Our White Christmas

Where did December go?  I have no idea!  But it went way too fast!  And now Christmas has come and gone and my boys are already asking for presents for next year!  They are so funny.

Here are our Christmas lights!  I am so proud of them, they may not look like much but they were put up, taken down, put back up and taken back down all by ME!  Why, you ask??? Because, I started on the right side of the house and hung them to the middle where the outlets are, then I started on the left side of the house and hung them towards the middle and then when I went to connect the strands in the middle... they were the wrong connection ends.  So, I had to take them down and hang them back up so I could plug them in.  That is alright though because it was a rookie mistake.  Next year I will not make that mistake, but next year I bought about another 15+ strands of lights for my yard during the day after christmas sales!!!! YAY!!!  I love Christmas lights!

And here is a picture of us with our tree after it's been decorated.  There is nothing better in the world than putting up our Christmas tree listening to Christmas music, drinking hot coco and talking about where and when we got each ornament on our tree.  The boys love looking at their ornaments from previous years and buying their ornament for this year.  They love it so much that this next year we are going to have to re-buy a few ornaments because the boys loved them so hard, they broke;-)  But this tradition, is by far my favorite!!!

Here is Arlo's Christmas letter to Santa.  He told me what to write and I wrote it verbatim!  He was so cute, and so excited.  The next 5+ Christmases are going to be the best because of Arlo's and Cohen's excitement in and for Santa and all that comes with the Santa package!  The best part about his letter to Santa is that after we sent it to Santa Claus, North Pole, Arlo actually got a REAL letter back from Santa!  I could not believe it! 

Here is a video of the boys looking for Rudy, our Elf on the Shelf.  I tell you, we may be late in the game for an Elf on the Shelf, but Rudy was a miracle worker.  All I had to do was threaten to go tell Rudy about a behavior and it was instantly fixed!  I am thinking about asking Rudy to come back to our house every month (or as needed) so Santa can keep tabs on these boys all year long!!!!!

Here is Arlo with Santa at our ward Christmas Party.  He asked Santa for a red camera and an American flag.  Cohen was to scared to go any where close to Santa.  Maybe next year!

These next few pictures are the after math of our pre-Christmas family Christmas.  Since we were going to Utah for Christmas, we invited over all my family (Grammy, Grampy, Papa, Uncle Bryce, Uncle Levie and Family and Grandma and Grandpa GG) to our new house for a Christmas dinner and opening presents from each other so we would not have to wait till after new year for their Christmas.  Well, it was wonderful, the boys got more presents from grandmas and grandpas then they did from Santa Claus (almost).  And needless to say, these boys are loved and SPOILED!!!!!!  I didn't get enough pictures from this night and I am totally bummed about it.  But here is one I did get and then the rest are of Arlo and his bike the next day!

Grammy and PaPa got the boys their own Nabi (kid tablet), guns and swords!  They know how to win their way into little boy's hearts!!!

Arlo got a new bike with pedals and without training wheels and Cohen got a cool 3-wheeled, green scooter from their Grampy! (Videos available of them riding these presents on New Years blog!)

Here is another Christmas tradition... our annual visit to the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple Christmas Lights!  They are so beautiful and a great way to teach my boys about the true meaning of Christmas!  We also used these pics for our Christmas Cards!-)

And finally....

Christmas Morning!!!!

And it would not be Christmas without a little bit of snow... I mean A LOT of snow!!!

The rest of these pictures are from our Christmas Utah trip.  My boys love coming to Utah and playing with their 16 cousins and Aunts and Uncles!  We have a blast!  Also, I would like to give Jen, Rex and Family a BIG thank you for letting us crash your house year after year!  We appreciate it and love you!

As you can see, we spent a lot of our time sitting, eating and talking around their kitchen!

We also went bowling!

And we went to the Natural History Museum to see... you guessed it DINOSAURS!!!!

Here is a few pics of the 18 cousins!

And to finish up this Christmas blog, here is my beautiful, big boy singing his favorite Christmas Carol!

It's a New Year After All

Because I have been avoiding blogging lately, I decided that instead of completely forgetting the past 2 months I will go ahead and post a brief photo diary.  2013 started out wonderfully.  Of corse now that we are in february I have realized that I have not stuck to one single goal... but I still have 10 months to get organized and goal oriented!...Right?

Well, January was a cold month.  We lost quite a few plant to the freezing temperatures at night (it's ALL my husbands fault:-), and during the day it was too cold to go outside so what did we do?  We built a fire of course and snuggled up in blankets and played on our phones/ipads!

The boys also dressed up and played super heros!

And built forts out of blocks!

Then, when the weather turned warmer we went out and hiked our mountain over, and over, and over again! I am so excited that we moved to this location because our boys love going out to hike and play. I can't wait till my boys get older, they will know every inch of that mountain!

