Husky Dawgs

Did you catch that Husky game against Stanford???  We were so excited for the first game we could watch on TV!  The boys had their "Go Dawgs" gear on.
 

 

 Watching his first game.
 

 

 Jack, I'm pretty sure that's illegal holding.
 

 

 Tackle!
 

 

 Tackle right back at you Jack - but this one is loaded!
 

 

Great game, Dawgs!



Combine Harvesting For Real

If anyone knows Jack, they know that he is all about combine harvesters.  He spends hours each day walking around with his arm straight out to the side pretending to combine.  He talks about them constantly (ask his poor teachers at school).  He has even asked to be one for Halloween.  I frequently am told I can't walk on our field of wheat/corn (a.k.a. our livingroom carpet) because it is being harvested - hopefully I'm making my point.

 

So just imagine what happened in Jack's brain when Grandaddy picked him up from school by surprise to take him for a ride on a real harvester while it was chopping corn.  Yeah, I can't imagine what was going on in there either but I can assure you it was AMAZING!
 

 

 The driver has a young son too and knew just what Jack would like. He let him run some of the knobs and buttons while they were chopping. This is pretty much the biggest chopper they make. The guy told me it can cut down 100 acres in four hours!
 

 

 Here he is getting the run down on the levers and buttons.
 

 

 Okay- let's go cut some corn!
 

 

 They filled up about 10 of those dump trucks full of corn. Jack probably rode on that thing for over a half hour!
 

 

 When Jack emerged he was utterly speechless. His eyes were huge and he didn't say anything for a minute or two. I think he was completely overwhelmed!
 

 

 

The fun didn't stop there.  Next they let him ride on a huge front loader!

 

 Dumping some serious corn into a feed-hauler.

 

And if you think all of that was unbelievable - next up was the bulldozer! 

 Jack got his own seat for the ride.  This also came with its own seatbelt, which you'll see below was for a very good reason.
 

 

 Here they go climbing the hill.

 

 Up, up, up!
 

 

 Yeah, he's in there - scary right?
 

 

What an unbelievable experience!  And that is what Jack keeps telling me - "I can't believe I got to ride in a combine, front loader and bulldozer!" Best day EVER!



Tulare Fair

We took the boys to the local fair for some rides.  Nate was too small but there was a section that Jack could ride on all by himself.

 

 "What do you mean I'm too small for the rides?"
 

 

 

 

What a great day!

 



Birthday Party

Nate and his cousin, Mikey, both turned one-year-old this September, so we did a joint party to celebrate.

 

 Cousin Mikey ready to celebrate!
 

 

 It was a race car themed birthday party.
 

 

 Once again, the packaging is always the exciting part!
 

 

 Aunt Debbie and Uncle Mark got Nate his very own baby iPod complete with headphones.  To say these headphones were a hit would be an understatement.  He spent most of the day making sure they were with him at all times.
 

 

 "This pillow pal is crackin' me up."
 

 

 So imagine my surprise when we opened a Sit-n-Spin for Nate.  Holy Cow - I LOVED mine when I was little - they brought these things back?!?!?!?!  Awesome!  Sorry Nate, but I couldn't resist taking it for a spin myself.
 

 

 Once again, notice the headphones are still in hand???  However, Nate was willing to let Auntie TC give them a try.

 

 Gramps and Nate in his cake-eating shirt getting ready to dig in!
 

 

This is the point at which our camera battery met its death.  Bummer.  So we had a re-do a Sunday night with cupcakes so we could have some first birthday memories.

 

 "Oh yeah, just wait 'til this sugar really kicks in, Mom!"
 

 

"Sugar High!!!"

 



 Jack getting some frosting action too.
 

 

 After a nice bath, Nate was ready to show off some more birthday presents.  Here he is pretending to be a car on his race track.
 

 



"I Feel A Celebration Coming On!"

Yep, Jack yelled out the title of this post out at the end of cousin Adam's wedding ceremony.

 

 So, you pretty much know its gonna be an awesome wedding when there's a John Deere at the entrance that Jack could test drive.
 

 

 Jack helped out the owners by combining their field.
 

 

 Nate's buddy was Cousin Molly.  She made him smile all night!
 

 

 

Then came the part Jack was most looking forward to... the barn dance!  This little girl immediately asked Jack to dance.  He was hesitant at first...

 

 

 ...but then he got groovy!
 

 

 Our smallest cowboy taking a siesta.
 

 

 Then Cousin Ellen hit up Jack for some fast dancing.  She knew all the good moves!
 

 

 Can you see the pure jealousy on the first little girl's face???
 

 

 Check out those twirls!
 

 

 Hugs for Ellen!

 

My favorite quote of the wedding was when Jack asked Ellen if she wanted to pretend to be a combine harvester with him and she said, "No, I'm going to be a princess."  They managed to find some imaginary world where princesses and combine harvesters play together in the fields.
 

 

 Jack riding on his Grandaddy horse.

 

 Now it's Jack's turn for some fun with Cousin Molly.
 

 

Obviously from the look on Nate's face, it was way past his bedtime!

 

 

Mom and Jack dancin' it up.