There's not much to post for this week. That's ok though because we'll make up for it with a really long post next week. For now, a few pictures with captions will have to do.

Evelyn was a great car washer.

This is my Saturday morning project.

Rachel and I went on a DATE. It was great to get out for a while.

Evelyn is our little artist. She drew this picture totally unprompted by us and then let us know that it was her self portrait. I think it's pretty good.

Today we got to church and Rachel realized that she was still wearing the bright blue Hawaiian sandals that she had been wearing around the house this morning. Apparently in the hustle and bustle of taking care of kids we sometimes forget to think about our own needs (like shoes). I think that may be part of the definition of a good parent. Go Rach! (Nice sandals, by the way).

So this has been a week of parties. On Monday, Rachel put together a pool party for Evelyn and her friends. It was pretty stormy and rainy in the morning and she considered rescheduling, but in the end decided to stick through the storm and see what came of it. The pool party could always be changed to become an indoor play-party if needs be. Well, the sun came out and the kids all had a great time cooling off in the pool and playing together. Isn’t summer time great?

On Thursday Rachel went to a beach party with her play group. She was a bit hesitant to go because having all of the kids at the beach seemed like a hassle, but her friends convinced her that she would have plenty of help and got her to give it a try. I guess things turned out pretty good because she told me that all the kids had a blast, and Evelyn couldn’t stop talking about her “big swimming pool” (the lake).

On Saturday Rachel and I decided to check out the arts festival up in Willoughby (a nearby town). It was huge! It was really neat looking at all of the hand-made arts and goods, produced mostly by local citizens. It is cool to think that so much talent exists in such a relatively small community. And it is cool that these types of festivals are around to celebrate such talent. It sort of makes me wonder who I might know who has some sort of hidden talent that is unknown to the general public.

People are so amazing.

Later that night, Rachel and I went to a Fiesta (that means party, in Spanish) that some members of our ward put together in celebration of their birthdays. They had really good authentic Mexican food, a piñata, and great company. One of the main reasons we love living here so much is for the wonderful people we have gotten to know. Gatherings like this really help us to see how much that means to us.

Well, that is about it for our week. Eva, Jack, and Addy are still very cute. Oh- we gave Jack some yogurt this week and he didn’t break out in a horrible rash. That is good news for us because it means that his milk allergy may be going away. That would be great.

These were taken at Rachel's pool party.

Here's Evelyn at the fiesta, eating her drink with her spoon. This is one of her favorite things.

The Arts Festival.

Picture Update

Bring on the pictures! I am amazed at how much our sweet kids have grown. Sit back and enjoy the pcitures.


Jackson loves to figure out how things work. He is very focused until he finds out how to manipulate the toy or object to get his desired effect. Jack is happy, smiley, and getting more talkative. He is much happier now that his bottom two teeth have finally come in. Evelyn wanted a bottle so that she could lay down and be like Adalie and Jack.
Evelyn found one of the dresses that was in the 'next size up' bag for Adalie. She had it on in seconds. She LOVES dress up and is often trying on Jack and Addy's clothes. In the bottle picture above she is actually wearing Adalie's pants.

Evelyn and Austin get along so well! I love watching these two giggle together and play. They are often jumping, dancing, and trying to copy the other's antics. Do you recognize Evelyn's shirt?

After some very focused preparation time and careful arrangements Evelyn presented the "face" she created. She pointed to the train track and excitedly said, "Eyebrows!" Then she proceeded to label every piece of the face. She has a slight obsession with eyebrows lately. Have you ever noticed that Winnie the Pooh has eyebrows? She has.

Happiness with Mom before the fireworks began. Evelyn was SO excited to see the 'pretty' fireworks.

Adalie is our happy little talker. She loves to babble, sing and dance.

Yesterday was a crazy rollercoaster ride of a day. It had it all- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

To start out the day, I got up early and went out into the garage to work on my old motorcycle (Well- I guess they're both old. I'm talking about the Honda 750 here.) This has become my Saturday routine- I have decided to completely take apart and then put together every component on the bike in an attempt to learn something. It has been a good experiance so far and I at least feel like I'm not going to break anything now when I work on my other bike or my car.

