Day 3 and 4 at Grandma's

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and while we didn't stay home and watch football all day long, I only have photos on my phone from our hike, so those will have to be posted later. Right now you can see our family photos from yesterday and from our walk to the Gorge today.

Thanksgiving Day

The Rogue Gorge

And lastly....Robbie's inaugural ATV ride. Today was the first time he ever wanted to ride the ATV at Grandma's. Of course, he only wanted to stay on the "road" (aka the gravel driveway as opposed to the meadow and through the trees). We did lots of circles around the driveway.

Happy Friday! Tomorrow, back home. In the rain. And maybe snow.

Day 1 at Grandma's House

We are at Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving again this year. We arrived yesterday evening and it poured rain all night. Poured. P.O.U.R.E.D. I'm not kidding. Solid solid rain. The upside? New little creeks running through the property for us to walk in, splash in, and collect rocks from. See?

Gretchen, the extra large puppy, was probably the most excited about the flowing water. She flew back and forth, up and down the little stream, narrowly missing us each time she flew past. I'm surprised we didn't end up muddier.

Trick Or Treat

A few pics from our day yesterday....

Robbie started with a Halloween Parade at school. He and his adorable school mates marched around the church collecting treats from all the church staff.

Robbie started off as a dragon, then became a dinosaur, then by the time we went trick or treating, he was telling everyone he was a T-Rex. I love the look his pal, J, is giving him in this picture.

The neighborhood gang, setting out to ask random strangers for candy. What an odd tradition. I'm surprised it still endures....

Padyn, Bella and Kate with their loot. Padyn, the marathon runner; Bella, the werewolf; and Katelyn, the Ice Bear Fairy (from the Rainbow Fairy books)

And I can't leave out the most creative costume of all...Michelle! Our fearless babysitter LOVES Halloween (possibly more than our children ) and relished in everything from decorating the pumpkins (an airplane and an angry bird, just two examples of many) to creating her festive costume.It was quite an awesome spectacle.

Happy November.

Happy Father's Day (Photo Blunders)

All I wanted for Father's Day was one good photo of the three monsters so I could send them off to the Grand Dads. Is that really too much to ask? One photo?

Apparently, for these three jokesters, it is....see for yourself. And these are just some of the several. Of the twenty I took, only one was semi-decent. (And no-it isn't here. That was reserved for grandparentals' eyes only).

Happy Father's Day all you fabulous Daddys out there!

Photo Friday-Christmas Family Photos

Lots of photos at Christmas time means lots of shots of family members, some combinations we don't get to see often. Here are a few I shot...

padyn and kate

kate and robbie everyone-my sisters, brother in laws, mom and stepdad, cousins and us

colleen, me, mom and christie

bella and padyn

trevor, christie and bella

christie and trevor (trevor LOVES his mommy!)

the girls with grandma

padyn, kate and bella with gretchen, my mom's new addition

trevor, robbie, my dad and step mom (the beanies were a stocking present. thanks, papa)

Happy Friday.

Photo Friday-Christmas Day

As always, it was a lucrative Christmas in our household this year. As well as busy. We manage to open presents at 4 different houses in the span of 31 hours, ate countless cookies, and spread good cheer (and germs) to most of our close relatives. Here's a photo perspective of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. More photos to come....

Robbie won for the biggest present this year. It is a new train table for his new trains (and his 32 million cars...)Padyn and Katelyn...happy as can be that Christmas had finally arrived.

This was the Christmas of Lightening McQueen for Robbie. That will be a whole other blog post. But you can see here that one of his favorite presents was his LM jammies. He demanded to put them on right away. And yes....he is pushing around two LM's.

Padyn got her much needed bigger rollerblades. I don't recommend skating in fancy dresses, though.

The big hit Christmas morning was Robbie's new GeoTraks. I bought them (and two other sets) at our rummage sale this fall. We are only giving him one set at a time. Everyone loves playing with them. Daddy was particularly excited to put them together Christmas Eve after the kids were in bed.

Maybe Robbie is unhappy because he is jealous that this isn't actually his new beanie?

This is not his new headlight, either.

Kate is dashing in this wig headband from Mimi and Grandpa.

Padyn is starting softball this fall, so to prepare her, Papa got her a new bat, mitt and softball.

More photos to come late. For now, Happy Friday and Happy New Year!