Uncle Matt

Matt came to visit us for the holidays. Well, Christmas, we aren't fun enough to spend New Years with. lol I probably agree. He stayed with us for a week. He got here a few days before my parents came, who also came for Christmas. We decorated sugar cookies with Matt.

We took him to the zoo (we need to find new activities to do with guests!)

We also spent a few hours one day at the bounce jungle.
We watched Lost when the kids were sleeping and played when they were awake. We Christmas shopped and relaxed a lot. Matt is such an easy guest to have. He just goes with the flow and the kids love him. I think he should move here now that he is all growed up and has a degree...

Lilys favorite part of the Christmas season...

Oreos with the red cream.....Heaven for a little girl!

When the cats away...

Lily loves the goats at the zoo, and this goat loved Karen...
We very lucky to have Grandma Karen come and bring Aunt Sara and cousins Quindy and Slade. They came while we were in San Diego and then had to go back to get ready for Christmas. I only got to play with them one day. So we went to the zoo. It was a fun day and the kids were exhausted! They had so much fun while we were gone. It was wonderful having such great babysitters! Karen sent an email with many funny comments and activities done while we were gone. They were great and will be good memories to have in Max's book. Thanks you guys for coming!!

Miss Diana

This is Diana. She is a friend that Brian met on his mission a few years back (like 14 or 15 if you want to be more specific). Her family is one of the few families Brian has kept in touch with. She is a doll and we love her and her mother. She has kidney disease and recently received a new kidney. It is her 2nd donor kidney. The first donor lasted longer then it should have and hopefully this one will too! We were able to go and visit her while she was in the hospital in San Diego a few weeks ago. It was so nice to get to know her better! She is such a neat girl,

she is one of those people that makes everyone want to be better. She is genuine and I just love her!

Happy Happy Birthday Brian Dear...

Someone in our house turned 34 today, Yep I am married to an old man! If he were a woman he would be my cougar...because I am sooo much younger then him. What is it called since he is a man?
Here are the top 10 reasons to love Brian so much...
10. He always makes the bed, cleans the dishes, and clips the kids toe/fingernails
9. He is a good cook
8. He can fix, build, or make anything look better
7. He is nice to look at
6.He is a very hard worker
5. He is very loyal, not just to me but to friends, co-workers, family, etc
4. He is HUMBLE. (So I never thought he was cocky or anything, but I didn't realize he was this humble until recently.. I would tell you how I learned but I am not allowed to blog about it. Which I agree some things are too personal to blog about)
3. He is such a good Dad. He loves his children and he shows it in many ways, daily
2. He loves his wife and treats her the way every woman should be treated.
1. He is very charitable, I mean, he would and does almost anything for anyone.
So the list could go on but I will stop embarrassing him. I don't know people that don't like Brian. He is a good guy. I am lucky to have found him and even luckier to have convinced him to marry me. He makes me want to be a better person and he is a good example to our kids...oops, I think I kept going on....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN!

Random days of our lives...

We (meaning Brian) bought this scary Santa to put on our front porch at a garage sale. It was very pricey for something that will give you nightmares. It is "antique" meaning very sun bleached from living in this state. The kids LOVE it. Max hugs and kisses it on a very regular basis.....
we played.... or pretended that we were jungle gyms

We FINALLY painted one of our hideously ugly walls. If you have been to my house, you will understand. If you haven't, the red wall in pictures is the one I am referring too. It was red, which could have been great but then they did a green/gray faux finish on it. And it was done very poorly... so we are only renting but couldn't live with it any longer. This color is on a different wall and the paint was in the garage so it didn't cost us anything.

Brian refinished our picnic table, while Max refinished his

We decorated for Christmas. This little tree was to go on the porch with its 2 partners. But it went missing...after the lights were put on it. I saw it in Maxs' room and he said, "it is a Max size tree for my room." I have let him keep it in there, even though my front porch looks bare with only the two...i am a sucker for his excitement (the excitement that is very obvious in this picture) All Max wanted for Christmas was a tree. So does that mean I should return his gifts?
Here is Max excited about the Christmas Socks we pulled out....I think he was sad when I hung them up.

As always, Lily wants to be read to all day long. Sometimes it is a group activity


Brian was working on the earlier mentioned picnic table and Max needed to help. He LOVES tools..this one scared him at first and he needed some safety goggles.

After he found more protective and less pink eye protection, he didn't want to stop sanding. He is his fathers son.....
Although, i haven't seen Brian wear this kind of eye gear while sanding. Maybe Max is starting a new trend

Gingerbread Houses

The other night some friends came over to make Gingerbread houses. We had a great time. I am sure both of our houses won...

THe Christmas Tree hunt

Since Brian and I got married we have enjoyed the tradition of cutting down our own tree. Every year we bundle up, load up in the truck or Bronco and head for the mountains. Some years we have gone with family, some years with friends. We walk in deep snow until we find the perfect tree. The one that looks kinda Charlie Brownish but fuller and no holes...it is a challenge but one we love.
This year was very similar, we loaded up in the truck with our cousins, wore sweaters (it was in the 60s that night), drove a whole 5 miles up the road. Walked all the way from the parking lot to the trees, said "how much?" The guy pointed and said the amounts and we choose our tree...

So it may have only had the end result in common, but still fun and we got a great tree!

more dancing

I accidentally deleted this in the previous post and blogger doesn't want to do what I tell it too lately...

Katelyn and Cory

So I really don't have good pictures of any of this wedding...it was a perfect day and she was beautiful! I will post good pictures of this darling couple when I get them from others.

Here is my family.... were any of us looking at the same camera?

My three little brothers...

I really do just have cute siblings!

she must be standing on something...i am wearing heels with height and she is wearing low heels and I know she isn't that much taller then me. cuter yes, taller, no. (okay so she is taller but not that much)

check out this bouquet!! wow! the reception looked sooo good! All of the flowers were just perfect!
Lily didn't want to participate in pictures, so we kept popping m&ms in her mouth. It kept her semi-happy. She later was on such a sugar high that she was hilarious! And HAPPY for enough of the night, then she went to bed.

My cute Granny and I

I wish i had a picture of the food display it was cute with these yummy homemade gourmet cookies my mom has been slaving away on... and a big candy bar..what more could you want?
I only show this picture so you can see the bottom of the baby girls dresses...LOVE IT
a wedding isn't complete without some dancing

Or using the wheelchair ramp as a slide... fun times fun times