A girl and her pumpkin...

I am happy that at least one of my children wants to dress-up for Halloween. The leggings on this costume are great (another item I would buy in an adult size). Our little ladybug was hanging out in Grandma Peggy's chair and happy as can be. Wish the delay on our camera wasn't so bad, I would love to show-off her smile. Hopefully Slater will be more cooperative on Halloween when there is candy involved.
This pumpkin came from Fred Meyers, there are no pumpkin patches to buy from in Fairbanks. Jade liked touching it and was happy sitting in the chair with it. Again, Slater refused to cooperated with the picture taking and actually attempted to leave with the large pumpkin (I had to bribe him with a smaller pumpkin to get the rest with Jade).

Patriot Pride Hat

A good friend at NPHS had this little hat made for us (by another friend at the school). The school mascot is the Patriot and the school colors are red, white and blue. The yarn is crazy fun and Jade looks cute. She actually liked chewing on the shoes more than she liked wearing them. The blanket in the background was also made by a NPHS staffer. Thanks for all the Patriot Pride Ladies :0)

My happy snow angel

The idea of making a snow-angel was hilarious in Slater's opinion. We think the snow is finally here to stay. We spent hours playing outside, making angels, sledding, and filling buckets with snow. The dogs thought it was wonderful and the sweet baby didn't fuss to much.

A little bird told me ...

Murphy Dome is a 45 minute drive from our house and one of the best places to go bird-hunting. This was Slater's first trip and we got five birds. Piper came too, but would not cooperate with the photographer.

Afternoon in the Botanical Gardens at UAF

Family time at UAF Botanical Gardens. Beautiful blue skies and warm fall weather make the perfect day for a little hiking and some exploring. Slater crawled in the creek bed, checked out the reindeer, rode on a tractor, climbed on building materials, and went up his first tree. Climbing trees are sort of rare in Alaska. Jade also enjoyed the day and got to hang out in the tree as well.
For anyone who has boys, you will understand that they play house in a different way. This little log cabin came with a mini barrel stove, a table and two chairs. Slater didn't think that there was enough space for all that stuff and quickly pitched the chairs out the window, after that he was done with the place and exited in the same fashion as the chairs. The barrel stove and table were only safe because they were attached to the floor.
This smiling face and wild spirit are what makes parenthood grand. He was having the best time exploring these two choke-cherry trees, it was enough to make his dad join him.

Dad and me in a tree

Today we visited the UAF Botanical Gardens. It was over 50 degrees (which is warm for this time of the year in Fairbanks). Since it was so nice we visited the caribou, walked in the deserted gardens, threw dirt, played in the log house (threw chairs out the windows), chased tractors, and climbed trees. It was a great way to spend Saturday. Wade has more pictures coming, but I just had to share this one of my two favorite guys.

Jade Puzzle

I finally got it done! It is so hard to choose the pictures, too many choices.