Christmas

What a big Christmas we had.


Cousins Jake and Allie came on Christmas Eve. Since Grandma Bonnie was here too, we decided to open the presents from her while she could see.

Thanks to Aunt Sue for making Christmas Eve a more Christ centered evening. She put together a great little nativity for the kids. I don't have any pictures of that because my kids were being a little shy. But at least they were kind of paying attention.


Matching jammies from Grandma Bonnie.

The loot. In Brian's family, Santa's presents come unwrapped. That has been one easy tradition to follow through on.





Opening presents.

As for me, I got spoiled. Well, it is not every day that you turn 30! Yes, I am now in my thirties. Wierd. So I got a big something for a birthday and Christmas present (not to mention 9th anniversary next week), a new dresser.



I originally wanted an ipod, then decided to be practical and get a dresser so that I have more space. That way the baby can have the small one I have been using. Then I ended up with an ipod anyway because Dixie was upgrading to an itouch and gave me her old one! THANKS! See, I was spoiled.

Brian pretty much got his snowmobile for his birthday, Christmas, anniversary, Valentine's, Fathers Day and Memorial Day present. Although I did get him an xbox game.

I do love Christmas. I love the reminder of our Savior. I have been talking with the boys about the meaning of Christmas. A few years ago, I really debated about introducing the whole santa thing. But I think that you can keep it spiritual even with Santa.

For me, just reading about the birth of Jesus in the new testament is the best way to feel the spirit. I am thankful for my savior and the gospel!

Merry Christmas.

Names

Although people keep asking, I have no idea what we are going to name this new little boy. With Blake and Kyle, we were literally about to leave the hospital when we finally filled out the birth certificate.
One possibility that Brian suggested, Cotton. Yep, Cotton Schwab.

Snowman

Blake, that cuddly boy even snuggles a snowman.


The neighbors boy, who my kids love, helped us build this. We had a good time.
The snowman's eyes are made out of oreos and of course we all helped ourselves to some. So that is why Blake's face is a little chocolatey.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Brian is 32 today! I love you Brian!

Christmas Tree Finally

Brian got our tree last week but we have been feeling so yucky that we didn't even bother to decorate it right away. But we finally got it done.



The boys really had fun putting the bulbs on. Blake was funny to watch, he kept hanging them on the tips of the branches where they would fall off. Kyle kept grouping them all up so they would have "neighbors" and "friends" to play with.

I love the way Christmas lights look. They are so peaceful.

Winter

Though we have a few more weeks of fall, it feels like winter here. Everything is covered in snow and I am missing the backyard. But we have found a few fun things to do indoors. We went fishing. We had a clothes pin attached to Kyle's fishing pole and pretended the bed was the boat. Then one of the boys would cast into the "water" and the other would attach some water related toy.




Blake caught a ducky!



I am still very much a summertime person, but if we are creative I guess we can still have some fun in the winter that doesn't include me freezing to death.

Baby Number Three Is...

Ultrasound day was today and it's a boy!! Wow, was I wrong. But I am so excited, I think it is going to be so fun to have a house full of boys! Can't wait to see what this little person looks like and get to know his little personality. Most importantly, everything looks really good. That was a relief.
Kyle was a little sad. He actually teared up a little when I told him. He has been adamant that he wanted a baby sister. But he seems to be a little happier now.
So, I will have the crazy house pretty soon. No doubt by next year, this will be where the wild things are.

Thankful

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

What It's All About

Blake is hiding. He thinks I can't see him:

If the feet aren't a dead giveaway, the little squeals and giggles should do it.

Kyle saw that my little vase didn't have any flowers in it. So he took care of that for me-

I thought this was so sweet. He is such a thoughtful boy. Whoever marries Kyle one day will have the sweetest kindest husband ever. Kyle will be a lot like his dad in that way I think.

I love having boys. I am four months along now with baby number three, and I am having a hard time waiting to find out if this one will be a boy or a girl. Everyone thinks this one is a girl, including me. However, I have to say that if it is a boy, I will not be at all disappointed. How could I be?

End of October

I got a nice new digital camera when Blake was born. The camera was actually nicer than my computer. (My computer was really cool, eight years ago.) After almost three years of me taking pictures of the boys with the new camera, I finally ran out of space on my computer. It was done. So, now I have a new computer that is pretty nice. Thanks to Dixie! She is giving me an early bday present.

That said, I now can post pictures in less than 30 minutes!

Pumpkins round 2:

Our first round of pumpkins lasted only a week. Yes, that is a jigsaw. Isn't this a construction worker for you?




We are trying to get Blake to give up naps. Sometimes he makes it and sometimes he doesn't.




Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Pumpkins

Why We Need a New Car

Poor Kyle has to put his knees up to his chest if Brian is sitting in front of him.



Trips to Star Valley are rough. We really struggle to get everything we need into our little car.

So, here it is! Our new van. Well, new to us at least.



