'Tis the time for many exciting events!!

Brynn and Daddy

Brynn and Mommy

Brynn dressed and ready to go for her JFK performance 12/14/08

Kendall's baptism 12/7/08

Max's 2nd birthday 11/20/08--so happy with his new gift!

It has been a busy month!  Max turned 2 on November 20th.  We will have his party with the other kids in March, but celebrated that night with dinner at the Green Mill and he opened his present from Ryan and I (a Hot Wheels--see photo above!) which he LOVED...you can probably tell by the photo.  He was so excited and kept saying, "Yook what I got for my pwesent!" ("look what I got for my present!").  It was quite humorous!  He is a self proclaimed "big boy" now and thinks that his brother and sister are the best and will mimic ANYTHING and EVERYTHING they do, which is not always good with his siblings being 5 and 3 years old!!  He is a really good boy, though, and really keeps us laughing with his goofy sense of humor and his amazing speech for being so little!  Our precious niece, Kendall, was baptized on December 7th.  She is SO adorable with a lot of hair and chunky thighs!!  She is a very good and happy baby and will smile and giggle at the most minor of things.  We are so happy to have her in our lives.  Brynn started Just For Kix this fall and had her first performance on December 14th at Elk River High School.  She was beyond excited to dance, wear her "beautiful" costume and do her hair/put make up on for her performance.  She did really well and said she had a lot of fun when she was done.  The smile on her face told us how proud she was of herself and how much she really loves dance.  We had a little party here with some appetizers and lunch after her performance and I think she really enjoyed being the center of attention for the day!  We celebrated Christmas with part of my side of the family this past weekend (whoa!  the snow!) as well as the Spanier side and will celebrate with the remainder of my side and Ryan's side this week.  I was also fortunate to have been able to have lunch with my Grandma and Grandpa B. yesterday.  They are so wonderful and it is always a blessing to be able to spend time with them.  Haven't downloaded those pics, so will post them soon along with our Christmas pics from last weekend!  Happy holidays to those who read this!

Dress up day

These two post-Halloween dress up pics were too silly not to share.  Here are Ethan and Brynn modeling gifts they received for Halloween from Grandma and Grandpa B and Nativa!

Trick or Treat, Smelly Feet...

I can't tell you how many times the kids said it..."trick or treat, smelly feet, give me something good to eat!".  Too many times, that's all I know!   Brynn and Max may have had their costume roles mixed up (ha!), but they had a great time!  We got together with our neighbors as we have done for a few years.  This year we ventured out in our neighborhood with the help of Paul's trailer and Troy's driving skills.  It made getting around to the houses much easier...and more fun I'm sure the kids would say!

The day after Halloween we left early in the morning to

head up to Orr to set up deer stands.  The car ride is LONG and the kids did really great...we were very proud.  They also did very well walking out in the woods and being patient as Ryan desperately tried to get his stand up in a rotten tree.  He finally had success in another tree!

We spent the evening at the (only) hotel in Orr.  It had a water slide and kiddie pool which worked perfect for the kids.  Ryan sat through opening weekend in his new stand without any luck, but we are heading up there this weekend and the following, so I'm hoping to be posting about a MONSTER buck that one of us got!!  Regardless of the success, the hunting weekends are always fun due to the group that goes.  It is a fun group...never a dull moment!

While the guys are gone, the rest of us play!!

While Ryan was in Wyoming mid October elk hunting and enjoying the beautiful scenery (no luck with the elk but as the picture shows, the scenery is unbelievable!!) and Matt was away hunting as well, Haley and kids came down to spend a long weekend with us .  It was a lot of fun spending time with them.  We went to Benihana for lunch and to the Science Museum.  Aside from that, we did a little shopping and the FIVE kids kept us quite busy for the remainder of the time!!  I always enjoy time with my sister and seeing my niece and nephew is always special.  We all missed Ryan quite a bit.  He was gone for 8 nights...the longest we've ever been apart.  Glad they all had a safe hunt and trip out and back!  Paul, Pete and their uncle all got elk, so those pics were really fun to see.

Ethan and Mom

A picture taken by Ethan's teacher, Mrs. Jopp, at Deer Lake Apple Orchard.  I already posted about the field trip, but I just had to post this picture also since I just received it!!

With Fall Comes Apple Orchards!

On Sept. 25th I got to go with Ethan's class on their first field trip to Deer Lake Apple Orchard.  The weather 

didn't cooperate and
it rained most of the time we were there, but still a lot of fun!  On Monday of this week, Leah and I took Amelia (Leah's daughter), Brynn, Max and Brandt (my nephew) to Apple Jacks Apple Orchard.  We picked our own apples and raspberries, saw some animals, ate some lunch, climbed through a log and sat on some ENORMOUS pumpkins.  They ate more apples than I thought humanly possible, but that is all part of the fun!

Camping at El Rancho

We went camping with the Smith clan at El Rancho for the weekend of Sept. 19th.  They are like my 2nd family growing up, so it was a great time to have everyone and their kids together.  The kids played great together and had fun running around playing with trucks, toys and making bus crackers.  Kylan and Faith even used the frosting as "sunscreen"!  Needless to say, they needed a bath after that one!  Even the adults got in on some action.  To bring back the family reunion tradition, Yvette brought eggs for an egg toss.  FUN!!  Gage the puppy, who is 4 months old now, got to join us on this trip.  He was excited to be outside all weekend and get to play with his pal, Sam (my sister's German Shepard).  It was our last camping trip of the season, but it was a great one to end on!!  Thanks for making it a great weekend everyone!