Our High School student

Oh, my, we are getting old. Tyler had his first day of high school on August 20th. Krista had to be a dork and get up to take a picture of him as he headed out. He has to get up at 5:45 each morning (!) and is taking all honors classes, plus one Advanced Placement course that will make him eleigible for college credit at the end of the semester. Wow!

First night in the Big Girl bed

Katie's new bed arrived last week! She spent the first couple nights in the crib next to the bed, and then was ready to try sleeping in her "big girl" bed on Sunday. Chris made a rail for it (to be painted this weekend) to keep her contained, and she's been doing a great job! What you can't tell from this picture is that she INSISTED on wearing her "frog jammies" to bed. Sadly, they don't sell many little girl clothes with bugs and such on them, so we had to buy little boy jammies for her. They are her favorites, and she literally wears them the first day they are clean. Next up: potty training! Wish us luck.

Fun at home

Ben likes to crawl in the little "cubby" under our entertainment center.

After seeing an episode of a PBS show on Halloween, Katie has been wanting to wear a costume lately. She insists that she is going to be a bumblebee this year and also plans for Ben to be a ladybug. I'm not so sure about that...

Ben has been nicknamed "Captain Destructo" around here. He's much happier when things are tipped over.

Katie helps pick up the toys. She's getting so big!

Beach Baby

Ben's first trip to the beach! It's actually kind of sad that we live within a couple miles of the ocean and we rarely go. Up until now, the thought of taking Ben to the beach was too much to bear. Krista is just sure he'll be a sand-eater, and images of sunscreen mixing with sand and salt water, then being rubbed in little eyes, well...it's just not something we wanted to experience. Now that he's a skilled walker, though, we felt it was time. He did great! And he didn't eat one single grain of sand.

A night out

We had a chance to try out some of our dance lessons at a party earlier this month. Our friends Kristin and Igor (pictured top) also went, although they had to leave early to tend to the kids. We stayed for a while and really enjoyed ourselves. We are back at our dance lessons now with the goal of being even more proficient in rhumba, merengue, swing, and salsa by the time we go to St. Lucia in October!

Life is better with frosting

Ben gets help blowing out his birthday candle from Grama Beutel, Katie, and Grama Susa. Ben appears naked in this photo because...

...next up was the "mush cake". Ben got his very own cake to enjoy and destroy.

Katie couldn't resist getting in on the action as well.

Our boy loves frosting.

Ben Turns One!!

Katie and Ben in their matching jammies (Katie insisted on getting the ones with the truck on the front!)

Our family gathers to celebrate Ben turning one. What a big boy!

Grama and Grampa Beutel made the trip to town to celebrate with us.

The birthday boy.

Tyler White Water Rafting

Tyler is in the top, right corner (just in front of the guide) sitting next to his cousin, Laney. Grama and Grampa Strand are in the row in front of them. He had a GREAT time!

Ty's visit to Safeco Field in Seattle

While on a trip to Seattle to visit Grama and Grampa Strand at the end of July, Tyler went with Grampa and Kelly to visit Safeco Field and take in a Mariners game. He came back home announcing that he wanted to buy the Mariners. Guess he just needs to mow a few more lawns.