Halloween 2011

This Halloween was a ton of fun!  We were able to attend our friend's party in the park, our ward's trunk-or-treat and do our own trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  To say that we had too much candy is an understatement!  Logan sold us his candy for $, and if I remember correctly he had 4 lbs.  Cole had double the candy that L did because he has a love of running to as many houses that we'll let him.  Ty wasn't having much fun.  Most of the houses scared him and he wouldn't wear a costume.  Finally we put him in his regular clothes and called him a "gym teacher."

 This was at our friend's party in the park.  They didn't want to leave!

 The boys were helping Alain get the fog machine ready.  C is wearing part of my costume :).

This is Alain's decorations that he made this year.  Every year he makes a scene out of cardboard boxes and then paints it all by hand.  I think this year's may have been one of his best.

 This is right before they left to get their loot.  Our neighbors went with us and here is one of them checking out A's masterpiece.

 L was a Star Trek guy.  He was too cool to wear the rest of the costume ;).

 Here's the gym teacher, Coach Rivard.  Doesn't look much like a "coach" !

Here it was at night.  I have to say it was great when the kiddies would come up to the house saying how cool it was!!

Derek's Endowments

In 2010 my little brother (two years younger than me) was hit by a semi-truck and killed Labor Day weekend.  At his funeral my family decided that we would do his temple work at the one year anniversary of his death since he wasn't able to get it done on this earth.  Being with my family in the celestial room, knowing my brother was there, was a great feeling.  It was really nice to be able to take a quick trip home to see my family and also visit his grave since I hadn't yet seen the gravestone.

 Me and my parents.

 View from the temple parking lot.

 Oakland Temple

 Derek's grave.

Logan's Piano Recital

Logan has been taking piano for a couple of years now, but it seems as though he has only started to really progress this year.  He does not fight me too much with practicing, so it makes it nice for all of us.  At the end of the year (I think around May) his piano teacher, Sister Ostler (who is fantastic by the way) had a recital for all of her students.  Logan did great and we are so proud of him.

 He had to tell everyone what he was playing.

 Doing his magic ;).

All done. (More like- Get me out of here!)

Start of K and 6th Grade- 2011

Logan started middle school this year and it made me feel really old!  Cole started Kindergarten, which broke my heart because he was my little buddy.  I was really excited because this was the first year that I was able to take Cole to his first day of school because I was always teaching school.  But school in ABQ starts really early (early Aug.) so I was ecstatic to get to do it!  However, Cole is so independent that he walked right in by himself and was perfectly fine.  No crying on either end, so it went really well!

 He was so excited!!

 His school requires uniforms, which I love.

The Rivard Boys :)

Ingrown Toenails

Logan had to have surgery on his two big toes because he had some really nasty ingrown toenails that were beyond infected and swollen.  He has also had a problem with the way he walks and since he was going into middle school (the bain of every tween's existence) I figured it was time to get it taken care of.  We found out that he doesn't have an arch which affected his walk.  The doctor recommended a special brand of expensive shoes and orthodics.  He has been doing a lot better with his walking and his toes are much, much better.  I was so proud of him because he had to soak his feet in epsom salt and warm water every morning and night for 15 minutes, plus wrap them up with Neosporin and bandaids.  He was definitely a trooper and I'm so proud of how he handled it.  My little boy is growing up :(.

1st Trip to Santa Fe

While Abuelita was here during Easter we decided it would be fun to take a trip to Santa Fe since none of us had ever been.  We heard there is a train that you can ride for fairly cheap from ABQ to SF, so that's what we decided to do.  The boys absolutely loved it, but it took a l-o-n-g time with all of the stops they had to make before we actually got to SF.  It was totally worth it though because the boys loved it so much.

I had always heard so much about SF, so I was really excited to go and see what it was all about.  We got off the train, went on a shuttle bus to the square, and it looked just like Old Town here in ABQ.  It was still nice to walk around and see the cute stores and the old church that was there.  We had fun and will definitely go back, but in our car because then we would be able to roam more around the city.

 It was freezing while we were waiting for the train!

 Luckily Ty fell asleep on the train ride.

 Me and my honey :).

 Cole loved the R2-D2 mail box!!

 The old, OLD, church that Alain loved.

 This is a little maze (I guess you can call it) where you start on a certain brick and then follow the pattern to the center or vice versa.

 It was really cool inside the church.

I love seeing all of the old buildings.

Cole's Preschool Graduation

For the past three years I have been lucky enough to be Cole's preschool teacher.  This year Cole graduated from preschool, and I cannot believe that he is now in Kindergarten.  

 He is literally beaming!!

 Daddy was so proud,

 and so was mommy!

 The bros.

The whole class.

It was a great graduation, and I'm so proud of my little Cole-buddies :).

Alain's 36th Birthday

This year Alain turned the big 36.  It's hard to say or write that because I don't see Alain as closer to 40 than 30.  Ugh, we're getting old!

Every year Alain always gets a Black Forest Cake for his birthday.  I thought I would change it up a little bit by making a trifle.  I'm not too big on BFC but this trifle was SO good!  Alain loved it and that's all that matters :).

Easter 2011

Easter this year was really special because Abuelita was able to come and be with us.  We rode the Road Runner to Santa Fe, which the boys LOVED.  It was nice to walk around and see some of the shops, but I think driving there would be a lot faster and more convenient because we would be able to drive to other parts of the city to see more of what Santa Fe has to offer.

We dyed Easter eggs and had a nice yummy meal with the family.  It was a really fun weekend :).

 Beginning to dye the eggs.

 Lots of serious faces.

Ty had to get in on the mix.

 Had to do our egg hunt in side the house since our backyard is rock.

It didn't matter to the kids.  They still had fun.

I made the cutest bunny rolls for our Easter dinner.  Isn't he cute?!

Hopefully Easter 2012 will be just as nice.

ABQ Zoo and Aquarium

We were very excited to find out when we moved here that they have a zoo and an aquarium.  We were spoiled with the San Diego Zoo and Sea World that we were able to visit multiple times having lived in Las Vegas since SD was only 5 hours away.  But the boys still had fun here even though they were nothing like SD's (sorry ABQ lovers!).

 They had elephants,

 that made Cole happy :).

 Very cute zebras.

 These "meerkat manors" as Cole says were lounging in the sun.

 Now on to the aquarium.

 Ty loved the fish!

 So did L :).

 There is a big cage with a ton of mana rays (or sting rays?).

 Ty trying to touch them.

 This one is full of sharks and turtles.  It's in a really big room so they were able to stay there for a while and watch all of the fishies.

Fun with the fam :).