We have another TEENAGER!

Can you believe that Nathan is officially a teenager!?!?! He turned 13 just 6 days after Derrick's b-day (see post below for Derrick's b-day). Lucky for me Nathan was born at 9:00pm so I didn't have to wake up to turn off an alarm in the wee-morning hours. I always get mushy on my kid's birthday. I just always remember how happy I was when they were born. There just isn't anything closly comparable to the joy I felt when I held them in my arms just moments after they took their first breath. They are the most precious things EVER!! Just writing this post makes me all teary eyed....oh my! And much to my kids embarrassment....I always cry at some point on their birthdays....just so happy (and kind of sad that they're growing up so fast)

Well, Nate had what he considered a "boring" birthday. I didn't let him have a friend party (getting a little old now...will wait for sweet 16) and Amanda had a soccer game that we had to go to.....BORING!! But, he was a good sport and had fun anyway. For his dinner, he chose to go to Sweet Tomatoes.....go figure. Nathan is such an amazing young man. It's fun watching him grow up. We love him tons!!

The cake shot....notice he has an icecream pie. Nathan doesn't like cake....how odd is that? Oh well, I guess that's why he's so skinny!

I just love the blowing out candles shot. He wanted those sparkler candles. They were a lot of fun.

OH MY GOODNESS......IT'S A CELL PHONE!!! What kind of parents would let their 13 year old have a cell phone? We actually had to laugh because Nathan has NEVER wanted a cell phone.....until now. It's crazy how things change....now he's into the middle school scene and He's made some friends from other wards....ummm.....GIRLS! :) Oh yeah....and he's taking showers every day without grumbling and is very concerned about how he looks....doing the hair gel --ha! Okay...if he reads this he'll be TICKED at me :)

Nate begged and begged for a new bike.....I would have LOVED to wait for Christmas....new bikes are PERFECT for Christmas tree pictures!!

Is this legal? I screamed when he took off on his bike through the halls of my house!!!

Scouts and Missionaries

Derrick told us last week that he wants to be baptized. We are soooooo excited!! We now get to have the missionaries over each week (we're doing it for FHE....only night we don't have something going on!). He was so sweet because the night they came over for the first time he got a notebook and pen because he HAD to take good notes. I can't even explain how wonderful it is having Derrick in our home. I know he was suppose to come into our family and that it was suppose to be at this time. I love him to bits!

This kid is a scouting maniac!! HE LOVES IT!! He's passing off things right and left. He reads his Bear book every night and comes up with tons of things to pass off. At first I couldn't believe that I was back in cub scouts....more pinewood derby cars :/ But, I'm actually having a lot of fun. I love his enthusiasm!!!

We have a nine year old!

What a fun day!! It was our first birthday with Derrick! He set his alarm clock for 4:02am. (the time he was born). Although.....it was I who ended up waking up at 4:02am to turn the alarm off......of course both boys slept right through the alarm!! It's fun having an elementary schooler again....they still want to do cute things.....we bought Derrick some cookies for his class and he happily bounced into school carrying the bag....it was so cute! After school we headed to Chuck-E-Cheese for a fun and NOISY celebration. He invited 2 friends from school, his foster family, his Aunt's daughter and children, Adam & Lindsey family and Danny & Holly family. It was a great evening and it felt so nice seeing so many people who loved him. He's a great kid!

It's Chuck-E and Derrick (hmmm...I don't know....should we be worried about Chuck-E? The picture looks a little creepy....isn't there a horror-flick with a chucky???) Derrick looks absolutely adorable with his gold medal!

I had to put this one in.....this is the present I gave him!! It's Sour Cream and Onion ruffles.....Yummy!!! Just look how happy I made him. I am such a good mother :)

Derrick SCORED on the tickets!!! Holy Cow!!!

The party animals.

FHE...not for the faint of heart (or ears!)

Not the best picture...but...through the blurr.....it tells the story. Derrick has developed a LOVE (obsession) for the song "Called to Serve". He marches around the house singing it and even enlisted Nathan to play the trumpet for him while he marches. For Family Home Evening he was in charge of choosing the opening song.....guess what he chose....ohhh yeahhh....CALLED TO SERVE! We gave him a quick lesson on leading music and then we all sang (quite angelically...NOT!) to the accompaniment of Nathan's trumpet. It was an endearing experience and one that could ONLY happen within the walls of our home. (Or else they'd probably haul us off to jail for disturbing the peace!!). Toby the dog was a trooper and just kept tilting his head back and forth as he tried to figure out if he should head for the hills or not. I LOVE Family Home Evening!!

Welcome HOME!

Derrick officially came home on Friday. He is now with us every day forever! No more running back and forth to Gresham......phew! (That was really wearing me out) Everything went better than expected. Derrick was happy to come and said goodbye to his foster family with no problems at all. I totally feel that there has been an extra endowment of the spirit. I truly thank all of you for your prayers and words of encouragement....they have been such an amazing blessing! Simple prayers are more powerful than we give credit to sometimes! We love you all!!!!

(Amanda and Nathan made the sign....cute isn't it!)

Your church is really LONG!

Ok...so, isn't this just one of the cutest picture EVER!?? Sunday was Derrick's first day of going to church. He was such a trooper. Welcome to Mormonville.....Poor kid....started off the day with not being able to do anything! :\..... couldn't play video games or watch TV, couldn't jump on the trampoline, and the worst...couldn't listen to any music except church music! What's a kid to do? Then....he had to suffer through the white shirt buttoned up to the neck and a tie! Plus, uncomfortable shoes and his shirt tucked in (just not a cool look). With all of this.....He seriously was soooo amazingly positive about it all and SUPER happy that he could have a tie like McKay (yep...Holly and Dan...Derrick LOVES McKay). We also gave him a set of scriptures and a case to carry them in....He was soooo happy and asked, "Can I really keep these?" He carried them around with him for the rest of the day!

Here's some of the fun things Derrick said throughout the day....you have to imagine a cute and sweet high-pitched voice.

Eating lunch in his "straight-jacket style" shirt...."Boy, I'm kind-of getting HOT in this!"

During church while people were being released and called.....he kept raising his hand and the finally quietly asked, "Why are we raising our hands?"

After church...."Can I take my scriptures back to Jennifer's with me? I want to read them EVERY DAY!"

On the drive back to Gresham (Ha...this is the ultimate classic for me, I still laugh thinking about it...sooo cute and innocent!)...."Boy your church is REALLY long"....we agreed and he continued with......"Why did you CHOOSE a church that was SOOO long!?!" (Ha-ha....kind of like...hey people, don't you know there are shorter ones out there?)

We seriously had a wonderful weekend. It was so hard taking him back!! But, the good thing is that it is this coming Friday that he is completely moving in with us. We can hardly stand the wait!

Our first Sunday together. Don't we look sharp! Finally a "real" family picture....much better than the "flat family" picture :)

A random picture..(I know)....this is a picture of a cinnamon roll that Amanda and Derrick made on Sunday. They were sooooo delicious and HUGE!!!!!

Wrinkled is the new look!

Quick...before I forget....even a 12 year old boy has some funny sayings every once in a while. Here's the conversation this morning:

Me: Nate, quick give me that shirt so I can iron it really fast.
Nate: wa..wa...why?
Me: Because it is REALLY wrinkled.
Nate: But, it doesn't look good wrinkled?

Nice try Nate!
(On a side note....this shirt was REALLY wrinkled...I'm usually not an ironing type of woman and trend on the "wrinkles look good " side too --maybe that's were he gets it from--hee-hee....welll....good luck to his future wife!)