Lights!

We "stole" my niece Tressa from BYU this weekend. It was such a fun time. We ate out with her Friday night, watched movies, took her to Seth's hockey game (7:30 a.m. ycuk!), made her help me put out the rest of my Christmas lights, set her up on a date with and old friend of Seth's, made her help me sub in nursery, and so much more!
The weekend went way too fast but we had so much fun. We were so happy to have her. Sam especially liked it. He made sure that Tressa was always around and when she and Seth ran an errand Sam was so worried that Tressa was leaving (he could have cared less that Dad left!). :)

Here's us outside putting up the lights. We were racing the snow!







Sunday Tressa wanted to help me pick and outfit (I think it was a hint!) :) I didn't have a necklace I wanted to wear. I've seen people upcycle vintage jewelry. I have a necklace of my Grandma's that I've wanted to do that too. So Sunday morning I gave it a try. I think it turned out pretty good. I made me so happy to wear my Grandm's necklace! (My Grandma's necklace is the silver chains. I added the ribbon, flower with button, and pearls)

Festival of Trees

This last weekend we went to the Festival of Trees for the first time. It is a wonderful fundraiser for Primary Children's. People decorate these amazing tree and then businesses and people come and bid on the trees and all that, plus admission, goes to the cause. It was so fun to see how much good it does.
We braved the cold and we so glad that we did. It was so beautiful it took my breath away. So much beauty, creativity, generosity....It will be a night I will always remember. I really want to find out how to donate a tree for next year. It would be such a great experience to do that.

My favorite.

Seth's favorite.

And a few more highlights. I couldn't post all. There were too many beautiful trees!




They even had quilts, wreaths, and gingerbread houses.

Here was the Highlight of Sam's night. We of course had to go around finding all the trains.

James and Sam

James is becoming quite the entertainment! He always cracks us up with the things he does. Here's a few of the highlights from this week....

Subtle isn't he....I guess he's feeling a little couped up!


Here is Sam in the corner...


So of course, this is James in the corner (he wasn't told to go there). I guess this is what he thinks you're supposed to do when you go to this corner...


You would think with all the toys in our house that he could find something to play with besides potatoes?! but I continually have to go around the house and pick them up after him.


And then there's Sam...(look closely at his head!)

Sam had a hard day on Sunday! Sunday morning he hit his head really hard on the kitchen chair. It immediately swelled up to the size of a very huge, purple golf ball. Seth and I were a bit freaked out, especially since I was supposed to be running out the door at that moment. We felt so bad for him, gave him some Tylenol and keep a check on his pupils. He seemed to be doing well.
Later that day I was getting something out of the dishwasher and then turned and kicked it up. Little did I know that Sam was leaning over it...BAM! Yet again, hit in the head. I thought, that's it, lets get in the car where he'll be buckled in and not be able to get hurt. So the boys started climbing in the car. Sam stood on a bucket that was in there and it flipped up, flipping him upside down and stuck on his head in between the seats! Are you kidding me?! I couldn't believe it!
This poor kid had a rough day! Needless to say he took a great nap the next day!

The Chair

So I got this amazing Lazy Boy recliner when I had Sam. It is the best chair ever and it was always been in the baby's room for me when I am nursing. Well, the chair has not been in use for a while so Seth suggested we bring it into our family room to use it. I thought, sure, why not, if it fits I'd love to sit in it.
Well, we brought the chair down and it is BIG. I looks like it is a centerpiece or something.
We tried to move the couch over, but that didn't work, we tried pushing as far back into the corner we could, but nothing works. Seth, however, couldn't disagree more. He loves the chair and is doing whatever he can to get it to stay.

As you can see, it is 3 against 1...what's new?!

I guess I'll just have to have another baby to get the chair back upstairs where it belongs! :)

Tressa's Rugby Game

We had so much fun yesterday at Tressa's Rugby game. She is playing rugby on the BYU women's team and she is really good.
We got there right on time and by the time we had unpacked the kids and got situated she had already scored a "try".
In the first half (which is all the kids lasted through) she had already scored 3 times. She was awesome. It was great to see her in the scrum, run, catch, and throw, and tackle who ever had the ball on the other team.

Here's some pictures and videos of her playing. I wish they were bigger. You can click on the pictures to see them better. Tressa is number 8 and has a big gray head band on. (In the top picture she is the one with the ball!)
It ended 59-0 and Tressa was made player of the game! Go Tress!

Tressa is the back player in the scrum

Here's one of her scores

Listening to the coach


Here's Tressa scoring from the scrum.


Here she takes down a girl toward the end of the clip. It's great!


Sam was very happy to just curl up in a blanket and hang out. It was so cold. We had a ton of snow at our house, but lucky there wasn't any in Provo.

