November

Still catching up... these pictures are mostly from November, but the first few are the end of October that I saved in the wrong file... :)

Even though it's pretty cold outside and I should have taken down the pool LONG AGO... this is still a favorite attraction in the backyard. Cole and Brookie go out looking for bugs and slugs (yucky) all the time. They usually find quite a few. The other day while my visiting teachers were here, Cole walked in the kitchen with 3 or 4 crawling all over him. I never knew that slugs secrete yellowish slime that is about as impossible as pitch to get off your hands... Needless to say, the visiting teachers (dear ladies) were so impressed! :)

Brookie was a flower fairy for Halloween. Here she is in her costume at our ward party.

She had a great time!

A dinner shot. Still a bit of a messy eater, but this kiddo eats EVERYTHING! She's so easy - sauce/no sauce, spices/no spices. She's a dream!

Coleman is getting to be a very clean eater. He still prefers fruits and sometimes vegetables.

Our very cool jack-o-lantern and the crew that accomplished such a slimy assignment. Big pumpkins = lots of guts!

Brookie is quite the little lady (when she wants to be). Her personality is so fun - so complicated, but so entertaining. She's quite mischievous, but so sweet. We see little bits of lots of our family in her.

Coleman got these cool sea creatures in a "toob" for the trip to Utah. They worked like a charm. Kept him entertained the whole trip!!

Tyler's mom came to Oregon for a visit in October and we had so much fun!! While Ty was studying for boards, my mom and dad wanted to come for a visit too, but it worked out better for us to come to them. Dad was working and Mom was busy and Ty was trying so hard to study for boards (I wanted a break from my house) - thanks Mom and Dad for flying us to see you and for letting us run your lives for a couple weeks! :) We had a blast!!

Cole and Brookie playing in the ladder in the living room. (My parents are in the process of adding a really neat addition to their house.) The kids LOVE all the extra room!! We're really glad Grandpa didn't have to repaint after we left this time (or maybe he just didn't tell us...)

Brookie loves to dress us! Here she is wearing all Grandma's necklaces. She put them on herself.

Playing at the park.

This swirly thing was really cool - kinda like a mini intensified tea cup at Disneyland. :)

Coleman preferred rock climbing (he's his daddy's little boy).

Very cautious and serious.

Eating apples from Grandma Neff's tree and watching a "partashow" in Grandma's cool chairs!! Brookie really likes to push them around inbetween sitting in them. Grandma's house is so fun!!

We took a trip to the children's museum - Discovery Gateway with my mom, Aunt Leanne and Addie and our good friends, Melissa, Hannah and Jackson. It was great! The kids had a BLAST!! Cole really liked working construction. He's pretty good too - he can do it even without looking!

Brookie's always facinated with anything that has to do with water. She enjoyed playing (splashing)!

Addie and Brookie in the helicopter. They all really enjoyed playing in it. Life Flight is pretty cool!

Cole liked flying (also a tribute to being his dadd'y boy). I'm so glad Ty will have someone to watch Top Gun with him in a few years!

We celebrated Uncle Trent's and Grandma Flint's birthdays while we were there and that was a blast! Cole and Brookie both really love their family! It was so nice to be together and spend time with everyone!

Coleman and Grandpa Terry at the party!

Uncle Trevor likes Sponge Bob, but not as much as Uncle Trent! :)

Trent picked the cake :) We hope Grandma liked it too. It really was good! Thanks LeAnne for spoiling everyone! Delicious and so fun to eat! I love ice cream cake!

We went to a get-together at Grandma Flints for her birthday and here she is talking to Tyler (we wish he'd been with us) while Brookie made all sorts of noise.

Flint Girls - Aunt Michelle, Grandma Flint, Brooke and Khloe

We did lots of things that I just didn't get pictures of. November is another under-pictured month, I guess. We so enjoyed our time in Utah and were so excited to be coming back for Christmas!!

Grandpa came with us to the gate at the airport because we needed help managing our truckload of gear. Thanks Dad!

We had a wonderful trip and so enjoyed being with friends and family!! We were sad Tyler wasn't with us though and we all missed him a ton!! Things all worked out well though - he studied for boards (in between me bothering him 'till I fell asleep every night) and took them a few days after we got home. He did well and we're really glad they'er over! On to the next ones!!

One happy husband!!!

A couple days after we got home, the UPS men (yes - men - plural) showed up on our porch with about 10 boxes that filled our whole living room. Thankfully they brought them in or it would have taken me all afternoon to figure out how to rig a winch to get these enormous and heavy boxes in the house. Merry Christmas to us. We've saved for a piano for 4 years and Ty bought it while I was in Utah! We're so glad to have it and enjoy music (and especially Christmas music) together as a family!!!

Shortly after we got home (like only a few days) Tyler's parents drove up to be with us for Thanksgiving! We had a marvelous time being together and joking/laughing and playing. A couple days after that his brothers flew in and we were all together for Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day we went to Silver Falls to hike and see the waterfalls. They're more impressive in the winter when there's even more water flowing!!

The scenery in OR is amazing! These ice sickles formed over the moss covered rocks and the green shows through quite vibrantly! It's really neat looking!

Trev and Trent hiking along. Grandpa and Brookie are up ahead too. Fun hike! Wish we'd been more prepared - the trail leading down to my favorite waterfall was really icey so we had to turn around. We still got to see it from a distance. It was neat!

The family. I'm glad Tyler's always prepared and I hope he wasn't cold. I brought coats, snow pants, gloves and hats for the kids, but forgot to bring anything for me. I had a sweatshirt, but it was pretty chilly. Luckily Tyler had his biking slicker in the car and that kept me pretty warm. It was a deceptively chilly day!

This girl likes to be outside too!! She had a blast and even managed to walk despite all her layers of clothing.

Coleman and Grandpa - Cole enjoyed all the attention he got from Grandpa as he had him all to himself hiking along the trail.

The Evans men - Tyler, Trent, Trevor, Terry and Coleman

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know it's a little late since this post is happening in Jaunuary, but we just thought we'd like to say it anyway. We're so thankful for our wonderful families and the strength, example and inspiration they are to us. We're so blessed to have children who remind us every day of what's most important (and for all the laughs and smiles they bless us with). We're thankful to have wonderful parents and siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who are our great examples and dearest friends. We're grateful for wonderful friends who have truly blessed our lives. We hope you know how much we love and appreciate you!

Love, Tyler and Michelle