The Connolly Family in Alaska: September

September was super busy but packed with fun!

Jett turned 3!!

He picked green pancakes for his birthday breakfast.

This year I let each boy have a birthday party. Jett picked Angry Birds.

Since we live in Alaska and retail is very limited...I made Angry Bird party hats and decorations. It turned out pretty cute.

Even Levi joined in the fun.

Just a cute picture of Levi being silly.

Adam works so hard during the summer and doesn't really get to enjoy Alaska so for Labor Day we planned a family trip to Denali National Park via train. It took 4 hours one way (which was a bit long for the little guys), but there was some gorgeous scenery!

Alaska Railroad Depot

waiting to board

Mom and tooty-pants

Denali

The weather held out for a few hours while we walked around the entrance of the park. And I'm happy to report that no one got eaten by a bear (my biggest fear). Anyway, by the time we went to get ice cream it was very dark and spitting snow. We didn't get to see any animals, but it was fun seeing the fall colors. Alaska is a beautiful place.

One of the information buildings had fun learning games and stations for the kids to explore. The older boys really liked that.

Simon following the trail.

Ice cream and hot chocolate

Levi's snack...bread

We were all telling our favorite part of train ride and park and soon realized that Jett was stealing everyone's snack and sampling each one. It was hilarious!!

It was such a fun day. We don't get away together as a family very often. I feel so blessed to get the experience to live in Alaska and have four wonderful boys. Special memories being made.

This was our very last effort to save our veggies. We brought in all of the tomatoes after the first really cold night. We probably had over 200 tomatoes that lined every window of the house. As they would ripen, we'd eat them. It was pretty cool.

Noah and Simon signed up for running club this year at school. I have such awesome boys that have their dad's endurance when it comes to running. It was nerve wracking and fun to see them participate again in a sport they had never tried.

This was their first race, out at Two River Elementary. The rain stopped just in time for the race. Phew!

Noah did great and got 23rd and Simon, there in the middle with the blue shirt (below) got 65th out of about 200 kids.

Adam ran with Simon (thus the picture below). He wasn't planning on it. He had just gotten off work and jumped in the car with us. Simon was nervous to run by himself so Adam ran with him...steel-toed work boots and all. Such a good dad!

Noah turned 8 this year. Very exciting! We made the decision to wait until October to do his baptism when we were in Arizona. I had my heart set on family being able to attend. (and it was so worth it...more to come on that!)

Noah chose orange pancakes for his birthday breakfast and a pool party. It was F.U.N.!!

Last but not least, Simon turned 6 on the 25th.

Doesn't he look thrilled?

He chose blue pancakes for his birthday breakfast.

For his party he wanted to go to "Glo Putt." He invited a few close friends and had a great time.

After Glo Putt we got ice cream and went to a nearby park to open presents and then play for a bit. Fun times!

The party crowd!

The boys had one cross country race a week in the month of Sept. Below is the race at Chena Lakes. Man, it was a long course and really hard on the boys. They did great though! They finished even though they were tired.

The last hill before the finish line. I could see Noah struggling and it broke my heart. When he got his tonsils out last year and was having a hard time there, I noticed he held his hands in a really weird position. I could see that he was trying to hold in the pain and suffering. At the end of this long race I saw he was doing it again. You can see in the picture below how he is squeezing his fingers together and holding his hand differently. As the boys grow and I learn more about them, I see them conquer and deal with hard things. Noah holds a lot inside and he's hard on himself. He has a very tender spirit and tries so hard to be in control and pushes himself to be the best. I love this kid.

Simon's personality also came out in his running. He just took his time and smiled at the people cheering everyone on and sometimes waved back at them. He had no concern with being first or ahead of other kids. He was more at the back of the pack and by the time he finished he wasn't that tired. He was smiling and asked if he could go play. Simon is a silly boy that doesn't take anything too seriously. Love this kid too!