New Computer!

We finally broke down and bought a new computer, so I'll actually be able to blog again:) It wasn't even worth it with the old one. It was soooooooooo slow! Hopefully I can get some pictures up today. I am so excited to be able to blog again! These pictures on here are OLD!

Leah's Performance at the Pythian Home

Leah started violin lessons with a new teacher this year (Her teacher is wonderful!). I didn't realize how much she was missing in regards to the quality of her lessons until she began Suzuki lessons. Anyways, Leah is doing a wonderful job and we are proud of her accomplishments this year.

Here are pictures from the December 9th performance at the Pythian Home.

The Zoo! The Zoo!

Here are pictures from our trip to the zoo on November 11th. We invited the kids from Mason's preschool co-op group and Leah and Mason's friends, Dylan, Kenneth, Olivia and Ethan. The weather was wet, rainy and windy but the rain stopped and the weather warmed up a bit after a little while. Leah and Mason had a great time and they were so excited to see their friends at the zoo!



The tractor!



Mason was so excited to see this tractor! Last time we went to the zoo, I couldn't even get him to sit on it. This time, I couldn't get him off of it!



Leah and Mason on the 'horses'





Leah, Mason and Olivia




Leah, Mason, Kenneth and Dylan



Grumpy, hungry Mason



We have a preschool co-op in our ward and Keslee is one of the little girls that is in it with Mason. Mason loves Keslee and he was so excited that she came to the zoo! They walked around holding hands until it was time to go.



Mason always wants to do two things at the zoo and this is one of them (the other is riding the train which we unfortunately did not get to do this time).





Leah with the Giraffe



Here is Mason, Kenneth, Dylan and Keslee walking around the zoo holding hands.

Leah Loves Uncle Carson

Here is Leah, talking to Uncle Carson on the phone. She just loves him and as you can tell by the smile on her face, she eats up any attention he pays to her.

The American Girls Club in November

Wow! We haven't been on here in a while! We have been really busy with a million different things. Anyways, I thought I'd take some time today to catch up on what we have been doing.

Here is a picture from one of our American Girl Book Club meetings in November. We are reading the Kirsten books and as this meeting, the girls were learning about St. Lucia Day. They made St. Lucia Day head wreaths and ornaments out of straw.

Our Halloween-Trunk or Treat at the church

Here are pictures of our family at the Trunk or Treat at the church. Mason dressed up as Speed Racer and Leah was an Indian.









Here is Mason going through the "Haunted House".



Here is a picture of the kids with their very tired daddy (he worked 160 hours in 2 weeks!). We're glad it is all over with and that he could come and celebrate Halloween with his family.

Fall Family Pictures

Work

Joe has been working some insane hours for the last couple of weeks and the kids have missed him a lot! Here is a picture of the kids after one of our Thursday night dinners with daddy. (This weekly dinner is the only time the kids get to see him, except on the weekends because Joe gets home so late at night). Mason has taken up the role of 'man of the house' while Joe has been gone and he has been doing his best to protect his mom and sister by killing spiders, helping to take out the garbage and trying to do anything else that Joe usually does. He has been very cute and it has been fun to watch him try to be just like his dad. The project will be over at the end of the week and then we can settle back into a normal routine!

Pumpkin Patch

Mason's Family

Mason is a part of a preschool co-op of three girls and three boys in our ward and he absolutely loves it! This week, he learned about families and he made his own family out of marshmallows, chocolate chip eyes, toothpicks and umbrellas (because it rains a lot here). Above (left to right) is Mom, Mason and Dad (he forgot to make Leah). He was very proud of his creation.

Our Weekend in Astoria with Josh, Katie, Collin and Hadley

We took off last weekend to stay and Katie's parent's home in Astoria and we had a wonderful time! Here are a ton of pictures from our trip (also check out the pictures katie added to facbook. She got some really great shots!):

Saturday

Hadley was pretty excited about my camera

Leah could run and run in their backyard all weekend long

Mason was really excited to play with Collin again

Collin and his Grandpa

Leah's fort

Katie's dad somehow talked me into letting everyone try out the ATVs. It was a lot of fun, even if it did make me nervous.

Campfire and Marshmellows

Katie's dad made a fire in the backyard and we roasted marshmellows over it. It is so beautiful out there, without the city lights. All the stars were crystal clear and beautiful.

Sunday-Trip to the Beach

This was my favorite trip to the Oregon Coast. It was pretty warm, even though it was right before sunset and their was hardley any wind. The kids played in the water while they watched the sun set. It so beautiful that I had to include all the pictures that we took:

The last picture of the day, just as the sun set:)

Thanks Josh and Katie!