Natalie Turns 5

Natalie requested waffles for her  breakfast. We did most of the celebrating the Saturday before.

 For lunch she wanted to go to the Bass Pro Shop restaurant. She loves there macaroni and cheese.

 That night we had the family over for swimming.

 Presents :-)

 Natalie loves giraffe's and loved this giraffe chair.

 Natalie's birthday fell on a Sunday so this is her official birthday picture. All the activities happened earlier in the week.

 A couple of days before Natalie's birthday I took her and her friend to As You Wish. She made her own pottery butterfly.

 We then went to Coldstone creamery for a treat.

 Another picture at Bass Pro Shop

Natalie had a great birthday. She is growing up fast.

July-August 2013 Happenings

Late July we headed to Eagar for the mission farewell of Nana and Grandpa. While there we took individual family pictures.

 

 We also tried group shots. This was an attempt of Nana and Grandpa with all their 12 grandkids.

 After the farewell.

 So we can compare how tall Nathan is to Nana after 18 months.

 Kids started back to school in July as well. Nathan (goes by Nate at school) started 6th grade with Mr. Ball and Taylor started 2nd grade with Ms. McBlane.

 2 weeks later (early August) Natalie was supposed to start 1/2 day Kindergarten at a Higley school with this really nice lady. We went to meet the teacher and Natalie picked out her desk spot on Thursday August 1st. 

 Well on Friday August 2nd in the afternoon we were notified that they had cancelled the 1/2 day Kindergarten class due to low enrollment and that they lady she had just met the night before would not be teaching at that school any longer.  So I frantically enrolled at the same school in the Chandler district that Nathan and Taylor went to.  Natalie started all day Kindergarten the following Monday August 5th.  It was crazy

 Natalie with her good friend Autumn.

 Amanda had a little meltdown when we were getting back in the car after dropping everyone else off at school. I don't think she liked the idea of being the lone child at home.

 Natalie was wiped out after a full day of Kindergarten. This is how she was soon after getting home that first day. She napped most days the first couple of weeks after school and still does on occasion. She loves school.

 Taylor got new glasses during July of 2013.

 Amanda sliced the back of her head in a Helzberg Diamond store.

 She had to get 2 staples and did it without any anestesia.

 Amanda also knocked out her fake tooth in August.

 While I was getting a spot of skin cancer removed from my forehead.

 Amanda loves to get in to mischief while I am busy doing other things. It is hard not having any of the older kids at home to keep her occupied or inform me when she is getting in to something.
This is hot pink fingernail polish.

 Mascara- this happened while I was busy doing Natalie's hair for school. Sad thing is I was in the same bathroom a few feet away when she did this.

Iowa trip July 2014

One of the first friends Nathan made in our new ward was a boy named Spencer Keller. These 2 boys had a lot in common and were only 3 days apart in age. They really enjoyed hanging out together. Well a year and a half after meeting each other SPencer's  Dad got a new job in Clinton Iowa so in February 2013 Spencer and his family moved :-(   Soon after we started planning when Nathan could go visit. It ended up being just a little bit more money for me and all the kids to fly their to visit then what it would cost for me to fly with Nathan there drop him off and then fly back a week later to pick him up. Plus Nathan wasn't really loving the idea of being away for a whole week by himself and the girls loved the Keller family too especially Jessica Spencer's older sister who the girls loved to have babysit.

So on the 4th of July the kids and I flew from Mesa AZ to Moline IL and then rented a car and drove the hour drive into Clinton Iowa.  We all survived the 3.5 hour flight and hour drive but it was very stressful.  Amanda screamed the first half of the flight. It was very hard to be the lone adult to take care of a screaming 20 month old as well as a 4 7 and 11 year old.  THe older kids did pretty good and were quite helpful.

 

 We did have a great time and the Keller's were very hospitable to put up with 5 extra people in their home for a week. It was hard being away from Preston for that long and we all missed him terribly. We were very grateful for facetime so we could see each other as well as talk. 

Here are some pictures of what we did while there. 

Nathan jumped off a high dive for the first time and really liked it.

 We got ice cream at McDonald's

 Just a random cute picture of Amanda. She was my sleeping buddy during the trip.

 Played at the park during a rainy morning.

Nathan and I along with Spencer and his Mom took a day trip to Nauvoo.
The boys skipped rocks in the mississippi river.

 I held Nathan on the steps of the Nauvoo temple just like I had 11 years prior at the temple Open House.

 Playing at another park near the mississippi river.

 The day we said goodbye. It was bittersweet. Sad to leave but glad to be going home.

 Nathan said he had a really hard time smiling in this picture.

 We got lost on the way back to the airport and we barely made it in time after turning in the rental car. The flight itself was much better. I got a few new toys for Amanda and she had a bag of candy to chew on to help with her ears hurting. I also gave her some dramamine so she slept the last part of the flight. I was definitely more prepared for the flight home.