Tuesday, December 31, 2013

12

John and I celebrated 12 years of marriage on the 29th! It's hard to believe that it's been 12 years! 

My parents decided to come for a short visit, so we got to take advantage of free babysitting services which doesn't happen too often around here. We started off going ice skating (my first time! And by the end I was able to actually skate around the rink, which I consider to be a success!), shopped, grabbed a little bite to eat, saw Ender's Game (not impressed with the movie. I would've hated it if I hadn't read the book.), and finished off the evening at a Mexican restaurant (not our favorite one, but it was still good!). 

But the best part was just spending time together, uninterrupted, doing whatever we wanted. Because he's pretty fun to hang out with. :)

We have definitely been busybusybusy. Last night we had a surprise birthday party to go to, which was also great adult time, and tonight we will be celebrating the new year with some other friends (along with our kids!). After that, I feel like I should be entitled to a nap, but we have Preston's birthday tomorrow (although his party will be in a couple of weeks). 

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

We had quite the eventful Christmas this year, mostly due to one of the boys' Christmas presents: a new puppy! Ender is a tiny (so far) lab/blue heeler mix who is only about 7-8 weeks old. She is sweet, cute, and loves the boys.
(Above: Ender's first walk on Christmas Eve...no snow! Woohoo!)

Last night we went to the Christmas Eve service at church last night, and then did our Christmas celebration with John's mom. This morning we woke up bright and early (5:30!!!!!!), the boys opened their stockings, we has breakfast, and then opened presents. Ender loved all of the excitement, and she especially loves the wrapping paper and bows! 

The boys spent most of the day playing with their gifts of course. The favorite gifts being skylanders (for all of them), spy kit (Preston), roller skates (Bryton), and Jake & the Neverland Pirates playsets (Arch).

And one of my favorite presents:

I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus with my little family. It's so nice to be able to just focus on spending time together and not feel pressure to split our time in a million different directions. We seriously relaxed the entire day today! The boys cuddled with the pup, and John even cooked dinner! And I may or may not have played my fair share of skylanders... :)

Next up...12th anniversary celebrations in 4 days, and 8th birthday of the oldest on the 1st! 


Monday, December 16, 2013

Christmas Program & Snow

Preston's school had a Primary Christmas Program last week. It was crazy crazy packed, but the kids did a good job and had fun. It was just 1st-3rd graders, so B didn't get to participate.

It was so hard to get a good picture! There were so many people and we were at a weird angle to the stage, but I managed to get one where you can tell it's Preston anyway!
In weather news, we got our first real snow (a couple of inches) last week. Bryton made snowmen all over our yard! It was.so sad the next morning when he realized that they had melted overnight. But a happier aspect of that is that we no longer have snow! It lasted for literally ONE day! That is my kinda snow!

Spontaneous Getaway

This weekend we got to have a little spontaneous getaway! John and I love to take spontaneous trips...in fact most of the smaller trips we take are impromptu. 

Our friends were having their work Christmas party at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, and one of their employees had to cancel at the last minute, leaving them with an empty, already paid for, room. So they invited us up to join them! They have 2 boys who are the same ages as our older boys, so our kids got to entertain each other. 

We went hot tubbing (and the kids alternated between the hot tub and the big pool) outdoors in the snow, the kids played lots (and lots of chess), and watched movies. John can't ski yet, so we just hung around and relaxed. My favorite! It was a fun way to spend the weekend, and it was even more enjoyable to be able to spend it with friends.


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The North Pole

(...and temperatures to go with it!)

Last night we took the boys to the North Pole. This is something we try to do every year, but I think we have missed one year since we moved here. They get the cruise ships all decorated for Christmas, go past the Christmas light display (which included a fire breathing dragon this year - with REAL fire - the boys were enthralled!), and the Grinch runs alongside the boat trying to stop it. 

We journeyed out to the North Pole where Santa & his elf read "the list" with all the names of the kids on board. My cynical children, however, proceeded to announce that their Mom or Dad must have told the elves their names. I guess we need to talk about keeping their lack of Santa belief to themselves again!

But they enjoyed it, and we enjoyed it too. One thing I am NOT enjoying is the frigid weather. We have lows coming up in the negatives, and highs in the single digits. Right now it is hovering around 12, and it's supposed to get colder, and colder, and colder...

We also had Santa come by our house the other night! First a fire truck with lights & siren alerted us to go outside, then Santa in his sleigh came by while the elves handed out candy canes.