Happy 4th Birthday Elkin!

On Friday, Elkin celebrated his 4th birthday! Here's a shot of him posing with the giant M&M cookie he requested Mami make instead of a cake. We of course had to have some Cars themed stuff in there too!



For his birthday, Mami & Papi got him a big boy bike! We managed to keep it a surprise and here's the video of the big reveal.



He's still learning how to ride it but I would say by this smile that it was a big hit!



Grandma & Grandpa Fisher threw him a train themed birthday party which was a big hit with Elkin and his two cousins. Here's a picture of them getting ready to dig into the very cool train cake that Grandma made.



Grandma & Grandpa Snow also threw Elkin a birthday party complete with a taco bar and cupcakes. Here's Elkin blowing out his candles.



I dug up this video from us singing Happy Birthday to him last year for his 3rd birthday and took a new one for his 4th birthday. He sure is growing up!


Elkin's 3rd birthday.



Elkin's 4th birthday.



Happy Birthday Elkin!

Fall Happenings

We've been busy this fall! We started out the season by going to Mapleleaf Festival in Baldwin with Grandma & Grandpa Snow and Uncle James & Aunt Rebecca. We got a few good shots of Elkin with the turning trees.



Here's Elkin taking a break.



That same day the three of us went to the pumpkin patch. Elkin was pretty grumpy that day so we pretty much picked out our pumpkin and left.



Elkin was a race car driver for Halloween this year!



A few weeks ago we went to Boo at the Zoo at the Topeka Zoo with Grandma & Grandpa Fisher and Aunt Amy. Elkin got a sack full of candy and got to hang out with a bear...



and a robot!



On Halloween we carved our jack-o-lantern. Elkin wasn't thrilled about us electing him to be the one to get the guts out.



Here's Elkin & Papi showing off the finished product.



Elkin had a great time trick or treating that night. He would run from house to house and was great about saying trick or treat and thank you.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Now that Elkin's language has been getting so much better he's been able to learn some basic childrens' songs. Here is a very cute video of him singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Gotta Getaway

Before winter set in we thought we would take a long weekend and drive down to Branson. On the way we stopped at Osceola Cheese (what's a trip to Branson without stopping there anyway?) and well, ate some cheese. Here's Elkin posing with the Osceola Cheese mouse.



Probably the one thing that we all like to do together the most is hike. It was pretty muddy that weekend but we did get one in. We had a tough time keeping up with Elkin - he's a fast little runner! This was the view of him most the time we were hiking.



It was very pretty with all the leaves changing colors. We got Elkin to pose for just a second before he finished his run.



Tim & Elkin rode a go cart which Elkin was very excited about - at first anyway. After a few laps he got overwhelmed and a little scared of the whole thing.



We also played some miniature golf. Elkin was quite the cheat!



We spent our last day at Silver Dollar City. We all had such a good time. Once Elkin gets older I think I'm going to have someone to ride roller coasters with! Elkin's favorite ride was the train - of course :)

Our First Year as a Family

On September 22nd, we celebrated our first year as a family. We had a great "Gotcha Day" or "Adoption Day"! We spent the evening looking at videos and pictures from our first few days together back in Colombia. It was a nice relaxing evening with just the three of us.

Here is our first family picture taken on September 22, 2008.



It feels so much longer than a year at times but sometimes much shorter. We look forward to all our future family anniversaries.

It's Super Elkin!

Recently Elkin has been very much into superheroes. Elkin hasn't seen a super hero movie but he has a few books about a super truck and a super dog. Here's his superhero pose.



Here's a cute video of him helping his stuffed monkey, Manny.