Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

 I can't figure out how to put these in the right order, so they are all random. We went camping for Thanksgiving. We rented a camping cottage that had heat, electricity, 2 sets of bunk beds, and a full bed. We had a great time. Curtis says it's now tradition, I'm still worried it maybe too cold. I don't think I will ever camp in a tent again though, it was great. Clark doesn't sleep well outside of his own bed though, so we only stayed one night. We had some extra time to put up the Christmas tree that weekend.

 We went hiking Thursday morning. It was a beautiful day and an amazing view!

 Our little cottage. Andrew keeps asking when we get to go back to our cabin. There was a playground behind the cottage the boys enjoyed. We also had fun roasting marshmallows, hot dogs, and tin foil dinners.

 We had a special visitor at our ward Christmas party. Clark was totally fine with Santa giving him candy, until  tried to pick him up. Santa shouldn't feel too bad, Clark is that way with anyone that tries to pick him up except mom or dad.

 So excited Christmas morning to open presents. They were mostly ready for church by 6:30am so they wouldn't have to worry about it later.

 Traditional picture in our Christmas cracker crowns. Clark left his on until we were ready for the picture and then decided to throw it on the ground.

 Check out the belly!!! This is what Clark looks like most nights after dinner and lunch for that matter. Even with a bib he is a messy eater!

Ty loved seeing Santa. Whenever anyone asked him if Santa was coming to his house, he said no he came to church and gave him a candy cane. That was good enough for him.

I keep forgetting to blog about a few things that I don't have pictures for. Actually I just keep forgetting to blog. Anyway, Andrew finished reading the Book of Mormon back in November, I think. We challenged him to read it before he turned 8 and got baptized. He finished with plenty of time to spare. Good job Andrew we are very proud of you! Tyson is potty trained!!! I stressed and stressed and planned and worried about it and finally set the day and then it was done. Seriously it took about a day maybe two. He is doing a great job still and now anytime someone calls him one of the little boys he says no he's a big boy now because he goes in the potty. Of course he thinks that now he can do everything his big brothers do. Clark is finally in nursery! He is doing okay and we have been able to leave him a few times for most of the time. Clark has started singing. The only song he knows is Bob the Builder. It is very cute to hear him. The other night after we put him to bed we could hear him singing through the monitor. Josh has been reading tons lately. At school they have this thing called mind joggers. You take a test after reading a book and get points. He has 400 this year already. He is trying to get his name on the plaque for 1000 points. He has until the end of 5th grade. I think he will have no problem at this rate. He is thinking about trying to beat the school record.

11-11-11

 I know it's been forever. These pictures are not in any order. I am just trying to get them on quickly. Sadly I actually broke our camera and didn't get to take pictures for a month or so. We now have a new one, but no promises on getting updates more often. Happy Veterans Day! and 11-11-11, what a cool day to finally update the blog! This picture is for Aunt Lanita, Ty loves this jacket. He was looking through the scrapbook and saw Josh wearing it and insisted that it was him and Clark, not Josh and Andrew.

 Happy Birthday Josh!!! I can't believe he is 10 years old. His birthday landed on a Sunday this year along with the primary program. Josh played "Praise to the Man" while the kids sang during the program. He was not excited about sharing his birthday, but he did a great job. He also got to have Halloween parties the day before and the day after, so it wasn't too bad.

 Our neighborhood always has a parade and pizza party before sending the kids out to trick or treat. Ty really tried to keep up with the big kids.

 The other day I found Tyson getting stuff out of the pantry and taking it into the dining room. When I asked what he was doing he simply said "Clarky is hungry," He was taking Clark food. I thought it was cute, so I took a picture and let them continue. I thought he would get bored, but they emptied out two full shelves and started on a third before I stopped them. Then two days later while playing hide and seek Clark saw someone behind the chalkboard and started bringing out the food again. What a goofball!

 Tyson has started going to speech therapy. He has been doing some fun art projects. He gets to write his name on them when he is done. He was known how to spell his name for awhile, but never really tried writing it. He was very proud to show him his name yesterday.

 Picture from Josh's birthday. You can see how much his brothers love him.

 Andrew decided on Saturday morning (hours before the ward party) that he wanted to be Mega Man for Halloween. I didn't know who Mega Man was. A video game character from an old gameboy game he's been playing. We quickly through this together and he was thrilled.

