Turkey Day

Our wonderful host and hostess with the 32 lb turkey!

The expert potato mashers!

My cousin, Andrea, the salad maker.

Grandma Enge

The feast! Only about 32 this year. All of the cousins were back in WI in September for Blake's wedding, so Garrett and us were the only out-of-state cousins to attend.

One of the highlights of the day is the annual Turkey Bowl. It is always exciting to get your first glimpse of the teams. I was once again on the injured list with a "bloated abdomen". Last time we were at T-Day in WI, I was 6 months pregnant with Wade! Jason made his first debut on the "Old Guys Team". Some of the stats are incorrect, but that makes it all the more fun. For example, Jason is only 25 for another month.

The Skinny

14 pies shown in the picture. 2 more that didn't even get served, plus an English trifle, fruit pizza, and a plate of cookies. Urp!

Annual shuffleboard tournament

Talent show and thankfuls. The Schmidts had a beautiful Thanksgiving song.

I did the bean trick, so Jason had to show us a little of his magic. Sarah and I also played a duet on the piano.

The Stein family joined us for the festivities and sang a couple of hymns for us.

Cuz I'm Leavin' On the Amtrak!

We left last Friday for our train trip to Wisconsin. We were very excited to go back. Wade had never even been there! We got on the train about 8:45 pm, so it was perfect timing to have the boys in their pajamas, so they could sleep right away. They did very well on the train. I had lots of books/puzzles, cars/trains, and snacks!

The most scenic part of the trip was when we were going through Glacier National Park. We got there just as we were waking up Saturday morning.

Relaxing and enjoying the ride. So much less stressful than flying with small children.

On the way out, we didn't have a lounge car, which was too bad, because we didn't have anywhere for the boys to be other than our seats. It would have been nice to have somewhere else to go. On the return trip we did have the lounge car, and it was great! Also, there was a small electrical fire in the car behind us, so we were a couple of hours delayed.

Because of the delay, we got in just in time for Dad to swing by and get us after gospel meeting. We went back to Mom and Dad's, because there were several other people coming for dinner. I got to meet Meika for the first time! She is my dear friends Dale and Karli's girl.

Also in attendance, Karli's mom and dad, Dale and Diane, Ananth and Amanda, Randy and Cathy, Jackie, and us.

Wade giving Meika a hug. Wade is only about 3 months older than her.

Horsey rides

Karli and I. We have often been mistaken for sisters. :)

Cute kiddos

On Monday we went downtown. We were planning on going to the children's museum, but they were only open to school groups that day. The boys saluting the flag.

We walked around on some of the pavilions down by the lakefront. We saw a big squirrel with half of a graham cracker in its mouth. Jason chased the squirrel up the tree. The squirrel leaped to another tree, but not before Jason stole the graham cracker. Jason did leave the cracker for the squirrel to reclaim.

They are sooo obedient! :)

The art museum.

The boys at the Operation Iraqi Freedom memorial.

Another one of Jason's stunts. Climbing the artwork downtown. We then went to see the Imax show about the coastal regions of South Africa where Kale and Jaspar are. Very interesting. We met up with my brother Garrett and his girlfriend Sarah, and went out for dinner with them and my Uncle Guy, Aunt Lori, and cousins Travis and Becky.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. It was wonderful!!! My good friends Kevin and Jaime brought their 3 boys, and family, Kristi, Dave, and Tristan came too! We had sooo much fun riding on the water slides and watching the boys splash and play. We are definitely going back next time we come! Check out the 4 huge indoor waterparks on their website. www.wildernessresort.com I didn't get any pictures of the waterparks. I did take some on mom's camera, so I will have to steal those from her! :) Eating pizza in the hotel room.

Wade, Garrett, and Grandma

Sarah, Garrett, and Mom

Would You Like An Update...or 4?

Fall Leaves

Little Firefighter

Our picnic in the park was cancelled because of rain, so we had our picnic in the living room!

Jokes and Counting

The other night Tristan played his first practical joke on us! A couple of weeks ago we made caterpillars at the daycare I work at, because we were studying the letter C. We made them out of egg cartons and painted and decorated them. Tristan had painted his brown. He also ripped it in half shortly after it was finished. Anyway, the other night he called me into the bathroom to show me that Wade had gone poopoo in the potty chair. I ran in excitedly, and Tristan lifted up the lid to show me the "poopoo". He had put half of his caterpillar in the pot, and it really did look kind of like poopoo! He laughed about it, and later even Daddy was half-way fooled for a minute.
Jason rescued our volleyball out of the boat when he winterized it, and it has become Wade's new favorite ball. He uses it as a soccer ball and spends several hours a day kicking it around the house. The other night Tristan was putting together a number/counting puzzle and was counting the objects before he put them in the puzzle. Soon I heard Wade, all on his own count all the way up to 10, while kicking his ball through the house! He has counted to 10 with me before, repeating the numbers after I say them, but this was the first time he strung all 10 of them together on his own without any prompting!

Post-Halloween Fun

We love the Wal-Mart Halloween clearance sale. I managed to get each boy a dress-up costume and a set of 4 ninja swords for less than $10 total. Wade has a clown outfit. It came with a silly hat, but Wade decided to wear the mask from Tristan's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume instead. He liked the teeth and kept on pointing them out to us.

The highlight of Tristan's costume is the big padded muscles. He and daddy played swords endlessly!

Last night I put Wade into Tristan's double bed for the first time. I was worried they would pick and poke and keep each other awake, but that was not the case! Wade was very tired and fell asleep very quickly, and I peeked in on Tristan and saw him patting Wade and kissing his cheek. What a good big brother! (well, sometimes anyway)

Weekend in Sequim/Forks

A view of Mt. Rainier from the ferry.