James and Seth playing on the sidelines.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures...

Things we hear often when we are out:
Oh, twins?
How do you do it with them so close together?
They can't be more than a year a part...

So, I thought, I'm going to make them shirts...

although the picture of them kind of proves why so many people say those things....

We love our boys...short, skinny, tall, chubby. We take them as they come!

Tired.....

We all feel like we have been running 100 mph and haven't had a chance to stop. This is how we woke up Monday morning after all that has gone on....

James found some cookies for breakfast


Sam eatting a tootsie roll


Seth finishing the punch after a good work out

Makiah's Baptism

We have had the priveledge of having the missionaries in our home to teach a part member family. Melynn used to work with Seth and he, being the great missionary he is, would talk to her about the gospel all the time. As he likes to call it, he wore her down slowly! :) He told her that she had to ask him "one mormon question a week". She would come back with great questions that got her really thinking about her life.
Well, the time was finally right and we had her and her kids over for the disscussions. Kaden, 12, we found out was baptized, but Makiah, 9, wasn't able to. Melynn didn't want her to be baptized until she was 18. Kaleb, 5, would come in some times for the lessons, but was more of a firend for Sam during our lessons.
The lessons were great. It was the first time Seth and I have been a part of the new disscussions. We both served our missions before the change. It was a wonderful experience and we learned a lot.
Elder Lloyd and Elder Keller were great teachers that brought a great spirit into our home. Elder Lloyd was able to share some amazing stories from his life that were able to really touch Melynn.
Melynn was able to feel the spirit and remember believing when she was younger. Her heart softened and wanted her daughter to be baptized. She was able to be baptized this last Sunday, just a few days before Elder Lloyd finished his mission.
We had a great party for Meylnn and Makiah at our house after the baptism and most of Melynn's family was able to be here. It was overwhelming to meet and talk with here parents and see their gratitude to Seth for helping their daughter come back to the church. I will never forget their faces and their spirits. It was one of the most special times for me and especially Seth.

Trick-or-Treat

We had a great Halloween. It was fun to see Sam really get into it and understand. I loved how he would say "trick-or-treat", get his candy, and then go to the next house. He loved his "Thomas Box" even though he couldn't reach his hands around his front to reach his candy bucket! :)

Here's Sam trick-or-treating


James loved it too and got into it. He knew we were going from house to house and would just go up and take a candy. He wanted all the treats in his hands. He couldn't say "trick-or-treat" but he did give a few people a really good "BOO". It was so cute. He slept really well that night and took 2 naps the next day! It was great.

Here's the little cutie giving me a really scary "BOO"


And they're off...

James would have to pause and check out people's decor...

Fun getting treats from Sunny

We had some of my family over to dinner and trick-or-treating. It was fun. The kids love going out with their parents and then coming back and really go at it with Seth. He is so great. He takes all the kids out running for as long as they (or the candy at the houses) last. They always come back home bragging about how heavy their bags are, or how many "king sized" candies they got! My favorite time of the night is the candy trading. We did really well this year and were able to stock up on skittles (the boy's current favorite).

Sam asked the next morning if we could go do more trick-or-treating. I had to let him down easy and let him have a few treats fro breakfast....after all, it's tradition! :)

Pumpkin Patch and other long winded posts about how cute my boys are...

We finally did it on Monday. (And it's a good thing we did because it snowed Tuesday) We went to the Pumpkin Patch close by our house for Family Night. I've loved the idea of Pumpkin Patches since they first began and I've always wanted to go, but couldn't justify going just for me. But now that I have kids as an excuse, I get to do things like this all the time! :)
This pumpkin patch was the best. All the fun goodies are free, you just buy the pumpkins, which I must say were dirt cheap! They had a long row of about 10-15 trackers that the kids could get up and play on, a hay ride, and a little corn maze. The boys (and I) were so enthralled with the whole thing. We couldn't get them off the trackers, then we couldn't get them off the hay ride, then we couldn't get them away from the pumpkins, and then we couldn't get them out of the corn maze, and then we couldn't get them off the trackers again, and then we were finally all ready to leave as it got colder.

Here's my cute boys picking their very own pumpkins.


Sam is so optimistic, just like his dad. I love how excited he is about getting his pumpkins and pushing them around.



Sam chose very carefully!







James found just the right one.




I just LOVE the face James puts on here. Priceless! (You'll have to click on it to see his face bigger.)

Big man Sam on the tracker!


James was fine with whatever tracker you put him on. Just let him be...









Sam loved every minute of the trackers too. It was from the green one, to the white one, to the red one, to the yellow one...


I love the face Sam gave us as we tried to make him pose with James for a "Brothers" shot. A picture is worth a thousand words, or just one bad one! :)