Jedi Nate

On Wednesday we went to Disneyland and met up with a bunch of other mommies. 5 mommies + 10 kids = fun! Seriously I'd like to see 5 daddies accomplish this! (I stole this picture from Gina - I look crooked)

Before we met up with the big gang, Mindi and I took our kids to the Jedi Training Academy and for the first time ever, Nate got picked! It was AWESOME! He was so little compared to some of the kids up there but he wasnt the smallest!

Practice:

We have "played" Jedi a billion times at home so he knew the routine (right leg, left leg, right shoulder, left shoulder, duck, to the head!) It was so cool, he got to fight Darth Maul:

He didn't try to him him as hard as he does in practice but I think that face is a little intimidating:

Here is a short video of the end of his "attack"

Nate in the crowd of Padawans:

Graduating on the stage with the Jedi Knights:Here's my riding buddies for the Winnie the Pooh ride:(yes Zach has his snack bowl AGAIN, just 1 this time)
Have you seen a picture of these kid on a bench before?
Here's the same kids about a year ago on a bench at Disneyland:

2 crazy boys:Zach's first time willing to go on the merry-go-round by himself: (I had to climb on once it started) Here's Nate, Caden, and the lady who stole Jacob's sea lion:

Some pictures from Disneyland

Last week we spent some time at the big park w/Erin, Caden & Jacob.

The boys had alot of fun running around the redwood forest.

Look in the back of this picture, Zach had to carry those 2 snacks with him everywhere, even while trying to walk the net bridges!

We got Nate's new pass, here he is lookin good!

Where my girls at?

On Tuesday I went with my sis, my mom and a bunch of cool girls from church to see Bride Wars. It was cute. I laughed out loud and it ended on a happy note which I like. If you dont know the basic plot is 2 best friends who end up scheduling their weddings at the same place, same time. Anyways, in the after-movie-chat the question was raised to the group: "So, where's your maid of honor?"

It got me thinkin about how super blessed I am to still have all these women in my life. All my "maids" live w/in 45 minutes of me and most live w/in 15. Of course they are ALL related to me so that really helps keep them in my life!

I never did wedding program "shout outs" before so here they are now: (L to R)

Deanne: You are one of the most giving people I know. In fact I often say that your spiritual gift is "gift-giving." You are always thinking of others and you open up your home so often without even stressing about it (like I totally do) Besides my house, I think I spend more time at your home than anywhere else.

Dawn: I dont even like to let myself think of some of the things you must see at your job. It takes an extra special person to work with sick babies. You have a big heart and have no idea how you get thru a shift with out crying your eyes out, like you did when we saw Young Guns 2.

Jen: (Matron of Honor) You make mothering a family of four kids look easy. I appreciate all the advice you give and the wonderful example of motherhood that you are too me. You always encourage me in all my crazy endeavours and are there by my side supporting me.

Darlene: (Maid of Honor) I think out of the whole fam, your brain is most similarly wired like my brain. We connect on that level. You are wonderfully creative and your creative output shames the rest of us. Basically - you're cool.

Debbie: Talk to Debbie for a few minutes and it's totally apparent that she has a huge heart for others. From mission trips to working to better communities for those in them, she goes the extra mile for others everyday. Deb is gonna change the world.

Tricia: Remember when you were in high school and there was always that 1 kid with the really cool parents? My sister-in-law volunteers with the youth group, opens up her home weekly to the kids, takes her kids to rock shows and she's hot! I really hope when I have teenagers that I'm as hip as she is.

Damn, I'm lucky to be related to these girls.

So, where's your maid of honor?

My future's so bright...

The first time I stuck a pair of sunglasses on Nate he was 6 months old. We were at the beach and he wore them almost the whole time. Since then, he's been an excellent sunglasses and hat wearer. He looks so stinkin cute in em that I have a billion shots of him in various glasses. Here are a few cuties from October to now that I never posted.

These are actually MY sunglasses!These came in an FBI playset from the Dollar Store

Not to be left out:

Dumps like a truck

In January of 2007 I took a picture of Nate on his last morning waking up in his crib. We were so lucky to get to use the Reynolds' Race Car bed for the last 2 years, it is such a cool bed.

Today I took a picture of Nate's last morning waking up in the car bed.

We are super lucky once again to get a new super cool bed! Uncle Paul brought over Merrick's Dump Truck bed for Nate today!
Talk about a cool bed! It's got a steering wheel:
and a hiding place underneath!Thanks Merrick! (and Dawn and Paul)

Lookin good!

Zach: 1 1/2 years, Nate: 4 years So I was looking at the portraits we did yesterday and dreading the next haircut for Zach. He HATES the big clippers so I hold him while he's screaming and cowering into my neck while Ryan does his best to give him a good hair cut - we always miss big chunks and I get covered with hair... it's sucky. He doesn't mind Ryan's moustache trimmer that I use to clean up the edges of his hair but it cuts super short. I've been thinking of cutting the sides SUPER DUPER short then I'd have a longer break in-between haircuts for him and Tara's son's hair turned out so cute, so this morning I just decided to do: mohawk.
And here's the gelled up version:

We're gonna bo-o-o-wl tonight

Hey friends

I'm signing Nate up for Bowling and I thought I'd let everyone know in case they wanted to do it with us cuz that would be super fun. But now I feel weird about posting exact information about when and where we're gonna be on my blog. So sad.

Anyways if you think your kids (ages 2-8) want to bumper bowl with us, lemme know and I'll give you the details.

Camping the year away...

The week after Christmas we took the trailer out on our second voyage! Once again we went to our favorite place - good ol' San Diego KOA!Zach was on meds but he was still a little (a lot) cranky the first day.But he got better.Uncle Joel and Auntie Becky brought their 2 dogs + my moms dog = 3 dogs in 1 trailer! Good thing we have our own trailer now! Nate LOVED having the dogs there and playing with them, especially with a laser pointer!The boys spent alot of time playing in the area between my folks trailer and ours.Here's the inside of our trailer:And an outside shot - the sticker is still stickin! We were planning to all spend 1 final day at Sea World since our passes were only good thru the end of the year but that morning Zach just seemed extra tired so Ryan took Nate and I stayed home and ripped off the pink ruffles inside our trailer while Zach slept ALL DAY!

(that is a shark)

That night was New Years Eve, this is how we spent it, sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows, blowing blowers and popping poppers. The next Day we drove to La Jolla for lunch at the beach.
Nate has been really into taking photos with my camera lately, he took this one of me and Zach.

This is his "Quit making me pose for pictures when I want to play" face.

Nate was having a great time leading Pepsi around on her leash.

After lunch we walked down to the tide pools quick.

Whenever we go camping the boys always want to play in the back of Papa's truck. It's a nice place to keep them contained while we are cleaning up!