Halloween!

 We've been in our house for 2 months now and we have made some great friends. We decided to invite the Furness family over for a little Halloween party at our house. We had soup, rolls, played Halloween games, and then went trick or treating (the houses are so far away from each other it is really hard to do with little man). I'm so sad it didn't get more pictures! I think we are going to like this place!

Kallie was a witch, Nick was a pirate

Ben was a Hawaiian dude, Little Zack was a dino, big Zach and Taryn were also Dinos!

Nick also hung out as a tiger for a day or two.

Kallie is a Magician!

Look at these beautiful caramel apples she made! She's like a kitchen wizard!

 

Lot's of Teenagers in the House!

Oh my goodness we have landed in such a great place for Ben and Kallie. The Furness family has just adopted them and made them feel right at home. We have teenagers at our house all the time and I absolutely love it! Pizza night, study days, movie night, game nights - I love it all. A full, loud house is what I love!

 

Things

I finally got my hair done - and I like it. Zack found the Halloween glasses in a box and hasn't taken them off.

Our backyard has the best sunsets.....why the heck do we live in such a gorgeous place?!

Nick loves to run on the field in the middle of the kids soccer games. It's super fun. Thankfully Ben and Kallie are pretty quick and grabbing him before he scores on the goalies.

Night fires are my new favorite thing with my very favorite people. Life is pretty awesome. I still can't believe this is our home, we are stateside again, and living in VA. Wow.

 

18 Months of Cuteness!

Dang this kid is photogenic! 

 

VA Erickson(sens) Re-unite!

Chis and Ligaya live about an hour and a half north of us. I am really excited to get to know them better and have my kids get to know them better. We've never lived close to them - so this is all new and I love it! Chase and Zack are about a year apart and both into motorcycles. Hopefully they will bond and become friends!

 

Nick Drives

Why does this kid get so much joy out of being naughty?! He got into the Mazda, shut the door and pretended to drive away. He was so happy with himself!

 

Nick is Adorable

It's been a minute since I've had an 18 month old child running around my house. I forgot how cute, crazy, busy, and loud they are. I find myself just watching me and loving seeing things through his eyes. He is just so much fun and always so happy! He loves people, always needs an arm to sleep, and loves to rock. I love this boy.

The helmet is bigger than he is! Reminds me of Spaceballs.....

Puppies, babies, rainboots - how can life get any better?!

Being this busy is exhausting. It's not normal for him to nap, but sometimes, when the stars align and all is quiet - he will drift into sleep - always with his arms tucked in nice and tight.

 

Shelley comes to town!

My incredible sister Shelley flew out to surprise me and help me get everything moved in and sorted. This is no small task since she has 5 little kids at home (still not at school because of COVID), is beyond full time self employed, and lives in CA. She cooked every meal, completely took over on Nick (which is tough because he can be a mommy monster), played with my kids, went on bike rides w Zack, walks with my big kids, got lost with Nick in the neighborhood in the rain, completely unpacked our crazy amount of books, and my whole kitchen. I don't know how we would've done this crazy delivery without her! She is always so great to just drop everything to come and help me. I love her. She is the absolute best and I'm so lucky to have her as my sister!

And the sweet note she left us to find....

Ericksen's (some) reunite!

 

It's not often my side (Ericksen) gets together, so when there were three of us in town, we had to celebrate! We met halfway at Mission BBQ for a little dinner. It was so fun to just hang out and tell fun stories. The boys loved all the military stuff and I loved the Tom Cruise poster. So sad Shel leaves tomorrow!