2011-2012

I joined Facebook.  I thought I could use Facebook instead of this blog to keep everyone updated with new kid photos, but, as I suspected, I really don't like Facebook.  So I will try to keep the blog up to date again.  Since its been a year since I last posted, I'm not going to try to fill in everything that happened in the past year.  I'm starting from now.  The photos on the boat are on Lake Superior on Nate's friend Dave's boat.  We have had alot of fun.  Olin is learning to keep one hand for the boat.  Berit is learning that her mom has one hand for her while on the boat.  It has been very, very fun to get the kids out on a big boat on the big lake.  The other photos were taken this week at the park and at Lake Nokomis.  Berit will be 2 on August 25th.  I measured her today and she has grown 5 inches this year and is about 1 inch taller then Olin was on his 2nd birthday.  She is talking, sometimes in words only her mother can understand, sometimes with words only she can understand, but its a start.  Olin is a big boy and is very sweet most of the time.  He likes to have things clean, but finds cleaning itself quite boring.  He also likes to help his dad out with projects that require tools.  He has been a big help with the lawn.  We have a non-gas, non-electric push mower that he is strong enough to push and he has mowed the backyard for me.  He does NOT find mowing the lawn boring.  I just need to make sure Berit and myself are not in his path.  Addison passed Driver's Ed and now needs to practice driving for real.  Scary.  She is very busy with volleyball season already.  She is very good teenager and is incredibly helpful with the littles.  And Amelia is going into 3rd grade.  She also is a big help with the littles and all of us, especially Olin, miss her when she is not with us.

Berit is now a walker!!!! She took her first few steps on her birthday, but really took off about 1 week later. No stopping her now! And Olin is potty trained! After weeks and months of effort on his mother's part, he had refused. I gave up and then he decided he was ready. What a big boy. He also is an excellent bike rider. He calls it his Big Blue Motorcycle Without and Engine. He is a funny boy.

Berit is one! She had a great time at her party and really enjoyed the cake!

These are all from Seward. The bottom one is Mimi at about 1130pm at our campsite, then it's Berber on our little dinner cruise out to the fjords. The picture of Nate and the girls is at Exit Glacier. To get there, we hiked about 1.5 miles and there are signs along the way showing where the glacier used to be. It is hardly a glacier now. In fact, we didn't see any glaciers that extended to the ocean. They all used to. The top is Berit and I on the way down from the hike.

The bottom picture is an aerial view that Addi took of the homestead while she was on her UltraLite ride. The next two are from the homestead also and this one at the top is from our campsite in Seward.

We have had a wonderful summer. Alot has happened and the kids are getting so big. These pictures are from Alaska. We flew into Anchorage and rented an RV. We planned the trip because we had a family reunion outside of anchorage. We stayed 2 weeks and saw Denali, The Carpentier Homestead, Homer, and Seward. It was gorgeous and it really does stay light almost all night. These pictures were taken on our drive to Denali and on the bus tour in the park.

Pensive Olin makes a reappearance with his new big boy haircut and his shirt expressing his feelings about the female persuasion. ( his shirt says "I love chicks)

(below)It is really, really hard to get a picture of 2 kids under 3. I need more light and a faster shutter.