Party with cousins

So we had a lot of fun with Tim and Krista. As you can see the halloween costumes were a lot of fun.
Kind of a scary picture



Londyn as Rapunzel

Austin is 3

Austin has now turned three. He had a great birthday, We went to the Dinosaur
park, and then we had everyone over for dinner and cake.

My caterpillar cake

Mom's Surprise!

So my wonderful husband surprised me on my anniversary with a plane ticket to New York City. One of my best friend's in the world lives in Pennsylvania, so she had help set it up. My mom was also in on it, helping to book tickets and watch kids. What an amazing gift.
WE got to see Wicked!!! I won the lottery and got front row tickets for 25$!!! It was amazing!


We also went out to the statue of liberty.

We went to ground zero two days before the ten year anniversary. This flag display was in the park. It was such a solemn sight. What a wonderful way to remember those that perished.

We also spent three days in Pennsylvania. It was so beautiful there! What a wonderful trip. My good husband kept all the children for 4 of the 5 days! So impressed with him.

First Day of First Grade!!

Can't believe she is so big!!

Aquarium

So this was an ending summer trip we took to the aquarium. The kids loved it! Austin would squeal with delight at each new tank. This is Savanna touching the stingrays.

I'm pretty sure that this is not allowed.

What our family would look like if we were in the little mermaid.

Pioneer

This year I was pondering how to teach my children about the pioneers. They didn't seem to grasp that their journey was difficult. I know none of us will ever know how difficult, but I wanted them to know that it was not fun. So for family night we borrowed a wagon and dressed as pioneers. Then we went to a gravel road in the river bottoms with lots of ruts. They had to get the wagon to the other end
(about a 1/4 mile) and we could not help. I was so impressed that they did not complain. However, when we finished our night in Savanna's prayer she said "thank you that we are not pioneers." I felt we had accomplished a great feat.

Oregon Coast

This year we went to the Oregon Coast for our summer vacation. There we went to the temple with Russell's youngest sister. Had our family reunion at the beach, and enjoyed seeing our old friends.
WE stayed at a cabin in rockaway. This is our view from the deck.


The kids loved playing at the beach but as you can see it was anything but warm. I think the high at the ocean was 68 degree/s A little chilly after 90 degrees.

This is at the sturgeon viewing pond, but we also went to the Portland zoo which is by far may favorite.
Russ did a little spear fishing in the ocean and managed to bring us home some frozen crabs, because we love them.

We enjoyed the Portland rose Gardens.

And did a little hiking