Winter begins

Parker, Anndra, and Ada enjoying the first snow:

Of course, with the snow (and the bitter cold temperatures that followed) came the need to invent creative indoor fun:

storage bin games are always a hit with these three

yoga! (during Ada's naps)

chin-up bar silliness

everybody's favorite winter-time 'sport' - fort building

A few pics from before the snow hit:

Parker's b-day, Halloween, and more

Parker is 12!

twelve 'fuses' in a Minecraft dynamite cake

one gift was an additional set of these magnet triangles he loves

Halloween

Anndra dressed up as a pirate princess

Lincoln's friend from primary dressed as Optimus Prime too

Parker dressed up as an Enderman from Minecraft

he towered over everyone else on his stilts

A few other tidbits:

Parker playing the gong at his band concert

A fun Halloween craft Grandma brought us - cheesecloth ghost!

enjoying the hot tub during a play-date

Anndra's obsession with ponies has been replaced by an obsession with puppies

family home evening

daddy-daughter snuggle/nap

beautiful rainbow (taken from behind Todd's office)

had some family pictures taken during Grandma's visit

First Grade Field Trip; First Class by 12

After that lovely post all about Anndra, of course we have to do the next one about the boys! Let's start with Lincoln - his class recently visited the Vo-Ag Center:

the whole class being weighed on the cattle scale (L is 2nd from left)

Lincoln loved the hay ride

the weather was absolutely marvelous

the hay ride took us along the river - we also saw horses, cows, sheep, barns, etc

two of Lincoln's friends: Adam & Quinn

running through a hay maze

coming back out of a dead end

learning about wheat and other crops

petting a bunny (there were also piglets, goats, chickens, ducks, a calf)

learning about dairy cows (they can produce 6.5 gallons of milk in one day!)

squeezing the glove to see what it is like to milk a cow

At last week's court of honor, Parker was awarded the rank of First Class in boy scouts:

Other b-day pics:

A few odds and ends:

Grandy & Gpa checking out a cool tree on the way home from Canada

shopping boring?  not with this guy around

Anndra's 'big 5' b-day party

In our family, we've chosen to give our kids their first 'friend' birthday party when they turn 5. Anndra was well aware of this, having watched Lincoln wait until he was five to have his first big party. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this party was the most ANTICIPATED 5-year-old birthday party ever. Anndra has been planning it for years.  I'm not kidding.  She's been talking about party plans more and more the past few months and of little else in the weeks and days leading up to it. Amazingly, I think the party lived up to everything she imagined.  Here are pictures of the happy event.

the guests

the decorations

the cupcakes

kicked off the morning with PINK PANCAKES

fun with balloons

pin-the-tail (and horn) on the unicorn

the girls loved watching me spin each friend around

dance, dance, dance!

glitter paint - so glamorous!

pinata (Kyla trying to decide which string to yank)

helping Anndra open her presents