Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year. Connor was a skywalker and Gavin was a devil. They had a great time out and about, getting candy. Thank goodness it is only once a year!

These pictures were taken right outside of our house while the boys were playing, "KING OF THE MOUNTAIN." What fun it is to be a kid with them.

Playing in the snow!

This was the first major batch of snow we have had that has stayed. Yesterday, we took the boys out for a ride on the snow machine and on the four wheeler. I didn't realize that we were out for so long. But it was a lot of fun. The boys had fun making snow angels and also playing on top of the snow man's head and the small snow hill. They are so cute!

Connor's 5th Birthday

Connor turned 5 this past week and had a ball at his party! While I was decorating his cake, he couldn't stay away from it. He just wanted to watch me and was so excited. We invited a small batch of the kids his age around the village and they talked about "Connor's Party" for days. This was the first big party Connor has had with friends here. I am so glad that it was one that he will always remember!

Playing Out

Connor and Gavin have been enjoying the nice weather when we get it. It has been a long fall already with all of the rain. Every chance we get, we get them outside for some nice fresh air, rock throwing, and just plain fun.

King of his castle

This summer, Connor and Gavin got to play at the beautiful playground at my old school. There was the castle, tug boat, eagle's nest, climbing wall, tons of slides, swings, and just great entertainment for them. I sure wish that they had something like that way up here in the village.

Looking at their catch

Connor and Gavin were fortunate enough to have a beautiful butterfly given to them by one of the neighbors this summer. The only thing they had to do was let it go so that it could live. It was so beautiful! They had a ball watching it get used to its surroundings before flying away.

Beautiful Rainbow

The other day, we had the biggest rainstorm that has hit this area in over 20 years. It was so neat because there was actually a small flash flood that happened on the streets and ground. You could see the sun moving closer to us and this rainbow was beautiful. The following day, we had another rainstorm that produced the entire rainbow. It was too big to get it in one frame so I am working on putting three pictures of it together so you can see the entire rainbow.

Swimming down the river within arms reach of your boat.

Summer fun and swimming are a huge part of our village. The only thing that I can say, is crazy! The water was around 55 degrees and it was around 90 degrees out. I could only make myself get knee deep unlike Ron and Connor and all of the kids here.

Osprey flying back to the nest

While we were floating down the river, we saw an osprey on one side of the river. He was sitting there on a branch just making loud squawking noises. Then as we looked on the other side of the river, we saw the mama at her nest. I was lucky enough to have my camera handy to catch her flying around. This is one of my favorites!

In early August, we were taking a boat ride on the river and Ron happened to spot this porcupine swimming across the wide river. I had never seen a porcupine swim and I have to say that he did pretty good. Anyways, Connor and Gavin had a ball circling around it and then it would bump into the boat, I got tons of pictures of it but this was one of the ones that I really liked.

Stuck in the grass

These two pictures make me laugh because Gavin actually got stuck in this long straw like grass. His shoes got tangled while he followed me and I had to giggle while taking these. He was yelling to me and asking for help. What a cutie!

SILVER SALMON

Connor caught his first silver and Jack this summer. He loved every minute of it and wanted to fish after he caught this salmon. Gavin also caught a huge silver but it broke the line right when we were getting to land it... oh shucks!!!

Fun and fishing

Here are a couple of pictures of my parents taking some of the grandboys fishing. Casey, now seven, is so into fishing. Connor likes it for a while. Gavin, has a ball touching the fish and checking them out! What great memories for them!

Baseball

Here is my oldest nephew, Casey playing baseball this spring. We had a ball watching him play!

Waterfall

I took this picture while driving with my mom to Hood River. We were waiting for my luggage to arrive at the airport and I was excited to see such a beautiful waterfall.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my boys that I have taken this summer. As you can see, Gavin is quite serious and Connor loves to smile. Can't wait to get some more pictures of their summer adventures on here for you to see!

Gavin's b-day cake & present

Gavin had a great birthday. He so wants to be a big boy. His cake was adorable and he had a ball driving around like Connor. (Sorry about the picture being sideways, working on a different computer/program and still have to figure out how to fix things.)

Connor's first fishing trip with Grams, Poppy, Casey, Gavin, and I was a success! He didn't want to touch the fish but had a good time catching them.

Gavin's 2nd Birthday!!

Gavin had a great time during his birthday party. As you can tell, he had a "BALL!"