November

Well, we got our first snow storm in November this year.  And it wasn't much, but it was enough for Adam to build a midget snowman family-he, he!

And Dad surprised me with a scavenger hunt that led to Josh Groban concert tickets!!!  We had a blast in DC-ate at a fancy restaurant, took our first Uber, got upgraded tickets practically forced upon us at the concert and as a bonus, visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and the National Art Museum.  A truly special way to usher in my 40th!

We never go anywhere for holidays, except this year my brother moved to Tennessee which is ONLY 10 hours away!  So we went!  We played at the park, loved on their cute Zoey dog, ate yummy food (but not pie because it was growing some awesome mold!?!), played more at the rec center, did some black Friday shopping at Goodwill, and took our 3 tweens and teens to do baptisms at the Nashville temple.  It was a pretty sweet time! These kids cherish cousin time-there's never enough.

November was a big entertainment month apparently because Aaron also took the 3 oldest to a Carbonaro Magic Show up at National Harbor.  They even had some fun before the show:

October

Wow, October, you came and went so fast!  Jane of course spent hours creating the perfect Halloween Lion costume out of cardboard and duct tape.

She is also the self appointed weapons specialist in this family of all brothers. On this particular day she was leading the little guys in bamboo ninja warrior moves, lest all the bamboo thinned by Dad and the older brothers be gone to waste.

Basement time!  Dad lifts weights, little people roller blade and scooter around, loud music-all kinds of fun!

Porter had many social engagements this Halloween week but I think everyone ended up happy...like the jack-o-lanterns.

15 years for Porter

Our oldest child just keeps making us older.  Fantastic Porter turned 15, that's half way to 30 folks, and fantastic he is!  Look at that smile!  We were happy to celebrate our taller than us, Seminary loving, piano playing, Gollum imitating, best dishwasher unloading, terrific older brother!  Porter has a great sense of humor that pokes fun at himself as well as others to often lighten our moods-we love it!

Not every 15 year old would appreciate a large stuffed cow like Porter did.  Porter went through a 'moo' phase for several years...and we will never let him forget it.  We also balanced things out with Pacific Rim, one of his favorite movies, and a gift card for some new clothes, which this teen is always interested in:)  Love you Porter!