Christmas at Home

Before we left for Brandon's family's house we opened all the presents we had under our tree. What little kid doesn't love having two Christmases!?! Austin was so excited. He had been so good all month leaving those presents alone. I am trying so hard to have him learn patience, something that Brandon doesn't have when it comes to presents. Daddy even let him open his presents (the Lego set).

Seeing Santa! 2013

Now, last year Austin was so excited to see Santa and then freaked out when I put him on Santa's lap. So, this year we wanted it to go better. We talked about Santa long before we went to see him, and how nice he is. Austin kept saying that he wanted to tell Santa that he wanted a choo-choo train that is blue and moves.

We like to go to the Riverwood's Mall and visit that Santa. His little area is right next to a toy store that has all different kinds of candy. Plus, it is free! As we waited in line Austin was jumping up and down to see Santa. He couldn't hold still. We were excited that it would go well. Right before we got up to him, the family ahead of us had four kids. One of the kids, about Austin's age threw a fit because he didn't want to sit with Santa. I was afraid that would make Austin not do it (especially after last year).

Austin walked right up to him, sat down, told him what he wanted, and then posed!

We went into the toy store after and each picked out some candy to eat on the way home. Seeing Santa was a success!!

Temple Square 2013

I love going up to Temple Square to see the lights. The night that we went it wasn't too cold. It was so nice compared to last year. That night was freezing! However, this one was warm enough that we could enjoy our time.

Austin was so excited when we got there. He couldn't wait to get out of the car. As we were walking across Temple Square to the reflecting pond, I was approached by a teenage boy holding a rose. As first, I tried to get out of his way, but then I realized it was for me. He handed it to me and said that he hopes that I have a wonderful night. It was so sweet! There were a bunch of young men passing out roses that night.

I am so happy that we live so close to Salt Lake. I never had the chance to see it when I was little. I am glad I can share it with my family. Austin was amazed by all the lights. He would run from one set of lights to another and say "See this one!" I love how excited he gets!

Getting Ready for Christmas!

We have been getting ready to Christmas. This is one of my favorite holidays. My family always set up the tree and decorations on or after the 10th. I always had a hard time waiting. I decided that I was going to set up on the 1st. I actually did it on the 2nd. Yeah, I can wait. ;)

Brandon always tells me that there is no room in our house for the tree, the downfall of a townhome. Well, I still always do it. Sometimes I wonder how Brandon can be so grinchy. Due to him saying the no room thing, I set it all up myself. We don't go huge. My parents do huge, but I love it. I hang up our stockings, the tree, some things on the walls, and a few lights in the kitchen. Oh, and the advent calendar I made earlier this year.

Oh, and yes. I did wrap many of the presents the day I put the tree up. No, I am not crazy! I hate having the tree up and nothing under.

We made some cookies to give out to people in the neighborhood. One day, Austin was so grumpy after nap. He wouldn't come down stairs. I placed a plate of cookies on the stairs. He still wouldn't come down. I bet that if I had placed some fruit or veggies on it, he would have been down. This kid is strange!

The peppermint candy cane cookies were alright, but not pepperminty enough. They had a very slight peppermint taste. next time I will add lots more extract.

 Peppermint Candy Cane cookies

Austin has been wanting to help out more. He loves helping me roll tortillas. Also, he is learning how to write letters.

Ward Christmas Activity

I don't know if I have mentioned this, but I am the Primary President of our ward. It happened at the end of October. For the ward activity the Primary had to put on a nativity. We didn't have a ton of time so we just planned on the kids singing a song, dressing up, and standing around while a bishopric member reads around the birth of the Savior story.

The nursery kids were able to dress up, too. There was no oxen outfits, but there were cow costumes. Austin was so excited to dress up. He felt like a big boy!

The First Snow of Winter

Well, it didn't snow, like really snow until a few days ago. Austin was so excited to play in it. However, Gus absolutely loves the snow! He rolls around in it, eats it, and just gallops through it when he is outside.

I taught Austin the joys of throwing snowballs. That is all that he wanted to do! He especially loved throwing it on the dog (video below).

The sad part is that where we live, we don't tend to get much snow. As you can tell, there was like 3 inches, but it was still snowing. It was all gone the next day but still it was fun.

Letter to Santa

With Austin now old enough to understand holidays, and Santa, we decided he was going to write a letter to Santa.

It reads:
December 1st, 2013
North Pole

Dear Santa,
     I have tried hard to be a good boy. For this Christmas, I would like a "choo-choo" train. A blue one would be best, and one that moves and says "chugga-chugga... choo-choo!"
     I will be sure to leave out cookies for you. Please remember that I will be at my Nana and Pappy's house for Christmas.

Love,
Austin

Brandon helped him write it, but he came up with what to say (obviously, Brandon helped word it). Austin was so happy to send it to Santa! Let's hope he gets a choo-choo train!!

