2nd big snow this year - '12

We have already had more snow this year than we did all year last year...or at least it seems like that to me - we had such a great time playing in the snow all morning.

Spence had a mentoring class he was doing so the kids and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful snow and play, play, play

Jax's boot kept falling off but he was so cute about it and just kept saying, "mommy, my boot again."

It was quite the quest getting all their gear on - we struggled a bit separating our thumbs from our fingers inside our mittens - so funny that things that seem so simple and quite tricky to learn.  And thank goodness my mom came by and was able to help out while I ran to get more snow pants!

 Jax lovin' the snow on his mittens

 This girl honestly lives every moment to the fullest - she was running and jumping in the snow and repeating that over and over

 Austin is so amazing at taking advantage of whatever we do - he constantly looks for the good in everything - no matter how cold he cold or how much snow made its way into his gloves, he kept saying, "mom, I really like the snow."

 He was working on building a mini snowman but took time to smile at mom

 This was little Rio after she did her famous run and jump trick - what a happy girl!

 I gave them all a snowball and of course Jax tried to eat it but...he learned quick how cold it is in your mouth - love his little face

 There's the optimist Austin!

 Since Spence was gone, we decided to make him a sign in the snow and send it to him so we got out our buckets and began filling them up a little at a time

 Jax was the best packer!  He made sure every bucket was completely full before he'd let me tip them over

 Austin is inside the heart and Jax was inside the "U" - we were telling daddy that we loved him!

 You can kind of see it a little better here

After we made the sign, the boys decided it would be a good idea to climb down our rocks (even though they couldn't see where one began and another stopped)

Not the smartest idea but it was fun to watch them figure it out!

What a great snow day!!!

Logan & Movie Night

I just can't resist posting pics of my handsome husband and my sweet baby.

Love you both so much!

 

Tender moments I don't ever want to forget in my old age :)

I couldn't choose which pic was cuter out of these two above so you get to see both!

Love his smile!  He is the most social little baby - he stops to look at everyone and loves to stand up all the time just to look around.

*Love him beyond words*

Happy boy!

Spence is honestly such a fun daddy!  He used to play this game with our nieces and nephews (the Fankhausers) and now that we've got kids, it lives again!

The game is called, "SHOES" - he lets them sit on his feet and he'll walk around forever with them there until they can't hold on any longer.

And well, what do you do when you've got triplets and only two feet???

You make a belt :)

We really try to do new, fun things with the kids and hope that they'll remember some of them as they get older so this night, Spence was gone at a youth conference for the weekend so me and kids decided to have movie night and pop popcorn!

What a blast and so fun for everyone!

 

Fall Zoo Trip

What a fabulous time of year to visit with the zoo creatures.  We went to the zoo at the beginning of November and it was the most beautiful weather that day!

We were so lucky to have chosen that day to go.

The last time we went to the zoo I was still pregnant with Logan and the bear exhibit wasn't up and running yet so we just had to come back when I was a little more comfortable and we could see the bears!

I love the fall leaves behind the kids - looks so pretty

They were so ready for their adventure at the zoo so here we go...

Aunt Erin and Aunt Kristin with the kiddos watching the elephants

I love this kid!  He is so full of fun this one!  Everything is fun and happy to him -

he's a little beam of sunshine in my day!  See that cute baby elephant behind us?

Austin, Rio and Jax on the trunk of the elephant - they are so sweet to each other

(well, most of the time)

Mama and her little baby - I think that is one of my favorite sights.  I reminded me of our trip to Africa...I should post some of those pics

7 little birds in their nest

*Brinlee, Rio, Jax, Austin, Hayden, Tyler & Cole*

Who's that peeking through that hole?

It's Austin!

Oh! And Rio too!

Next was the seal and sea lion exhibit -

we didn't see this last time either so it was such a blast to watch the kiddos see these huge animals in the water

Onto the bears we went!

*Tyler, Hayden, Jax, Rio and Austin*

Beautiful animals these creatures are! Look at that face!

Next, we took a lunch break and ended up acting like a bunch of bears ourselves climbing all over the rocks

Then we circled around by the giraffes

...and up to the tigers.  My trio with Brinlee

I love Tyler's face in this pic!  They were a bunch of really happy kids today!

I don't think we had ever been into the buildings so this was probably their first time seeing a "real" porcupine - they stood there forever!

And Rio loved the little meerkats

 

And well, onto the most anticipated event at the zoo...the merry-go-round.

I think I've said it before, but this is honestly the favorite part of the zoo for these guys.



*Silly Austin chose the ostrich*

*Jax chose a water buffalo this time*

*And my Rio chose a cheetah*

Austin decided to get down on his own - um yah..not the safest route sweetie pie!

(of course I stopped to take a picture first - ha-ha)

Here we are!  Love you three so much! Logan had a good time too except he decided to sleep through most of the trip this time.

Next year I'm sure will be another story however :)

Cornbelly's with the Morris Cousins

We made our 2nd annual trip to Cornbelly's this year with our Morris cousins.  Of course my camera battery died halfway through so I didn't get as many fun pics as I had wanted but here are a few :)

There was a super fun slide for the kids and my little ones were all about it!  They had a blast going up and down a billion times - I love how my Jax lays down on these big slides - he does the same thing when we play at Bouncing off the Walls - so cute!

Austin on the other hand just like to fly down - he loved it!

I love this pic of Austin and Rio -

they wanted to go together so I had Rio sit in front of Austin and he held on to her so tight!  Love his little hands around hers - tender little moments

I decided to go with the kids on the slide a few times while Kristin watched Logan

So me and Brinlee went together first - she's such a sweet little girl

Here we are - wheeeee

The kids were getting ready to go on a little train so they patiently waited on the cow

*Tyler, Austin, Rio, Jax, Brinlee and Hayden*

I obviously couldn't take Logan on the train so Kristin was so sweet to go and to watch my kids as well as her own - they loved it!  She was helping Jax here get into his little cow

Here's my last pic before my camera died -

Kiddos decided to play on this spider web and jump all around - they are so silly!

After this, we watched a chicken singing show, played in the princess area and jumped on some fun bounce houses and then ended up building with the extra sized Lincoln logs too.

What a fun day!  I love the fall - beautiful weather and always something fun to do.