Off to School

On August 25th we all had a very big day around here. Peter started 4th grade, Leah 2nd and our little Hannah started Kindergarten. They were all so excited although a little nervous. Jordan and I had just gotten back from our cruise 2 days before so it was a little crazy making sure they had everything they needed but all went well. For me personally it was a big day as I have not had just one kid home for years. I have to admit it is quite nice!! The mornings are always hectic as we cram in a lot- Family scripture reading and family prayer at 6:30, breakfast,brush teeth, shoes and socks, making sure everyone has everything they need for school that day, lunches and snacks packed, etc. By the time they are gone (Jordan almost always takes them on his way to work) I am ready for a little breather. It has been particularly helpful as our home is on the market. It's hard enough to keep all perfect without all the kids here. All in all school has been great for the kids. They are all good students and have fun at school. They do come home exhausted though. They work very hard! The kiddos all ready to go.

We walked the kids to school as a family the first day. Hannah was so confident. She almost always is. She is one tough little girl.
Leah up front and center. She was so excited about the teacher she got, Mrs. Marek. A good teacher makes all the difference!
Here is the reading rug. The kids got to school and picked books to read. Hannah is by the basket picking out a book.
Leah was thrilled to be able to sit by her friend Taylor. She loves school.

More from the Bahamas

That's Jordan out there enjoying some body surfing on the choppy waves. This was in Freeport. The weather was overcast but the water was still very nice and warm. We both swam pretty far out there that day.
Here is another shot of that incredible sunset. We ate our meal out on the deck of the ship. Truly beautiful.
The last full day of the cruise we were at a private island owned by the cruiseline. It was exactly what I had in mind for our trip. The water was so clear we could see the bottom even when the water was several feet deep. We enjoyed snorkeling, climbing on the rocks, hanging out on the beach with our yummy virgin pina coladas, eating great food and swimming some more. It was a wonderful day. We did both get pretty burned though from all that sun.
On the rocks overlooking our ship in the background.
My handsome husband out on the rocks.

THE BAHAMAS

On August 17 Jordan and I took off from Austin to Miami where we boarded a the Norwegian Sky heading to the Bahamas. When we got to the ship, about two hours early, they told us to hurry on- that tropical storm Faye was heading our way and they were leaving in 15 minutes to avoid the storm. So we got on and were on our way. We had such a relaxing, happy time. The kids stayed with my awesome sister, Heidi in Austin and had a great time there. She was such a trooper to keep 8 crazy kids for almost a week. Thank you Heidi! Here are some pictures of our trip:

I love this picture of Jordan sucking in his tummy. Enjoying the view from the ship's restaurant. One night we got to enjoy the most beautiful sunset. The wind was whipping around but the air was warm and pleasant. So pretty!Our ship out yonder. We had to take a ferry to get to the island since it was a small, privately owned island. Definitely our favorite day of the cruise. It was so beautiful.

This was our first day in the Bahamas, Nassau. Unfortunately due to the tropical storm it rained all morning so we just hung out on the ship all morning. That too was very nice though...a good book, great food, naps, etc. We got out in the afternoon and explored a bit.

Incommunicado

I just wanted to drop a quick line or two to explain our sudden and mysterious disappearance from the Blogosphere. Put simply, we have been (1) on vacation and (2) scrambling, crazy busy getting our house ready to sell!

As to (1), we travelled to Austin the week after Andrea's birthday to visit Andrea's sister and to look for new homes! (We are moving to Austin very soon- surprised?!?- details forthcoming...) Right after we got back from Austin, we drove out to Arizona for a week with the Fowles- John and Allison had flown in from London with their girls, Adam and Eve came down from Logan, Utah, and Jenna and company were there in Mesa. We had fun with so many cousins for our kids to play with- always good to see everyone. I will post some pictures as soon as I get them downloaded. Finally, after a week of madness getting our house ready to sell (more below), Andrea and I dropped the kids off at Heidi's and headed down to Florida for a week-long cruise to the Bahamas. We managed to just barely skirt Tropical Storm Faye and enjoyed the last week of paradise (and waaay too much food!). I will post more specific blogs about that with pictures when I get them downloaded.

As to (2), we have been thinking about moving to Austin for a while now, but I finally got the approval from my law firm to do so just last month, and we worked furiously to get our house on the market before we left for the Bahamas. With the help of many dear friends, we repainted a good portion of the house, got new carpet throughout, and basically cleaned up the house very well for sale. After an exhausting week we were able to get the house on the market the day before we left for our cruise- let's hope it sells quickly! If anyone is interested in purchasing a nice home in Dallas, here is the link to our beautiful home. We have loved living here and will really miss it! We plan on moving to Austin just as soon as we can sell our house in Dallas, and we already have money on a home down there.

Watch for more coming soon! For now, Andrea and I are back in Texas with sandy clothes, burnt skin, awesome memories of the Bahamas, and happy smiles on our faces after reuniting with our children!

The Eleventh Prime Meets the Fifth Mersenne: Cheers, Andrea!

THIRTY-ONE. 31. XXXI. 00011111. 1F.

It's the 11th prime, the fifth Mersenne, and the third Mersenne prime! It's the number of flavors of ice-creamy goodness traditionally associated with Baskin Robbins. It's the number of days in the months January, March, May, July, August, October and December, as well as the code for international direct-dial phone calls to the Netherlands.

And today, it is the number of years the Earth has been graced with the presence of the beautiful Andrea Sue Clavin Fowles:

She was born on July 25, 1977. Here's another shot of birthday past:

But that was then, and this is now. Today, we helped her celebrate her birthday by ordering take out, making her a cake, giving her presents, and having an interesting pool party. Among other things, she got an ipod nano complete with an armband and some in-ear headphones to use for working out with her ipod. Here she is trying it out already!

