Nate is 9!

We celebrated Nate's birthday two days early this year since Joe and I were leaving the next day for our trip to Chile. It was a quiet celebration after his big party last year but it was fun. It was especially quiet because he made it clear to all of us that all he wanted for his birthday was money to put towards a Nintendo Switch. So, that's what he got! By the time his gifts came in, he was over $200 of the way there and he saved his allowance every week, too. Then, he happened to get to ride on the next door neighbor boy's hoverboard. He found out he did have enough to buy one of those already and he changed his mind.  I don't think he regrets his choice. He spends a lot of time riding around on it and it quite amazing at it. It's second nature to him now. 

Back to his birthday... the kids like watching a show on BYUtv called Best Cake Wins and one day they all drew out cakes they would want. Here was Nate's:

Natalie got the idea that we should try to make his cake for his birthday. On the show, they are all tall, 3D, amazing cakes but our version is 2D. I was still pretty proud of it and Nate seemed to like it, too:

Natalie made him this cool balloon Blue Toad when we were blowing up balloons in the morning:

He loved it. :)

He chose cinnamon rolls for his birthday breakfast that morning. Then, Joe took him out of school a little bit early for his birthday lunch. That afternoon, he got to go rock climbing with Joe and Lizzie. Then, we had his birthday dinner.

Nate has had a great year. He just told me the other day that he has now been at his elementary school for a year. He still misses his old school but he has a buddy (Carlo) that moved over with him that he got to know better in baseball so that has helped. They have been taking an after-school basketball clinic together. He is getting pretty good at basketball--at least according to a dad in our neighborhood that plays with him a lot. He says Nate will shoot over anyone and make it a lot of the time. He's also been working on his pitching and is excited to play baseball in the spring. The boys all got really into watching the Dodgers in the world series. Nate is our one child that will sit and watch BYU football and basketball games with us (although Eli might be on his way) and we have fun doing that. He still loves sports of all kinds.

He is doing great in school. He keeps winning candy bars on Fridays for solving these math problems the fastest. He loves math. And, miracle of miracles, the girls finally persuaded him to read a book series they thought he'd like called Wings of Fire and he loves them! He has actually been reading voluntarily and is now on book 5. Now we need to keep it going into another book series. He's a good reader. He has more homework now that he's in 3rd grade but he is keeping up with it all. He also has more projects, which he does not love. We've already had some early mornings trying to finish them at the last minute because he puts them off. Still, he is doing great overall.

He missed his friend, Max, who moved this summer but he has fun playing with Brendan and the other boys in the neighborhood. He is still a really good eater and is my only child who is happy with sandwiches every day in his lunch. He also loves huge bowls of oatmeal, cheese fries, and bread.

Mary and Andrew took the kids to a farmer's market and let them buy something.

Nate's choice:

Nate still loves playing Wii and still wants that Nintendo Switch. He still loves Michael Jackson, Studio C, and American Ninja Warrior (and climbing all over the house :). He still doesn't love public speaking much. 

We used this picture for Nate's All About Me poster in school this year and I love it:

We sure love our Nate. He makes life so much better!

Back to School

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to school again. This time with an 8th grader, a 7th grader, a 3rd grader, and a kindergartner! Eli was so excited to start school. He would tell everyone he was starting "on August 29th". Natalie was super excited for junior high, too. 

The day finally came. Eli has morning kindergarten so he got ready to go with the other kids:

(More realistic pic :)

 I walked him into his class:

He found his spot and sat down:

No tears or anything. I was doing fine until I happened to hear the song "Hourglass" by Mindy Gledhill on the way home. I did shed some tears. It hasn't been too different from preschool except he is gone every day now but it's only for a few hours.

Taking selfies one night:

Joe started ready Where the Red Fern Grows to the kids and they all love it. I love snuggling up in bed together:

 (Until I get claustrophobic... :)

It's been a tricky adjustment getting used to a lot heavier homework load for everyone but they are all doing well and liking school. 

