Trenton is Three!

For Trenton's third birthday, we started the morning off with Country Donuts. He got to go shopping for some presents, go swimming with Mom and the girls at the club, play with his new puzzles and toys, and work on holding up three fingers. He requested french toast and sausage for dinner. Trenton is so fun right now. He is just excited about everything, and we can often hear him shouting "Oh, goody, goody, goody!" He is potty-trained (yay!) and is such a big helper with his little brother. He loves his sisters and can hardly wait for them to come home from school each day. We LOVE having Trenton in our family!

Rafting in January?

MLK Day in Boise was a balmy 54 degrees. The day before had been pretty warm too, and alot of the snow in the mountains melted, creating major flooding in many areas. The creek that runs through our neighborhood is normally VERY small, and is even dry parts of the year. But on Monday, it was raging...well, at least flowing fast enough and big enough for the Sevylor! Livi talked Rich into blowing up the raft and holding onto a rope as the children floated down 5 Mile Creek. Trenton was a little hesitant the first time around, but after seeing his sisters having so much fun, he decided to join them on the second and third trips! Quite a day!

Dress-up

Maple Bars

Rich has this theory about maple bars...that people always buy them, but nobody really likes them. He believes this because he says that if you see a box of donuts in the morning, chances are that by the end of the day, the only donut left is a maple bar. So Rich basically refuses to buy maple donuts. Katie came to visit this weekend, and she LOVES maple donuts. She mentioned Rich's theory to her students and they ended up signing a petition to say that if given a dozen assorted donuts, they would choose maple. She brought the petition to Rich. That morning we got donuts, and Rich even bought a maple donut for Katie. That evening, as we were cleaning up, I noticed Rich taking pictures of the counter...and this is what he found--a lonely maple donut!

Fourth Grade Volcano

Olivia made a volcano for a fourth grade project. She loved designing it, adding the army men all around it, and then painting it. Each student brought their volcano to school and Mr. Luthy helped them make their volcanoes erupt. When Liv brought it home after they were done at school, we decided it was worth "blowing up" one more time. Lola covered her ears while Trenton enjoyed every second of it.

First Snow

Four Months

Henry is four months old! This little guy has given us a "run for our money." We continue to tell people that 3 children felt like 3, but 4 feels like 17! At four months, Henry still wakes up several times a night to eat or for a pacifier. He likes all of the baby stuff none of our other children could stand for longer than a few minutes (i.e. the swing, bumbo, bouncer seat, etc.) This helps us feel justified in hanging on to them for the last nine years! He has a great smile, and keeps us on our toes!

Mmm, mmm, good!

Henry had his first bowl of rice cereal this week. He did pretty well with it. This was most exciting for me, considering this guy won't take a bottle...

School Pictures

Halloween

The Farmstead

playing in the corn box

shooting ears of corn out of a canon

not too happy about being on the tractor

Grandma Jones came to visit us for Halloween weekend. It was a great time for her to come, as she loves the fall weather and Halloween. It was especially nice for me because she watched the boys while I helped with Lola's class party, and helped get the children in and out of costumes all weekend...not to mention everything else she did for us while she was here! She is superwoman!

We headed to the corn maze on Friday with Grandma. The kids had such a great time. We went on the bumpiest hay ride ever, shot corn from a canon, found our way through the corn maze, rode the cow train, and played on some really fun slides (which are also responsible for Trenton's shiner!). Such a fun way to celebrate fall!

Go Broncos!

One of Rich's colleagues offered him two tickets to the BSU vs. Toledo game this weekend. Olivia was so excited for this special date with Dad! They bought some blue gear especially for the game, stocked up on the treats, and headed out for the big game. I took this picture as they came home that night...it was late, and Livi was sleepy, but you can tell they had a great time!

Twinners

Trenton giving Henry a "fooch"

Cheesy grin

Saturday Morning Cartoons

It's times like this I think, "Wow! We have alot of kids!"

Lucky Peak

The Burtenshaws invited us to the lake for their last boating trip of the season. We had a blast! All the kids liked riding in the tube (some more than others), Olivia loved the kneeboard, and Rich even got out for one ski run as well. I stayed near the back of the boat with Henry...who slept most of the time due to the hum of the motor. We can't wait for next summer!

Lazy Days of Summer

Lola's Party

After a weekend of family parties, Lola was still REALLY hoping for a "friend" party. We (I) decided it was best to do a very casual party after school on the day of her real birthday. Her friends from the neighborhood all came over to eat cake and ride bikes--Lola's two favorite things! It was the easiest party ever, and Lola enjoyed every minute.
And this picture was just too cute not to add! Love this guy!

Table Rock

We went on a hike to Table Rock on Labor Day with the grandparents. The weather was perfect, and it was a great hike with an incredible view of the Boise valley. After the hike, we had a delicious lunch at a local mexican restaurant, then did our least favorite thing of the day---take the grandparents to the airport and say goodbye! We were so sad to see them go! Luckily, we were able to end the day on a good note with a win for Boise State and Virginia Tech--Go Broncos!