The Short Hair

After cutting her hair halfway and living with it for a couple of weeks, Elise still wanted to go shorter and it looks great!

She keeps commenting on how easy and quick it is to brush now, and all the grown-ups in the family are enjoying the reprieve we have from brushing her hair, since it is now manageable for her to do it herself.  

A Family Gathering

In August, my sweet Aunt Janet passed away.  I was fortunate to be able to take the girls and travel with my mom and dad to Wisconsin for the funeral.  Most of the family was there and though we were gathered for a sad occasion, it was great to see everyone as I hadn't seen most of them in two years or more.

Travel Time
It is a long drive from Fredericksburg to Milwaukee, but it went really well.  Both girls are excellent travelers and mom and dad know the route well from their trips back there in the summer.  The girls watched movies, but also spent a lot of time just watching the passing scenery and reading.

It took a little while, but Anja and I finally worked out a way for
both of us to nap comfortably in the car.

Cousin Time
It was great to see our cousins, both young and old(er).

We stayed in the same hotel as our family from Minnesota,
so we got to spend lots of good time with them.

These kids have missed each other!

It may be hard to guess from this picture, but Elise
and her cousin Gavin (furthest to the right) are just 8 months
apart in age.

I hope I don't offend anyone by saying these are my favorite cousins.
Anyone who knows me probably already knows this :)

Most of the Torkelson cousins, just one branch of the family
tree not represented here.

These kids missed each other, too.

It is sad to know how much my aunt will be missed, and I'm glad I could be with my family to remember her and support them.  Losing people is hard.  Being together makes it easier.

Back to School

The end of August found us preparing to head back to school:  Elise for 5th grade and Anja for 2nd.

Haircuts
Elise had been asking for a while to cut her hair, but I wanted to make sure she was serious (most of the times she asked was when we were trying to get painful snarls out of her long hair).  She'd been growing out her hair her whole life, had only had the ends trimmed, and I wanted to make sure she was certain.  By the end of August she had convinced me, though I wasn't convinced she knew what she was asking for when she said she "wanted it short," so I told her to cut it halfway first, and live with that for a while and if she still wanted to go short, we could do that in a couple of weeks.  The "halfway" cut looked great!

Before

After:  The Halfway Cut

Shopping
School shopping gets more fun every year, as the girls get older and more independent.

Everyone is excited to start this school year!

Salt Lake City 2015

If you care about us enough to read this blog you are probably looking for wedding pictures at this point, since WE GOT MARRIED LAST WEEKEND!!  Well, you will have to wait because I am so far behind on this blog I promised myself I would catch up before I start on the super fun wedding pictures.  (insert evil grin)  Wedding pictures will come soon!

To get caught up:  our trip to Salt Lake City in July.  The girls and I went out for a few days and as usual, had a great time.  The weather was beautiful, we did some fun things and spent lots of good time with family.  The girls love it there, as there is always someone around to play with (they have 16 cousins on the Roden side, ages 17 to 1).

Ready for takeoff!  We flew direct this year, which
was so nice, and cut down on our traveling time. 

We were treated like celebrities, with this sign to greet us when we
got to the house.

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
I had seen a list of "child-friendly activities to do in Salt Lake City" and we had already done most of them in past years, but one thing on the list we had not done:  the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, perfect for my nature-loving girls!  

Headed to the aquarium with a couple cousins.
Lots of other family met us there.

Aaaaah!  Inside a prehistoric shark!

Anja and Brody looking at the map of the building and figuring out
where we need to go.

Touch pool!  Stingrays, sea stars and
sea urchins.  SO cool!

Jordan and Anja observing the sea life up close

Part of our group for the day.

The fish whisperer.

Who would like to touch a snake?  ME! ME!

ME TOO, ME TOO!

Cousins getting a ride on an orca.

More cousins!

Swimming
We spent a beautiful afternoon at a city pool, which had a gradual entry (great for the little kids) and a gorgeous backdrop.

Warming up a little by laying
on the hot cement.

Family Fun

Elise and cousin Capri

Game time!

This game, Fibber, had the kids adding a piece to their glasses
whenever they were caught fibbing.

I think Anja was losing.

Lots of fun outside.

Park City
The weekend we headed up to Park City they were having a special art fair so we got to see some great art, eat yummy food and listen to music.

Elise and Aunt Aubry, who are both sporting braces,
thought this painting of a zebra with braces was pretty cute.

Lunch at a fun Mexican restaurant with part of our group.

Elise loves spicy things!

Dessert at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, YUM!

Can't Wait Until Next Year

Headed home

We were all worn out on the way home.

Elise took this picture out the airplane window,
pretty cool!