School days, MRI's, and Goodbyes

Snap from school--Sam is playing the part of "The Fiddler" in "Fiddler on the Roof" & Makaela is part of the tech crew

Being that it's the very last day of August, and I have not yet posted this month, it seems I best take advantage of it so as to keep our monthly posting consecutive.  I hope that you are not checking regularly, since I am not writing regularly.  I actually dread writing on here due to the fact that it is a sickening reminder that something is amiss in my life.  Speaking of which, I had an MRI on Friday, (I actually find them relaxing, as I'm forced to just lie still, which being still is not my forte).  We travel to the Mayo Clinic the end of this week to go over the results- -"good times" my daughters would say with a sarcastic faced emoji.  ;-)

My daughters--the loves of my life, are back in school.  Summer vacation is sadly over, thus my alarm goes off at 5:30 while I lay in bed snuggled next to my sleepy husband until a quarter-to-six relishing those 15 minutes of "nothing-to-do'edness" while looking forward to coffee.  At six a.m. when I'm starting the violently noisy burr grinder for the best coffee in Iowa (note to the Larssen Family--you all have the best coffee in Illinois), the girls' violins are playing scales and arpeggios.  It is the sweetest sound ever--the dissonant mixing of their scales from their separate rooms, it makes me ever so happy.  They practice for an hour before they come down and then they eat and head out the door.  They are awesome.  We truly could not have put in an order for finer humans to be ours.

The girls with Jack--first meeting :-)

We met baby Jack in July!!!  He is just as precious as we knew he would be.  And, we cannot wait to see him and his parents again.  My other beautiful sister-in-law and brother are expecting their first baby (a boy also) in January!  It's such an exciting time to be apart of the Paulseth family.  :-)

My good friend, Margaret, whom I attended boarding school with, roomed with for our first 2 years of college, was a bridesmaid in our wedding, and has lived in Chicago-Land for the past 10 years, stopped by last weekend with her husband and 1 year-old-son to say goodbye as they head to Florida for the next chapter of their lives. Margaret was living in South Korea when Sam was born, and did not meet her until she was 9 months old, but she quickly became  known to both girls as "Auntie Madge" and taught Samantha her first little jig on the violin, "Mississippi Hotdog."  We will miss you greatly Auntie Madge, Moon, & Gilbert.

Wishing you all a lovely fall/spring!


xoxo  ~Autumn

Moon, Gilbert, & Margaret saying farewell :-(

My second high-schooler!!!

At the Zoo with the Larssen Ladies