A Semi Ride

Dylan got to go for a ride in Grandpa Brent's semi today. He had so much fun, boy was he excited. He packed his backpack full of fun things to do on the ride, got his sunglasses and his lunch bag and was ready to go.

All morning long, Dylan kept talking about having special time with Grandpa and going on a trip with Grandpa. On our drive to meet Grandpa, Dylan said, "I've never done this before! You know what I'm gonna be when I grow up? A semi person." When I watched him climb up in that big seat in that huge truck, he seemed so tiny to me. Even with the booster seat, you could barely see him out the window. He was smiling and giving peace signs and thumbs up. He was ready to go. I teared up thinking about how blessed our kids are with wonderful grandparents, how blessed we are to have those people in our lives that love our kids.

Thank you so much Grandpa Brent, for loving our kids, and for the wonderful memory you gave Dylan today.

Weekend in Columbus

We went to Columbus, Ohio for the weekend to spend time with Grandma Linda and Gramps. Packing 7 people up for a weekend away is very overwhelming, not to mention we took the dog and the gerbils. Our kids aren't the best travelers either, though they are getting better. We got a late start, but made it to Columbus before dinner time. The kids were excited, the grandparents were excited.

Friday night the kids got treasure maps, and each child took a turn wondering around the yard with their map to find the X that revealed a present. Garrett got a dinosaur kit, Dylan got a magic kit, Sami got a build a bear kit, Macy got a purse with puppies, and Sydney got a purple lion.

Saturday morning Nathan and the boys took Gramps to Lowe's for their Kids Grow Clinic. They built helicopter's together. While they were gone, the girls sat down and had a tea party with Grandma Linda. They dressed up with fancy hats and jewelry, had sandwiches and tea and painted fingernails and toenails. Then we went to see UP in the theater.

We went to the Columbus Zoo on Sunday and the kids had so much fun. We got to see manatee's and Elephants (Dylan's all time favorite!) and gorilla's, things we don't see at our local zoo.

It was a great weekend, full of wonderful memories. The kids were sad to leave.

Day with Grandma Rachel

Grandma Rachel was kind enough to take our 3 kiddos today after VBX. She actually would've taken all 5, but today is the girls visit with their dad. Garrett, Dylan and Sydney had so much fun and came home so wiped out. Dylan and Sydney fell asleep in the van on the ride home (at 3pm) and it is now 5:30, still sleeping, on the couch. So cute. I love the way the look when the sleep, so peaceful, so sweet :)
I am so thankful for her, she is always willing to help with the kids, whenever she can. They have so much fun there, playing piano, playing wii, playing with Isaac, Tabitha and Bethany. Dylan would go there EVERY DAY if he could. His new thing has been to ask to call Grandma Rachel to tell her something important. I usually say yes, and he dials the phone and as soon as she answers, he says, "can I come to your house".
Love you Rach, thanks for being such a great Grandma :)

Happy Birthday Pap

Nathan's grandpa, better known as Pap turns 94 today! Happy Birthday Pap! We love you!

Mom's surgery

Mom had her surgery this week and we turned our playroom into a guest room for the time being so that she could stay with us for a little while, afterwards. The kids all picked out balloons to take to the hospital for her. Macy picked out a "happy birthday" balloon, but then decided on an orange star....with a little help ;) Garrett picked out a red heart, because he loves his grandma. Sami got a "get well" balloon. Sydney got a purple star because that's her favorite color and Dylan picked out a yellow smile balloon. They definitely did make mom smile :)
While she was here, the kids kept sneaking in her room to give her hugs and tell her hi. Garrett read her books and Sami gave her backrubs.
She has returned home and we are checking on her daily, several times and today Garrett wanted to stay with her to make sure that she wasn't doing her "to do list". He is such a big helper and went over to help her out. He ran up and down the stairs for her, took out her recycling and her trash and kept asking for more jobs. I'm so proud of the thoughtful little guy he is.

Gramps and Grandma Linda Visit

It's the end of May, which means it's almost Sydney's birthday. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 soon. Gramps and Grandma Linda came from Ohio for a visit to celebrate her birthday with us. It was a great visit and the kids had lots of fun. Garrett and Gramps painted a memo board they had put together at our Christmas visit and Dylan and Grandma took a walk around the block, several times. Dylan saw 7 robins and 1 blackbird and even found treasures on his walk: a puzzle piece, a pen, and a button. Grandma brought quarters for Sami, Garrett and Dylan's coin collector which is always a big hit. Dylan really just wants the quarters, no need to put them in the book, just put them in his bank please ;) . After they left for home, Garrett said, "I am H-A-P-P-Y that they came to visit." Dylan was sad and wants to go to their house TOMORROW. We'll have to get to Ohio soon.

A New Year's Christmas

We went to Columbus to see Nathan's parents on New Year's Eve. It was a fairly uneventful drive, though we did swerve and brake to miss a pedestrian in a small town on the way, who seemed to have begun his celebrations a little early and had wandered into the road in front of us.


Garrett asked us every 15 minutes what state we were in, unfortunately we entered Ohio after driving for 1 hour and still had 2 1/2 hours to go. He said, "I thought Grandma and Gramps lived in Ohio!" Dylan's biggest concern on the trip was whether there would be "froclate milk" (chocolate milk) where he was going. We did convince the kids to sleep a little in the car so that they could stay awake until midnight to see the ball drop, which helped the trip go smoothly. (Last Christmas, the 3 1/2 hour drive took 7 hours!!)


We arrived around 9 pm and were able to watch the ball drop and the kids had a lot of fun blowing their New Year's horns from Grandma.


The next morning we all woke up and after breakfast the kids went on a present hunt to find the presents that Grandma and Gramps had hidden throughout the house. They love that game! Sami got a Jonas Brother's CD, Garrett got a laptop, Dylan got a wall-e transformer, Sydney got a baby doll, and Macy got a cinderella doll with a carriage.


Garrett got to do a project with Gramps, and Sami made a doll with Grandma and we had a very special time. Dylan went on a walk with Grandma and collected lots of pinecones, and Macy and Sydney had lots of fun playing with Aunt Penny's doll cradle. The kids put on a nativity play for the grandparents and sang the songs from their Christmas programs.


Garrett was the saddest to leave, he misses his Gramps and Grandma lots! He called them 3 times after we left because he was missing them! He didn't want to leave, but he didn't want to stay without us either. He was quite happy to get home to his gerbils though, and plans on writing lots of letters.

Grandparents Visit

Gramps and Grandma Linda came to see Sami, Garrett and Dylan's last soccer game of the season. Garrett and Sami both got to play Goalie during the game, which is Garrett's favorite. Dylan wasn't sure if he was going to play at all, but eventually he joined the game. After soccer and some time at home, we went to the park and out for ice cream.