Blast from the past: New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve with everyone at our house!

We had to take the kiddos to the Festival of Lights.

They loved it!

Shawn & Abby surprised us...Shawn was able to get off work so they came down!! The kids were SO thrilled to see them. (They had gone to AZ for Christmas) We had another mini Christmas celebration so they could open their gifts. Which was a must so we could play Abby's new gift: Kinect sports! Yay!!

We played the kinect (SUPER cool, I now want an X-box), laughed, ate good food, and had fun hanging out together to ring in the New Year!

Here's to the start of a really great year!

12.31.10

New Year's Eve

I thought I had already posted this... but here's our fun filled New Year's Eve:

The kiddos really love the festival of lights. We have gone on New Year's Eve the past few years and it's always a lot of fun. This year Mom, Shar, & I took the kids. Loved it!

Shawn & Abby surprised us with Shawn getting off work to hang out. The kids adore their Uncle and were thrilled to see him (they had been in AZ for Christmas).

After the kids went to bed, Shawn & Abby opened their gifts then we played Abby's gift: Kinect Sports.

Awesome! and SO funny to watch!

Happy New Year!

Blast from the Past - Christmas Eve

My parents arrived at our house the night before Christmas Eve. The kiddos were SO excited to see them and made sure to get Grandpa time in right away Christmas Eve morning:

Later in the day, Chelsea, Rob & their cute kids came over for dinner and celebrating!!

The boys sure love playing with their cousins:

We had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, the kids got to open their night before Christmas gift (pjs!!) and we watched the movie The Nativity. 

We love spending time with family!

Oh Christmas Tree!

The boys get to pick out their own ornament each year.

It was so fun showing them their ornaments from past years and seeing them get excited over the new ones.

I love decorating the tree, and this time was even better with my boys!

Spreading the Love, One Christmas Card at a Time

It's that most wonderful and magical time of the year. The time when old friends & new friends, near friends & far friends come together to celebrate.
And even if we can't see one another in person, it's the one time of year we make sure to keep in touch.
I might have forgotten birthdays, thank you cards slipped my mind, and Ryder's birth announcements are still sitting in a pile ready to be addressed and mailed.

But Christmas cards- They WILL go out!

Enter Shutterfly- my absolute favorite place for photo books and now for Christmas cards!
Their fabulous 50 cards free promo, is making our countdown to Christmas a little less stressful and whole lot more magical! So if you're a blogger, be sure to check it out!!!

I have been a huge fan of Shutterfly since I started making photo books. Their quality just can't be matched. I love looking through each of our family yearbooks with my boys and am always so pleased with the options Shutterfly has available. From Birth Announcements to thank you cards, calendars (which we make every year through them) to Birthday cards, their selection is one of the best out there!!

As far as cards go.... I, myself, am loving their 2010 Christmas selection!!! I won't give away the exact card I have picked out...but I'll show you some of my favorites and you can guess which one you'll be receiving in the mail!

With Love Chartreuse
Top Ten Moments
Woodblock Joy
Initally Chic Green
Snowflake Wishes

That's just a few of the ones I have my eye on. I don't know how I'll pick just ONE!

What are you waiting for?! Head over to Shutterfly to check out their amazing deals & incredible holiday selection! Make sure to try out the promo while you're at it!

Happy Holidays!!

Ryder - 4 months

Our sweet little Ryder at 4 months:

Babbles and Coos all the time

Loves to watch his bros

Loves to be held and snuggled

Rolled over for the first time - didn't like being stuck on his tummy

Reaches for things & is just starting to try to grasp things

Sleeps like a champ at night now (10-12 hours, wahoo!)

Is our smiley, happy guy

We love you, Ryder, more than we can ever say.

We all love to be near you, to hold and cuddle and love you.

Thank you for coming to our family.

So low

The boys and I had a funny converstation tonight as I was putting them to bed. We had just finished reading one of our superhero stories and they had been fighting over who got to bring the Superman toy with them to sleep. So I found Batman and Robin and made them sound super cool for Tave since West had picked Superman first. This is what resulted:

Me: Oooh, Tave, you can bring ROBIN with you too, that way you have Batman AND Robin, how cool is that. They ARE the Dynamic Duo! (as read in our book)
Tave: oKay! Cool, Batman AND Robin.
Me: Yup, because Batman is the hero and Robin is his sidekick.
Weston: (starting to think he got gyped) Hey, does Superman have a sidekick?
Me: No, because he flies SOLO! (making it sound like a really awesome thing to do.)

I think the converstation is over.
Then:

West: Mom! Look at Superman flying low! (Weston is spinning around and having Superman fly close to the ground)
Me: laughing. A lot. Hey, bud you're right, he is flying So Low. Hahahahahaha. Hahahahahaha.

I love my kids.

Brave

We hung out with Chels & Rob today.

We all went out to eat and the kiddos did awesome. Seriously, it was tons of fun.

Weston, he who was super super picky when he was little(r), tried octopus.

Yes, Octopus.

He didn't actually bite and chew, but he voluntarily said he would try it and

put it in his mouth.

It was all I could do to keep my own lunch down. I was seriously grossed out.

Eww. Eww. Eww.

But SO proud at the same time.

Way to go, bud!!!

Bijou Market!!

I will be a vendor at the upcoming Bijou Market!

If you're in Utah, be sure to attend-- it is filled with fabulous hand made items, you're sure to get all your Christmas shopping done in one spot!!

To enter a bunch of giveaways from many of the awesome vendors, check out Bijou's blog here.

Also, my shop has officially been changed over to EndeeMade.

Check out my etsy shop here.

and my blog here.

I have lots of fun stuff that's not up yet, but it will all be available on the blog soon. So check back often!

Blast from the Past: Patience

I love tulips.

I love that you plant them in the fall and when spring comes around, something beautiful and magical pops up.

I love that it's also a perfect way to teach (and remember) about patience, about working for something and then waiting to see the results, about good things coming in their own time.

We planted with the boys. It felt so good to be working together as a family- getting the soil ready, placing the bulbs, digging holes, planting the flowers just-so, and then covering them up again.

The boys loved every minute.

And I am glad for this reminder - in the middle of a long, cold winter when I am tired of being inside and we're all ready for some sunshiney, outside days- that spring really is just around the corner. And we have some good things coming if we have a little patience.

10.29.10

Leaves!

10.29.10

"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,
"Come o'er the meadows with me and play:
Put on your dresses of red and gold -
For summer is gone and the days grow cold."

Coming soon to my shop:

The part I'm most excited about is that I created this headwrap pattern MYSELF!!

(The incredible flower was created by Shaina Galbraith...it's so cool)

So, thoughts anyone, do you like?

Love this boy!

ps I do have other children, they are just capable of running away from the camera!

lots more photos coming soon

Blast from the Past: Pumpkins!

We picked up these fun stickers at Pumpkinland. (pics soon)

I thought this was THE perfect way to 'carve' pumpkins with kiddos. The boys absolutely loved it, too. Weston was so serious about getting things in just the right spot. Tave called his pumpkin his 'baby' and wrapped it up in a blanket to carry around all week. And sweet little Ryder was just along for the ride. We had a blast and will definitely be making this a tradition.