Mini Pianist

Fussy Gussy

Poor Gus!
Sometimes he gets so frustrated! It is hard being two...having big sisters who get to go to school while you nap or get to sleep in a bunk bed while you still sleep in a crib. We are all doing as best as we can.

I just had to capture one of these moments. I try everything, but sometimes, I never figure out how to make it better. I guess sometimes you just have to be mad. Check out how shakes his red pepper at me and then puts it in his ear.
We love you Gus!

Family Hike

Eric officially has mono and so things are pretty slow around here. No running, no biking, no adventures but we just cannot stay inside all day. So we have gone on some wonderfully short hikes.

They don't let Eric be sick for long!

Super Sisters

Maddie and Elise have been real buddies lately. Maddie reads Elise books or Elise sings the words of a song for Maddie. We are so thankful for their loving ways (most of the time). They sneak into each other's bed at night, make up puppet shows, rock out in their bedroom, and dress up as super heroes,...

Maddie has never played with Barbies, but Elise loves the one she picked out as a reward of doing well in school and, since Maddie wants to play with her sister, she has joined in.

Operation Christmas Child

We decided to join the United Church of Los Alamos recently. We were a bit surprised by the events that led us there, but one factor in our decision was that they do many service projects such as: local teens building houses in Mexico for Spring Break, or organizing teams for the CROP walk to fight hunger, or Operation Christmas Child.

Every Thanksgiving, the whole church puts together shoeboxes of toys, combs, candy, soap, washcloths, books, toothbrushes, and more. The boxes are sent to children around the world who really don't have the luxury of gifts, or parents with jobs, or even schooling. We will be gone the Sunday when they put together the boxes, so we made our own at home. It was great to see the girls really go through their own things and give. It wasn't easy sometimes, but we have had some great conversations because of it. We made 6 boxes, two for a 2-year-old boy, two for a 4-year-old girl, two for a 7-year-old girl.

Off they go...

Lantern Walk

We were invited for the third year to join the Steinwart family on their annual lantern walk. They are from Germany, and Maddie and their daughter Anke have been in the same class for three years. In celebration of Germany St. Martin's Day on November 11th, children take out their lanterns and go on a walk.

After appetizers and warm drinks, dads light the candles of the paper lanterns and we walk around a local park in the dark. I wasn't able to capture how amazing it really looks. Our kids LOVE it!

We enjoyed hot chocolate, mulled wine, and close calls with the candles with the Eidenbenz family too!

Neighbors

We have three "empty" houses next to us. Sid, our next door neighbor, moved into a nursing home. The family in the house next to Sid's just moved to CA. The house next to them just sold after the a few months of no one living there. The backyard are quiet and so it the street now that the kids in the other houses are back in school. In the last month, we have discovered we have new neighbors...
deer!

We are not sure how many live there, but many mornings we have opened the front door to be greeted by the Papa with his huge antlers. They look at us, we look at them and we both say, "Hey, what are you doing here?" Sometimes I race for the camera, but I never get them right there. They gracefully hop through the cul de sac and through the other "empty" house of Kay who also just moved to a nursing home. Eric and the kids were startled the other day when they almost walked right into the buck as he snacked on apples from Sid's backyard. We welcome them, but Bucky and Chaco are grouchy at nights as they protect us from the neighborhood intruders.

Gus & Liam

Pals

Post Halloween Bed

We let the girls decide how to eat their candy this year. "You can eat it all right away but you won't have any later and you'll probably get a tummy ache. Or you can have one every day and you'll be able to enjoy it all November."

This was how their beds looked after the first day! :0

Trick-or-Treat

Happy Halloween!

Mr. Bones

Mariposa, the Barbie Fairy

Heather, the Violet Fairy (from the Rainbow Fairy books)

Gorilla and Banana

The kids joked, "Knock, knock! Whose there? Banana. Banana, who? Knock, knock! Whose there? Banana. Banana, who?..."

The kids got a chance to trick-or-treat downtown Los Alamos on Friday night and around neighborhoods on Saturday night. Two nights and A LOT of candy!

Check out Maddie's face. "Does she have more than me?"

Maddie's teacher and her husband put a fireman's pole in their house when their five children were young. She invites her class over to slide down the pole on Halloween night. Maddie went down "a zillion times" and it was "AWESOME!" Elise, Gus, and Banana mom even got a chance!

4th Annual Halloween Party

Even though Eric has been feeling under the weather for a while, we decided we could pull together his tasty frito pies for our friends before downtown trick-or-treating. Many families came with food, in costumes, to enjoy the huge spread before filling their bags with candy. There was lots of laughter and action.

Rob the Jailbird, Nikki the Cop, and Liam the Firefighter

The Ronnings always have great costumes!

Nate the Injured, Steve the 80s Rocker (nice jeans!), and Eric the Gorilla

Lynn the Banana and Aimee the 80s Babe

Jailbird, John as Bucky Badger (sans mask), Rocker, Toti the Russian Spy

Piper as Pippi Longstocking and the Banana

The Eidenbenz - Witch and Husband with their sweet Piglet.

The Hendersons went as the ever popular Dad and Mom

Even though it snowed the day before, a few families braved the cold and came back after trick-or-treating. The adults sat by the fire while the kids watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Nice!

Canyoncito Carnival

Elise's preschool has a great carnival for the younger kids. The elementary-aged students put it on for the preschoolers. It is pretty mellow for a party with games, food, and costumes!

Gus LOVED the carnival. He would love to go to preschool with Elise everyday I drop her off.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin

Happy kids with their Banana Mom

Costume Parade

Cake Walk

Checking out his stash...

Elise's little buddy, Emma and her mom, Catherine, who also teaches part time at the high school

Mountain School Carnival

Maddie's Elementary School puts on a fun hometown carnival with all sorts of little games with lots of little trinkets to win and excitement for Halloween! We had dinner with the Larsons and then headed over for the first of many nights in our costumes.

Gus loves the Larson boys! He was very proud to look just like them.

Maddie's teacher, Mrs. DeVore, sold tickets. She is a GREAT teacher!

Gus trying to get the rings into the ghost's mouth...

Maddie's friends: Lydia -- the Vampire and Natalie -- Cleopatra

Elise was a successful fisherwoman

The Ovaska girls and the Henderson girls are always happy to spend time together!