Santa's lap

Tonight we went to Nate's school for a puppet show of the Gingerbread Boy and afterwards Santa showed up. I didn't know if they would sit on his lap but the older two did just fine but as you can see Colton did not like it, he had a strong hold on my shirt and wouldn't let go, as I was trying to set him down. As I was waiting in line, I kept asking if this was worth it because I didn't even know if they would sit down on his lap. On top of me trying to hold Colton, and keep track of Josh and Nate because Danny was on splits with the missionaries. And just prior to seeing Santa, Nate gave me a real scare. After the puppet show ended, everyone just got up at once, grabbed refreshments and headed out the door. Well, he was up front on the floor with Josh and he just headed off. So, his teacher Mrs Debbie, helped grab Josh and brought him to me. So, I went to get Nate on the other side of the gym, however he was no where to be seen. So, I told Mrs Debbie that I couldn't find him and she looked in the gym and Josh, Colton and I headed out to find him. They had santa sitting by the front doors so we filed through the massive crowds and found him like 5 kids from the front of the line. I was so dang scared. There were so many people that it would have been easy for someone to grab him. And he would go because he's to darn friendly and sociable. I seriously need a leash for that kid. Anyways, I made him get out of line, go back to the gym, get our cookies and coats then go get back in line. With all that, we ended up being dead last in line to see santa. It was a long line too so, I was super relieved when they sat on his lap. I was going to be so frustrated if they didn't sit on his lap after all that craziness. So, here are the pictures from the night. Enjoy!

Grandma and Grandpa come to town

Yeah, Grandpa and Grandma arrive at the airport!

Grandma and Grandpa pose with all the boys!

Grandma doing what she does best, getting Colton to sleep!

Nate and Josh con Grandpa into playing candyland!

Wrapping presents around the table.

Grandpa and Colton getting to know each other.

More present wrapping.

Waiting for our BBQ from the Smokehouse.

MMM, where's our BBQ?

Grandma and Colton getting ready to head out.

More pictures of Grandma wrapping some Christmas presents.

Grandpa, Josh and Colton playing together.

One last picture of everyone before we take them to the airport.

It was a lot of fun having Grandma and Grandpa come and visit us. We were glad that they were able to come. We did a lot of shopping and visiting late at night. We sure miss having them around. We wish we were closer. As I was putting the pictures up to this post Nate came by to look but he then decided that he didn't want to see them because it didn't make him happy. Poor boy, he's such a Grandpa's boy and has such a tender heart. We all wish it could have been a longer visit. Time went by much too fast. Hopefully time will fly and we will be coming up to Utah to visit and see everyone. Danny got home from work and we were all sad so he had to take us out so we weren't sitting home thinking about Grandma and Grandpa being gone. We are so glad that you were able to come and visit us. So thanks for flying out and spending some time with us! We love you so much and miss you horribly!!!

Our Turkey Bowl

Daddy and Josh begin their feast!

Nate, mommy & Colton at the table ready for our Thanksgiving meal!

Daddy helps Nate on his first frame of bowling!

Josh watches his ball go down the lane!

Look at that perfect form!

Freaky! Colton has the same look on his face as his daddy!

The boys would stand there waiting for everyone's ball to return.

All done bowling, time to take the stinky bowling shoes off. We had a good time bowling. Nate did pretty well throwing the ball all by himself. Josh thought he could do it by himself but the ball was too heavy but boy, he sure did try to go it alone the whole time. Danny didn't play, he just helped the boys the entire time. And for me, if it wasn't for the bumpers I would have had so many gutter balls. This may become a Thanksgiving tradition, but we'll see. Our goal is to actually make it home for Thanksgivings so we will have to take that as it comes. So, Mom, hopefully next year we will be up there for Thanksgiving. Even Danny agrees that Thanksgiving would be a good one for a visit, so that should really give you hope. We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and that you stuffed yourself silly!

Happy Birthday Nate!!!!!

From this, November 20, 2003:


To this, November 20, 2008:

