Trip to Yellowstone

We made a quick trip to Yellowstone after Christmas--probably the last trip for a while till after baby is born. I spent time inside since I didn't exactly want to go into labor riding on snowmobiles. But the boys loved swimming and snowmobiling! I'm glad we went!
Kyden all bundled up!
Braden all warm!
Grandpa and Kyden
Dad and Braden
The whole gang...
We had a great time eating, relaxing, watching movies, visiting, playing games...and being sick with a nasty cold! No fun, but feeling better now! The roads weren't the greatest coming home but we made it and that's all that matters! Thanks for a good time with family!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas...but it went by way too fast!! We took down all the Christmas stuff yesterday and I have to say it's always nice to get all the space back, but sad to see it go. We prep the whole month of December for Christmas and then bam it's over in a day! I love the magical feeling that Christmas brings--the lights, the music, the family, the love, the presents, the friends, the joy, and most importantly the reminder of the birth of our Savior. It is so fun to have children to share this season with. They bring such joy! They show me what true happiness is and it's so good to have a reminder around all the time. Love them! Being weeks away from delivering another child, I thought a lot about Mary this Christmas. I'm uncomfortable riding in a car for very long--but to think about riding a donkey about kills me. Mary is amazing and I'm grateful for all that she went through to bring the amazing child Jesus Christ into this world so that he could share his life with us!

We spent Christmas everywhere! It's nice to have family so close to share this time with. We went to the movie Tangled Christmas Eve with Peterson's. It was a very cute show and the boys loved it. Then we hit the Searle's house for dinner--fondue. We did a little gift opening...
The gifts the boys got from G&G Searle.
So, I had Bec's name for Christmas this year and we have this running joke about rompers! I was super excited when I found this Miley Cyrus ugly romper that Bec's wearing below at Walmart for $1! Most certainly attractive!!
The boys new jammies! Aren't they handsome!
Everyone with there new pj's (except me--my new ones don't fit because I didn't want to get big pjs since I'm due in a month. I wanted to get something new for after baby is born. I'm getting sick of all my maternity clothes--if you've ever been prego you know how it goes!)
Oh man, this pictures doesn't do justice to how bad this little boy looked! He turned his donut into a pancake and smashed it all over his head and brand new pj's. What a goof! And what a mess to clean up! After exchanging gifts Christmas eve, the Searle's always have hot chocolate and donuts as we sit around angel candles and talk about what we are grateful for or what we have learned in the last year. I love this and it always brings the spirit of Christmas.
Christmas morning before the boys touched a thing.
Call us weird or crazy, but we woke the boys up around 6:15 Christmas morning! We should have slept in as long as they would have, but we wanted to make it to breakfast with the Searle's and then spend some of Christmas morning with the Peterson's so we had to begin our morning early! CRAZY!! I love the bed head and dazed looks on the faces of our boys!
Opening Santa presents! Pretty much all Braden wanted for Christmas were hot wheels and it looks like Santa got the memo!

This little guy always goes straight for the sugar! Who cares about the presents when you have candy! Really!
It's a good thing Santa brought 2 bam bams (a.k.a. drums)--a big and a small--because the little one broke within 30 minutes of opening! And Kyden was not a happy boy! But it sure was a funny sight to see!

Kydens favorite toy--his big bam bam! It went everywhere with us!
Helping Grandpa open presents.
Grandpa and Grandma got a smokin' hot deal on this awesome little remote control/driveable car to play with at there house. The boys think it's pretty cool!


Braden loves to learn so when G-ma P found this Vreader, she had to get it for him. It has been one of his favorites!
Thanks to everyone for making this Christmas wonderful! We look forward to many more to come! (And Kyden keeps asking for more presents! He loved it this year!)

Searle Christmas Party

The big Searle Christmas Party! What fun! It really was very enjoyable! It's super fun for the boys too since they don't have any cousins there age, my cousins have become there cousins and I have cousins who have children the boys age too. Oh course, this party always falls on the Saturday before Christmas--the busiest day for retail so Jason wasn't able to make it! Missed you, but so grateful you just have a job (as bad as it may be some days!) The party was filled with a program and the Nativity but Braden was too scared to do it (too many people) and Kyden was a Sheppard...



