Life Lesson

...that ends in a sweet buzz cut! Drew with the 'new do!'

Drum Roll!

He's finally here! Our newest cousin! BJ's brother and wife adopted this cutie from China. He is learning English faster than I coud ever learn one sentence of Chinese! He's one smart cookie. The boys (and us) were super excited to meet him and were sad to see them go home! God is good!
Watched everything the boys did...hopefully not picking up bad habits. :)

Really! So cute!

A pumpkin stop

Smiling for a sec

but did mostly this!

1st introduction!

Meet the Teach

Tonight was 'meet the teach' night for our preschool. Tyler and Drew were both excited to go! They have the greatest teachers there and they really love on my boys. Tyler's Kindergarten class was awesome. They had a scavenger hunt that moved from place to place in the classroom. It was clever and allowed me to see where the different centers are in the class. But it's going to be a challenge for mom. If. You. Are. Late. (even one minute) You. Have. To. Get. A. Tardy. Slip. From. The. Office. Wow. Glad a mom told me this, since I already had to ask the teacher what days we go to school. Such a slacker mom. :)
Drew was excited to get the teacher that he and Tyler will now have twice! He particularly loves her because she lets them play with shaving cream alot.
We have lots of buddies in each class so both boys are excited to start next week.
I decided to leave the camera at home (since BJ was unable to attend) so I snapped a few pics of them beforehand. To the end of summer!

Off to Private Kindergarten! We will put this summer baby into public Kinder next year! Love it, because I feel like I am buying a year with my boys. I don't think you can ever regret that! :)

The summer of...
silly bandz!!!!

Little Pre-Ker!

Drew...

the sweet poser!

A hunderd of these...

BJ called him the smiling dog. And he was. He always was. It crushes me to say today we lost our constant companion, we lost the dog that always met us at the door, we lost the dog that never needed a leash, we lost the dog that followed me room to room-even in the middle of the night, we lost the dog we got together, we lost the dog we named together, we lost the dog that I would have a hundred of. We lost Kyser. My sweet Kyser. I only posted 4 post ago about the loss of our older dog Conner. Today we had to let go of our 6 year old pup and Conner's brother. I believe that God has a special place for His creation, wherever that may be... Kyser basically had unexplainable liver failure. His toxicology report is clear (living samples are needed to determine if he was poisoned-by a snake, sago palm, etc). After a week of fighting and holding on through a coma, a biopsy, seizures, he passed in my arms. An autopsy is needed as we are stumped about what is going on in or around this house!!! The main theory is a virus that comes from possum urine. 20 days ago a momma possum birthed 6 babies in our backyard...and now we have lost our second dog in 3 months. Has momma possum been here all a long??

I am grateful that we got pictures made with him...

More than a name...

You are Holy, You are Mighty, You are my Salvation, You are the Creator, You are the Artist... You are my God. The words running thru my mind as we marched silently through His creation to celebrate the life of my father's parents. Oregon is breath taking. It's our Tower heritage. It's memories. It's my grandparents home. The McKenzie Bridge. A son passes on it's name. Two grandchildren do the same. It has great meaning...it's more than a name. And so we return to it's cold, slippery banks, where I remember fishing as a child with my grandfather. Years ago...but it's beauty never changes. It brings back memories of him. A master at fly fishing, known for miles round. A carpenter by hobby. A decorated captain in the USAF. A tall, quiet, strong man...his personality is echoed in my father. My father shares his love for flight, his skill in the hand, and his quiet strong presence. Memories of her. My grandmother. Sophisticated, utterly strong, loyal, brilliant in music and poetry. She brought grace and style to a river house. She was giving, always giving. She loved photography. And she loved my father deeply. My father shares these traits. He has her eyes, her strength, her loyalty resonates in him, but most of all my grandmother taught my father how to love us deeply. Thank you grandfather and grandmother for the legacy you leave behind.

A legacy remains...

And so it begins...

I believe this is a lid to a big dumpster...in the middle of a National Forest.


Waiting for my sister...

The hike to their special place

It's beautiful

First sight of the McKenzie

It was an overcast day. No sun. As my father began to speak, the sun briefly peaked out and shone on us for a breath of a moment. We didn't see the sun again for another couple days. I love how God does that.


Brooke McKenzie's look when I said 'Brooke, this is YOUR river!'


Ice cold beauty.

As BJ said, 'together once more for a moment...' And a promise fulfilled.

Drew standing as I stood as a child.

From the moutain top to the coast of Cannon Beach, OR.

A parade on July 4th. A military drummer walked past Opa (my mom's father) stopped abruptly, stepped back. About turned. Stood straight. And saluted a veteran of WWII. A pilot shot down. A survivor of the war and of cancer. A SURVIVOR. A west Texas wildcat...an oilman. An intellect. Opa returned the salute. And the man turned and resumed his march in the parade. A dream and a prayer, Lord that my boys would appreciate their heritage of flight and respect the deep sacrifice of our military. As my Opa says often...'Rachel, remember me to your boys.'

Oregon has cliffs of crashing waves upon the rocks.

We participated in a sand sculpture contest...we won. It's the story of Abraham and Isaac.

A meaningful, beautiful, perfect Tower Family reunion.

Till 2012...

Texas Fun!

She's so good! Little Divas Designs!
Just sent her the pictures and told her to make it Texas style.

RJ YUM!

Some poppers might be dangerous for toddlers...opps!


Always up for anything fun!

Can't you tell?

Tube kissing with Lala

Mimi beared the heat with a bad knee :( And a long DRIVE to Oregon the next day.

BLOW!

BLOW!

The out door movie theatre

Candied Mom & Pop-corn!

Our lifeguard turned babysitter!

Drew was ready to go with Buzz in his lap. You can kinda see the 'Drew' on Buzz's foot. He insisted it be on there like Andy had his.

Party Poppers...not suitable for children under 12???? At least not for toddlers. :)

There goes my friends...but 'it was the most awesome party ever!'

Can my babies really be 4 and 5 years old? It doesn't feel that way. But it's been a while since I changed a diaper, nursed, fed them a bottle, made rice cereal...so I guess it's so! These are fantastic ages! Tyler is learning to read, venturing out to friend's houses on his own (so he thinks), and swimming like a pro. Drew is busy eating, talking to anything (including lengthy conversations with the dog about heaven), and achieving his goal of anything Tyler can do I can do too. We had their birthday party this weekend. Tyler wanted to swim, Drew wanted a movie night...so we did both! Dad made the best BBQ around and Lala and Papa H came into town to help celebrate! It definitely was a big weekend. Toy Story 3D, two Green Machines (thanks Lala and Papa H), RJ Goodies, BBQ, pool, projector, Mom & Pop-corn, party poppers, and glow in the dark necklaces...etc. Wow...what a party. :) God can You freeze time now?