Happy Birthday, Kolbe!

With the crazy year that 2009 has been, it's hard to believe that another year has passed in the life of our little Kolbe! It really does seem like yesterday that he was born, yet at the same time feels like a lifetime ago. Mark and I continue to marvel at the beautiful, unique, spirited child that he is. As we always say, he's full of personality! We are so blessed that God continues to allow us to be his parents!

After mass this past Sunday evening, we all met up with lots of family at Rudy's BBQ to celebrate. Kolbe had a blast visiting with everyone and opening presents. He gave his best effort at blowing out the candles on his cake, too! While he's still a little bit young to fully understand the birthday concept, he could definitely tell that there was something special about this day. He was full of excitement! My favorite thing is when you ask him how old he is, he now says, "TWO!" and holds up four fingers. Too cute! Here are some pictures from the fun evening!

The Birthday Boy!

Uncle Dave and Reagan...wearing the same outfit Kolb wore for his b-day last year!

Kolbe spending time with G-ma

BBQ! Yummmm!

Giving the sweet new trike from G-ma a test drive!

Kolbe and his best friend, Uncle Ben, working on a puzzle from Aunt Abby and Uncle Andy.

Kolbe got some awesome new boots from his cousin, Adan. How cute!

Back at home, Kolbe tried out the sit 'n spin from Uncle Dave.

...and spent some time playing in his tent that Pinkie and Pa gave him.

He also loves playing with his new train set too!

Uncle Pat comes to town!

This past week during his move from Mississippi to Las Vegas, my brother Pat stopped in Lubbock for a few nights to visit. Since we rarely get to see him, both of my parents came up for the visit too. It was so good to see Pat! Even though they haven't seen him in a long time, both Kolbe and Reagan took to him right away. Kolbe had a blast playing with Pat in the backyard. Hopefully we will be able to have him back in Lubbock for Thanksgiving or Christmas...or even better...both! The boys also had a blast playing with Pinkie and Pa while they were staying here. They sure do love and miss their grandbabies! Come back soon, Uncle P!

Happy Halloween!

Mark, the boys and I had a ton of fun yesterday for Halloween! First, we headed up to the hospital in the morning to visit Mark's dad. He and all the nurses in the nursery loved seeing the boys all dressed up. After lunch, we headed over to Mandi and Joe's house to watch the Tech game. Luckily, the Red Raiders were able to pull off another win! After, we picked up Mark's mom and went up to Monterey Church of Christ where the rest of Mark's family was checking out their "trunk or treat". Finally, we headed over to Abby and Andy's house to show off the boys costumes one last time. Reagan wore the Abu monkey suit that my mom made for Kolbe last year and Kolbe wore an Aladdin costume that I made for him this fall. They looked too cute together! (Although, it was nearly impossible to get a pic of them at the same time!)

Needless to say, Kolbe had his share of sugar...

Is it just me or is the pet monkey just as big as the owner???

The Asmussen Men

Grubby Little Red Raider

Even though Mark and I don't have season tickets (or any kind of tickets, for that matter) to the Tech games, we have made it a habit of going down to the tailgate that our friends have set up prior to each home game. Mark and I enjoy getting to hang out with other adults and Kolbe loves running around with all the big guys, especially his best friend, Ben. He follows "Uncle" Ben around like a loyal puppy! Reagan usually just gets passed around amongst the ladies!

This past weekend, our good friends Jared and Katie were in town for the game too. A lovely professional camera that is probably worth more than all of my possessions combined was given to them as a baby gift recently. The each took a little time to shoot a few pics of Kolbe and they all turned out really well! These are the best pics I think we've ever seen of him! Too bad he was a grubby mess from eating chips and cookies! Thanks again to Jared and Katie for these awesome pictures of our little Red Raider. Here are my favorites:

Rudy's Favorite Restaurant

Since Reagan's little nickname (Rudy) has seemed to stick, we couldn't resist getting a shot of him enjoying his sure-to-be-favorite restaurant! Now if only we could find a place called "Kolbe's"!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Around this time of the year, our whole house seems to be filled with sniffles and sneezes. Luckily, none of us have come down with the flu or anything (make the sign of the cross), but the seasonal allergies always tend to get the best of us until the first good freeze. One fun part is that just like Kolbe when he was around this age, Reagan is fascinated with sneezes. Typically, if any one of us fires off a round, Reagan will giggle and giggle. Today during lunch I started sneezing and Reagan enjoyed it so much that I decided to continue on with my pretend sneezes just so I could catch it on film. I just love laughing babies!

Enjoying the Fall Weather

The boys and I have really been enjoying the wonderful fall weather. In true Lubbock fashion, some days it gets back up in the 80s and others are down in the 60s, but we know that it won't be long until the cold weather comes so we're taking it while we can! We have spent lots of time hanging out in the yard, at the park, on walks, or in the garage when it's too windy.

Last Christmas, Kolbe received a big red wagon for Christmas from his Grandma. Since day one he has loved it, but after Reagan was born, it was kind of impossible to take both of them on a walk in it. Now that Reagan can not only sit up, but crawl, pull up, and do various other acrobatics as well, I figured it was time to give the wagon a try. Even though his feet still don't touch the floor board, he LOVED it and was able to hold himself up the whole time! I can tell that both of the boys love the openness of the wagon and love feeling the cool breeze blow by. (ok, ok...wind. We all know Lubbock doesn't have breeze!)