Another reason for the bigger vehicle: Baby number three is on the way. Looks like Blake and Kyle will have one more little person to play with next April.

Fall??

So we went from nice warm summer weather to turning the heater on in one day. The mountains around us have snow on them. Our cars have frost on the windows in the morning and our tomatoes are done!

I love fall. Where did it go? I hope it comes back.

Just before the freeze came, the ice cream man made his last appearance of the year.


There are such great kids around us for Kyle and Blake to play with. Here is a whole herd of them with my boys enjoying the last round of ice cream.

Before we resign ourselves to shoveling snow, I would really like a few weeks of nice weather. Especially so we can enjoy trick or treating. We are hoping for the best.

Life Goes On

It doesn't seem fair that after such a difficult trial, that life just moves on. You still have to get up the next day, you still have to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner, clean the house and pay bills. It must be so hard to try to go back to normal. But it is part of the healing process. So it must be this way for a reason.

We still miss Sam. We still think of him often. And we greatly respect Mike and Sue for the tremendous faith that they have.

Baby Sam

My sweet little newborn nephew passed away yesterday of a congenital heart defect. We are all pretty sad around here and cannot imagine how his mom and dad are feeling. We will miss not being able to watch him grow up.



As you can see, he is very beautiful. Perfect little fingers, toes, mouth and nose. Sam is a special spirit and we were priveledged to know him for the short time he was here.

Family Pictures

It has been four years since we last had family pictures. Kyle was only one year old and Blake wasn't even a thought in my head. It was time! I was so excited to get new ones. You may remember from a previous post that Ashley Mae (linked to the right) had a drawing to give away a free photo session and I won! How lucky can I get?







I am not sure which family picture I like the best. Maybe the top one. I wish Blake was a little more smiley that day, but I still love the pictures.








Look how big my boys are getting! It is crazy. These pictures were well worth the wait.

Kindergarten!

Wow! The big day came! Kyle started kindergarten! It was awesome.


He did so good. He was not very clingy because dad came along and helped out. So I am glad Brian was there.


His seat had his name on it. He met his teacher last week and thought she was really nice. That made it was easier for him to go into class.

No I did not cry. This was not very hard for me for two reasons. First, Kindergarten is really short, only a couple of hours. Second, because Kyle really needs this. He is smart and active and needs the intellectual stimulation and the social interaction. So he is going to be a happier kid.

Busy Summer

I am glad things are calming down. We have been so busy! In the past few weeks we had a UFC night at our house (a good man night for Brian), Brian spoke in church and we had a family get together to celebrate Brian's sister Dixie's birthday (40!).

Brian drove in the derby-


He survived! I was so relieved that he didn't get hurt. Oh Brian, thanks for entertaining me. It is never a dull moment with you!


Kyle's owie. It was a little chilly one morning so he put his arms inside of his shirt. He ran to our back door, tripped, and well, his poor little nose met the cement. I spent that morning in instacare making sure his nose wasn't broken. Thank goodness kids heal quick. Family pictures were supposed to be the following Monday, but thankfully we were able to reschedule.

We went to Lagoon! For those of you outside of Utah, Lagoon is a pretty good size amusement park. The boys had fun, especially Kyle who is old enough to appreciate it.


The pictures are from my phone so they are blurry. I just didn't risk taking my nice camera with me.

Also, a fun event for the two of us, Brian and I made our second annual summer trip without the children. We went fishing in Star Valley. It was really fun. Grandma Bonnie stayed overnight at our house with my two wild boys. Of course the boys were happy. Poor Bonnie though. Blake woke up in the middle of the night with a bad sore throat and cough. Isn't that how it goes? The kids get sick when you leave them with someone else.

We have had a lot of fun this summer, but for now, I am ready to not go anywhere for a while.

Mutton What?

My nephew and niece in Wyoming, who are 5 and 3, participated in "mutton busting." What is mutton busting? Well, it's the toddler version of riding bulls. Instead of bulls, they use sheep. I had never seen anything like it. Though it was fun, I am grateful that my boys are not interested.


We spent the day in Star Valley. The cousins had fun together.


Of course Lamb came.


I just had to post this one. This first picture is from 3 years ago. Look how much Kyle has grown!


It's amazing how entertaining that throwing rocks in water is.


In case you are wondering why there are so many pictures of Blake and relatively few of Kyle, it is because Kyle is going through a hopefully temporary phase of running from the camera. Blake is still all smiles.


Blake and cousin Allie were getting their fill of cuddling with a furry creature. We are not going down that road again.


As far as the boys are concerned, a day in Star Valley is not complete without the customary ride on the motorcycle. So dad took them for a ride. I am glad we have somewhere to go that is out of the city. I think the boys will have some good memories.

The Trampoline is Back

A couple months ago, the boys were being naughty. That is a common occurance around here, but this day was particularly bad. They ripped down the net on the trampoline. So, I painstakingly sewed it back up. It took me 6 weeks. But judging by the happiness on these boys faces when they were allowed back on, it was worth it.