 A rare shot of all 4 boys.

 Another shot for Aunt Lanita. Andrew, Ty, and Clark have all worn this shirt. There is a matching Mickey one, but of course the Donald gets more use. In fact it is the only shirt that has been worn enough to start wearing out the embroidery and trust me that is hard to do.

 Josh and Andrew set goals for the summer. Josh wanted to read 200 pages of the President Hinckley Biography and Andrew wanted to learn how to ride a bike. Both were accomplished! Andrew now loves riding his bike!

 Big Smile!

Even Curtis dressed up for Halloween this year! Everyone loved the adorable Donald Duck and R2D2. Ty even looked like his was waddling whenever he walked.

Josh and Andrew are both doing well in school. Soccer season has come and gone for Andrew. He had a great season. He has really developed his skills this season and made a few goals! We had tons of rain this season, so lots of games and practices were cancelled and rescheduled. Josh still has one regular season game and a tournament left for outdoor. Indoor is in full swing, so we are pretty busy with practices and game right now.  That's about it for now. See ya all soon, hopefully!

First Day of School

 This is Ty at the bus stop after the boys left. He was crying because he wasn't able to get on the bus too. We saw a little bus drive by and he thought he should be able to go on the little bus. Even though he was crying he was willing to smile for a picture.

 Josh is starting the 4th grade. He is in a new school.  The elementary school is split K-3 and 4-6. They changed the bus system, so he still rides the same bus with the younger kids. Today the bus was about 25 minutes late, so as the neighbor drove past to take her son to school, she picked up Josh. His new teacher is Mr. Bennett. He is 6 foot 9 inches. Josh is excited and says his teacher seems funny.

 Andrew is starting 2nd grade. He was Mrs. Taylor, the same teacher Josh had for 2nd grade. We are very excited about this because we love Mrs. Taylor. Andrew is excited to find out who is in his class. I can't believe he is growing up so fast!

Here was all are at the bus stop waiting around for the bus. Ty was too busy watching cars to look at me. Clark waved Bye Bye to every car that passed. I hope they have a great day!

Some May and June happenings

 

Things have changed since I updated last, so I really don't know what I am doing and everything is out of order. Sorry, hopefully you can still enjoy! Clark loves riding in the wagon. He loves it when Ty gives him a ride and runs down the small slope of the driveway.

 Grandma and Grandpa Nicholls are staying with us for the summer. Grandma is going through all her stuff and cleaning out. Clark was helping grandma with a Christmas box.

 On Saturday Josh, Andrew, Ty, Curtis, Grandma, and Grandpa went for a train ride. Ty loved it and was so excited to tell me all about it. He told me what color is was and about going on the caboose. I think they all had a great time.

 Andrew on the train.

 Josh on the train. Josh still doesn't like to have his picture taken, so cute shots of him are rare Maybe he didn't know the camera was actually pointed at him.

 The other day a friend asked how old kids are when they learn the art of pedaling a bike. I told them I didn't know, Ty has his trike for a year now and still hadn't figured it out, only to look up and see him pedaling away. I can't believe he is 3!!

 I am so far behind on blogging that I missed Clark and Ty's birthday! Ops! He is 1 year old! Wow!! Clark had an ice cream cake and loved it. He is growing way too fast. He now has all 8 front teeth and is cutting molars. He took is first steps yesterday (June 29, 2011). He is always on the move. He can go up and down the stairs and has for a long time. He tries very hard to keep up with his brothers. At his 1 year check up he was 21 lbs. Clark and Ty wear the same size diaper. Clark is hates the grass, but loves being outside. Clark still doesn't like being in the car. His favorite foods are bananas, ice cream, string cheese, and cheese balls. He always makes a mess when he is eating and usually spits his milk out. He loves playing peek a boo and anything his brothers will play with him. He loves to dance whenever he hears music and is trying to talk. He is thankfully sleeping through the night and just finished nursing. (Yeah, Chocolate!!) We are so glad Clark is part of our family. We love him so much!!

