Christmas 2011 Success!

We had a wonderful Christmas! It is so much fun to see the boys get older each year and enjoy each Christmas tradition a little more. Gavin has been asking for an excavator since August and has been a very patient boy waiting until Christmas to get it. It was so fun to see his face light up when he saw it!

Kyson got Legos from Santa. He is our little builder and can sit and build for hours.


Gavin with his loot
Kyson with his treasures
The boys with their combined gifts

This has been Kyson's favorite gift. This was a last minute grab at the store a couple days before Christmas. He loves to "shoop" things, and so all day he would go from Casey and I and "shoop" us. He doesn't know how to cock it, so he would go to Casey and say "I shoop mom!" and make Casey cock the gun and then he'd go shoot me. And then he'd turn to me and say "I shoop dad!" and make me cock the gun so he could go shoot Dad.

Avery Lyn

My sister Autumn had her baby on December 20, just in time for Christmas. I have already fallen in love with this little girl and her chubby cheeks and beautiful lips. Congrats Autumn and Doug!

Look what I learned!

I am not a very crafty person. I appreciate crafty people, and wish I had the talent and patience to be one of them. One thing I have always wanted to learn how to do is sew. When my ward was offering a beginning quilting class, I thought I'd try it out, and I am so glad I did! I learned how to sew a basic quilt and made a table runner. I am now working on a quilt for Kyson's bed and can't wait to show you how that turned out!

Visiting Santa!

We had a special visitor come to my parent's ward Christmas party! Gavin was so excited to visit with Santa and tell him what he wants for Christmas. Kyson was scared of the nice old man, and clung to me so hard!

Telling Santa what he wants...an excavator and a Dinosaur Train

This is as close as Kyson got...
Autumn and I even got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what we want. Autumn will be getting her little girl in time for Christmas (TUESDAY!) and my little girl will be here about a month after Christmas.

Temple Square

We went to Temple Square one evening and enjoyed the beautiful lights. We went on a good night where the weather wasn't bad and we were bundled up good so we weren't cold. Kyson was so good and sat in his stroller most of the time. I kept worrying that he was too cold, but every time I asked him if he was okay, he'd give me a little smile and say "yep!" Gavin loved running with his cousins and seeing the lights. When it was time to go home he got really upset and wanted to stay. It didn't help we saw the "train" (Trax) and he wanted to ride on them. I told him next time we go we'll take Trax. So, for days after he kept asking when we were going to go again! Sorry Gavin, probably not til next year!

My Potty Trained Boy!

I now have no kids in diapers! (for 2 more months) The magic trick for this kid is candy. He couldn't have his Halloween candy unless he went potty. 1 for pee, 2 for poop. It worked! We are pretty proud of this little boy! Here are some cute faces of Kyson:

This is my favorite...whenever you ask him to smile, this is his smile. He may look angry, but he's not. He's just smiling.
Here he is being my big helper unloading the silverware.

He loves his dogs. If Gavin is at school, Kyson will try to round up all the dogs and snuggle with them all.

Emma is his favorite though...

Happy Halloween!

Yes, this costume might look a little familiar, because it is Gavins 3RD YEAR IN A ROW wearing it! He insisted on being the frog, again. Good thing he's cute in it, and he has a cute little brother who was his twin this year.

We got to visit Gavin's school and see his class, hear them sing Halloween songs, have a parade and enjoy some snacks.

Here he is with his buddies Trevor and Jaxton.
I think all month long Gavin has been asking me when we can go "trick or treating". He was so excited! Kyson was my little pig and had to eat as much candy as possible.
We had a great Halloween! We hope you all did too!

Hee Haw Farms

Floyd and Barbara had free tickets to Hee Haw Farm, so we were the lucky ones who got to go with them. Gavin and Kyson enjoyed some of the fun things they had there including the slide...

Train ride...
Horse riding...


The most exciting part was the "Great Pumpkin Drop" they do. They dropped huge pumpkins (like 900 lbs) from off the top of a crane and dropped them on a car, barrels and that pool. It was pretty exciting (we felt a little white trash). Gavin and I even got to take a pumpkin to the top of the crane and drop down onto the ground too. It was a lot of fun!


There we are way at the top!

Haunted Train Ride

We love going to this home in Lindon every Halloween and ride their HAUNTED train.

ANOTHER new friend

I must live in a house of boys, because we have another new gross creepy crawly friend, and this one is here to stay. Casey had a tarantula before we got married, but sadly it died on our honeymoon. He has recently wanted to get another one, and he cousin had found one and we were the lucky ones to end up with it. Gavin and Kyson think it is great, and I'm fine with it as long as Casey takes care of it.

Gavin's best friend

Gavin found a new friend to entertain himself for the last few days (gave poor Bear a break!) I was out back weeding and the boys were playing. I pulled some weeds and under the weeds was this little guy. He slid between some rocks and Gavin kept telling Kyson to get him. Eventually he came out and after some screaming from Gavin, Kyson and their mom, Gavin was able to pick it up and throw it in a bucket I had. He was so excited and had to have the snake by his side. We did finally let him go, because I was too scared the snake would get out out of his cage and get lost in my house! Now Gavin is going outside constantly trying to find his snake again. If this little snake is smart, he would be long gone.

The Best Babysitters

We have found the best babysitters, and they don't charge us when we need them! Their names are Bear, Belle and Emma. One evening the kids were running around, being crazy, and Casey and I were trying to relax after a long day. All of a sudden it was quiet, and I thought, "oh dear, what are they getting into now?" I found them in their room, laying in their beds, lights off, with their dogs. They can do this for a good hour. We have such good dogs to put up with these boys!