Family, Nicknames & Turkey

This year we hosted our very first Thanksgiving dinner at our home.

I was nervous about the turkey, mostly that it wouldn't be defrosted all the way or that I would not wake up early enough to get it cooking on time.  I cooked the turkey in a turkey size oven bag and I am totally a believer in those things.  The turkey cooked perfectly and the clean up was minimal.

Our party included Grandma and Grandpa Kleinman, Great Grandma Kleinman, Curtis's brother Eric and his wife Karly, my sister Marci and her friend Bryndee.

I made name cards for the place settings, and while I was filling out the names Curtis decided it would be fun to put everyone's real name on one side and a nickname on the other.  His idea was that the side with the nickname would be facing forward so everyone had to find their seat by figuring out what their nickname was.  If he had suggested something like this back when we were first married (when I was more uptight about life) I would never have let it fly.  But now I appreciate his zest for life a bit more and I thought "Why not! It could be fun!"  So he proceeded to declare a nickname for every one of our guests for me to write on the name cards.

Here is what we ended up with:

Great Grandma - Stretch

(You have to know Curtis's Grandmother to know how funny this name is, she was so tickled with her nickname she even took her name card home with her.)

Grandpa Kleinman - Daddy Rabbit

Grandma Kleinman - Cherri

Curtis - Thrasher

Courtney - Holliday Hard Core

Eric - Paul Bunyan

Karly - Karlsbad

Marci - Marcos

Bryndee - Lou Sue

Nathan - Disaster Nater

Bracken - Brack Attack

Everyone had a blast finding their seat and it was a great start to a delicious meal with our friends and family.

Bracken was sitting really close to me, too close.  He kept wacking me on my back shoulder with his fork.  It hurt and it made my shirt dirty.

 Nathan was in heaven.  He had friends galore to play with him.  He loves his Tia Marci, Tio Eric and Tia Karly.  On Thanksgiving morning he even got to go on a little Road Runner hunt with Marci's airsoft guns.  Our neighborhood is plagued by a pair of Road Runners that torment local wildlife, eat our gardens, and leave large birdie poops all over the place.  Curtis and Natey have been trying to matar el corre camino malo for a very long time.  I spotted him in our yard while I was preparing the turkey and sent the troops after him.  Unfortunately it escaped again, but it made for a fun Thanksgiving Day activity and memory.

 

Marci enjoying her drumstick. 

 Here is Bracken with that darn fork.  The roll didn't fair as well as I did.

This was taken Friday evening for Family Movie Night.  We made pizza and ate it picnic style in the living room while we watched How to Train a Dragon.  Here the boys are enjoying some R&R with Tia Marci, notice how Bracken is lounging just like Nathan.  Brack was so tickled getting to snuggle with Marci and Nathan like a big boy. 

One Sunday Morning

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Nathan.

He loved his Papi very much.

He wanted to be just like his Papi.

So one Sunday morning he decided to try on Papi's glasses

and see what the world looked like through Papi's eyes.

Things were a bit blury but the little boy named Nathan

discovered how much he did look like his Papi.

And that really made his day.

The End

Swords

 Oh the things we get to enjoy because we're the parents of two little boys!

Idaho Fun-Leaves and Halloween

Hello from Idaho!!!

The boys and I are in Malad visiting my parents, and poor Curtis is in Arizona all alone. 

We miss you Papi!  Mucho Besos!!!

Saturday Grandpa King raked up the yard and Nathan had his first ever leaf pile jumping experience.

It was a BIG hit!

 

Grandpa was having as much fun just watching Nathan. 

He was such a good sport about re-raking the leaves into a pile after every jump.

Nathan getting his running start.

Isn't that a perfect pile for jumping?

Throwing leaves in the air.

Savoring the moment.

 

Here's the boys all decked out in their costumes ready to start some trick-or-treating.

Nathan really wanted to be Diego, so I made him a rescue pack and the signature Diego vest complete with a rescue patch.  Nathan couldn't be happier with it, which means the world to me.

Bracky is totally awesome in his chubby robot get-up complete with super-cape. 

He looks so darn cute toddling around with his puffy little robot tummy!

Halloween in Malad is just what Halloween should be. Malad is a super quaint, tiny town and the more I learn about it the more I appreciate and love it. It is a great place to come and visit Grandma and Grandpa.

The majority of the population is LDS, and everyone knows eachother.

The neighborhood has sidewalks on both sides that are sprinkled with Autumn leaves from the tall trees that line the road. Combine that with the cute little brick and siding homes and the setting is picturesque.

I was thrilled that Nathan could have this "real" Halloween experience and he LOVED it!

We walked up and down each road going from block to block. Kids were running from house to house, excitedly awaiting their next trick-or-treating gifts and several times Nathan looked at me and said with a little wink and nod "Their my friends." So cute!

 

Go, Diego Go!!!

Knocking his first door.

On the the next house!

Bracky is still a bit small to truly appreciate the trill of the night.  He went back home to Grandma halfway through the evening.  But he was a good sport while it lasted.

His bag is getting heavy with his loot.

Our last stop was Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Nathan wanted to surpriseGrandma by trick-or-treating her door.

Bracky was a good sport about the long day.  He was very ready for bed when we got home.

It was so fun for me to go trick-or-treating with Nathan, it reminded me about my own Halloween experiences in Idaho when I was a kid.  It was a special evening.

Thank you Malad!

Scoos

 

 We LOVE our Scoooos!!!!!!!

Big Helper

 This evening before dinner,
I sent Nathan in to clean up his room. 

And this is what it looked like when he was done.

I was thrilled that he had done such a great job,

until I noticed this...

Out of sight out of mind, right.

When I asked him how he cleaned his room, he got a big smile on his face and said,

"I did it all by myself and I did it so fast!"

He was so thrilled with himself, 

I just had to grab him and give him muchos besos.

I love my silly Nene.

Perrito Nene

Meet Nathan, the dog. 

Or as we like to call him, Perrito Nene.

Since last week, Nathan's new "thing"

is to pretend he is a dog. 

He walks around on all fours, panting,

barking and whining.

He plays with his doggie toys,

and curls up all over the house.

For some reason he likes to take the towel

from the kitchen stove and lay it out

for is doggie bed.

When Nathan is a dog, he is extremely polite.

And much to Curtis's delight he speaks

almost exclusively in Spanish,

ripping off gramatically complex, past tense sentences. 

Perrito Nene's favorite doggie treat is Cookie Crisp.

He eats at least 1 bowl a day.

All in all we like this new development.

We get a new and improved 3 year old along with a family pet.

It's a win win situation.