Happy 5th Birthday Hannah!

I can't believe my oldest is five! Time goes by so quickly. We had an eventful birthday as always. We had two extended family parties over the weekend. It is always so nice to get together with them. Hannah has been planning on a friend birthday party but she wanted to make sure we didn't forget the family ones. It is nice to have the traditions with Grandma and Grandpa's and cousins. We love all of them! They were of course very good to Hannah with some nice gifts.
On her birthday she wanted to open her gifts first thing. She has been wanting a guitar for a long time. She has been so happy since she got this. She has made up quite a few little songs. It is fun to listen to her. She also got a little digital camera so she won't steal mine all the time. She loves taking pictures. Heath made her an omelet breakfast which is her favorite. Then she had to have donuts to take to preschool.
She had a unicorn party in the afternoon. It was fun. We had a unicorn pinata, pin the horn on the unicorn, unicorn craft necklaces, and unicorn cupcakes. This was my first friend party. They are a lot of work but worth it in the end. You just hope they feel loved and special at the end of the day. I realized it is a good thing I have decided to have one only every other year. We finished the night off with pizza at the restaurant which is what Hannah chose.

Hannah is such a fun girl to have around. She is very thoughtful. She is very observant and notices details about things and people. She is very smart. She knows what she wants. She is quiet in her own way - especially around others. We are so lucky to have this girl in our home. We don't know what we would do without her. Happy Birthday Hannah!

Smarter than me?

Here is how a recent conversation went with Hannah:

Hannah: Look mom, I can spell my name the same forwards and backwards.
Me: That's really cool. Not many names can do that. You are pretty special. I wish my name could do that (thinking of my name Nancy).
Hannah: But mom, you can - you know MOM.

I know eventually my children will be smarter than me - that's a given. But do you ever get scared your children will be smarter than you- let's say- by the time they are six?

We're Kindergarten Ready!

Hannah had a wellness check-up with our favorite Dr. Wally today. He is the best doctor. He just makes them feel right at ease and gets them giggling. She got her shots for Kindergarten so we are now ready! She is so excited to go I don't know how she will wait another six months! I was really worried about her getting shots. I think even more then when they were a baby because at this age they know what a shot is. She did really well and didn't even cry until the last one when it stings a little bit, but then it was easy to calm her down. I am really thankful for healthy kids. Hannah has only had a few colds and fevers in her life. She is a very healthy kid. We really are lucky. I'm glad we are done with shots for her for quite awhile. Taking Hayden will be a whole different experience I'm sure.

One of Those Days

Hannah had an interesting moment with my mom yesterday. She was there while I was at dance. She loves to go there because my mom always has projects and fun things for them to do. They love their Grandma! They were making cookies and my mom turned to get something out of the fridge and she heard a scream. She turned and saw Hannah being pulled into the mixer. One of her ponytails was getting wrapped up in the turning part. Hannah doesn't function well in these kind of circumstances so I'm sure it was a little stressful for my poor mother. She stopped it but then had a hard time getting her hair unraveled. After thinking she might have to cut off one of the ponytails, she finally got it unstuck. Thanks mom for saving her hair. They had to start all over on the cookies because the eggs and butter were now all over in Hannah's hair. I'm just glad I didn't come and pick her up and see a brand new haircut.

The next crazy moment of the day was when Heath and I were going to bed about 11:00 and we heard Hayden crying and struggling to breath. I went and got him out of bed and he could not catch his breath. His poor lungs were working so hard. In between breaths he was saying, I can't breath. Someone help me. Then as a parent you are thinking to yourself, what do we do? Should we take him in? Where do you take him this time of the night? We tried to just stay up with him until about 1:00 but it wasn't getting any better so Heath finally took him into the ER. They gave him a breathing treatment and monitored him for a couple of hours. He has croup. We finally made it to bed about 4:00. We are all a little tired today. They say it is going around so if you hear the barking cough and are having a hard time breathing you will know what it is. Hopefully the perscription that they gave will help him so we don't have another one of those nights. It is so hard to see you kids sick and not know what to do for them.

Hannah - truly a blessing

I was reading in the Ensign this week and it talked a lot about adoption. It made me start thinking a lot about Hannah and what a blessing she is in our lives. Just the way she came into our lives made it known to us right from the start that she was truly meant to be a part of our family. It is funny with adoption how they truly become one of your children. Sometimes I forget that I wasn't pregnant with her because I don't view her as any different than Hayden. Sometimes I will start a sentence like, "when I was pregnant with Hannah" and then remember that I wasn't. That is not to take away from her wonderful birthmother who made such a sacrifice on Hannah's behalf. Adoption truly is all about love. Hannah has been a great kid right from the start. She is very inquisitive and thoughtful about all that she does. She is very loyal to those she is close with. She is shy at first but once you get to know her she will become one of your best friends. She loves to be around friends, learn new things, read books, and go to bed at night (we love that!). It is so exciting to watch your children learn and grow in this world. Each new experience is so fun to be a part of. Sometimes we all just need to stop and think of the things which truly make our lives wonderful. Being able to have Hannah in my life is just that, truly a blessing.

