Magic Kingdom meets Gustav

We thought we would get one last trip to Disney World in before our annual passes expire in 2 weeks. We didn't realize Gustav would be making its way though Florida yesterday. It rained and rained and rained. There was no easy way to get from the park to the car, so we just went for it. We probably walked a good mile through the pouring rain. When we neared the exit, Jarin asked a couple hanging out under a building to take a picture for us. They were cracking up. We all splashed in the puddles. Jarin did the classic "singing in the rain" down Main Street with Jesse on his shoulders. It was definitely a day to remember.

Side note: we've probably taken our ponchos to DisneyWorld 10 times and never used them. We decided not to worry about it this time. Murphy's law, right? Sweet!

The Birthday Girl

Elle celebrated her birthday with a "happy breakfast" in bed, then a cookie cake with ice cream and gifts after school. We'll probably have a party for her after we get our house put back together.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Warning: This post contains some potentially graphic material (a bloody little chin)


I wish life were all sunshine and roses, but its not and sometimes bad things happen. We had a couple of "bad days" this week.

The good: Nate couldn't resist a tub full of water with a fun big brother. Jesse wasn't as excited about the company as Nate was, but he warmed up to the idea.



The bad: We woke up Tuesday morning to a living room full of water. We had a plumbing problem. Kind of a pain, if you ask me.

The cleanup team took out our carpet and installed all kinds of fans and dehumidifiers. Our house feels so crazy right now!!

No, Jesse isn't ugly, but this cut on his chin could qualify. He took a little fall and split his chin open. Don't worry. The doctor was able to glue it right back together.

Back home and back to school

No sooner did we return from vacation, and it was time for school to start. I think this was the shortest summer ever. We had a wonderful summer and did a lot of fun things, but I don't think any of us were really ready for school to start again. The girls both had a great day and are so happy because they both have the same teachers from last year. They both just happened to move up a grade with their class. How great is that?

When we returned home, everyone in the Tampa area was busy preparing for Tropical Storm Fay, which was projected to hit the bay area as a category 1 or 2 hurricane sometime tonight. We got to work making sure we had flashlights and food and fuel just in case. We moved all our yard furniture into our house and anchored the trampoline so it wouldn't become airborne. The storm took a right turn south of us and missed us all together. We have enjoyed a lovely cool breeze, but not a drop of rain. We're thankful for the miss. It was good practice for us, as it would have been our first hurricane. The kids got a "hurricane day" from school, so we all slept in and played at home all day. Back to school again tomorrow....

Mt Democrat

Nate really decided to be a big boy during this trip. He mastered stairs and just teeters on the edges of all things with confidence. This was up at Mom and Dad's trailer.
We tried to hike Mt. Democrat. I say tried, not because we weren't physically able, but because it was freezing cold. Look at the kids faces. This was BEFORE we started climbing. We all had several layers of clothing on, but it just wasn't enough.


This was after. Poor Elle was freezing and her backpack was way too heavy, so I got to carry 2.


Its a good thing we decided not to climb to the top. This was our drive back to Denver from the mountain. Brrrrrr. We stopped and had a deliciously warm cup of hot chocolate in Alma, CO.

A visit with friends

We had a fun visit with our friends, the Taylors. We have known them since the very beginning of Jarin's AF career. Its been sweet to grow our families together, but wish we lived closer. We miss you Taylors!!!

1st biannual Hasler Family Reunion

Nate and Jesse had their first B-ball game.

Dad had one of his USAFA cadets bring a Falcon up to the camp and do a Falconer demonstration for us. It was very cool. The kids (and adults) got to pet the bird.


We had a 40th Anniversary party for Mom and Dad complete with the Oldlywed game (we asked those questions we've always been curious about!) and a stroll down memory lane. We all taped "40" on our shirts. April is pretty pregnant, so hers was a little bigger than most. 40 years is amazing. Congratulations Mom and Dad!!


The happy couple...


We went fishing at Mom and Dad's favorite spot, Trout Haven. We caught nothing. I think our 13 kids might have tipped off the fish so they could go into hiding. But they had fun throwing pebbles into the water and playing with each other.


Here's something you don't see every day. Its Mom and Dad playing basketball and running. Not too shabby!!



We might not have seen one minute of the Olympics this year, but we were busy winning our own gold medals. They were at least made in China. There were 25 of us total.


My sister Liz is amazing. She is actually carrying both babies at once, the crazy thing is that she has been seen carrying them both in one arm while her other arm is filled with other things. Isn't she talented?


Elle had fun with climbing every possible thing at the family camp where we stayed.


This is Elle and Rebekah playing in the stream. Good times!!

Angel Fire, NM

Wow!! What a beautiful place. After arriving in the dark (midnightish), it was such a sweet surprise to wake up to this view. This is the window in the bedroom where we stayed. We knew we were in for a real mountain treat as soon as we peeked our eyes open.















We did a little hiking while we were there. These pictures don't do it justice. It was so incredibly majestic. We were totally surrounded by nature just the way God intended it to be. Nate had a sweet ride. The rest of us had to carry ourselves up and back. Looks pretty relaxing!!














We stopped for a little break about half way up. We hiked about 4 miles that day.












We shared the trail with a herd of 25-30 cows. They just moved along right in front of and around us. Nate kept imitating their sounds. We had some concerns about the bull, but it worked out just fine.












We were on the "Bear" trail. We only saw one bear and he was a friendly one. I think it would be more appropriately named "Cow" trail.













We ended our hike at a little park where the kids played. Nate played for a while, then just wanted to hang out with Mommy.

Party Animals

Summer is coming to an end. We decided to let the girls have a "mini slumber party", which means a late party where every one goes home to their own parents at the end of the night. The girls had a great time eating pizza, swimming, jumping on the trampoline and watching movies.




Jesse is so excited about our trip to Colorado. He took the liberty of packing his own bag. He packed all of the really important stuffed animals: Alligator, lamb, Frankie Frog, the little dinosaurs...

Happy Birthday Jarin!!!

This week, we celebrated Jarin's birthday with him. Of course he had to work, but we tried to make his evening special once he arrived home. We started by decorating the house and hiding before he came home and we each jumped out and yelled "surprise" when he entered the rooms we were in. Then we each told him what we loved the most about him. We had our sweet neighbors over for dinner and some peanut butter chocolate cake. YUM!!


Jarin's favorite car is the Cooper Mini. I think this was taken in Europe somewhere.


Jarin at the Tour de France


Always the handyman!



Here are the things we love about Jarin. He really is awesome!!

He's:

Kind, would give the shirt of his back to anyone
Funny
Dependable
A Great Daddy
Mr. BBQ
Mr. Fixit
An amazing singer
He literally brings home the bacon (and milk and eggs...)
Very spiritual and a wonderful priesthood leader
A Brilliant Genius
An incredibly hard worker
SO Loving to everyone
He shares his bed with a tornado and has never complained
He loves Jesse
He gets him food
He gives good hugs
He loves Hannah
He cares
He's nice
He's careful
He changes diapers
He lets Nate slobber kiss him
He gets Elle food
He likes our kids
He's nice