The boys' new toy.

Danny got this tractor from his Mom and he and Austin have been having lots of fun with it. Cleaning out the horse pens, spreading gravel, etc. It's not too pretty, but it gets the job done, and the price was right. They also have plans to push snow with it this winter. Austin has a nice little place to sit on top, he will sit there for hours and loves every minute of it. He even fell asleep up there so I guess it's pretty comfy.

You can see Austin's feet sticking out.

Natalie and Austin had a "campout" the other night. Here is Makenna crashing the party.

Happy Birthday Natalie!!

Natalie's 9th birthday was Monday. Natalie is such a sweet and happy girl, although as she gets older she has some moody days too. She is smart and funny and makes friends easily. I can remember when we found out we were pregnant with her, we were so excited to be starting our family. For five years Natalie was an only child, which seems so crazy now. I hope she knows how much we love her and we are so glad she is in our family. Happy Birthday Natalie!!

The B-day girl with her new guitar.
Austin and Makenna helping Natalie with presents. We had family come over Monday night for treats. Natalie got lots of fun presents. Thanks to everyone for coming and for the nice gifts.

Also--Makenna is now crawling and is so happy with herself! Time to babyproof again!!

Easter Weekend

Saturday we went to the city Easter egg hunt. It started raining as we pulled out of the driveway, so we grabbed umbrellas. The kids didn't seem to mind the rain, they found lots of eggs and had fun.
When we got home, we colored eggs.
Easter Morning...at our house the E.B. puts clues in some of the eggs that tell the kids where to go look for other surprises. They found squirt guns in the dishwasher.

Then, on the back of each clue there is a letter. When you put the letters together it spells out where you will find your basket, this year they were in Mom's Van.

Makenna lovin the paper.

Later we went to Gram and Pop's for dinner and a Scavenger Hunt.

They got to fish for some of their prizes.

Makenna and Sawyer--She loves him and always wants to touch him.

Go Fly a Kite.

I guess there is one thing this crazy weather is good for.

Natalie's Edible Car

Natalie's class had a fun project this week, everyone had to make a car out of food and then they took them to school and raced them down a ramp. Some of the cars didn't make it to the finish line and a lot of them fell off the ramp and broke. As far as school projects go, I think this one was pretty fun and yummy too.

Natalie and Danny working on their masterpiece, they started with Fudgestripe cookie wheels but they kept breaking. Thank goodness the new grocery store was open so they could go get Oreos instead.

Natalie's Car---The Green Machine

Natalie ready to race her car, it made it to the finish line and then fell of the ramp, but didn't break (thank goodness, she worried all morning about that).

These are some of the other cars. Everyone was so creative.

Here is Makenna watching the kids race their cars.

Austin finally got to play with the car after the race, and then he and Natalie decided to eat it.

Dad's Little Buddy

Austin really loves hanging out with Danny these days, and as you can see from this picture, he likes to dress like him too. If Danny goes anywhere, Austin goes with him. Austin can't wait for Danny to get home from work everyday. Last Sunday Danny and my Dad took Austin and Natalie on a horse ride and they had fun, but I heard later from Natalie that at one point they were both crying because the horses were being a little crazy. Danny never mentions anything like that of course, but I'm so glad they are able to spend time together and have fun with Dad.

Fun at Jumpin Jacks!

We finally made it to Jumpin Jacks, Natalie has been begging to go forever. We went yesterday with Emily, Ian, Brock and Sawyer. It was a lot of fun and a great way to burn some energy on a windy day. The kids loved it!
Austin started getting tired towards the end and would look at the stairs leading to a slide and say "Stairs! I just can't make it, I'm dyin"

We wanted to go at a time when it would not be very crowded, so I got Natalie out of school early. I told her it wasn't a really good reason to miss school so she shouldn't tell everyone where she was going. She agreed not to, and then when I picked her up she said "everyone is so jealous that I am going to Jumpin Jacks, even my teacher" How do they know where you're going I asked?? "Oh SORRY MOM I forgot", Ha imagine that! Well our plan worked and it was not crowded at all, at one point we were the only ones there. Even Emily and I went down a few slides. It is really hard to climb those stairs, the are so slippery! I can see why Austin got tired. Anyway we all had lots of fun and we will definitely go back soon.