Halloween Surprise!

Coming May 2014!

Fall Fun!

At the beginning of October we were lucky enough to have my mom come visit. While she was here we took a trek out to the pumpkin patch. We love the pumpkin patch here and we love it when Grandma visits!

Happy birthday to Clara!

Today marks 4 years from when I first became a mom. For some reason that makes me feel old! Clara has turned my life upside-down, then right-side-up and back again. Sometimes I feel like I have to do cartwheels to keep up with her but that's what makes her so great! She is as smart as they come and never forgets anything. She has a heart the size of Texas and gives the very best hugs. Every night she asks where we are going tomorrow and if I don't have a sufficient answer she has some crazy plan of her own. She keeps me on my toes with all of her plans and shenanigans because she just wants to maximize every moment. I learn so much from her every day!
We have been celebrating the birthday girl all weekend so here are some pictures of the celebrations!

 (Warning: there are a lot of pictures. Don't feel obligated unless you are an out-of-state grandparent, in which case, these are for you!)

Summer of Adventure: week 9--camping at Ponderosa State Park

Nate's family goes on a camping trip every summer. This year we were lucky enough to join in. This was the longest we had gone tent camping our whole marriage. Three nights always seemed a little long to be camping to me, but it was fun and we were glad to get to put all our new camping gear to good use!

 We went on a beautiful hike the first day. It was the perfect length for the kids and went around a marsh with lots of greenery.

 This is Nate headed off into the brush to find a geocache. Unfortunately there was too much tree coverage and the GPS couldn't pick up a good enough signal to find the 'cache.

 One night we went into town for ice cream. Grace was quite pleased to have sprinkles on her cone.

 Spencer made a treasure hunt complete with treasure chests full of gold for the kids on the beach. It was a huge hit!

 Sweet sisters--these two really get along well most of the time. It makes my job so much easier.

 Goofy faces from goofy girls.

 Clara took these two shots. I think she did a pretty good job!

Some other highlights that I didn't get pictures of: Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's visit, shopping in town, bike rides along the many trails around camp, swimming at the lake, Nate's successful goecache hunt, monsoon-like rain in the night, deer in the campground, and breakfast at the Pancake House on the way out of town. It was a great trip!