All of the kids helped me make her pineapple upside down cake, and Peter even helped me flip the cake without destroying as I usually do! Matthew helped put the cherries in the pineapples and to blow out the candles.

Earlier in the day, Andrea enjoyed lunch with some girlfriends at Pappasitos. ¡Feliz cumpleaños! Happy Birthday, Andrea, on the 31st anniversary of your birth! The world is a better place with you in it! We love you!

Independence Day Redux

We had a truly all-American Fourth of July this year- it was great!

Part 1: The Flag Raising
The day started out bright and early with a pancake and sausage breakfast associated with a flag-raising ceremony at our church. The sobering confluence of religious ideal and energetic patriotism felt there reminded us that both our spiritual and our temporal freedoms were purchased by sacrifices made by others, even the sacrifice of their very blood. We are grateful for the blood of our Savior and the blood of Patriots- the extreme cost for the freedoms we enjoy today, and hope that the memory of the price paid never grows dim in our hearts and minds.

Part 2: The Parade
We went from the ward breakfast to Independence Parkway in Plano to watch the Plano City Parade. The Plano parade is a fantastic one to attend- if anyone is ever in Texas for the Fourth of July, I highly recommend it. It helped us to again reflect on our precious freedoms as we saw veterans, fire fighters, policemen, community dignitaries, representatives from various political parties, and disciples of various Christian and other religions marching by. Of course, there were also clowns, floats, bubbles, marching bands, loud fog horns, classic cars and motorcyles, and plenty of candy tossed out for the kids. I think both Andrea and I got a little choked up at times as we waved our American flags with our children for the soldiers who sacrifice much and generally basked in the rays of July freedom sunshine. Here are a few pictures of the kids at the Plano Parade:

(P.S. We note with serious chagrine the shocking dearth of pictures of Andrea- Jordan will try to do better at taking pictures too so that Andrea appears- she is definitely easier to look at!)


Part 3: The Lunch and Rest
After the Parade, we headed out for some all-American (and, infinitely more importantly, TEXAN) barbecue at Dickeys. We enjoyed an assortment of meats, sides like mashed potatoes, baked potato casserole, barbecue beans, jalapeno beans, potato salad, mac & cheese, all topped off with Dickey's delicious regular, sweet and spicy barbecue sauces. We topped it off with soft-serve vanilla ice cream, always included in the price of every meal at Dickeys. Here is a picture of an all-American boy (Matthew) enjoying his Fourth of July Dickeys treat:


After lunch, we headed home for some rest before proceeding with the rest of the day's festivities.

Part 4: The Pool Party
Once we had sufficiently recuperated from our busy morning and stuffing lunch, we got into our swimsuits and headed over to our friends' home (two doors down) for an afternoon of fun and swimming with the our friends and neighbors from around our neighborhood. The pool was packed with kids, the coooler with cold drinks, the barbecue with good food, and the chairs with chatting adults, all celebrating under the hot Texas, July sun.

After swimming for a while, the kids enjoyed soaking Andrea and me with water balloons, usually at most unexpected times. Hannah was the sneakiest, one time waiting for me outside the back door for probably over five minutes to soak me with a water balloon and a squirting (i.e., untied) water balloon as I came out of the house with a plate full of food! Every time I dried off again, another one of my four kids would suddenly appear, get me dripping wet again, then run away laughing hysterically before I could gather my senses and throw them into the pool (I did manage to get Leah once). None of the other adults there were quite as soaked time and time again- of course, none of them had four children. Getting wet at pool parties is just one of the hazards of fruitful loins, I suppose.

We partied into the twilight hours, but then it was time for fireworks.

Part 5: The Fireworks
As dusk fell, the pool party disbanded and everyone headed back home to change into dry clothes so that we could go see the Fourth of July fireworks. We are lucky to live right beside the main 500 acre park in Richardson, Texas (Breckinridge Park) where they have the big Richardson fireworks show every year. We walked across the street to the park with some church friends who parked at our house, and set up our blankets on a promising spot of grass situated on a bluff that overlooked the rest of the park. We were not disappointed.

The fireworks began at 9:45 pm and were accompanied by live (Richardson Community Band) and pre-recorded music. Hearing the loud booms accompanied by patriotic music, Andrea and I both got a bit choked up again as we thought of the artillery in the battles fought for this country represented by the colorful spectacle of fireworks exploding above us. Our kids were also mesmerized by the brilliant (and loud) display- not one was scared in the least.

As we tucked the exhausted kids into bed at the end of the celebratory, fun-filled and sobering day, Leah sleepily whispered to me that she liked the Fourth of July almost as much as Christmas. Indeed.

A Visit from the Kings

Last week Jordan's only sister Jenna came for a visit from Arizona. She and her husband flew here with their four darling children. We had a wonderful time and really packed it in. We did lots of fun things and kept the kids busy. We did activities with them daily and at night after they all crashed us adults played games. It really was so much fun.

Hanging out in the hottub. Jenna, Travis, Matthew and Leah:

Travis (left) and Matthew happy to be going for a bike ride in Mimosa Park:

Peter and Matthew enjoying a chat in Mimosa Park:

Our newest niece Eliza and her cute mom, Jenna:

Jordan and Matthew sharing a snuggle at Allen Splash Pad:

A thirsty Matthew excited about a drink of water at Mimosa Park:

The kiddos enjoying a snack of muffins at Mimosa Park :

Super Hannah enjoying the Allen splashpad: