Fall and Birthday #1

Fall is always a busy time of year. Here is the first installment of some long-awaited updates... September always means a First Day of School. Not only did Ella start 2nd grade with Mrs. Shusett, and Felix start learning to write letters & numbers with Ms. Jona, Ella is now in Groep 3 with Juf Janneke at Dutch School, and Felix has started Groep 1 with Juf Iris. Here they are on their first day:

Fall is also Harvest Time. When we bought our house, the tree right in the middle of our front yard was an ugly Q-tip shaped thing, which we allowed to grow out and become more tree-like. After a number of years, it started producing fruit and now, 8 years later, we decided to harvest those olives, soak and brine them, to hopefully have our very own supply. It's a tedious process and results are not instant. First the picking and the sorting...

It was a family affair, everyone pitched in and helped out! Now we've sliced them all on one side, are soaking them in water to cure them and changing the water daily.
 
On October 3, our little Ella turned 7 years old! Here she is the night before her birthday:

Ella at 6 yrs + 363 days

While Jim took Ella to see a beautifully restored screening of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, complete with in-person appearance of Belle herself, Felix and I made a cake.

 Then Emma (left) and Wil (not pictured) came over to help us celebrate and enjoy the pink-pink cake.

Last but not least, Felix and I drove out to Palm Desert to Tante Lynnie's house to visit with her and OmaLala! Felix was eager to show off his new drawing skills...

Felix draws OmaLala

Tada! Looks just like her right?

This is Tante Lynnie! Also a perfect resemblance.