The Nutracker

Some of you may know that I grew up dancing. Since the age of three, I've been a ballerina (or was at one point in my life...not currently). When I was five, I was able to join the other girls at the studio I danced at--Maddox Dance Studio--in the production of The Nutcracker. I LOVED trying out for parts, practicing with my friends, and performing on stage, the Astoria High School auditorium. That was such a fun time in my life.

After Anja was born, I thought about how wonderful it would be if I put her in dance class, she actually loved it, and then took her to see the performance of The Nutcracker. Well that wish came true this year. Anja started dance class; she does LOVE it; and she and I attended her first viewing of The Nutracker at the Astoria High School auditorium.

It was such a special experience. We traveled to Astoria for the production. My parents watched the boys so we could go to the performance. We got all dressed up, took some pictures (as seen below), and arrived just in time for the beginning of the show.

What made it even more special was that prior to the show starting, we ran into Jeanne Peterson, my old dance teacher, owner of Maddox Dance Studio, and director of The Nutcracker. I said, "Hello Jeanne" and her immediate response was, "Alexis it is wonderful to see you." And she said, "Oh, your daughter looks just like you did when you started ballet." Oh--I loved our conversation!!

Anja sat on my lap during the performance so she could see the stage better. We had great seats. Anja didn't take her eyes off the stage the entire time! SHE LOVED IT!!! At the end, the children were invited up to get a candy cane and all of the dancers greeted the kids on stage. I walked Anja up and she was timid. But she took a candy cane and had that awe look in her eye, as if she could hardly believe that she was standing next to all of these people.

I will treasure this experience. And it is something that I look forward to continuing to do with Anja.

Our Real Tree

Ok, here are pictures of our tree before we decorated it. I know you can't see the top...so I'll post others later.


Carter with our TreeAnja with our Tree

Anja, Fischer, and Carter

Alexis is 27!!!

On November 5th, I turned 27. It was a fabulous day! I got to exercise, hang out with Clinton (he had the whole day off from work...talk about his schedule working out), go shopping with my mom, Kim, and then go out for a special dinner with Clinton. Then...my sister, Holly came in from Provo to visit Astoria for the weekend, so Clinton and I picked her and her roommate up from the airport, brought them back to the house, and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and ate the delicious German Chocolate Cake that Clinton made for me.
WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!!!


me waiting for my cakeClinton bringing the cake and everyone singing

Fischer, Alexis, Kim, & Clinton

I want to give a special thank you to my mom for all she does. Thanks for helping my family as we have made the transition to Portland!

We did go trick-or-treating

The kids had fun trick-or-treating in Astoria.
(well...Carter wasn't exactly thrilled about the huge crowds, but he warmed up to it by the end)

Carter the Knight

Anja the Princess

Fischer the Dragon

The Pumpkin Patch aka Sauvie Island

The Saturday before Halloween, we went to Sauvie Island "The Pumpkin Patch" as a family.
The kids had a great time.Fischer is such a cute farmer boy.

On the hay ride to the pumpkins. Alexis felt like she was going to fall off....so she held on to Clinton the whole time. It was really muddy, very big ruts for the tractor to drive through.

Carter picked a great little pumpkin (only $1).
Tons and tons of pumpkins...nearly as far as the eye could see.

Carter and Anja on top of the tall tall tall hay pyramid.
They had fun climbing all over this.

Haunted House

Here is our attempt at making a haunted house.

Thanks for the fun, Aunt Amy and Uncle Andrew!

Pumpkin Visit

We went to the pumpkin patch in Idaho!

This is the pumpkin we picked.

So many different varieties of pumpkins and squash to see. Incredible.

The whole group on hay bales for a picture.

Little Miss A.

Carter enjoyed the wheelbarrow ride Clinton gave him.
our friends Amy, Bryan, Isaac, and Gracie invited us to go with them...thanks!

Snow in Idaho

While in Idaho on our vacation....we had snow!

Fischer would have stayed in the snow all day. At one point we tried to bring him inside and he got upset...so we let him play for a little longer.

Our girl Anja liked the snow...but doesn't like to be cold. And since we weren't prepared for the snow (we had no idea it was actually going to snow) she didn't have her snow pants or gloves. So this little Miss Petunia stayed where it was warm....inside.

Clinton enjoyed playing with the kids in the snow on this vacation. Especially since he was the warmest of all...farm coveralls.

