Meeting their Aunt and Uncle

First time holding their nephews!

J+P share a laugh

Today Joseph and Peter were sitting in their Bumbo seats under their favorite baby gym when Peter let out a reverberating  man - sized burp. Joseph looked up at him and laughed, which set Peter laughing. Then they made little sounds and giggles back and forth which I caught on video. Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/iygoSIU3-bI

The quest for a family picture

It all started when I noticed our family picture hanging on our wall was missing two key members of our family. "We'll have to take another one with Peter and Joseph in it," I mentioned casually to David, as if this would be a simple matter.

And so begins the quest for a family picture... Sure, it would be nice if we were all smiling, coordinated in clothing, gazing at the camera, and all in focus... but with 4 kids, two of whom are super active, and the other two of whom are 6 months old and wiggly... yeah... You already figured that out, didn't you? Now I just want one where we all look happy.

Take 1: Let's take advantage of the energy, and walk towards the camera... Except Elijah is fast. So fast he zipped out of the frame for several pictures.

Take 2: Seize the Fall Moment!  We stuck kids in a tree to climb, then thought, hey, let's snap a picture! Look! We all are looking at the camera!! No one is crying! And it was spontaneous, Vosses-in-Real-Life.

Take 3: At Eva's birthday party... Aren't the kids cute in their sweaters?  An isn't it great that Monkey made it in to the picture??

Pagosa Springs

We took a little getaway weekend with Mom and Dad Otten to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, to see if we could catch some more fall foliage. We found it! Yellow aspens everywhere.

Elijah and Eva love to hike. They did great!

Trees to climb and leaves to see... We watched a hot air balloon in the sky.

Always up for adventure

Oma and Poppi with the happy grandkids

Adobe church ruins

We took a walk by a mountain stream. Eva couldn't resist. She made mud pies.

If you want to attract attention, put two adorable babies to kick on a blanket in a beautiful park. Watch the people come! They smiled at all of their admirers.

Stunning stream

Splashing

A boy and his grandpa

Our Elijah

The contrast of gold and green... the sun sets the color of the trees on fire

Each direction we looked...

our beautiful hike

wearing Daddy's hat

We wanted to stop at each turn in the road and take another picture... if only it could capture it!

We found a waterfall!

Gorgeous.

Leaf peeping in Santa Fe

Ahh... fall.

We've been missing the spectacular autumn of New England... the apple picking, the hot apple cider and apple cider donuts, the lobster, the fish chowder, the Red Sox games and the crisp cool air... but mostly the breathtaking colors of the turning leaves.

A friend of ours from Boston posted a picture of a sea of gorgeous yellow leaves.  I looked at the picture and thought nostalgically, "That's what I want to see."

Then I noticed she posted it from Santa Fe! She and her husband were taking a getaway vacation to the Southwest and stumbled upon the peak of color so close to us! 

We went the next day, in quest of foliage.

It was stunning.

Very different from the patchwork quilt of New England colors, but beautiful in its own way.

We rounded a corner and came upon this... breathtaking!

Me and my best friend!

The pictures just don't do it justice... the contrast of the golden aspens glowing in the sun, fluttering next to the dark green evergreens...

Why, yes, I do have my hands full with these precious four! Just the way we like it.

We took a walk in the aspens.

Dad and me (and Peter, too, though he was asleep for most of the hike!)

In the aspen woods

This is for real!

a teepee of branches delighted the kids

Mom and me (and Peter makes three!)

We plan on making this a yearly event!

We can't stop taking pictures. It's just so beautiful.

Would you believe this still doesn't do it justice?

Maybe just one more picture? You don't mind, do you?

 Look at those tall trunks, with the burst of gold at the top. Like giant paintbrushes dipped in yellow.

They posed for us on their own. We couldn't resist. All right, we'll take another!!

Bigglesnorts

We went to one of the coolest toy stores out there called Bigglesnorts to get Eva a plasma car she had saved up for. While there they had a craft making masks.

Dress Up

We went over some friends house for dinner and Eva had a great time dressing up with her friend.  (Sorry for the blurry shots... that girl doesn't hold still.)

Balloon Fiesta 2014

It's Balloon Fiesta time, the best time to be in Albuquerque! Hundreds of hot air balloons fill the sky, family come in for visits, we celebrate David's and Evangeline's birthdays, fall is in the air and excitement is high.

This year was Peter and Joseph's first balloon fiesta, so we made sure they lived it up.

The sun comes up and hot air balloons fill the sky.  We watch the mass ascension from a field by our house, Elijah affetionately calls "Goathead Field" due to the crazy number of goathead thorns on the ground.

Poppi just couldn't wait to give Joseph his first taste of Apple Fritter.  Note: Poppi was also the one to feed Elijah his first taste of donut... He sees this crucial education as his responsibility!

Watching the hot air balloons in style!

More and more balloons took to the sky! This year we were happy to see Yoda balloon join Darth Vader, as well as enjoying our favorites: the carousel, rocket, butterfly, cow, Wells Fargo Wagon...

David, Oma and Poppi took the kids went down to Fiesta Field one evening. The babies and I stayed back for a quiet evening, as the weather was unpredictable.

The kids got to climb in a cockpit model "of a really cool jet."

Poppi and Oma show the crazy foods the Fiesta has to offer... Deep fried green chile cheeseburger in a funnel cake bun... They just had to try it! The lady in front of them in line was waiting to get her second of the day.  David said one a year was probably all he could handle!

Windy weather forced the Glowdeo to cancel (You don't want tethered balloons firing up and blowing!) but they still had fun.

The fireworks were still on, and they were in the best spot for them, with the show right overhead!