Merry Christmas!

The week proceeding Christmas was a busy one here at the Nigbur home. After school parties/programs Aunt Keri came for a quick visit over the weekend of the 19th. We exchanged gifts, made cookies, and went to the lights at the Springs Preserve.

Monday we drove up to Utah for my Oma's funeral. She was very old and miserable so we think it was a blessing. She was a wonderful Grandma and I have fond memories of her growing up. We are grateful she is with Opa and her parents now in heaven and free of pain. It was a quick trip because we drove home very late Tuesday night.

Wednesday we did a quick repack and jumped back into the car and headed to Williams AZ for the Polar Express. It was a surprise for our kids and they loved it. We rode the train all the way to the North Pole and saw Santa in our jammies. We also swam at the hotel (which always seems to be their favorite part!)

We got back late Christmas Eve and celebrated with just our little family. (The first time ever!) Christmas morning was awesome. Santa was very generous this year and our kids got many loud, extremely annoying toys. Thanks Santa! Jack loved his first Christmas too! His biggest gift was a helmet to help shape out the flat spot on his head. Even though it was a bit busy we had a fabulous time. Merry Christmas everyone!

Hannah's Big Weekend!!!

Hannah had two big things happen to her this weekend. She lost her first tooth, and was really excited to stay up and see the tooth fairy.

She put her tooth in the special "tooth fairy pillow"...

...and awoke the next morning to her reward. She was a little disappointed that she didn't catch the tooth fairy, and thinks that perhaps the tooth fairy is "invisible".

Next, Hannah had testing at her Tae Kwan Do class to earn her purple belt, and passed with flying colors. She broke a board on her very first try!

They gave an award to the individual who did the best in each belt color...

... and to our surprise Hannah was presented with the trophy for the yellow belt class. She was really excited, and is looking for a repeat performance on her next test!

Congatulations Hannah! It was a great weekend and we are so proud of you!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our little family headed to Utah to spend the holiday with family. Thanksgiving day was really busy and a little crazy. We started out having family pics taken at 8:30 am. 2 grandparents, 14 aunts and uncles, and 17 cousins! I'll let you know how they turned out! Since we had such a crowd my parents "rented" the church for the day. We spent it playing basketball, watching movies, coloring, painting fingernails, catching up, cooking and running around! It took 4 long tables to seat everyone and it was super fun! A few of our many cousins. Some were napping or eating!

My best friends in the world. My mom and sisters!

We also celebrated Christmas with Keith's mom since we won't be heading back up in Decemeber. She was very generous with gifts and made us a yummy German dinner. Thanks Grandma!
My mom turned 65 Sunday and we threw her a surprise party too! We watched the Utes lose (sniff sniff), played in the snow, ate lots of yummy takeout and got to little sleep. We are still recovering. (I did 7 loads of laundry yesterday!) But we wouldn't trade all the craziness for a minute! Family, friends, food and fun! Our favorite things.

Family Pictures!

We are a happy family!

Sweet baby Jack!

Big boy Nick!


Beautiful all grown up Hannah!

Best buddies!

Awww! True love!

Daddy & Daughter

Together Forever!

Happy Halloween!

We had such a great Halloween weekend! 3 days jam packed with fun. After school parties Thursday Aunt Keri came into town and spent the weekend with us! Friday we went to a pumpkin patch and rode a pony named Moe. We also picked out the pumpkins we were going to decorate!
Patiently waiting our turn!

Our sweet neighbor gave us these cool faces and the kids just painted their pumpkins and poked these in. SOOO much easier (and safer) than carving! We did carve one pumpkin but it was a lot of work! (I think it had petrified in the patch!) Didn't they turn out great?
That night we went to a super fun Halloween party with some friends! The whole family dressed up! A witch, a ballerina, Mickey Mouse, a lamb, a Boston Red Sox (who about 5 minutes after the picture decided to be a Chick on the Run instead!) Hilarious!

Saturday we went to yet another pumpkin patch with rides and bouncy houses galore! The kids were so pooped they needed naps before the big Trick or Treat! Hannah (I think in Keri's honor) decided to go as a cowgirl. In 4 houses our buckets were full! When I was little you got one piece of candy per house....nowadays people give out hand fulls! But we emptied our loot into the bottom of the stroller and stayed out for more!

We had a lot of fun and are still recuperating from all of it! We had a very Happy Halloween!

The Monster Mash!

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Yellow Belt & Fire Station

Friday Hannah earned her yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. She has been taking lessons since the beginning of the school year. It was all her idea. I tried to talk her into taking dance or gymnastics but she was dead set on Tae Kwon Do. She is a fast learner and has really caught on. She took her test Friday and completed it perfectly! She even had to break a board by kicking it with her foot! We are so proud of you Hannah! Way to go! Hannah and her fabulous teacher Master Rhee.

The proud yellow belt!

Nick's preschool class went on a field trip to the fire station last week too! It was really fun. He got to squirt the hose! (his favorite part)What a cute class!

Nick and his best preschool buddy Brooklyn! Future firefighters!

Poor baby Jack got carted around to everywhere and was such a good sport!

It was a big week for our little family. Fun & busy....just how we like it!

The Grand Canyon

This weekend we went to the Grand Canyon. We have never been there before and have wanted to go ever since we moved to Vegas. Seeing it for the first time was a little overwhelming. It is gianourmous! I had anxiety about one of my kids or husband falling over the edge. It truly was beautiful and amazing. Something you need to see at least once in a lifetime. We had a lot of fun eating out, driving around the park, buying souvenirs, swimming at the hotel and spending time together as a family!

Our one family picture! Thanks to the stranger who very patiently took it!

Hannah & Nick became Jr. Rangers!

Okay that's a little too close to the edge! Step back!

The very cool watchtower! Hannah thought it was a princess castle!

What a gorgeous sight! (of the canyon I mean!)

Rub a dub dub...

3 kids in the tub! Jack is officially 4 months old! How do the days seem so long but time still flies? Here is a pic of his first bath......he sure has chunked up!

He has given up his binky (darn it!) and started sucking his thumb occasionally. Whoops!

He is such a sweet baby and getting big so fast!

Hannah & Nick absolutely love him! (Mommy & Daddy do too!)

Keep up the good work Jack! We sure love having you as part of our family!

First Day Hooray-Part II

So after 2 1/2 weeks of patiently waiting Nick finally started preschool! (I thought I was going to go mad with him following me around like a little lost puppy while Hannah was in Kindergarten!) He loves it! We know all about the kid in the brown shirt who already had to sit in the "time out" chair. He had pretzels and a fruit he didn't like for snack. And he (and I) cannot wait to go back again on Friday!

He worked hard potty training for a super cool Spiderman backpack! A very well earned bribe!

Nick's little friend Brooklyn is the same class and will be carpooling with us!

It is so hard to get all 3 smiling and looking at the camera!

Now me and Jack have a little alone time together and he couldn't be happier about that!

First Day Hooray!

Today Hannah went to her 1st day of Kindergarten! She absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back tomorrow! We dropped her off and she begged to ride the bus home! She said her favorite part was the "worksheet" they did in class followed by recess. She's already made a little friend too! I am so proud of her for being so big! It's going to be a great year! Nick was a little lost this morning without her but luckily he starts preschool after Labor Day! Hip hip hooray for Hannah's first day!