Trick or Treat

The Orr KIDS, Liz, Tal, Eli, Bronwyn, Annica, and our kids hanging out together at the Haolloween party
Bobbing for Apples....it is not as easy as it looks, and no Madeleine you can't grab it by the stem, that is cheating!
The thigh bone connected to the knee bone.....Skeleton time
Cookies....
cookies with lots and lots of goodies
Our little cat.I can make funny faces like Justin too.

What a fun Halloween we have had. Yesterday we had a Halloween Party at our good friend's house, the Orr's. Marla put together some great activities for the kids; making skeletons out of milk jugs, ghosts made from footprints, paper spiders, bobbing for apples, cookie decorating. We had dinner and hung out together.
This morning they came to our house and Eric cooked up a big batch of Abel Skeivers and the kids ate and played. We then headed to the mall for the indoor portion of the trick or treating. Austin caught on quickly and had a blast. We came home and had dinner and then headed out into the neighborhood for more trick or treating. The kids were running from house to house...it made me think of how quickly I'd try to make it to as many houses as possible and frankly that means you must run and run fast! The kids were great and Madeleine and Justin did a good job waiting for Austin to catch up.

Lullaby and Goodnight

We have never had a child that could fall asleep in the car seat, in chaos of loud noises, on the ground with kids playing around her....and Olivia does all of this and more. It makes it possible to get out and do the errands and other activities we have as a family. We are so grateful for her easy-going nature.

Grandma Baker visits

My kids have always loved books and so they were thrilled with any/all of the books Grandma would read to them. Thanks for all of your special time with the kids Grandma! We loved your visit.
Making bracelets and necklaces.
Grandma and Madeleine made our pumpkin pie from scratch for Thanksgiving. Grandma's pumpkin pie is Madeleine's favorite, she even wants it for her birthday.

Story time at our house before bed. Grandma was a wonderful sport.
We were so happy to have had Grandma here for a week and a half. She was such a help with all of the kids and lifted my load so that I could get more done and give my back a break. Olivia has been sleeping amazing at night (waking once in 10 to 12 hours), but during the day the naps are usually very short which means a lot of carrying...which can be hard on my back. So thank you so much for your help Sonja.

Pumpkins

Madeleine got us all carving on Sunday.

Olivia's smiles

It is so fun when babies begin to smile and respond to you. Just a few smiley photos to share.

Oh Canada

Last month I became a Canadian citizen; I am now dual. I stressed over the citizenship test (which I did not need to do) and the next day there was a very moving ceremony where 110 of us became Canadian citizens. It was a special day and I was grateful that Dawn, Neil, Jody, Madeleine and Olivia could share with me (as Eric was gone hunting). I am looking forward to becoming more involved.

Costumes and Zuchinni

The kids were trying out their costumes. Austin is such a cute little batman. My friend gave me a bunch of Zuchinni and Madeleine helped me one Sunday afternoon making all of this.

Cameron Lake and our new "sweet canoe"

A beautiful day in Waterton, at Cameron Lake. We were so fortunate with the weather. We were trying out the "sweet canoe" (named after a pizza Eric loves) for the first time. Thanks for coming Grandpa.