Cougar Football!

Fall is almost here and that means the start of Matt's FAVORITE time of the year... Cougar Football.  To celebrate this year's kickoff, we all got on our gear.  Lara's happy to sport our colors too. 

GO COUGS!!!

And this might be my favorite picture.  If Matt can pull this off, he can watch all the football he wants!!  This might expand the babies vocabulary in a way we don't want though...

Summertime!!

My new favorite "happy hour" is jumping in my golf cart, cruising 2 blocks to the Sound, and jumping in!!  It's my quick 7 minute break that cools me down and completely refreshes my spirit!!  And a big thanks to Uncle Ken for teaching me about the Polar Bear Club all those years ago.  No water is too cold for this lady!!

 Life here is pretty fantastic.

Sometimes I bring these little munchkins with me too. 

Family Reunion Camping at Steve and Denise's

Every year we get together with the Hughes side of the family (at least I think that's the side. Maybe it's the Spencer side.) This year Cousin Steve invited us to his place (which I now refer to as The Ranch) for a weekend of camping. Steve and Denise have an amazing place with picnic shelters with full kitchens, a big grass lawn with full trailer hook-ups, an amazing veggie garden, and lots of fun toys. We all had such a great time and hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll get to go to The Ranch next year too!!

 The big cousins have a great time together!!

 We headed down to the local swimming hole in Oso.  When we got there Andy said, "Does this look familiar?"  Pretty sure we spent some time here as kids.

 People jump off the bridge.  We swing from the ropes. 

 

 Uncle Andy and Cousin Wes. 

 This is Will cuddled up in his outdoor play gym/nap zone.

 Lisa and Lara.

 Luke and Will hanging out.

 We finally got them to eat... Chili cheese dip and cottage cheese. 

 Monkey Balls.

 Scott and Cathy on the quad.

 So, we had to teach Lara to play Monkey Balls.  She wasn't sure she wanted to play.  By the end of the first game she was better than all of us!

 Henry and Paul.

FOF XV

FOF was so fun this year!! The crowd was smaller so we could really catch up with close friends.  The weather was nice.  It's getting easier with older babies (nevermind the brand new one we brought).  The kids spent the night Friday and we had planned to send the kids home with Les and Kathy on Saturday night.  They had so much fun camping they wanted to stay!!  And they were pretty easy now that they're bigger.  Can't wait for next year!

Paul and cousin Raleigh.  I don't doubt that this is some sort of vision for the future.

 Lara's first smores!

 Kiddo's first smores too.  I think they liked them.

It was a little chilly at night.  Will had his bear suit... but Olivia, well, I forgot ANY warm clothes for her.  It was 95 degrees when I was packing and I couldn't fathom warm clothes.  So, she's wearing her pj pants, the dress she came in, and Will's coat.  Fits just fine.  She wore this entire outfit ALL weekend.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then Saturday night happened...

The kids enjoyed some popcorn and a movie.

Aunty Shannon spent some time with Will.

We killed this.

By doing this.

Was it fun? Yes. Was it worth Sunday... still debating that one.

 

 

 

Lara's Here!!!

When I was pregnant with Will, Matt and I started discussing our options for childcare when I go back to work with 3 babies at home.  We had heard of the Au Pair program before and thought about it, but always been a little timid.  This time around, we learned a bit more and got VERY excited about the idea.  An Au Pair is a nanny program sponsored by the Department of State.  Au Pairs come from all over the world through program agencies.  They are mostly girls between 18 and 26 years old who want to come to America for an adventure, to learn english, and because they LOVE children.  They live with the American family and take care of the children during the week.  It is a great cultural experience for the families and the girls!!

SOOO..... We are SO VERY EXCITED to introduce LARA!!!  We interviewed several Au Pairs over skype and Lara happened to be the very first Au Pair we met with.  She was so sweet and mature and wonderful, Matt and I instantly loved her from the very beginning, but Lara was just starting her interviews as well and recommended that we talk to other Au Pairs and she would talk to other families so we all could experience the entire search/matching process.  We were very impressed with her confidence and wisdom to know what she wanted.  After several other interviews that always ended with, "She was nice, but I still like Lara more..." we 'matched' with Lara and began planning her trip to America to live with us!!!!

Lara is from Cologne, Germany which is the polar opposite of Indianola!!!  She insisted she was open to the new experience.  She is 18 years old and just graduated from high school.  Luckily, German high school grads are years beyond American high school grads.  In Germany, many of the students take a "gap year" where they take a year off school before going to college. 

Lara landed in Seattle Friday evening after a week long training program in New Jersey.  In order to really introduce her to American culture and completely overwhelm her the first day ;) we took her to Red Robin for dinner right off the plane.  She's a trooper and didn't seem too overwhelmed.  The kids have never been so excited as they are with Lara here.  She is so great with them and I've heard nothing but giggles from them all weekend. 

Saturday we took Lara for a ride in the golf cart up to the Indianola Saturday market.  We walked on the dock and played at the playground and met a few local people.  We're spending the weekend getting her settled and the kids are THRILLED with their new playmate.  We keep telling Lara it's ok to take a break, but she has some great playtime stamina and they all just keep laughing and playing. 

LARA!!! We are so happy to welcome you into our family!!!  You are such a great addition to the house and we are looking forward to a fantastic year!!!

Lara's Arrival

We were so excited for August 10th this year!!! This is the day Lara arrived to join our family.  We all piled in the car with our signs and flowers and headed off to meet Lara after waiting so long!!! It was funny to be in the airport waiting and watch multiple families start to gather to pick up their Au Pairs.  Some had HUGE signs, some had none, but everybody was very excited.  When Lara came up the escalator the kids saw her and immediately yelled "LARA!!" and ran to her and gave her a big hug.  She seemed a little overwhelmed, but took it all in stride. 

We went to dinner at Red Robin and the kids were instantly in love.  On the way home, Lara and I were chatting.  Paul pipes up from the 3rd row, "Mom, can you please stop talking to Lara now so I can talk to her?"  Quote of the year.  Willkommen Lara!