Leif is 12!

 

Leif is 12! This kid is very clever and smart, but also very goofy and can be very stubborn. I took him out to eat at a French cafe that we love. It was actually for last Christmas because he still hadn't used the special coupon we'd given him to go out with me. It was a nice time to spend with him for his birthday.

Here is a fun picture Austin took with Leif and his favorite pup. All of our kids love Torben, but Leif has a special love for him. He loves to snuggle with him during downtime throughout the day. 

 

We had our usual chocolate waffles for breakfast. The younger siblings got him a special, but funny present. They pooled money together to get him a Planes book since he has always loved the movies. It was a book for little kids, but Leif was thrilled by it as you can see on his face in the picture on the couch when he opened it. He also got a fun kit to put together a million pieces to make an owl  from my mom (he delights in putting tiny pieces together!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leif requested cheesecake for his birthday. I have never made one and didn't have the right pan, so his grandpa offered to make it for him. Asher and Leif went over to his house the night before to help make it- Leif loves to help cook! The cheesecake was amazing, but Leif said it wasn't what he was expecting and he liked making it more than eating it, although he did enjoy it- especially the raspberry reduction we drizzled on it. You can see Leif showing his goofiness as he was preparing to eat his cake. My mom also got him the space guy cake toppers. We made each one hold a letter from his name. He cut the letters from a Life cereal box and rearranged them to say his name-something we've done for years.

Leif's biggest birthday excitement this year is that he ordered an RC car. He put birthday money toward it and also used some of the money in his savings account. The ones in this picture belong to Asher and Leif has gotten more interested in them lately, so he ordered one for himself. It should come in a few weeks. They spend more time cleaning and fixing the cars than they do racing them, but that is part of the fun for them.

Here is Leif's Birthday Interview:

Who is your favorite person? Me

What is your favorite color? Green

What is your favorite thing to watch/do on TV? Play Zelda

What is your favorite outfit? Whatever I'm wearing

What song do you like the best? Weird Al songs

What is your favorite cereal? The one with the most sugar

Who is your best friend? Asher

What do you want to do when your grow up? An Airforce pilot or an aerospace enginer

What is your favorite book? Where the Red Ferns Grow

What are you really good at? Being really good at stuff

Where do you wish you could go on vacation? The moon

What would you buy if you had a lot of money? A fighter jet

What is your favorite dinner? Chicken Rolls

If you could have a wish, what would it be? To have more wishes

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Mint Oreo

Who do you want to be like? Me

What do you like to do with your friends? Brain rot (this is what he and his friends call video games)

What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? Get a lot of money

What is your favorite thing to do?

What are you proud of? Myself

What are you afraid of? Fear

Halloween

To prepare for Halloween, we had cousins over for pumpkin carving along with soup and pumpkin cookies. The kids always have tons of fun when they get to see their cousins.

For Halloween, my dad came for another visit. This time, he brought his new pup, Amber. All the kids were so excited to meet her. She came along trick-or-treating with us. Asher was a Charlie Brown ghost, Leif was a guy in a black cape, Trevor was a dragon, Natalie was a ballerina carebear, and Heidi was a windup ballerina doll.

The kids got way to much candy and had lots of fun with grandpa. After trick-or-treating, they watched some Halloween Simpsons episodes then finally went to bed.

Here is a picture of Natalie with Amber. She is a pup, but she is probably done growing and is a little bit bigger than Torben. The two of them had lots of fun running all over the backyard together.

 

October Visits

My dad came to visit us the first weekend of October. It was also General Conference weekend. I often make cinnamon rolls for October General Conference, but this year I tried Swedish cinnamon buns, which have cardamom in them as well and have less sugar. They were pretty involved, so I had the boys help me form them the night before and we kept them in the fridge.

Heidi helped with the egg and Swedish sugar the next morning before we baked them.

And everybody loved eating them! Leif wasn't the biggest fan because he prefers gobs of cream cheese frosting on his, but Austin (who rarely cares for all the baking I do) loved them and said I wasn't allowed to make regular cinnamon rolls anymore- only these because they have a much more European taste.

Later in the month, we went to Utah to visit for Abbey's birthday. I was also hoping to see some of my aunts. That didn't work out as planned, but I did see my dad's sister whom I haven't seen in years. I kept the younger kids entertained while we were at my dad's house by bringing home "treasures" from my morning walks with Torben. My dad also let them pick any of the flowers that they wanted from his yard to make little pine cone critters to play with.

We went up to Mueller Park one morning- a place I remember going when I was a kid. The kids weren't up for a real hike, but we walked around and played in nature for a couple hours.

We also met my mom and Abbey with a plan to go to the Train Museum in Ogden, then get ice cream at Farr's. Unfortunately, the Train Museum was closed for the day, but Farr's didn't disappoint.

We walked around the Ogden temple grounds just for fun since it's just across the street.