Thanksgiving 2014

Well, this Thanksgiving didn't turn out the way I thought it would. It all started on Tuesday as I was driving to Brandon's work to get him and then we were going to head to Colorado. Well, I started to feel really sick and was throwing up multiple times before I got to his office. I thought that the majority of it had passed so we decided to keep on driving. However, no even on the freeway and we needed to stop again so I could throw up. That ended the trip right there.

We headed back home, me barely keeping it together, and called his parents to tell them we weren't coming. I called the hotel and canceled our reservation for the night, but I couldn't get the money back. Lame! We looked at getting flights for Austin and Brandon that night but Brandon decided it wasn't worth it to leave me home sick.

By the morning I was feeling fine, wishing that we could drive all day and get to Colorado or fly there. That quickly changed. Brandon and Austin both woke up with whatever I had.

Austin feeling sick, napping on our bed

I knew that the only choice was to stay. That meant going to the store, buying them some Powerade or something, and picking up a whole Thanksgiving dinner (yes, the day before)! I was so not looking forward to the trip to the store. Yes, it is like 5 minutes down the road but still, it was going to be crazy!

Well, the good thing about Walmart is that they tend to keep most of the stuff stocked. After being sick, and hoping it would be just as fast for the boys, I wasn't going to make much. Brandon told me what he wanted so I ended up with a lot of food. Oh, well!

Ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn, carrots, gravy, and rolls!

Even though it didn't go as we had pictured, we still had a wonderful time! The boys were better on Thanksgiving and we were so grateful that we were together as our little family. Even though we didn't get to be with our extended family, we knew we would see them in a month for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Advent Calendar

I was trying to think of a way to make an advent calendar that focuses on the Savior but still is fun. Growing up I loved our advent calendar. We would get a piece of candy everyday until Christmas. However, that wasn't what I had in mind. I did some research and I found one that I got the idea for mine from.

Me mapping it out and trying to decide if I liked it.

Painting the board I got at Micheal's white. If I ever did this again I would have sanded down the sides first. Oh, well. I was just so excited.

Gluing it all down

Finished! There are some bubbles, but oh well. I really don't have much patience to let it dry past the time the bottle says. I love it! Austin is excited to put on the cards that I made for each day. Those were a pain to drill. Next time drill the holes first, then put the pictures on.

Croup...

Austin had croup. That was not fun. I had a hard time sleeping because I was so worried that he would have trouble breathing and I wouldn't notice. Therefor, I got out the baby monitor. I was actually able to get some rest with that turned up by my head. I also checked on him multiple times a night. I think that Brandon thought I was crazy, but it is scary to hear your child breathing like that. Luckily, it wasn't bad and we didn't need to take him in to the doctor.

The first night it happened, he seemed just fine before bed. We had just got him a new hat, Brobee, which he loved. The hat is lined and he wanted to wear it to bed. We didn't fight him because we were just going to take it off later. When I went to take it off, that is when I heard him all wheezy. We quickly got him up, and into the bathroom. He sounded much better and we decided to see how he would do the rest of the night. He was fine, thankfully!

Going to bed with the hat the first night

 You would never know that he was sick, this never slowed him down. I just kept smiling and running all day no matter how much I tried to get him down.

The next morning

I am glad that he is feeling better and grateful it was just a mild case.

Halloween 2013

We had a fabulous Halloween. Austin normally hates touching anything slimy. I was a little worried about how he would do with carving pumpkins. He was nervous when I cut it open, but after he got his hands in the pumpkin he was totally fine. He ended up cleaning out two of the three pumpkins.

First reaction

As you can tell, he quickly decided it was fun. Ignore the lack of pants and a shirt. You never know when this boy will make a mess.

Austin and Daddy happily gutting the pumpkins.

This was our attempt to smile for the camera. Austin has the best cheese face, but you can really never see it.

Since I am home now, I decided that I was going to do something festive with the kids. Austin and one of his friends I watch got to help cut out sugar cookies and then decorate them later. It was a mess but they loved it and quickly ate the two cookies they got to frost.

Austin got to pick his costume this year, a minion. About a month ago I was shopping for Brandon's birthday with Austin at the outlets. I stopped in at Osh'Kosh because Austin's belt broke and he wanted a new one. Once we got to the back to find the belts, he started freaking out because he saw the overalls. He was jumping up and down saying, "I want to be a MINION!!" over and over. So, I bought some overalls for him and it was decided.

I ended up dying a white shirt to get it to the color we wanted, buying a beanie, and some goggles. This boy was so happy when he was able to wear his goggles. I was unsure if he would leave them on, but he did, and never wanted to take them off.

The whole get-up

I also made some milk jug ghosts. They were so fun and cute. I kept them in the house until Halloween night because it was so windy, but that died down on Halloween. Thank goodness.

Minion, the ghosts, and the pumpkins

One of my friends works at a pharmacy and had a bunch of scrubs, and another friend had a stethoscope so I dressed as a nurse. Brandon didn't dress up so here is a picture of the two of us. I sure love that little boy.