Look What I Can Do?!

Clifford can finally tie his own shoes!!!! He accomplished this task a few weeks ago. Before we head out for school, he'll tie his shoes and then run down the hallway really fast to make sure the laces are tight enough for him to play at recess :)

Happy Birthday Clifford!!!!

Clifford turned 7 today!!!!


School was canceled again because of the snow, and Pete stayed home from work. So we hung out at the house together, and worked on decorating for Clifford's party later that evening. He originally wanted a bowling party, but at the last minute switched it to a 'kinect' party. Pete and I bought a new video game for his party (Ninja Fruit). We moved furniture out of the way, and taped up the carpet with painters tape as a guide for where the kids to stand. Everything was set and ready by lunch time. Poor Clifford...the party wasn't set to start until 5pm, and he kept asking us "is it time yet?" In the early afternoon, Papa stopped by on his way home to visit Clifford and give him a birthday gift. He also received a card in the mail from Grandma Jane with $20 to shop with. Finally, 5pm arrived, friends started to arrive, and the craziness began!! The party was a success!!! It was so much fun. For food, we kept it kid friendly and simple, serving chips, juice packets, mini corn dogs, and pizza bagels. I always let the boys decide how they want their cake decorated. Clifford decided on a "Halo" cake. So I bought a small Halo mega blocks set to use as his cake topper (then he got it as a new toy). Since the boys end of with two parties (one with friends and one with family), we only buy them one gift each from us. Pete and I picked out a bigger size Halo mega blocks set for him. He loved all the gifts from his friends too. The party ended at 9pm. Once everyone left, we let the boys stay up even later so Clifford could build all his new lego sets. The evening was a blast! We love Clifford so much!!!!! Can't imagine a life without him!!!

Papa stopping by to visit Clifford and to give him his gift

Grandma Jane's birthday gift to Clifford
They picked out their own outfits to wear for the party :)
Guests start to arrive. Let's get the party started!! (I love the pic of Clifford and Bella together. So cute!!)







Cake Time!!! It's amazing how quiet kids get once you give them cake 'n ice cream ;)




Time to open the gifts. A received a lot of new lego sets.






Here's Clifford the day after his birthday. With the combination of his birthday money and money he previously saved up, he bought himself 3 video games :)

Snow Days!!!

As most have heard, it's been snowing ALLLLLLLL week long here. And it doesn't look like it wants to stop any time soon. School has been canceled all week (Monday and Tuesday were already scheduled days off). Last Sunday Pete and I bundled ourselves up and played with the boys out in the snow. We even walked up to Starbucks with our neighbor and her kids for a warm, toasty drink. Clifford and Kristjan love playing out in the snow. Unfortunately we didn't buy them new snow pants when they outgrew their last pair, so I've just been layering up with all their hiking clothes we have. Pete came home early from work today, and it looks like he'll be taking tomorrow off as well. Last night our power kept flickering, but luckily we never lost power. Here's some pics of our adventures. Enjoy!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!







My little snowman!
Pete built a snowman right in front of a neighbor's truck, then smashed it backwards to make it look like the neighbor crashed into it.



Boys out playing in the snow late at night with their friends.

Sunday Visit

We had a wonderful visit from my Aunt Susie and Uncle Drew. They flew up from California to attend a family event for Drew's family. They were scheduled to fly back home later today, so they made a side trip and visited us for lunch. It was so enjoyable!! We even got them to play a little on the Kinect!! (I have video of this but I promised I wouldn't post it lol). We had such a pleasant visit, we were sad to see them leave. Hopefully it won't be years in between before get to visit with each other again!

Happy New Year!!!

Goodbye 2011......Hello 2012!!!!

Can't believe it's already a new year!! Time really does fly by as you get older! Our boys were down in Yakima visiting family for the whole week. Pete and I decided to plan a little get-together with our favorite friends at the last minute (morning of New Years Eve). Daniel, Mel 'n James, Gordon 'n Michelle with Caleb (best baby in the world!) and Michelle's twin sis Jessica all came over and spent the evening with us. We bbq'd up a fish dinner, while our friends brought over snacks and drinks. We played the Kinect for a bit, but mostly just relaxed and had great conversations. There were lots of laughs! We don't have cable, but Pete was able to turn on to King 5 on the internet thru our tv so we could watch the Space Needle as we rang in the new year. Michelle brought over these awesome confetti guns that we shot outside, and we sipped champagne. As the celebrating started to wind down, Mel 'n James took off, and the rest of us watched the new "The Thing". I was one of the firsts to go to bed, so not sure how late everyone else stayed up. The next day, we spent New Years taking it easy and cleaning up the house. Daniel stuck around and ended up convincing Jessica to drive up with their boys and spend the night. Our boys came home a day early as well. So we had a house full of Nielsen boys running around (Donavan is now fully walking and talking!). Between pizza, movies and screaming kids, it was another fun night!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!!!!