More Christmas pics

Mmmm ... Schwan's Push 'Ems!


Grandma Wynne watches as Sarah and Rich mug it up.


Sarah moves in on Grandpa's popcorn. Lloyd cooked some awesome meals ... prime rib and ham for Christmas dinner, a huge sausage-and-pancake breakfast, and he even did a taco night! Yum!

Christmas in Jamestown

We spent Christmas Day and the ensuing two days with Erin's family in Jamestown, N.D., and had lots of fun! Sarah got to ride Brownie the horse (which was Erin's when she was a baby), and loved it ...



... although all that riding took the starch right out of our little cowgirl.


Lucas and Noah watch TV and model the new sweatshirts they got for Christmas.


Erin seems to think "fishy face" is the funniest thing in the world!



Libby and Brian's kids, Peyton and Zane, are getting big FAST!

Is Santa here yet?

Sarah occasionally likes to run around the house naked, except for her diaper, of course. She hasn't felt well lately, but nothing too serious. Our neighbor brought over two big trays of Ferrer Rocher chocolates for Christmas, and Sarah's favorite thing is to unwrap the gold foil off the chocolates ... then she hands off the candy to mom or dad and begs for another one to unwrap.

The boys have been moving so fast these past weeks, we haven't been able to photograph them! Noah had a very busy week of hockey. On Monday his Pirates beat Wayzata 7-1, a much-needed win. Noah was on the receiving end of two heavy checks, one of which left him laying on the ice for 10 or 15 seconds. He said the other kid hit him so hard, it pushed his facemask into his face ... he's having fun despite the indignities.

Merry Christmas!

The Gordon Mob is spending Christmas this year with Erin's family in Jamestown, N.D. Grandma and Grandpa Gordon will be making a special trip down to have a nice "post-Christmas" with us after they return from visiting Ellaina's family in Oregon. Love to all!

Geocaching counties

Still growing

Here's Sarah headed into the Woodbury hockey arena to support her big brother Noah. The Pirates didn't do too well, losing 8-1 to Sioux Falls, S.D., in the consolation semifinals, but Noah assisted on the Pirates' only goal. Check out the picture of Noah on Sarah's button! Oh, and Noah made the A honor roll this past grading period. Yeah, Noah!

Thanksgiving 2007

The boys spent Thanksgiving with their father in Moorhead this year, so Sarah, Erin and Rich spent a quiet Turkey Day at home with Roger and Gloria, who drove down with their two dogs, Ozzie and Gus. Sarah was the center of attention! Lately she's been enjoying her kiddie puzzles where she has to put various fish or animals in the right spots. She's really good at them!



Sarah tries on Grandma Gordon's glasses.



Erin said, "I think she'll look cute even if she has to wear glasses someday!"

Halloween 2007

Here are Caleb, Noah and Lucas before the annual "Run for the Cavities." Caleb had a new mask and went as Flatenstein, the monster who kept falling on his face; Noah went as Derek Boogaard, the Minnesota Wild goon who fights better than he skates; and Lucas went as a skeleton that oozes blood. How can a skeleton ooze blood? The boys had a lot of fun.



Sarah went as a kitty-cat, complete with the outfit her cousin Peyton handed down to her. Thanks, Peyton! That's Sarah's pumpkin on the left, and Lucas' on the right. Thanks for the pumpkins, Grandma G!!!



That Sarah sat still long enough for these photos is a bit of a miracle!


Daddy has a few more whiskers than Sarah does! Rich took Sarah and the twins around the cul-de-sac so Sarah could experience trick-or-treating, then Rich and Sarah got in the minivan and followed the twins around the neighborhood. Noah went trick-or-treating with his friend Connor.

Daddy's little helper?

It was another gorgeous fall day today, sunny and temps close to 70, so Rich decided to get outside and rake some leaves with Sarah and Max while Erin caught up on her sleep. Sarah actually helped daddy put leaves into the bags and smoosh them down, but all these photos show her just goofing off! Enjoy!

Sarah's first airplane ride!

Well, daddy couldn't wait any longer. "Sarah is 19 months old now," he figured, "and it's time she had her first airplane ride!" So today was the big day! Daddy took Sarah and mommy to Crystal Airport for a 30-minute ride in Warrior 2208V, one of the planes in which daddy used to instruct. It's almost 30 years old and needs a paint job, but hey, it's airworthy!



