A White Christmas!

What a way to start off the holidays... 3 days before Christmas school break it starting snowing... and never seemed to let up!! The kids were thrilled they got 3 'snow days' in a row. They'd wake up extra early, turn on the news just to make sure school was closed... so much for sleeping in!

Snow fort time!

'Twas the night before Christmas'..... setting out milk and cookies for Santa

Sweet Celtics jerseys... thanks Grandma & Grandpa Moore! Let's see if the Celts can pull out another championship next year.

Santa brings Austin his very first bike...Spiderman no less...

Dave horsing around with the boys.... sometimes I forget I have 4 boys, not 3!
Austin proudly showing me what he made at school.... he really got into Christmas this year! Helping decorate the tree and pointing out which ornaments belonged to who.. basically, any of them he really liked were "his"

From left to right... Uncle Jim, Aunt Sue, Grandma great, G-pa Steve, and G-ma Peg opening presents together after our Christmas honey-baked ham dinner. The weather was treacherous today and we really thought Christmas dinner with everyone wasn't in the plans. Everyone braved it though and made it here safely despite the scary roads!

My cousin Ashley's & Alan's little girl, Ava. She looked so cute in her holiday dress... same age as Austin & we're so glad they live close by and not 'way over in Seattle' like they used to!

Love this picture of my grandma.. we used to make this 'christmas tree' appetizer every year when I was a kid. Aunt Sara had the great idea to get all the stuff for this year....Very cool to see DJ making this with Great-Grandma.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Santa took some time out of his busy schedule to stop by the Microsoft campus. We grabbed dad out of the office and stepped over to see Santa! Austin, who is NEVER at a loss for words, until now, didn't even tell Santa what he wanted this year... but he was a great listener. Told us right away that Santa told him his reindeer love carrots and to please leave some in the backyard on Christmas Eve.

Sara and I celebrating Mom's birthday - "girls only" - we had so much fun! Uncle Pat was in on the surprise as well. Won't say which b-day we're celebrating.....suffice it to say she looks fabulous. Started out at the spa Saturday afternoon, checked into the Westin (downtown Bellevue), got ready for dinner while having some bubbly, then walked over to Seafood 0/8 for dinner... it was beautiful downtown with snowflake lane going on and all the Christmas lights. Breakfast and shopping in the morning! Happy Birthday - we love you.

"Our Angel"

Getting ready for his preschool Christmas program
He didn't exactly sing many of the songs but he sure looked cute up there!

Thanksgiving

The boys really dislike getting "dressed up" but for this occasion - Thanksgiving at Grandpa's golf club, they didn't complain! They knew they could go back to the buffet table as much as they wanted. We're thankful for the many blessings in our lives & love this time of year, spending as much time as we can with family and friends.
Grandma Burnett with the boys outside - Inglewood golf course behind them.

Attempting to get a photo we can use for our Christmas card... they won't be dressed up again anytime soon!

Would have been a nice Christmas picture... for every good picture, get about 10 blurry ones!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Great Wolf Lodge

We first saw a Great Wolf Lodge last year when visiting Uncle Mike & Aunt Cynthia in Dallas. You could see the amazing indoor water park of the hotel from the outside. The boys were thrilled that one opened up an hour from us in Olympia, WA. We stayed one night (which is plenty!) Super fun place for kids!

Checking out the ice-cream parlor at the hotel

The highlight of the boys stay here was the magic quest game. The waterpark is the obvious big draw here (ask DJ & Andrew about the Tornado & you'll get a tutorial) but we highly recommend doing the magic quest. You each get a magic wand with your info. downloaded into it (for only $24.99!) Surprisingly, it was worth every penny - you get to walk around the hotel looking for the clues, treasure, etc. to complete each adventure. They took their job seriously of becoming master magi (takes 4 to 8 hours) & they did it in 3 1/2.

Checking out the hotel's arcade

Back at home... the fun continues. Indoor snow-boarding, skate-boarding,?

Perfecting his technique.

Halloween

Halloween party at Austin's preschool

In true 3 yr. old fashion, he wore several different costumes throughout October. When it came to the actual day of Halloween, he still couldn't decide if he should be Batman or Spiderman.

Spiderman visiting Andrew's class Halloween party. 2nd graders aren't allowed to wear 'masks' so Andrew found this wig and went the clown route.

Austin trick-or-treating with his buddies, Beck and Luke

Rained ALL day, non-stop on the 31st... until about an hour before dark & then much to our surprise it ended up being a great night to trick-or-treat. Austin was a trooper trying to stay out as late as his big brothers.

Halloween isn't complete until the neighborhood candy-trade at the end of the night. Gotta maximize how much "good" candy you end up with!

Finding the perfect pumpkin

Beautiful fall day in the backyard. Andrew ended up cleaning out all 5 pumpkins - love that they're older & can do some of this messy work themselves!

Football season - Skyline youth

DJ & Andrew with Grandma and Grandpa after a football game. DJ had another great season - played middle linebacker and tight-end. Loves playing both offense and D but especially loves defense. Ended the season 6 and 3 and made the playoffs.
Grandma & Grandpa were off to the U.W. Husky game after this - loyal fans that they are of one of the worst teams ever!!

Getting ready for a game - Dad was an assistant coach this year so we captured him in his Skyline Spartan gear as well. Skyline H.S. (the h.s. that DJ will go to in 4 yrs. - yikes!) won the 4A state championship - very exciting for us here in Sammamish!

Rattlesnake Lake, NorthBend, WA

Discovered this great spot only 25 min. from our house over Labor day weekend. It was cold and breezy - would love to go back when it's warmer. Lots of hiking trails to choose from!

Skipping rocks competition


Austin claimed this his walking stick.

Impressive rock covered in moss - the boys tried to climb it but it was really slippery.

First Day of School

Austin's first day of pre-school in the 'Bears' class.

Andrew's first day as a 2nd-grader! Teacher: Mrs. Fletcher.

Finally... after 4 years you get to be big-man on campus - 5th grade. Can't believe you'll be in Middle School next year. Teacher: Mrs. Trudeau

Andrew standing in line his 1st day of school... Austin hanging back, trying to figure out what this whole school thing means. He loved having his brother's around all summer... oh well, now you get to hang out with Mom all day!