Kjell's Kindergarten Program

Snow in Salem

Kjell's First Day of Kindergarten

Kjell had his first day of Kindergarten today.  Overall, it was a success.  He's met his teacher a few times already, so she wasn't totally new to him.  In Oregon, Kindergarten is only 1/2 day, so at 11:45 he rides a bus back to his old daycare (YMCA).  Since Maija and I had to teach kids of our own, Grammie Sara took Kjell to kindergarten and snapped the photo of him at his table.  Don't let the face fool you, he reported having a good day and he looks forward to more.

Oh NO BALL!!!!

Here's some video of the boys bowling... or as Noak calls it "Oh No BALL!!!"  He is thrilled by the ball's destruction of the pins.

Noak's Birthday photos

Here's the start of the photos from Noak's B-day Party.  Check out Maija and my art skills.  We rule!

Some videos of the boys

Christmas 2010

Thanks to Grandma Judy for my new Flip video camera.  Here are a couple of highlights from yesterday.  One is Kjell trying to run fast enough to make his Superman cape flutter behind him.  The other is Noak being cute.  He's good at that.

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Kjell "reads" to little Bro

What a memory that boy has!  Noak has started to enjoy an old favorite book of Kjell's called "Poppleton".  Here's evidence that Kjell's been paying close attention when his parents have read "Poppleton" to him in the past.  Enjoy.

Kjell - 4 and Noak - 1 1/2

Family Fun 2010

To our lone, dedicated reader… Auntie Anna, this entry is for you! :)

We have had a very fun summer so far, but our long summer vacation seems to be half over already! We kicked off the summer with a trip to Astoria. We still need to find those pictures to share. Next we headed to Roseburg for Uncle Jon and Aunt Raiza’s wedding on the North Umpqua River. Some of Gram and Bop’s good friends, the Bartletts, loaned their cabin for the occasion. It was a beautiful setting and fun ceremony conducted by the Reverend James L. Peters. You might also notice the photo of the Rev. working the music for the reception with his cute sidekick and one of two very cute ring bearers, Kjell.

A mere week or so later, we headed out to Kona, Hawaii to spend some time with Gram and Bop. We had a great time. Noak and Kjell loved spotting geckos and playing in the sand. Kjell went “surfing” on a boogie board held tightly by Mom and Gram. We snorkeled and played in the water of the “keiki” or children’s “pool” at Sara and Bob’s favorite beach. Jamie and I also celebrated our 7th anniversary a little early with a night out on the town in Kona. It was a very fun time.

We’ll have several picture posts or a slide show, so maybe check out those entries soon.

Love to all of our friends and family far and near!

Spring photos

Just some quick updates and photos.  Noak is a full-fledged walker now (we'll try to post some video soon).  Here are pictures from Easter and the Ducks Spring Game (aka scrimmage - yes our family even goes to Ducks practices).

Kjell and Dad say goodbye to Mac Court

We weren't there when they opened McArthur Court 84 years ago, but Kjell and I were there to say goodbye to the venerable old stadium on Saturday night.  We watched a rare UO victory as the Ducks beat the WSU Cougars.  Kjell had a great time and his highlight was easily going onto the court after the game was over.  His second highlight was giving a "pound" to the Oregon Duck.  They touched knuckles and then "blew it up".  That gave Kjell a smile a mile wide.

Noak's First Cake

Noak's 1st Birthday Celebration

Noak's 1st birthday isn't until Thursday, but we took advantage of the three day weekend and had his celebration on Saturday. He had fun, but was a little intimidated by being the center of all the attention. Maija made a great cake that was inspired by Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar book. We were all impressed. Here are the photos:

There's always one favorite gift

Kjell and Noak had a great time at Christmas. Both boys had a wealth of wonderful gifts. We have tons of photos and will put together a slide show soon. But, there is always one gift that seems to stand out as the favorite out of all of the great gifts. For Kjell, that appears to be his Carolina Panthers football uniform. The only time he has changed out of it has been to sleep at night and a few hours ago when he changed into winter clothes to have a snow ball fight with Dad. He even fell asleep wearing the helmet and uniform in his carseat!

Thanksgiving and getting the tree

Halloween and Noak growing up

Kjell the Football Fan

After a brief scare, when Kjell claimed that he preferred the Beavers to the Ducks, Kjell is back on track and loving on some football. We play football at home every day. Our games consist of Kjell running laps of the house carrying the football and telling us when to cheer. It's pretty fun for him and pretty entertaining for his folks. As he's been watching Duck games on TV and in person and after attending one Willamette game, he has started to add to his list of plays. His favorite move is the "spin move" that we learned while in attendance at the Utah vs. Oregon game at Autzen stadium. I have a photo from the game below and a look at the spin move that inspired Kjell below the photo. Kjell was a total trooper at the game. I was hoping that he'd make it to halftime, but he watched the whole game. He told me to stand when everyone else stood so that he could see the game. Then, the next weekend, he was indignant that D'mitri was joining me for the game, rather than Kjell. I'm so proud.

Photos we took around the house ...

Here are a few photos documenting Kjell being 3 and Noak being 1/2. We took them in the living room with our home camera ;)