Emerson turned 5 on December 17th. Yea! I asked him what kind of cake he wanted me to make for his birthday and he said "a volcano with an arrow through it." I kinda forgot the arrow, but luckily he didn't remember that detail. Here's his cake, and despite it's appearance, it was delicious! Here's him on his new bike, too, with his knee pads and GIANT helmet. His lovely bruise happened when, during dinner, he started swinging from the edge of the table and fell. I'm telling you...he's going to be some stunt man or acrobat. He just doesn't like to be happily standing on the ground like everyone else. Happy #5, Emerson!

Superfishfirebagman!

Here's what you get when your kid just can't decide what they want to be when they grow up...a firefighter/fisherman/traveler (??)/superman (yes, he has a red cape on, too). But, when I ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he says he wants to be a dad. Luckily for him, he can dress pretty normal for that job!

Here's the kids painting for homeschool art. McKay almost always does some kind of volcano or fighting machine. Emerson seriously can't resist finger painting and frequently paints himself up to his elbows. This is Brahm's first painting and I must say he thought the paint tasted very good!

We took the kids bowling for Family Fun Night and let me tell you, it was wild! Brahm was all over that place, Emerson was very distracted and we had to keep convincing him it was his turn, and McKay wanted to play video games the whole time. But, it really was fun! Here's Brahm looking pretty stressed (???) and Emerson just looking cute, and McKay is showing his true excitement for a good bowl! They did great and already want to go again.

Our family this year: Emerson 5, Brahm 2, McKay 6 (actually, according to him he's 6 and 3/4). Merry Christmas!

Jekyl & Hyde

So, here's Brahm who turned 2 last month. He is so adorable when he's happy, and a terrific challenge when he's not! He's definitely our "terrible two" year old, but we love him very much. The top picture is representative of his typical temper tantrums these days, and the bottom is typical of how he is as long as he is getting lots of attention. He is talking lots now, though he continues to get ear infections on a regular basis. He loves to play with the "momay" (marble maze), be tickled, and thinks he's pretty funny when he runs from me at diaper changing time. I used to think he was funny, too, the first 20 times. But, it's getting so I have to sneak up on him and tackle him to the ground, and then hold him down for a minute until he stops kicking me. I hope it gets better before I have to potty train him...that could be messy. :) He also needs to attend throwing anonymous. He throws food at every meal, his sippy cup, toys, dishes, and every item he can get his hands on all day. Anyone have a good, effective way to stop the throwing? We're open for ideas!

"The Bean"

Uh, I can't remember what this large silver thing is technically called, but everyone calls it "the Bean", which seems appropriate. It was fascinating. You could lay down right next to it (which surprisingly enough many people did, right there on the cement) and see yourself and thousands of people and buildings right above you. I hit my head on it chasing Emerson through a large crowd of people. I found him crawling under their legs and caught everyone's attention when I screamed his name 15 times before he even turned once! He was a real stinker that day. He got lost 3 times, once time in which I had to run back across a street, stopping a taxi with a yell and the flick of my hand, and into a large crowd of people to find him. He was lost for about 1 or 2 minutes, which seemed like much longer than that. Everywhere we walked that day we were shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people. So, it really was a miracle that we found him, thanks to a very nice woman who made me tell her my name before she would hand him over to me. He wasn't the least bit worried and said he "knew the spirit would guide mommy to him." We are very thankful for our Emerson! P.S. Rick says this sculpture is called "Cloudscape". (He WOULD remember!)

Trump Tower

Here's us in Chicago with Trump Tower behind us. It is still under construction, but you can't tell in this picture. The buildings were amazingly tall and everywhere. Brahm is in the stroller but whoever took the picture cut him out, which might be good because he was a bit grumpy from having to be in the stroller for the 45 minute train ride!

Chicago!

For Thanksgiving we took a trip to Chicago to visit Rick's sister Peg, and husband Josh and little Jonas Winegar. Here's Peg and Rick at the beach, literally a 5 minute walk from their apartment. The kids had fun throwing rocks into Lake Michigan, playing in the park, and watching big dogs run on the beach and fetch frisbees.

