It’s 2011 and we’ve been remiss in updating this blog (and the flickr stream) with new pics.  So, here’s the last 3 months in brief…

September

The end of September we had several significant events and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa in California.

But first…

The Open Classroom had an all-school field trip to Antelope Island.  It was big.  There was sand.  There were a lot of people.  We scared some tourists.

And tried (unsuccessfully) to fly a kite…

Not long after was Lilah’s 3rd birthday. Grandma and Grandpa came out from California to celebrate.

October

Then came Halloween.  We were a pirate family.

Nothing at all exciting happened between Halloween and Christmas.  Nope.

December

…and now we’re all caught up

i haven’t been doing the best job of posting pics up here, i know.  i realize this as the most recent pics are from g’s graduation, now almost 3 months gone.  that said, i have been keeping things updated on flickr, so you can check out the latest pics (sans witticisms) there (presuming you are my “friend”, which you have to be to see pics of us or the kids.  sorry, stalker prevention measures.)  recent sets over there include:

• our overnight camping trip in the uintahs (first ever with samosa, unfortunately, we only got a pair of decent pics out of it)
• hiking trek up city creek canyon
• 4th of july fireworks at sugarhouse (& g-ma & g-pa’s)

to see these pics on flickr, head over to my flickr page and then click on “add jazzs3quence as a contact” under the “jazzs3quence’s photostream” heading (farthest on the right).

good.  now that’s out of the way.

can you believe it’s been 5 years?

it’s so dumbfounding i literally can’t think of anything else to say.  since pictures are supposed to speak a thousand words, here’s a couple thousand to speak in my stead.

Happy 5th birthday, Gavin!

(note: these images have been digitally altered for prettiness.  to see the unaltered versions, and more pics, go to the flickr photoset.)

we took a long road trip with g-ma & g-pa to moscow, idaho to see the kids’ great-grandparents there.  it was a two-day drive and the kids were wiped but we were glad we split the drive up rather than try the 11-12 hour trek in one go.  the kids had a good time hanging with the fam and exploring great-grandma & great-grandpa’s house.

we took a camping trip to southern utah’s capitol reef last weekend.  i posted some pics to flickr and on my blog, but here’s the kids highlights.  it was great fun, and the campsite had a couple fruit orchards that the kids, especially gavin, loved.  also, the orchards were great for attracting a family of deer who would wander through the campground to the orchard and have breakfast on the fallen apples.  unfortunately, no deer shots here.

then there was lilah’s birthday when we got back…

lilah models her new birthday dress

gavin, of course, wants to pose, too

lilah (and gavin) had a great time with her new tea set from g-ma & g-pa reynolds.

later, lilah presided over the opening of her presents.  she allowed gavin to help, and even rewarded him by giving him a ride her her new baby doll’s stroller.

but then she reclaimed it for her baby doll.

what’s this for, mama?

lilah tests the juice to make sure it’s acceptable for her baby girl.