You know it has been awhile since I posted, since we the dahlias aren't blooming around here anymore, but they were in the end of September.
My mom took me to see U2! Wow, was it an amazing experience for which I am so thankful!
Scott and Sarah took a road trip to the U2 concert. If I could have picked U2's play list, I don't think I could have chosen any better than they did! I found myself actually worshipping with my brother and Bono. Indeed, the Holy Spirit moves in mysterious ways.
Anthony wasn't able to be at the concert with us, because his Grandpa Schweitzer passed away. Anthony took Paul with him and flew to North Dakota for the funeral. We hoped that Paul would bring some joy in the midst of grief, and it seems like he must have!
We also wanted Paul to have the chance to spend some time with his Great-Uncle Clyde, Great-Aunt Cheryl, Great-Grandma Joan and Great-Aunt Karla (not pictured). He felt so special to be able to fly on an airplane and have a unique trip with his dad. We felt good, giving our "middle child" a special treat.
What a special treat to get birthday presents read to him by Great-Aunt Cheryl! In the meantime, Micah and I were SHOCKED at how quiet and calm it was around here without Paul. 
It was a sweet reunion to have all three boys together again!
On Paul's birthday, he was most thankful for getting to have Samuel in the bathtub with Micah and him for the first time. 
Sam is continuing to smile and has started to laugh and vocalize more.
Parenting Experiment 303: It was too cold to have Paul's birthday party at the park, but including his few friends' siblings meant there were too many kids in Paul's playroom. He found refuge on Granddaddy's lap.
Paul's consistent request was for a rainbow birthday party with a rainbow cake, so he got his wish!
The Tongen family became a rainbow to show our love for our 3-year-old!
Micah, Paul and I successfully made the rainbow pinata!I had to take a video of Micah's first school program in kindergarten.
I don't think I have ever taken such an accurate photo of our evenings -- Anthony gets home and spends time with the boys; Micah reads; Paul drums, dances, sings, and entertains; Sam's shirt is covered in drool and spit-up; Hudson is watching Paul . . . (Did I trick you? We don't really have 4 sons, but we borrow some like sweet Hudson, whose mom was getting ready to move their family to Japan to be missionaries.)
Here's the rest of Hudson's family as we said "goodbye" to them: Liam (remember, Paul's look-alike?), Carly, Matthew and Hudson Chase.
Speaking of borrowing sweet children, Samuel thought that Jada Pope was the best to watch while her mom and dad connected with students helping with CitiKidz. 
I thought it was fun to watch Simeon, Paul and Micah have great times together!
Anthony has passed on his love for our Japanese Maple to his sons.
Do you see how Paul is looking at the tree? This summer, Harold observed (accurately) that Paul is rarely looking at the camera. Paul is an awesome observer -- he doesn't miss a "gorgeous" sunset, or a "beautiful" tree, or any other greatness of God's creation. Here's a video of Samuel enjoying having Paul read and sing to him. We are realizing that Paul is quite an impressive multi-tasker; while it may appear that he is pretending to drive a motorcycle, he is actually listening to conversations, learning new words, and doing several other things. Paul got to be a part of a speech test and his vocabulary was in the 98th percentile for kids age 3-6, even though he JUST turned 3. My heart was so warmed when the college girls running the study rhetorically asked him, "How did you get so smart?" He said, "God made me this way."
Look at the gorgeous sunset we got to enjoy with Grandma Bev!
What a cute little part of the Autumn harvest!
Smiling Sam went through a sad, screaming a the top of his lungs stage for over a week. He still isn't sleeping well (Grr...) but at least he doesn't seem to be in agony anymore.
One beautiful Sunday, we took a family hike to enjoy the fall leaves before they were all gone.
Here we are on High Nobb.
One of the other hikers we passed said, "You guys have some impressive 'cheeses'" as a result of the boys' loud smiles for this picture.
My little duckling, builder and jester made me laugh a lot on Halloween!
How can you keep from laughing a such a sight?Just in case if you aren't laughing yet, watch Paul the builder dancing along.
Paul also got to ride a horse at our church fall festival.
Even though we didn't get any good photos of Grandma Jo and Grandpa Doug with us, at least we got another family photo. I think that is a new record -- three photos of all five of us in one post!
May this little duckling brighten your day. He sure does so for me!
