Utah Trip

Our Utah trip was priceless and these are pictures to prove it.

Isaac Lost His First Tooth

Isaac's tooth fell out last night during dinner. He was relieved not to swallow it. He was nervous all day that was going to happen. Isaac just corrected me, he wasn't worried, he was kinda worried.
Evidently, the tooth fairy came last night and left him a gold dollar. I have heard of silver dollars but never gold. I hope this one isn't counterfeit. I read online (most legit source of information) the reason for the money from the toothfairy is to diminish some of the anxiety of losing the tooth by anticipating a reward. It sure worked with Isaac. He has spent half the morning talking about discovering the money, etc.

Ariel loves babies, especially these ones

It is interesting to me that Ariel is only eight months old and is crazy about babies. She has loved babies since she was 3 months old, maybe earlier.

Lucas' Green Shirts

The last couple of months Lucas has become OBSESSED with green shirts. He wants to wear green shirts and underwear only. Everytime I turn around he has taken off his pants and is standing there in a green shirt and unders. I tried telling him they were all dirty and in the wash (which was true) and he helped himself to my green shirts. My shirts fit him like a dress. He didn't mind this a bit- but would ask if his green shirts were dry. I don't want to encourage this green obsession, but to make things a little easier I have kept an eye out for green boy shirts. We were even given a few green hand-me-downs when Annee heard of my predicament. He doesn't like his shirt dirty and he has become creative in fixing this problem. The green shirt can be backwards or inside out and he doesn't mind. This whole green shirt thing is funny but it can be somewhat annoying at times.

the OTHER Marions

On our summer vacation we were able to stop by and visit Mike's only brother Mark's family in Greeley, Co. We sure are lucky to have such great cousins. Looking forward to the day when we can live closer to family!

The Importance of Being With Earnests

We had such a great time visiting cousin Annee Earnest and family in Colorado Springs it was hard to say goodbye. They were wonderful hosts and great playmates. It would be nice to have annual get togethers.

Garden Vegetables

For Family night last night we roasted s'mores in the backyard. We then picked vegetables out of the garden. We came in and noticing how beautiful and colorful our pickings were we decided to make vegetable art. The hard part was keeping the boys from eating the goods before everyone had a turn as designer.

Isaac's work of art

Lucas' creation

Mike and I collaborated for this masterpiece

WaUsAu TrIAtHLoN

Mike competed in his second Triathlon yesterday. He did a great job. It is fun and exciting to watch. After the triathlon finished and we were driving home, we saw a baby black bear running through the woods.

Ike the future Greg Louganis

Grandma Marion & Ariel

Hawkes Granddaughters July 2007

Left to right: David's daughter Emma is holding my Ariel, in the back row standing up is Jimmy's Elizabeth, then my sister Haley is holding Jimmy's Elizabeth, and then David's Ada is holding Laura's Hazel. It is remarkable to now see so many girls. The family until very recently has been dominated by grandsons. In two months Katie will be adding another girl to the bunch and we are waiting to hear what Melinda is having - she finds out next week!

We are Back!

We flew into Minneapolis airport Tuesday July 31st rented a car and drove home to Wisconsin. The next day the bridge we crossed crumbles into the Mississippi River. Very sad and scary.
We had a wonderful time in Colorado and Utah . We were planning on making it to Idaho but somehow it never happened. We still have a month left of summer and will try to find things to do until school starts again. I have not posted since we left town although my mom did post pictures of the 4th of July. I am amazed at others who are able to keep on posting during their vacation. I always love to see what others have going on.

Wet & Wild 4th of July

Rice Cereal

It was a big night in Marion house. Ariel had her first bowl of rice cereal. The boys were so excited and wanted to be involved. Isaac had a good time imagining all the different foods Ariel would progress to. He was concerned for the day she could have cinnamon. Would that be soon or at one year or two years of age? Isaac has a strong disliking for cinnamon.

America's Dairyland

This weekend was the Dairy Days Festival. I have been told it is the Biggest annual event in this town. The festivities kicked off with a cheese run at the town zoo. After that was the magic show and coin/candy search in sawdust. In the first picture below are getting ready to start searching. Lucas is the bright kid putting a plastic bag over his head as his mom stares off into space eating fried cheese curds and wondering why she stood in line for 30 minutes and paid $4 for them. They are the treat of choice in these parts. In the next picture Isaac and I are devising a strategy on how to get the most loot. Next, Lucas and Isaac are being tutored on how to take care of their new pet cow.

Bad Words

Corbin James

Katie sent me this email tonight that cracked me up:

A couple of weeks ago Larry brought home a movie from church for our family to watch. It is called All Because of Thad. It is one of the old fashioned film strips that has been transferred to DVD, but still has the beeps for when you need to turn the film forward to the next frame. (Obviously, on the dvd you don't have to do it, you just get the sound effect.) Anyhow, I put it on for the kids to watch. Carter, Chase & Caleb stayed upstairs to watch it, and Corbin went downstairs to where Larry was. He kept hearing all of the beeps in the middle of the dialog, and said to Larry, " That church show sure has a lot of bad words in it."