We went over to Sequim this weekend to be with the family. Jason's two grandpas are not doing very well, and we wanted to see them too. Saturday we went out to Forks for a Cider Press/Potluck. I packed extra clothes for the boys because it was supposed to be rainy, and I wanted them to be able to play outside. Tristan found a mud puddle and had lots of fun splashing in it and getting totally muddy!!! Grandpa even joined him for a minute.

The boys eagerly awaiting their tractor-drawn wagon ride!

Teana and Wade riding in front.

Auntie Julie with nephews.

3 cousins watching the cider pressing process.

We went to Sequim this weekend and were together with the whole family. We stopped at Lake Crescent on our way out to Forks for a photo session.

We had special visitors this past week! We went out to the orchards one day to glean, and Heidi made a beautiful apple pie!! Patricia and Tristan just wanted to eat it!

Captain Underpants! Last week he enjoyed wearing a bib around, this week it's underwear. Several pairs at a time....over his pants, it doesn't matter. I figured if he is so interested he should just wear underwear! So, now I'm half-heartedly potty training in my spare time.

Attention All of My Wisconsin Friends!!!!

We are coming to Wisconsin on the train over Thanksgiving this year. We will actually be getting into Wisconsin on November 22, which is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I want to see as many of you as I can, and so I have a plan! :) Because we have small children, and we like to vacation, we want to spend one night in a waterpark resort in Wisconsin Dells. Everyone has family things planned later in the week, so we were hoping to go Monday night to a hotel (Nov 23). When we were young, we used to always go to Wilderness Resort, and I know that they've made it even bigger and better than when I was last there. I also looked at some prices and it seems like you probably get the most for your money there. They have a November special for the standard room that has 2 queen sized beds and a sleeper sofa for $99 a night. That includes the waterpark for 4 people. You can also get suites and cabins for pretty cheap too! Anyway, we are planning on staying there on Monday, Nov 23, and we want YOU to come too!!!! What do you think? Can you come...please? I know a Monday night is not very ideal for those of you have to work, (gasp) but it would be a lot of fun!!!! Please comment and let me know! Oh, and here's a link... http://www.wildernessresort.com/

A Week in Review

Some of my favorite fall colors.

We are still enjoying our walks around town!

Probably the last time we'll have lunch outside this year.

We carved our pumpkins. Tristan did a great job making a funny face on his with a little help from Daddy. After daddy helped him with the face, he did the decorations by himself (stabbed the knife into the pumpkin a few times.) Our pumpkins are all carved. Jason made an owl looking jack-o-lantern. Tristan's was a funny face. Wade got a Thomas the Train, and mine is supposed to be a cougar slinking through the trees, but uhhh....you have to know what it is in order to make it out. I'll have to take pictures of all of them before they start rotting!

The boys and I arrived home the other day and so this little furry friend munching on our bushes. We don't have bunnies around here (too many coyotes), and this one sure looks like someone's pet. I'm afraid it didn't last long... We tried to catch the bunny and help it, but one look at the boys charging at it, and it took off running.

It was a beautiful day Saturday, so we took the boys up into the hills for a little hike.

We saw lots of evidence of wildlife, but no actual animals other than the 3 you see in this picture. :)

Tristan had fun climbing this mountain.

Saturday night our cousin Rachelle had a bunch of friends over for a fancy dinner before their Homecoming dance. Tristan and I went to help serve the meal. Tristan was excited to be a waiter and help! He looked pretty spiffy too!

Tristan asks his friend, Mandy, if he can take her plate.

Being very careful not to drop anything! He was a hit! All of the high school kids thought it was really fun to have him as one of their waiters.

After gospel meeting on Sunday we attended Ben and Darren's surprise 30th birthday party at Caffe Mela. Emily and Clara made delicious food (ribs!!) and fun was had by all. It was great to get our kids all together.

Dear Patricia and Sweet Jocefin.

Our attempt at getting all of the kids to look and smile.

2 years ago after Halloween there was a huge sale on costumes that didn't sell. I picked up a few for only $2 each! I got a few different sizes for the kids to use as dress-up outfits. Yesterday the boys decided to be a puppy and a bear. I thought Wade looked really cute and snuggly in his teddy bear outfit!

The puppy one is a little small for Tristan. haha and yes, they both have ketchup on their chin.

It Doesn't Work....

I always try to get Tristan to go to the bathroom before we leave the house. This morning we were headed to the store/post office and I had him go in and go potty, even though he'd gone only about 1/2 hour before. He stood there trying to go and finally said, "It doesn't work, Mommy."

Now that baseball season is over (well for most of us, anyway) and football season has started, we have a new sport in our house. Don't get me wrong, the boys still play baseball several times a day, but we have added football to the mix. BRING BACK BASEBALL!! I used to just have to put on a baseball mitt and toss a ball to the boys, who would swing and then chase down the ball, giving me about 15 seconds to get something done before the ball was back in my mitt waiting to be tossed again. I miss those 15 seconds!! Now, we have full contact tackle football. Good luck getting something done when you have two kids bouncing on you stealing the football. Then they get it away and are up and running. If you stop paying attention for a second, you end up with a football hitting your noggin. Wade always gets hurt, several times, which of course means cuddles until he's ready to get back into the game. Needless to say, football is much more of a demanding sport than baseball was. When Daddy gets home, I pull the pregnant card and remove myself from the game. :) What's next....basketball? hmmm should be better...although I'll have my own little basketball by then, which makes everything a little more difficult!

When I was running around the bases at the ball fields the other day (just for fun, with the boys), I found myself breathing hard. I was consoled with the fact that I am breathing for two! :)

Here's a little video of part of a football game. Rylan joined us for this game. (You'll notice Wade wearing a bib...that's his new thing. He insists on wearing a bib around. Weird.)