September 2010 - Vist with the Klamath Falls Kellys

In September we finally made the journey to Klamath Falls, OR to visit the other Kelly family. My Uncle Jim, Aunt Marcy, cousin Ross and his family live in KFalls. We had a wonderful, relaxing visit with the family and are so happy we made the trip. Ross and Jen have adorable boys the same age as Owen and Paige so the cousins (2nd cousins??) were inseperable for the week. Owen was in tears when he had to say good-bye to cousin Connor.


We flew at night and arrived in Sacramento at 11pm. We considered driving a ways then staying at a hotel and venturing the other 4 or 5 hours the next day but after Jared's caffiene kick, we drove straight through the night. While it was nice to get there early (5am early!) and have the kids sleep through the drive, it was not a wise move for Jared and me....we were too tired to do something like that. Thankfully we made it safely without any problems and we all went back to bed. Aunt Marcy was more than ready to entertain the kids while Jared and I rested a bit more.


Jim and Marcy took us out to Crater Lake which was beautiful! It was fun seeing their neck of the woods, McDonald's and running around in their big back yards. Marcy and Jim even took all four kids while Ross, Jen, Jared and I had date night - it was fabulous! When you have small children, adult conversation is not overrated!


Jim is my father's older brother and they do look quite a like. Paige kept calling Uncle Jim "Pops" (what she calls my dad) so that was pretty cute. We've never lived in the vicinity of the J Kelly's but glad to be here on the west coast and to have made the trip. We hope to entertain them in San Diego at some point.

Owen and Paige at Crater Lake

Paige giving Aunt Marcy a rare cuddlePaige and Owen with Aunt Marcy and Uncle Jim (and Jared's bday balloons in the background)

The Solethers at Crater Lake

September 2010 - Jared's Hawaii Trip

At the end of August Jared's grandfather passed away after many years of his body fighting Alzheimer's disease. We all rest well knowing that Grandad is now in a much better place. Jared flew to Kailua, HI and spent a week with his family as they laid Grandad to rest. Greg, Letha, Kacey and Jonathan all met up with Jared and the rest of the Solether family. Grandad, a WWII Veteran, was honored by a memorial service at Punchbowl.


Despite the somber circumstances of their reunion, I believe the family had a wonderful time together. I know Jared enjoyed getting to know his new brother-in-law Jonathan a bit better and more time with Aunt Becky, Uncle Larry and cousins Madeline and Laura. I have to admit I was quite jealous, holding up the home-front but one is much easier than four flying to HI and I was happy Jared was able to make the trip.

Jared and Grandad - I went through old photos and found this picture of Jared and Grandad taken the summer after Jared graduated college - July 2002. It is special to see this picture of Grandad well and happy. Gig Em'!

Jared and Grams. We admire Grams for her love and dedication to caring for Grandad throughout the last 10+ years . Thank you for your example Grams!

The Solether Family - Grams and her kids

Uncle Larry, Aunt Becky, Aunt Diane, Grams, Greg and Letha

Greg and Grams
Jared enjoying some HI sunshine!

August 2010

After all the excitement, trips and visitors during June and July, we kind of took it easy in August. We spent quite a bit of time at the pool with the neighbor girls. Owen did a week of "Farm Camp" at the local community center followed by a week of Gymnastics camp with our neighbor's daughter, Abi. Owen was at farm camp 9-12 for five days. After dropping him off his first day, Paige and I went shopping - I had forgotten that is it much easier to shop with only one kid!

Jared spent a week in Chicago for work and the week he was gone Paige decided to make the transition to big girl panties. The potty training went quite well. As she was trying to manipulate situations and get out of being punished because she needed to "potty", we thought she was more than ready. She was quite proud of her Tinkerbell panties and ran through the house saying "No pee pee on Tinkerbell!"

Stacy spent many afternoons on the couch in a semi-haze or completely out, struggling to get through the tired weeks of the first trimester of pregnancy. I found it was harder getting through that stage with two kids running around. Owen was quite the sport and didn't mind giving up our daily "Mommy/Owen Time" to let Mommy catch some zzzzz's.

Stacy turned 31 on the 25th and we went to the John Mayer concert and left the kids with a sitter. Yawning before the first act was over, I felt very old and was remembering some good times in college going to concerts with friends (and having a lot more energy!)

~Pictures of Paige~

Enjoying reading her Butterfly book and showing the camera

Paige all decked out with purse, tu-tu and cup

Cooling off on a warm day - Paige enjoying the water park

~Pictures of Owen~

My handsome big boy (he's 4 now, I dare not call him "little" anymore!)

I am sure glad I had my "tool man" around while Daddy was gone, you never know what might come up.

Owen proudly receiving his medal at gymnastics camp

The Cabin Trip - July 2010

This past July (yes, now four months ago), the Solether family made the trek to Ketchum, ID. Stacy's Dad grew up in Twin Falls, ID and his mom's side of the family built a log cabin outside of Ketchum (near Sun Valley) on the Warm Springs river late 1940's. My dad started going to the cabin when he was about four years old - Owen's age for his first cabin trip. We met Stacy's dad, Kim and Austin there for a 10 day get away. Some things have changed since the cabin was first built (additions of indoor plumbing, an upstairs loft, microwave and even tv). Some things seem to not have changed (at least since I was going there as a kid) - the upstairs beds and comforters. The beds have seen better days and Owen slept on one that was so lopsided he fell off the bed most nights.

