Halloween, Birthday, and Other Fun

Halloween was a blast! David, Sherrie, and Nathan were pirates, Clara a princess (we forgot to put on her crown), and Christian a bear cub. The kids got a ton of candy and stuffed their faces when we got home. Clara ate so much that she threw up in the middle of the night. Gotta love those midnight clean-up parties.
Sherrie is our resident artist and has been taking an evening watercolor class through Utah Valley University. She painted this scene of a cat playing with a ball of yarn. Her goal is to get some art up on the walls of our house.

Nathan turned five last week! We can't believe that we have a five year old. Nathan and Clara helped make the ghosts on the cake. Nathan was really excited to get a tool set, two broken VCR's to take apart, a box of life cereal, and telescopic fishing pole. He and Sherrie took apart a VCR the next day and Nathan said that it was the best day ever.

Carving pumpkins and summer squash is a fun activity.

Sherrie and Nathan at the elementary school skate night. Nathan was not very fond of skating. He became quite angry at the skates and we eventually took them off. He walked around the rink with Sherrie. Sherrie had her skates on and Nathan walked with his shoes. Clara had no fear with the skates and didn't want to leave when it was time to go. She fell a lot, but was having the time of her life. Christian was very handsome in the stroller.

For some reason Clara got the idea that princesses put a lot of lotion in their hair. She came downstairs with oodles of lotion caked in her hair and on her face, declaring to all the world, "I have princess hair." Maybe she'll start a new style.

Clara is our dancing princess. She particularly likes this dress because it's pretty when it twirls.

Nathan is a little monkey. We weren't huge believers in evolution, but after watching our kids, we're starting to have second thoughts. They seem to be evolving backwards, from humans to monkeys. Christian is not quite sure what to think about this whole thing. He'll probably evolve into a monkey too.


Here's our other little monkey. Our little monkey princess loves to hang upside down. Maybe she was a bat in a former life.

Christian's Blessing and Fall Fun

We blessed Christian yesterday during church. He was asleep for most of it, but was awake by the end of the blessing was happily looking around. We had a nice time with Sherrie's family and Aunt Mel. Thank goodness for Aunt Mel's fancy camera that can take a bunch of pictures really quickly. I don't think we would have gotten any nice pictures otherwise because Nathan and Clara had the wiggles.


Nathan and Clara love taking baths! Clara likes getting her princess hair clean.


We carved one of our summer squashes and named him Pepe. We gave him one eye and one tooth and an old pepper from our garden for a nose (thus the name Pepe). He fits right in with our crazy family.

Our aspiring hair dresser Nathan worked his magic with Clara. She won't hold still for her parents to do her hair, but apparently Nathan is acceptable. He did a pretty good job and even added bows and berretes (spelling?). He did a great job. If he's not careful he'll find himself with a new daily chore.

Christian hanging out with Grandpa Manwill.

Little did we know that over conference weekend our house would be invaded by pirates. Uncle Stephen was one of those pirates and David, Joshua, and Nathan went on pirate extermination patrol. Uncle Stephen didn't stand a chance.

We've been cleaning up our garden and Nathan's always a big helper. Nathan decided that he was going to use "his" hacksaw to cut up the old sunflower stalks so that they would fit in the garbage can. He cut a bunch of them and only cut himself once. His toolbox is gradually adding tools while daddy's toolbox seems to be gradually losing tools.

Huckleberries and a hike

Things are going well here in Oremland. We picked tons of tomatoes this week and need to make them into salsa or tomato sauce (feel free to come get some if you need any). We also have zucchini and yellow squash overtaking our property (That much less lawn that needs to be mowed). Christian is growing like a weed and eats like starving grizzly. He's starting to smile a little more, but has a good knack for stopping when the camera comes out. School, work, preschool, primary, and the rest of life is keeping us happily hopping.

This morning we had crepes with huckleberry sauce. Clara (our little bear cub) would eat all of the huckleberries off of her crepe and then ask for more without eating the crepe. We made her eat the crepe before having more, which she did promptly. It was a great feast.

Yesterday we went on a hike up to Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove with Aunt Mel. It was a perfect length (about 3/4 of a mile). The best part was the feast of popcorn, apples, and gummy worms once we got there. Clara stomped around the entire creek, but Nathan was scared of the cold water. It was very refreshing.

