Ethan's 1st Haircut!

A few weeks ago Ethan got his first hair cut (yes, he is 19 months and getting his first haircut:) We were a bit worried that he would get a bit upset, but the little guy did such a great job and got a sucker for all his hard work!

Merry Christmas from the Atherton Family

December 19, 2009

Dear friends and family,

We hope this holiday season finds you all in good health and spirit. While we can't say much about our economy we can say that our family has had a great year!

Where to start?

Ethan Joshua Atherton, age: 20 months, personality: a bit crazy, 100% boy, and a loving little guy. Ethan has grown from a crawling little baby to a running around the house toddler. He started walking at 9 1/2 months and hasn't stopped since. Ethan adores Noah and commonly refers to him as "brother". Noah and Ethan are always around each other which lends to a very strong bond. They still have those "moments" when disagreements happen, but all in all they love each other very much. Ethan's other favorite thing to do is read books. He could spend an entire afternoon reading books, though you have to make sure the books are relatively short because he will lose interest quickly! Ethan tends to be a bit daring by jumping off furniture and wrestling with his brother. Some say that much like is Uncle Jeremy when he was young.......which my mother says, "serves you right!".

Noah Joseph Atherton, age: 4 1/2, personality: energetic but calm, our cuddlebug, has a memory that puts his parents to shame, wants to be a farmer when he grows up. Noah is a great little boy that loves to play with his tractor and farm toys, loves to run, and run, and run, and loves to play with his little brother Ethan. Noah wants to be a fireman when he grows up (when he isn't running his farm) and got to have his 4th birthday at the new Longmont Fire Department station.  Kids had a great time. Noah started pre-school at St Johns Catholic School this fall and loves it. Noah enjoys learning from Mrs Haggquist and is always excited to show us his art projects when he gets home. Anne and I have had the opportunity to volunteer in Noah's class, which has been an awesome experience. It is truly amazing how quickly these kids grow up! Speaking of growing up, Noah measured in at 4 ft tall a couple of weeks ago! To say he is off the growth charts is an understatement.

Anne is amazingly in her 7th year teaching Physical Science and Biology part-time at Longmont High School and enjoys it very much. She is in her 6th year sponsoring Student Council and enjoys planning food drives, dances, school assembly's, and working with students to improve their leadership skills. It is Anne's first year sponsoring Student Council all by herself and it has proved a challenge with her very busy schedule. Anne still somehow finds time to devote herself to our family and continues to be the glue that holds everything together. I truly don't know what I would do without her.

I (Josh) am in my 7th year as an Executive with the Longs Peak Council, Boy Scouts of America. In January, I received a promotion and am now in a supervisory role. With the economy in the tank it has proved difficult to be in the non-profit business. However, with the challenges comes new opportunity and new relationships which has been very exciting. Having two energetic boys has also been very rewarding and fun! Noah was in T-ball this spring and it was fun spending time with him to improve his skills. Sports has always been a focus in our family, and it seems that our little boys are going to love them!

It seems that as our family grows our "free" time has vanished. Hopefully the upcoming new year will provide opportunity to visit all of you more! Please don't hesitate to stop by for a visit. We would love to see you all!

With Love,

Josh, Anne, Noah, and Ethan Atherton

Plant a Tree!

The Boy Scout of America has teamed up with the Arbour Day Foundation to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Boy Scouts  in 2010.

Everyone can join in the Boy Scouts of America's 100th Anniversary celebration through the purchase of a Boy Scouts Centennial Tree. As part of the 100th Anniversary Generations Connection program, join Scouts all over the country as they plant "living legacies" of Scouting's commitment to supporting youth and their families. For just $20, you can buy a striking 2 - 4'-tall Centennial tree to nurture for generations to come!
For each newly purchased tree, we will plant another tree in the Flathead National Forest where recent wildfires have destroyed native seed sources. As those trees grow, they will shelter hundreds of wildlife species, prevent soil erosion and runoff, and generate oxygen for our environment.


As an incredible bonus, for every 100th Anniversary tree purchased, the Arbor Day Foundation will plant a corresponding tree in the newly created Boy Scouts of America Centennial Forest. The Centennial Forest will aid in re-planting the Flathead National Forest in Montana after recent fires.

To order your tree go to: http://www.arborday.org/partnerships/bsa/

Video:

Combining: Little Boy's Dream Come True

We spent Thanksgiving week hanging out at the Bartmann farm and spending time with family. For those of you who don't know, the trips to South Dakota is something that Noah thinks about 24/7. He loves the farm and he loves his uncle's Duane, Pat, and Mike. Noah even told Pat that he was going to take the loader off the tractor, drive it to Colorado, hook it up to our house and bring it to South Dakota so we could live on the farm. When we asked him about leaving Grammy he simply replied that she could come too! Of course, his other favorite thing is to see Grandma Bartmann (Ethan started calling her GG) and to eat her yummy bread. Since Noah is allergic to soy and egg he usually doesn't eat bread unless we buy it from the expensive Whole Foods. Luckily, Grandma's bread is all natural and doesn' t contain soy! I was fortunate enough to get the recipe from Barb and will soon try my hand at bread making.

The uncles were a bit behind on combining corn due to a wet fall which turned out to be our gain! Noah was totally in his element and wanted to spend every waking minute combining with his uncles. Ethan in turn wanted to be everywhere his big brother was, so.....Anne was able to convince Duane that it wouldn't be too cramped in the combine. What happened? Ethan fell asleep in the first 5 minutes of combining:)

A big THANK YOU goes out to Duane, Pat, and Mike for allowing us to bother them at work and let a little boy live out his dream of being a farmer. We also like to thank Grandma and the rest of the Bartmann's for giving us a awesome vacation. We love you all!

Side note: When we got back home to Colorado Noah immediately went to his combine and tractor set and spent the next couple of hours playing farm. He also pretended to break down, something his uncles did a lot of while we were there :)

Here are some pictures of our trip.

Noah and the combine

Noah in front of the Ken Worth semi truck. He said the ride was "AWESOME!" He called it the Grandpa Joe truck.

Noah and Pooopy Pooopy Uncle Pat (inside joke;)

Noah and Uncle Duane in the combine