the boys

This is Drake and Graham.

They're buds.

And Avery tries to squeeze in whenever she can.

I like this next sequence of pictures because Avery just keeps looking back and forth before finally deciding to grab some snacks for herself.

Good times.

little avery

This is happy Avery.

This is Avery with a nice bruise on her head, very likely the result of playing with her brothers, though I don't actually remember what it was from.

And this is Avery just wanting to be with and do stuff with her brothers.

This is a video of Graham and Avery on the one day we tried to put her hair in a ponytail.

And since we're focusing on Avery, here is one more video of her talking to my mom. Avery loves to talk.

And we love our Avery.

more tape and some writing

Here are a few more examples of Drake's use of tape throughout the house.

This is on his bedroom wall.

This is the kitchen table.

And this is the bench.

I don't know how many times I've had to take tape off of our kitchen countertops and our kitchen chairs, not to mention clothing, toys, etc. But on the flip side, Drake's creativity is also exhibited in his new desire to write words, by himself.

Here, he filled in the blanks on one of his school folders, and made one of his own.

I found this on the kids' dry-erase board one day.

And he wrote out the scripture at the top of a talk he gave in Primary one Sunday.

It's fun to see the things that Drake comes up with.

I wouldn't mind if it were less messy though...

play-doh, tape and a drawing

This is just a small collection of pictures of some things my kids enjoy right now.

Play-doh is a favorite past time.

Avery usually ends up eating it though.

You'll notice in these next few pictures that Drake is very focused on his book, oblivious to what is going on around him. Drake likes books.

We put up a dry-erase board in the kids room recently. Drake has enjoyed drawing pictures and telling stories to go with them.

And his siblings are happy to be his audience.

Tape is a fun toy too. I will often find random objects taped in random places throughout the house.

And sometimes the kids decide the fruit bowl is a good place to store markers... and orange peels and partially-eaten apples.

Good times.

cold has finally come

While lots of leaves around us turn pretty colors in the fall, the leaves on this tree in our backyard turn grey.

Grey with a hint of yellow-greenish.

And there are plenty of leaves for us to rake up until the bitter cold hits.

And I'm sad to say that the bitter cold has finally hit.

But it makes for cute pictures of bundled up kids.

And my kids love playing in the snow, so I can't complain too much.

Here we are in Idaho Falls on the temple grounds. I wanted to get some pictures for something.

And, of course, I couldn't help taking pictures of my family too.

I hope it's not always bitter cold though...

a dinner and a breakfast

Drake's Primary teachers gave him this cup with a seed in it. We stuck it on our kitchen window sill and kept it watered.

And grow it did.

I think it's time to put it in a different pot. And no, this plant has nothing to do with this post except that Drake got it from church.

So speaking of church, we had a nice dinner at the church for all the adult ladies... provided by all the adult ladies.

I was too busy eating and talking to take many pictures, but it was good. There was a nice little program too.

On a different day, in the morning, my kids were treated to breakfast made by the bishopric.

They got their fill of pancakes and sausage, and it was fun for them to see some of their leaders outside of church.

Afterwards they played a few games in the cultural hall.

The end.