Rachael's 31st Birthday

I am pleased to say that I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. (I am VERY grateful to be alive and healthy!) My family (Mom, Dad, Heather, Josh, Jackson, Caleb, and Emily) came over for Chinese food and cheesecake the day before my birthday. Although things were wild with so many kids running around, I had a good time!

On my actual birthday I had to work late due to conferences, but Carl and Evan helped me celebrate when I got home. They bought flowers, wrapped presents, and made dinner. Evan picked out his own card and gift for me. (I got a toy truck!) It was a really good birthday celebration!

Later that week we celebrated my birthday, Grandma's birthday and Carl's dad's birthday with Carl's family. We went to Carl's parents' house for dinner. While we were there, we called Grandma. Evan was cute and said/sang "Happy To Yous!" to Grandma.

As usual, Jackson enjoyed helping me blow out the candles on my birthday cake. Evan enjoyed helping too!



Evan LOVED the cheesecake!



Evan helped me open my gifts.



Carl, Evan, and I had fun celebrating my birthday!

U of L Honors Breast Cancer Survivors

The University of Louisville recently honored breast cancer survivors at a Lady Cardinals home game. Breast cancer survivors and their families were invited to enjoy the game. The Lady Cards wore pink headbands, the cheerleaders wore pink uniforms, and the cardinal bird even wore a pink t-shirt. At half-time, all breast cancer survivors made a large breast cancer awareness ribbon on the court.

Carl, Evan, Mom, Dad, and I went to the game and we had a great time. Evan was not interested in the game for long, so Dad played with him while he explored the arena.

Evan enjoyed a nice cold water before the game.



Carl and I had fun at the game.



GO CARDS!






Evan was excited to see me at half-time.



This is the breast cancer awareness ribbon made by the survivors and a few cheerleaders.



This is a picture of me making the breast cancer awareness ribbon. I am the one waving at Evan.

MORE SNOW!

This year we have had A LOT of snow in Louisville. We got several inches of snow last week, which have not melted. Yesterday we got several MORE inches of snow. Needless to say, we have quite a lot of snow on the ground. Carl and I took Evan out to play yesterday. He had no interest in riding his sled, but he did enjoy playing with his toys in the snow. He also enjoyed "helping" Daddy move snow off the driveway.

Here are a couple of pictures of our backyard.






We are fortunate that our neighbor has a snow blower. It makes it much easier to clear the driveway and to clear paths to walk.



Here is a picture of our front yard and our house. (You can also see Evan if you take a good look!)



Evan took his new truck out to play in the snow.



Evan didn't seem to understand that it was not warm outside. He took out many of his summer toys and played with them in the snow!









Evan "helped" clear some snow from the driveway.







I am sure some of you are thinking, "Why did Carl and Rachael not put gloves and a hat on Evan?" Well, we did, but Evan promptly removed them. Therefore, we only stayed outside for a few minutes.

Valentine's Day Fun

We all had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day. On Saturday night, Carl and I went to dinner, while my parents watched Evan. Once dinner was over, we all went to Dairy Queen for dessert. Evan had a great time eating his ice cream, as well as Granddaddy's! He also enjoyed sharing his ice cream with everyone.

On Sunday, Evan got his Valentine's Day presents. He got new dinosaurs, a truck , and a helicopter that really flies. We all had fun spending the day together and playing with Evan's new toys.

This ice cream is yummy!





Grammy and Granddaddy



Carl and I enjoyed all of the time we got to spend with our family.



Evan thought Granddaddy's ice cream looked good too, so Granddaddy traded with him.



Evan shared his ice cream with Grammy and Granddaddy.







I love this ice cream cone!



Evan loves his Grammy!



This is one of the only pictures I was able to tale of Evan opening his Valentine's Day presents. He was so excited about all of his presents and he wanted us to play with him, which left little time for taking pictures. Oh well! It was more fun to play than to take pictures anyway!

Happy 2nd Birthday Evan!

We had a great time celebrating Evan's second birthday. We started by having a family birthday party at our house the day before his birthday. Evan's Granddaddy, Grammy, Grandpa, Bonnie Mom, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Teddy came. Evan's "Uncle" Ron and his good buddy Levi, along with John, Terri, and Luke were also able to make it to the party.

Evan and Levi had a great time playing together at the party. They loved playing with the balloons and the trains. Levi was a good helper and helped Evan open many of his birthday presents!

Evan enjoyed dancing at his party.



Playing in the balloons was SO much fun!





Levi and Evan played well together. They are good buddies!


Evan and Levi enjoyed eating pizza together.






Evan liked his new dinosaur book.



Evan and Levi were excited to open the new puzzles.



Evan got a cool dinosaur for his birthday!



Evan LOVES Elmo! (His birthday party had an Elmo theme.)



Evan likes his new trampoline. (He calls it his "bouncy!")



Evan's birthday cake was yummy!






Aunt Heather had just come home from the hospital with baby Emily when we had Evan's party, so the Nickel family was unable to join us. That was o.k. though. It meant we could have another party for Evan! The following Sunday, we celebrated Evan's birthday with Aunt Heather, Uncle Josh, Caleb, Jackson, and Emily. Granddaddy and Grammy came to celebrate again!

All three boys had fun playing with Evan's new truck and with all of the balloons. They also had fun playing in tunnels that Uncle Josh made with the couch cushions! The boys had not seen each other in several days, so they were all very happy to get to play together!

Evan's birthday sign created by Aunt Heather.



Evan liked his new car.



Jackson and Caleb helped Evan open his presents.



The couch made a fun place to play!





Blowing out the candles on his ice cream sandwich!



Yummy!





Evan loves his new cousin, Emily.




We can't believe that Evan is now two years old! He is a really sweet boy and we love him SO much! We are looking forward to the coming years. We are sure they will be filled with lots of fun and laughter!