Prince Ethan and Princess Sophia

They got some crowns!

Ethan makes lots of silly faces these days

Princess Squishy Cheeks

Prince Crazy Face

Sophie saw us working on the car last week and she wanted to work too

She was at it for a while

We went to the park!

Ethan found some new friends

We ran around in the neighboring field too

It's hard living in the city sometimes. 

As I child I would roam free and I came really close to nature as a result. 

I worry about my kids not having that opportunity.

My Sophie girl

She's starting to climb.

My cutie.

Our Halloween

Daniel was Frankenstein. 

The night before the costume contest at work he asked me if I had any ideas.

We were able to come up with it all at home with stuff we had around.

The head piece was two milk carton bottoms put together with black duct tape.

We looked up a face paint recipe and made it our selves,

and we stuffed his suit. You can see from the clock that we finished at around 2am.

The next morning we put him all together again,

 and Ethan woke up to Frankenstein Daddy

Then he drove to work, he said a lot of people were checking him out. :) 

There were two contests in his building, one for his company, and one for the whole building. 

He had a great time and they voted him the winner of both. 

Last year he didn't dress up cuz Sophie was only a month old and everyone was disappointed. 

I'm glad we are able to keep the tradition going.

Getting everyone ready to go to the ward trunk or treat

Ethan couldn't wear his mask so we made some more homemade face paint

I spiked Ethan's hair too. 

Samuel was at a game that day and couldn't make it

The candy we brought didn't last very long

Frankenstein

 Sophie getting into her candy

Samuel didn't start on his costume till Halloween day

And he decided to be a the shufflin robot from Party Rock song

  

Walkin the neighborhood 

A lot of teenagers recognized what Samuel was

The little kids just thought he was a robot

It was fun to walk around as a family

Sophie was in her skeleton jammies

Ethan did most of the knocking this year, last year he was too shy

"Look what I got!"

Samuel

Samuel has always liked cooking,(see here)

I can't believe how different he looks, he's growing up!

This particular day he wanted to make French Onion Soup

He even made the bread from scratch.

It was delicious!

Adoption

These pictures are so casual, even though it's a big day in our lives. 

It's the day we officially adopted a teenager!

We were on the phone with a judge in Alaska...

The judge told us to raise our right hand

we looked kinda silly so Samuel took a picture

Daniel took off work

We all celebrated at Samuel's favorite restaurant, HuHot

And some Marble Slab!

We love having Samuel with us

I can't imagine our lives without him. 

New Bike

So I ran over Ethan's tricycle with the car the other day.

I guess every parent has that one experience that forever causes them to check behind the car before they pull out of the driveway. I've officially had mine. 

Ethan loved that thing so we went and got him a new, big-boy bike. 

He couldn't wait to put it together the next morning...

So we all got up early to try it out

It's a little harder to get going, but he loved it.

Showing it off to Daddy and Baby Sophie

Saturdays

Saturdays are special days, 

it's the day that Daddy is home from work!

With Daniel taking Masters' classes and working full-time the kids don't see him as much during the week.

Sundays are usually a day of service for us,

So we like to devote Saturdays to Family Fun

Samuel was on a camp out this weekend so we decided to do "little kid" stuff.

We had lunch at Jim's

Sophie was having a great day, lots of smiles.

Fun fact: Both Ethan and Daniel are left-handed, so whenever we go out to eat they sit on my left so we don't bump elbows. 

There have been a few date nights when Daniel and I have forgotten and we end up moving cuz it's hard to eat when you're constantly in each others' way. 

It makes it fun to sit in conference cuz we can hold hands and both take notes at the same time. :)

Sophie's laugh

Walking to the Zoo

Kid in-door play area

Sophie carried this fake bread around the whole time, trying to eat it.

I thought it best to sanitize it before and after she had it.

Ethan at the register

Sophie runs away from us to play and pretty much like clockwork will come running back to us, 

slam into our chests for a hug, sit for a while, 

then get up and run away again.

Watching the kids play

On the train!

Sophie's first time, Ethan was there to help her through

Back seat for us

We went through the tunnel where all the kids scream.

Ethan loves it, 

Sophie got freaked out and sat in the back with us.