National Pretzel Day. Herr's Snack Factory

Happy National Pretzel Day! Since today is Chad's last day off in the last week we will be here we decided to do one more thing as a family in PA. I was looking around last night for things to go see and noticed that today was National Pretzel Day and what better thing to do than to go to a pretzel/chip snack factory? Well it was about an hour and a half away which wasn't so bad there but the way home was kind of rough. It was fun though. We went on a tour of the factory and saw how they make the dough for pretzels and how they season the chips. It was pretty interesting how they reuse everything. They even have a machine that extracts heat off of the product and they use this heat to heat the building in the winter. They have NO heating bill throughout the winter. How great would that be? We got to try fresh chips that hadn't even hit the conveyor belt yet. They tasted soooo good. Everyone who goes to the factory gets a small bag of chips at the end of the tour but today being national pretzel day we also got a free bag of pretzels. The boys LOVE getting the souvenier pennies from those machines that flatten them and imprint a picture on them. It was far away but it was fun to spend time as a family. Its sad to think that next week at this time we won't be together in PA anymore. We need to take advantage of the time we get to spend together. Here are some pics of our day:)

In front of Chippers Cafe.

Some of their products displayed on the wall.

Getting their souveniers.

Jake had to turn it for himself.

The side of a wall on the building.

Happy 4th Birthday Nicholas!!!!

Today is Nicholas' 4th birthday. I can't believe it!! Where did the time go? Four years ago it was Easter Sunday when Nicholas decided he was ready to join our family. Thankfully I had a nap earlier that afternoon because he decided at about 10:30pm that it was a good time to get things started. Chad had to work an overnight shift that night (of course) and had already left. My sister Michelle came upstairs to see how I was doing (she lived in the apartment underneath us at the time) and my contractions started getting stronger and closer together. We left for the hospital calling Chad to meet us there. The hospital was only 20 minutes away. Michelle and I got there and I got changed. 15 minutes later my water broke and I was in serious pain at that point. I had an epidural within 20 minutes (so grateful for modern medicine:) After that things kind of slowed down which was good. About 3:15 I started pushing and Nicholas was born at 3:43am, 6 lbs. 13 oz, 19.5inches. It was the greatest experience of my life at that point in time. He has brought me such joy and I am so thankful to be his mom. Back to his 4th birthday, Chad and I stayed up until 12:30 this morning putting together his birthday present. We bought him a play kitchen. He LOVES to pretend to cook and since my kitchen is very small I'm hoping this will encourage him to use his more. He was so excited when he saw it. We also got to go to a kite festival at the playground right down the road. We got a kite at Target and it was a lot of fun. Both the kids got into it but it was sooo windy it kept crashing or getting tangled. Since we had his birthday party last week with our extended family and friends, I just bought a small cake to celebrate today. Happy birthday baby boy!!! We love you:)

Nicholas when he first woke up.

Ripping the sheet off his present. He was very excited to have his very own kitchen.

Flying our Woody and Buzz Lightyear kite.

A guy flying 3 HUGE kites.

Nicholas taking a break.

Jacob and Nicholas making Daddy do all the work.

They were pretty good about taking turns.

Jake flying it all by himself. Shortly after I took this he let go and Chad had to chase the kite down.

The Birthday boy!

Happy 4th birthday Nicholas!!

Nicholas' 4th Birthday Party April 10, 2010

Nicholas had his 4th birthday party on Saturday. We decided to have a Pirate party theme. The invitations were rolled up like a scroll and even sent out in plastic bottles. The kids went on a treasure hunt to look for a treasure chest pinata. They also played pin the eye patch on the pirate. Chad and I were up until 2:30am the previous night finishing the cakes. We have a pretty good system. He mixes the colors while I do the actual decorating. I couldn't decide between the pirate ship or the little boy pirate so I had to do both. Doing two cakes wasn't easy but I think they turned out cute. Nicholas got a lot of great presents which included lots of clothes for summer, lincoln logs, coloring books, matchbox cars and even an art easel. He LOVES to paint so now it is nice that he can paint and not get it on my table. It was nice spending the day with family and friends. We finished off the party with the treasure chest pinata. Such a fun day but also very tiring. The boys (along with Chad and I) were all in bed by9pm. I'm glad Nicholas enjoyed his party. Here are some pictures.

The pirate boy cake.

The pirate ship cake with pirate candles.

Reading the clues for the treasure hunt.

Going to find more clues.

Opening presents.

Jake even got a present from Aunt Shell. A little golf club set.

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candles.

I love this picture. Both boys look so cute.

Hitting the pinata.

Hanging out with cousins April 8&9, 2010

These were just some pictures I took of the boys and their cousins. They were on cloud 9 for the last 2 weeks seeing their cousins nearly everyday. One day Chrissy was cleaning out their hot tub and the kids decided to scrub the deck. It was a funny sight. Thanks to Brian, Elizabeth and Marie for all your help with the boys while we were home.

Jake about to go on the back deck.
The kids scrubbing the deck.

This was their own idea.

Elizabeth reading the boys books.

Marie and Brian watching some tv.

Easter Morning April 4, 2010

Easter morning was a fun morning. It is a tradition in Chad's family that the Easter bunny always hides the easter basket. I didn't know until this year so I think that is why Nicholas looks so confused in the first picture. Usually his basket was right where he could find it and now he had to look for it. The boys had a fun day with their cousins. We went and watch conference at Chad's other brother Eric and his wife Rachaels house. Then we went and had a delicious dinner at Chrissy's parents house. It is nice to have family so close to be able to celebrate these holidays with.

Chad telling them that the Easter bunny hid their baskets and they have to find them. Nicholas was like "Why??"

Jake looking for his basket.

Nicholas thinking where his basket might be. (It was between the sofa and bookshelf)

Jake found his right behind the tv.

Digging right into all the goodies.

Cleaning it out first. then digging in.

Yum! Easter candy at 8am.

Cool sunglasses:)

Looking at all their candy/toys/books. The Easter bunny went alittle overboard this year.

Jake liked the sunglasses more than Nicholas did. He looks so cute.