 Tyson is now 3 years old! I am really having a hard time realizing that he is not 2 anymore. He is a pure sunshine! He makes everyone smile and loves life. Ty finds joy and loves to laugh. He has the cutest giggle and you can't help feeling happy when he is around. He is a tiny guy weighing in at 26 lbs. He loves riding his bike, playing in the water, helping with everything you don't really need help with, and going for a ride no matter where someone is going. He is loving having grandma and grandpa here. Every morning he calls down the stairs and yells "wo" before coming down to say good morning. Tyson can spell his name and is happy to spell it for you anytime you ask. If you ask how old he is he will say "T-Y-S-O-N, my name". He will not admit to being 3 only TYSON. He loves going to nursery. Ty still loves lining up cars and now anytime he is playing cars and hears Clark he will come taring across the house and tell me to pick up Clarky so that he can't destroy his cars. Ty is a joy to have and we are so thankful he is part of our family.

 Andrew had a great last week of school. Wednesday was "Wacky Wednesday". We had a lot of fun dressing him up all wacky.

 On the last day of school, we had a neighborhood water fight. Water guns and water balloons, pizza and snacks. It was a great way to start off the summer.

Everyone was soaked, but it was  beautiful day and they dried fast.

New Pictures of the Boys

I tried to put this picture up a long time ago, but couldn't get it to work, so finally here it is! Our Bishop's son and his wife are both great artists. They have recently relocated to Florida where he is drawing these at Sea World. I thought they turned out great and wanted to share them. If you want to see more of his work you can find it at dustinrichardclarkillustration.blogspot.com and check out Jessica's stuff at www.squeegee33.blogspot.com.

State Cup Champions!

Outdoor State Cup Champs!

The NU United 01 Cannons have had a great year!

They are the first NU United team to win the indoor and outdoor state cup in the same year.

Josh has really enjoyed playing with all these kids and having such a great coach. They are headed to another tournament Memorial Day weekend. Good luck!

I asked Ty to help me clean up a mess while I fed Clark. He told me no, he would feed Clark and I could clean up. And he did, surprisingly Clark allowed it.

Much Needed Update

I know, I know it's been a long time. Here are a few pictures from the last month to let you know what we've been doing. We had a few snow days in February and March. Andrew decided he wanted Josh and a friend to bury him in the snow, face down. He was completely covered when I found them. When they came in Andrew's cheeks where white with red around them. I thought he had the start of frost bite. Webmd.com said it was just frost nip and coming in and getting warm is all he needed. Needless to say, there is no more burying your brother face down in the snow.
I rarely bathed the older boys together, but these two are always together. It's the only way I can handle them both. Everyone needs a good tub picture in their life. Clark liked having that toy on his head.
Josh had another tournament in Pilly. He was excited that it was a Saturday only tournament, so he was able to play in all the games. They played four games in one day. Of course they won first place. Go 01 Cannons!
Clark is on the move! He started crawling, pulling up, and even cruising around the furniture. This is when he could only pull up to his knees. He also now has 6 teeth. They all showed up within about a month.
Before Clark was really crawling he was still moving with his walker. He chased me all over sword fighting with spatulas. He loved it. Can you tell he is a camera ham like Ty. Every time a pull out the camera he grins from ear to ear.
Happy Birthday to Andrew!!! He is now 7 years old. I can't believe it! We decided not to have big parties this year and let the boys pick something special to do. Andrew decided he wanted to play video games all day with a friend. The friend came over for a little over 2 hours. They only played video games for about half. Then we were going to go to dinner and he changed his mind and dad took the 3 older boys to the movies. Sunday was the actual birthday so we had a special meal of German Pancakes and did cake and ice cream. The cake is of a Poke ball. It was the only Pokemon thing I thought I might be able to so. As we were eating cake and ice cream Andrew informed me that he really doesn't like cake. Well, at least I know for next year. Happy Birthday Andrew!!
Crawling under the train table.
This picture is a little blurry, but I thought it was so cute. Ty really does adore his brothers!
This is what I found one day after piano lessons. Clark had crawled all the way into the kitchen and had a great time.
We got a new basketball hoop outside. The boys spend every chance they can playing, but the weather has not been very warm, so Clark has to stay in. He loves watching from the window.
What a great helper!
Curtis was at a conference in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago and the timing worked out just right, he was able to attend the BYU game against Florida. Too bad they lost, but how often can you said you got to go to a Sweet 16 game for your favorite team? He still had a good time.
Well, I hope I didn't bore you too much. Enjoy!