HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Baby Connor's First Birthday

(with baby translation)

"I'm so excited. No really, look at my face."
"umm... i wonder what this is?"

"tastes pretty good to me"

"who are these people?"

(The party guests)

"this is what i think of that cake"

"this is more like it"

"smash"

"Oh yeah... this is great"

"One more bite. Afterall, it is my birthday"

...the aftermath (you should have seen the floor!)

We sure love our baby Connor and can't believe he is now ONE year old! He is such a funny little boy and loves to be a part of whatever his big brothers are doing. He is quite the dancer, pat-a-cake player, and noise-maker. His giggles are sweet and his smiles are contagious! He has developed quite the climbing trick up the boys slide on their bed and also the chairs and kitchen table. When he gets stuck on the chairs because they are pushed under we sure do know about it. He has got a powerful set of lungs :) He is strong and quick and WE LOVE OUR LITTE GUY!

All the FUN of Halloween!

Family Home Evening Tradition: Carve a pumpkin. This year we helped clean-out about 15 pumpkins for the ward party. Ben was amazing! He could clean out a pumpkin in less than 5 minutes, which was pretty great since there was alot of 'guts' to scrape outta there.

We are so scared!
I love watching the kiddos dress up, especially when they run around the house and wrestle or spray webs on one another. Spider-man SLASH Optimus or Spiptamus kept getting attacked by the masked ninja. He was able to defend himself quite well... and make his mom and dad laugh with the web action and noise.
The whole crew ready to go to the Ward Party... we look pretty good, right?

Hippie Dad, Spider-kid, Mustache biker, Ewalk (from Star Wars) and "how to train your dragon" Viking kid

Then on Saturday night we went on the base to a 'carnivale'... otherwise known as complete chaos! There were so many people packed into this gym area, little games like musical chairs, cake walk, etc... We had more fun when we left the gym and watched the boys run, jump, and roll down a little hill where the car was parked.

GO TEAM!

Two games, two boys in soccer, two different places.... ONE mom! ummm... let's see how this is going to work.... I still laugh about Brecon's very first soccer game. Put simply, he was an emotional wreck! By halftime, only 2 of his team-mates were actually still playing, the rest were on the sidelines sitting by their parents or crying. I couldn't stop giggling. Ben tried his best to encourage, but to no avail. Now this week: COMPLETE 360. Brecon was aggressive, but not mean, he chased after the ball, he KICKED the ball (HOORAY!) It was amazing! After 5 minutes, it was time to leave for Caels game which was being played at a field 20 minutes away. Thankfully my sweet neighbor offered to bring Brecon home so he could finish his game, we couldn't take him away when he was doing so well! Problem solved.

So we made it to Cael's game just in time. That kid was on fire! His dribbling and foot control were amazing, down the field --SCORE!!! Kick off, dribble, down the field... SCORE!!! He was kicking them pretty hard into the net, they couldn't be stopped! By the end of the game Cael insists he made 7 goals, but I only counted 6. I only wish the video camera's battery hadn't died, the game was quite fun to watch, at least from the point of view of a proud mamma! Way to go Cael!
And when it is all over.... EVERYONE in the TUB!! even the BABY!
WHEW!! What a Wednesday!

Rock & Pott

We started out this chilly moring exploring a rock climbing spot about 20 minutes away. Cael has decided that rock climbing is right up there with his favorite sports (soccer being number 1 of course). He has now been able to "lead rope" or "lead climb" (I don't remember the term exactly) the last couple of times we have made it out there. Ben is right there cheering/coaching him where to go next until he makes it to the top safely.

I had heard there was a corn maze and activites in Pottenstein so we decided to see if we could find it. Snugly located inside a sharp valley, the trees, and buildings downtown were just adorable. We have been caught singing "little town, fully of little people" (from Beauty and the Beast) on more than one occasion. A quick stop on the town information board helped us learn that there are caves and fossil digging nearby, and other attractions, but we couldn't locate where the corn maze would be. Instead we decided to eat some lunch and go on the summer bobsleds nearby. Fun and not too expensive!

After a small detour way up and around, we made our way back down into Pottenstein

Our lunch spot

Scenery enjoyed while eating our Schnitzel sandwiches

Go BOBSLED or Rottelbahn. The yellow one was best!
"I'm walking here" -- Connor

A picture puzzle

One of Brecon's favorite things to do lately is put together puzzles with "Old Macdonald" being his number one pick. It started out with us working on it together, but after a little while he was able to put it together completely on his own. I just love that he has something to help pass the time until Cael is brought back from school... beside having an amazing time with his baby brother and myself!