12 years ago.....

12 years ago my life changed forever.....never to go back to the way it was.  It was a day that my sweet baby girl came into my life.  She was adorable and perfect!  Alan and I had never experienced that depth of love until that day.

Hannah is smart, funny, happy, talented, kind, thoughtful, loving, helpful, beautiful and is blossoming into such a lovely women.  What a joy she has been to our lives! 

I love you Hannah!  You have given my life meaning and purpose....Thank you for sharing your light with me and everyone you meet!

First Day of School

Eden and Miriam wanted in on the action too!

 My school kids are growing up!  Joseph is in 2nd, Peter in 4th, Hannah in 6th!  And yes I cut Peter's hair....yes it is a mohawk....yes it will be cut before church on Sunday!

 Taking our secret gate!!  Thanks Alan for installing it....so much time has been saved by having it!

 This year Hannah is old enough to be a crossing guard and she couldn't be more thrilled!  She takes her job very seriously!

Home again....home again...jiggity jig!!

Old Composers

During lunch today Hannah (11) was explaining that they don't use 1/16th notes in music anymore.

"So if you hear one, you are probably listening to really old music by Beethoven, Mozart ... or Shakespeare."

First Day of School!

It was an interesting first day of school. The day before Hannah and Peter started getting a cold and I told them the night before that I didn't think they would be going. I got up the next morning to find them ready and waiting to go.....they still had another 45 minutes until we had to leave. How can I deny them the first day of school? I let them go after they told me that they felt fine. Sorry to all those who might have gotten this nasty little cold.

Hannah is repeating the 5th grade this year for social reasons. She is perfectly fine with it and hasn't had any problems with kids teasing her. The school district strongly discouraged this decision, but we really felt like this was the right thing to do. After meeting with Hannah's teacher from last year we got the impression that even though she couldn't go against the school district, she thought it would be a good idea as well. So instead of being the youngest in her class she is now one of the oldest. She was able to get the teacher she wanted as well!

Peter is now in the 3rd grade. He is one of the tallest kids in his class. He has only about an inch until he passes up Hannah! Peter's teacher had to miss the first week of school because of her mother's death, but Peter was able to meet her the following Monday and really likes her. We have heard nothing but positive things about his teacher! Always makes you happy when you get a good teacher like that!

Joseph is a big first grader this year. He is so excited to be able to go to school all day long and loved his class. He doesn't have any of his friends in his class, but I am not worried. Joseph has never had a problem making friends! We don't know much about his teacher, but it made me a little nervous that his class was waiting lined up outside like they are supposed to and everyone else's teacher had already come and gotten them and I saw his teacher run out and exclaim, "I'm so sorry, I forgot you!" Should be an interesting year!!

I also get to start school this year!! I am going to be attending Bellevue College working toward getting my BA degree in Interior Design. Having already gotten an AS degree I won't have to take many general ed classes. Just a couple of art classes that I am getting taken care of this quarter. Alan doesn't teach this fall so he will be watching the girls while I am in class. I am nervous but very excited for this next step in life.

All in all it was a good first day! I was able to get some things done at home with three gone and they came home with all smiles!!

Nothing like a good book!

It started with one......
Then 3......

Then 5......

One can't resist a time to just lay around reading!!

Who knew?

Hannah just walked by with 2 AAA batteries in her hand.

Rebecca: What are those from?

Hannah: My camera.

Rebecca: Why did you take them out?

Hannah: "Eden was playing with my camera and I didn't want her to ruin all the pictures. All my Canada pictures are on these." She walks away.

Alan laughs

Rebecca: "She doesn't get it." Smile.

Last day of.....SCHOOL!!!

The sun hit them just right and none of them could open their eyes! It makes them look like they are so sad that it is the last day of school. They were excited to get home so they could be with all their cousins who were coming that day for the Drake family reunion!!

My yearly measuring up......Hannah is 3 years older than Peter, whereas Peter and Joseph are only 19 months apart. All to soon Peter is going to be taller than Hannah, Mom, and Dad!! Poor Joe might just be short.....but he may grow a little later!!

A day of clamming

My visiting teacher invited our family to go clamming with them. I had to buy a clamming licence.....never thought that I would get one of those! We went when the tide was the lowest all year and had a great time! Miriam just wanted to jump in our wholes to swim. She finally made it and had a blast! Eden was far more particular.....didn't want to get her hands dirty! The older three just ran around and played and discovered......crabs, clams, starfish, hermit crabs, sand dollars, shells of all kinds, sea anemia, barnacles, and little fish. We stayed until the tide came in......What a great day!! So fun!

Temple Trip

What a beautiful experience this was, to take our family to a temple open house. We live about 3.5 hours from BC temple and it is a rare occasion to get to tour a temple and we wanted the kids to be able to go inside a temple so we took them out of school and crossed the border and went!
It is a beautiful Temple with so many intricate details. All the decorating and woodwork was done around the Dogwood tree. The Celestral room was breath taking.....we gathered our children around us and told them that we would be together forever and that the feeling they were feeling was the Holy Ghost confirming that this was true. It was an experience of a lifetime!

I think the best part for me was to share it with my kids. I remember as a kid going to the Portland, OR temple open house with my family. I was around Hannah's age.....I will never forget how I felt there and I knew that this is where I wanted to be married. It was an amazing experience. I feel so blessed that we were able to go and share this with our children.

Families are Forever!