Noah turns 3

Wow, the big day has finally come: we are celebrating Noah's 3rd Birthday!

Noah is not quite as tall or grown-up as he had hoped he would be once he is 3 but he is potty-trained (as you can see) and also does not fit into Max's 3-6 month-old clothes too well anymore (as you can also see).

When Noah got up, first thing we did was open presents.
There was no way I was going to make him wait until Karl got home from work.
How much fun would that be?
Since Aunt Emily was here and brought presents from Germany,
there were so many, Noah got pretty tired of unwrapping them,
so there were still some left when Karl got home.

Then we headed to the park for a kids birthday party. Noah had invited his 3 best friends: Nate, Dylan, and Eric. First the played in the sand and found some treasures.







Then we tried to play some games but they preferred to dig in the sand until we brought out the cupcakes.





Then Noah opened his presents and LOVED them: trucks, trucks, and more trucks.



After that we had a little German tradition: we sang a song while carrying Noah sitting in a chair. He would not wear the birthday hat but loved it other than that.

(Btw, check out my sister's biceps!
She kills me (and most guys) every time we arm wrestle)

They also each made their own little pinata , we put some treats in and then they tried to break it. Noah decided to stab his after hitting did not work.





At the end, we just let them go wild on the play ground until they got hungry and tired.



While Noah and Max took their nap, we made the birthday cake. I baked it and Emily decorated it. (Thanks, Mandy, for the great idea)





In the afternoon, we had a family party. As usual, things were so crazy with all the cousins, that we failed to take pictures. Oh well. Dinner was pizza. Yumm.

Emily and Big Springs

One of my favorite places close to home is Southfork Canyon, especially Big Springs at the very end of it. So we took Emily there because it is especially pretty in the fall.



Jen, Eric and Rubie decided to join is as well and the kids had lots of fun exploring rocks, leaves, streams, dirt, etc.







We let the boys go crazy with their dump trucks and they had a great time going up and down the hill. Then we tried to have a picnic but it turned more into a feeding-changing-diapers-and-clothes-taking-kids-to-the-potty-kind-of-event. Like most of Jen and my adventures lately but that does not mean we did not have lots of fun anyway.




We also found some ducks to feed (later that week).



And hiked the Y (later that night). It has turned into a tradition. Every time Emily visits, we hike the Y. And I have always wanted to hike up there when it was all lit up. Very pretty.

Aunt Emily

Aunt Emily is finally here and we are so excited! She is my sister, just a year younger than me and lives in Germany. So most of the time we miss her tons but now we get to play with her for 3 weeks! She is so good at holding Max and entertaining Noah.














Emily and Noah's favorite place to hang out is the bean bag.














In Emily's arms Max likes to go right to sleep.
He is definitely getting spoiled while she here.



It is not Halloween yet but Noah likes to show off
his Lion costume and biking skills.




She came right in time for Noah and my birthday. On my birthday we went to Grandma Becky's house for dinner, cake, ice cream and lots of fun.














When Noah is with his girl cousins, he forgets that he is a boy and likes to dance, wear pretty scarfs and pretend to be queen (or whatever it is he is doing).

Snowbird

Karl was invited to a conference at Snowbird and since I was not about to stay home with the two boys by myself AGAIN, I invited us along on the trip. Although we had to stay in a hotel, all 4 of us in one room, and it took is at least 10 minutes to venture outside, it was worth the trip and we had lots of fun!

I was excited to be up there in the fall and see all the beautiful autumn colors. They did not disappoint. And at the same time it was still nice and warm. Perfect weather for playing outside all day. And that is what we did.





We played on Snowbird's fun playground.









Just in the dirt.





On their equipment



Noah on his bike





At the Zoo in Salt Lake



Max was always along for the ride and a great sport



Without Papa during the day



With Papa after he got done with meetings



I was able to get my first "swim" in after giving birth and (if you ignore the huge ugly grey hotel building) it could not have been a more beautiful setting/view.



When it got dark and cold outside we entertained ourselves in the hotel room and it was not that bad. We made good use of the nice big bath tub but thanks to Jamie I won't be posting any pictures of my boys in the tub. We also came up with other creative ideas.