Birthdays

Natalie is ONE! I can't believe it. Where does the time go? She is so cute. She loves peek-a-boo, we taught her to put up one finger when we ask how old she is, she waves hello and goodbye so cute, she loves table food (no more baby food for her), switching to whole milk took a little coaxing but she is doing great with it, she still doesn't like to stand and scoots on her bum no crawling, she is almost always happy, she is too light (18 lbs) to turn around in the car so she still rides backwards, she hates socks and shoes, she blows kisses, and gives kisses (more like licks), she sleeps so well, she takes nice long naps, her hair has stopped sticking up so much, she puts her hands up when I am changing her, she pulls herself up to her knees but doesn't like to stand, she likes football at least seems to, she claps and cheers with the rest of us, she loves music, she bounces to the music and pays attention when music comes on, she loves her brother, she likes to roll the ball back and forth and pushes cars and trucks around, she is such a joy and we are so glad she is part of our family.

My one year old and I.
Nathan is FIVE! That is crazy too. Sharing a birthday wasn't too bad this year. Nathan enjoyed opening presents. He is the most enthusiastic gift opener I have ever seen. Let's see he is going to preschool, playing soccer, loves to play with friends, ride his bike and scooter, dribble (he really dribbles well), shoot baskets, swim, and entertain us all, he is a great big brother and loves his little sister so much we feel blessed to have him in our family.
Natalie enjoyed the commotion and playing with the paper and boxes.
Nathan blowing out his candles. He got lots of practice this year.

I made Natalie a pink cake. I thought it would be fun for her to have her own cake.
Here she is just before getting her cake.
Starting to enjoy it...
Really focusing and getting into it...
Eating way too much cake but loving it.
All bathed and coaxed into a picture with her tiara.
Nathan on his new bike. He is getting to be really good on it.
Shooting hoops out front.
Riding his new scooter. He's been ready for this for awhile he is a pro.
Here are the kids picking up candy from the pinata. We had a secret agent/spy party. The pinata was a black bomb. We did an obstacle course, finger printing, defuse the other teams bombs (balloons), find the bomb (kitchen timer), we had a secret mission using our cipher cards to decipher the codes and locate the key to defuse the bomb. We took pictures of the kids in disguise and made id badges for them. A fun party but I can't imagine having to do two so close together. Oh what we have the look forward to.
Here is Nathan with some of his friends getting ready to blow out the candles.
I think he likes it. It was my first try with fondant. It turned out pretty well.
I love this picture of Nathan and Natalie, just before church last week.

Weekend Away

I had planned to do the triathlon in Las Vegas over the weekend of the 3rd. I found out in the middle of September that they were canceling it. I was so bummed because I had been training for so long and was looking forward to a weekend away. I decided to find the next triathlon I could and register for it. So I am now going to do the Turkey Tri in Orem on the 7th of Nov. But since I already had reservations at the Loew in Henderson and Kristie was willing to go regardless of the cancelation. We did. It was so much fun. Ryan was so great to stay home with the kids, especially since I was weaning Natalie. Kristie and I enjoyed laying by the pool. I really could have been in Maui for all I knew. It was a beautiful resort. We got to go to the movies and out to eat, no kids. We slept in and painted our toes. It could have been longer but was a way fun weekend. Thanks Kristie! And from what Ryan told me the kids did great. Which was a huge relief to me, (that way I can do this again. ;-).
My pizza at the Cheesecake Factory. Just how I like it, thin crust very little sauce fresh basil and fresh tomatoes. I wish we'd realized we had a fridge, I'd have taken home my leftovers.
That's Lake Las Vegas in the back ground. We were supposed to do our swim there. It was pretty.
See what I mean Maui, Henderson no huge difference. At least if you don't leave the pool.

September Highlights

Football. Definitely one highlight in the Wagstaff home. This is Natalie at her first Utah game. She seemed to enjoy it. Unlike Nathan she likes to hear the crowd cheer. Many times she joined right in.

Nathan pays slightly more attention to the game so far this year. He still loves to come mostly for the nachos and to ride the "train". But he is a good kid and now that he has his own seat it is nice to bring him along.
Natalie getting tired. She was so happy even though it was really late and she was obviously quite tired.
Another highlight in our life this September was going to Lake Powell. Yes always a highlight but even more so since we now have a houseboat for a week every year. Yes we finally did it. We are part owners in a houseboat and it was so much fun. We can't wait until next year.
Natalie all ready for church. We rode into Page on Sunday to go to church. It was so nice.
Nathan is drawing "Rainbow Bridge". It is still hanging on my refrigerator.
This is our houseboat. The tube is a friend of ours. They let us borrow it.
Natalie didn't ever get in the lake this trip. Instead we would fill this tub with lake water and let her play in it. It kept her cool and she loved not having to wear a life jacket.
Dinner at "Joes" on a Friday night with the band playing. Yes another highlight.
Nathan's second session of soccer started in September. He really loves it. He is getting lots better. Getting in there and taking the ball away and then down the field. He is quite fast and eager to learn. His coach brings this "bench" for them to sit on when they aren't playing. It is so cute.
Ryan may hate for me to say this but he looks like a natural.
Nathan continues to go to preschool and you can tell by the look on his face he loves it.
Ryan played softball at the end of August and September. Here is Natalie with a game ball. She and Nathan loved going to watch their dad play.

And I'm sure there was more to September but that is all I captured digitally. Stay tuned more coming soon....

The Rest of August

So I feel like one big slacker. I am going to catch up on a few posts. Not including too much detail or I'll never catch up.

Nathan started his second year of preschool this past August. He really likes his teacher and is learning a lot.
Natalie just gets cutter and cutter every day.
Here is Nathan enjoying Mac and Cheese at Chili's. Mac and Cheese has become his all time favorite when eating out at a restaurant.
Natalie enjoying the bread at Iggy's.
We went up to WY one weekend so Ryan could build this rock wall for my parents.
Natalie in the car ready to go to ID.
I thought I'd take a couple pictures of the landscaping Ryan did up around the pond at the entrance to the subdivision up there.
This is also a picture of the back of my grandparents home there in Afton.
On the way home we stopped to see friends who had been up in ID for the weekend. Misty gave all the kids kites. They loved it.
Nathan flying his kite all by himself. Never mind that earlier the string hadn't been tied to the reel and his kite flew away. Ryan rescued it. Thanks Misty for the kite. So fun for the kids.
Natalie and Ashley's cabin. She loved the sesame street toy.
For our primary activity in August we went to the Jordan River Temple. Here I got a picture of Nathan wishing his mom wasn't watching so he could play in the water too.
Jordan River Temple. It was such a fun activity for the kids to see and touch the temple. We had a picnic and we all learned a lot.
Natalie enjoying the August summer evenings.