Thanksgiving Feast

The Tacomans joined us at Mimmu and Iso's house for our traditional festive lunch.

Sandwiches and pie for dinner. Her Christmas tree was already up and decorated which gave the event a little extra sparkle.

Turkey Trot 2013

Cold and foggy and rather miserable this year.

Penny especially did not have any fun.

A cozy spot by the fire

 This is my favorite place to sit and read.

Helena loses her first tooth

And poses for a goofy photo to prove it.

Road trip to Idaho

We were there for Halloween so there was lots of dressing up in Grandma's costume collection. These were both made by Aunt Cindy for her cousins. 

One of our audiobooks this trip was Where the Red Fern Grows. "It wasn't impossible even though it was a long way from the Snake River Valley in Idaho," the narrator read as we drove through the Snake River Valley. There is a statue of Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann in front of the Idaho Falls library because Wilson Rawls lived here for a time. We stopped by after the library trick-or-treat for a photo.

With cousin John and cousin Abby (and Billy and the dogs).

There was pumpkin carving at the house and a harvest festival at the church (Penny loved the bounce house) and lots of candy.

This little ladybug took some unassisted steps while we were there.

We got to press some cider with Mark's aunt and uncle and some of the cousins using his Grandma's cider press.

A fun-filled visit for sure!

Taking the Christmas card picture

I like to start this project as early as I can, because I  know that it is rarely a straightforward process. I tried one Sunday morning before church and was not successful.

The best expressions ended up in pictures that were much too dark or only had four out of five kids in the frame. Part of the problem is that group pictures happen so rarely that I forget all my tricks between sessions.

Ah, well. At least there's time to try again.
Our second session produced a winner, but there were about a hundred rejects.

These poor kids look miserable, but they recovered quickly.