Sadie in 2010

And here's a glimpse into the life of Sadie this year!

Allison in 2010

Here's a little view of our year with our sweet curly redhead! Love this girl!

Grant in 2010

What a great year we had with this fabulous little guy! There's not a day that goes by without smiles induced by our sweet 5 year old!

Fall into Winter

We had a beautiful fall here on the Palouse-- vibrant colors and lots of dry leaves to play in! Gorgeous, warm and enjoyable.

And then, right at Thanksgiving, we dove directly into winter! We had several big snowstorms and low temps to last a few weeks. We had a good supply of sledding snow to keep the kids outside and active.

Even had some fun with cousin Lana!

So far, we couldn't ask for better fall and winter weather. Bring on some more!

Halloween

Yes, we did get dressed up for Halloween this year.

The kids were creative with their ideas, and we did our best to create a look for them (even if one boy didn't end up wearing some items mom made... he really just wanted big muscles. :)

We have Jessie the cowgirl, Popeye the Sailor Man, and Matilda.

We celebrated at the Harvest Festival that Angela (a.k.a. the Pink Lady... no kids knew what a Pink Lady is! :) coordinated again this year at church. Crazy fun! This year there were over 500 people at the church for the event.

On to winter!

A 5-Year-Old Birthday

At the end of October the youngest member of our family turned 5 years old!

Grant had a lot of ideas for parties and gifts (and can list more and more "for my next birthday"), but settled on a "Chinese Birthday" (dinner with family at a chinese restaurant) and a gathering with friends at McDonalds.

We can't believe he's already five years old. The time is flying by... just as parents before me would warn. It's amazing how fast days can go. Cherish them, people!

We've been waiting 10 years for this...

It's here!

Sadie's 10th birthday!

Why is that so cool? Well, I'll tell you. It's because her 10th birthday lands on 10/10/10.

Yup. One of the coolest Golden Birthdays EVER.

We discovered it soon after she was born on 10/10/00. And I always said we'd have a big celebration.

It's here. And we're so thankful for our sweet Sadie!

We love you-- you'll always be a Perfect 10 to us!!!

Crazy Fun

Just some photos to show some crazy fun we've had lately. Silly photos are so often better than "cheesy" ones!

Grant. Oh, that boy. Seriously. Nothing serious about him! Once again, Grant adored wheat harvest. This year he even spent multiple full days (like 12 hours each) "workin'" with Dad, Grandpa and Uncle Mark.

Allison. So much fun! That girl is photogenic and always ready for a good time. Love her. This one is for Grandpa who wanted to know how she'd fair eating corn without any teeth. :)

Sadie. Sweet, simple Sadie. She had a super duper summer-- courageously taking on new and big adventures like going to a three night summer camp and conquering the tube slides at the aquatic center. Of course, she loved both more than she imagined possible (can mom say "I told you so"?).

Angela. She's been taking a photography class and asking the kids to pose so she can practice. Grant got tired of always being on the opposite end of the camera and wanted his turn. So, this shot is courtesy of Grant. Nice work, buddy!

Dwayne. His version of crazy fun comes every August. Harvest time! We catch him when we can.

Crazy fun, peeps!

July Joy

So, I'm still behind... but you gotta love the photos of these kids and puppies! Too cute

Grandma From-The-West-Side and Auntie Who-Has-Two-Almost-Three Girls came to visit in July and we had so much fun playing!

Of course, we spent some quality time at the aquatic center...

And enjoyed Lana's puppies, too.

What joy!

Happy Independence Day!

Hey all...  a bit late but it's still fun to see the photos, right?

We had so much fun gathering as a whole entire Sawyer Family at my sister Suz' place up by Spokane. We had a great time with wiffle ball, eating, making the tradtional flag cake, bocce ball, eating, playing with cousins, eating, taking Sadie to her first camp, eating and chasing cattle. Yup. A fabulous independence day.

Lake Fun!

We were lucky enough to go to Priest Lake again this summer. It is such a treat for us to spend time on the lakefront with the ability to boat on the water too. We had so much fun with family and loved every minute of it!

Pee Wee Sports Camp

(Sorry for the long delayed post!!!)

Grant enjoyed Pee Wee Sports Camp earlier this summer. He spent 5 days doing all different sports-- soccer, bowling, tee ball, basketball and track and field. It was so fun to watch him learn the basics of these sports! When we asked him his favorite, he said "all of them!"

The New Sandbox

We've had the little turtle sandbox since Sadie was just a toddler. In the past few years, we've realized it's a bit small for three kids... particularly one with a machinery lot full of construction equipment.

The joy of digging is a PASSION for Grant. There is no denying that he loves it. People who have only known him for minutes of time could guess that he "digs" dirt.

Our garden has been the resource for a larger digging area for the past few (muddy) months. But now that it is planted, we needed a new spot for Grant.

To justify a change/purchase for Daddy, I pitched the plan with a "kill two birds" approach. We have a low spot in the back yard that becomes a muddy puddle area anytime it rains or we play with the sprinkler or pool. And we have a small patio. To give better drainage to the wet spot, I suggested putting a sandbox there. And in case we ever want to extend our patio, the sand/gravel would make a good foundation for new concrete.

So-- it was done. After waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for the spot to dry out for digging and filling, Grant was awarded the joy of filling his new sandbox last week. The whole family pitched in, and we're all having fun playing around in it too.

Come on over and play!