The Furry Childern

Well....sometimes my children's teeth are furry...but this post is about our 4 legged furry children. Cricket is going on 15 years and showing it! Her once-beautiful apricot coat is now wirey and coarse and doesn't conceal her liver spots all down her back. Her eyes stain a lot more making her look like Tammy Faye Baker after a tele-thon. But she is loved by all.

When everyone was up for Nate's baptism she enjoyed the extra attention from Granny and the kids. She has had this HORRIBLE cough which made for lots of jokes over the weekend. Heather said her name has changed from "Cricket" to "Poor Cricket"...since that is what we say when we talk about her! Even with her crazy hair and the food stuck in her facial hair...I sure love her and don't mind kissing her face!

Nate LOVES the dogs. He always wants one of the dogs to sleep with him at night and often "calls Obie" before bed...like he is claiming his territory. Since Obie is not allowed on our bed he will oftentimes lie down at the foot of Nate's bed. In the middle of the night Nate will reach down, grab Obie by the middle and pull him up so he will sleep right next to him. It is very precious to see! If Nate can't have Obie he will want Cricket to sleep with him. The dogs always start off at the foot of Nate's bed....but this is what I found one day this week. He had pulled Cricket up to sleep next to him as well!

Everyone who meets Obie thinks he is a mutant. They either have never heard of a Bichon Frise or if they have will say "He is NOT a Bichon"....well he is...he is just a giant. We weren't looking to get a Bichon...I knew nothing about the breed...we just walked into the pet store and 2 jours later were walking out with a bewildered 4 month Bichon. He had spent all his life in his kennel so he was a little shell-shocked but has turned out to be the best dog for our family! He tolerates everything the kids(mainly Nate) do to torture...I mean love him. He got so much attention from Forrest and Sadie this weekend as well....and he just took it all without protest!.

We love our furry children!

Happy Birthday Nate!

Here are some random pictures of Nate and some stories...in honor of his turning 8!

Those who know Nate know that it is hard to get him to smile or show much emotion. He was going through one of his "i am not going to smile for anyone" phases and when I took this picture he was starting to come out of that phase. This face is saying, "i have not smiled in so long i forgot how....".

He would fall asleep in the most funny positions! Another picture that is in the scrapbook is of him alseep on the computer keyboard. Nothing like a sleeping baby or child!

Although he won't kiss me now...he sure gave good kisses when he was a baby...even if I had a gummy in my mouth!

I can't believe how much this boy has grown!

This was his first day of Kindergarten. I was worried how he would handle K....but he did fabulous. It was the poor PreK teachers that he had a hard time with! I sure wish he would let me keep his hair this short! He has coarse hair that is beautiful when curly but frizzy when dry. He likes to have his hair long but he doesn't want it curly...well Nate you can't have it both ways!!

Isn't he the cutest thing!

He loved to play peek-a-boo....and i loved looking at him without his shirt! I loved to put him in white onesies too! So adorable!

Nate loved his cars and trains. He would play for hours by himself...which was something i never experienced with Sophia. Often throughout the day I would have to check on him because he was so into his play.

Nate we are reminded everyday how very lucky we are to be your parents. I love how you give me great big hugs in the morning. I love that I can make you feel secure. I love how you love our animals. I know you have a hard time showing much emotion to others but that will come. I am very excited to watch you grow up into a wonderful young man!!

Happy Birthday Nate!

For Nate's 8th birthday we took a trip out to UT to his birthplace. Since we have an open relationship with her birthparents they were able to come visit for her baptism(in our church you can get baptized at 8). We do not have the same openess with Nate's birthparents so we decided to take this trip to make it just as special for him!

We drove to Ogden to the hospital where he was born and then onto Pocatello for a pizza dinner with our friends. We also picked up a star wars cake and decorated it with all the candles Julie could find:)

We love our Buddy Nate!