A bit of soccer

McKay and Emerson both played soccer this fall. There's Emerson in the top picture being as aggressive as I've ever seen him. He was known for his blonde curls and for doing cartwheels down the middle of the field during soccer games. His coach was constantly having to turn his attention back to the game that was going on. He had fun and is begging for gymnastics lessons now. That'll be more his "thing" we think, since he does watch TV while standing on his head. McKay is the one kicking the ball in the second picture. It's the best picture we got, too, because the field was so big. He had lots of fun as well and though he didn't do cartwheels he was equally distracted by girls on the other team and could often be found talking to them instead of guarding the goal. Isn't 6 a little young?

A glimpse of our yard..

Here's just a glimpse of half of our back yard. It filled with about this many leaves 4 or 5 times by the end of the fall. We had to clean out the rain gutters every couple days to avoid disaster. It was truly beautiful despite all the work, and the boys had a ball with all the leaves on the ground as well as on the trampoline.

More leaves...

At one point our neighbor, Cliff, saw us trying to rake all these leaves into a wheelbarrow and had pity on us. He loaned us his leafblower and all the sudden McKay wanted to help clean the leaves. Here he is trying to blow them into some sort of pile, but mostly moving them to the left side of the lawn. It was helpful even though it barely put a dent in things overall! We have GOT to get one of these.

Here I am loading this wheelbarrow for probably the 50th time and wheeling it into the forest behind our back yard. The leaves in the yard were INSANE! I (well, I can't take all the credit..Rick did rake the front yard one Saturday which was very nice!) cleared 60 yard bags worth of leaves this fall. My back hurt for weeks! This wheelbarrow would fill about 1/3 to 1/2 of a leaf bag. It took dozens of hours and I can honestly say I never want to do it again!

McKay loves snakes!

We're so lucky to have a snake hunter in our family. Rick spied a snake slithering through the grass in our back yard and he chased it, luckily, so that McKay could have this chance to touch it. As you can see, he is REALLY enjoying it! (Emerson calls it a "gardener" snake).

This summer me (Kara) and the kids spent 3 weeks in Utah visiting family. Rick couldn't come, which was a big disappointment. Here's some of my family, including my lovely mom, 2 of my sisters, my kids, and 5 of my neices, at the Cedar City July 4th parade. We spent 3 days at a hotel with lots of family we hadn't seen for many years. The kids had never met most of the extended family, so it was fun. There were over 100 people there! We spent lots of time swimming at the hotel, playing games, eating lotsa good food, and just reacquainting ourselves with everyone. Me and my siblings spent every night staying up way too late playing games...just like old times. It was fantastic!

He Likes It, Hey Mikey!

We took a field trip to the "Real Life Farm" and it was awesome! Here's Emerson feeding a baby goat that they said wouldn't eat grains, yet. But, he did...right out of Emerson's hands. Emerson was so scared at first; I had to really convince him to try. But, he eventually sat on the floor right next to him. It was very sweet.

Some Halloween Action

Watch out!! McKay and Emerson take Halloween very seriously when dressed as Jedi Knights! Brahm kept his costume on for a total of 10 minutes, just long enough to get 3 decent pictures. Then he spent the next 2 hours begging for candy. Par for the course, I suppose.

For those of you who've never met Rick's twin, Rob...well, here he is with his youngest, Isaac. And here's our beloved Grandma Mary Thompson, who always makes sure she spends lots of time with her grandkids while we're there. She's holding our Brahm, who just turned 2 last month.

A visit to Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's isn't a visit without helping Grandpa with a project. Grandpa Dave always includes the kids in some work or project. He isn't ever bothered by their presence, and in fact somehow always finds something they can actually do to help. Here they are digging up some of the yard to put in (or fix?) a sprinkler pipe. We love you, Grandpa!

For those of you who lived in Lansing, Michigan while we were living there, you may remember our favorite missionary, Elder Benjamin Kaufman. He was married to Autumn while we were in Utah, so we drove out to Linden for their reception. If you look closely you'll notice that we had some chocolate for refreshments, and that Emerson didn't quite make it to the potty on time. But, alas we had a great time and enjoyed seeing Ben and his new bride very much!

Bumble Butts!

So, if you look really closely here you'll notice stinger shaped cardboard pieces which McKay and Emerson begged me to tape to their behinds. We decided the nest of wasps outside our back door must be their inspiration. At any rate, they ran around "stinging" us all day. No, there is no lack for entertainment around here.