Moran Family Fun

The second day of our vacation was Sunday so we kept things pretty low key.  We found an English speaking ward to attend in Munich so we all got pretty and then we went to church.  The ward was really, really small - all of the Primary kids were combined into one class and Madison was one of two young women - but everyone was really friendly.  I think they were a little disappointed that we were just visiting and not there to stay and help boost their numbers.   We spent  the afternoon at the cabin just hanging around and having fun.  We read books and the girls played at the park.  Natalie surprised everyone (herself included) when she made it all the way across the monkey bars on her first try.   And just because it's beautiful, here is the view from the front porch of our cabin.  The beauty of the world is an amazing gift and we are so blessed to be surrounded by it this week.

It's been summer vacation for a while, but this week we are actually on a vacation in Garmisch.  We're only three days in, but it's already been a wonderful trip.  We got in Saturday afternoon, dropped our things off in our cute little cabin, and set out to have some fun.   We kind of lucked out and arrived here just in time for the city's Festweek.  As we were driving around looking for a place to park we kept seeing more and more people in traditional Bavarian dress.  Right after we sat down and ordered ice cream from a cafe we heard a band playing and then a parade marched right by us.  We really couldn't have had a better seat if we'd planned it. After the parade and the ice cream we wandered around until we found our way to the fest tent.  Mostly we just followed the sound of the music and then followed the crowds.  The tent was huge and packed with people in dirndls and lederhosen.  We stood out quite a lot in our...

Today is Natalie's last day of Kindergarten and in just about a month she will be starting first grade!  She has been so excited about moving on from Kindergarten.  All year she's been telling anyone and everyone around her that when she's six and three quarters she's going to the Grundschule.  For the last two weeks she's been counting down the days until today, the last day of school.  This morning, unlike many other mornings, she hopped right out of bed and got ready in record time all while singing softly to herself, "Last day of school, last day of school.  I love the last day of school." Just  because it's fun to compare, here's Natalie on the first and last day of school this year. Natalie likes to choose a color of the day and does her very best to only wear that color.  As you can see, the first day of school she chose one of her favorites, pink.  The last day of school she chose a color she almost never wears, black.  Af...

We always seem to end our laundry day with at least a couple of orphaned socks.  They go into a basket with all the other sad lonely socks and I think to myself, "Someday, I should really sort all those out."  That someday finally came last week when Emily took on the job and found matches for most of them. Now the cycle begins again - it's been a week and I already have five unmatched socks in the basket.

School's out for the summer and I love it!  The kids are home all the time.  We get to sleep in, go running together, and spend the day working and playing as a family.  I kind of feel bad for Jared who has to go to work and misses out on a lot of the good memories we're making.  Of course our days are not all sunshine and laughter, but most of the time it really is fun.  In fact, I hear giggling and singing coming from downstairs right now.  In the past, we haven't had a set summer schedule.  Instead, we would take each day as it came and do whatever sounded fun.  That's been pretty nice, but it does lead to many days with nothing to do and the laughter and singing turning into boredom and bickering.  This year our summertime is filled with both work and play and not too much down time.  I think my life might actually be busier during the summertime than it is during the school year. For our summer this year we've gotten together ...

Samantha has never had a birthday party with friends because her birthday is on Christmas Eve and well, it's just a busy time of year for everyone.  We decided to have a half birthday party instead and Samantha was happy to be able to invite her friends over for some fun. We didn't stress too much about activities or decorations.  Really, it was like a playdate with cake and a pinata.  The only stress I felt was because Sam had only invited friends from school and I was nervous about having to communicate with them. After her friends had all arrived we laid out markers and stickers on the table with some brown paper bags so they could decorate their goody bags for the pinata later.  Once they had completed their masterpieces we went outside to play.  They rode bikes and scooters, hula hooped, played red light green light and sardines, and just basically had fun together.   Even Madison got in on the fun and showed off her hula hoop skills. Dinn...

 Our awesome Abigail is eleven!  We love Abby with her beautiful smile and joyful personality.  She's just an amazing girl and we are so happy to have her as part of our family. This year for her birthday we just did the usual things - dinner, presents, and cake.  Here's eleven things you might not know about Abigail: 1.  She has a beautiful face.  I mentioned it above, but her smile is amazing and her eyebrows are the most perfect I've ever seen.  She's got the cutest freckles and is very expressive, making tons of different faces. 2.  She loves to read.  Abigail is always reading one book or another and was honored at school this year for reading over two million words! 3.  She has an amazing voice.  She sings beautifully and happily, in the car, in the shower, at dinner, and (my favorite) to herself when she thinks no one can hear her. 4.  She loves to play the piano.  Abigail is the best at practicing and...