Christmas fun

We spent Christmas eve with Kyle's family.

the whole fam...minus Adam and his family (we missed you!)

The boys were so excited that Grandma made it!

We had dinner and then the kids did a pinata.

Kaden got first chance at the pinata!

Bosten played with the dog.


There was lots of treats....yummy!


We had a family home evening and then Grandma read "Twas The Night Before Christmas" to all the grand kids.

We came home to get ready for bed and everyone got new jammies! Don't you love Kyle's?! The boys picked them out and they thought they were the best ones "in the whole wide world".


Kaden was anxious to go to bed so that Santa could come, but it took FOREVER for him to fall asleep!

No worries though, because Santa found our new house!

We got up around 8am and opened our gifts, had breakfast, played with our new toys for awhile and then went to my parent's house.

all the kids minus Hunter
Mimi made the kids blankets, which they loved.

We had a great Christmas and are all very spoiled!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!
Love ya.

We made it

Last night we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. We've been wanting to take the boys all season, but with my herniated disk I just didn't know if it would happen. We realized over dinner that we were quickly running out of days to go, so we loaded everyone up and went to Salt Lake.

We parked close and didn't stay all night, so I did ok. Bosten loved it and kept saying, "Whoa!" and "Wow"!. Kaden thought it was pretty cool too. He liked all of the red trees best.

Dilemma

The question everyone has been asking me is this:

Who are you cheering for?

In case you missed it, the Las Vegas bowl is Tuesday night. Its

vs.

Yep, the two teams I care most about are playing each other.

You know by now how we feel about the Beavs...ORANGE is our favorite color around here and we ALL have "Beaver Believer" gear (as in plural).

However, we love the Cougars too. How many 4 year olds that you know can do this:

(don't you just love all the dancing and hand motions?)

Yep, a real dilemma.

Do we go with

RISE AND SHOUT!
or
OOOO....ESSSSS....UUUUU!

Actually a win-win. Should be a great game. However, someone's got to win....and our house?!
Well, we're going with the Beavs.

Hey everybody, its family night!

This week for family night we did our annual gingerbread house. We pretty much let the boys do it by themselves. Its getting better and better every year! Practice makes perfect, I guess. They both thought it was really fun, and were just as excited to eat the candy and frosting as they were to decorate.

So, so fun!

Buddy

We have recently had a Christmas visitor!

Meet Buddy

aka The Elf on the Shelf

One of my friends does this at her house, and we thought it would be a fun tradition to start at our house! During the day he "writes stuff down" and then at night he reports to Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice. Somehow, he mysteriously moves from place to place, so every morning we have to go and see where Buddy is going to hang out for the day. So far, he's been on the top of the refridgerator, on Kaden's dresser, in Bosten's crib, sitting by the window in the family room, and etc. Its been really fun and the boys (especially Kaden) LOVE it.

Want some?

This is one of the ways we're promoting ourselves and trying to find the next member of our family...
Our new adoption pass a long cards!

They're a business card that has information about us on it that we (and you!) can give to anyone and everyone you know. Please consider giving them to:

-your kids' pediatrician
-your family doctor
-your OB/GYN doctor
-bishops/pastors/priests
-dentist
-nurses
-family members
-your hair dresser
-bulletin boards
-seminary teachers
-when you go out for dinner, slip one in with the bill as you're leaving
-those fish bowls you see that say "drop your business card here"
-really anyone...or anywhere

If you'd be willing to help us with this, please leave me a comment or email me at hope2adoptbaby@yahoo.com and I'll hook you up! We are appreciative of your efforts in helping us build our family.

Funny...and an update

Yes, I'm still alive. Its been a rough few weeks, but I'm on the mend. Last week I was FINALLY able to get in and see the spine specialist. They gave me the option of surgery or trying a spinal nerve block. Neither sounded super great, but decided to try the non surgery route first. I'm definitely feeling better, but by no means great yet.

This is the sign that Kaden and Kyle made for Kaden's door. I don't know what made him decide that he needed one (especially since the only girl that goes in his room is me!). He and Kyle made it on the computer, and then he colored it with his favorite color in the world. He did say there are a couple of exceptions to the rule:
-Mimi
-Riley
- Grandma
-Sadie

Note to self: he did inform me that if someone is wearing a BYU or "Go Beavers" shirt they may get a free pass. So funny.

