Natalie turns 9!

Backing up a to a most important day ... Natalie turned 9! No need to point out that she is now 9 1/2! We celebrated while vacationing in sunny Arizona!

Aunt Marie hosted a giant birthday for Natalie and her cousin. Bounce houses, food and LOTS of wonderful family! She really was happy - she's not one for much attention from big crowds!

Cousins: Davis, Rylan, Hattie and Brock

It was a "family year" for her birthday and that's exactly what she got - to celebrate several times with LOTS of family!

We sure love you, Natalie Jane!

SIXTEEN!

I know, I know .... I am WAY behind on my documentation. But this is an especially important day! Our firstborn turns 16 today! It really does not seem that long ago that we became parents - a family - holding that cute little thing with a head full of blonde hair and those blue eyes just taking it all in. And now here she is ....

She headed off to early morning seminary this morning before the sun came up. Looking all cute!

And 16!

We hope you have a most wonderful day sweetie! We sure love you!

Edit made by Maren: I have the best mom in the world. See all the craziness of the balloons and banner up there? She stayed up and did that all for me. And I appreciate it so much. She even brought me Cafe Rio for lunch!

SHE IS THE GREATEST. Love you mommy. You are incredible.

Last week of school

Backing up a bit ... ok, quite a bit. We successfully completed another great school year! And had a nice break from the homework.

Millie graduated from Kindergarten -

Natalie finished 2nd Grade with a Greek party on the last day of school -

Davis was part of the Running Club and got 2nd Place in a local 5K! He is an awesome runner.

And Maren said goodbye to Junior High!

All in all - another good school year!

bye bye baba

WAY past due! But we did it! And he was only 3 years and 4 months old!

Went to the garbage can (on garbage day) -

Tossed it in and watched for the garbage truck -

Of course, there was a little incentive! Eli loves trains!

And there you go! Now on to potty training - wish us luck!

Serious Catch Up

I have put this off long enough. I don't even have a reason for my lack of posts. Except life is just plain busy! So here we go ...

My favorite handsome hubby had a birthday! I am so grateful for him. He is the best husband, father and friend. I must love him tons to make him Tres Leches Cupcakes (a little labor intensive, but SOOO worth it!) for his big day! We love you sweetie!

We can now cross off "make sandbox" from our to-do list. Dennis with help of Uncle Josh and Davis spent a couple of days prepping, building and hauling tons of sand to make this huge sandbox. It really can hold the entire neighborhood! Enough elbow room for all!

And this little guy helped too!

And these ones provided moral support!

It has proved to be a successful project!

Easter 2011:

It all began with the "hunt" for the baskets. 5 clues lead the kids all around the house - inside and out.

That sandbox was a perfect hiding spot for one of the clues!

But eventually the clues guided them to the closet where the baskets were hung -

Ahhh, it was worth every minute of the hunt! We were lucky enough to have the Mills family join us over Easter weekend. So the Easter Bunny found Rylan too!

See? The sandbox = fun, fun, fun!

Spring soccer:

You never know what you are going to get. Rain, snow, sun. Or all three during the same game! Davis continued to be Goalie for his competition team this year. Natalie decided to give it try again. Now those two are just made for soccer!

I guess I need to get more pictures of Davis playing soccer. Onward and upward! Great season Natalie and Davis!

life

So our washer was on the fritz and after many google searches and ordering parts, my handy hubby fixed it! Along with his little helper and ALL his trucks!

Artistry in the sandbox - Natalie makes a fine mermaid, don't you think?! Nice work Davis!

Our neighbor had a backhoe for a few hours one day. Being as Eli is completely obsessed with any and all trucks (and knows them all by their appropriate names!), he was so happy to be in an actual backhoe! Can you tell?

Good times.

For his future wedding video

I was going through my posts and found this little gem that was never posted. And it needs to be posted ... for posterity sake!

Oh my sweet little angel child #5. He really is so darn cute! Lucky for him.

What you are about to see is evidence that Eli is like a destructive tornado! And these incidents are only a few and literally happened within weeks of each other.

Exhibit #1:

This is our brand new dining table - just 2 weeks old when Eli decided to distress it using a math compass! You know, the end with the sharp pointer that is used to hold it steady. Yeah. Exactly why I looked and looked and looked for the right table without paying thousands of dollars. So I tell myself, "It just adds character." (sigh)

Exhibit #2:

Now I only have a picture of one of the TWO toilets little Eli clogged in the same week! Yes, clogged enough to have to take it completely apart. And thank goodness for time that has passed, I don't even remember what he put in them to cause the clog. Kind of like childbirth.

Exhibit #3:

Our poor, poor table. Remember. These happened within a couple of weeks. Maren left her RED nail polish out (yes, I partly blame her for this one) and Eli found it. It ate completely through the stain! I guess I could sand and restain it, but the 'reminder' might come in handy one of these days. Tip: Mr. Clean Eraser is my friend - took the paint right off. The damage had been done but at least it is not red.

Exhibit #4:

Eggs. I usually buy the 5 dozen box of eggs at Costco and leave them in the extra fridge. Although I do not have evidence of the first incident with eggs, you'll just have to believe me. Eli had quietly gone into the storage room and began cracking about 5 or 6 eggs on the storage floor. We had a chat. I thought that was the end of his egg fetish. While in my room one morning getting ready for the day, I walked out to find this all over the couch.

This is only part of his work. The other half dozen were cracked on the window running down the wall into the baseboards and carpet. I couldn't even speak. I grabbed the camera - because I have a plan. Someday his wife and children will see these pictures. Someday.

Again like childbirth. I have cleaned up the messes (except for the table which will be used as future evidence) and mostly forgotten the naughtiness. He really is a delightful little guy. I could not imagine our family without him. We love you, Eli - naughtiness and all!!