HAVE SOME COOKIES WITH FROSTING

Maija was in a baking mood last night. 

She found a recipe for Sugar Cookies.  She run to neighbors' to get some shortening, and spent an evening baking. 

Today when she got home from school she lathered the cookies with a chocolate frosting.

 

They were a perfect Monday night treat!

 

 

 

 



I AM NOT A FAN OF FOOTBALL

...but last night I had a great time at the UNLV - Airforce game.

 

Our good friends invited us to go with them, and they showed me the right way to watch a football game.

 

Yes, there is definetely a right way!

 

We were in the box with food, cookies, drinks, pop corn, hot dogs...all in a buffet style.

There were also couches, chairs, restrooms, air conditioning (!), and everything else you may need during the game...all included with our tickets.

 

Now this is how you watch a game!

 

And the under dog, UNLV, won the game.

 

Even I got excited, especially during the last 5 minutes of the game!

 

 

THE MOVIE I CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE

...this Christmas...

 

This summer we went to the Shakeaspearean Festival at Cedar City, Utah

and saw, enjoyd, loved, cried...

 

Les Miserables

 

 

This Christmas it will be coming to the movie theaters.

 

I can hardly wait!

 

 

WICKED

September 15th we went to see Wicked at the Smith's Performing Arts Center.

 

Jason, I, Markus and Kai...and lots of people from our family.

 

 

Thank you for my mother-in-law and my father-in-law to make it possible!

 

The building is quite new, and I had never been there before.

 

It was beuatiful. When I stepped in to the theater I had to stop and be impressed! It reminded me from theaters from before my time...grand and magnificent..

 

 

And tehn there was the show

 

Wicked

 

It was amazing.  It made me laugh, and it made me cry. 

It made me contemplate how things are not always as they seem to...

 

I definetely want to see this play again some day.

 

 

NIKO'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Niko had a birthday party for his friends on September 14th.

 

 

 

He had 20 boys and one girl come over.

The kids swam,

 

ate hamburgers and cake.

 

Niko had requested his favorite cake from Costco, the Chocolate Lover's Delight.

 

After the swimming and eating we had a movie night in the lawn.

 

Kung Fu Panda and pop corn.

 

All and all it was a great party.

 

We only had one bloody nose, and that is pretty good when you have 20 ten year old boys running around all night long!

 

 

TRAVELING TO SCHOOL IN STYLE

We do a carpool for school with our neighbors.

 

Once a week my neighbor takes the kids, Kai and three girls to the school in her convertable.

There is a normal, boring, sleepy way to go to school in the morning, and then there is

 

the fun way!

 



WHIRLWIND SEPTEMBER

The month of September turned out to be full of action!  There was hardly time left for sleeping...which will end up being a problem after awhile.

Here are some of the highlights.

 

 

SEPTEMBER 11th we had a rain storm.  The rain came down so fast in such a short period that the water did not have time to soak in, since the ground is so hard here. 

 

Here are some of the pictures from the results of such a short time of heavy rain.

 

 

Mail truck...wondering if any of the mail stayed dry???

 

Just when it was time for me to go and pick Kai up from school the rain started.  I could hardly see through the wind shield!

The kids were so excited about the rain.  Niko opted to go home with his scooter from the school.  His reasoning was that he did not want to get the car muddy since his shoes were wet...but in reality he just wanted to enjoy the wet streets outside.  It is such a treat here.

 

Later taht day I took Markus back to high school for his band practise.  While driving to school I spotted a beautiful double rainbow.  By the time I got back home to grab my camera the rainbow was almost gone...just a hint of it was left...the air smelled fresh and clean...another rearity here, where it almost never rains.



GETTING FLEXIBLE

Maija is taking dance and thumbling lessons this fall from my friend.

We visited her family yesterday and Maija wanted to show off her moves!

 

We were impressed!

 

 

NIKO'S FIRST SOCCER GAME OF THE SEASON

Saturday was hot and humid. 

 

We started the day in Boulder City, where Kai had a cross country meet at 8 am. 

The race was about two miles.

Kai did great! 

He took a second place, loosing only to a fast runner from Hurricane, Utah. 

 

Once we were done with the meet in Boulder City we rushed back home to drop Kai off, and pick up Niko who had his first soccer game of the season.

 

His team played great! They ended up loosing 3-2, but nevertheless, the game was fun to watch!

 

Once we got home we needed to drink few quarts of water to replenish ourselves.

 

I think we all are tired of these 100 plus days. 

Time for the fall cool down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

DOUBLE DIGITS FOR NIKO

Happy 10th Birthday Niko!

 

According to him this was his best birthday ever!

 

Niko has been saving his money for an iPod Touch.

For Niko's birthday we got the shattered glass of Kai's old iPod fixed, and passed it on to Niko.

 

He was thrilled.

 

 

This iTouch has served our family well.

Markus bought it years ago.  When he was ready to updrade to a newer model, he sold his old one to Kai. 

Now Niko is the proud owner of this toy.  It has been through a lot, but it still keeps working. 

 

Maybe Maija will get it one day.

 

For breakfast Niko enjoyed the "sugar cereal". 

Usually available only on Sunday mornings in our home.

 

 

...and some doughnuts!

MUMMO'S PING PONG GENES

Couple of days ago Niko told me that he thinks he inherited his grandmother's ping pong genes.

 

He had been playing table tennis in our back yard,

 

he came inside beaming, asking if I could come and watch him play.

 

He was certain that his great game was the result of the ping pong genes in our family heritage.

 

Niko's grandmother was quite a player. When she was just 15 she played in Holland's national team.  To this day she still plays table tennis,

 

and she will not go easy on you!

 

 

WARM SUMMER NIGHTS AND A RIGGED SLIP AND SLIDE

The best part about Vegas in summer is

 

the warm nights.

 

You can hang out outside all night long

swimming

playing

and visiting with good friends.

 

And it never gets cold!

 

Last night we spent an evening with good friends from our church family.

 

What do you get when you combine a

slip and slide

bungee cord

bike ramp

kiddie pool

and

some adventurous, crazy dads?

 

A lot of fun for kids and adults alike.

 

 

 

Maija with some awesome tramboline moves. 

 

Niko playing tether ball

And here is the famous slip and slide. 

One of the friends said today at church that

he believes in miracles, and one of the miracles accoring to him was that

nobody got hurt on Satuday night,

and I would have to agree!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Markus

 

 Kai