Early Christmas

Nathan has always been really good at making friends. 

He loves people and people love him.

We lived in my parents basement for 7 months before we bought our home in PV and during that time Nathan made a lifelong friend in the little neighbor girl, Taryn.  Taryn is an only child and Nathan became her "little brother".  I teach Taryn piano lessons and Nathan lives for Wednesdays when Taryn comes over to play.  As Taryn has grown older she has passed down some of her favorite treasures to Nathan.  A few weeks before Christmas she showed up at our house with this little beauty, her Power Wheels Jeep!

Nathan has adored this Jeep for a very long time.  When we lived next to Taryn she would invite Nathan over to play and she would drive him all around her yard.  They would drive until the battery was out of juice.

After we moved out to PV, Nathan's Jeep trips were few and far between but he never forgot about it.  At least once a month for the past 2 years Nathan as asked Taryn how her "green Jeep" is doing and if it was all "charged up". 

 Nathan could hardly believe his eyes, when he saw Taryn pull up to our house with the beloved Jeep in the back of her Dad's truck.  Taryn had out grown the Jeep but she knew there was a little boy who would love to give it a new home.

Nathan was thrilled beyond description.  After thanking and hugging Taryn, the first thing he said to me was "Mom, the Jeep isn't green!"  In his little 3 year old memory he has always thought it was green and called it "Taryn's Green Jeep".  But now after seeing it again he has decided it is brown. 

The Jeep needed a new battery before it could be up and running, but Nathan waited as patiently as he could.  He would go out and sit in the Jeep and pretend to be driving it.  He would even pull it around the yard to different locations for a more realistic experience.  Taryn brought the Jeep over on a Sunday so we couldn't go out and buy a battery right away, and then once we had the battery it had to charge for 18 LONG hours.  After waiting 2 days, the Jeep was finally ready and Nathan took off for the first time in the drivers seat and he has been driving ever since.  At least when weather permits. 

Nathan is a natural; he drives like a pro.  We didn't tell him how the Jeep worked he just took off and knew how to shift from slow to fast to reverse.  He loves to give Bracken rides and Bracken loves to get rides.  They could drive around for hours at a time, totally in heaven.  Nathan loves his new Jeep, Taryn definitely made his year with this amazing gift.