My how you've grown!!

We all decided we needed to start 2010 off with what we all look like so that at the end of the year we can compare ourselves to ourselves and see all the changes.


Nate at 7:

Halley at 6:
Todd at 5:
Andi at 4:
Darbi at 2 1/2:
And Trae (or Traema as we all call him) at 1:
We are still pregnant and have a due date for later in April. We are pretty sure our boy will have the name of Vance Niklas when he is born. We are excited to see this little guy. I was telling Nate the other day that even after having 6 children already, I STILL don't particularly like giving birth and honestly not much about pregnancy either. But, someone's got to do it and I'm the kind of person that would rather be the one in pain rather than watching someone else and not be able to do anything about it.

We are SOOOOO enjoying life right now with these munchkins. Each day is definitely a 'new' day and that saying has a whole new meaning to me after being a mom for nearly 8 years.

Nate and I are learning so much about each other and the different ways each of us operates. I've so enjoyed living life with my best friend for almost 9 years now and having that best friend be even more of a best friend over the years (if that's possible?)

~Robyn

Our relatives the Engens!

The girls:

Not the baby anymore, Adriane... she has a frown as well as a smile that when she chooses to use either of them they are 'for real' and get right to the heart. I had to be pretty sneaky in getting shots of her but we got some really nice ones:
The eldest of all the cousins is Elise. She's practically as tall as me now and very responsible and attentive to others around her:


Triana looks so good in this color of blue. She's here trying to keep the wind from making her hair fly away. Triana is quiet and very lovable:


Tate was THE MAN as he was the first in line to get his photos taken and bore with all the changes I made to get the lighting right:

Two posts ago are of this little guy Stian. Babies change so much even from one to three weeks:

Simon has the biggest smile and LOVES getting his picture taken:

The award for the most cheerful face goes to Sonja:

A very proud mom and dad to all the above children:

The Boys:
Making this one an aged style photo brings out their faces and the many designs of all their sweaters:

Special Family!

An Angel:


Gorgeous couple:
I absolutely LOVE when I see an older brother taking such good care of a younger sibling.
This poor little guy was sooo freezing cold that I think this was one of the only smiles he let out. We finally took him inside to thaw out:

Thank you Megan and Gavin for sharing your afternoon with us. We did have a blast.

Baby Boy

Stian Nils Engen has arrived (NO, this is not our/my baby).

I had the privilege of spending two days with this little guy and his family this last weekend. He's just adorable, great little temperament and is surprisingly awake and happy more than the usual one week old baby is.

First Meeting

This sweet little girl got to meet her Great Grandmother (90) for the first time the other day and I was thrilled to be asked to record it on 'film'.



I absolutely love the story this photo tells. So much time, so much love and care...

Suitcases

The store owner of one of the little consignment shops here in Battle Ground gave me these suitcases and asked for some photos of how they would be used. Here was our first attempt.



Halley picked out her outfit and posed herself. She's becoming quite the photogenic little lady.
Our girls
We have another ONE year old in the house. What a sweet little boy he it. He has so much fun being carried around that he really doesn't want to walk. Soon tho, very soon.

Playing Catch-UP

What to DO when you are sick on the couch most of the past 2 months or so now and you are BORED to death but can't get up and really get anything done around the house.

You can make little girl ballerina skirts, SUPER easy, and you don't really have to move much (except your arms)...





Read lots of books to the kids. We really have not read much at all as I am usually running around all day. So we let the house go (because we had to. Some things I like to make my idea because they are easier to handle:) and read Homer Price, Charlottes Web, and a few others. The kids have just now started to appreciate books that don't have mostly pictures to keep them entertained.

We've officially finished 7 weeks of school (well tomorrow will be 7).

Oh, and something really fun is we have two bobcats that we've seen one of them twice now, right in our backyard. I called the fish and wildlife department and got some information on them and chances are they will relocate themselves. The reason for the visit is that we probably built our house on/near their territory and the construction part died down some so they were trying to see if they could live here again. NO, we don't really want them living here so if they DON'T relocate them then I'll 'relocate' them to a 'new' world.