THE NAGELIS

We are so proud of our little Alex and are grateful for all the joy he has brought to us these past 2 years. Alex is a little fireball of energy and has been from conception. He keeps us on our toes. He is so smart. He likes to learn letters and numbers and songs and has mastered quite a bit. He likes to sing ABC's and can count to 10. He loves to sing "I Love to See the Temple" and knows every word of the first verse. He loves all kinds of songs and music. He knows colors. Alex can spell his name. When completing the milestone test at the doctors office he tested into the 4 year old level. He likes to run and jump. He loves cars, trucks, motorcyles, diggers, skid steers, big trucks (semi trucks), buses, bulldozers - and any other manly vehicle. He loves all stuffed animals. He loves to go and see temples, especially the one by our new house. He loves the new house and has enjoyed watching them work on it as much as we have. Alex hates to get dressed or be dressed. He doesn't like to eat healthy food. He loves candy and donuts and icecream as much as his Daddy. He likes to drive the car (we don't actually let him drive it). He likes to dance. He loves to watch movies with his dad. He loves the TV shows "Dinosaur Train" and "Super Why". We love doing anything with Alex, as long as he is happy. We have a hard time staying mad at him when he is naughty because he is so dang cute and always says "Sorry" and gives us a kiss. Hope you had the best birthday ever, Buddy! Mom and Dad love you so much!

Because we didn't have our own place to have a party this year we decided it would be easier on everyone if we had a party with the Bjarnson family one day and the Nageli family another. My camera died at the Bjarnson party so I will have to steal some pictures from Lyndsie. We also decided to make Alex's actual birthday a play day for the three of us. Just Dad, Mom and Alex. Overall, we spent way more than we planned but it was so worth it. You can't put a price on memories like these.

The Nageli Party

The Dinosaur Train Cake

Thanks Mom for the creative help. We always had such cute cakes when we were kids. Alex loved it!

Kylie is happy to be there even if she doesn't get cake. What a cute mommy-daughter pair!

Can't get enough of those cheeks!

Aly smiling

Zacky

Kylie standing next to Alex. Taylor on the other side.

Whoa! How am I going to blow these all out?

Ready...

Set...

Blow!!!

I want this piece!

Kylie taking a whack at the pinata

Alex's turn

Taylor

Zacky

Aly put some good muscle into it but ultimately it was up to the big kids. Susan took one swing and then Shawn took the stick and busted it open. The kids where just happy to have the candy out. It was a great party. We are so glad that people came and that Grandma and Grandpa were willing to let us have the party at their place. Thanks to everyone for the cute gifts. Alex's grandma made a temple blanket and pillow that he loves! He got trucks, chalk, coloring books, crayons, bubbles, yard tools (we plan on putting him to work), some stuff to play in the mud with, and was absolutely just spoiled!

Alex's Family Day of Fun!

We started off Alex's big day going to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. He is a bit obsessed with dinosaurs. If I could have brought Buddy and Tiny from "Dinosaur Train" to life I would have. The next best thing we could think of was to go see their bones at the museum. He enjoyed looking at the exhibits. I think Shawn and I found it amusing as well.

Alex and Shawn in front of the big T Rex. Alex likes to sing the T Rex song from "Dinosaur Train". If you haven't heard it, you should ask him to sing it!

Alex with Daddy digging for dinosaur bones.

Alex checking out the other kids' findings.

Mommy and Alex in front of a big dinosaur

The next thing we decided to do was have lunch. We had brought a picnic to have but it was cold and rainy and there was just nowhere we could take a lunch inside to eat, so we ate in the car. Alex thought this was fun so we accomplished our goal of making him happy. The next thing we decided to do was have a nap. This was an important part of the day to make sure the rest of the day went well. Then it was off to Build-A-Bear! Alex loves stuffed animals and we thought he would like making his own. He of course picked the frog! We tried to convince him to pick an outfit but he looked at us like we were crazy and said "No". Why would a frog wear clothes anyway, right? He settled on picking a guitar for the frog to play. This makes much more sense because frogs often play guitars but never wear clothes.

Alex cleaning his Froggie

We decided to take Alex to dinner for his birthday. He loves pizza so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. We had not been there before. The pizza was good but pretty expensive for the portion size. Alex enjoyed his pineapple pizza and sundae for dessert. We all enjoyed spending time together.

We ended the day by going to possibly Alex's very favorite place - Our New House! At the new house you can have it all! The temple, diggers, skid steers, the new house....what more could you want? Here we let Alex "drive" the car for a while before going home to Mamah's house.

Happy Birthday Alex!

I have been wanting to post some pictures of our house as it is being built. We are so excited to have the home of our dreams and this is has become quite an obsession for us. We hope you are as excited as we are. We have worked really hard to make this dream a reality. I am sure there will be many parties and gatherings in the years to come!

The lot before...

The foundation...

Filling in the dirt. Alex loves watching the big digger!

Framed Basement

More Framing...

garage

rear of garage

front view looking in garage

rear view of house

front view

stairs

standing in the garage looking into the house

front view

fireplace in front room

pantry

Bonus room over garage

view from master bath

standing in bonus master looking at master bath

(Just to clarify: The plan comes with a finished master bath that is smaller. We are finishing the bonus room over the garage as a larger/better master bath and will use the master as a guest room)

Original master bedroom that will be finished by builder

Window alcove in the bonus master looking toward front yard

Alex and the digger

Alex on the digger

Front

Looking down the upstairs hall (left is master, then kids bathroom, then 2 kids rooms)

Looking down the stairs to the front room

Rear of house

Standing in kitchen looking at mudroom and half bath. Door to garage is in mudroom on the right.

Standing in front room looking into kitchen

Front of house

The house is insulated and they have begun sheetrocking. We also have some brick on the house but it has been covered so we haven't got any photos. We are so excited to be back on our own. We will be starting tile on the 6th of March. The house is scheduled to be done around April 15th!