Okay, October. School picture time! Sam's turned out so cute, even though his nicely combed/gelled hair went through several rounds of soccer before picture time. He is getting so BIG!
Austin's class had a field trip to BiZi Farms, one of our very favorite pumpkin patches. The first time we went here, Austin was still in my tummy! Now look how big he is!
Austin was so proud to be the big brother and help Eli find his way.
Feeding the goats
Atop the Pyramid
This picture pretty much sums up Eli's personality.
Finally it was our turn to go on the hay ride out to the field and pick a pumpkin.
The catch is the kids have to be able to carry their own pumpkin. Eli showed off his muscles.
Austin and his good buddy Jasper.
Getting so tall!
All my kids love this tractor.
The Official Family Photo 2015.
Time to carve pumpkins! The kids were so grossed out by the pumpkin guts.
Austin's school Halloween program.
It was easy to tell their favorite song...Mean Old Witch with a HAT!
Finally it was Halloween night. Eli wore the famous Lion Costume, handmade by Susan 28ish years ago. Ryan, Sam, Austin, and Eli have all worn this costume (and probably more...I'm not sure which of Ryan's siblings wore it).
He wasn't thrilled to wear the mane, so I bribed him with candy. Works every time!
Austin wore the famous Ninja Turtle Costume (made by Grandma Susan 24ish years ago?). He was so excited to finally be Leonardo!
Sam was Russell Wilson, Quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks.
Trick-or-Treat!!!
Looking out at the cold, dark, wet Halloween Night. We have never had such heavy rain on Halloween, but that didn't stop the big boys from hitting up two neighborhoods. By the end we were all soaked and freezing.
We tried our best to incorporate jackets into their costumes.
Show me your muscles!
Let the candy binge begin! Don't worry, we only let them binge one day. After that, they turned in their candy for $$$!! (We paid them for each piece of candy. Sam made $5 and Austin made $3.50. It was so worth the price to not have sugar overload/meltdowns for days.)
As I mentioned before, Eli has been waking up at the crack of dawn every day. This means that by 7pm, he has found his blankets and passed out on the couch.
Playing where the sunshine comes into the house is the best! Eli and his friend Asa doing what they do best...playing cars.
In November, Sam participated in his first wrestling class. At the end of the two weeks, they had a round-robin tournament to show off what they had learned. Sam did awesome! He won 2 of his 3 matches.
If it's too quiet in the house, the kids are probably making a gigantic mess I mean fort.
We were so excited for our Thanksgiving company to arrive! Uncle Nate was recruited to play many, many games of football with the boys.
My cousin Jonathan (aka Uncle Fluffy) drove down one afternoon and took Aunt Rae and Uncle Paul to run around Portland. They came home all dressed in plaid with a box of Voodoo Donuts to share. Since I was already dressed to match, we needed a group photo.
The big day! Ryan and Nate got up early and got the turkey on the smoker.
A few hours later, we had a beautiful looking turkey! (Unfortunately, we also had a faulty thermometer, so although the turkey looks gorgeous here, it wasn't done yet.)
My cooking assistant
My sous chef Aunt Rae
Luckily, Uncle Paul brought his Wii, so we had a Super Smash Bros tournament while we waited for the turkey to be done.
Finally it was time to eat! Thanks so much everybody for coming!
After dinner, we all crashed. Aunt Rae has a new little buddy who follows her around. He does not like pants.
On Black Friday, Uncle Paul and I found an awesome deal on passes for the Portland Aquarium. So, we took Sam and Austin (Eli was taking a much-needed nap) and drove on down.
It was so fun. We got to meet an iguana, feed the sharks and fish, and pet the rays.
How cute are these boys? (Okay, ahem, boys and young man. It's hard to call your baby brother a man, even if he is a full foot taller than me.)
Trapped by the koi pond!
The obligatory we are being eaten by this megalodon photo :)
Well, now we are caught up!
Time for Christmas!!!
