HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY DJ!

Could it be......?? A cell phone!!!!! You've been bugging us about having your own cell phone for close to a year now and now that you're 12.... well, here you are!
Loved that Grandma and Grandpa Moore were here visiting this week - celebrating your birthday and got to watch quite a few basketball games too.

A CELL PHONE!!! Unlimited texting.... other parents warned us it's the only way to go.

You're taking a photography class as one of your 6th grade electives... here's some of your shots.

DJ - working the cul-de-sac baskeball hoop

See that hole in the back-board... yes you did that!

Pumpkin Patches and Halloween

Cute little piggy Austin.... at Remlinger Farms with your preschool class on a gorgeous Fall day.

Standing next to your buddy, Luke Westmoreland and Garrett Schweitzer

Austin and best buds... Luke and Beck Simpson

Andrew's 3rd grade class Halloween party - Mrs. Trull's class

Andrew- guest reader in Austin's preschool class.

Austin as a Star Wars Clone Trooper this Halloween.. you did a great job keeping up with your bigger brother's and lasted much longer trick-or-treating than we thought you would!

YOUR REWARD FOR ALL THAT HARD WORK!

GO SPARTANS!

DJ's 3rd season of football- 6th grade (sophomore 2009). Matt Lambert has been your coach 3 years running and such a great coach! Dad's an assistant coach 2 years running now and loves watching you play (almost as much as mom!) Position: Middle linebacker and tight-end.

Andrew scoping out the other team next to Coach Corbijn. It's your 1st year of football (3rd grade (rookie 2009). We loved watching you play this first year too - you've caught the football bug just like your brother and can't wait for next season already. Position: Quarterback

Mike Grady and DJ post-game at Issaquah High School which is being completely re-modeled.

Night before game-day ritual... of laying out the gear. The socks especially crack me up.

Future Spartan here... Austin found Andrew's old pads and DJ's old jersey. Insisted on wearing the gear to the first couple games, then realized it was a lot harder to play and walk around with this stuff on!

Look who's 9! Happy Birthday Andrew

Happy 9th Birthday Andrew!!.. we enjoyed celebrating so much. It was one of those gorgeous fall days in Seattle that felt more like summer. We kept our fingers crossed because we had a big surprise in store for you that required some sun. You love mustangs and have been counting them every time we're on the road... you've been doing this all summer and you're up to over 200.. .not a mustang goes by that you don't say "Oooohhhhh!! look at that one!" So... it was Dad's brilliant idea to rent a convertible mustang for the day. When you walked out to "get dad's newspaper" that morning and saw it sitting on the driveway, your reaction was priceless!

Now it's time to hop in, pick up your buddies, Mitchell and Will, who helped you celebrate the big day.. we went to Sky High in Bellevue (new trampoline/dodgeball place) then you guys cruised around and came back to the house for pizza/cake.

D.J, Mitchell, Andrew, Will and Austin - just a few more pics with the car before it goes back to Hertz in the morning!

End of a great day! You're such an incredible kiddo -we're so pround of you. You were sad to say good-bye to the mustang... (yes, we had to return it) but you're convinced this is the car for you in 7 more years (yikes!!).

Thumb-war anyone?

Aunt Lisa got you this football which you didn't want your brothers touching so you held on to it all day even when you fell asleep on the couch that night.

Back to School - Sept. 09'

Austin's last year of preschool before the big kindergarten starts next fall. He reminds me weekly - "Next year - Mom, I'll be going to the big boy school with brothers". Teacher Nancy and Teacher Rebecca are his new teachers this year and almost all the same classmates as last years preschool class.

The front door has become the place for the '1st day of school' pose... it's been exactly 5 years since we moved into this house. D.J. was in first grade posing in this exact spot and Austin was only about '8 weeks in my belly' when we moved here. Really doesn't seem possible that 5 yrs has gone by already!

Andrew in line with some buddies on first day back at Cascade Ridge

DJ - 6th grade and first day of Middle School! Andrew - 3rd grade. Austin - preschool

Going to Disneyworld!

Grandma and Grandpa Moore treated the entire clan to an amazing Disney vacation!! 16 of 18 grandkids (Justin & Garrett made it way into All-Star playoffs and had to cancel last minute)were here together and had such a blast! This is the Grand Floridian where we stayed for 4 nights. It was truly a different experience to stay "on the premises" - we could be at the entrance to Magic Kingdom in 5 minutes from the tram which picks you up right outside the 2nd floor of the hotel.

Can't leave Disney without this background picture!

Pirates of the Carribean was closed when we were last here (3 years ago) for updating so it was cool to see the new and improved ride with the Jack Sparrow

Our very own Jack Sparrow. Dad took Austin into the gift store they trap you in at the end of each ride. You can see he was pretty pleased with his newly found treasures.

DJ and Andrew were NOT happy about having to do "It's a Small World" but it's a required ride for me - can't leave Disney without having that annoying song in your head for days...and yes, at least Austin enjoyed it too-

Finding some shade after standing in the sweltering heat for the Indy 500 ride.

Riding the boat back to our hotel - We were able to hit Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studio and Animal Kingdom with our park hopper pass but didn't make it to Epcot... so much to do! Our overall favorite ride was definitely Aerosmith's roller coaster in Hollywood Studios - really awesome!

Catching a group shot of Grandma with all the kids while waiting to be seated for dinner at the Polynesian - this was a "grand-gathering experience" with a table long enough for all 29 of us to sit together. Really cute to see the older cousins take care of the younger ones at the table - cutting up their food, etc. The food was delicious- skewers galore of every kind of meat and seafood you can think of. The Disney family reunion t-shirts came in handy keeping track of the kids! Dave kept them entertained before we were seated by hiding a red crayon and telling them all whoever found it first got a $1. Once again, the master of distraction returns- good to see they haven't outgrown the scooby-doo stories at night either- they were still requested!

Andrew and Sean having a squirt-fan fight-

Ah... finally, all of us in the same picture. Waiting to take the safari ride over to another grand-gathering dinner. Saw lots of very cool animals from the jeep at an almost uncomfortable close range... but the driver assured us we were safe.

Austin & Matthew taking a break-

Very fun character dinner...

Night light parade was every night before the real fireworks started at Magic Kingdom. Had a perfect view from our own hotel balcony!

Andrew, Austin and Joey playing a little Nintendo DS before the fireworks start

After a day of rides we were all ready to hit the pool back at the hotel!

Quick siesta while waiting for his big brothers to do a 'big-boy' ride.. but by the end he was doing them too- did Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain (he just BARELY meet the minimum height requirement)!

The last 2 days of vacation we spent in Gainsville, FL celebrating our newest cousins Christenings. Uncle Robb and Aunt Minja now have 3 adorable children- Nikolas, and the baby twins, Michael and Sonja.