Snow Days!

The last few days we have had some crazy, snowy weather for here in Seattle. Eric's school was cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday, so he has been able to get study days so the upcoming weeks (with finals) won't be so crazy. I left all of the kids snow clothes in Spokane, thinking we would only have a need for them when we were there. I wish we had them now.

Travis thinks he needs to wear his beanie all of the time.

Jared is now 10 weeks old. Oh, he is so nice! Jared is smiling all of the time, and is on the verge of laughing sometimes.

Aubree and Tanner had their primary program on Sunday. They both have had their lines down for weeks and we were excited to finally have the program. Aubs is pretty shy and was in tears before she went up. She and Eric had a prayer and they wrote her line on a piece of paper so she could cover her face if she wanted. When the time came she did so great! She didn't even seem nervous. Tanner, on the other hand, is not shy. He has a loud voice and isn't scared of talking in front of people. His line was, "Jesus loves me cause he gave me food." When it was his turn, he said his line, loud into the microphone and added, "mmmmm... mmmmmm..." at the end.

Andrew is getting so big. He is "talking" a lot and crawling super fast. He is not too close to walking yet. He will walk along stuff and stand on his own, but isn't interested in walking by himself. His favorite place to be is with Sara. He is really nice. He is constantly giving everyone sweet kisses, even Jared.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone travels safely!

Is it really almost Thanksgiving?

I can't believe it is already the middle of November and Thanksgiving is next week! Eric is super busy, but we take every advantage we have of seeing him. The kids LOVE having Eric home and don't even notice me when he is around. Andrew and Jared sat on Eric's lap like the pic above for over 15 minutes. So sweet!

Jared is smiling all of the time now. He is such a nice boy!

Sara and I took the kids to the Pacific Science Center last week. The kids had fun. Trav loved playing with the ocean animals.

Aubs and Tann sitting at the giant chair and table.

I love how Tanner can barely see over the top of the table.

Andrew spent most of his time observing from the stroller.

Trav loved playing the pipes.

Aubs and Tann looking at one of the cool mirrors.

Sara showing the kids how to play the pipes.

Aubree and Tanner were helping me make cookies and had to put on their aprons that Grandma Nygard made for them.

Breakfast time. Aubree is so great. She is always helping me and taking care of her brothers. She loves to feed Andrew his breakfast.

Andrew is such a funny boy. He is always find the kids crayons and markers and putting them in his mouth.

Jared is 2 months old now. He weighed 11lbs 15oz at his appointment. He is growing up too fast!

Jared's Blessing

This is our picture from our ward Trunk or Treat.

I don't have too many pictures of Jared because he's either asleep, eating, or swaddled up on his way to being asleep. Tomorrow he will be 8 weeks! I can't believe how fast he is growing up and how big he is getting. He even started sleeping through the night this week (5 nights in a row and counting). It is heaven. It is weird how much better I feel with 7-8 hours of straight sleep.

Tanner boy is so funny.

Beautiful Aubs

Andrew makes the funniest faces. He is such a sweet boy. It looks like he got hold of some halloween candy.

Aubree is constantly carrying Andrew around and playing house with him. He is a good sport.

Another trip to the zoo. Travis would go there everyday if I'd let him. As we were driving away he was already asking to go to the zoo again. This trip we got to see a jaguar and two of the six gorillas out wrestling for a while. It is fun to see new things every time we go.

Our families came to town for Jared's blessing. My sister Amy and two of her daughters came with my parents. Leah was really good at holding Jared.

Aubree missed her best buds so much. She was in heaven to have Claire and Leah over for a few days. Aubs was saying how much she missed them right after they left.

We attempted a family picture before church (Aubs did not want to be in a picture). I am sad that I didn't get a good picture of Jared in his blessing outfit. It is the same one that Eric's mom made for Travis.

Grandma and Grandpa Nygard brought us a bunch of apples and Tanner decided he wanted to sell them. "Roll up Roll up everyone! Apples!"

Our talented Grandma Nygard made Tanner some scrubs for his birthday. He tells everyone he is a real doctor now. Tanner is sporting his 3D glasses too. Aubree, Tanner, Leah, Claire, my Dad and I went to our first 3D movie, Megamind. It was pretty good.

My littlest sister, Leslie also came for the weekend. It was so fun to have so much family around. We are so blessed with wonderful families! They are constantly serving us.

Happy 4th Birthday Tanner!

I have been editing a post about Eric's 5 year anniversary of his cancer diagnosis, but haven't been able to finish it yet. Pictures have been piling up that I needed to get posted, so I wanted to get a quick post up and I will get that post up soon.

These are a few more of the pictures my friend took of Jared. He is getting so chubby!

I need to get some new pics of Jared up. He has changed a lot since these were taken.

We went to the zoo again. Aubree and Tanner got to ride the carousel. I love Tanner's face in this pic.

Here is my first picture with all of our FIVE kids. I still can't believe it. At the time this was taken we had a 4, 3, 2, 1 and 5 week old.

Who needs a sister when you have Tanner. Tanner is getting really good at playing with Aubree. He has started playing house, Polly Pockets, and dress-up.

Last Saturday, Tanner turned 4 years old! He has been waiting for this day forever! He was so excited to have it finally here and especially excited for his cake and being sung to. Tanner requested a spider cake and I couldn't find our food coloring, so he got a white spider. Once he blew out the candles he gave the cutest smile ever.

I love the look on Tanner's face here. He loves attention.

Spider cake #3.

This is my sister Sara. She is my angel. I really don't know what I would do without her. She just graduated from nursing school and is looking for a job. I am so thankful for her unselfishness and her willingness to help us out. She takes so much stress off me and that in turn helps Eric to be able to not stress about what is going on at home and is able to focus on school. It is also nice to have another adult around to have conversations with since Eric is gone, an average of 15 hours a day. Thank you Sare!

The kids all dressed up for Tanner's birthday party. Aubs was Snow White.

Trav didn't want to wear his spiderman costume, but wanted to be a pirate. I love how he is wearing the eye patch.

Tann the morning of his birthday with his pirate goods and new shirt. He loves being a big boy and telling people that he is four. It is fun to have two 4-year-olds for a few months.

I need to take more pictures of Jared. This was the best one I could find. He is 6 weeks old now and getting chunky. I love it!

Sara and I (mostly Sara) made a pinata for Tanner's party. He loved hitting it and all the kids loved the candy and toys. It only lasted th

rough a few of Tanner's hits.

Happy Birthday Tanner! You are such an awesome little boy! Tanner is so full of personality and love. He is always going and is such a smart boy. We are so grateful to be Tanner's parents!

In between Jared's feedings, since Sara is around, I am able to take the older three kids out and around Seattle. We made it to the Children's Museum this week. It was really fun. Princess Aubs!
Picture in front of the Jack-o-Lantern. (Most days I let Aubree dress herself) Trav didn't want to wait for me to take the picture.
The kids loved the art room.
Tanner making a masterpiece.
Travis could spend hours painting like this.
Love this picture of Trav. He looks so old.
Tanner's favorite part was the mini grocery store.
All three kids in the "fire engine."
There was a really cool fountain right outside the museum that was choreographed with music.
Who needs a doll when you have little brothers. Andrew actually loves it when she pushes him around in her stroller.

We attempted carving pumpkins again this year. None of this kids wanted to help clean them out except for Andrew (Tanner has a spoon in his hand). Andrew was throwing the seeds all over. I just realized I still gotten a picture of all of our finished pumpkins.

Trav would rather color than help us carve.

I let the kids paint some of the pumpkins instead. They liked that more.

We hope you all have a Happy Halloween!