Happy Fourth of July

I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have in this country.

We are blessed. 

This year we went to our ward Fourth of July pancake breakfast and flag raising ceremony. Afterwards we decided to head over to the Sellwood pool (which was amazing since not that many people were there).After swimming we ate dinner at Mike's Drive-In (a local favorite). Then we went to get shaved ice at our favorite food cart, but he was closed. We compromised with the kids and let them pick a frozen treat at the store. Of course they all chose something different. We rounded out our evening by watching a movie together. I'd say we had a pretty good Independence Day. 

Easter

Easter came much earlier than I thought it would. We decided this year to head up to my parents house and watch conference. It was fun to see all my little brothers and their families too. Our boys were pretty happy with the Easter bunny who brought them treats and new shirts. I'm thankful for the weekend which we had to spend with family, the good food, and opportunity to celebrate our Savior's Resurrection .Because of him we are able to conquer the grave. 

The Day After Christmas

Tyler had to work the next day (which was a bummer) and we ended up leaving for Idaho after he got off work Friday night. It's not the first time we've made a late night drive. It has it's pros and cons... one being that the kids sleep in the car because it's dark-- which makes for a quiet drive, but we don't sleep-- which makes for a tired following morning. Saturday Tyler's sister, Kelly, was blessing their newest baby girl so we hopped in the car to drive to Jerome. Kent and Teesy drove with our kids (which I'm sure was entertaining for them). It was a lot of driving, but good to catch up with Derek and Kim, who rode with us, while making the drive. 

Unfortunately I didn't pictures of our cutest newest niece, she was tiny and precious and sleeping. I chalk all these missed photo opportunites up to lack of sleep. Kelly and Mike did take some pictures of everyone though, so the picture taking wasn't lost on everyone. :) We stayed for a few hours and Mike's family hosted a great little lunch. Eventually we said our goodbyes and hoped to beat the incoming snowstorm going home. 

We made pretty good time, going back to Fruitland, and Tyler was driving great despite weather conditions. Things were pretty smooth sailing until we hit the off ramp to the Fruitland exit. I felt that we were going a little too fast for the off ramp, but Tyler's the expert snow driver, so I didn't say anything. As he was slowing down and we were rounding the curve, our car started to slide in the direction of the metal guard rail. It was so scary seeing our car move towards it and knowing that we were going to hit. By some miracle (which I'm giving credit to my father in-laws morning prayer before we all traveled) we stopped about a foot before hitting the railing. I think we were all so relived and shocked that we didn't hit it. I'm so grateful we were safe the rest of the way home too. 

The boys had fun playing in the snow that night and Sunday morning before church. They also thoroughly enjoyed beating up Uncle Derek and playing with the dogs, and riding fourwheelers, and visiting Grandma Howard (who loads them up with cookies).

We are so glad we could visit Idaho again. 

(Quincy claims he never sleeps in...) 

(Bundling up to go outside was a regular occurrence when we were there) 

(Snowball fight before church) 

(Passed out on the way to church because of snowball fight)

(Beating up playing with Uncle Derek) 

(Got some treasures from Grandma Howard- vintage thread!) 

(Trying grapefruit for the first time-- they didn't like it) 

(A gorgeous snowy day to leave.) 

(Beautiful snowy roads home up in the pass) 

(Last hour in the car is brutal) 

(Home again, home again... hello sunshine!)

December Fun

Why is it that December seems to always fly by? 

I feel like we just started the month and now it's nearly over. 

We've been up to the usual holiday shopping, Zayden found the perfect gift for Grammie... seeing as she's an avid Squirrel lover. ;)

We attended our ward Christmas party, which this year was a Dr. Suess themed brunch. There were green eggs and ham, colorful waffles, fruit, oatmeal and doughnuts. The boys got to meet the Grinch in person and there were some musical numbers. Zayden wasn't a fan of the "mean" Grinch, but he warmed up when the "nice" Grinch gave him some "grinch pills" (which were candy). 

The boys got lots of new clothes from Grammie and Grandpa Loren and look pretty darn handsome in them. 

They also got to attend their good friend's birthday party, which was Frozen theme at the Llyod  Center skating rink. Quincy and Braxton both wanted to give it a try, but got a little nervous when it actually came down to doing it. After a lot of convincing, they managed to get out there to try and there was a lot of this going on (picture below): 

Honestly, some of the adults looked like that too, so I'd say they did a great job for their first time! 

We love having awesome friends like the Garretts! 

There's been lots of quality jammie and baking time at home. 

This year I decided my nativity, that my Nanny gave to me needed a proper manger, so these two set to work on helping me build one. 

The finished result. 

It's been a busy month and one of the goals I've had is to try allow our home to have more peace throughout this season. We haven't had perfect streak of endless peaceful days, but the effort I've put out, has had a positive effect in our home. I've also tried to take time to enjoy my kids, even if that means snuggling little ones when I'm trying to dry wet hair, put make up on, and get dressed. 

My parent's celebrated their 30th year anniversary at the coast this year and invited us to join them for a quick family get away with my siblings too. Unfortunately Tyler had to work, but we made some smoothies to "celebrate" with them. I'm lucky to have had such great examples of what loving someone entails: forgiveness, understanding, continuous work and effort, and lots of laughter! 

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! 

Since Winter Break has officially started, I've been trying to keep my boys busy, in an effort to offset the opportunities for fighting. I braved some Christmas crafting and painting on Monday and as you can tell, they loved every second of it! 

Since we will only see my family for half of Christmas day I decided to host a little family game night for my parents and siblings. I made lots of treats, and snacks. It was a little snug in our small home, but it made me happy to see everyone having fun. We wish my brother Spencer and his partner David could have made it. :( 

There was so much food leftover, I think we'll do a round 2 Christmas night! 

We were told by a friend that Quincy made the newspaper... 

It was cool to read his letter to Santa in it! 

We have been truly blessed with the kindest neighbor EVER! She brought over new superhero jammies for our boys this morning and even let them finally watch The Little Mermaid movie (since we were watching youtube clips of it online.) I dream of owning my own home, and hopefully it's sooner rather than later, but I will be SO sad to not have her as a neighbor when we finally do find that future home. 

Towards the beginning of the month we went to Damascus for their tree lighting, held at the local fire station. There were Christmas songs being sung, treats and hot chocolate, an old firetruck lit up with lights, and of course, Santa was there. The boys got to deliver their letter to him and each got a candy cane. They were pretty happy about it. 

It's been a wonderful month and it's been filled with so much of the spirit of Christ. 

We have really felt the love and have enjoyed spreading it to others as well. 

We didn't send out cards this year, but we wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas!