MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008!

Our tradition of Christmas Eve pajamas continues, despite a few disappointing shopping trips where the stores were sold out! We opened up our new PJs and everyone raced to see who could get into them first.

















Here are the boys and I on Christmas Morning, which really lasted all day because we were waiting for Ben to get home from work before we opened the rest of the gifts. It was a pretty relaxing day and fun to stay in our PJs the entire time. I don't know if Brecon realized the difference between this day and any other, but Cael sure thought it was

neat!

Brecon just loved lining up his cars and making the "vroom vroom" sounds along with it. Cael was super pumped to get a purple and a blue light saber! The boys have had several saber battles already (Ben included)

December Fun

We've really been enjoying our December, it's been busy (but isn't December ALWAYS busy?) and also full of fun. One of our favorite things that has been happening this month is when the mail-man/or woman or UPS or FEDEX persons has made a stop at our house. It just is exciting to see what is inside, but more importantly for the boys... if they can FIT inside!

It was so cute to see these guys trying to tuck themselves into this box. They really just wanted the lid to cover them up and then I would say "Alright, time to go to the post office" (of course I'm pushing the box around and spinning it with each new description of where the box is going) "time to load into the truck" (another spin) "Here we go to Wyoming" (a push down to the door) You get the idea. And we all have fun until someone gets hurt (poor Cael got hit by this brothers' head) He was "injured" for only a minute, but by then Brecon had already taken up all the space inside the box and Cael was "muscled "out. Then it was only one boy at a time inside the box. I guess that's what life is all about, sharing and taking turns after an injury :)

We were also invited to LUAU house warming party, and of course we had to dress up! Not that everyone HAD to dress up... we just loved doing that sort of thing :) We even found a great gift for our friends' place... I think they love it, don't you?

A FAMILY HOME EVENING NIGHT in DECEMBER:

Of course Christmas caroling and delivering cookies to people in the ward. It was really so cold that night.... really. We're all in our 'winter'-gear. But yesterday it was 80 degrees and humid! It's craziness!


And of course Cael's preschool party at 2:00 on Friday. There was so much food in front of these kids and hardly any of it was eaten. Stuff they should have been going hog-wild over, and there was nothing. PIZZA, CUPCAKES, ICECREAM... I think Cael took one bite of each and the rest was thrown away.

However, when there is food around Brecon is no wall-flower. He made himself right at home and proceeded to dig in like the king of the table.

That same night was the church party: Traditions Around the World! We had soup and rolls for dinner and a very large turnout. I really didn't think very many people would come to the activity, but there were a lot! I had only set up 6 tables for eating, so some people were sitting on the floor, or standing. We had several tables around the gym representing different countries and what they do during Christmas time. ITALY, ENGLAND, MEXICO, RUSSIA, AUSTRALIA, and GERMANY (and we probably won't do JAPAN next time ha ha ha!) So people were able to mix and mingle around the area and learn something new. Also a little craft could be made at each country, or a delicious food sample could be enjoyed. My personal favorite would have the be the TIM-TAM SLAM from Australia! It was chocolate-deliciousness!

There was a short and sweet Primary program next and
Cael was a Shepard in the Primary nativity. Here he is kneeling next to the manger.

And our awesome picture with SANTA. I guess Brecon didn't want to tell the jolly ol' man what he wants for Christmas this year.

So it has been a busy and fun month as you can see... but of course we are lovin' every minute of it and excited for some more!

TAG

4th folder 10th picture tag... HERE WE GO!

May 2007 These adorable boys are like Cael's brothers, only from a different mother.... We just wish they lived closer so we could play more often. Well, these boys came over and stayed at our place and we had a blast! We went swimming in our pool and then the Primary Talent Show. We had to think of something for everyone to do and this is what they did: Brayden ran back and forth across the gym (SUPER FAST), Teagan rode a razor scooter (SUPER AWESOME) and Cael rode* his bike (SUPER... I can't think of the right verb here)

*And by ride his bike I mean he would ride for a few feet, crash into the curtain or slide/crash while taking a sharp turn. Granted, He had just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels on the road. So riding on the polished gym floor was a different story. I was nervous that he could start feeling sad about crashing so many times, but He would (as a classic song would say) "dust himself off, and get back on again"! THAT's MY BOY! I know quite a few people got a kick out of Caels' talent, I know I did!

 

Have fun!

BLACK FRIDAY

After our delicious Thanksgiving dinner with friends, my friends and I decided to hit the outlets for some shopping into the wee hours of the morning. The stores didn't open until 12:00 midnight and then the crazy-time began. I couldn't believe how many people were there, moms, kids, and pregnant ladies- oh my!

We actually didn't buy very much, but  it was so fun to be with these crazy ladies. I was so tired and slept most of the day. I got back home around 7:00 a.m. and slept past lunch time. What a fun night!

Family Pictures

Thanks to a good buddy we got our family pictures taken this year! I'm always grateful to get these done and it was such a relief to have a friend do them :) THANKS MORGAN! I'm a bit partial, but I think they are fabulous!

I learned a few things for this experience #1 If you want your kids to be happy during a photo shoot, make sure they have eaten before hand. We hadn't fed them "linner" (early dinner) and we ran out of time before we needed to meet my friend. I am grateful for the pictures we got clicked off because both Brecon and Cael were digging through my purse looking for anything to eat during the shoot.

THE boys' CLOSE-UPs

#2 SMILE and Have fun! There is something about seeing a family (mine in particular) acting like we normally do, goofing around and laughing at the silly things we do. We laugh even harder when someone is getting hurt or tortured (in a good way) It's always funnier when it happens to someone else! These are the 'real' family moments captured in time....

Brecon was pulling on Ben's Eye sockets like they were the reins! At least Ben thought it was funny too!

I really hope to get family shots every year... it's fun to see the changes and additions, sorry 2007 for not getting official pictures... it was still a good year!

Highlights AUG - OCT

One of my favorite sayings when I'm feeling behind and am trying to convince myself that it is okay to be tardy. However, I do feel flustered when I am waiting for someone and they are late-- Crazy, I know. Take a walk with me down memory lane...

AUGUST: My "baby's" first day of school. This is the face when I told him he got to go to school EVERYDAY! Is that excitment or fear? Brecon and I take Cael to school around 11:50 and he rides the bus home around 3:25. While Cael is off learning, Brecon takes his nap or we go shopping, depending on the day.





SEPTEMBER While Hurricane IKE struck the Houston area, the boys and I enjoy some good times with the Brown Family and one of our last times (with our season pass) to the ZOO. We also attended a special fireside with guest speaker Michael Ballum. Our sitters managed to put 2 one-year-olds asleep using the "tickle" method. Needless to say, we were impressed.






OCTOBER:What a FUN MONTH! To start it all off, we joined with our friends in celebrating CANADIAN THANKSGIVING! Seriously, it was awesome. We threw up Red and White streamers and balloons and sang 'O CANADA'. We just wanted our Canadian friend to feel the love, and a delicious dinner was enjoyed by all!



Then, throughout the month we really had fun making our front yard into a "graveyard" bits and pieces at a time. We think that next year skeletons and their parts need to be sticking out of the ground... it will totally add to the"spooky"effect. Ben was quite busy with the skill saw and the boys helped me with the paint. We added some plywood ghosts after these photos were taken. One of them reminds us of Slimer from Ghostbusters.... he's such a cutie.
THE FRONT


UP CLOSE and PERSONAL. Our buddies got a kick out of these ones, so did we!


Can't go wrong with a yeast joke and Brecon's Halloween Gator suit. Despite his attempts and frustrations to remove the head part, that baby stayed on!


*Cael's costume is not shown due to computer malfunction... alright, it's not uploaded yet* I'm a dork! He was the cutest PETER PAN (with a homemade costume) I've ever seen.

As I like to say, thanks for the memories! Here's to many more!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

THE TRADITIONAL PUMPKIN CARVING NIGHT (below) we invited a bunch of friends out for Family Night to enjoy some hot cocoa and to make a mess with pumpkin guts. We really had a great time with friends and letting the kids cut loose at the playground. It was quite chilly that night, but we had a great time!

ME, MICHELLE,and JODI with a MASTERPIECE pumpkin (Strong work you guys)

I will soon upload some of our pictures from the HALLOWEEN festivities, but for now here are some from my friends' cameras-- THANKS GUYS)

So I usually like to dress up as a group, everyone in the family has a 'theme' or at least we all sort of look like we belong together. I had several ideas for our costumes: THE INCREDIBLES.. Ben of course wanted us to be a PIRATE FAMILY... etc. Well as I was shopping at THRIFT TOWN (it's amazing) we found this WINNER Of a DRESS and I just had to buy it (You can't beat a $3 dress) Well, seeing how this is an election year and probably the only time this sort of costume would work, We WENT POLITICAL!

A VOTE FOR US IS A VOTE FOR AMERICA!

So my "sash" says "PALIN 4 PRESIDENT". Everyone got a big kick out of it. I did have someone say "On the back of your sash it should say loser".... whatever! It's Halloween and it's all in good fun.

Me and a giant crayon, we are best friends. So Those boots were killin' me by the end of the night, I finally took them off and was walking barefoot. It was not bad, but not good either. NOTE TO SELF: Buy Dr. Scholl's comfort pads for boots.

The boys' costumes went along a PETER PAN THEME.... but we'll get that later :) WE HOPE everyone had an awesome HALLOWEEN, we know we did :)

a few more from OCTOBER....

We were feeling pretty bored one night and decided to use up our "tokens" at a little place called MR. GATTI's. It's like a Chuck-E-Cheese's, but the games are for older kids and there are sometimes bumper cars in-doors. There was a MR. GATTI's not far from our house, but sadly, it closed down :( We just had to drive a little further to have our fun for the night). So after stuffing our faces with MG Pizza, the boys enjoyed a few rides on the merry-go-round. Soon, Brecon was ready to explore the place. He really liked trying to climb up the tube slide, I'm sure he'll grasp the true function of the slide later, but it was a good time that night. Cael and Ben enjoyed playing the "Jet Fighter" and "Race Car" games together.

