Lincoln's birthday celebration was a party with 17 kids ranging from 3 to 7, dinner at Red Robin ,and the Ice Age 3. I think he had a good time.
All the kids against Nathan in Tug-a-war. Nathan won.
Unwrapping the presents. I couldn't get all the kids in the picture.
Homemade Pikachu pinata.
Pikachu.
Pokemon ball cake.
Lincoln opening his presents from us.
Lincoln still can't smile on cue. We are still working on it.Lately, we have so many projects and calling related items in our life that we do what is needed to get by with life. When I heard it was going to freeze, I decided my tomatoes would just have to die because I didn't have time. I had some great neighbors show up and bring all my tomatoes in the house for me and saved them. I only have about 18 left that haven't turned red. What a blessing. I used these to make more salsa and spaghetti sauce.
I love good neighbors and am blessed to have so many.
Nathan got tired of the low hanging branches on our tree in the backyard. He cut down the branches and the kids asked for them. They took the branches from the trees and the sticks from the lilies and made a fort. We just watched their creative minds go.
I am always by Avalee when she is doing her homework but I never watch the paper or pay attention. Her homework is not challenging for her so it is just something we do.
Today I hear the word "ass" coming out of her mouth over and over as she reads her homework. I started laughing and looked down at the paper. This is what I saw.
Say the sounds.
a s a s a s a s
I am sure there are parents laughing all over the valley tonite.
My dear, sweet college friend's four-year daughter, Taylie, was diagnosed with Luekemia this month. I cannot imagine the heartache that Lacey is going through but I know she is a strong woman and will get through this trial. I have always admired Lacey's strength and good example. I can say that she helped me become who I am. I have not seen her in years but whenever I read the blog her family and friends have created I cry and just want to go visit her and help her family.
As Lacey is in Primary Children's with Taylie and expecting her third child any day, I ask that you please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. If you are interested in learning more, you are welcome to check out Taylie's website. http://www.tayliebug.com/
I have had so much fun posting today. Please click the older posts to see all the fun we have had in the last month.
Avalee, Lincoln, and our neighbor Sarah spent an hour straining my tomatoes. It took all three of them but they did it and had a great time. Sarah would put the tomato in; Lincoln would push it down; Avalee turned the handle.
A couple of tomatoes got Lincoln in the face because he pushed too hard so after a while her learned not to look in the bowl. The kids thought it was pretty funny that some tomatoes would "talk" to them and others would making "farting" noises. They laughed the entire time.
The positive side was it took them so long that some of the water drained out of the tomatoes as they were waiting in the bowl. It was the fastest I have ever cooked down a batch of spaghetti sauce. I think next time I will let the tomatoes sit for a minute after I get them out of the water.
When the bishop canceled our church meetings on Wednesday night, we head to Wahooz for there cheap night. Attractions are only $2 instead of the outrageous $6 or $7. We had been promising this to our kids all summer but didn't find the time until the first day of school.
Lincoln making a good effort to get a goal.
Avalee won but Lincoln made a couple of goals.
Lincoln going for a ride with Spiderman.
Avalee started 1st grade this year. She is loving going all day and learning. She is not loving that school starts at 7:55 a.m.
This is the most normal picture I have gotten of both the kids in a long while.
When we got home, this is what we found in our garden. The neighbors had picked all they could eat. I have since made 20 jars of spaghetti sauce, 16 loaves of zuchinni bread, and three batches of zuchinni brownies. The tomatoes and peppers just keep ripening so salsa will be next.
No, Nathan did not turn 39 but it was the only candles we could find in the house. Since he lies about his age anyway, I decided it didn't matter.
Nathan checking out the ice cream situation.
The kids waiting patiently to eat cake.
From this point on, I gave Avalee the camera. She took pictures of Nathan's high school friends that were in attendance. It was a fun night for Nathan to have a birthday and catch up with old friends.
I love the DC Zoo. They have the best animals and it is free. Avalee insisted on carrying this purse she had found. At each animal stop, she pulled out a toy animal of the animal we were visiting. I have no idea where she found these animals but it was pretty funny when we caught on to what she had done.
And they were so excited about the panda bear. Everyone else was also excited about the panda bear so it was hard to get a good picture.
They would get completely wet but they were always dry when we got to the next one.
We went to a lot of different parks but the kids were also moving too fast for pictures. Here is a nice picture of Lincoln with the sand castle he built.
We took the kids to visit Nathan's old work in DC. They wanted something fun to do so Nathan's co-worker let them try on the hats that were on her wall. They had a blast. My favorite is the hat that makes Lincoln have a ponytail.
After the wedding was over, Grandma showed the kids were the dress-up clothes were. The kids had a blast. Her is Avalee as a cheerleader.
And this is Lincoln as a dinosaur pirate...
