Monday, August 29, 2011

School Days

Is it really possible that our oldest child is in 2nd grade now?! Here is Asher with his teacher Mrs. Hanna. He was so excited on the 1st day of school that he ran the whole way there and was the 1st one to arrive in class. He loves being with his friends again and "learning" he says. We have no neighbors or friends with kids his age so he was getting pretty bored by the end of the summer and frustrated with his siblings. We hope you have a great year Asher!

Jesse on his 1st day of preschool. A week before school started he says to me frantically "I need a backpack!". Of course you do son! How logical. So off we went and of course, he picked out a McQueen backpack. This morning he got up with Asher, tagged along behind him brushing his teeth, getting dressed and then says "Where are we going?". When we said school he was ecstatic that his day had come.


The three all ready for school.


We live 5 houses down from the school so the older 2 get to walk. Asher was super proud to be responsible for Anna. We went over all the rules...hold hands when you cross the road, stay together, etc. Of course, I tagged along on the 1st day. Asher started 1 week before Anna so it was a LONG week for Anna. Now she was so excited that she ran the whole way too!


Anna with her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Matteson.


Anna at her desk (cue a few tears in my eyes as I am tearing myself away from the classroom-they all looked so nervous!).

Now what to do with my precious few hours....

Monday, August 22, 2011

Hangin' with the Monkeys

This past weekend we enjoyed a family day at the Columbus Zoo. The day started out beautiful and we were all excited to see our favorite animals. The zoo is one of my favorite places to go.

Everyone was in high spirits as we planned our route while eating our packed lunch.

Don't all zoos have fun statues to get pictures with? Kids seem to love them so much! This one was my favorite because the matinee was my favorite animal sighting of the day. Why not the hippos you ask? Yes, the hippos are my favorite animal ever but alas, no hippos at the Columbus Zoo (no giraffes either...weird, huh?)

And of course the day wouldn't be complete with out a train ride using our eagle eye to sight animals.

or without a thunderstorm to make us run for cover in the Gorilla house. This was the second thunderstorm that caused us to sit for awhile. This may sound like a miserable zoo trip but it actually made it even more fun and a great memory. We enjoyed snacks during the storm and enjoyed the rest, and it cooled the temperature out a ton!

The boys loved hanging out with the gorillas during the storm.

Anna loved dancing in the rain.

Joel may or may not have loved being the hero and wading Josie through the streams while the rest of us clambered over fences. Yes, a memorable but lovely day!



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Go Reds

We had a lovely family outing last week to see the Cincinnati Reds play the Giants (and beat the returning World Series Champs 9 to 0!). We were so fortunate to score tickets in the shade! I don't know how we would have survived without it! The kids were awesome and Asher seems to really be enjoying baseball now, following what is happening and cheering at all the right times. So we had one of the security guards take this picture and he only took 1...that is Jesse at the bottom (in the red hat).

The kids outside the ballpark.

So I had to include a picture of Jesse since he was missed in the family photo. His favorite thing about about baseball games is wearing ball caps...he wears them all the time now! He also loves the peanuts. Jesse could live on peanuts alone.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Thorson Vacation, Part III

This will be the last installment of the major Thorson Vacation. I still look at these photos and fill with happiness. It was such a wonderful time! While in Hawaii, I was blessed to join a group of ladies called the "Wet Hens", an all women group of sailing instructors that teach military women/spouses how to sail in order to promote community and a means of enjoying Hawaii. This group has a ton of wonderful history, has created ties all over the world, and provided me with amazing sailing opportunities all over Oahu. It was empowering and thrilling, and fun to have a skill that Joel didn't have...hehe. So this past July, the Wet Hens celebrated their 50th Anniversary with an amazing reunion. 100 ladies, 1 being an original charter member, traveled from all over the world to attend and it was a blessing to be a part of it and sail with my old sailing buddies. This reunion was another excuse to justify this trip!

Wet Hen tradition is you greet past Wet Hens as they arrive at the airport. I was filled with so much excitement knowing the greeting Josie and I were going to receive...cheering ladies, a lei, a Wet Hen flag waving, and lots of hugs. This picture is taken at one of the evening banquets with my sailing buddies.

Me at the helm of 24 foot sailboat. Someday I will have my own (I pray). My vacation was filled with lots of sailing thanks to dear friends willing to watch a cute 5 month old.

OK, so we are not sailing but this is my sailing bestie Melissa. We took the Wet Hen class together, were sailing partners, and then joined the group as instructors together. Melissa and sailing just go together! You should have seen us clinging to the boat for dear life on day 1 scared out of our minds.

Melissa and I racing together during the big 4th of July race on a Catalina 14. I was a little rusty. I am not sure how we ended up placing because we were having way to much fun!

A friend saw this picture and said "Ah Mary, you are home". It couldn't have been stated better. Sailing is what made me fall in love with Hawaii and now I can't imagine my life without. I pray DC will give me some opportunities to get back on the tiller. I had a very hard time when we first moved to Hawaii, and was in a very dark place. Maybe one of the darkest of my lives. The Lord had a good work to do in me. Sailing helped me to truly see His creation in a different light, to find in myself a place and strength I didn't know existed, and blessed me beyond measure. I am so thankful for the week He gave me to spend with Him in this way again.