Thankful times

We had a delicious Thanksgiving with our families.  We did brunch at my parents' house (totally failed to get any photos), and it was good to see my mom recovering well from her hip surgery.  Still has a ways to go, but making progress!  Amy hosted everyone for dinner in their church hall, and it was so great to see everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

Kids table?

Pretty table

The kids took advantage of the gym

Jane & Jane

The original Donoghues

Maggie had her first orchestra concert at school earlier in the month.  Most of these kids have never touched a violin/viola/cello/bass, so we were really impressed with how well they did after just a couple months' instruction - 60+ kids all playing in sync!  My schools didn't have large bands or orchestra growing up, so I thought this was the coolest thing!

Zooming way in from our seats

Proud dad

With her girlfriend

Some others:

Ben is so happy in his Sports Sampler class!

These two - best friends or worst enemies 
depending on the day

Cracking himself up as usual

Looking far too grown up

Watching the Lions!

I turned another year older with my favorite people

Tough cookie

Bros gathering

A bunch of friends and moms went to see Wicked on opening
weekend - it did not disappoint!

Grandma came with us for a girls night

Maggie saw Wicked again with another group of friends
(this time she sang all the songs)

Went to see Moana (I was jealous)

Jamie took Jack to a Wings game!

Jamie's view while hanging Christmas lights

Basketball season has started!

Very into building forts now

Fall-ing

We had a nice, warm Halloween this year!  The kids are all pretty independent with pumpkin carving, though Ben of course needs a little help.  We went trick-or-treating with some friends by our old house and everyone got way too much candy.

Happy Halloween!

Trunk or Treat - Ben was the only kid that wanted to stay with us!

Forcing them to take a picture with me... I got
2 out of 3!

These kids really love pumpkin carving!

Sloppy bun for the win! (she never lets me put her
hair up, but her hands were too dirty to stop me!)

Clearing the pumpkin. One seed at a time.

Classic Evie

Maggie was Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter

Evie was Hermione from Harry Potter

Cutest officer with his pumpkin
(my favorite part is the double-chin)
We couldn't convince him to be Harry Potter

Walking to Starbucks after school - this is her favorite thing to
do with friends (followed by reading together at the library)

This is perhaps too much candy

In heaven

Fall soccer is over for Maggie and Ben, and they did great!  Evie will continue with her premier league through the year, and Maggie is playing a little indoor too.  We're ramping up for basketball season for both girls, and Ben is doing a sports class each week to try out a bunch of different sports.

I'm the cheap mom that doesn't buy soccer photos... so here's my off-center team photos!

Black 2

Fireballs

The Excavators

Getting his moves on!

We had Evie's first tournament... annoying the Starbucks
employees between games

Jamie and I took a weekend trip to Denver as a fun getaway!  We went partly because Jamie wanted to see The National (again) in a different city, and I've just always wanted to check out Colarado.  We split our time between outdoorsy stuff and the concert.  I'm obsessed with mountains and definitely want to do more exploring - I didn't know you had to reserve a spot to be allowed into Rocky Mountain National Park, so we didn't get to see as much as I hoped this time around, but we saw plenty!

Gorgeous day for hiking!

I want more!

Yes, I insisted on finding some waterfalls too

We splurged on VIP tickets for the concert, so we got to attend soundcheck with a small group of people, get a photo with the band, and Jamie even got to talk with a couple of them!

The War on Drugs and Lucius both opened... so good!

Zoomed-in photo - I quickly learned that these people are all
as obsessive as Jamie.

Getting Matt's digits

We lucked out with our rental - what a fun Jeep!

Also squeezed in a last-minute ball game at 
Coors Field

Jamie is the advisor for his school's junior class, so he helped create a Rapunzel-themed float for the homecoming parade.  He was also volun-told that he would be coaching the junior girls for the school's powderpuff game.  He was so anxious about coaching for the first time, and perhaps took it too seriously... but in the end, the team was really awesome!  They technically didn't win due to some pretty questionable calls that allowed the seniors their victory, but he had a lot of people tell him that the juniors clearly won that game!

Ready for the parade!

Ben with his buddy who got to be Rapunzel

A few weeks later ready to watch the powderpuff game!

A coach and his team

Some others:

Baseball outing with Dad

so cute!

Jamie and his dad hit up Vampire Weekend - said it was great!

Jamie and friends seeing The National in Michigan

We our love our Tigers!  Jamie met up with Donna and Pat 
for one of the ALDS games

Went to see Moulin Rouge at the Opera House with a couple friends
I want to see it again!

This boy loves his dog

My vibe most Saturdays this fall

Thanks to John for tickets to the Oregon game!
A little tough to watch, but I sure love being at the Big House!

One of those days where all the kids ended up at our house