We went to Foothill Elementary's Fall Festival. David got to be in the dunk tank. Nathan had first dibs on dunking him. Luckily the water was pretty warm. The wind did make it a little cold after being dunked. Nathan and Clara enjoyed the air pressure rocket launcher. Nathan was talking about it for the next two days and had figured out how to build one. He even designed it on a piece of paper. We might have to build one (birthdays are coming up!).

preschool and potty training

Grandma and Grandpa Boren visited last week for a couple days. Nathan got to spend a day with Grandpa, Daddy, and Uncle Stephen, building the set for Aunt Mel's upcoming play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," at Lehi Jr. High. Grandpa also brought his chainsaw and cut down the diseased tree next to our garage. We loved having Grandma and Grandpa visit, and were sad that we couldn't find an excuse to get them to stay longer! That's how it is when you have to share your wonderful in-laws with 6 other siblings.

Nathan started preschool this week. He is teary-eyed and dramatic when I drop him off, as if we're saying goodbye forever. "Goodbye Mom"...chin quivers..."I love you"...sniffle..."Good bye"...waves as he slowly backs away..."Goodbyyyeee." It could break a person's heart, but he comes running with a big smile on his face when I pick him up. He insists that he doesn't like preschool at all, but I think it's just because he's worried that he's missing all the "fun" with me and the other kids while he's gone.

Clara has been resistant to potty-training for the past several months, but suddenly this week, she has decided that she wants to be done with diapers. She's been practically accident-free for several days now. Hooray!!! David and I have had almost nothing to do with it. She has potty-trained herself. (And for those of you who know Clara, you understand why it wouldn't work any other way!)

Swimming at Aunt Mel's pool

Set-building at Aunt Mel's school

Christian smiles for the camera

Timber!!

Woofies Dog Food is the Best!

Nathan and Clara are back home after spending the past week at Aunt Jessica and Uncle Brian's house in Logan. They had a blast playing with cousins. We missed them, but it was nice to have some time to rest and settle in a little better with Christian. Aunt Jessica has guaranteed herself a place in heaven for taking care of 6 children under the age of 8 for 7 days.
Babies are so cute during bathtime! It's especially fun when they are small enough to fit in the kitchen sink. I like not having to lean halfway into the bathtub. Christian loves getting his hair washed. (Well, I guess he likes getting his head washed, since he is pretty much bald.)
David's family will appreciate this movie clip. David has been reading Beverly Cleary's "Henry Huggins" books to Nathan and Clara. Nathan seems to identify with Henry, a boy who is pretty well-behaved, but is always getting into trouble that is really not his fault. We've all been reciting the "Woofies Dog Food" poem from "Henry and Ribsy."

Nathan or Christian

One of these pictures is of Nathan as a baby and one is of Christian. Which picture is of which little man? Look at the picture below for a hint.


Christian is still trying to figure out that he is supposed to sleep during the night and stay awake during the day. Sherrie, Christian, and David have a nightly party. Woohoo!

Nathan and daddy made a make-shift tee for tee ball. Nathan's pretty good at slamming the ball. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Manwill for the bat and ball.


In the first picture the little boy on the left is Christian and the little boy on the right is Nathan.

New Baby Boy!

We're proud to announce the arrival of Christian Alan Boren. Christian is the name of one of Sherrie's ancestors who came over from Norway back in the 1800's. Alan is Sherrie's dad's name. Christian came at 6:45 a.m., July 31, weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and measuring 21 inches. Sherrie was scheduled for an induction that very morning, but Christian decided that he wanted to come on his own terms. He had a little trouble breathing when he first came out, but after a few hours in NICU, he we doing grand. When he first came out the doctor commented, "Wow! He's really strong, and has some spunk!" This ought to be fun! We feel very blessed and are grateful for all of the love and support we have felt from everyone.






July 31 was a busy day for us. Besides Christian's birth, we got to take Clara in for a second x-ray on her hand. Nathan accidentally jumped on her a few weeks ago and one of the bones on her hand was fractured. The July 31 x-ray was a follow-up to see if it really was broken. Sure enough, it is, and she gets to wear her cute green splint for the next month. Green is her favorite color, so all is well.


Nothing like ice cream with cousins. Yum!

We spend a lot of time playing pirates. When sneak around the house while the pirate music is playing, and we get close enough to the pirates, we barrage them with our pretend banana peels, butter, peanut butter, and anything else that will make it hard for them to catch us. Tons of fun! Who needs a gym membership!

Nathan and Clara dressed up for our ward's pioneer day parade. Nathan decorated his own bike.