2011 - In Review - October to December

So here we are 2 weeks later. Tuesday's are still long days... and we still don't have a dishwasher. Oh well, such is life.

Let's get back to 2011, so I can finally get on with some new pictures.

 Cole turned 8 in October and took his dad fishing and hiking for the morning. He took his sisters and mom to a movie and dinner. He didn't leave anyone out of his celebrating.

 We're slowly but surely enjoying the touristy parts of Utah so that someday we don't say "We should have done that when we lived there...." which I often say about other places.

 Halloween was fun as always. Cole was "Captain Punch" a superhero of his own creation. Aviana was a  "Dia de los muertes" skeleton, the perfect blend of creepy and fancy.  Alidia had some costume hysteria the night of, but on previous dressing up occasions she was adorable as "Maybelle" from the book Bridge to Terabithia.

 In November we took a quick trip to Eugene for a multitude of family events and I apparently took zero pictures the entire week we were there. But Sarah sent me this one as proof that we were in Oregon.

 Aviana started taking theater once cheer was over for the season. Starting her out in the month when they had to recite a full audition monologue might not have been the nicest thing to do to her, but they both did awesome and are still going strong in their classes.

 These are the faces of children who did not want to stop playing to pose for a picture. They might be the only kids in the neighborhood who rush outside in full snow gear every time it snows a few inches.

 At school Cole's class made brochures about themselves and their families to share a little bit about themselves with their classmates. This is Cole's display. He was the only student to display more than just the brochure they made in class. 

Overachiever?? Perhaps.

 We attempted some family photos one sunny December day. Alidia was on the verge of a little sickness and thus very uncooperative. We had a very short window between a basketball game and a play. And considering it was freezing and we had the camera sitting on top of a garbage can instead of a tripod... I think they turned out great. (*bad parenting moment* In order to get my children to smile nicely in the cold I may have bribed them with their coats.)

As adorable as they looked on Christmas Eve, this is one of very few pictures we have of them. We don't always remember to take pictures at the times we should. Bummer. This is before church, waiting to open their new pajamas.

Well, that's pretty much the end of the 2011 pictures. Now to see what's in store for 2012.....