Cute!

Allie loves to dance. As soon as she hears any kind of beat, she just starts moving. She feels it! This 'Dora house' has a radio button. She pushes it, starts to dance, and as soon as it stops, she stops, turns around, stoops to push it again, then starts moving to the music. . . and so the cycle continues. We tried to capture it on camera, but as soon as she saw the camera, she was so distracted by it, she quit her dancing and bolted for the camera.

Happy Halloween!

Aren't they cute? Check out Andy's teeth!





Jimmy is wearing a costume my mom made for Will YEARS ago. . . thanks Mom!

Drew claims he is an 'evil fireman.'


I made Lizzy's witch dress.


This is Allie at the ward party. She just wanted to hang out in the 'cookie walk' room. She danced and danced every time the music started!

It's on you!

It was the day of the Jog-a-thon at school. The kids have people sponsor them to run laps at school--I think it's the biggest fundraiser of the year. Jimmy wanted to wear some good running pants. I had just bought him some new track pants. He tried them on, but wasn't going to wear them because they were loose around the waist. . . he often has that problem--to get the length he needs, he ends up with huge waistbands. So I stitched the elastic together in back. . . a quick fix, but since he wears his shirts out, it looked fine. He was worried about wearing them for running. I told him it would be fine, but I think he was worried my stitching would come out. I assured him it was probably stronger than any other seam in the pants. He said, "If they fall off while I'm running, it's on you!"

Drew's Drawing

I just had to post this. I love his pictures. Drew was recently drawing the little people with only a big head and legs sticking out of it. Then he had a Joy School unit on the Joy of the Body, where they learned about their wonderful bodies, and all the fun things they can do with arms and legs and hands and feet, etc. They put together body puzzles, drew people, etc. Now, he draws people with legs and hands and bodies instead of just heads. Most of the time. I think in this picture, my arms are 'invisible' (as Drew will say when he doesn't put in some limb) . . . LOVE it.

Anniversary!

We celebrated our 10th anniversary this year!
No, not in Paris.
Andy surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera!

It was so exciting (the surprise)


and so fun (to get away together!)


Grandma and Grandpa stayed with the kids. It was my first time away from Allie. (We both did great.)

Phantom was amazing. So fun to see a show of that quality!

Another highlight was visiting my brother and his family.


We had a great time, and decided this: really it didn't so much matter where we were, so long as we took the time away from everything and everyone else to spend together.

One funny story. . . I forgot to pack my swimsuit! We spent some time shopping for a new one so we could swim in the numerous pools at our hotel. . . it was a pain to have to worry about that, but we did it. . . and then I don't think we spent more than an hour in the pool!
Sometimes, we're just plain silly!

Badger Mountain Hike

This Spring, I finally got Andy up Badger Mountain!

Truthfully, I've only done it a few times myself. He usually stays at home with the kids while I do. . . but it was fun to do together this time. This is a very popular hike here.
It's even pretty in the Spring.
But we had to take our own picture of ourselves. . .

Allie's tail

Here was our little Allie in April. Isn't she a doll?


She had this LONG 'tail' in the back of her hair. . .
we saved it for Grandma and Grandpa to see,
took a picture, and then cut it off! :)

Trip to Portland

In the Spring, we took a trip to Portland for our niece's baptism.
Isn't she a cutie?
We love you, Leanna!!


Here are some pics from our trip:







We took the kids to a park and shot some pictures. It is so green and beautiful there!











This is one of my favorites. Andy tried a shot of them on this log, but their eyes were closed part-way, so he said, "Open your eyes!" and got the 'zombie' look. Hee hee. . . .


And we took a couple of family pics (thanks, Matt!)


Andy's face in this one is my favorite. :)
We had three goofy pictures to choose from and the kids wanted me to choose this one because of Dad's face. . . then they tried to imitate it. . . wish I had pictures of that!


On the way back, we stopped at Multnomah falls and hiked a bit. It is always beautiful! The hike was a bit stressful, as sometimes there were no guardrails, sometimes the railings had openings large enough for a small child to fall through (and we have several of those. . . ) and Jimmy was entirely convinced he has acrophobia. He was very stressed about hiking along a drop-off. So, we didn't make it up the whole way to the upper falls. . . but we did get some nice pictures, fun memories, and a break from the long drive.

Birdhouse

Jimmy built this birdhouse at cub scouts. What an awesome project! He loved it (he has been asking us to build one with him for YEARS.) Some birds built a nest in it, but with the winds we've had, the house fell out of the tree a few times, and I think maybe we scared the birds away.

Guess who lost a tooth?

You guessed it! Lizzy did!

Spring Soccer

Lizzy and Jimmy played this year. Andy coached Jimmy's team.
Fun fun fun! (We're glad it's done. . . )



Lizzy wore herself out! She was the most aggressive player on her team.
It was fun to watch her 'get into it!'

I guess it wore her out!

Adorable

Easter

This is my kids coloring Easter Eggs. They started fighting, so I said,
"Look like you're having fun!" to take the picture.
Mostly it worked. . . .

Allie and Dad

Allie loves her Dad! She says, "Dada" (and sometimes "Mama") periodically, and sometimes we think she even knows what they mean. I really wasn't convinced, though, until a few days ago.

Allie fell down and was so sad and crying. I was trying to console her. Just then, Andy walked in from work. Immediately, Allie looked up at him, smiled, and said, "DADA!"
I guess she knows what she's talking about!

Science Fair Projects

This year, Lizzy did the famous volcano. Notice the zebra corral around her mountain. The zebra is running away from the lava. (Ever creative!)



Jimmy did a project with weather maps. It was a bit last minute and we decided to prepare much earlier for next year!!

More about the Garden

With all that manure came weeds, weeds, weeds!!
The garden was full of them!
Everyone helped with the weeding process and finally it looks like a garden again. Hoorah! I spent one morning outside with Allie in the playpen and Lizzy and Drew weeding (and playing) and feeding Allie all sorts of snacks while I hoed up the weeds. It was a HUGE chore and I was sore, but it felt so good to have it done!

We've already had yummy broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, and lots of herbs to eat. And, I think Andy drowned our ground-dweller this week. We haven't seen any more signs of him since he flooded out his tunnels. Here's hoping we never do. . ..

This sandbox in one corner of the garden was Andy's birthday present to Drew. He LOVES it. Here he is being the MUD MONSTER!!

Books!

We went to the library yesterday. I woke up this morning to find Lizzy sitting on the floor of the office surrounded by books.
Mom: Lizzy, do you like books?
Liz: Yes. They're one of my favorite things. Books take you on adventures anywhere!
She gave me one of those adorable half-toothless 5 year old grins.
I'm so glad she loves to read so much!!