Lunch--yummy soup and breads...
Reindeer decorating. Each family was given a bag of stuff that we had to make a reindeer with a family member. Dad was such a good sport! We all had a good laugh!
Candy sleigh races. We were given a bag of candy and tape to make our own sleigh. Let's just say, ours didn't make it too far in the races!

And presents!
He loves flashlights--couldn't tell could you!?

What a fun day! I'm so grateful for such a wonderful family to spend the holiday season with! They are wonderful examples to me and my little family. I love getting together with everyone, even if it's simple!

Our Christmas Tree

I love having a real tree! Maybe it's because I always had a real tree growing up--but they sure are messy with pine needles dropping ever second. Jason wanted to get a fake tree this year but we finally opted for the real thing! Maybe next year we'll get a fake one. I know real one's only smell for a day or two, I just like them. My younger brother didn't even know you could have a real tree until he was older because as I got older, my parents got a fake one. Funny huh! My parents have gone back to getting a real tree just for that reason!

The boys decorating..
And the boys cooperating so well for a picture--normal!!
Another "good" picture!
Well, I tried! But I still think they are so handsome and wonderful!
This picture is a bit random, but we had the neighbor boy over the other day and they were so proud of what they made. They set this all up and then they wanted to get everyone together for a picture. I talked them into getting a picture with just the 2 of them. Creative minds! Love it!

Kyden at the Dentist

I'm really not a bad mom--I do brush my boys teeth, but they have both had a ton of cavities already! I'm going to blame that on there genes! Braden had cavities filled over a year ago--one or two in each back molar. He did great getting them filled, but by the 3rd or 4th visit, he didn't like the dentist anymore (well he liked the dentist, just not going there!) So, I decided to find a pediatric dentist who dealt with kids all the time to see if that would go over any better. The office is great! It's completely kid friendly and the tools are smaller! I love the office and so do the boys! The very end of November, Kyden had to get 4 cavities filled--all on the bottom! Poor kid, but he did great! They filled them all in one visit. He was also sedated for the appointment. He was pretty loopy and silly and it was funny to watch him. It was a good experience for having to get cavities filled! The pictures below are when they brought him back to me when he was done.



And this is what he did all afternoon. It wiped him out!

Ugly Sweater Party

We had a great time with friends a week or so ago at an ugly sweater party! Great games, great food, and great company. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a very long time! Here we all are sporting our awesome Ugly Sweaters (minus James who was taking the picture--we missed you Amanda but sick kids are now sometimes the parenting way of life! Maybe next year!)
Jason & Candi, Sam & Sheerstie, Brion & Ashley, Shawn & Cassie

A big thanks to Brion and Ashley for hosting the party at there house! What a fun night!

Sam and Sheerstie--This picture isn't the greatest, but Sam's sweater really lights up and Sheerstie has some awesome tinsel earrings and sweater vest! They won the best sweaters!
Shawn and Cassie--The game expert! She put all the games and prizes together! Quite fun and entertaining! Good job Cass!
Not a good picture, but couldn't post one of everyone else and not us! The D.I. here is all junk! They didn't have a single sweater! So, we stole these from our parents closets! Plus with a big belly, not much of a selection!

Ashley posing with her prize from unwrapping the box of candy with that get up on!
Cassie is probably going to want to kill me right now for posting this picture, but I just had to--you know preserve the memories! We will probably never be pregnant this close together again! We are due exactly 3 weeks apart--she's ahead of me. And we are both having girls! So exciting! You can barely tell she's prego in this picture anyway!!
We are

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Searle's at the church. G&G Peterson went to Texas to see Travis, Jessica, and Brielle--wish we could have went too! Maybe next time! We had a good time with family--isn't that what life's all about! Plus food was great! I ate WAY too much!

Aunt Bec brought a turkey pinata which Kyden absolutly loved. Here are the kids taking swings at it!





And wow, was it loaded with candy! Glad there were lots of kids to share with!
Kyden attached to the turkey. He played with that thing for a long time after we broke it. He was more interested in the broken pinata than candy--that's a first since he's a sugar head!

And butt ball! Ya, seriously, who really wants to play a game where if you don't catch the ball, you have to go up front just like these to guys and let everyone hit you with a tiny tennis ball-like ball?! Get's me! But the guys had a good game of it! This is Jason and Don (my cousins husband) getting hit from behind!
And here's the others!
We are so grateful for such wonderful family to share the holidays with! We always have a great time, even if it's just sitting around talking--something I'm good at!