Sydney's School Class

This morning I asked Sydney to help me with Amelia, so I could finish getting ready for the day. She obviously didn't want to stop playing her "school" game, so she situated Amelia among her other "students!" All was well for the first 10 minutes or so, then the live student became too disruptive and needed to be removed from the class! I love Sydney's creativity and imagination! Amelia is not much bigger than the baby dolls, but she is definitely growing!

First day of school 2011

School has started!

Yipee, Yahoo, BOO-HOO . . .

I have had mixed emotions - very glad the kids are in school to meet new friends, get learning again, and get into a good routine, BUT I sure have missed having the extra hands to help with Amelia! It's been a long time since I've had so much time on my hands, but I'm just enjoying Amelia and trying to stay on top of things in and around the house!

Morgan and Sydney are attending a small Catholic School - NOTRE DAME! We LOVE this school! It is totally awesome and we are blessed to have this experience for them. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more about their experience here. The thought of uniforms was horrid for them at first, but they have grown to LOVE wearing them! Great teachers, great kids, great families! It was meant to be.

Brenna started HIGH SCHOOL! Unbelievable! The first week was somewhat rocky (it was hard starting school without a single friend), but now that she has met some kids, life is looking good. Brenna decided to try out for the volleyball team and is now playing Freshman volleyball! It has been interesting and quite an adjustment for our family to work everything in. It will be a fun experience for her. On top of her school load, a sport, and a choir club, she started attending youth group at church and will enjoy that. I don't know when we will ever see her!

Trip to the Redwood Forest

The Gabriel's went on our first California adventure - and Amelia's first road trip! We were on pins and needles at the beginning of the trip, because little Amelia HATES riding in the car seat. She proved to be a good traveler, with a LOT of coaxing from me in the back seat. Dan and I had been to the Redwood Forest about 17 years ago, and we wanted to take the girls to explore this beautiful place. We weren't disappointed! The trees are magnificent!

We had to crane our necks to see the tops of these 200-300 foot trees!

The hiking was very successful - Amelia does love her sling! Who can nurse, hike, and take pictures all at the same time? ME!! I'm all about multitasking! As a matter of fact, I don't remember a time that I wasn't doing more than one thing at a time!

Humongous tree!

Dan did a fabulous job capturing the neat forest. We enjoyed getting back out in nature . . . and we are looking forward to camping next time . . . Holiday Inn Express was the way to go this time, although I think Sydney was 5 months old when she had her first tenting experience.