Cousins!

We had the treat of having Sage and Micah stay with us for 5 days. What fun we had!
I had fun pretending I had 5 kids. I loved it.
One day it snowed all day. Dave was planning to shovel when he got home. The girls decided to surprise Dave. They spent over an hour in the freezing cold, shoveling away for their dad.
The kids got to open an early Christmas present from a dear friend. I took before pictures but didn't take enough "after" pictures. The girls knew they were getting something similar and didn't want to see the other open their gift first, so they positioned themselves so they couldn't see. The boxes were packed with their latest obsession and hobby...BEADS for jewelry making. They were in heaven. They spent the entire day on Saturday making jewelry and organizing all of their beads.
Nate hasn't worn suspenders in a while, but today he decided to wear them. Here is Nate about to open his box of legos. Next to the girls, Nate spent the entire day building with his new Legos. What a fun Saturday.
The kids did all sorts of shows for us. This particular show was a dancing show. They did all sorts of ballroom dancing and taught the boys how to ask a girl to dance. It was adorable. The video is much better than the still shot!
Another show was an exercise show. Again, the video is way better.
We made a CD for Grandma Shelly's birthday of the kids singing primary songs. The girls were so cute huddled together around the mic.

Dog Heaven

We've had our neighbor dog, Heeley, over to play a few times this week. Nate is in heaven. He snuggles with him all day, he gets him his food, takes him on walks, teaches him tricks, how to draw, reads to him, etc.
He even puts a blanket on him when he wants to nap. So cute. I'm not a dog fan, but I can't help love watching Nate with a dog.

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

We're so glad Grandpa needed an implant done by Dad so we could have a visit! We celebrated Dad's birthday by eating chocolate cake and singing "When I'm 64" to him.
"Window" the sugar glider climbing on Grandpa.

I considered posting the picture of Mom and I during our hula-hoop contest but thought she might not want that picture posted for the world to see.
Ashlyn, Sadie and our neighbor Katie, planned a neighborhood Halloween party. They worked on it for weeks. They planned all sorts of games, prizes, food, etc. They got a pretty good turn out! The girls had so much fun being in charge of all these kids. At one point they asked the adults to scoot away a bit because we were being too loud for their game. Funny how the tables turn.
The orange cones were to let the kids know that they weren't allowed on the porch until they were called. Once it was time for snacks, they removed the cones and everyone charged the porch for the food.
Playing bingo. That's a lot of kids to keep track of for bingo, but they did a great job.

Nate was looking for a snack "high up". I guess when there is a will, there is a way. Lately when Nate asks for a snack, he says "But not something wet. I want something dry." This means: I don't want a fruit or vegetable.

Happy Birthday My Boy!

Nate turned 4 today. It was a happy day 4 years ago on August 10th! When I was little I had a cake with m&ms and lollipops. Nate has been talking about having this kind of cake for months. He also wanted it to be rainbow on the inside, so we did our best. The kids had fun helping and Nate kept saying "This is sooooo fun!"
If you've been around Nate lately, you know that he LOVES to hike up his pants as far as possible. He does this all day long. Not much gets in the way of tucking in his shirt and hiking up the pants. He even wants to be "tucked in" for bedtime. Even if it's a really big bedtime shirt. So Dave wanted to get him some suspenders to help out. He loves them. A week ago he planned that he would wear this shirt for his birthday. I asked him why today. He said because it's red. I guess red is a birthday color? Heidi...do you recognize this shirt?

Thanks Karla for the cape and mask set! Dave took the kids on a run up this mountain and Nate wore the mask the whole time.

Pets

We were babysitting our neighbor's dog for the weekend. This is the nicest dog. One day we took him on a walk and then brought him back home. He didn't want to go home. I felt so bad for it, so I brought it to our house for the afternoon. Nate was in heaven with a dog to play with.

Introducing our pet sugar gliders. Ashlyn is holding "Window" and the other is called "Chip". Nate named them, can you tell? They love to hang out on your head, shoulder, or back. Dave and the kids have put a lot of time into bonding with these creatures. So why is is that I am Window's favorite person to sit on? If I am close by, it usually ends up jumping to my shoulder or head. Not sure how I earned that privilege.
Window is eating some jicama from our salad. They also like to eat flies and bugs.

Sadie's Baptism Day

Sadie woke up the morning of her baptism and said that it was way more exciting than her birthday. She was so excited. Today she wrote in her journal about what a special day it was...and how extra special it was to have both sets of grandparents there. It was a wonderful day!
Ash wanted to wear her baptism dress for Sadie's baptism day...but announced it would be the last day she wore it because it was getting tight.
Sadie and Dad.
Cute Cousins!

Sadie's Baptism Song

Sage, Ashlyn, Sadie and Nate sang at Sadie's baptism last weekend. We recorded it the day after her baptism (and after the cousins had a sleepover and stayed up late...hence the many yawns). What we didn't get on video is Nate during the real performance, taking advantage of the microphone opportunity and amplifying his voice a couple times. Too bad I was playing the piano and couldn't see it all.

