Nathan is FIVE!

My little man is 5 years old! Nathan was so excited for his birthday to come this year - we were counting down a few weeks in advance! And he was so happy to turn five because he knows that's when you are officially school-aged. I love Nathan so much at 5 - he is such a funny and cute kid! But I will miss him being 4 and telling everyone that he's a CTR 4 when they asked how old he was. Just cute!!



To kick off Nathan's b-day we had him open his present from Grandma Karen & Grandaddy at breakfast. Dan worked the night before and brought home "birthday donuts" for a special breakfast. Can you tell how excited Nathan is?!!

The pic in the middle is Nathan saying "Whoa!" when he saw what he got - the Batman Cave!

And the day got even better when we got to go with Natalie's class to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm for a field trip. We had been there last year when it was a pumpkin patch but had never gone when they set up the Christmas Tree activities. It was a bit cold out but we had so much fun - we will definitely return next year!

There's an assortment of farm animals - can you tell Nathan didn't like the smell? haha!

And you see those 2 geese looking so innocent right where the boys are watching them?

Well they decided it was bath time!

Yep, Tyler and Nathan got splashed by the geese! Definitely a highlight of the field trip :)

The kids got to go on a hayride out to where all the Christmas trees are growing. The class even got to pick out a tree and cut it down to take back to their classroom! There was also a playground for them to play at with picnic tables. It is the most kid-friendly place!

Natalie & Nathan loved playing tether ball together. They crack me up!


Don't forget about all the hay!
They loved running through the hay bale maze. Can't say it enough, We loved this place!!!


And the celebrating wasn't over yet...
we still had to go to Nathan's favorite place for dinner and games-
Chuck E. Cheese!!!!


Tyler was all about the "rides" - check out those funny faces!
Love Tyler's bedhead (he fell asleep in the car on the drive back from Elgin)

And Nathan was all about the games...

Pizza, tokens, games, tickets, prizes, & candy - just a few of Nathan's favorite things!

Me and the birthday boy :)

Natalie is getting really good at the games - she won the most tickets of all!

Dan had to leave for work from Chuck E. Cheese and we forgot to bring the birthday cake

so we waited until the next day to eat it

Spider Man Cake!

(thanks to Sam's for rigging this one up for us last minute!)

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!!

Now a letter to Nathan from me:

Nathan,

I know lots of your favorite things (you tell me frequently), and you are one of my favorite things so I want to tell you some of my favorite things about you:

1. I love how you always start every sentence with, "Mom, I need to tell you something..."

2. I love that you love to play with your brother and sister. You let Natalie boss you around and swing you around! And you are always willing to hunt for "bad guys" with Tyler.

3. I love that you are still so sweet. Maybe it's from all the candy that you love to eat but I think you are really just a sweet little guy.

4. I love how you are almost obsessed with counting and numbers, especially when it comes to your money! Maybe you'll grow up to be an accountant (that sure would make your grandaddy proud!)

5. I love that you are still interested in hanging out with me and helping me. I haven't lost the "cool" factor yet and I plan to cherish as much time as I get with you while you still like to snuggle.

I love you, Nathan!!! You will always be my sweet, sweet boy.

Love,

Mom

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It was so great being able to spend it with all our family! Since everyone contributed to the big meal it wasn't overwhelming and we actually had time to relax and just enjoy spending time together.

Little Goose and her Dad
You don't have to wonder where she gets her silliness from!

Tyler was happy to color while we cooked...

The feast!

Anna, Carla, & Karen

I didn't take many pictures as I wasn't feeling so great after the meal and tended to just stay on the couch. Hopefully Carla got some good ones and will post them soon! (hint hint) Regardless, it was so good seeing family and hanging out. This Thanksgiving came at a perfect time for our family - reminding us to be thankful for what we have. It also helped me to try and be thankful for our trials and know that they are for our learning and growth. I am especially thankful at this time for the gospel and eternal families, I love my family so much and I am so grateful for the blessing they are in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween 2010

Halloween was great this year - lots of parties and of course, lots of CANDY!! We let the kids pick out what they wanted to be for Halloween and they did a great job. Natalie wanted to be a cat, no surprise there! And we already had everything for that so it was easy. Nathan still fit in his "Dash" costume from last year and it didn't take much to convince him that he should be Dash again! Even easier!! And thanks to the recent craze with the newest Toy Story movie, Tyler was more than happy to be Buzz Lightyear (Nathan's costume from several years ago). So not only was our costume- hunting easy, it was also super cheap!

Our first big shindig was the Trunk-or-Treat for the Kyle Ward. They let us crash their party and it was fun seeing all our old friends. It was a week before Halloween so the perfect kick-off for all the candy eating!

Trick-or-Treat!

Our ward's Trunk-or-Treat was the next week, the night before Halloween, and I must say that it didn't compare to Kyle's when it came to all the fun kid games that Kyle had. But the kids still had a blast going to all the trunks for candy! And the best part was that it started earlier so Dan got to come for the first part (the wonderful chili cook-off!!) before he had to go to work.

Tyler really got the hang of going to each car and saying "Trick-or-treat!" then saying "Thank you" until they said "You're welcome" - it was so cute!

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year we had a big family dinner and Surprise party for Dan's mom, Carla, at their house. The kids got to go on a scavenger hunt for clues to where the treats were hidden - they loved it!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Fun with Natalie!

I've finally downloaded all the pictures from our big and small cameras so I can share them! Here's some fun pics I found of Natalie-

Natalie's school had a Science Carnival with stations set up for all the kids to learn about different science principles - this one was about making bubbles (messy!!)
What rolls? What scoots?

Nathan & Tyler were just as excited about the popcorn being sold

Natalie with her 1st grade teacher, Ms. P - can you tell how much she loves her teacher? :)

Showing off her terarium she made at a b-day party

Dressing up! Goofy girl!!!

Stylin' girl!

A favorite activity at our house - tickle fights!

My silly, fun family - how I love them!