Hogle Zoo....

Saturday we took the kids (and my nephew) to the zoo. We had a blast. Saw the animals. Rode the train and carousel. Had yummy snacks. It was a great trip. Mandy LOVED her very first ride on the carousel. It was just too cute. She is almost 8 months now and is finally starting to crawl. Actually, it's more of a scooch but, we don't tell her that. She also is sporting her very first tooth. She has turned into quite the chatter box- cooing and giggling most the day. We're still trying to get her to say "mama" but no luck yet.
Josh will be starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks. Big time baby! We took him school shopping and just about shop-lifted his backpack. I noticed (as we were walking out the doors) he was wearing it and it never got paid for. We ran back in the store and luckily avoided any mis-haps with JC Penney security. WHEW!!!
Nicky will also be starting pre-school soon. Hopefully. We have yet to conquer the potty-training. I am tiring quickly of having two little ones in diapers so I hope we can work that little issue out soon.
The boys are still just enamoured with thier little sister. It is so much fun to watch them all interact with each other. I love our little family. Three little ones is definately hard but Mandy has been such a wonderful addition to our crew. Even when the boys are being super cranky, I can let them give Mandy a hug and they snap right out of it. They forget all about being little stinkers and turn all gooshy trying to get thier baby sister to smile.
Nathan and I are doing well. Just trying to keep up with the the kids, the house, and the yard. Not to mention the dogs and the aquarium. Nathan's brother (and his two boys) came out last month for a visit. We really enjoyed having them out here and were sad when they left. Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon. Also, congrats to Noelle (Nathan's sister) who just got married. Welcome to the family Brad!
Nathan published his very first book! An RPG (Role Playing Game) that can be found on-line at either amazon or barnes and noble. I am sooooo proud of him. Here are the links if you want to check it out.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Terra-Immortalis/Nathan-Sumsion/e/9780615208022/?itm=1

or

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=terra+immortalis
And finally- I have been having tons of fun with my new cricut (paper-cutter). My friend introduced me to it. She has a cricut us well. We've been having lots of fun making cards, scrapbook pages, and what-not. One of the coolest inventions ever.
And now.... here are some pictures from the zoo and a few random ones for fun:

Mandy and Mommy

Josh on carousel

Mandy's first time on carousel

Nicky with Daddy