Run for it!

We love our kids!

We are so grateful to have such sweet, loving kids.  Here's some pictures for all to enjoy!

Emily's new trick

Brandon discoverd Emily's new trick that she gets a kick out of...

Halloween

This year for Halloween I made most of everyone's costumes.  (Except my own.)  Isaac wanted to be a skeleton, so I found some black clothes and drew him a skeleton.  Then I convinced Brandon to be a skeleton as well to match Isaac.  Isaac was thrilled that he and Dad matched!

 And yes, these skeletons were fairly anatomically correct.  I had my anatomy book out, and I did the best I could.  Though, it was a little more difficult than you might think!

 Emily was Minnie Mouse.  We found the dress at DI while I was looking for black clothes, and I just made the bow and the mittens. 

 This was at our ward trunk or treat.  It was right across from where we were parked, so I got to watch them while I handed out candy.  They won first prize.  It was fun to watch the show they put on. 

Isaac liked his costume, and Emily didn't try to take hers off, so I consider it a successful year!  I was a fairy, my friend let me borrow her old costume.  I didn't get any pictures of myself for some reason...  Ah well!

Carving Pumpkins

 We carved pumpkins at the beginning of Oct, and Isaac wasn't too sure about it at first.  He enjoyed the process, minus the goopy hands. 

 He helped me draw his face on, and then I cut it out. 

We had fun together as a family. 

 This was the end result. 

 Since we carved them so early, they (the pumpkins) didn't last as long as desired.  Luckily, Cameron and Ashley and Brittany and Chris were willing to come over and carve some more pumpkins with us.  Again, Isaac had a blast. 

Milestone!

Big moment for us...we hit 180,000 on our van! Ok, I don't know if that is something to boast about...but it was cool that we actually saw it. Ahh the life of being a student with used cars that have high mileage...but I wouldn't trade these times. Life is great in spite of everything and we have such a wonderful family with great kids. The Lord has definitely blessed us.

* Just a side note, Brandon took this picture while I was driving.  I do not have talent enough to take that good of a picture while driving! :) 

The Oregon Zoo

We were able to go to the Oregon Zoo in Portland with my parents and my sister-in-law Shauna and her kids.  The boys all had a blast.  And I have to say, the zoo was pretty impressive.  I think it's better than Hoogle Zoo.  This was the very first thing you saw, and the boys were captivated. 

 Both Isaac and Jackson were enthralled with the map.  Every so often one of them would have to consult it to see where we were and where we were headed. 

 This is a close up of Isaac reading the map.  Very serious...

 See, we've got to see on the map where we are!

Got to see the polar bears!

 They loved watching the coins spin around and around and eventually drop.  Grandpa got the best spin out of his coin!

 Annabelle was content to sit and watch from her stroller.

Emily eventually fell asleep. 

 We had a blast at the zoo.  Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Brown for taking us!