www.myspace.com/mattmichaelismusic

feel free to check it out.

So Nathan on Saturday had his first soccer game.  He is in this cute little low-key soccer league run by volunteers and Matt is one of his coaches.   We knew the kids didn’t totally grasp at this age the whole idea of soccer besides a lot of running and trying to kick the ball.  However, Nathan finally got his moment of glory, getting the ball infront of him.  He kicks it several times, good strong kicks.  I was so proud.  Of course, he almost kicks it into the other teams goal, but, like I said…he’s like his mom. 

Here’s the determined little guy kicking it hard, the wrong way.

Just looking cute at the park after the game.  Such a cute guy!

• Went camping as a family at a local state park: the boy’s favorite part was, of course, roasting smarsh-smellows (not eating them once they are roasted, just roasting them or eating them plain…which then left mom and dad to eat more roasted marshmallows then they would normally want) and playing in the dirt.  We were happy to leave with no injuries and at least some sleep (as meager as it was with a queen sized air mattress, two kids sleeping bags, and a pack and play all in one tent!).

• Visited beautiful surrounding cities, including quaint/historical Jacksonville and  beautiful/upscale Ashland (home of the Shakespeare festival).   In Ashland they have a gorgeous park called Lithia park that has tons of trees, beautiful trails, a river running through it with a little kids splash area (we luckily got there before the water was just too icy cold), and a duck pond.  We liked it so much we went there again when Jonathan and Jenelle came into town. 

• Berry picking (both officially and unofficially) – blackberries and blueberries. 
• To a ward campout in a beautiful church owned camp complete with log cabins, on the edge of a gorgeous lake

In addition to all of this, Matt got a calling (Elders Quorum Presidency), and Autumn started teaching aerobics at the church, which then led to her being hired to start teaching aerobics at the YMCA next month (which she is just thrilled about – she’s always had the ambition to be the crazy over the top person at the front of an aerobics class).   We even surrendered our out of state drivers licenses and plates to become true Oregonians (Autumn still stubbornly had a Texas one…).   

Nathan started a co-op preschool last week with 5 other 4 year old boys and seems to love it.  Autumn loves it too, though that may change when it is at our house this week!  Autumn was happy to spend one on one time with Carter, though after 20 minutes Carter told her to “Go away mom”.   Poor guy, we think he just wants some space sometimes!  We realized the level of determination Nathan has though when we told him we would let him pick a big new toy if he stopped sucking his fingers.  He went cold turkey and has not sucked them once for the last 7 days.  We are amazed it has been so easy – no whining or withdrawl, just pure determination to get his new toy.   Glad we didn’t spend $80 on a finger sucking guard!  (Autumn’s idea – she has been researching and thinking about this for weeks, but didn’t think the simple route would work).  

Luke started army crawling and is off and going any time you put him down.  We started him on solid food last week and he has taken to it better than any of his brothers. 

Well, I guess you could say we like it here.   A lot. 

 We get to go on cool hikes in Oregon

Over the weekend Autumn picked a bag full of berries from a bush that was on the side of a road.  At first I wondered if we shouldn’t be doing it, but then she took them home and baked a big pie and we all smiled.

When we walk outside we instantly smell the cool, crisp mountain air.  It brought back memories of sniffing Pine Sol in stores as a small child. 

I discovered than when you apply for a driver’s license in Oregon, you have to take a written test.  I also discovered that one needs to score higher than 80 percent in order to pass the test.  If I would have passed the test, I wouldn’t have found that out.  In sharing this with my work associates, they reaffirmed to me that they all had to take the test a few times.  They were 16 at the time, but they had to retake it.  So if there were a reason why Oregon would not be cool, that would be it. 

Now we just have to come up with a sweet slogan like “Jessica’s fellas.”  How does “Autumn’s bottoms” sound?

Hey gang!

We’ve had an eventful and fun couple of months.  As you know, we moved into a cute little yellow house.  Not tons more square footage, but it feels spacious and we love the garage, lack of stairs, the screened back porch (called a “lanai”), and a real back yard (though it be lacking a fence — Floridians apparently don’t believe in fences).  We recently took advantage of the yard and invested in a little 8 ft. blow-up kiddie pool, which the boys and all their friends have gotten a kick out of.  It’s great since about all you can do in Florida summers is stay in the shade or in the water.

We had our first boating experience a few weekends ago when a couple from our ward invited our family out for a spin around the area.  We loved it and had a blast.  Nathan (true to form) took a while to warm up to it, but by the end was saying “lets go faster!”  We discovered why boatlovers love Florida as we rode into the Gulf of Mexico and anchored on a remote beach and collected dozens of untouched seashells. 

Those are pretty much the only super cool things we’ve done recently.  That and think about hurricanes and the economy.

- In late April we were privileged to have a visit from the Houston Vances, although were unable to do much because of Nathan’s cast. 

-In early May Nathan had his cast taken off. It took him a few weeks to get his normal stride back. 

-In mid May Nathan and I went on our first Father’s & Sons.  We had so so so so so much fun!  We went fishing and saw alligators and learned that if you camp in Florida you need a waterproof tent!

-In late May we left for vacation in California.  We spent time with my family, ran a half-marathon, went to the LA zoo, and even spent a day at Disneyland. 

We leave today to go back to Florida.  We will be moving by the end of the month so we will keep you posted on those adventures as well!