Ulli Street!

Ava is always taking random pictures of her and her companion holding a Book of Mormon for her profile picture on WhatsApp.  They are so creative with it, sometimes using their shadows on the ground with their name tags and books.  This one is just cute!

Shortly after that profile picture was taken Ava snapped this one with our favorite dog’s namesake!  Ulli is short for Ulrich. Love that she noticed this tiny street sign!

Favorite Photo of Ava!

Ava uploads photos of her adventures in Germany almost daily and I love to look at them and read her captions, but have been bad about downloading them and putting them in our family history books. That stopped today with this beauty from Ava’s pday at Maxipark in Hamm!  So adorable!

New ID

Norah walked in to get her school id picture taken and walked out with this glamour shot!  What a beautiful girl, so glad the photographer was able to catch it!  Aunt Cassie pointed out Norah's resemblance to her great aunt Betty Margaret. Both women are absolutely stunning inside and out!!

8th!!

Ben was a zombie this morning and squeaked in some extra sleep by waking up only 10 minutes before he needed to leave for school. His eyes are puffy; but he looks like a superstar all the same resisting the urge to wear new clothes and shoes and opting for a stained shirt from the dirty clothes and old socks and shoes. He did wear a new pair of shorts though!  Love this contrarian kid!

New Spot?

With three of our kitchen chairs broken due to age or faulty IKEA construction, we have a large empty spot at the counter that this guy has started to fill. So cute to see his little poking out!

Tradition!

This is our first year with only 3 schultute recipients!  Last year Ava started at byu over a week after these guys and was able to join in on the fun!  The kids each got socks, a bracelet and necklace from CA, a pair of workout shorts and some Gummi candy!

Missionary Time!

Talking to Ava today was awesome!  I was waiting for Norah to get out practice after school and was able to enjoy some uninterrupted and unshared time with our favorite missionary!  Ava is doing amazing things in Germany and is making us all miss our time there even more!  I hope the people of Hamm will feel the love Ava has for them and their special corner of the world!

Hiding!

Ulli sleeps anywhere and everywhere everyday, today he was found under my bed!  He definitely didn’t mind having two less people in the house all day!

Soph & Senior!

These two had the unfortunateness of starting school a day before Ben!  Ben was gloating hardcore yesterday and all day today while he waited for them to come home from their early out and go on the boat for a pizza dinner with us!

She Said Yes!!

After the movie we raced home to pick up the beautifully decorated box of donuts and meet Kyle and Ben so Ben could doorbell ditch the box at Ethan’s house. It was a big fail, because there were people outside we didn’t know about until we had summited the mammoth driveway. While trying to escape the new Audi made an intense noise as it backed up and we zoomed away. 

Movie Night!

With the boys at practice and Norah and I home alone on the official last day of summer for her, I surprised her with a trip to see a movie that’s out that she has been wanting to see, but couldn’t get any friends to go with her!  We shared a small popcorn and endured “It Ends With Us.”

Summer End S’more’s!

We have been lamenting all weekend about the end of summer and after our Saturday boat trip was replaced by a family movie night watching the new Twisters movie due to rain, we have been feeling like summer is really over!  The two trips to the lake this last week were fun, but the water temp has cooled with all the rain and the end of the summer always leaves the lake with a bacteria problem or an algae problem. This year is no different. 

We scrounged some s’mores stuff up and headed to Northfork expecting the weather to be cooler, but we thought wrong and poor Ben was sweating!  He took off his sweatshirt and enjoyed the campfire scriptures shirtless!

Shedder!

Ever since I have Ulli a bath two days ago he has been shedding this really short tufts of hair. He usually sheds longer pieces, but I figured out it was from his legs and gave those a solid brushing today. I got this more than softball sized hair ball off of his legs from his elbows down to his feet!  So crazy, because he doesn’t look any thinner in that area!  What a weird place to shed!

Cuddle-bug!

I had a project I was working on at my desk and this guy snuggled up with my feet underneath. I got up to take a shower and Ben snapped this picture of Ulli before he followed me. He looks so small, but he sure isn’t!

Clean Boy!

Ulli got his bath yesterday and is so silky smooth today!  He was taking a break on his freshly laundered bed while I was sweeping up his fur and Ben snapped these pictures.  So cute!

 

Big Hips!

Ulli was laying around this morning waiting for his bath and got in this strange position that really exaggerated his hips!  What a chunk!

Twins!

I was making some breakfast this guy and when we cracked the egg this came out!  Kind of cool, kind of weird!  Ben’s face is the best though!

Asked!!

Umm hello!  This girl got asked to the Homecoming dance ar Weber High on September 21 tonight!  This came out of left field, because Norah hasn’t talked to this friend from junior high since her phone broke back in March!  I found this poster on the porch tonight after coming home, from being at vball practice with Kyle and Ben, and needing to take Ulli out. Norah was home watching Dune 2 and had no idea this was waiting upstairs. 

Conquered!!

This girl has been driving a bunch and is up to 17 of her required 40 hours. She only needs 30 hours of day driving and 10 of night driving, but we don’t seem to be out past 10 when the sun is setting. Norah has driven trappers loop many times, has crushed freeway driving, has started city driving in Ogden and today she drove over the divide twice back and forth to the library!  Way to go!

So Dirty!

We have been needing to give Ulli a bath for a couple weeks now, but it hasn’t happened.  He smells a little bad and when I don’t brush him, his fur looks a little matted!  He is still adorable and fun to let, but he is so dirty!!

 

First Sunset In Germany!

With the crazy sunrise and sunset times this far north, Ava has been going to bed before sunset and getting up after sunrise. Her and sister Chase were traveling back home and got back later than normal.  By the mid December rolls around, Ava will be getting up before the sun and having days end around 4:30pm!  It will be quite the switch from now!

Ava Time!

We are loving all the phone calls with Ava, especially since we get to see her face!  She’s working so hard and it is very inspiring to hear her talk of her experiences with the Spirit and the gift of tongues!  We love our missionary!

Puzzle Time!

Norah was gone for most of this puzzle, but she snapped a few pieces in and got to take a picture with the boys!  Love this puzzle, so delicious!

Precious!

The kid always snap pictures of Ulli that I find on my phone later. 

Ben is especially good at capturing just how adorable this pup is!!

Norah has been rocking her FSY bracelet since Saturday and they are still going strong!

More foot cuddling for Ulli and Kyle!  He always lays under Kyle’s chair when we are sitting at the table!