Happy Birthday Nathan! We love you! I can't believe that you have turned 5 years old! Where did the last 5 years go? You are growing up way too fast. Right now you are in pre-school and loving it. You have made friends with everyone in your class. I smile as I drop you off and you are greeted by everyone in your class, they are so excited to see you. You are my little social butterfly. (I don't know where you got that from because your Mommy and Daddy are not social people at all.) You are so friendly and outgoing that you make friends very easily. You enjoy pleasing other people. It makes me pause and wonder if you'll grow up and want to be apart of all the student councils and clubs in high school. You are so eager to learn, you thirst for knowledge. It amazes me that you are already trying to figure out words and trying to read. You are a very smart boy. And you don't just excel academically but also spiritually. You know more than I ever did and it is so awesome to see your spiritual side blossom as well. You are a great big brother. You are so independent, that many mornings you and Josh are up and hungry so you get him and you a bowl, cereal, milk and a spoon. You don't just take care of yourself but also your little brother. And you are always willing to help Mommy out with Colton, getting diapers, burb clothes or playing with him. You are always doing funny things and coming up with your crazy jokes. You are a great son. We love having you in our family. 5 years ago when you where born, it was so amazing to know that I was holding MY son, and that same feeling still has never left. I always feel the same way whenever you allow that rare moment to happen and let Mommy hold you. Nathan I want you to know that you are very loved, and wanted in our family. Also know, that your Heavenly Father loves you too. Nathan, please know this, that as your parents there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your little spirit grow and start gaining a testimony. You are an incredible boy! We love you so very, very, very, much! We hope that you have a fantastic 5th Birthday! May all your wishes come true! Lastly, Nathan, thanks for being our son!

All our love, Mommy and Daddy

Bathtime

Colton, Colton, Colton! He is our fat and happy little guy. I love pictures of the kids in the tub maybe because they are all cleaned up. But I realized I don't have many pictures of Colton in the tub so here are some of him. He loves bath time, he still slump alot because he can't sit up yet because he's too roly-poly, as you can clearly see from the fat rolls in the pictures. Isn't he a chub? And, yes, I will just squeeze him for all of you that wish you could do it for yourselves!

Camp Nate

We had a small party for Nate and let him invite a few friends over. It was kind of an early party since his real birthday isn't until the 20th. It was a camping theme. We began by playing musical chairs and they loved it. Then I had them "go fish", the fish had little things on them such as pretend you are an animal, find this color in the room, etc. Then the last catch was of them getting a bag of gummy worms, swedish fish, a party horn and a flashlight. They boys loved it! I totally forgot to get the camera out so sorry I don't have any pictures of those activities. But here are some pictures of the rest of the night.

Here is the cake I made. I'm very much a novice but it tasted good. It was a nature/ bug cake. Nate loved it and thought it was cool!

Nate is blowing out his candles.

He missed one candle so he was going back to blow it out again.

This is Hyland Squire, Keaton Rasmussen, Nate, Josh and Zachary Heathman getting ready for their cake and ice cream. They are all boys from church that are his age.

The boys are sitting around the "camp fire" (doesn't it look SO real, this is the best that I could come up with). They are getting ready to open presents.

Nate is opening his first present, a monster truck.

Nate is opening up a "super-hero" memory game.

And here is Nate opening up a geo trax train.

All the boys went downstairs to play in the tents. They took their flashlights and a pillow downstairs, turned the lights off and started telling ghost stories. It was funny listening the little guys tell their versions of "scary stories".

Another shot of Nate and Josh, the cutest little campers there ever were.

And at the end of the night, our little campers are just tuckered out after a long night of many camping adventures. They had so much fun that it wiped them out. They wanted to camp downstairs in the tent, so we let them. Honestly, I didn't think they would stay down there and fall asleep. I thought I'd have to get after them for talking, laughing and playing but there really wasn't any of that. It was silent after maybe 10 minutes at the most. So, in the end, Nate had a great time and that alone made all the work all worth it. But the party went well and now that it's over and I am ready to tackle the next project.

Colton

Here is a video clip of our sweet man. He recently has discovered his tongue and is constantly sticking it out. And it is literally sticking out all day, whenever he is up he is sticking it out but the funny thing is, it's always on the side of his mouth and not in the center. He's a silly baby. Hope you enjoy the clip as well!

Super Why

Here the boys are playing "Wyatt" from the show 'Super Why' on PBS. We printed the masks out and they had fun pretending to be Wyatt. They were being so funny but it was one of those things that you just had to be there. Nate also tried putting his glasses on top of the mask and it made him looked really odd. Oh, the things boys will do.

Mmm-Mummy's

I tried making some mummy dogs for our play group's Halloween party. They turned out ok, I definitely need more practice. But the kids liked them. And they are super easy to make. Cause that's what I like, easy and simple.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!

Colton is our little farmer. Isn't he adorable!

This is our new dog, we named him Josh!

Nate was mutated into Leonardo the turtle! (sorry the pic is blurry)

Trick or treat,give me something good to eat. The boys are so ready to get the show going and get some candy. They had a great time at our ward's trunk or treat!

Another pic of Colton.

Nate and all his loot!

Josh and all his loot!

And again Colton gets another picture. He's so darn cute. He kept trying to eat his animals on his clothes.