Park City

Our annual trip to Park City was unbelievable. We had blue skies, sunshine and plenty of fun. The snow was great and the cold temps kept it nice and soft. All 3 of the kiddies love to ski and are getting good in a hurry.

Here is the crew. A little taller than last year and much braver. In fact one member of this group nearly had their lift ticket revoked for taking out a 7x5 foot SLOW sign. Snapped the posts right in half. When questioned the perpetrator (approximately 4 feet tall, wearing a blue coat) gave the false name Julio and acknowledged they were aware of the sign prior to hitting it. He no qualms with the signs message, but disagreed with the placement of the sign. Witnesses/associates agreed the sign was unsafely placed in the middle of the race course. One "Resort Authority" was heard saying "Oh, if I get that boy I goin' to stick him in the house of detention".

This run was Sophie's choice. That is why she is in front of the map.

Eden was all smiles the whole trip, but grew weary of her mothers coaching. When told that she skis like her mom, "smooth and smart" she disagreed based on the fact that her mom talks too much. Her response to this "compliment" was "I don't talk when I ski." Although the trip was much shorter than last years we managed to squeeze in a birthday dinner with Grandpa Val during the five hours we spent in Bountiful. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, Dixie, Larry, and all the girls for the great dinners!!

November

Mount Si Football Rules!

If you did not watch it live, I am sure you caught the highlights on SportsCenter, but we won the Greater Eastside Championship. It was the 1st football championship in Mt Si history. We finished off a perfect season on a perfect day for football, cold and cloudy. I think we can beat the Buckeye's (That's right Elmores bring on Prior & Co.)

We are not sure what was more exciting; playing in the championship or having the Godzilla Bros. drive all night to be there to watch. August is trying hard not to smile in these pictures, but he can't contain himself.

Not only were our fans louder, they were also cuter.

Avery braved the 12 hour all night drive with Grandpa Jake, 4 of Aug's uncles and 3 of the Godzilla Bros, so the girls would not feel left out. She was the difference.

The Godzilla Bros on the field during our tour Qwest Field, the home of the SeaHawks. I can promise you the old fella that gave us the tour earned his money that day, my friends. It was one memorable Weekend for sure!

We had a great Thanksgiving with the Clayton's and Cahoon's. The Kids hadn't seen each other in 3 years, but they picked up right were they left off.

Sophie, Henry and Ellie were in attendance, but not shown in this photo atop the Space Needle. They froze. It was cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey. Which, I'll have you know, is a Naval term used in the olden days. Cannon balls were stacked on the decks on brass plates called "monkeys". The plates had indentions in them that held the balls on the bottom of the stacks. However, as ya'll know brass expands and contracts with the temperature and if it got cold enough the cannon balls could fall...hence "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone like a bat in the night. The kids loaded up on candy and fun under warm, but dry clouds.

Sophie Jane was a witch. A scary witch, but only according to her. If you look closely you'll notice it is barely a costume, but she loved it and we love her. Out of the three, she came home with the most candy and was only out half the time. When you are 3 you get 3 per house, or so she says.

Most people thought August went as a girl. Some thought he was a musician, but he was much more than that, he went as Nigel Tufnel. Nigel is best known as the lead guitarist of Spinal Tap. It was a cold costume, but he was committed to the character and made it through the night. Special thanks to his sister for leading him the pants. Why Nigel? you ask...because most amps only go to 10 and his goes to 11.

Eden could have been anything, but she decided to go as a traditional black cat. This choice was made because she wanted to wear her black boots and the cat ears & tail matched the black boots. Eden took the lead on design and make-up and nailed both. We used black markers for the whiskers, nose and eyeliner. In hind sight it would have been a good idea to use washable markers. (Of course we used washable markers...we are pros after all.)

Trick or Treat

What we have been doing . . .

Eden has been creating.

August #7 has been making plays...

And Jane has been with Dupree...

Morning...

Noon...

And Night....

(Yes, Dupree is an indoor dog. If he wasn't, Sophie would be an outside girl!)

Firsts

First day of school. Eden's and August's first day of school turned out to be really wet. We walked anyways. How can you not on the first day? Eden finally gets to go all day and she couldn't have been more exited. She got to take a lunch and wear her rain boots! August is now charged with taking his football everywhere!

August's first football game. We won 26 to 0. He is officially the smallest player on the team, but that doesn't stop him. He plays outside linebacker always, and fullback (only when we are up more than 26 points). Football is so much fun to watch! It has completely changed our routine and I'm still reeling from the crazy schedule we are now keeping up! August has NEVER had this much fun, it is awesome.

Sophie's first dance class. Sophie was so exited to finally get to take ballet. She loved every minute even if she wasn't' always paying attention. It is the cutest studio with a dress code and everything.

We were lucky enough to get the girls classes back to back, and as an added bonus they both get to do ballet and tap. It makes life really easy when you can walk to dance! It has been a busy fall, but by far the best one yet. It is so great to watch the kids grow up and take on new challenges. Parenthood just gets more and more rewarding.

Manzanita

We took a trip to the Oregon coast. This is on the Beach in Manzanita, Oregon. It was a little cold the first two days then it warmed up and the weather was perfect. The coastline is so beautiful there, we stayed in a beach house overlooking the ocean. It was amazing. Thank you Val and Emilee!

August enjoyed running around like crazy at the beach. He also perfected his kite flying skills.

Eden, Grandma Emmy, Sophie, and Ove enjoying Indian Beach. Ove had a difficult time eating due to the sandy hands phenomenon.

Sophie and Eden decided to try their hand at surfing. Due to a lack of wetsuits they needed assistance from Pete and Ben so they wouldn't get wet. This was such a great trip! We had great company and yummy seafood. The kids are now serious steamed clam fans. I guess its officially time to say goodbye to summer and embrace fall, and who doesn't love fall?

Dupree

This is Dupree, our new puppy. He is obedient and smart. As you can tell by the pictures the kids love him and he loves them back.

Eden and "Pre" just hanging out.

Sophie and Dupree on his first "walk."