Happy Birthday Caden

This year we celebrated Caden's birthday on November 1 so that Daddy could be here to celebrate with us. We had so much fun. We started out by letting him open his gifts then we had breakfast. He loves breakfast. For him it is the best meal of the day. Then we had cake and ice cream for snack time. What kid wouldn't love to have cake and ice cream as their snack? He also received a special gift from his girlfriend/future wife Shayla. She is definitely the one if she brings him a huge box of fruit snacks for his birthday. She already knows the way to his heart. Happy Birthday buddy. We love you!!

Happy Halloween

We had a lot of fun on Halloween. It is one of our favorite holidays because we get to celebrate Ryan's birthday right before and Caden's right after. It is seven days of fun for the whole family.

Ryan turns six

It seems like yesterday we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first little boy and now he is six. He has been a miracle and blessing since the day he was born. He keeps us on our toes and is always sharing his latest ideas of what he wants to build and create. He loves to learn and has a huge love for life. He enjoyed having a few friends over to celebrate. They had a donut eating contest, played "Boo-go", did the cake walk and got to see how fast they could create a Mommy-I mean Mummy. He also had a lot of fun opening all of the gifts that he received from relatives. We love you Ryan. We hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Grandad and Grandma Dilks

My Mom and Dad came to Joplin to visit us and we had a blast. The kids couldn't get enough of Grandma and Grandad. We shared so many wonderful moments and had a lot of laughs.

It was nice to have them around and to be able to show them where we have spent the last 18 months of our lives. My dad even had the opportunity to go to Kansas City and see a Nascar Race. The boys can't wait until they can go with Grandad to see the race cars. Thanks for coming. We love you!!!!! You're the best.

Soccer

Ryan started soccer last week at Martin Luther. At the first practice we couldn't get Caden off the field so I talked with the school to see if he could also play even though he isn't going to preschool there. They were so kind they said they'd rather have him on the field being a part of the action then on the sideline crying. He was so excited we went and bought him soccer shoes, socks and shin guards. He loved the shin guards. He wouldn't put them down.

Thursday was the second soccer practice and both boys were excited to go. When we got their Caden wouldn't move. He sat right by the stroller and wouldn't go anywhere. We tried talking him onto the field. Trevor tried to pick him up but he quickly climbed into the stroller and slammed the tray shut. He wasn't going to play. We told him we were going to have to take his soccer shoes and socks back. He said, "OK." It wasn't until we said we'd have to take his shin guards back that he was ready to play. He jumped up, clapped his hands and said, "I go play soccer."

Ryan was a great player and made a goal or two at almost every game. Caden enjoyed making sure the net was securely fastened to the poles.

Ryan's first day of School

Ryan started school this morning. He was so excited he woke up at 5:30 AM, had breakfast, got dressed and was ready to go with all of his chores done by 7:00 AM. This school thing might just work out to be really good for me too. He even had time to draw a picture to send into the Friend Magazine. It's a children's magazine that is produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He really enjoys reading it and has talked about submitting a pictures for a few weeks now. It was nice he could occupy his time by drawing a picture of Captain Moroni.

Caden on the other hand was not to excited about having his big brother, best friend, going away for a few hours without him.

Ryan on his way out the door to school. Could he be anymore excited?

Ryan wanted everyone to see his backpack. He is very proud of it.

This picture is my favorite because of Caden's face. It says everything. It was like taking his favorite dog to the pound.

This is in front of Ryan's school; Martin Luther.

Ryan working on his first project.

Drive-In Movie

A few weeks ago the kids received free tickets to the drive-in from their bank SMB as a reward for having a savings account. Since Trevor was home for the weekend we decided it would be something we could enjoy as a family. We had a blast hanging out in the back of our pacifica, eating home popped popcorn and sweets. The first movie was Aliens in the Attic. It received mixed reviews from the family. Ryan loved it. Mom and Dad loved it because they got to watch the kids. The second movie was Ice Age 3 but Matthew and Caden were done. Caden kept asking if we could go home when the credits from the first movie were rolling. It was fun to sit and talk with Trevor about growing up and going to the drive-in. There aren't many around any more. We're glad we had the opportunity to take our kids and enjoy some family time.