Anyway this is all totally beside the point. The thing I wanted to get to was that when I went into the garage, it looked like this:



Notice the relatively open area on the left. That is where we normally keep our bikes. Instead, this is what was there.
Yep. Stolen. Both of our bikes, Evelyn's bike seat, and our bike trailer. All gone. And it's not like we hadn't taken precautions. Not only were these items in the garage, but they were locked up as well. Some people will stop at nothing. It's really frusterating also because it was all second-hand stuff that wasn't worth much anyway. Whoever has them will get maybe $100 for everything. But what it took from us was worth so much more.

Those were our evenings and Sunday afternoons. Evelyn loves "her bike" and regularly asks for bike rides. It was our tradition (mine and hers) to go out to the garage and she would "help" me to get everything ready for these rides. It was so cute. Jack and Addy would smile and be content in that stroller despite the worse of days, and Rachel and I could ride side by side and talk without interruptions. Those things were important to us, and they took it all for a lousy $100.

Oh- and the timing was great also. Our plans for yesterday included a trip to Cuyahoga Valley where we would ride our bikes down the trail and then take the train back up to the trailhead. It would've been fun, I suppose, but I guess we'll never konw.

But I'm not bitter.

Instead we took a walk and our kids liked that almost as much and we still got to talk, so it all worked out. And who knows? Maybe it's for the better. Maybe if we had gone on that bike ride a tree would have fallen on me, crushing my right hand and causing me to be a crippled almost-dentist. I would then have to fall back on teaching high school (no offense Dad) and working nights waiting tables just to pay off my dental loans and our children would grow up without having a father-figure in the home. Or worse. At least that's what I like to think.

That night, however, got better. Rachel and I got to go to a late night movie. Yea, to those of you who don't have three children who constantly need your attention this might not seem like a big deal. But it is to us. It is so nice to be able to get out every now and then and go on a date, just us. We saw "How to Train Your Dragon" and thouroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

So, yesterday pretty much makes up the highlight story for the blog this week. Here are some other random bits that you may (or may not) find interesting:

I got a new phone. Rachel lost hers but it was time for her to get a free upgrade so she got a phone but then decided that she liked mine better so we traded and now she has my old one and now I have this sweet new phone that is a 5mp camera, ipod, and phone all in one. In fact, all of the pictures on this post were taken with my phone.

Evelyn has decided that the babies no longer deserve to carry their own identity, and instead she refers to them both as "Addyjack." Like when she prays- "bless Mommy, Daddy, Addyjack, Austin..." or when we ask her what she did during the day- "Play Luke, beep boowoah (swimming pool), play Addyjack, my bike..."

Evelyn can't decide what she thinks about fireworks. When you ask her she'll tell you they are pretty and that she likes them, but when Rachel brough her to see them she screemed bloody murder and actually took a running dive head-first into the back of the car. It was actually a pretty spactacular move. It turns out we have quite the athlete on our hands given the right circumstances.

Jackson and Adalie are also very cute. Jack has been getting teeth, so every once in a while he transforms into this horrible whining monstrosity that bears slight resemblance to my son. Whenever he makes his screaching noises I am tempted to recite the script from the princes bride because that is exactly what he sounds like:

"Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels! If you don't believe me, just wait. They always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh!"

...but overall they are all just happy, talkative, sweet children.

Here we are eating at the mall.

This is Evelyn's hat. She loves it and wears it all the time. I don't even know where she got it.

I think Rachel is gonna post some more pictures later today, so check back in and see if we've updated.

Professional Letter

Rachel and I decided to give your eyes a rest this week and actually have a short post. This may also be because we are very late and don't have a lot of time...

I am currently working on writing letters to send to dentists that work near Coeur d'Alene Idaho (our round about destination after dental school). I was debating what should be included and the level of formality for the letter. Rachel, my brilliant wife, came up with this letter. My work here is done. Thanks Rach.

Dentists,

Hi. I am Logan. I like Dentistry. I like Coeur d'Alene (I think). I have family. I like money. I don't make any. I am in dental school. I want help finding work. Call me. I am a superhero.

Cheers,
Loge