Our missionary is HOME!

 My dear brother Nick is home from his mission as of this past Tuesday. He was called to the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia mission. He served there for over a year, but due to issues with the church (and all religious institutions) not being able to renew American 'work' visas, he was sent to the Portland, OR mission and has been there the past 6 months. 

Reading Nick's letters and watching his testimony develop these past 2 years has been such a blessing in my life. He worked so hard and served the people on his mission with such diligence and selflessness. I know what he did was not easy (as with all missions) as he battled bitter cold, terrible food, rejection, and I am sure days of feeling lonely and homesick, but he did it with such a joyful and humble heart. I want to thank Nick for his great sacrifice and example. Daniel is already excited to serve a mission like his big uncle Nick! Love you buddy and can't wait to see you in a few days :) 

"I believe there is nothing in all the world that can compare with the joy that a man feels when he realizes that he has been the instrument in the hands of the living God of reaching some honest heart, inspiring in it a love of God and the desire to serve Him."

Heber J. Grant

Underwear

Daniel has been potty-trained since the beginning of Sept. and it has been so nice not to change 2 sets of diapers! I didn't so much mind the baby ones (James's) but Daniel's seemed man-sized!!! (yes...this is so gross). 

I think one of the huge motivators was underwear. He saw his cousin Jordan wearing very cool Cars, Toy Story, Nemo, and Walle underwear, and he just had to be part of that fun. He soon realized that when he went potty in the toilet, he was rewarded by wearing underwear, and did not have to put a diaper on. I had no idea how motivating this could be!! So we started (as way of encouraging him) asking him "what cool underwear do you have on today Daniel"? He would proudly reply, and wearing the magical new underpants seem to keep him dry all day. 

So a few weeks ago we where at Wegman's (a fabulous grocery store) and the women at the check-out offered Daniel a sucker. I turned to him and said "what do you say to the nice lady?" and he thought for a minute and said "what underwear do you have on today?". I almost died!!!!!! 

Here Daniel is modeling his new winter look. I am sure he has on some very cool underwear.

Happy Halloween!!

 Our crime fighting duo, Batman and Robin, had the best Halloween! On Saturday we went to the Trunk or Treat at the church, and Sunday night we walked around the block as a family, stopping at some of our wonderful neighbor's houses for a little Trick or Treat. Daniel could not have been more proud of his awesome Batman costume (made with love from by Grandma Bigler), and James made one cute little Robin! It was a great weekend.

Saturday afternoon Daniel and I made some Halloween crafts

Daniel loved the little spider we made

Batman + Robin are ready for the Trunk or Treat!

Look at this handsome Batman!

We tried to have Robin wear his super-mask, but he was not so excited about it

Daniel even tried to get him to wear it

Trunk or Treat!

Daniel's buddy Lucas showed up as Batman too! They both thought that was awesome.

And Lucas's little sister Olivia was Robin too! 

The pumpkin face toss

Cake Walk

So many adorable kiddos!

After church we carved a pumpkin

James was not loving it. He kept sticking his hand on the gooey insides of the pumpkin and then crying.

But he did love finding the Halloween candy!

Getting ready to go trick or treating- Rochester style. It was snowing, so both boys wore 3 layers each!

Then Batman jumped on his partner Robin

And we had to have a super-hero time out

Robin in his favorite ride- the red wagon. Superheroes can still fight crime with a binky in their mouth- right?

Then Batman had a melt down right as we where leaving

But he quickly perked up when we mentioned candy

We had a great night. Our neighbors were so sweet. One of them even purchased 'baby cookies' especially for James and 2 others invited us in for treats and to warm up (it was snowing). We live on the friendliest block! Hope that you all had a great Halloween too!