Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of all of them...not everyone wants to cooperate. We'll call it a candid moment!

These two trouble makers were around when I pulled the antlers out of the box so I couldn't resist! Not to worry, no animals were harmed in the testing of this product:)



This is Briana relaxing while she watches Sylvia do all of the work of putting the ornaments on the tree.

Briana and Luke

Poor dog! Never any peace around here, good thing he likes it that way though. As much as I try to keep the kids our of his crate, they just can't resist. Briana even brought in Ethan's pair of undies to put on while she was visiting with Luke. Too funny!

Trip to the Coast

Since Cordell had a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to make a trip of it. The coast was the plan, from Bandon to Brookings. Many people told us the weather is very unpredictable and could be great when the weather here is bad. We took the risk and struck out! It was very rainy, cold and windy, but we made the best of it. When we got brave and warm, we would stop at a beach that we were driving by and wait for the rain to let up just a bit. We would get out and run and explore until the next storm burst. The kids still had a lot of fun. Ethan thought we would blow away and cried and clung to us the first day for many of our stops. It was so windy that as we parked the car to look at the views, the car would rock bak and forth. Fun, Fun! I think will take our vacation days in the summer from now on. So many beautiful things to see, but not so great to see in the pouring wind and rain. We were thankful to have a safe warm vehicle as our refuge, and motels to dry off in and relax at night.

This was our 2nd and last night. We decided to splurge and get a Motel right on the beach since we couldn't really be out to enjoy it, at least we had the sounds and view from our room. This was a little excursion in the morning before packing up.


An explanation: we drove 4 miles on a muddy dirt road, stopping to move branches that had blown in our way. Just as we were about to turn around at a fallen tree, we saw our destination! The trailhead to the Oregon Redwoods. We didn't hike the trail because it was too cold and soggy, but we did enjoy the beautiful surroundings all to ourselves. This was our covert from the storm! We found some great slugs under here!




We found this little cave to get out of the wind. Ethan finally stopped crying...until we had to make a break for it back to the car and the wind and rain really picked up. It was a cool beach though!


You can see here how Ethan was clinging for dear life in fear that we would all blow away!

Veterans Day Parade

Ethan is Three

Halloween Fun

Funny Faces

Preston got these funny glasses when he had a visit to the eye doctor. Ethan did not want to participate in the pictures!

What Briana Is Up To

This girl loves to get outside whenever she has the chance. This time got her smashing her face on the dirty glass. The dogs bad habit has made the door filthy! Briana's face was just too funny though.

Ethan sharing his bike with Briana. Ethan is not gentle very often so moments like this are definately picture worthy.


"Oregon Grown" She got in this box all by herself!

Briana Walking

Grandpa Smith Visit

Our September would not be complete without a visit from Grandpa Smith. He is crazy enough to make the long drive across the country and we love seeing him. This time he even brought a friend for Luke to play with. We had lots of fun but the visit was too short. It was hard to say goodbye until next year.
This is the kids final goodbyes atop out old, trusty Honda.

Matching t-shirts from grandpa

A Day in Portland

Since we had to drop Cordell off at the airport in Portland, I decided to make a day of it with the kids. First we went to IKEA for a couple of hours (which started out fun but Ethan was getting crazier by the second when it came time for checkout so that was not fun!) After we went to the Portland zoo and spent 5 hours there, until closing and could have been there another hour if we could. The kids and I loved it. What a great place. Definitely the best zoo I have seen! We had a great day and made it home tired but safe. Maybe a bit crazy to do that alone with the kids and driving 7 hours in one day, but lots of fun! Too bad dad couldn't be there with us.
Climbing on the lion sculptures, pretending they were part of Lion king (this has become one of their favorite sound tracks.)

Their favorite part of the zoo trip...eating Elephant Ears and running around on the large grassy area.

Preston posing with the bears

Sylvia riding the barrel horses. She loved these and played on them for at least half an hour!

The boys loved the tractor and Ethan was being a bit snobby and not letting other kids on. Time to move on.

Sylvia is Five!

Our little chubby Sylvia is not so little and chubby anymore. Where have the past 5 years gone? We love to watch the home videos of when she was a baby because that time flew by so quickly.
Sylvia tries to put up with her brothers, but doesn't let them overdo it. She is quite the spunky girl who knows what she wants and how she is going to get it. She even showed Ethan how to make her a birthday card, explaining the steps to him as she went. When she went to pick out a birthday toy with grandpa, she made sure they picked out a card to go with it. What a funny girl!
Sylvia got a room painted pink for her birthday, and while Grandpa Smith visited he even helped put together her new bunk bed. She picked out baked mac and cheese for her special dinner. I felt bad about her morning because I had to pry her off my leg to leave her screaming at preschool. When I went to pick her up, she excitedly showed me her new birthday shirt and that she had a good morning after all. Sylvia has a great imagination and quick whit. She is thoughtful and likes to share and spend one on one time with mom or dad. She says dad can't sing to her at night because he tickles her and LOVES to tie everything up with whatever string, rope or ribbon she finds lying around the house. The poor goats and dog have been victims of her knots as well. Sylvia says her favorite colors are pink and purple. She doesn't like large social groups but enjoys being the boss at home (when she can with the animals and siblings anyway). We love our curly haired, wild girl and learn from her each day. She has taught me much about patience, and more about the importance of having one on one time with each child to really get to know who they are. She adds so much to our family!

She chose a chocolate cake with pink frosting so we make it with the blackberries from our property. It looked just about as yummy as it tasted. Who needs to go buy strawberries to put on a chocolate cake when you have fresh blackberries instead. Each one is extra good because it is not easy getting this fruit without being poked by all the thorns!

This girl is our animal lover and says she is saving her money to buy a horse from the pet store when she is a teenager, so she can ride it of coarse! Thanks Grandma Smith for the cute horses!


Sylvia is pretty excited about being 5 and tells everyone she meets. This is her candy card, a tradition we had growing up that the kids love to help them feel extra special for the day.