November Fun

Snuggling on the couch to watch cartoons.

Deer by the shore in California.

Sight-seeing between Monterey and Big Sur, California, with my mom and cousin.

Kindergarteners at their first Holiday Concert.

Jonas's idea:  let's ask Mr. Dresher if we can have his deer antlers so we can hang them on the swing set!  I refused to have anything to do with it!

Meeting a reindeer at the Holiday Stroll with Grandma and Grandpa.

Cutting down our Christmas tree at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Meeting Santa at the Holiday Stroll.

Fall Happenings...

First Day of Kindergarten!

Ready for Homecoming!  Go Saints!

Miles and Mom take a trip to Tweite's Pumpkin Patch with Early Childhood Family Education.  And who DOESN'T wear their cowboy outfit when going to a pumpkin patch?

Climbing on one of the many wooden play structures.

More climbing...

Calf-roping?  What kind of awesome place IS this????

Gathered around the campfire at "Uncle James'" 50th Birthday Party Weekend at Cedar Valley Resort.

A little baseball with the cousins.

Ice Cream!

The Birthday Boy himself!

Making our own caramel apples, complete with candy and sprinkles.

Miles all dressed up for the ECFE Halloween party.  Of course, a variation on a cowboy theme - a Rodeo Clown!

Hanging out with baby Lincoln.

Lining up for the Pumpkin Parade last weekend.  Miles was feeling more "clown" than rodeo clown this day.  Jonas is a vampire.

A clown enjoying a hot dog.

And back to the rodeo clown for Trick or Treating.

'Cause this is how we roll....

Uniform of the summer for Miles: blue soccer shirt, "baseball pants" (which are really from a football uniform), Ben's old biking gloves, and Vikings baseball cap.

Doing "tricks" on his bike.  This sometimes involves standing on the crossbar.  Or riding "side-saddle" with both legs on one side.  And, yes, he always wears a helmet...except in this picture, I guess.

No broken arm this time...I'm sure it's coming soon, though.

Yes, I swear, we really do make them wear helmets!

Crashed after a hard day.  Note the football pants again...oh, and you probably didn't notice the camouflage socks in the other picture.  This was a phase when Miles was in to wearing Ben's "race belt" with an old race number attached.  He would run or bike up and down the sidewalk and make us "cheer" for him.  We got in trouble if it wasn't loud enough!!

Summer Vacation 2011

On the first leg of our journey, we camped in Custer State Park, in South Dakota.  No camping trip would be complete without marshmallows!

Driving through Bear Country, USA - which is like a zoo in reverse - the animals come so close to the car that you don't really need the binoculars...but it was good practice!

A bear, at Bear Country, USA, viewed from car.  The only bears we saw on our trip.

Mount Rushmore

Gordon Stockade, a rebuilt fort about 2 miles from our campground in Custer State Park.  The boys were surprisingly interested in it - we had to go back twice!

Miles "My Legs Won't Work" Barclay on a hike in Custer.  Don't let the bandanna fool you - there is nothing smelly around.  He is just pretending to be a cowboy!

Wild burros, Custer SP.

Looking for buffalo.

I guess we didn't need those binoculars...

Jewell Cave, South Dakota.  Definitely something new and different for the boys to experience!  It was fun!

All the kids down on the field for the rodeo in Cody, WY.  Jonas is in the middle with the black cowboy hat on, and Miles is 5 to the left in the white cowboy hat...and I think he is the smallest one out there! 

New cowboy outfits.

Watching the rodeo.

Camp in Yellowstone.

"Practicing" for the rodeo, Cody, WY.

Stinky Mud Volcanoes at Yellowstone.

Brink of the Upper Falls, Yellowstone.

We didn't run into any bears in the wild, luckily!

On a 5 mile hike in Yellowstone.  Jonas hiked almost the entire way on his own 2 feet!  Miles got piggybacks about half the way!

Yellowstone.

Chuckwagon Cookout, Yellowstone.

One of the thermal features at Yellowstone.  It is just amazing to me how unique the landscape is at Yellowstone, and how few places in the whole world are anything like it!

Riverfront Geyser

The Boiling River - a place where a hot spring dumps into a river coming off the mountain, making the water comfortably warm right here!

Chuckwagon Cookout, Yellowstone.