Halloween 2009

Pictures from Fr. Brad while trick-or-treating at his house.

Saints, Cowboys, and a Clown

Now We Are Six.... And One!

The Three Birthday Kids -- Joseph, Clare, and Catherine -- at the start of their big day, and then celebrating tonight.  Happy Birthday Sweet Little Ones!

Notice the detail at the bottom left of the above picture... Catherine, while keeping the smile on her face, manages to keep little sister's hand away from the cake!

This particular 6-year-old was happy, but fading quickly.  Going, going....

Gone!

We stumbled upon an easy ice cream cake recipe.  With ice cream sandwiches, hot fudge, whipping cream, and chopped up cookies, three cakes were quick and delicious!  Oh yes... and the sprinkles.  Perhaps one of these days Mommy will love sprinkles as much as the kids do! ;)

A Glimpse at Clare

Here's Clare learning to walk!  What a fun year it has been!

If you wonder why we haven't been blogging... this little cutie might just be one reason! ;)

Its Not Always About the Looks

"Mommy, you know why I like my hair short?  It's so that when I have to drink out of the faucet without a cup, my hair does not get wet."

  - Catherine (2/28/2008)

Winter Has Arrived

This has been a great winter so far with lots of snow. It all melted earlier this month with 60 degree weather, but the temperatures soon dropped and the snow has started falling again. With a fresh new snowfall yesterday, the kids were out in force making Fox and Goose trails. Here are some pictures of the snowfall before Thanksgiving:

Our house covered in snow and icicles:

Some shots of the area around us:

Uncle Mark, reminded us to bring warm clothes for Thanksgiving because he had plans with his new 4-wheeler:

Oops! Joseph and Catherine got dumped.

If it looks cold, that's because it is!

Fortunately, though, Uncle Mark had a nice warm fire in the shop,

and there was some whipped cream being made for the pumpkin pies,

and a Grandpa to warm up with.

Bath & Beyond

Some shots of one of Clare's baths and her cozy and happy afterward.

Halloween 2007

Here are some shots from Halloween. We had two clowns, a St. Theresa, a Little Red Riding Hood, and a little Ms. Tigger. Enjoy.

"Bongo" is ready to do some trick-or-treating

"Krusty" isn't sure he wanted to be a clown this year

First Stop: Uncle Al's (He had just recently turned 98!)

St. Theresa

We ran into Aunt Rachel and her troupe of cowgirls with live ponies.

Halloween is hard work for a clown.

Check out Santa's new helpers

Here are Santa's new helpers.  What do you think?  Just missing one.

Clare's Baptism

Clare was baptized on October 27th at St. Peter & Paul's Parish by Fr. Brad Neely. We were blessed by a beautiful ceremony (including a very loudly crying Clare) and many wonderful family and friends who flew and drove from all parts to celebrate with us. Afterwards, we gathered together at our home for a wonderful party and finished the evening by being entertained by talented pianists and actors who were present. Thank you everyone that came!

Getting ready for the big event!

Forever changed!

Fr. Brad likes to bathe 'his babies' in the holy oils

The Proud Family!
By the looks of this picture, it's hard to believe that John and Joseph will make it another 5 hours into the night...we tucked some extremely exhausted - but happy - children in bed at Midnight!

The Godfather

The Godmother

The surprise visitor/photographer

The Gommie (Clare is wearing the Baptismal gown that Gommie made for her children. It has seen many a Baptism!)

The Family

The Cake

The Mommy & Daddy

The Cool Big Brother

The Mommy and The Tuckered Out Star of the Evening

The next day was one of those perfect indian summer days! Wow was it beautiful!

Joseph enjoying the warm fall day

Lounging on the lawn

Mr. GQ

We just love the following photos....two beautiful Elder women with one of the newest additions to the Elder clan! (Clare is Gommie's 17th grandchild and Grandma Elder's 113th great-grandchild. Grandma Elder will celebrate her 98th birthday in January!)

Gommie & Clare (Wow! Gommie hardly looks 50!)

Godmother again! She looks like she fits right in out in Idaho, eh?! ;)

With all the visitors, this was the first time we needed 10 seats!

Pack 'em in!