Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls' place on the original wonders of the world list is no mistake. It takes your breath away. As a parent it does this twice--once for beauty and once for the danger factor. Everything is fenced but you can't help stress out a bit. Anyway the Falls are amazing. A bit of insight for those who haven't been here yet. There are officially two falls: Horseshoe Falls- named for its shape and American Falls. Horseshoe Falls is better viewed from Canada. It is also the bigger and more spectacular fall. (We stayed on the American side of the falls. We all need passports now a days). Most of the pictures are of the American Falls. There is a state park with a lovely park. We parked and walked probably 2 miles or so to all the different view points. The views were each worth it.


Checking out the Niagara River above the falls.

There must be tons of fish or something to eat because the birds were all over the water.

Alex is amazed.

Bry grinning

American Falls. In the back of the picture is the mist from Horseshoe Falls.

American Falls take 2

Family shot

The boys

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls-- It was so misty you couldn't see much.

Heading back... some of the boys were tired and needed a lift.

Buffalo, NY

Friday after Thanksgiving we headed to Buffalo, NY. What is in Buffalo you ask? Well some wonderful friends and Niagara Falls. Jeff's desire to see everything is unquenchable. I was tired from a cold that was sapping my energy, so Jeff took the bull by the horn and packed us up. We stayed with our new friends Paula and Tom Radel. They were wonderful and the kids loved being at their house as much or more than anything else. Their home was complete with a huge greyhound, waterfall and Noah and Bailey Radel from Syracuse. When it was time to see the Falls, Alex said the waterfall is right there, pointing to the yard. All the boys loved George the greyhound who is retired from racing.


This was the brightest rainbow I've ever seen. You could see the full rainbow, all 7 colors and the secondary rainbow too.

The boys at the zoo-- grizzly bear behind.

Naval Musuem

The Anchor Bar and Grill where Buffalo wings were invented. We tried to eat there, but with a 45 minute wait time and 5 hungry boys we opted for Wendy's next door.

Alex and George

Dane loved George, just not looking him in the eye.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day!!! The missionaries came to dinner along with a couple of other friends from church. Jeff and Oliver played a bit of football in the morning. Seth couldn't wait for the pies. He also loved the jello leftovers. Next year I think I will need to get a bigger turkey.

As tradition everyone said what they are grateful for. Here are the highlights...
Oliver was thankful for family.
Bryant was thankful for scriptures.
Seth was thankful for family.
Alex was thankful for food.
Jeff was thankful for gospel and health.
I was (and still am) thankful for family and forgiveness.

Fall leaves

A few pictures of the boys playing in fall leaves. We can't have fall without time spent in leaves. This year leaves got piled into the sandbox. I'm not sure who did this. However I am amazed at the hours of contentment that that box brings. It has had sand in it, as well as rocks, water and now leaves. No matter what is in the sandbox, all of my children love to be in it. Oh and the green under Oliver's eyes are for football. He did it himself. Can you tell?

Even more boys than usual

A friend of mine was in the hospital to have a baby. She needed help watching children of family who had come in town to help her with delivery. I was only too happy to help. It just so happened that it was 4 more boys!!! Plus I already watch our friend Trey. So between my boys and all the other boys there were 10 boys around the house all day. Can we say Testosterone?!? Don't worry about my sanity-- all the boys were very cute and well behaved.

Dinner

Lunch

First snow

The first snow came early in November this year. It only lasted a couple of hours, but the boys enjoys it none the less. I will admit that as I gathered all the snow gear for the boys my shoulders sagged and bit as I signed, "It begins." However we haven't had snow again for a month. Tonight we should get our first really storm. Hopefully we will get a good layer that will stay more then a few hours.

Alex getting ready to sled down the hill in the backyard.

Trey, a friend, and Seth.

Rocket Race

Oliver and Bryant participated in the Rocket Race for cub scouts early in November. I was a little bit nervous because it was me who helped with the rubber band engine. Jeff was on his Upstate rotation. We were glad when Jeff was able to make it to the event in time to see at least Oliver's races. I was glad that even though the boys didn't win, the rockets moved and didn't take last place every time. Bryant actually took second 3 different times. Oliver didn't fare quite as well, but had fun anyway. A good time was had by everyone even without winning.