Life Father, Like Daughter

Ashlyn created her own cookie recipe (peppermint chocolates, as she named them) yesterday, and they looked a bit like Dave's first cookies he made as a kid. They tasted great...they just looked a little flat.
Sadie searched through a recipe book and found these creations she wanted to make, and she named them "sandwich cookies". She made them for a party she is planning. I asked her who was invited and she said this one would just be a family party. I asked her what we would do at the party and she said "Oh, just eat some treats." Sounds like a fun party to me!

Nate's Favorite Hobby...

You want me to smile? How's this?
And this?
And this?
Nate has figured out that smiling gets some good reactions from his family, so he does it all day. Even when we put him down for bed, he is smiling as we leave the room. One time I peeked in his room (our closet) after I had put him down and found him beaming at the walls.

Happy Birthday Aunt TT!!!

Happy Birthday from Goka...
Happy Birthday from Nate...
Happy Birthday from Ashlyn and Sadie (and Dave and Meliss too!)
We love you lots! Hope you have a great birthday.

We're Back!

We just got back from a fun and full week in Washington, D.C. for Dave to attend a perio conference.
I just got finished typing a letter to Ashlyn's teacher listing all of the museums and monuments we saw to try and justify why I didn't think she needed to complete all 37 worksheets her teacher gave her to do while she was on vacation. After I finished the list, I was amazed at all we squeezed into our trip! Here are a few pictures of the things we saw...Above is Mount Vernon.
Our cute little pumpkin. He did manage to get a few treats in his bag (I knew he wanted to try candy, and the only way for him to get it is for me to eat it...so, I willingly ate some candy for you Nate!)

Thanks to Aunt Shannon for bringing some costumes for the girls to borrow. I knew I wouldn't have time to make costumes this year. Ash was a witch and Sadie was Ariel. They were happy as could be with their costumes and had a blast trick-or-treating with the Schwab's (my sis-in-law's parents where we were staying). I realize that I am still a kid when I can hardly wait to dive in to the goods after trick-or-treating. I still love all of that sugary candy!
This was the first full day in D.C. Dave was gone to meetings before we were awake. It was quite an experience figuring out the subway system in D.C. with Nate in the sling and the girls at my side. We had a great day exploring the National Mall and seeing as much as we could.
We were at the Lincoln Memorial - one of our favorite places on our trip. Dave was reading the Gettysburg Address to the girls. I thought they all looked so cute as they listened to Dave and were so interested in the story that went along with the Addresss.
This is a common sight of the girls when Sadie is too short for something. I'm surprised how happily Ash gets on all fours for Sadie. Our carved pumpkins!

A nicer picture to view...

My apologies to any of you who looked at the last post. I had to hurry and put a newer and nicer picture to view...and what better than a picture of Nate smiling! He's showing off his first real outfit to church (opposed to the comfy onesies).

Last night we had some friends over for a campfire in our backyard. We had a blast! Dave set the tent up for the kids to play in and tell their scary ghost stories. We grilled gorgonzola cheeseburgers and the kids had mummy hotdogs (sort of like pigs in the blanket). Dave got a pretty good fire going - and the weather was just perfect for a night outside. It's actually cooling down to the low 70s this week - alright!
The guys gave us some great music to listen to while we all chatted.
8 kids eating their mummy hotdogs and loving having their OWN soda!

Couldn't decide which smile was cuter to put on, so I decided on both :) Don't mind the spit-up on his arm. I was about to change him, but he was in a great mood to smile and I wanted to get a picture with his cute shirt.

"AAAhhhhh!!!"

This was a well timed photo. If you look real close you can see what Meliss was surprised about. I had to do a little photo editing with the clone tool to make it a viewable picture.

Two months and Too Old!!!!!!!

I haven't posted in a while because we've been busy having fun with family visiting. Shannon and Lindsay were here and then 4 days later the Waltons came. Tonight I finally got a chance to catch up with a few pictures.

Today I had a few sad moments realizing that Nate is growing up too fast. He is getting bigger and there is no way I can deny it any longer. I tried to ignore it for a while, but I must face it. Today I had to retire a few outfits and it made me so sad to do. Then I was pulling out a few bigger outfits and that made me sad too. So today I was determined to take a bunch of pictures to capture the cute looks of my two month old.

Let me do a little explaining on these pictures...especially because I know Dave will be embarrassed of some of the not so clear ones. Nate was in a great mood - and I was ready with the camera to snap as soon as he smiled. Ash and I were having fun talking to Nate and getting him to smile. I kept trying to get the smiles on camera but wasn't doing a very good job. It's hard to make cute noises and smiles and tickle while holding the camera up with the other hand. And my apologies for putting up 4 pictures of the exact same outfit and pose with mildly different facial expressions. I realize and readily admit that I am a bit crazy about Nate and think that every single expression is the cutest. You would think that he is my first baby with how I adore him and forget that the world is going on around me when he is awake.