Christmas with Family and Friends

We had so much fun in Idaho this Christmas and we got to see a lot of family and friends. We visited Temple Square with Todd and Becky and my friend Lisa and her husband Dennis. (Pictures with them didn't turn out.) We saw all the beautiful lights.....it was worth facing the very cold temperatures.

Our favorite tree in Temple Square.
Our new Nanny!!! We couldn't be more excited to have Sarah come live with us for a year. We can't wait for you to get here Sarah!
It seems like every trip we take to Idaho, I get this same exact picture....Jeff rolling around with the kids. Every year the kids get older and Jeff stays the same....except this year Jeff is looking quite svelt. Way to go Jeff.
Santa brought Carson a wii for Christmas and he was soooooo excited. He was challenging everyone, including grandma in boxing. I'm pretty sure Carson won. Nice try grandma. Brianna, Kaitlyn and Jack hanging out during lunch. There is always yummy food at Grandmas.
We were so excited to see Candice and meet baby Savanna. She's so cute but the scary part is....I'm a grandaunt!
Riding the innertubes was a blast. We couldn't get Carson off the hill even though we were all frozen solid.

We got tons of snow and we took full advantage of it. Carson had never been on a snowmobile and he had a blast. We couldn't get him off of it. I even took him for a spin. He had fun with mom but I think he liked riding with his uncles the best. Carson and Uncle Jeff.
Carson and Uncle Brian
Carson's first snow angle.

A Special Day for Jack and Our Family

We had a special time at the Temple with our family and friends. Jack looked so sweet in his white clothes (although he was quite loud inside.) It was a very special day for our family and we were happy to share it with friends. We had a nice lunch afterwards and enjoyed yummy food.

Student of the Month!

Carson is student of the month for November. Tim and I actually found out by accident. Carson was supposed to tell us and he forgot. Luckily we heard about it from his teacher over lunch and were able to see the picture of him on the wall at school. We're very proud of you Carson.

Halloween Day and Night...We had a blast!

Today was such a fun day. I had a great time conducting Carson's 1st grade Halloween party, with the help of five other moms. We did crafts, played bingo, ran a couple of relay races and played pin the crow on the scarecrow and draw the face on the pumpkin...while blind folded. Carson was so excited to have his mom there....I am enjoying it while I can, I know these days won't last long. Carson's entire school held a costume parade and they were lead by the high school band members. During the parade, Carson commented that all the 2nd and 3rd graders were telling him how scary he was....he was dressed as the Grim Reaper.

We had a great day!!!

That evening, Carson and Jack went trick-r-treating with friends from the neighborhood and had a blast. Jack had to go home early. Yes, you guessed it, he fell asleep.

Check out all that candy!!

Halloween Celebrations...Trunk or Treat

We all had a lot of fun at the Trunk or Treat. Carson didn't even want to go but once he got there, he was sooooo glad. I think he's learned his lesson to listen to mom and dad when we tell him that he will have fun. He and Tim spent 3o minutes in the refridgerator box maze. It was really cool, very dark and equipted with web cams.

Jackson was an adorable Tigger...he fell asleep...as usual.

Fall at Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Our family went to the fabulas Vala's Pumpkin Patch on Friday. We had such a great time. Carson loved playing in all the fun play areas, climbing on the tractors and sticking his head in every photo board available. The weather was incredible and we spent a good amount of time launching apples with a large sling shot. We watched the shows, ate yummy food, stumbled through the pirate maze twice, and slid down the large tube slide at least five times. When it was finally time to go home, we made sure to grab a large bag of kettle corn...reason alone to make the trip to Vala's.

One of my sweet angels...Jack asleep

Jack is rarely calm, it's not often that he will sit on your lap long enough for you to truly cuddle and appreciate him. Instead, he is the busiest, most active and mobile child I have ever seen. However, every night you can pretty much guarantee he's going to fall asleep sooner or later and when he does....what an angel.

In Memory of our sweet Bongo...we will miss you.

Hi all, here is my new blog...I'm just starting it as a way to keep in touch with everyone. We lost a very important member of our family today...Bongo. He was very old (almost 14) and was not doing so well. We got Bongo when he was only nine weeks old so he was with us for a long time (longer than both our kids.) He has lived in every house we have (two in Utah, one in Tennessee, one in Nebraska, one in Texas and another in Nebraska.) We loved him very much, even though he drove us crazy most of the time. So, in memory of him, here are a few photos of our sweet Bongo. We will miss him a lot......

Fall Portraits

We just had Fall photos taken of the boys and one of them with me. They turned out so adorable. Carson is six years old and Jack is 14 months in these photos. What do you think?

Finishing our basement....will it ever be finished?

When we moved into our house, our plan was to finish our basement. This project began in September and we're hoping to be done by Thanksgiving....or very close. We're adding a large family room, a work-out room, a guest bedroom and bathroom and a lot of storage. It's going to be a great place to hang-out once it's done and a wonderful place in which to lock the kids....I mean let the kids play. Here are a few photos of where we started and where we're at now.