My good friend Jen came and took our family pictures back in November. I LOVE them. They turned out so cute! Who'd of thought anyone could make this goofy family look so darn cute?

Look at that...we're ALL looking at the camera...and no one is crying. Woo Hoo!

I love this one of the kidlets!

I love how pretty Oregon is...even in November!

This one is great...two parents completely oblivious to the naughtiness of the kids. Joshua is pulling a goofy face; Noah is sulking, Arwen is striking her fashion pose and Lu is not looking at the camera and pouting. That's about right!!

About a week before we had our pictures taken Arwen had a nasty rash all over her mouth because she wouldn't stop licking her lips. I warned her that she wouldn't be in the family pics if it wasn't gone in time. Mean mom...but the rash was gone.

She sure is a pretty, sweet little girl!

I LOVE her eyes in this one!

And this is my favorite. It pretty much sums up Arnie...Little Miss Sassy Pants. What am I gonna do with this girl?

Here's our little "comedian." Seriously, he thinks he's the funniest thing. Ever. And he's pretty right.

Look at that toothless grin. He's pretty proud of it!

I ADORE this picture. This is Noah. He totally looks mischievous, but knows darn well that it he flashes his grin, he'll get away with all his mayhem!

Gotta love this boy of mine!

"Which of these things is not like the others?" Oooh, ask me, I know! It's Joshua!

He's our little "brownie." And he LOVES that he's different.

He loves his "chocolate" eyes and hair and gets disgusted if one of his siblings tells him that blue eyes are prettier.

Doesn't he look so cute with his hands in his pocket? I love this beautiful boy SO much!

Oh Larkin, why are there only TWO pictures of you? Oh yeah...cause you're the naughtiest little pixie. Ever.

Little Miss Sunshine here really does smile. I promise. But these pictures are pretty true to form...she's stubborn and she won't do anything unless SHE wants to do it. And that's final!

These are my favorites. My plans are to frame them and put them on our bedroom wall. You did an amazing job, Jen!

Here are a few more of my favorites.

I love you the most, Aaron. I win.

I just overheard/saw the craziest "game" ever. Joshua was laying on the ground with his eyes closed and Noah was running around him, singing, "Dean man, dead man in a dish. How many pieces do you wish?" Joshua said 8 and Noah counted to 8 and then the "dead man," Joshua, got up and tried to get Noah. Who needs bubble gum when you've got a dead man?

Arwen likes to go to California mostly to visit her grandparents.

Grandpa Willy is one of her favorites.

If you can't find Arwen, she's usually cuddling on Grandpa Willy's lap.

Noah has a BLAST when we visit the grandparents house because he has 16 acres to run free and be wild and crazy and not worry about being too loud or breaking anything! Seriously, we VERY RARELY see the kids when we are there. They have too much exploring and playing to do.

He really is king of where the wild things are!

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen over Thanksgiving last year. Grandma has lots and lots of chickens! The kids love to feed (and chase) and play with the chickens. Except Lu. Apparently she is TERRIFIED of them.

And can you blame her...look at those chickens...they practically the size of her.

Poor baby. Where was her mother, you ask. I have no idea...probably out shopping or something. Of course Dad can't rescue her because if he doesn't take pictures, who will?

Looks like a chicken must be coming in for the kill. Poor Lu Lu.

We took a trip to the coast over Christmas vacation. There was a high wind advisory and a recommendation to stay off all the beaches because the waves were so high. We had fun getting on our winter gear and looking for whales. We didn't see any, but the kids had fun pretending to be swept away by the wind.

Noah was very sad to wake up on Christmas morning to find there was no snow. Where in the world does this kid think we live...we've never been anywhere that has any chance of snowing on Christmas. A few days later, we got a freak snow storm with enough snow to play in. The kids were in heaven. Too bad it wasn't on Christmas day...though Noah said it was okay that it was a few days late.