Gabe Turns Five!

It's hard to believe my little Gaber is five already! He was so excited for this birthday and to have his first friend birthday party. His Grandma and Grandpa came up for the party, and so did his two cousins who live in Boise. As soon as the party started he wanted to open his presents. Every 5 minutes he would ask if it was time to open presents yet. To be five again and so excited about a birthday! He wanted a camouflage birthday so we bought party bags, plates, cups and napkins accordingly. Daron decorated a perfect camouflage cake and Gabe was on cloud nine!



Here are some things I love about Gabe:

1. He is so easy going. Even as a baby teething never bothered him, he could sleep anywhere, change didn't phase him. He is still just as easy going and just rolls with the flow.

2. He is funny. People don't have to be around Gabe long before they start laughing. His facial expressions are classic and he is so good at expressing himself.

3. He is friendly. He can make friends with ANYONE. Our neighbors who have no kids his age have a stash of his favorite snacks for when he comes down to visit. He just plops down on a stool in their kitchen and will sit and talk.

4. He loves food. It is so fun to cook for a kid who loves to eat. And Gabe LOVES to eat. He was our kid who put down his first complete Happy Meal at six months. Like his mom, he thinks there are few things more satisfying than good food! And he is not picky. His favorite food is shrimp and he loves all fruits and vegetables.

5. He loves all things boy like Super Heroes, football, guns, Star Wars, army. He loves to dig in the dirt, ride his bike and is daring, adventurous and fun.

6. He has such a big heart. Gabe wants people to be happy and is good at giving hugs and saying kind things to people. He has so many friends who all say Gabe is their best friend.

7. Gabe is very expressive. He'll often say things like, "Thank you for taking me to Wal-mart and buying me a lunchable", or "You're the best mom for taking me to the park", or "I love you so much." Or he'll tell his siblings that they did something well or look nice in what they're wearing.

8. Gabe is almost always in a good mood. He is so pleasant and easy to be around. He is almost always happy and cheerful and ready to see what life has to throw at him. Whatever that may be, he'll face it with a smile on his face.

9. Gabe loves Jesus. He loves to say his prayers and will say how thankful he is to have a body and to be able to live with Jesus again and he knows Jesus loves him. Now that he has quit praying for Batman, his prayers have moved on to a whole new level.

10. Gabe loves to pee outside. He will find ANY excuse to pee on a bush. What a boy!

Shonni's 40th birthday trip

No, I am not 40 yet, but I will be the end of February. I have two friends I grew up with, Holly and Kathryn who are still two of my best friends in the world. We always said when we turned 40 we'd take a trip somewhere. Well, Kathryn turned 40 in August and Holly and I turn in Feb. and March so we planned our big trip. First, on Friday, September 11th we flew back to Washington D.C. where we're from. On Saturday we went jogging on Pennyfield Lock (the canal behind my old house that runs along the Potomac river). We then took the Metro downtown and went to the big 9/12/09 rally around the Capitol protesting big government. That night we had a party at Holly's parent's house and got together with all our friends who still live in the area. It was so fun to catch up!
On Sunday night we took the train to NYC and stayed with Holly's sister and her family. They have an apartment just a block from the 9/11 site. The weather in New York was beautiful and we walked through Central Park, did lots of shopping, went to the 9/11 site, saw Lion King, and ate at some of the best restaurants ever! In fact, we were so excited for all the great food we were going to eat on this trip we made a GOAL to gain 5 pounds!
The fountain in Central Park where a scene from Enchanted was filmed.

We got to eat at Bobby Flay's restaurant. I love Bobby Flay and his food was every bit as good as I thought it would be.

After spending all day Monday and Tuesday in New York, we took the train to Boston on Wednesday morning. We had lunch with two of our friends from D.C. who have since moved there, and then walked through Quincy Market and got dessert. We then rented a car and drove up to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire where Holly's aunt and uncle have a house. We boated, relaxed, and ate some delicious food!

Daron was such a sweet husband and took the week off work to stay home with the kids. It was hard leaving them, but much better knowing they were with dad and would have a fun week. Kathryn and Holly and I had such a fun trip together. I am so blessed to have them as friends!

Houdini

Ian is our little Houdini. He could unlatch all the child locks in the house when he was barely one (something our other kids took years to figure out), and a few weeks ago he learned how to completely unbuckle his carseat. Mind you, this is the same car seat I've used for all my kids and they were FOUR before they could do this. It's hard even for me! I was just driving merrily along when I looked back to see him slipping the last strap off his shoulder. He then proceeded to jump out of his seat, unbuckle his carseat from the car itself, and try to climb up front with me. It was a sad day. I started having to use two zip ties every time I had to get in the car and go anywhere, one for the top buckle and one for the bottom buckle, and then cut them off every time I arrived somewhere. Yesterday, Daron's sister, Tama, took his car seat apart and then put the buckles on backwards and upside down. HA! We'll see how long it takes him to figure this one out!

Daron and Shonni's Summer Fun

Daron and I took a trip the beginning of August with nine other couples with whom we're good friends. We went white water rafting on Hell's Canyon for three days. Hell's Canyon got it's name because it is so HOT there during the summer. The river divides Idaho and Oregon and the rapids are wild! We had such a great time with friends, enjoyed amazing food like prime rib, dutch oven desserts, and soaked up the beautiful scenery during the day and bright stars at night.

Daron's mustache was the big joke. Before our trip he had a goatee, and then without me knowing it, he shaved it to a mustache. We met all our friends at 5:00 a.m. so it was a bit dark and I was a bit tired. Everyone knew he had the mustache except me, and everyone knew I hadn't noticed yet. They were all waiting to see how long it would take me. It was hours before I noticed the furry thing growing above his lip, and when I did I about threw up.

Another fun trip we took was going to Dallas the first weekend of Sept. to see BYU vs. Oklahoma in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. The stadium was AMAZING and the game was even better. My parents and two of my brothers, my brother-in-law, Daron's parents, and our friends Jason and Julie all went together to cheer on the Cougars. I'd be more excited if they had kept on playing great since that game, but they've let us down a bit since then. Oh well...it was one of the best games I've been to and we had a very fun weekend.
Look at how huge this screen is, and the images were so crystal clear!