Our days at the cabin were packed full of hiking, fishing, a little bit of UNO, biking and a trip up the Warm Springs Ski Lift. We all had a great time and were sad to leave. I have so many pictures, bear with me. I think this is the reason for the delay in blogging, overwhelmed by the number of great photos I want to post about our trip. Bear with me, this could get long!

The Cabin
When I (Stacy) was going to the cabin as a kid the cabin had a blue picket fence and yellow shutters on the window. After a pretty big fire in the area a few years back they decided to take them down. We enjoyed the new patio furniture out front and back.

Fishing
You can't go to the cabin without doing a bit of fishing. I think Paige and I were the only ones who didn't wet a line but that's okay, we took the pictures. I don't know who was more determined to catch a fish - Owen or Austin? Pops bought Owen his own Lightning McQueen light-up fishing pole. After several practice casting sessions off of the front porch, he was ready for the stream.

Jared put Owen in the backpack and headed for the water. I was quite pleased to watch this activity from the bridge...standing in the water with a 4yr old on your back who has his own pole with a hook casting somewhat aimlessly sounds a bit risky to me. It's a wonder there were no accidents! Owen was unsuccessful in catching his fish but Jared caught one on his first cast. This was good and bad...it kind of gave Owen the wrong idea about fishing (catching one on your first try, only if it were always that easy!) He still tells people that he's been fishing but he didn't catch anything.

Austin on the other hand made sure he was going to come home with some fish and he did...he just didn't eat them. That's okay, more for me!

Paige's 2nd Birthday

(It may seem odd that I am going to post on Paige's birthday in November (almost December now) but since I haven't really caught up since beginning of July, I am no doubt way behind, as usual. I do hope (one day) to print the blog into a sort of scrapbook for the family. I'd feel terrible for Paige to look through it one day and see that her 2nd birthday was totally left out. I'm so far behind, I just feel overwhelmed wondering where to begin catching up. Who knows what will happen when Baby #3 makes his entrance in March. Will the blog go totally to the wayside?)

Paige turned 2 on July 25th. It was the last night we had at our family cabin in Ketchum, ID. We spent the week prior to her birthday at the cabin with Pops, Aunt Kim and Uncle Austin. It was a wonderful vacation. Pops bought Paige a cake which she had no problem consuming. We did presents once we got back to Coronado. She likes to tell all that she is two though holds up at least five fingers.

For her 2nd birthday Paige got a little kitchen from Granly and Grandad that was oh so much fun for mommy and daddy to put together! She got her own Rosie Train to play on Owen's train track, a few baby dolls and strollers, books and clothes. Not sure what was the favorite...I'd say the strollers get the most use.

Paige getting ready to blow out her candle

Paige showing off how flexible she is though we've told her it's bad manners to put feet on the table!
Paige eating cake with two spoons and LOVING it!

Pops and the kiddos

It's a Boy!

We had an ultrasound a few weeks ago and found out, without a doubt, Baby #3 is a BOY! We're thrilled. The kids seemed excited I guess. Owen's initial response was: "I was right, Paige was wrong." Seems like a typical 4 year old answer. Baby boy looked strong and healthy on the ultrasound and we relished the chance to see him; Jared and I are again amazed by technology.

No names picked out yet though we are throwing some around. Paige said "Elmo" the other day (big NO there!) and Owen has mentioned Percy or Josh.

The ultrasound picture we got was great, the baby giving us the peace sign. Jared says he's giving us a "V" for "Victory."

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Solethers. We're not super big on this holiday but I have to admit, it was fun taking the kids around all dressed up. They were super cute, pretty well behaved and we had a good time (though we missed Daddy since he had to leave yesterday for a meeting). Owen, like a lot of little boys out there, was Buzz Lightyear and Paige was a Ladybug.

I ventured two blocks in the "business district" of Coronado...it was mayhem and will probably be avoided next year! The local stores give out candy but there were WAY too many people for my taste. We then headed over to the Fall Festival at the church where I go to Bible Study. The kids had fun playing games, decorating (and eating) huge sugar cookies and playing on the playground. We then spent a little time at the local retirement home where a lot of the residents were in the lobby with candy, hoping to see little ones parade through in their costumes.

All in all, a quite successful evening with a big bag of candy to show for it. It's 9am the following day and the kids haven't even asked about it yet. We'll see how long that lasts.

Camping with Daddy

A few days ago the kids were talking about camping so Jared got the tent out and they set it up Friday night in the back yard. Armed with sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, a blue "night night", Essie the stuffed elephant and a lantern ... the boys were ready for their night in the tent. After putting Paige to sleep Owen started getting cold feet and wanted to sleep in his bed instead. Jared, having worked hard to put it all together, said "No Way!" and the boys slept outside. They came in about 4am when Owen needed to use the bathroom and he evidently wanted to stay in. Tears and a fit followed but Jared got him back outside and finally the rain at 7:45am brought them in for good.

Are we ready for a real Solether Family camping trip? The jury is still out. Adding a 5month pregnant mommy and a busy busy two year old to the mix kind of changes things. Stay posted (maybe one day if we ever do camp, I'll post about it).

Paige enjoying being bundled in the mummy sack.

Owen, looking quite grown up to me, enjoying his tent.

Jared ready for the camping fun!

Fun with Daddy!