Mommy and Sarah, ready for takeoff!



Sarah got a really good view from her car seat, which we strapped in the plane. She also had her own set of headphones for a while, until mommy took them off. Sarah got a little nervous after takeoff, but not too bad. Maybe the pressure change made her ears sore? Daddy did his best job of flying straight and level.



We flew around north of Anoka for a while, and mommy took Sarah out of her car seat to settle her down. Then she promptly fell asleep! She slept all the way back to the airport, and daddy's landing was so soft (a "greaser"), Sarah didn't even wake up! Check out Sarah's shirt: "Girls Fly." Yeah, baby!



Rich loves this picture! We had a hard time getting Sarah back in the minivan after our ride. She wanted to look at our airplane some more! But we got her in the van and went off to grab some lunch.

Sarah's baptism

We had Sarah baptized last Sunday at Jessie Lake Lutheran Church near her Grandma and Grandpa Gordon's cabin in northern Minnesota. Here, Sarah keeps herself busy with Lucas' video game before the service.



Pastor Paulson baptized Sarah, and she didn't even whimper during the baptism! Here she is with the pastor and her proud parents.



We were glad that so many of Erin's family members were able to attend. Her parents, Lloyd and Kathy, brought along Erin's grandmother Myrtle, her sister Libby and Libby's daughter Peyton! Sarah's sponsors are Libby and Rich's sister Ellaina.



Two cutie-pies!



Sarah thanks everyone for coming while her mom and dad focus on the camera.

Some cute kitties, and a trip to the Lost Forty

Sarah and her kitty-cat cousin, Peyton! Erin painted the kitty faces for them.


Lucas got a lift on Grandpa and Grandma Gordon's new pickup truck during our family trek to visit the Lost Forty, a small area in Minnesota that somehow missed being logged back in the day. Some of the trees there are HUGE, and are 300 or more years old.



Here's some of the gang doing some tree-hugging!



The peak fall colors have passed, but it's still pretty.



Roger and Gloria gettin' back to nature.

Some more of the great outdoors

Gloria, Libby, Rich and the boys stayed behind to search for two geocaches in the Lost Forty area, and had a great time! In addition to finding both caches -- including Libby's first ever -- we found some great scenery.


Noah found what looks like a beaver skull. He's going to have Grandma Gordon bleach it for him so he can take it to school and show his classmates.

Aunt Ellaina visits

Ellaina flew in from Oregon last week for her 20-year high school reunion, and we got to see her a couple of times before she had to go home. Sarah hasn't seen her auntie since Christmas, but she warmed up to her right away! Rich stole this picture from Ellaina's website ... thanks, E!

Playing catch-up

Whew! We have to get caught up on the events of the past month! Here are Caleb, Noah and Lucas on their first day of the 2007-2008 school year. Noah is in sixth grade this year, and the twins are in third grade. Noah and Caleb are going to play hockey this winter, and we signed Lucas up for a five-week basketball clinic. Also, Noah has announced he is going to learn how to play the saxophone in the school band.



We cleaned out the minivan one day last month, and Sarah crawled in and decided to pretend she was driving it. The funniest part came when she turned up the radio real loud and startled herself!



When Rich found out that none of our Russian neighbor kids had ever been flying, he just had to take them and their mom, Malvina, up for a short ride. With so many people, we had to take two flights.



Malvina's new baby daughter went for a ride, too, and she even fell asleep during the flight!





Daniel and Mark, ready for takeoff. We flew over our houses!

Tons of fun at Valleyfair

As part of Noah's 11th birthday today, Grandma and Grandpa Gordon took our entire family to Valleyfair in Shakopee for 10 hours of amusement park rides. Here, Sarah's crazy driving doesn't seem to faze Caleb in the slightest!



Rich, Sarah and Lucas enjoyed their ride on the big ferris wheel...



... and so did grandma and grandpa! Awwwww!



One of Sarah's favorite rides was the hot-air balloon ride! Grandpa took her on it several times.


Sarah and big brother Noah took a break from all the fun. Again, awwww!