Random shots of cute kids

Nick with Grandpa Lee's hat.


He'll wear it for a nanosecond, and then rips it off...


Nick looks intently at Jordyn...

who surprises him with a smooch!

Nicky naps

This afternoon Nick fell asleep on me as the kids and I watched Extreme Home Makeover. At the end of the show I wanted to start dinner so Patience offered to hold him while he slept : )
She did a great job.

When I was finished with the dinner prep I asked if she wanted me to take him. She politely declined. It sounds like we have another babyhog in the making...

Dylan's tuxedo

What do you get your 17-year-old son for Christmas when he doesn't really need anything? Why, a tuxedo of course! Now, he doesn't have to rent one for his many musical appearances! Merry Christmas, Dylan. : )

Show and tell

Every Monday Patience has a chance to either bring something or tell a story for show and tell. Today, when she came home from school, she said, "Guess what I told the class about today!"
"You're fishing trip?!?"
"No, I told them about my nightlight."
That must have been riveting .

The new Nathan

We could always count on Nathan to work. He could work long, he could work hard, he could do whatever mundane job you needed done. He was great. Too bad he's in Alaska.

Today, with beautiful sunny weather, Don decided it was time to do some fall clean up and get the yard ready for selling trees. Here is Sean, picking up where Nathan left off, helping Don willingly and cheerfully. Thank the Lord for sons.

Poor baby

It's a good thing I took that totally adorable picture of Nick yesterday; this is what he looks like today:

He went outside to do "chores" with Daddy and came back in looking like this : (

Contacting Nathan

We've been in pretty regular contact with Nathan of the North, and now you can, too! I'm sure he'd love to hear from you : )

P.O. Box 585
Cordova, AK 99574

907-424-5662

nathaniel.d.murphy@uscg.mil

Halloween 2009

This year Jordyn wore the lion costume...the same one Patience has worn for the past two years. Patience wanted to be a butterfly, but when we tried to find an antennae headband, we were unsuccessful. But we did find this great butterfly wand and this cute little ballet skirt, so she was flexible and dressed up as a "butterfairy."

Nick wore the purple dragon costume that Pam gave us a couple of years ago! He was very cute, but had difficulty walking : ) This is the best picture I could get. He didn't understand what the heck we were doing. He tried to go in every door that was opened. Next year he'll be much more "into" it.

Jordyn, who has been a tad bit under the weather, asked if we could go home about 15 minutes into the evening. Patience, at about 1/2 hour in, said, "I think we should go home. My bag is getting cumbersome." So, we decided to take her advice. She obviously was the smart one if she could use that word correctly.

Carving jack-o-lanterns

Since Patience's kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch was cancelled due to torrential rains, Don took the girls to Co-op to buy pumpkins for carving : )

This afternoon, after fishing, they set up shop and turned pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns!

Cutest boy in the world

Gone Fishin'

For the past week or so, Jordyn has asked us on a daily basis, "Can I go fishing someday?" We're not sure where that came from, but when the sun started shining today, Don thought a fishing trip would be an excellent idea! He found a stocked trout pond not too far from here and the girls each caught a fish!

Patience is mildly excited with her fish : )

Not to be outdone, Miss Jordyn hooks one, too!

Cabin fever sets in

We have officially started to "hunker in the bunker," where we do 99% of our living in the suite end of the house. It's small and easier to keep heated without busting the budget. We were so fortunate this year to have a warm fall...we didn't move to the suite until the last week in October. Here are some random shots I took of the kids goofing around yesterday:

Dylan makes radio debut

Dylan will be playing on JR FM this Friday morning at their live broadcast from Otter Co-op! Start praying that he gets "discovered!"

Me and my boyfriend

Here is an updated picture of me and my boyfriend. Oh so cute. And sweet. And he thinks I'm the best thing since sliced bread.

Happy Birthday Haley!

Tuesday has become the evening that Dylan's girlfriend, Haley, comes over have dinner and spend the evening with us (well, with Dylan, really). She's very brave because she lives in a very small family of just her mother and her sister, so you can imagine the culture shock that comes with having dinner with our huge and loud family : ). This Thursday Haley turns 16, so last night we had cake and ice cream (complete with candles and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You"...she was a great sport) and presents.

Dylan was so nervous because he knew I had gotten her a gift but I wouldn't tell him what it was. He was afraid the gift would totally embarrass him or be inappropriate. It didn't make him feel any better when Valarie, through Messenger, suggested that it might be "sensible underwear." In the end, all was well, as Don and I got her a gift card to the movies, and the Littles all got her candy to eat there.

Patience and Jordyn just love a good birthday celebration!

Haley blows out her candles with help from the girls.

Dylan helps Haley with her cake and ice cream. She's got a really small appetite! I told her that if I only had eaters like her I could probably get by with $80/month for groceries. Seriously, Patience eats more than her. A lot more.

Playing outside

Today Don worked all day in Vancouver. The weather was cold but sunny so we did some playing outside.


Nick climbing up the slide.


Nick and Patience playing ball.

He was actually rolling it back and forth to her!

Nick loving the outdoors.

Nick making sure I'm still there : )

Nick massages Storm.

The kids play with Storm.

Patience in the tree.

A great shot of Jordyn in the tree (if I do say so myself).

Happy, happy Nicky! In his new Curious George coat compliments of Pam and the twins : )

Mrs. Niddery

Patience loves kindergarten. This is no surprise given her general love of life, but I can't help but think that part of her enjoyment stems from her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Niddery. Mrs. Niddery has taught for 35 years! She makes school fun for the kids with songs, games, and candy prizes : ) I'm hoping Mrs. Niddery will stick around for a few more years so the rest of the Littles can experience her kindergarten class!

Nick's First Birthday

Surprise! I bet you thought you'd never hear from me again : )

Well, here, from last month, is Nick's very first birthday. It was a family-only celebration, and unfortunately Nick was a little under the weather, but you can see that he enjoyed his cake anyway. And that Don and I are finally smart enough to strip our 1-year-old before letting him eat his cake!