Happy Birthday Hayden

On Wednesday, Hayden turned four! Four year old birthdays are so fun because they are so excited about everything even when it isn't that big of a deal. We had a few family parties. We went to lunch at Arctic Circle. He had tumbling, which he was excited about because we sang to him. Heath took him to a movie. He got the Power Ranger that he wanted so life was happy! I just love how thankful they are. I don't know how many kisses and "I love you's" I got that day, but it makes it all worth it. Hayden is a great kid. He is definitely full of life. He hardly stops moving all day. He loves to talk. He is not shy. He loves to figure out how things work. He gets excited to easily about the little things in life. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. Now at our house, four is the cool age to be since we have two of them.

Hayden wanted Gummy animal cupcakes for his birthday. We did the chocolate ones with Oreo to look like dirt with gummy worms. Then the blue frosting with gummy sharks, fish, and octopus. I think we had more fun making them then eating. It was a simple idea.

Happy Birthday Hayden!

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.

One of those Moments

You have to love the moment when you are quietly reading on your couch and you look up and your little boy is running towards you covered in blood all over his head and hands. It gets your heart beating a little bit. Hayden was playing with a friend and from what I have been told they ran into each other with a stool in our kitchen. It hit Hayden in just the right place and split his eye open. The next thing I knew was seeing blood everywhere and hearing Hannah (who thought it was his fault even though it was an accident) yelling at Hayden's little friend. I'm trying to get Hayden's bleeding under control and thinking I need to stop Hannah from yelling. I look down the hall and Hayden's friend is getting his boots and coat on as fast as he could trying to just get out of here. I luckily was able to tell him it was okay before he left so he didn't feel bad, poor little guy. Hannah is just a little protective of her brother, I guess. Anyway, then comes the decision of should we take him in to the doctor or not. I didn't want a scar on his face so we went to Ruth, who is a great friend and a P.A., to take a look. She was so nice and patched him up and the crisis was solved. That is the second time Hayden has come in covered in blood. I told him his quota is all filled up.

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!

Hayden's Antics

On Friday, I was wrapping a few presents (sometimes that is the best way to hide them). Hayden came in and saw one and asked who it was for. I told him this one is for Hannah and the other one was for him from me. He asked matter of factly, "Let me look at what mine is." I told him he couldn't because he had to wait for Christmas day. This made him mad and then he said, "That is not a very nice thing to do mom. Why would you do such a mean thing?" He wasn't mad anymore he just really wanted to know why I would wrap a present and not show him. It is so funny how a three year old brain works. Or maybe we have it all wrong and they really understand how things should go. I tried to distract him by pulling out the present he boughtfor his dad and wanted to get him excited by helping me wrap it. He then told me, "Why would I want to be so mean to dad and wrap his present?" It is hard to wait until Christmas when you are a three year old.

Hayden was so excited on Saturday when we finally found him a Christmas train. He has been wishing for one for a year. That is all he wants for Christmas. We have looked all over but were unable to find one. Finally, Heath took him shopping and they found one. He has been playing with it non-stop since then. I don't know how many times I have put it back on the train, but it is worth the fun he is having. We will see on Christmas day if he remembers that that was all he wanted for Christmas.

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.