Denver Mint

We took a tour of the US Mint in Denver here. Disregard the erroneous date. We went on Oct 26. Eliza had H1N1 and thus Angie stayed home with her and I took the other kids. This is a picture of the gate outside. The security is very heavy for obvious reasons and they did not allow any photos inside.

These are the main doors to the building. The Denver Mint makes about 12 coins a second or 750 a minute totaling some astronomical amount that escapes me for now, but it was pretty impressive.

The kids in front of the main doors again. The gift shop right next to the mint is pretty fun. If you ever want to tour the mint though the tickets fill up 2-3 months in advance so plan ahead. The kids really enjoyed this tour and we're definitely glad we made it before we move!

Halloween 2009

For the first time ever, our kids did not buy costumes this year. Joseph, Hyrum and Lexi are shown here the night of the school carnival. Joseph, unfortunately, was unable to go to the carnival, due to the swine flu. He made the best of it though, by drawing a pig nose on his mask and posed with Lex and Hy for the pictures! Hyrum used pieces from old costumes to be a knight and Lexi dressed up in her Tinker Bell costume she got for Christmas last year. Joseph had the swine flu and so he missed the school carnival but posed in this picture as a kid with swine flu.

Our neighborhood loop is awesome for trick-or-treating. 1-1 1/2 hours around the block and the kids get more candy than they'll ever eat. Lyzie spent more time opening than eating candy. It was like a mini-Christmas for her.

The kids' jack-o-lanterns. Josephs is a rich man, Hyrum's is Super Mouse (a fictional character created by him and his best friend Tanner--they're writing a series of short stories about him) and Lexi's is cotton candy.

Lexi (the lady bug) with her friend Abby (Snow White) and Abby's sisters Olivia and Julia. The ghost in the background I believe looks like Joseph but how he became transparent is a mystery to all of us.

Hyrum went trick-or-treating with his best friend Tanner.

Hyrum dressed like a football player, Joseph like a rich man (he gave every house a fake cash bill after they gave him candy) and Lexi wearing her ladybug costume she wore when she was 2 or 3.

Lexi, Joe and Eliza ready for Trick-or-Treating. The first house we went to no one was there and Lyzie wouldn't leave. I had to carry her away. She eventually got it though and we all had a blast!

Flag Football

The boys both played flag football this fall. Although the driving distances were a bit crazy the whole family enjoyed being involved and watching them play. Hyrum's team is the purple one and he has the blue superman hat on.

Hyrum was all over on defense and one of the best running backs his team had. Their team as a whole struggled but they won their last game on a touchdown scored with no time remaining so it was a great way to go out. I got to coach the defense on Hyrum's team.

Joseph's team is the black one. He's #12 executing a perfect block in the back, a technique no doubt inherited from his father:).

Here's Joseph lined up on the defensive line. Joseph was one of the biggest kids on his team, but also very fast and always played his assignments perfectly.

Joseph played full-time fullback and either line or linebacker on defense. Here he is with a nice lead block. Joseph's team dominated the second half of the season winning all their second half of the season games by 3-4 touchdowns. I got to be the assistant coach for Joe's team.

Family Home Evening Fun and Haircut time

Here's a couple of our fun family home evening pictures. Hyrum's lesson he dressed up like a prophet and then taught about some of the lessons the prophets teach us.

Angie's family home evening came during flag football season. She baked pizza pockets in the shape of footballs, glass bottles of root beer and other "tailgating food" and talked about being a team family.

Here are the kids holding up their pizza footballs.

Joseph (and Hyrum) hate getting haircuts. It's a major battle every time so we took some before and after pictures of Joe's haircut so that one day he can look back and understand our angst.

Quite the ham, but much sharper look, no?

Hike to Eagle Peak

Eagle Peak looks right over the Air Force Academy. Its elevation is about 9400 feet. We met some good friends of ours from our Academy days a few years back and took the kids up to the top.

The hike took roughly 2 hours or so to the top. Here's Grace, Emily, Elijah Van Wagoneer and Joseph and Hyrum up the top.

The descent was fairly steep with lots of loose rocks but the kids did well and had a great time.

Joseph, Steve and Hyrum on the peak.

Hyrum, Joe, Emily and Grace at the end of the climb.

Lexi's in Kindergarten!

Joseph, Lexi and Hyrum taking the 1st of many walks for Lexi.

Hyrum, Lexi and Joseph in front of Peakview Elementary.

Lexi in line where the kindergartners meet. We can't believe Lexi is such a big girl now. It was quite an emotional day to send our girl off to start school. She is such a fun, tender-hearted sweet girl and we love her very much! She was really excited for school.

Fun with cousins and grandparents

My mom would kill me for putting this photo in, but since she doesn't have a computer I want to have a picture of all our kids' grandparents in here. This was a photo that Lexi took that Grandma Blanchard pulled a funny face for.

This is Steve with Lexi and Steve's brother Kevin with his daughter Breanna. The girls are about 5 months apart in age.

Joseph, Eliza, Lexi and Hyrum with Grandpa Blanchard and his wife Grandma Lois.

Okay, what's fair is fair. This is Angie's mom, Grammee Myers after her makeover courtesy of the kids' cousin Calli. Deedee does have a computer and I'm sure we'll hear great things about this photo.

This is Hyrum and his cousin Zach after making one of their trademark creations. This is a cart used to transport groceries, toys, etc.

Larry's (Steve's brother) boy Codie (in front), Tim's (Steve's brother) boy Alex behind and Joe and Hyrum.

Larry's daughter Bailey, Tim's daughter Avery, Eric's daughters Kaitlyn and Mataya around Alexis. The kids love being with all of their cousins!