Lukas' first ski

We finally made it up to the mountain with Lukas  - Merry Christmas!!

Lukas had a fun time with Instructor Brad

Charlie is getting his ski legs again quickly this season

Charlie, Lukas and Dad headed up the slopes

Here is the video of the first family ski session (minus Mom who was videoing)

Lukas' favorite part of skiing with the hot cocoa to warm up!

 

Big like Daddy

Lukas wants to be big like daddy and decided he needed to shave too.  It won't be too long before he'll be doing this for real.  (sob)

 

Sliding

The joys of a two story home.



He got going pretty fast!

Dress Up

Today, I just have some random pics of the boys dressing up for your viewing pleasure.

The knight getup was from today - after reading a story about a knight and a castle.  We were pretty proud of our makeshift sword.

This sweet picture of Lukas was from school - the week they were learning about fire safety.

Just had to share!!

More snow play

On day two of the storm, they perfected their sledding techniques.  By the end of the day they had mastered:

tandem,

single,

taking out your brother as they are walking up the hill,

and the occasional face plant that may, or may not, have been done on purpose.

Snow Play

Our first snow storm hit!

On day one they perfected their snowball making,

snow dancing,  

and, of course, snow angel making.

O Christmas Tree

We finally decorated our Christmas tree!

Notice who's helping (or not)...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

First Belt

Charlie tested for his first belt in Taekwondo on Monday.  He did a great job!

Ready Stance

Some of the testing sequence

 Receiving his Orange/White  belt

Christmas Tree Lighting

A cold and brisk night for the Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting.  It's officially puffy jacket season.

This year had some different parade participants so it was great!  Here are some of our favorites:

Lukas waved at most of the floats as they went by - what a cute little spectator!

He kept his eyes glued on the parade so as to not miss a thing! Charlie was most interested in the candy that was being thrown.

Weekend Project

Weekend projects are the best - they feel so good when they are accomplished.  I love having little helpers too!

Nature Walk/Ride

We love our street and the beautiful scenery just outside our door.  Soon it will be snow covered, so we wanted to get outside on the bikes while we still can.

The best part of the walk, at the very end of the road, is a bridge with Neal Creek running underneath.  The boys love finding rocks and tossing them into the water below.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We hope you had a wonderful day!

Casual

Took a pause from playing to capture these sweet faces.

Mountains of Leaves

Our oak-lined front yard, while beautiful in the spring and provider of shade in the summer, has proven to be an nuisance in the Fall. Luckily we had a few helpers today while we tackled the thick layer of leaves.

I was in charge of the raking while Paul and Lukas were in charge of loading and carting them away.  Thank goodness we had something more than a wheel barrow this year.  

Charlie was the yard supervisor making sure we kept the piles big enough for him to run through and jump in.

We finally convinced him that riding the tractor with Lukas was more fun.

Well, we barely made a dent in them after a few hours, so there's always next weekend!  By then hopefully the last of the leaves will have fallen off the tree.  There was one that was still pretty full and I could have sworn I saw it smirking at us when I raked under it and looked up.

Lucky Duck

Charlie is the luckiest kid in the world - he got to go to an Oregon Ducks game over the weekend!  Front row seats by the end zone!!

Mommy and Lukas had a pretty fun afternoon too, visiting with a college friend and her adorable girls at the pumpkin patch.

They even had the coolest cow ride - so fun and bumpy all the way!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

 

We really didn't even have to go far because look what the neighbors gave us!!!  Jackpot!

No really - how are we going to eat all of that chocolate!?!

But of course we wanted to hit the town, and we were so thankful for the gorgeous fall weather for another Downtown Halloween Trick-or-Treat!

Lukas was really into observing all of the fun costumes - 

he even fell off a curb while walking because he was looking at a fierce T-Rex.  

They were both also really into the candy - as if you couldn't guess that.

Another one in the books.

Worker Man Lukas

This kid is constantly playing with tools.  I find them EVERYWHERE hidden around the house - which is usually when he stops mid-project to play with something else that catches his eye.

I found him here repairing our stationary bike.  He must have thought it was broken since we never use it!  Ha Ha!!  He even put on ear muffs to prevent hearing damage. #Lukasism