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!

Glub glub glub

Grandma and Grandpa Gordon were in town for a couple of days, and they offered to take the boys and Sarah to the Richfield pool today! Here, Noah, Lucas and Caleb take a break from splashing and dunking each other to have their picture taken.



Erin stayed home to get some extra sleep and decompress from yesterday's zoo visit, so daddy got to have Sarah all to himself ... well, at least when grandma and grandpa weren't giving her hugs and kisses!



What a cutie-pie!



Even when he's snoozing, grandpa likes to have his grandkids pull his finger!



Sarah absolutely LOVES shoes! Here she takes Grandma Gordon's shoes for a spin.

A day at the zoo

We all had the day off Sunday, so we decided to go see the Minnesota Zoo (Sarah's first time at a zoo). Here Erin and our brood pose in front of some caribou ... they're back there, trust me!



Sarah fed a baby goat!



Lucas poses in a small earth-moving machine.



"Hey! Who farted?!"



Sarah's favorite part of the zoo was splashing in the fountain out front as we were leaving.

Weekend at Bowstring

Our entire family spent last weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Gordon's cabin on Bowstring Lake. Even though the lake is still low, we managed to spend quite a bit of time on the boat! Sarah received her very first boat ride on Saturday the 28th, and she loved it!


Another first, this one for Noah. He popped up on waterskis on his very first attempt, and from that moment on, that's all he wanted to do all weekend! Sorry for burning most of the gas out of your boat, Grandpa!


Lucas and Gus are good buddies.



We spent part of Saturday in Grand Rapids, wandering around the swap meet there and looking at lots of classic cars. Sarah watched it all from her stroller, with a sucker in her mouth.