ALSO during the month at MILBERGERS NURSERY (located just up the road) they had a free hay-maze and large inflatable jump-around. A group of us went to enjoy the free attraction and We knew the kiddos had a great time when they came out of that jumper all hot and sweaty.

After dropping Cael off at school, the mommies and left-over kids went to Panera Bread.... two words: MMMMM MMMM!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

First we had the Ward Trunk-or-Treat and Chili Dinner. It was delicious and fun to see the creative costumes. And..... Cael's AMAZING Peter Pan costume! He was so excited, can't you tell? The look on his face expresses pure bliss... Brecon TOO!

It was funny to see Brecon grasp the concept after a few houses of trick-or-treating: Knock on door, reach in candy bowl, put it in the bucket, and repeat. Sometimes he would even get a little more interested in going inside the home and exploring than the goodies, but it was entertaining none-the-less.


On November 1st we went to Kelly Air Force Base to watch the Air Show and our good buddies, the HILLMANS joined us for the adventure. It was incredible....very -very loud... but seriously amazing! We watched these jets fly up and down and giggled imagining the craziest ride at SIX FLAGS and multiplying it by 20! It was so fun the watch!

CAEL: FUTURE TOP GUN

THE 3 AMIGOS: Tyler, Matthew, and Cael at the Machine Gun! Get the BAD GUYS....

Cael and Mommy waiting for the BLUE ANGELS....

A kiss from Daddy.... ahhh, it's a sweet moment!

And check this kid out! We have a cat that is our friend now and the boys think she is the coolest! Right before this picture Brecon had his arms wrapped around the cats neck, so I ran to grab my camera and this is the shot that I got.... still pretty cute, especially that smile!

:)

The boys and I are up in the toy room, playin' around and putting on a few of our Halloween wigs. Cael pulls out the MULLET and is sportin it like a champ. He's checkin' himself out in the mirror, throwing a couple of winks, points, and nods at his reflection. He's stylin'! I want to join in on the fun and Cael lets me try it on. How do I describe how I looked? HIDEOUS but oh so BEAUTIFUL!
Then Cael pipes up and says, "Mom, you look like a person on that show.... that show MY NAME IS EARL!"

After a few giggles I realize a)that's pretty funny that he recognizes the 'trashiness' of the mullet and would relate it to that show and b) mommy and daddy aren't going to watch that particular tv program when the boys are in the same room.

end of story.

I figure any story with a mullet is share-worthy, right?

BOO!

We've been getting ready for one of our favorite holidays by making decorations for our yard. I don't know what it is, but we just love to do this pretty much every year. Ben is working furiously with his power tools, Cael and I paint and assemble... Brecon watches and helps out occasionally. It's family time and we love it!

A Night to REMEMBER....

As I thought about something that recently happened this past monday, I couldn't help but think "Should I really tell this story?" and the answer is:

YES, yes I should.

We are at our tennis court and Ben and I are playing a little game and hitting back and forth while our boys are running around gathering up as many balls as they can. Cael comes over to me and says "I got something for you". What a sweet boy, right? Well, he had pushed two tennis balls down his pants and his placement was impeccable--His pants were bulging to the seams! It seriously was hilarious. I thanked him, laughed pretty hard, and continued on with the game.

Later that same night, We were playing doubles tennis with the Spicers and the kiddos are running, sitting, eating Otter POPS and trying NOT to get hit by flying balls. Suddenly both Cael and Bentli say they have to go to the bathroom. If it's number one for boys there really isn't any problem. Just point and shoot. But for little girls things can get a little more complicated. So we tell Bentli to just take off her bottoms all the way and go on the grass not very far away from the courts.

A few furious serves and returns later, we see that not only does Bentli have both TOPS and BOTTOMS completely off, but so does CAEL! They are running, jumping, and screaming in the grass... naked like the day they were born! We didn't want to stop their fun, so we let them continue playing around while we finished up our game.

Now Cael is at the gate and he's standing on one foot. "MOM, I stepped in poop". OH GREAT-- how sick is that? Me, trying not to throw up...
"Cael where did you step in the DOG POOP?"
"It's not dog poop... it's MY POOP"

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!???! Too late... I lost my dinner. Just kidding. But really, is that sick or what?

We'll just say cleaning THAT up wasn't near as fun as playing tennis! Thanks for the great FHE and for the memories!

SMILEY GUYS

I love smiles. I love to smile and I love it when my boys smile... it just makes me (you guessed it) SMILE!

Here are some of my favorites for the moment. (ABOVE) My honey on the 4th of JULY 2008! He's proud to be an American... or he's in a good mood. Either way, it's a great shot! (Those tree branches aren't really shooting right out of his head...but they sure look like it)

This-river-is-really-great SMILE. You just know this kid is having a good time, right?

And just for fun: The classic yell-and-have-your-mouth-open kinda smile. (check out my nephew in the background. THAT is a happy kid!)
"AHHHHHH!!"

and I-just-got-some-candy-that-really-is SWEEET SMILE

You know what they say "a smile is contagious"... now that's something I don't mind sharing! Go ahead and spread some today!