Owen, Sara &
Andrew Hoelter

It’s a drizzly Willamette Valley winter!

We escaped the house for a little walk last weekend at an Audubon park in West Salem after coming home from the Portland Hoelters. Why? Because it’s GOOD for you!! We gathered lots of little bits of moss and sticks, light green, dark green, moldy and falling apart and a few oak galls, which forever remind me of Grampa Wing’s house. Kids were goofy, and we only got rained on a little bit.

Thanksgiving was REALLY yummy and we were especially thankful for the presence of Uncle Micah–back from his travels with lots of stories. The traditional Hoelter cranberry sauce was made with help from kids:

Love to all of you today!

Now that Owen and Peter are out of school, we are LOVING summer. Our recent adventures have included:

A Father’s Day “puppy pile” with no injuries! **LOVE that Daddy**

A trip to the Oregon Zoo with the Grandparents Hoelter and cousin Jackson…

A day that was nearly warm enough to slip’n’slide!
*Not recommended for those over 30, DON’T be fooled by the little cushion provided.

An attempt at Dragon Boat Racing at the World Beat Festival here in Salem! The CHAOS Water Babies (despite needing to come up with a much FIERCER name) did not capsize, run into the bank or win any races, but we did have a good time and got wet in the Willamette on a sunny day. In case you wondered, it’s best to paddle in unison…

Lots of yard work and gardening, including the transformation of the part of the “back 40” into a play area WITHOUT broken glass and bottle caps.

And a BBQ/Birthday party for our big 3 year old. It was a lovely evening with new/old friends and family, piles of bratwurst and  chocolate cake! With sprinkles! AND popsicles! Here she is sporting her latest Beaver Gear. Her response, “I’m good at soccer!”

Hope you’re all having a lovely summer, too!

A good day for our Big Boy…

Finish Line!

He ran in Awesome 3000, a K-12 cross country-style fun run. A big deal for Salem with 3,200 kids registered this year! It was a SEA of orange T-shirts and skinny legs. I find it really amazing that all of those kids found their way back to the correct parents. Kinder and 1st graders run a 1500m course, and the older kids run 3K. Owen finished in 8:20, and seemed to have a good time. His buddy is finishing just in front of him.

Clearly, very cool boys

Then, we had a soccer game. (No pics–just imagine little boys in shinguards kind of actually playing soccer!)

Then,  it was time for Owen’s first piano recital. He’s been taking lessons for about 3 months.

Grandma Judy sent a new shirt and I ironed his pants. He, being the “youngest” student, played his pieces first. He didn’t make any mistakes and didn’t lose his composure when he had a small issue with a very large piano.

After the recital, Owen and his buddy (with some help from Sara) played a duet that they have been learning.

"Whistling"

I’m working on a snippet of video that Peter took of Owen’s favorite song “Big Ben”! Sort of reminds me of the 5th grade band playing Good King Wenceslaus at the Holiday Concert… Hopefully will post it soon.

We do have 2 OTHER children, remember. They are cute too, and we do take pictures of them. More on that later !