Gifts

Girls are giving Mason gifts now. Candy bars, cans of pop, homemade cards...and plastic monkey faces. They're escalating. 

School pictures

Halloween

Goals

Big day for the boys. Ermi scored two goals, leading his team to a 2-1 victory. Mason scored 3, leading his team to a 4-3 victory. 

Brotherly giggles

Gentle and poised

...is not how people describe our boys. This video makes me laugh the more times I watch it. I love it when Ermias' teammate, Colin, gets up after getting mowed down by Mason and bulls Mason over.

Updates

We finally removed the clay plates from the downstairs bathroom wall and painted over the mint green. The upstairs is coming along too.

Grammy and Smith Rock

I had a conference in Bend, Oregon and Grammy went with me this year. While I was lounging on the lawn she and Corrin summitted to the top of Smith Rock. It was 3.8 miles and an elevation of 1000 feet, not bad for 82 years old. 

I submitted this picture to a conference and one the best photo award!

Skipping

Some days, like today, aren't really school days regardless what the calendar says. Mason and I took off yesterday afternoon for the beach. Cindy and Bob joined today to check off some honey-dos. 

Height check

She claims she was wincing because he was pushing her down. They look so much alike here!

Community Builder

My boss asked if my sons name is Mason. He is on a board with a guy who volunteers at Clark. He knows Mason and says he's the "coolest kid he's ever met." My boss asked if I knew that Mason petitioned the principal. The way he heard it was that Mason felt like the school could get to know more kids if they could sit at lunch at whatever table they wanted instead of just with their class. He got teacher and kids signatures and presented it as a community building gesture of good will. This guy loves Mason and raved about him to my boss.

I am fairly certain that it is not coincidental that Mason would get to sit next to Wil at lunch. 

Friends birthday party

Tonight Mason took five of his friends to Red Robin and then to Yummy Yogurt. They loaded up with french fries, caffeine and sugar, then sent them to the park to run it off. They played tag and chased the birthday boy for an impromptu round of spanks before we returned them home on this Sunday evening.

Ding and Dong

Arturo and Mason

Bolam's Family Reunion!

This is the fourth annual family reunion that we have every five years. (Last weekend in August) We started out having it in Montana and then have picked different places the last couple of reunions. This year it was supposed to be in Winthrop. The two older kids had soccer tournaments so we had to split up. Julie took our soccer players and Ermias and I were going to head to the reunion. Due to the terrible fires in Eastern Washington our location had to change. Cousin Rick and Darlene hosted and we all had such a great time. Because it was close the rest of the family could join us after the soccer tournament ended early. We as a family were able to go on Sunday. Most of the pictures were taken on Saturday so you do not see all of us together. Overall it was a great time!