First Snowfall

The first snowfall was the day before Halloween. Kenadee woke up, saw the snow and begged to go outside. We bundled her and Bennett up (Benson had a meltdown and didn't want to go out) and headed outside. Kenadee did several snow angels.

Halloween 2011

Here are the kids with their Halloween shirts.
Benson our Spiderman

Kenadee the good witch

Bennett my little guitar

For trick-or-treating we went to the church for the annual trunk-or-treat. It was crazy this year, because it was snowing hard, it was also very windy and freezing cold! We got to the parking lot at 6:40pm did one quick round, passed out the rest of our candy, closed the trunk and took off by 7:15! It was the biggest candy haul in the shortest amount of time that i have ever seen!

Pumpkin Carving

This year we had the Chappells girls for about a week in October. One of the nights they were with us we carved pumpkins. Kenadee and Makenzie got one pumpkin and Benson and Jordyn got the other pumpkin. With help from mom and dad we carved these.

Reindeer Farm/Pumpkin Patch

WE found some coupons on groupon for the Reindeer Farm pumpkin patch. So we bundled the kids and headed to Palmer to check it out. They had a hay ride, a maze, pony rides and of course a 'pumpkin patch'. The kids had a great time, despite it being a little chilly.

Halloween Craft

We painted these jars and made faces on them, then put lights in them for the kids rooms to decorate for Halloween.

Fall in Anchorage

Family Picture Time

My cute friend Lindsay was kind enough to take these awesome pictures for us. I love them and am so grateful that this time around I got a few good family pictures before my baby was one!

Kenadee- 4 yrs. old

Bennett- 9 Months

Benson- 3 yrs. old

Bennett is Crawling

Haircuts for the boys.

Attempted Photo Shoot

It didn't go so well!!

Girls Day Out

I took Kenadee and Kenzie to Alice in Wonderland, put on by some youth who were in a summer acting camp. Afterwards we went to McDonalds for ice cream cones. These girls are such good friends, and they are so fun to be around.

Nate and Millie's Visit

At the begining of August, Nate and Millie came to visit us for just over a week. Once again, we had a very fun filled time, checking out new places and taking them to some of our favorites.
This was Nate's first time meeting Bennett!

Day one Millie and I took the kids to the park while Nate and Ben went mountain biking.

We were lucky enough to have Millie here on her birthday, so we celebrated with homemade lasanga and this yummy chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and strawberries!

Of course we were bound to have some rainy days. To any of you who want to come visit, we have learned that August is the rainy month!

The boys in the back of the van.

We found this great park close to our house with this super cool blue bridge. We had to take advantage of a photo opportunity!

Love these two!

Monday night we headed up to McHugh Creek for tin foil dinners and smores. It was raining, but we didn't let that stop us!

This is one of the falls along McHugh Creek.

I think they look great with a kid!!

Here we are hiking near the Anchorage Science Center. The kids love throwing rocks in the river.

Bennett on the other hand loved eating the rocks, sand, sticks, pretty much anything he could get his hands on!

We recently found a spot that you can go down to the beach. It is very close to the airport, so you get to watch airplanes taking off right over your head on the beach! It is so cool!!

Of course we have to take time for crafts. This one was a great one to have Uncle Nate help with. We took three pringles cans and made our own rainstick. The kids were loving nailing the nails into the cans.

We used hot glue and duck tape to keep it all together. We filled it with rice and pinto beans. It works pretty good. I just hope no one falls on it!

We took Nate and Millie to the temple for sealings. It was such a wonderful experience to be in the temple with family!

Of course we made a stop by the conservation center. Millie and Bennett are just chilling with their new moose friend.

I don't know the name of this little lake, but isn't it amazingly beautiful? The picture doesn't hardly do it justice!

This is u pin Whittier. We heard about some other fun hikes up there. This one came to some gorgeous falls. We made up our own way down. We discovered this cool little area along the way.

It was so green!

I also don't know the name of this hike, but it was amazing. It ended up at this platform with a beautiful view of Whittier. All along the way there were wild blueberry and salmonberry bushes.

Cute Benson fell asleep in the pack on Nate's back. I guess we really wore him out this day!

We had such a fun time having so much family out this summer! We feel very blessed to have so much support, and loved the opportunities to check out this beautiful state that we live in! Hopefully next summer we can do it all again!!