This sweet little boy is feeling a little better too. He thinks he's pretty big stuff to climb up in Kaden's chair by himself and sit. Isn't he getting so big?!

my OTHER little monkey

Poor Bosten has pneumonia. That hasn't seemed to slow him down any though. This week his new talents include a cute new giggle, pulling himself up on the couch, and climbing stairs.

He's pretty proud of himself...that is unless he gets stuck. What a cute little monkey!

Today's mail

I haven't really blogged about the big game this week....yep, its time for the Civil War again. Don't be calling me on Thursday night! :) I'll be watching the stinky Oregon Ducks vs. my Oregon State Beavers. In addition to the bragging rights on the line for the next year, its got big time consequences...the winner heads to the Rose Bowl. We're excited and ready (and honestly, realistic...the game's at Autzen...).

GO BEAVERS!

One of my best friends in the whole world sent me some love today from Oregon:

She knew how much I cared about the game and that I needed a little love about my back/leg issues. She was right on. Its perfect. Just what I needed.


I loved it.

Loved that she had her girls color me pictures (they're now on the fridge!). Loved feeling loved. Thanks, Quincy. I love you.

Host a watch party

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No fun at all

This is why I haven't posted anything in awhile:

I have been flat on the couch (or up in bed) for a over two solid weeks with a herniated disk in my back. It is no fun at all. Miserable in fact.

HOW did this happen?! I fell down the stairs...umm...twice...both times holding Bosten. The first time I slipped on the wood floor (with new socks on) the second time I just fell. Call me a klutz. Both times it was on the same spot. Thankfully, Bosten was fine.

After it happened it hurt for about a week and a half. I was sore, but thought I was just was bruised and it would get better. When it got worse, I finally broke down and went to the doctor. He gave me a strong anti inflammatory, did an x-ray, and recommended some physical therapy. I went twice and decided that it was getting even WORSE.

I couldn't walk. I couldn't roll over. I couldn't do anything without crying. I started to get worried with the long holiday weekend coming up. I called the doctor again and then waited by the phone ALL DAY for them to call me back. He wanted an MRI. We got the results late Wednesday afternoon....herniated disk. No wonder I'm so miserable. They gave me more pain pills and some oral steroids to get me through the long weekend. I've got one more day to go....I've got to get into the spine doctor tomorrow to get our plan of attack. I cannot live like this. I cannot function.

So...no Thanksgiving for me (the boys went and played with Kyle's family). No black Friday shopping. Bummer.
HOWEVER, Kyle has been REALLY amazing. Besides working full time he's been the full time caretaker (of me and the boys), cook, cleaner, dishwasher, story reader, etc. I couldn't have done it without him (and a little help from my mom and mother-in -law). Thanks for everything. Now, if I can only get rid of this pain that runs down my right leg.

Yes, we can

About a year ago, my sister-in-law told me about her new canning stuff. It was interesting, but I didn't really do anything about it (stupid me....thanks Kerry!) I finally watched the video clips she told me about and I finally caught the vision!

This is SO SUPER GREAT.
Easy.
Doable.

Today Kaden and I have been working on our food storage. He loves to help, and it was a good chance to talk about having food in an emergency.

The jars are sealed (just like in other canning), but the stuff inside is different than you're used to seeing. I've been buying stuff on sale and today we bottled it up. We did:
-fruit rollups
-fruit snacks
-chocolate (like leftover halloween candy)
-craisins
-hot cocoa mixes
-seasoning packets (taco, brown gravy, chili)
-powdered sugar
-brown sugar
-egg noodles
-marshmellows
-dried peaches

This stuff will last for YEARS and how great will it be to have stuff besides wheat, pinto beans, etc. That stuff is important too, but just not as exciting or fun. On my list of things to still do:

-more chicken
-hamburger
-butter
-dried fruit (gotta dehydrate it first)
-nuts
-chocolate chips
-crunchy chinese noodles
-pancake mix

Back in action

Ever since we unpacked Kaden's hockey gear, he's been DYING to go skating. He's been talking about it just about every day for weeks. Since we're just down the street from the rec. center, we thought we should go. Last night was the big event.

He did really good for not being on skates for two years. We've got him signed up for skating lessons (starting in January) and he couldn't be more excited!

What's up...

Saturday morning we had SNOW. Kaden was thrilled and was dying to get out and play.

All he wanted to do was shovel!

Bosten has decided that its a little fun (and a little scary) to stand up along the couch.

Both of the boys LOVE playing video games with Daddy at night before bed.