Winter Fun

We went to Utah a couple of weeks ago to visit the Huls family and go support my brother's family in a welcome home/farewell in Provo. We had a great time with the Huls'. My kids love to play there. Hayden does not want to leave and thinks we should do this every weekend. Some hightlights of the trip were going sledding down a hill close to their house.

My kids were a little timid at first but it didn't take them long to start going by theirselves. Then their Uncle Shaun took them ice fishing on Utah Lake. They had a great time pulling out fish after fish and then letting them go.

It was great to get back to some hot cocoa after all of the fun. The next day we went to by brother's mission farewell. He is serving with his wife in Seattle on a CES mission while his two boys are on their missions in Italy and Tanzania. Their daughter Katie just came home from a mission in Spain that week and gave a wonderful homecoming talk. They are a great example of missionary work.

A "Great" Grandpa!

My dad is very talented with his hands. He has a wood workshop in his basement and has created many things. My favorite are my cedar chest and the clocks he made for me. Lately, he has been making toys for all the grand kids at Christmas. It is so fun to see what he creates them each year. He made them rocking horses this year which he gave to them last night at our Christmas party. The kids love them. They have been on them non-stop since we got them last night. We are so lucky to have a talented Grandpa who is willing to share his talents. The horse will be something my kids can pass on to their kids - a great keepsake. Hayden loves to go to his Grandpa's house because a lot of days he will go down in his workshop with him and create a new toy -a tractor, a train, a truck, a helicopter, etc. He loves seeing what they can create. It is a great memory for him. We love you Grandpa!

4-Wheeler Fun

We started out our Thanksgiving break by going 4-wheeling as a family. This is Hayden's absolute favorite activity so he was very excited to go. I was a little worried about being cold. I got out every possible warm clothing item we had. We were completely covered inside and out from head to toe. We even had the toe and hand warmers. It turned out to be a really warm day. I even got a little hot which is unusual for me. It was a nice ride on a new trail at Heise. I get a little nervous with a new trail because I'm not sure what it will bring. I don't mind climbing up the mountain, but I get very nervous going down if it is to steep. It really was a beautiful trail. We ended up on the top of the mountain with a spectacular view and had cookies and hot chocolate. I only hyperventilated a few times going down the mountain. I am getting to be a better driver but it still takes every ounce of courage I have sometimes. Hayden thinks I drive a little too slow too. It was a great day spent with the family and enjoying the beautiful scenery we have in Idaho.

Halloween Fun

We were all excited to get Halloween here. The kids both had school parties, pumpkin parties, and parties with cousins to decorate cookies. On Halloween, we went and visited both sets of grandparents and then there dad took them trick or treating. They had a great time. But who would have known that their favorite part of Halloween was answering the door to give treats out for the trick or treaters. They thought this was the best thing in the world. They even wanted to give away their own treats when we ran out of candy. I loved that they were happy to answer the door and I didn't have to do it. It made me realize that you don't have to go all out wiht a big event but that sometimes it is the simple things that kids enjoy.

Another weekend in Utah

We spent another wekend in Utah. We went down to go to my nephew's missionary farewell. He is going to Kenya next week ~ Good Luck CJ! We spent most of the weekend with Jenn and Shaun, hence the newly created blog at her insistence. We did take a break from all of our projects and let the kids go to Thanksgiving point and ride the ponies. We have done this before but they love it and could do it everytime. We got in the Halloween spirit and carved some pumpkins. Hayden did not like putting his hand in the gooey stuff. They had a great time playing with their cousins. Hayden wanted to stay for five days (everything is five to him) but Heath had this thing called work we had to get back to.

Trip to Utah

A few weeks ago, we went to visit Heath's cousin, Sara, in Utah. We went with Cody, Tylee, and Rylin. The Beck's joined up with us later that weekend. On the way down, we stopped in Ogden at a dinosaur park. Hayden loved this. As you walked through the park and looked at the dinosaurs you heard roaring noises. It made it very real. He did not like being fed to the T-Rex by his dad, but it made a great picture moment. We also went to carnival place that had a lot of rides. The kids had a great time racing from ride to ride. They were just the right size so we didn't have to ride with them and get motion sick. It was a nice time to get away.

The First Snow!

Hannah was so excited to wake up to snow on the ground. She had her snow clothes on at 7:00 a.m. and was quickly out making footprints and snow angels. Hayden joined her when he woke up. They were both very excited when their dad went out with them and made their first snowman. Laura's snowman kit worked great to complete the look. They used all the snow in the front yard but Hayden was a little disappointed it wasn't as large as the house. We were glad to see the snow melt away the next day. We are not quite ready for winter.