Here is the view from our mountain!

We still go to the park at least twice a week!  At the PV park they have ducks and geese.  My boys loved the geese until one bit Cohen and actually gave him a bruise!  Now they run and scream whenever they even think they are coming close!

And then, we now go to the AZ Science Center at least every other week because Niki got us year memberships for 7 for the year!  So, here is an official invite to anybody who is my friend, come with us to the science center!

My boys also LOVE to help in the kitchen!  And they are great helpers!

As for 2013... we have quite a few things planned for this year!  I can't wait for it all to happen!  But even if nothing happens, I am glad I get to do nothing with my boys!

Oh... I almost forgot, I'll finish out with some videos!

Thankful for Birthdays Part 2

***Warning I started this blog the day after Cohen's b-day, and I just finished!  it has been a busy few months.  Sorry for the delay.***

We spent Thanksgiving at my moms house.

It was low key and wonderful!  Add in shopping, family, food, and birthdays and it makes an exceptional day.

May I first start off with an apology to Cohen.  I am so sorry your birthday is so close to Thanksgiving that we will always celebrate the two together.  But on the positive side, you will be the only one who will always have all your relatives around for your birthday celebrating it with you.  And, I will always remember how thankful I am for you!

Here is my big boy in action on his big day!!!

As you can see from the video, Cohen is my shy boy and an absolute mama's boy.  We did have to wake him up from a nap to sing to him which accounts for some of the grumpyness, but even when he is awake and happy he is still atched to my leg/waist/hand!  I love it and hate it all at the same time.

This year for his big birthday number 2, Tow wanted a dinosaur cake.  

It started out with a long neck, but by the time it sat for a few minutes it collapsed and this is how it ended up.  

Still I am pretty proud of it.  And after Cohen started to cheer up, he dug in.  He loved it, especially the jolly rancher spikes!

Based off the cake, you can probably tell how Cohen is really into dinosaurs right now.  I mean really, really, really into dinosaurs.  So for his new room in our new house he wanted it decorated in dinosaurs.  

Here is his new comforter...

With matching lamp...

And stickers, and picture...

And mirrored cabinet and old growth board (but it fit in nicely.)

Cohen's room is probably the most finished room of the house at this point.  (Although, I still have quite a bit more I would like to do) When we first moved in we did so well with getting things put away and painting and other stuff you need to do when you first move in, but then the holidays happened and now here we are in February and we have literally not improved our house's condition at all in 2 months! 

Back to the birthday boy... here is the birthday loot!

One of his favorite toys was... a dinosaur that turns into a race car!  (BIG surprise, I know!)

And his Pooh Bear.  I know it looks nothing like Pooh bear, but that is what he wanted to name him.

And of course, to finish off this post about my big 2 year old, here are some fun pictures that he took all by himself!

It is funny because when I first started this blog I had so many tidbits I wanted to share about my big 2 year old, and now 3 months later so much has already changed!  For starters, when Tow first had his birthday he would tell everybody that he was 3, because his brother was 3 and he wanted to be 3.  I would correct him and tell him he was 2, but he would start to cry and say "NO! I 3!" But about 3 weeks ago, he could finally put up 2 fingers and say he is 2.  When I ask him if he is 3, he proudly responds "I 2" and holds up two fingers and then counts to two.  Cohen is also a lot less attached.  I believe it has a lot to do with going to Utah for a few weeks at Christmas.  There were so many new people and places and family that he really came out of his shell.  And now he loves to say hi to everybody all the time, even if it is chasing a stranger down the street on his bike to make sure the stranger hear's him and says hello back.  Don't get me wrong, he is still a mama's boy but it has calmed down!  Cohen loves to talk, he loves to sing, he loves waffles and would eat them at every meal if I let him.  He loves the ipad, his bike, playing in his kitchen and making mommy eat everything he makes for me.  He does not like to have dirty hands and will often make me wash his hands in the middle of a meal if they are dirty even if he is not done eating the food that is making his hands dirty in the first place.  He does not like to share and is working really hard on asking people to share with him instead of yelling at them and hitting them to get what he wants.  He loves to blow his nose and hates to brush his teeth.  And although I am not ready to potty train his just yet, he loves to go poo poo in the potty.  His favorite color is still green although he really likes blue too,  he runs everywhere, I really do not know if he knows how to walk, because it does not happen very often.  And lastly, he is working really hard on keeping his binki in his bed.  He often claims that he is tired, but it is simply because he wants to suck on his binki and he knows it has to stay in his bed.

I love my little dino loving, toddler, two year old!  I could not have been blessed with a sweeter little boy!  And even if I never have a girl, I will be okay because my little guy is so special and fills a special place in my heart so perfectly!  I love you Cohen! And Happy Birthday!