School Girls

My babies are growing up! Today was a very special day for the girls. Maddie embarked on the beginning of her school career with her very first day of preschool, in Mrs. Meier's 3 year old class (this is the same teacher Marin had last year as a 3 year old). Marin also started a new exciting year in Mrs. Sellke's 4 year old class. The girls are "next door neighbors" at school, and sometimes even get to have a recess together. What a special time in their lives. They were over-the-top excited to choose their outfits - even Maddie whose selection was mostly hand-me-downs - HOWEVER I have been saving these items for this day and she acted like it was Christmas morning! Maddie: "these are MY JEANS NOW?!?!?! i can't even believe it!!"... not sure how many years left I have of Maddie being excited about Marin's old clothes but for now I will relish the pure and innocent uphoria on her face as she received her older sister's well loved threads :)

Pictures include the family open house last Thursday and the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL today on their own. So proud of my most precious treasures.

Sunriver

We took our annual Labor Day trek to Sunriver for the Corrigan family reunion. It seems like each year we stay longer and yet our wish-list of fun things to do keeps getting longer as well. Therefore we never have enough time to pack it all in! And also never enough pictures to capture all the fun. Needless to say, we had a major blast sharing two huge houses with Kyle's siblings & their families, as well as Nana & Poppy Corrigan who make the entire trip possible. We kicked off the week with a very special time of prayer where each family shared their "year in review" and also what lies ahead in the coming year. I cannot express enough how much I value this time, and truly what a rare and precious gift it is to have a close family.

All the fun activites we DID have time for included: horseback riding, river rafting, sharing in the joy of a family friend's baptism in the Deschutes River, puzzle completion, poker, Husky football, bike rides, walks, feeding the deer, long talks, heartfelt prayers, spending all of Kyle's money at the Bend outdoor malls, hike at the top of a lava mountain, a pirate treasure hunt, a round of golf, swimming in the pool, swimming in the hot tub, a birthday party, toasting to 40 years of marriage, jumping on beds, getting in trouble for jumping on beds, eating, eating and more eating... I'm guessing you are either tired or jealous after reading this list :)

A couple pictures of abovementioned activities: