We are so thankful that Uncle Ashley came over for dinner when he was in town for a short visit a couple weeks ago.  He's much more like a grandpa than a great uncle.

Happy 6th Birthday, Nathan!

You have waited for this day for months, counting down the days, wondering if it was ever going to get here.  And it seemed like you enjoyed every moment of your day - from your five pancakes for breakfast to downing your cake and ice cream (something you rarely do at other people's birthdays) and everything in between.  Your teacher, Mrs. Heying, gave you a birthday pencil, which you sharpened the dickens out of. 

I'd love to tell you a little about you, but I don't know where to start. You are still very affectionate and loving.  In fact, after you finished your last bite of cake tonight you put down your spoon and immediately got up and walked around to my chair and crawled into my lap to cuddle.  You are very enthusiastic about what you learn.  We started with sight words before you started kindergarten and soon you were excitedly picking them out of all your books while we read.  Now you are a real reader, and you still get excited about what you can read.  Stop Here On Red is your favorite street sign, and you never fail to delightfully read it every time we pass one.  When I taught you your colors in Spanish, you spent weeks walking around the house pointing to things and exclaiming, "Rojo!  Verde!  Blanco!  Azul!"  In the fall you learned a song to learn how to spell every color and sang them with such gusto that soon Evan and I sang every one of them with you.  For the past year, you have been very engrossed in the calendar.  You have claimed all of our household calendars as your own and I am not allowed to take off the previous month of our family calendar without putting it in a special place on your closet shelf not folded.  You even have a 2014 calendar beside your bed as décor.  I am going to try to replace it with our old 2015 calendar, but I'm not sure you are going to let me.  I can always count on you to know the day of the week and the date.  You are no stranger to drama, but that is better explained with facial expressions and gestures, so you should ask me about it when you are interested.  You are very attached to your brother, and he is very attached to you.  Most of the time literally, as you are almost constantly wrestling or carrying each other or cuddling under a blanket while you read.

We are so eager to see what is in store for you in your next year.  It is a joy to parent you.  Happy birthday!

Winter Wonderland

We rented a cabin for a week in the Methow Valley.  The air was crisp (-13 degrees when we woke up on Saturday) and clear and the snow was pure powder and terrific!  We spent our days snowshoeing, XC skiing, and sledding, and our nights sipping hot cocoa and warming ourselves by the fire.

This kind neighbor groomed our own private XC ski trails every day and pulled the boys for a sled ride.

Perfect day for snowshoeing at frozen Pearrygin Lake.

Happy anniversary to us!

Nathan and Aunt Katy getting a head start up the hill.

XC skiing

Mom's view on her solo ski outing.

A moment of rest from some intense snow wrestling.

Ringing in the New Year with sparklers.

 

On their own skiing adventure - no adults (except the overbearing mom who had to get just one picture).

Very last sled run with Elsa.

Our morning snowshoe hike before heading back over the mountains.

Happy 2016!

Who's Serenading Mom?

Merry Christmas!

Nathan drew Evan a picture of a Christmas tree and decorated the frame.

 

This girl takes after her mama.  Look at the picture she drew and painted for Grandma and Grandpa.  Such talent!

Grandma must be looking at something very interesting.

Look what we got from Santa!  Let the games begin!

Mid-December

Evan and Nathan went to their school box top store with 300 box tops each.  Sweet Nathan

told Mom, "I saw two hats hanging up and a sign that said 150 box tops each so I immediately got one for me and one for Evan!"  What a generous heart!

Santa and his helper greeted kids in our neighborhood.

Evan's Lego gridiron.  The coaches on the sidelines even have headsets.

So Thankful...

It's been a long time since we posted on the blog.  We are going to attempt to catch up tonight.  We'll start with Thanksgiving.  We had cold, but BEAUTIFUL island weather for the entire weekend.

 

We missed the small-town sing-along, but we arrived just in time to greet Santa on the fire truck.

 

Nice day for a walk on the bluff.

Lovely kids on a lovely day on the prairie.

Silly kids.

This one is for Grandma.  Look at how high we are above the cliff! :)

And higher.

Who can knock the steel drum off the driftwood?

 

Not sure why we didn't take a picture while this house was being built.  We made gingerbread houses with Elsa and have snacked on ours ever since. 

Hay ride to pick out our Christmas tree.

Happy belated Thanksgiving from our house to yours!