Colorado Hikes

Shane and Dave took the kids on a hike in Boulder. I hear Sage was like a monkey climbing all over the rocks. Never thought I'd hear Ash say "Mom, I want to go Bouldering." I didn't even know that was a word.
Cousins picking flowers on their hike.
We were so excited to find how close these beautiful hikes are to our house! The Poudre River was "busy" as I guess I said casually and then Nate kept saying that the river looked busy. It's full and looks like a fun ride on a raft!
Nate was a little grumpy for the picture. Can you tell?
We brought a picnic to eat by the river. This was not the "busiest" part of the river.
Sadie spotted a snake in the trees by the water. Nate loved holding him. Nate LOVES to tuck his shirts in. I loved his ensemble he picked for the day.

Happy Birthday Sadie!

Sadie turned 8! Ash wrapped up a homemade "Faith in God" bulletin board that she made for Sadie.
In case you are wondering why Nate is wearing gloves in the summer. It just happened to land on Sadie's birthday that the sugargliders were ready to be picked up. So Dave and the kids drove down to Denver to get our two newest pets. Pictures of them will show up here eventually. They are just a week old, so they are nervous about their new environment. Nate was wearing protective gear in case he got a little bite from "Window" or "Ice-cream". I think those are the latest name choices for the two little girl sugargliders.
We had a SURPRISE visit from Emily, Beck and Gibson...just 4 days after we arrived in Colorado. Beck and Gibson showed up at my door wearing Halloween costumes (with masks) holding some of our favorite snacks to eat together. We were all thrilled to have visitors! The kids had so much fun playing together...hide and seek was a highlight.
Ashlyn said that the boys and girls had some race, and the deal was that whoever won, got to do whatever they wanted to the other. So I guess the girls won and this was part of the deal. Ash took pictures - I didn't even know this happened until I looked on the camera.
On our drive to Colorado, we passed through Joplin. We decided to take the 15 minute drive off the freeway to find where the tornado hit. It was shocking to see the devastation there. I didn't know if I should smile or cry in the picture. Usually you smile for pictures, but we sure didn't feel like smiling in Joplin. So many sad scenes we passed by. Made us so grateful for what we have. I really wanted to stop, so the girls could have a visual in their mind when I explain that life really isn't fair, or when they complain about having to share or having to do chores or when they don't like the meal I prepare. Life could be worse...you could lose your house and everything in it...and many even lost family members.
Monday night we drove away from Rolla. Saturday night we had a bonfire in our backyard to burn all of our boxes and trash. We roasted s'mores to make for one more fun night with our friends.

Baby Shower

We had a couples shower for our friends having their first baby. It was a fun shower and also fun to have so many friends over just a couple weeks before we left. We had a game and there was a tie for the winner (and there was a prize). I think it was Dave's idea to have the women arm wrestle for the prize. This was the best part of the party! I even saw money flying around for best on who would win. I really wanted to arm wrestle Jane (the winner) but I used self control since I just had surgery. Someday, Jane.

We had chocolate and cheese fondue with all sorts of dippins.
Just some of the group at the shower. We miss everyone so much!

Nauvoo

We squeezed in a quick trip to Nauvoo before we left Missouri. Our friends joined us. We got a fun vacation home right in downtown Nauvoo.

Patty Sessions is one of our relatives. She delivered about 4,000 babies. She was a strong, courageous pioneer.
With the Whittekiends by the Nauvoo Temple.
Watching the sunset on the Mississippi River.

At Carthage Jail. This is the window Joseph Smith fell from when he was shot.

Surgery

I know it's been forever since I have put any pictures on the blog. I have a few good reasons. The first week of April Dave and I went to Colorado to look at houses and the business. Then we came back and had 2 days before Mom came to help for a week while I had a hysterectomy. I was recovering, or so we thought, and then I ended up back in the hospital with an infection that put me in the hospital for 9 more days and I had another surgery to get rid of that stubborn infection. My second recovery was even longer and then we moved to Fort Collins, CO. We are somewhat settled and now I finally found a second to put some pictures on.

Nate caught a frog almost daily. He even got Grandma Shelly to put the frog on her head.
Our good friend picked Mom up from the airport. They came first thing the next day to visit me at the hospital. I was like an old grandma waiting and waiting for my visitors to come. I was watching out the window and started to cry (because I was so happy) when they arrived. We were doing lots and lots of waving when we all saw each other. It was a happy moment for me.
Grandma came armed with fun things for the kids to do. The girls made fun flip-flops. She knows that Nate doesn't like sleeping alone, so she brought him a monkey and pillow. I was so glad to have Mom's help, and the kids were just so happy to have time with Grandma!
It was such a rough 9 days in the hospital. The highlights were visits from my family.