After Thirty Years, My Dream Has Come True

Okay, so 30 years might be exaggerating, but for sure, I've been dreaming of a four wheeler for the last 15 years and on Friday, my dream came true. We got a toy. Here are some pics of the first rides on Saturday




Even Sarah got into the spirit of things a bit.

Halloween Part 2

This first picture is of Caleb and his preschool.


We really don't espouse tattoos but whose an army guy without one, right?? Okay, sure there are plenty without but Caleb sure enjoyed this costume. Can you tell?

She is our little Angel. . . when she is happy like in this picture. Just wait though, ten seconds from now, she could be having a bad day. You never know. ;-)

I am absolutely in love with this picture - Caleb the tough guy and his little Sister the beauty and the way she is looking up at her big strong brother makes them seem 12 years older than they are.

Up close and Angelic

This was Caleb's third costume and second army man costume. I'm not sure what he was showing us here.

Hey you're not old enough to be acting like Mr. Cool.

Halloween Fun

Here are a bunch of pictures of us at the beginning of our Halloween week. We seemed to have 3 or so parties for the kids to dress up and with Caleb's changing taste, he chose 3 different outfits - army guy, batman and superman, or was it just the first two.

So we may be a bit premature at announcing but. . .

I thought this set of pictures was so cute together, I couldn't stop myself from sharing. Who do you think is more prego??



This was actually Caleb's first response to seeing his Mom pose. It definitely reflects the natural him.

Sweet Ellie & Caleb - Can you Tell They Love Each Other?

I couldn't resist but post this picture of our little "school girl" Ellie loves her shoes and her dresses and her dolls and is such a little girl loving make-up and doing her hair and lately is fascinated by her hair clips and rubber bands.



Can you tell they just love each other.

Conference Weekend & Stranger Daddy Stamps

Conference weekend was awesome. We spent a ton of good fun family time hanging out. Caleb was dressed in his usual topless fashion and this time, Ellie had her new pink cowboy boots that she loved. Aren't they cute!



Caleb entertained us all as he imagined being a home teaching family. He was the father and Sarah was the mother and Ellie was the daughter. He and I went on for a good 30 minutes playing parts. It was amazing what this kid understands. He knew to get his children into the room to listen to the teachers and he was so stately the way he spoke and directed the conversation. He truly is a sponge. Here he is taking a stately picture with his "wife and kids". You can see Sarah had a hard time keeping the straight face.





Caleb surprised me again that day. He showed me all the pen markings he had made on his arms. I asked him what they were and he said because he didn't have any stamps he used a pen. I questioned further and he said he had stamps like those stranger daddy's had on their arms. He told me I should get a stamp on my arm. ;-) I told him we don't believe in tattooing our bodies that way, but he didn't believe me. He thought his stamps were so cool he posed for the above picture.



Late, the kids had a bath and Ellie decided to do a little hairdo in the tub.



Caleb had his own tough guy face.



Ellie is such a sweetheart. Look at this reserved, calm face of hers. We don't see that too often. Most of the time, she is a jabbering about some thing she is watching or listening and she is jumping and smiling.

Meridian Speedway Races - Daddy's Night with Caleb

Bless Hubble Homes, Caleb and I enjoyed a fun evening hanging out with Dave and Amber at the local Meridian Speedway watching cars race around a short quarter mile (I think) track. It was crazy the speed those cars reached. We liked almost all of it especially the juice (name Caleb gives to soda) and popcorn.

Seattle

Sarah and I took a wonderful vacation to Seattle from Tuesday to Thursday. I had gone on Monday for work and Sarah met me to have a bit of fun. We went to the Space Needle the first night for dinner



Wow, look at the beautiful girl getting in the way of my sunset shot. ;-)



What an indredible view of this amazingly clean city. We loved our stay and found ourselves Sleepless in Seattle



I taught a good man how to take good pictures and look what turned out.



On Wednesday night, we were ecstatic to go to Wicked, the Broadway show with our great friends, Heber and Chalonn Redd. They made quite the sacrifice to get there - they braved an hour of traffic and their sister-in-law spent considerable time taking the hour long fairy to their house to watch the kids. The show was fabulous detailing the untold story of the good witch so long known as the Wicked Witch of the West. It taught great moral lessons of goodness to others and understanding. All was well except for Sarah's view through all the tall heads.

Ellie's 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Ellie! We sure loved celebrating with you on your 2nd Birthday



Leave it to her Aunt Amber to dress Ellie up in style with this cute "cover half her upper body" jacket. It is sure to keep her totally in style and half warm at any given time. ;-)

Nicole's Fairwell Weekend

We spent the last weekend in August heading down to Ogden to support Nicole on her mission. We spent Saturday at a Dinosaur Museum that was fabulous. The kids dressed up in costumes.



Caleb was Robin Hood.



Next, he took a trip to the store to buy some merchandise



Even Sarah and Krystal got caught up in the dress-up fest. I don't know how the Wolf resisted Eating up Red Riding Hood with such a toupe (is that how you spell it??)



Ellie connected us with our Southern brothers and sisters across the border. What a muneca!!

August 5th - Beckstrand Reunion

We had a Beckstrand Reunion and a little talent show to celebrate all our hard earned talents. Caleb represented his last four years of training when he demonstrated his Jungle dance to the beat of the Tarzan music. I have been a proud father at many different times and in this moment, I was a "busting up" father that could not believe what I was seeing. Caleb ran from down the hall like a Rock Star entering onto his stage with a blast of energy. He jumped into the center and proceeded to dance beating his chest, yelling like Tarzan, and moving back and forth in a very funny way moving his feet very fast almost like a clogger without clogs.



His parents followed with a stupendous skit illustrating their "silly" talent. Sarah was my arms and proceeded to walk me through my morning routine, eating breakfast, and brushing my teeth. It was very funny.

Chucky Cheese Fun!

Here is a cute picture of our two darlings at one of their favorite places - Chucky Cheese and you can tell they love each other!!

Newman Reunion & Christensen Party & Boise Pool

Little Ellie made an adorable face mask at the Newman Reunion.



We headed to the Christensen's Saturday afternoon and Caleb took his first strokes in their pool thanks to these inflatable arm floaters. It was a major milestone for this kid who has always loved the water. I think his cousin Jacob gave him a bit of courage with his big splashes and unabashed bravery.



Ellie is such a cutie with her skinny little legs - the kids loved the local pools and spent plenty of time there.