Kindergarten, Here comes Kariana!

Kariana had her first day of school on Thursday, Aug. 14. We met her teacher, Mrs. Dodds, took all her supplies and visited the school on the 12th. Kariana loved her first two days of school and especially enjoyed riding two different school buses to get to the YMCA After School Program at a local church. We were very proud of her and ourselves...not a tear was shed!! She was off to Kindergarten after a quick hug from her family. Here are some pictures of this once in a lifetime day.

Kariana dressed and ready for her first day of Kindergarten! She could hardly wait to use the new backpack either. She had it packed for the last 3 weeks with all her supplies!

Kariana on the way into her new school. She and mom went shopping earlier in the week and she picked this shirt all my herself. It is so her!

Kariana and her teacher, Mrs. Dodds

Duck, Duck, Goose

Our new house is pretty close to the Augusta City Lake so one of our favorite family activities is going for a walk through the park and up by the lake. Another purpose of these walks is to also feed the ducks and geese at the lake. They love bread! The last time we were there, they were getting a little more aggressive with the girls and trying to grab the bread from there hands and also peaking at their backs and hair. Needless to say, the girls did not like this! Here are some pics of the last feeding we had the ducks. Enjoy!

PS: Thanks Grammy. We fed some of the bread you gave us to the ducks!

Slumber Party #1

Thurston suggested to Kariana that she should invite a friend over for a slumber party. So she decided to ask cousin Chisholm over this past Friday. We met Aunt Charlotte and Chisholm north of El Dorado. On the way home we stopped at Braums for ice cream cones and then fed the ducks and geese a loaf of bread. Once home the girls had a surge of energy! It was good in the long run...they slept all night without a peep! We wanted to play at the playground but it rained and rained all day. Instead of the playground, the girls got in their swimsuits for some fun in the rain. All three of them rode in the bug car and had a grand time! They also played dress-up complete with make-up and watched a movie. And the best part was that they got along really great with very few arguments!! Woo hoo!! At the end of the visit, we met up with the rest of the Waner gang at a great Chinese buffet restaurant in El Dorado. Enjoy the pictures of the day...

First Soccer Practice

Kariana started soccer the first Saturday in August. She loves it and is a good kicker and pretty quick out there too. They drew names for the K-1 division. Just happens that a girl from our small group was also drawn to play on the same team. How awesome is that! Here is a pic of Addi and Kariana sporting their soccer gear prior to practice, along with Addi's little sister, Elle.

Our recent lake visit

We joined most of Heidi's family for swimming and a BBQ at the Wilson Lake the first weekend in August. Even Grandma Thies stopped by for a quick visit. Uncle Max and Aunt LeeLee brought along the boat for some tubing, which all the kids loved. I even enjoyed a couple of rides too! It was a great evening to spend at the lake, even with a visit from an unwelcomed non-threatening snake that decided to slither by and surprised Kariana, Aunt Gwen and I. Yikes!!

It was a very quick trip but was fun to see the cousins, aunts and uncles and Grammy and Papa (oh, and let's not forget Kariana's favorite...Buzz the cat).

Kariana and her clam shells.

Our view for the evening.

Cooling off in the water.

Heidi, Bronalea and Baby Emma enjoying the shade.

Uncle Milton and Uncle Conrad supervising the lake activities.

Kariana and her favorite farm pet, Buzz.

4th of July

We spent the 4th out at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We had a great time with most of the Aunts and Uncles and lots of cousins. We missed Aunt C, Uncle T, C, M and K. We enjoyed playing croquet, cards, eating great food, visiting with extending relatives, homemade ice cream, fireworks, swimming, loving on Baby S, and playing in the park!
The weather made for an even better holiday weekend!

Watch out...a very competitive game of croquet. Who won???

B hanging out with Cousin S! You'll make a great babysitter one day! What a smile :)

K being Grandpa's helper...or could she be waiting to try the ice cream first?!?!? Humm...

Trying to figure this all out!

Starting a blog....can't possibly be as hard as I am making it out to be! I thought that this would be a great way to keep in contact with our family and friends. But it is proving to be a bit more of a challenge for the me! Yughhh!!! Anyhow, I hope to eventually post some photos here too along with occasional updates of our family.

Kariana starts Kindergarten in 17 days! She is so excited and already has her backpack packed and ready to go!! She is also going to start soccer the beginning of August. She likes to practice in the yard with Dad.

Bronalea does a pretty good job at keeping up with Kariana. She is fully potty-trained during the day, we'll still working on staying dry at night. She is taking a lot and loves to play Elmo games on the computer. She is getting quite good at using the mouse too.

As for the parents, we are working....at Edward Jones and an Optometry office and also keep busy working on our new house. We all love it!