Back to School

Charlie started school at the end of August. He got pretty excited to start and he was excited that Miles would get to go to school with him. 

Charlie had a pretty good first day. On Charlie's first day I went in to the school with Miles to meet the kindergarten teachers and so the teachers could do an assessment and place him in one of the classes. We can't request teachers but we were really hoping Miles got the kindergartner teacher that Charlie had because she is absolutely amazing! Anyway, the assessment finished so we just played outside the school while we waited for Charlie to be done with his first day. 

Miles officially started school the day after Labor Day. So we had to take some photos to commemorate that! Edwin wanted in on that!

His poor sunburnt face is from our Labor Day adventures...coming up in the next post!

 Miles was a clown of course!

 Miles has loved Kindergarten and he got the amazing teacher we were hoping for!

 Charlie has still been adjusting, he likes school when he's there but doesn't love getting up early in the morning! It has been pretty good so far and I have loved my one-on-one time with Edwin.

The last days of summer!

Don't worry, I still have a couple end of summer posts. But the week before Charlie started school, we tried to make the most of it. We realized that we hadn't gone to the one park that is walking distance from our house all summer. It's new and has a splash pad! I realized the boys could all take their bikes and I didn't have to carry anyone or take a stroller. I got so excited about this! I'm thrilled with this new stage of life where each of my children are a little more independent. I love babies and all, I'm just enjoying not having a baby! ha! Anyway, the boys did great on their bike ride, then we stayed at the park for a long time. 

 We played hard and they made their way all the way home, just had to walk their bikes up the last big hill! I know this is such a simple endeavor but for some reason it felt monumental, like a new stage in our lives has begun. I mean, when you find out you are pregnant with boys, you automatically think of the hikes, and camping trips, and bike rides you will do as a family. So, this is just me, cherishing this moment in time!

And since this was the same day, I'll add our visit with grandpa on here. The day before my grandma's funeral, Max's dad had another Stroke which left him unable to function for awhile. He couldn't talk or swallow and he was really struggling with his memory. He has been improving over time, but for awhile he was staying at the rehabilitation center near our house. Max had done most of his visits on his own or with one kid as not to make a scene in the room. But this evening we went together as a family. We brought one of our photo books to help Grandpa remember us. He was thrilled to have the ruckus that we brought with us

The boys had a lot of fun with all of grandpa's gear, but it was pure mayhem!

And as we were leaving, Miles did this and told me to take his picture!

Anyway, Max's dad is back home now and still recovering.  Summer is over but we are still trying to enjoy any sunshine we get!

Sister Reunion

For nearly a year, some of the sisters from my mission and I have been hoping to do a get together or a reunion. We all reconnected last year through the Marco Polo app when one of my mission companions was getting married. This silly app turned out to be such an inspiring and helpful part of my life. We ended up chatting most days, learning from each other, and supporting each other. Anyway, we were eventually able to make a reunion happen. We decided on Utah since it was the most central for all the sisters. By the way, the word for sister in Armenian is queer, so we actually were calling this a queer reunion. Anyway, We had to do some fancy planning for the boys since I would be leaving on a Friday morning and Max was going to be gone on a Youth High Adventure rafting trip until the Saturday. Thankfully, my kind mother took my boys on the Thursday night, and I spent thursday night all alone in my house cleaning and organizing (and packing) The next morning, my dad picked me up and took me to the airport. Everything went smooth with the flight, I was able to read and once I arrived, Laura (one of my last mission companions before leaving Armenia) picked me up. I went to her sisters house with her for a bit while she got ready and sent her kids out with her husband. Then we made our way to a Farmer's market to gather some supplies for our Armenian feast. We then made our way to Cafe Rio for some lunch. Something I've missed about Utah. Then, Noelle was able to meet us there! Guess what, I was the worst with taking pictures. I even brought my good camera and the only time it came out of my bag was when I went through security at the airport. So here is a photo of my cafe rio food and  a picture of Noelles legs and dog. Her dog was named Max so i wanted to send a picture to my boys. Haha 

Anyway, we eventually all made our way to Anna's house and decided to go out to dinner. We were all kid free and it was exciting to get together, reminisce about Armenia and laugh. At least Anna remembered to take a couple photos!
 

We then went back to Anna's house and just sat around and talked which is really the absolute best thing when you don't have to worry about putting kids to bed!

I spent the night at Anna's house and a couple other sister's stayed at Brooke's house who also lives in the same city.  In the late morning, we all met up again and made our way to the European grocery store which has many Armenian items, and an Armenian employee we enjoyed chatting with. We got Armenian Lavash, and eggplant spread stuff, haikakan cheese, real kinder eggs, and freshly cooked pirashkis. We took our loot home, practiced riding on June's hoverboard for awhile and then started making our Armenian feast. 

We had tea, fruit, and some wafflies and other treats as appetizers while the dolma was cooking.

 We finally remembered to take a pic and sadly Kenzi and Noelle had already left.

After our Armenian meal, people started to leave. I planned on staying for one more day because it was the weekend and I didn't need to be back until Sunday night.  So I ended up going on a walk along the lake, watching Anna edit photos, reading some bedtime stories to a couple of their girls and helping Anna and Buck water their many indoor plants. haha! Oh and Anna learned how to read palms from google and her interpretations were surprisingly accurate. And we called Siranush in Armenia. which is always fun!

I slept up in the loft and was slightly attacked by their kitten (aka: mini raccoon)  but all was good.
 Sunday was a random day. I went to church with Anna and Buck but left early with Anna once Hazel threw up. The rest of the day was even more random. Buck and Anna were leaving on a week long trip to Boise so they were packing up while taking care of a sick kid so I ended up playing with their littlest kids in the toy loft so they could get more done. I also chatted with Anna as she was sorting laundry and shoving it into bags. haha. they dropped me off at the airport on their way up to Boise. Anyway, it was all good and it was so enjoyable to spend time with such wonderful friends And we are excited for another visit to the Harrisons with our whole family sometime in the near future. We are always so grateful for their friendship! And Let's do another queer reunion soon!