We got to visit with lots of family members, including fun Uncle Aaron who helped build a cool snowman with the boys. If you'll notice...this snowman as legs so they can sit on his lap.

Carter sitting on the snowman's lap. He LOVED building snowmen...they built two.

Carter and Anja posing in the snow. We did everything we could to keep Anja warm. Carter loves to eat snow.

Licorice Kid

On our trip to Idaho (nearly 1 month ago) Fischer enjoyed a couple pieces of licorice. And yes, he REALLY liked them!

Carter's Primary Program

Nearly 1 month ago, Carter had his primary program. He got spiffed up for the occasion. We sat right where we could see him. He had a comfy seat. He knew a bunch of the songs. Yet this lovely boy, decided he didn't want to sing. :) At one point though, he did come down from the stand, give me a hug and a kiss, and then he went back up to sit in his seat. Yeah for Carter!

Eloise, Little Ballerina, and a Hair Cut

Anja's New OutfitFor her birthday, Anja got a new outfit from Mom and Dad.
After she put it on, she reminded me of a little girl...Eloise.
Maybe no one else thinks so, but during and after the photo shoot,
I thought, blond hair, sweater, skirt, knee highs, hair clips...
yes I do think she looks like Eloise in this outfit.

Anja began Creative Movement at a local dance studio in Portland.
She LOVES it!!!
She gets to do ballet and tap in the class.
Every class she is required to have her hair in a bun,
wear her light blue leotard, and pink tights.
She gets so excited!
Last week the class performed for us,
she did a wonderful job.
I love that Anja loves ballet!!!

I gave our little Fischer his First Haircut
(technically his second...because he had such long hair around 6 months)
He did really well...and by my own admission...I think I did too!

Our Little Girl is 3!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANJA

Our baby girl turned three on September 11th and she had a fun day celebrating!

Anja wanted to have a birthday lunch with her friend Kylee. The meal of choice was pizza and we decided a heart shaped pizza would be fun. Carter enjoys making silly faces in photos.

After lunch the girls decorated their own cupcakes. They LOVED it!
The had fun posing for pictures and eating them too!

Kylee posing with her cupcake.

That evening we celebrated as a family. Anja had fun trying to blow out all her candles and eating her cupcake birthday cake. Yummy!

We just love Anja to pieces and are so happy she is a member of our family.
She is definitely our All-Girl child. She loves to play dress-up, make cookies, tend to her dollies, go to ballet, carry her purses, play with her ponies, and have picnics. She is also a great big sister, as she watches out for Fischer's well-being often. She loves to laugh, read books, and as any girl can...show some sassyness and passion about various things in her life.

Happy Birthday Anja!

Celebrating Fischer's Birthday

Fischer is 1Fischer turned one almost a month ago, but that's how slow I've been on uploading pictures. This was our little Fischer on his (actual) birthday.

The cakes that were made for Fischer.
The orange one is a fish...just in case you couldn't tell.

Fischer really enjoyed getting into the cake!

On Fischer's birthday, I took the kids to the Oregon Zoo.

1st Day of Preschool

Anja on her 1st day.

We picked out her outfit last night, from the pile of new school clothes. We made sure they got washed and she was so excited to put them on this morning. Her shirt is navy blue and has two small scottie dogs on it wearing outfits that match her pants. She LOVES it!!

Anja is notorious for taking out her hair clips and often loosing them. We talked today about keeping them in. Happy to report...she didn't touch her hair clips. Yeah!

Carter also enjoyed picking out his new clothes, wearing his new earth vest (the patch on the front), and his 'cool new shoes!' He is our experienced preschool kid...this is his third and final year of preschool. Yesterday he said, 'yeah, Anja is coming with me to kindergarten.' I replied that it was actually preschool; kindergarten will be next year. 'Oh, I'm just being silly. Yes, kindergarten is next year.'

Carter and Anja loved posing for pictures this morning.

Anja running...so excited!!

Carter waiting for the other kids to arrive.

The end of the first day. Carter and Anja were excited to see Fischer (who was waiting in the car for them) and tell me all about their day!

A cute proud parent moment...when I got there to pick them up, one of the teachers smiled and said, 'oh I don't think we want to let them go, they are just too cute!' And she remarked that you wouldn't have known it was their first day of school...they did great!