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!

Snow!

So, I must be loosing it (let's blame it on the pregnancy) because I thought I took pictures of the boys playing in the snow the other day, but obviously I didn't because there aren't any on my camera or phone! I did video record them so I must have never took a picture with the camera I was holding in my hand the whole time. Oh well. Last Monday, November 8th, was the first day of snow for us. You would have thought the boys were in heaven when it started snowing. They played in it twice that day and wanted to build snowmen and snow forts and all sorts of things. They even used a whisk to stir it up and eat it. Gross! Not my idea of a great idea, but I ate snow when I was little and it didn't hurt me too bad! Kyden kept taking off his gloves so his hands were freezing! He just doesn't get it! I need to work on that. But Kyden doesn't like to wear socks or shoes or coats or jackets either so what can you do?! He is a little monkey and sometimes we tell him the zookeeper is coming to get him and take him to the zoo. He is a troublemaker, but we love him still. Below is a picture of him getting into stuff! His face says it all! (I don't get it--this picture is the right way until I download it. I tried downloading it a couple times too. Oh well!)
Here's another time when he emptied the WHOLE box of Kleenex's. Not one kleenex had been used because I had just put it in the bathroom! Guess that's what happens when I think he's sleeping so I don't check on him for a while! He was actually looking for his binkie because sometimes I would put it in the kleenex box--we had gotten rid of it a couple weeks before this but I said something to him to remind him of his binkie so guess it's my fault!
My aunt gave me a box of girls clothes to go through and Kyden was so excited to help me. It doesn't look like it in this picture, but he was begging me to put this little dress on him the instant he saw it. He was pretty excited to have it on too until I wanted to take a picture! Jason thinks I'm damaging my boy, but I just think it's funny!
Uncle Mike and Aunt Angie have a pet turtle that the boys love! We don't get to see it because they moved away though and it makes Kyden sad. The last time they visited, they brought Kyden a turtle that grows in water and Braden a monkey (they swapped with each other for the picture). You can barely see the animals in the picture, but here's a big Thank You to Mike and Angie! They loved them. It was fun to see them grow. Now they are still trying to shrink down to the original size.
Jason went with his parents to Vegas a couple weeks ago. Here are the boys sporting there new M&M shirts from G&G with there M&M straws from dad! (And notice there awesome boots they love to wear now!) Thanks for the surprises!

Halloween Fun

We started off our Halloween Festivities (if you can even call them that) by going to the Pumpkin Walk. It was really neat. This year was my favorite--I think this is only the 4th year they've done it. The theme was something about dreams do come true or something disneyish. The boys had a lot of fun and the weather was really nice the night we went.
Kyden's favorite was the Thomas the Train pumpkin set up. If you look close enough in the picture you can see Thomas in the background.

Carving pumpkins! We carved them at Grandpa and Grandma's house since we have carpet in our kitchen and that would have made a huge mess. Plus they wanted to carve there pumpkins too so we decided to do it all together for FHE.


As happy as Kyden looks in this picture, he did not like touching the insides of the pumpkin--just like his brother. But he sure was proud of his pumpkin that I helped him carve.
Finished product!


And of course, the costumes! Braden was supposed to be a Ninja Turtle but once I bought the costume, he decided he wanted to be Bob the Builder again. I tried to talk him out of it since he was Bob last year, but as parents you learn to pick your battles. Really, does it matter what they dress up in as long as they're happy and will give you a smile like below?! So, I was going to take the Ninja costume back but before I did, I decided to get it out and see what Kyden thought of it since he loves turtles. He absolutely LOVED the costume and played dress up in it the whole week before Halloween. He is my dress up man. Every time we play at my cousins house (who are all girls), he dresses up in something they have whereas Braden wouldn't touch the stuff! Funny and so different!!


Here are the boys with some cousins--the ones Kyden likes to play dress up with. Aren't they all so cute!
We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating! It's amazing how much candy they got even though we only hit probably 8 houses! Plus the weather was calling for rain and cold but it was a beautiful night and it didn't start raining until 10 pm. What a great day! Now it's on to the next holiday!