1st Day of School

July 27th was the boys first day of school. Ethan started 2nd grade and Rhys started his last year of preschool. Here are their super cute pics :)...

Ethan

Ethan

Rhys (Of course he couldn't forget Lambert!)

Rhys

More Newport Pics

Rhys jumping off the diving board...


Ethan jumping off the diving board...


On the fairy boat from Newport to Balboa. My favorite shot of my 3 guys...
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The boys sharing a bed, they were very tired from a busy day at the beach!


Ethan's 'model' shot... That or he's got something in his teeth :)

Newport Beach

We spent the 4th of July in Newport Beach this summer at GG's house. As always, we had an awesome time! Here are some pics...

Ethan and Rhys overlooking the beach...

Ethan, Rhys, Scott and GG...

Mom and Ethan...

Ethan and Rhys on the beach...

Ethan

Ethan lost one of his top teeth recently. I think he looks so cute with that gap on the top!

Here's Rhys helping him show off that gap...As you can see, Rhys is enjoying that more than Ethan!

He is also playing baseball now with other 2nd graders and is really enjoying it. He is on the Astros and is a pretty good hitter. We are still working on that catching, though :)...

Ethan at bat. He got a single on this hit.

Rhys has Amblyopia

Rhys has amblyopia. His right eye has very bad vision so his left eye is taking over and is slowly 'shutting' off vision to the right eye. We were so very lucky to have even found this out, we took him in for his first check-up right before his birthday and noticed that he was cheating on the eye chart. So, now he has the cutest glasses and has to wear an eye patch 3 hours a day. It was 4 hours, but there has been imrovement over the past 3 months, so we get to do it for just 3 hours. It is definitely an adjustment and some days are harder than others. But overall, he is taking to the patch well and does a good job keeping it on (if he takes it off, he gets ALL of his trains taken away till the next day!)

Rhys with his cool glasses...

School

Whew, I finished my second semester of Anatomy in May and also took Microbiology over the summer. I did very well, earning high A's in both classes. I have recently applied for a scholarship and should find out within the next month if I got that. If so, I will start nursing school in March 2010, if not, I'll probably have to wait until January 2011 :(....

Glen Rose, TX

We were fortunate enough to experience a wonderful family adventure to Fossil Rim Wildlife Park in Glen Rose, TX this past May. All of the Hodin clan was there, GG, her four children, their spouses, her grandson (Scott) and her two great-grandkids (Ethan and Rhys). The boys LOVED the wildlife park and we had an awesome time!!!

Melanie and Scott...

The higlight of my trip, feeding a giraffe by hand!

Ethan feeding an Emu, mean little buggers!

A very friendly and hungry deer. If it wasn't for his antlers, he would have had his head in our van! He was drooling all over me, it was hilarious!

The whole gang...(Adults: James, Karin, May, Rob, Margit, Russ, Gayle, Scott, Melanie, and Ken; Kids in front: Ethan and Rhys)

Rhys' 4th Birthday

Well, this is 5 months late, but I guess better late than never! Rhys is 4 now and still a big fan of trains. Here's some pics from his party..

Rhys with his friends...

Rhys opening his train from Grandma and Grandpa...

Rhys 'reading' his birthday card...