Girls Weekend

 My good friend Whitney invited a whole bunch of us to come stay at her in-laws house (they aren't currently living there) in San Juan Capistrano for a weekend at the end of August. I was so excited for this trip and it lived up to the hype! It was relaxing and fun with great conversation and yummy food. There were I think 10 of us that came so it was a good-sized group. Those of us that came the morning of the first day went right to the beach:

Whitney and I swimming in the ocean:

I loved it so much.

We went to the temple that night since the Oakland temple is still closed:

More people made it that night and the next day we got pedicures:

 We also got out on a hike one morning:

I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of Mari and Elle since we were so excited to have them there. She and I had fun staying up late doing a puzzle and talking one night. I also didn't get one of Laurel who came late. I love all of these ladies so much and I'm so glad we moved to Fremont so I could meet them and get to know them. 

Summer Memories

Here are some of the little moments from the summer. 

We babysat Luke and Nora for a few days so Mary and Andrew could get away. My kids always love when they come over and they provide endless laughs. Nora was giving us some cute looks:

I love those eyelashes!

Playing with Eli:

Playing with water balloons:

We made a Summer bucket list.

We didn't get to much of that this summer. Maybe next year!

We were so sad to find out that our good friends the Ashby's took a job in Roseville and left us at the beginning of July. At least they are not too far and we've seen them a couple of times since they left. We tried to soak in the time with them before they left:

Eli and Kate were good Wii-playing buddies:

Babysitting cute Elle:

These three always played so well together:

We had a final date night with the Ashby's a really yummy Chinese dumpling place.

They took these and I thought they were funny:

Joe would steal Elle as much as he could. We all miss having her around!

Sweet Max got up and bore his testimony before they moved and cried and it broke my heart. He and Nate were such good buddies. Nate took it hard, but thank goodness for facetime. It was cute to watch the three of them together in Primary one last time:

We helped them clean and pack a little bit and I had to sneak a picture of Joe and Mike taking a break to ride ripstiks together.

We celebrated the 4th with them before they left with a BBQ. Mari made these great red, white and blue drinks that the kids loved:

We stopped by the parade again:

The Bishop does a youth lake trip every summer and I got to go this year as a leader. I took all my kids along. We drove out to Woodward reservoir near Manteca and used the bishop's boat along with another family in the ward's boat. It was super hot but a lot of fun!

Bishop Smith was really sweet making Eli feel important and giving him jobs on the boat. He even let him drive it for a while!

Natalie, Emily, and Jaime having a blast on the tube:

Eli and I even got to go:

Then he tried it briefly by himself, except he wasn't heavy enough to weigh it down!

We couldn't talk Nate into going on the boat but he had fun playing at the shore on the kayaks. Elizabeth had a blast tubing on the party boat with the older kids. They were having some crazy rides. It was a fun day.

We had a gorgeous beach day:

Silly Eli in Natalie's swim team jacket:

I don't have any pictures of Natalie, just video of her season, but she had a great one. There was a learning curve since she went up to the higher age group which meant swimming distances that were twice as long, but she really improved her times by the end of the season. I think next year will be easier for her if she does it again.

Eli loves the rope swing we have and I love that smile:

Jumping spider:

We had our Neighborhood Night Out again. I always enjoy that. Unfortunately, Elizabeth and I couldn't stay long since we had to get to YW, and I guess we missed all the action. A local news channel came to film it because our new police chief was there. They intereviewed the kids and got a lot of shots but the only ones that made the cut were these of Nate and Natalie walking behind the camera:

And Joe getting food:

At least they got to sit on a police motorcycle:

I found out Les Miserables was coming to SF in the spring and couldn't resist getting tickets for the girls. They love the play and Elizabeth has even read the book now and they are superfans. It was so much fun to share that with them!

We had a lot of fun critiquing all the performances of the different versions on the way home and singing along. It was another great summer!