Christmas is coming!

Some friends of ours invited us ours were staying at a hotel in Hutch and invited us to come and swim with them. We met them for lunch and swam at the hotel. It was a lot of fun.

Ethan was little fish in the water. He did not want us to hold onto him even if he couldn't touch.

This is Jarod and Bridget Grover and their two girls Hannah and Sophie and ofcourse Matt and the boys.

Matt, the space man with the kids!

This was in the foyer after the boys' school Christmas program. Doesn't Seth look sharp in his suspenders and tie? Ethan got to pick out his own tie which he thought was pretty special. They would walk around and tell eachother, "You look sharp!". I wonder where they heard that?

We baked Christmas cookies and decorated them. We made some in the shape of gingerbread boys and Matt convinced them that the cooke was going to escape out of the oven. So Matt took a cookie when it came out and put one by the front door. The boys were amazed and really thought that it had escaped!

Decorating cookies is serious business!

Both boys have big green (hazel) eyes!

Seth is really studying that gingerbread boy!

The boys are so excited for Christmas. The favorite thing so far is looking at Christmas lights. Seth especially gets so excited! The other night he would start screaming, "Wookie dat!! Wookie dat!! (Look at that!) OOOOhhhhh Wow!" He was in awe! Even if a house has one string of lights he still gets excited! Hope to see everyone soon for Christmas!

Dollhouse Fun (even for boys!)

I have been telling the boys for a long time that I would get out my old dollhouse and let them see it. Last night I found it all and set it up for them. Matt was gone last night and the boys were in bed so I was all alone and set up the house and took out all of the furniture. It brought back so many memories! I haven't taken it out of the box in almost 20 years (I think I let Lindsey play with it a little bit when she was little. Don't think I was playing with it when I was 15!) This was probably my most favorite childhood toy and it was fun to share it with Ethan and Seth. Seth kept calling it a "girl house".
They thought it was the neatest thing. Ethan loves things that are to scale and have a lot of detail so he thought this was great. Seth was very interested in the dog and three cats that are in the house which didn't surprise me.
They wanted me to take a picture and show all of the furniture and rooms.

The Pumpkin Patch!

The Sunny Side Pumpkin Patch is about 15 minutes south of Salina and we love to go there, especially on a beautiful fall day. It was a little windy but not to bad. This is Matt and Seth on the hayrack ride.
There is a hayrack ride pulled by horses that goes around the pumpkin patch. The sun was right in their eyes but they tried to smile.
Ethan loved the tire horse swings.
Obviously Matt is giving Seth a little help. He still doesn't even weigh 30 lbs.
They had a few holes of mini golf and Ethan really got into it.

Seth was always a little nervous when Ethan was pulling the wagon.

They had big tubs of corn with tractors and toys in them that they could play with. Seth loved it. He was trying to bury himself.

Fun Times

This is Ethan on his first chapel day at school. They have to dress in a shirt and tie with navy slacks every Wednesday. I thought he looked so cute.

This was one of the last warm days and they ran through the sprinkler.

It's good to have a brother!

Grandma Alpha and Aunt Jodie came up for a weekend the end of August. Grandma brought a kite and we went out to fly it. It was a nice windy day for it.

Jodie and Seth watching them fly the kite.

Ethan was a good kite flyer!
Most of the time the boys were more interested in the sprinklers in the park than they were in the kite. Boys and machines what can I say?
Ethan and Seth were selling food and drinks to Grandma.
Great Grandma Friesen came down for Grandparents Day at school. She got to come to both of the boys' classroom as well as mine! Grandpa Friesen was there also.
We went to the State Fair. As usual it rained the entire time! Every year we seem to pick a cold rainy day. Needless to say I didn't get out my camera much so this was our only pic of the state fair. It was wet and muddy but we had a good day. We met cousin Brian Timken and his family for pizza afterward.

First day of school!

Today is the first day of school at Salina Christian Academy. Ethan is in Kidergarten and Seth is in Preschool. They are so excited!
It was my first day of school too. I am teaching music for grades 1-8 twice a week on Mondays and Fridays.
Ready to go!
The boys in front of their school! It is an old public school building and the school has been in this building for about 4 years. They have done a lot of work updating it.
This is at Sethy's classroom. He was very apprehensive and cried when I left. The teachers reassured me he stopped right after I left.
Seth at his seat in his preschool classroom.
Ethan was so ready for Kindergarten. He sat right down at his seat and didn't even look back. I have to say I got a little teary eyed seeing him in his classroom. I can't believe he is officially "in school". It doesn't seem possible. I had a great first day in my classes. It was a lot of fun and my "teacher mode" seemed to come back quickly. I know there will be challenges but I think overall it will be a great year.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Here is Ethan on his new bike!
He wanted an airplane cake so I did my best! I really need to take a cake decorating class so I can keep up with their wishes!


Ethan is now 5 years old! I can't believe it! On the actual day of his birthday Matt and I agreed not to say anything because I knew he would expect a cake and presents on that day (we were having a party later in the week) but by evening I felt terrible not even acknowledging his birthday so I told him and we talked about memories of the day he was born. I felt much better. On Thursday of that week we had the Underwoods over for supper and cake. Bailey is a year older than Ethan and they love playing together. It was a fun evening. Ethan was so excited about his presents, especially the bike!

Family Fun in Colorado!

We had a great time in Colorado this year! It was fun and relaxing time for all of us. On Tuesday morning after a big cabin breakfast of bacon and eggs we set off for "the rock", a look out point near the cabin. The trail head is just steps from the cabin. It is definately a challenge for our young family. We tried last year and only made it half way. This year after a hiking uphill for an hour and a half we made it to the top! In the picture you can see our destination above my head. Ethan is shooting the camera with a stick in case you were wondering.
My big strong husband!
We took lots of breaks along the way and bribed them with granola bars and fruit snacks!
The view from the top! We made it!

We went up Pikes Peak on Wednesday and it was cloudy in Manitou when we left but luckily the clouds were high enough that we still had a great view from the top! It took about an hour and a half to get to the top. The boys had fun riding the cog.
It was 42 degrees at the top. We were very cold if you can't tell. Matt decided to jog (literally!) around the top while we warmed up in the gift shop and had a snack.
Throwing rocks off of the top of Pikes Peak. Throwing rocks off of mountains seemed to be a past time for them the entire week.
On Friday we went to the Air Force Academy. We saw the chapel and the guest center and watched a few gliders.
This was a picture I took through the windshield of the car going back up the mountain. I thought it was really pretty.


For the 3rd year in a row we have gone to the North Pole. It is truly the highlight of the week for both of them. We always go at the end of the day and then you get another day admisson for free so we went on Monday and Thursday.
Seth's favorite ride was the huge ferris wheel. I bet he rode it 4 times. We actually got Ethan on it this year and he rode it once. It is the highest ferris wheel in the world (in elevation). I love it. The view from the top is spectacular.
Garden of the Gods is another favorite spot. Over the past few years we have renamed it "Garden of Our God" which seems more appropriate. We found some neat places for the boys to climb around and get really dirty!
Two little tourists!
On the bridge in front of the cabin. We saw a lot of deer right around the cabin this year. Seth even spotted some deer at the window and ran to tell us.



Our home away from home. We have had so much fun at the cabin over the past few years (Matt and I spent our honeymoon here!).


One last picture of the North Pole. This was Ethan's favorite ride- the skyrider!