

Eli was being his typical, uncooperative self.

Notice the name. He really thought there was a dragon in the hot pot that was going to eat him. He wouldn't go near it.

Eli was poppa's buddy.

And the token picture of the buffalo. Eli had a hard time saying it so he kept calling them "Buttafo". We liked saying that much better.

Here's to Yellowstone, next year!

Vocabulary Words

This summer we learned a lot of new words. From the time we got out of school on June 6th until we go back to school tomorrow we learned a whole bunch of new words. Some of the words we would rather not know. Others, I am so grateful I learned. Many of them, we knew but had never really learned until this summer. Here's the list:

• pancreatic cancer
• hospital
• stint
• biliary tubes
• family
• prayer
• love
• eternal families
• Fathers Day
• oncologist
• pain doctor
• the color purple
• Heavenly Fathers plan
• funeral
• viewing
• S*!t
• Wake
• No, OK, Any time.

Some of these vocabulary words won't make sense to some of you. But for the wonderful family I spent my summer with, they will understand. We will never forget these words. I am sure I missed a lot of words that could belong on the list but I will never forget this summer spent with such a wonderful family.

Feel free to remind me of some of the words I forgot!

Where's Eli?

Last week we had a little excitement around here. On Wednesday, after all of the funeral events, we decided we hadn't had enough of each other. The whole family came over to our house for dinner. We made Japanese food and Tempura. Yum! Did you know you can deep fry anything, including chocolate kisses?

After dinner, we cleaned up and everybody started heading home. First Keli, left. Then Jill. We sat and talked to Meg and Josh for another 15 minutes or so. During that time I said, "Where's Eli?" I just figured he was in the house getting into his PJ's. Why would I think that, I always have to force him to get in them?

Well, Meg and Josh left so we went into the house. No Eli. No Eli down stairs. No Eli in the backyard. Pretty soon we realize there is no Eli anywhere. Gabe told me that Carter told Eli to get in their truck. I thought there was no way because Jill would have seen Eli and brought him right back. Now it has been about 20 minutes since Jill left. Surely she would have seen Eli by now.

So I called Jill. I asked her if she had seen Eli. Her answer: "No, why?"

Me: "Are you serious?"

Jill: "Yes but let me go check!"

Turns out Eli was there. The kids snuck him into the truck and didn't say a thing. Jill even stopped and got gas on the way home.

I don't know how they did it but they got Eli to be quiet that whole time. I want to know their secret because I can't ever shut the kid up.

We are glad to have Eli back but if anybody ever wants to kidnap him again, just tell us first!

It's never easy to say Goodbye

When you say goodbye to someone, you usually expect to see them again. Maybe, tomorrow or in a month or year. But you usually see them again. We had to say goodbye to an amazing woman. Troys mom, my second mom, my kids Nunny, Paula, passed away after a courageous fight with pancreatic cancer. She was such an inspiration to so many people. We had to say goodbye and know that we would not see her again.

I just want to say Thank You to so many people who have helped us out during this difficult time. We have had so many tender mercies rendered on our behalf by so many people. So....Thank You!

Thank goodness we know that our Goodbye's are not forever. We will see her again but until that time we hope to always have her presence with us and to never forget her example.



We love you Nunny, can't wait to see you again!

If you would like to read more about this amazing woman please visit our Cancer Sucks blog at http://www.paulanoorda.blogspot.com/.

Mamma Mia! Or not

Before this crazy summer started I had the opportunity to go to Mamma Mia in Las Vegas. It was a girls night out on the town. We had such a great time. Seven of us crammed into one car teaching Nunn new words and June's ears are probably still burning. Anyway, we went to Mamma Mia and it was so fun.

Since then I have been so excited to see the movie. Yesterday, Keli asked me to go with her and her mother-in-law to see it. We took the girls and went to the movie. It was definitely not as good as the play. It was pretty cheesy! When Pierce Brosnan would open his mouth to sing the whole audience would start laughing. What's sad is that it wasn't during a funny part of the movie.

Who out there has seen the movie? And what did you think? Did you laugh at Pierce too?

Thank's to Keli for inviting me to go. However, I would suggest a short 6 hour drive to Las Vegas to see the play instead.

Things we love about Nunn

In the last four weeks there has been a lot to happen in our family. What has taken over our lives is that our Nunny is sick. Cancer is a vicious mean disease that can ruin people. In our family it has definitely brought us closer. We want to spend every minute together.


I decided I wanted to find out what my kids love about their Nunny. I don't want to dwell on the cancer but on the things she has taught us and given to us that we will never forget. Here are a few of the things my kids mentioned with a few of my own:

• Uno Games...Gabe loves to play uno with Nunn. Whenever I would go to pick the kids up they would be playing uno with Nunny.
• Sequence...She wouldn't always let Eli get the dragon. She played by the rules.
• Reading books...Especially Spooky Old Tree. I loved to watch her read this to the kids. She even made them get the shiverings! She is the best at reading books because she knows how to cut out the boring parts and the story still sounds good. The kids never even notice.
• Cookie drawer...bottom right hand drawer in the kitchen. Everybody knows where this is.
• Treat shelf...there is always something chocolate on the treat shelf in the fridge. She always has it stocked with yummy treats.
• Backyard...The kids love her backyard. The huge sandbox (with water), the swingset and swimming pool. She always has something fun for the kids.
• Going to McD's...She would take them to get cinnamelts and cookies for a late breakfast.
• Love...My kids always knew that she loved them. She always told them and they will always know that.Nunny's food...The kids mentioned her open face cheese sandwiches, enchiladas, augratin potatoes and her homemade chicken noodle soup. I don't make any of these quite like Nunn.
• She always knows what to say in any situation. Whether it be good or bad she always has the best advice.
• Fun Girl trips...Just in the last year we went to Seattle and Chicago. We always have so much fun. The picture up above is from Seattle.
• My favorite saying from her is: "This too shall pass."

Thanks Nunny for being such a great influence on our lives. We love you soooo much!