Heston Jonathan

We're happy to welcome all 9 lbs and 21 inches of the newest member of our family. Heston Jonathan was born Sunday the 7th at 10:10 pm. He wasn't in a big hurry to make an appearance (1 week late and mom was in labor for 17 hours), but he finally gave in. First bath: First Birthday (Zero B-day party):We're very excited to have him in our home and the other kids absolutely love him. Every day they are a little more excited about him. They are starting to want to hold him and kiss him and tickle his feet when he falls asleep eating (this is a regular occurrence---he will hate being tickled as he gets older.) Proud big brother: Proud big sister:He hates getting dressed, getting his diaper changed and getting baths (even with warm water and a heater going nearby). He gets possessive about his food and "eyes" anyone who gets to close or makes to much noise while he's eating (imagine the look on a hungry dog that just got a bone to chew on--and doesn't want any other dog to take it.) Super long fingernails at birth: He's a good eater and sleeper...now we just need to get them at the right time of the day. 6 hour naps in the afternoon are great if mom wants to get a shower and spend time with the other kids, but not if she wants to sleep that night.We'll get some "awake" pictures soon. No, we didn't name him after Charleton Heston or Hesston Farm equipment, but his name does have reference to farming. We have tried to name our kids something significant in our and their lives...with both of us coming from farming families, it seemed fitting to name one of our kids something to do with it...(Heston means farm or homestead). His middle name, Jonathan, is after Spence's good friend growing up who passed away nearly 10 year ago. His name (Jonathan) was actually after the best friend of David (David and Goliath). We'll post some more pictures later, but thought we would let everyone know about and see our new bundle of joy.

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The Finished Playset

This summer we took on the major project of building a playset/fort for our kids. It was a blast and the kids absolutely love to play on it and loved helping to make it. Since it's easier to tell a story in pictures...here we go:

Building the base and the posts. Sterling helping put on washers and nuts. Not to be outdone by her brother, Hannah helped put on the the nuts and then the washers...lots of them. And then she wanted to help tighten them on. The missionaries wanted a few service hours (and some Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler). They helped put the floor boards in. The posts looked huge tall at this point and looked really funny. We also had some friends over for a BBQ and to help get on the roof and the picket pieces. It ended up being a freezing cold day for it, but was still fun.

We got a huge load of sand dumped in the driveway for the garden and sandbox...that was a lot of wheelbarrows.

The kids liked to play while Spence worked (and I took pictures Ü). Spence was finishing the railing and floorboards while the kids anxiously waited for the slide to be put on. Railing done (or so we thought). Now it's time for the slide...any helpers??? Now some stairs so we can get up to the slide. Grandpa came and stayed with us for a few weeks. We got the shingles on the roof...The swing bar built and the swings and trapeze bar on. It was late when we got that part done...but we still had to test them out...I think they work! Then we decided we needed a parallel bar to hang on and learn how to do flips and chin-ups and all those fun things. It's just our size....almost! After putting on the swings we realized we needed to move the railing. We put a ladder on the outside so the kids didn't have to go through the sand every time they wanted to go to the top. Especially when they were wet....

And the finished project.......We still have to add a railing to the inside where the stairs come up, but it's not a huge concern right now. The kids love to have picnics up there and play for hours in the sand. Sterling even (on his own accord) figured out how to sled down the slide. He loved it...Hannah not as much though. We had a great time building it, memories of project like this together will stay with for a lifetime.