Asher is 3!

Asher is 3 years old today. He loves cars, planes, and especially trains. So we had a train theme birthday party. Asher was really excited. The first thing Asher asked me this morning was if he could have cake for breakfast. He had difficulty waiting all day for his party. :)

We had a few friends over for cake and ice cream.

We are so thankful for skype! Asher skyped with both sets of grandparents and they got to watch him open up gifts.

It was a fun day.

A Morning Out

We enjoyed some time together as a family this morning. The weather has been cool, but really pretty, especially down by the pier. We took the kids to the park again and tried to get a few family photos.


Urban did not stay in one spot for very long. Now that he is walking, he is very determined to explore his world.

We ate lunch on the water and enjoyed fried fish sandwiches. (nice smile, Asher!)

With all of the pillows and cushions, Urban didn't quite get that this was time to eat. He enjoyed rolling around!

Our New Ride (New to us anyway!)

We bought a car recently. This really is not blog worthy, but upon our family's request to see a picture, here it is. We got a Ford Fusion 2005.


This is exciting for us since we have been without a car for over 2 years. Walking, catching rides, and public transportation have been our mode of transportation these last few years. It was not an easy search. My one request was that I really wanted an automatic. Most cars are manual transmission here. But we found one!
The previous owner was a huge help to us. He spent the next day and a half after we bought it from him and helped Reed get all the paperwork and insurance taken care of. It was not an easy process, and Reed was told more than once at different offices that they had never had a foreigner buy a car here before. So hopefully everything is legit now!



It has been fun to drive again. The roads are a bit precarious here and traffic laws are a mere suggestion :), so it makes for some interesting driving. But it has been a huge blessing for our family and we are soooo thankful!

Hanging out at the Park

It was a beautiful morning here. We took the boys to the park. Mornings are a great time to be out, because it is fairly quiet and not busy.

We brought Asher's tricycle to the park. The boys both enjoyed playing with it.


Reed and Asher hanging out on the bench:



For the first time, Asher went down a slide all by himself. He is pretty timid about stuff like this so he was pretty proud of himself.

Monkey See Monkey Do

I'm not sure where he learned this? :)

Enjoying His Supper

Urban refused to eat a single noodle, but sure enjoyed the spaghetti sauce. :)

Summer Trip Highlights: Part 5

We enjoyed going to the Roland swimming pool:


Asher had fun on his cousins' trampoline:


We enjoyed ice cream with the Arant family:


We celebrated Jett and Urban's birthdays together:

The boys enjoyed getting read to by Grandma Jean:

Here's the whole gang together:

We have a lot of special memories of our time at home!

Summer Trip Highlights Part 4

The next 10 days of our trip were spent with the Sternberg/Arant family. Here are a few highlights:

We enjoyed the Story City Carousel:

We played at the park:

Asher got to play some ball:

Eating outside with the cousins:

Summer Trip Hightlights Part 3

We took a tour of Target Field in Minneapolis.




In the dugout:


A view of homeplate:

Summer Trip Highlights Part 2

We celebrated Popi and Urban's birthdays together:


July 4th Race participants:


The whole gang: It was a blast to be together!


Playing at the park:

Boating:

Urban hanging out on the beach: