Christmas 2017 and Happy New Year!

I think every year I say, "We are going to have a small Christmas this year!"And then as I look around on Christmas morning at the piles of wrapping paper and presents everywhere I say to myself... "Well that didn't happen." I must say though, this year I think there were fewer toys and more gifts of things they actually needed, especially for Gabe and Caleb. Gabe is going to be playing soccer on a traveling team this Spring, which is crazy expensive plus all the travel costs and uniform fees. So for Christmas he got a lot of soccer practice clothes (shorts and shirts, etc.), some new shoes, a book, and then for fun gifts he got a Star Wars lego set, a science kit, a catapult building set, a couple board games and that's about it! Oh and he got this Marble run set from Santa! (That's what he wanted!)

This year was the first year that Gabe actually knew the "Santa Secret." I took him shopping alone in Idaho Falls one day right after Thanksgiving and talked to him about it. I expected him to be shattered, but he kind of was like, "Mom, I kind of already suspected that..." But I think knowing it for sure, he was a little less excited on Christmas morning, which makes me a little sad that that chapter of his life is over. Caleb on the other hand was awake until about midnight, not falling asleep in hopes he would catch a glimpse of the big guy! Hopefully he still has a couple years of wonder left.

Gabe tried messing with me a little bit though with his newfound "knowledge." About a week before Christmas, Avery announced that she wanted a Hatchimals for Christmas.

(*Note to Grandma D. and Gramps - In case you were not aware, a Hatchimals is an expensive stuffed animal that is basically programmed to make different sounds and has eyes that light up in different colors, which indicate it being "happy" or "hungry"or "sad" or "cold" or "lonely" etc. There are certain things you are supposed to do to calm it, such as "tap its nose" or "rub its belly" and then it will feel better. When you first buy it, it comes in this egg thing with a breakable shell that you have to rub for about 15 minutes until it "hatches" and then you can pull out the stuffed animal.)

Well, Avery even wanted the "twins" version, which comes with TWO of them. When Avery announced that she wanted it, I'm sitting there thinking, "Heck no! I already bought all your presents and I'm not spending $50 on a dumb Hatchimal!" And so I said, "No way Avery, sorry." And Gabe goes, "Avery, it's okay! Just ask SANTA  for it!" Then he looks over at me with an evil grin and a twinkle in his eye. Not cool. Avery sat down the next day and wrote her very first letter to Santa all by herself, asking for a Hatchimals twins set. Like a chump, I went online to Target and found one (on sale for $40... eyeroll) and ordered it.

Avery got the biggest loot as far as fun presents (but she's 5 so that's to be expected, right?) Her toys included a Shimmer and Shine magic carpet flying set, some Nom Noms, a couple of little Hatchimals (not to be confused with the BIG Hatchimal) a Shimmer and Shine Busy book with little figurines, a Lego Elves set, Disney Princess Clip-ins Dolls and castle, and a couple other small things. Then she got a hat, gloves, some boots, pajamas, underwear, socks, hair bows, crayons, coloring books, play doh, and a few other small things.

Caleb got a lot of the same things as Gabe (science kit, lego set, clothes) and then also a constellation night light, some books, and some transformers. His big thing that he wanted from Santa was these Skylanders game pieces. (It's for the Wii video game console.) Gabe and Caleb also got a few presents that were kind of for the both of them, including a table top fooseball game, monopoly, another board game called "Diary of a Wimpy kid", and chess. Oh and each of the three kids got a new scooter as well. So yeah, not a very small Christmas!

Josh got me a crockpot, I got myself some clothes (haha) and I got Josh a nail gun and compressor. We are also counting Disney World as part of our present. Josh is building me some stuff for the living room too, like a new end table and some shelves, so that nail gun will come in handy,

Over the Christmas break, we spent pretty much all day on Christmas just at home playing with new toys and hanging out. Then the next day we went sledding at the sand dunes and then in the evening the boys went to see the new Star Wars movie (which one? like 27? I don't even know.) Avery and I went to McDonalds. Some other fun things we did included swimming at the AmericInn (a nearby hotel), more time at the Gravity Factory (indoor trampoline park), and Josh's niece, Lorie, got married! She is 20 and is the oldest of all the grandkids (all 22 of them!) and she got married in Idaho Falls on December 29th. Then we had her reception on the 30th. I'm sure it won't be long before Skylar and Alex and so on start getting engaged... It's crazy that Josh's parents will probably be GREAT grandparents in the next couple of years.

Josh was lucky to have quite a few days off, but he did have to work just Wednesday and Thursday of the week. Then he was off again Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (New Year's Day.) For New Year's we really didn't do anything exciting. It was on a Sunday night and we have kids soooo.... that pretty much makes it an unexciting day for us! We watched a movie together as a family and then we found the Ball Drop on TV and watched that. The boys actually did stay up until midnight (we watched the ball drop in my bed and then said "Goodnight!" and told them to go to bed!) but Avery went to sleep at about 10:30. She did watch one of those little count downs on Netflix so she felt like she saw something. But I think she was expecting more. New Year's is probably pretty anticlimactic for kids. It's like you just get over the high of Christmas and then get told the next holiday is New Year's, only to then find out there aren't any presents or anything! You just count down from ten and go to sleep! She even was like, "Wait! Where's my presents?!" haha sorry honey. New Year's is lame.
I especially hate New Years because it means I get to see everyone's posts on social media about how they will work out and be healthy now! Can it be February already so that can stop?! LOL I'll just be over here easting my Chick Fil A sandwich if anyone needs me! Josh always complains that the gym is SOOO crowded in January and he can't wait for all "those resolutioners" to quit. I probably should be a little more concerned since I am going to to Florida in three weeks and will probably have to put on a swimsuit.... maybe I will try to eat a little healthier these next few weeks. But I make no promises.

Well that's about all for now! I have my Etsy shop back open now and am mostly just answering a lot of questions from bride's in planning mode (everyone gets engaged over the holidays and then starts planning, but most orders don't actually start until closer to Spring, so it's pretty slow.) But I am closing up shop again here in a couple weeks when we leave for Florida so overall I'm feeling pretty unambitious!

Here are LOTS of pictures! Happy Holidays! And thank you everyone for the money and gifts!

(Pre-Christmas fun! Kendalin's birthday party and 

then a game night at our neighbor's, the Mccluskey's, house)

Our attempts at beautiful Christmas family pictures (this is why I pay professionals)

Christmas Eve presents (robes and pajamas!)

Christmas Morning! 

Kitty asking: "What is all this stuff?!"

Sledding the day after Christmas:

More fun at Gravity Factory:

Swimming at the AmericInn:

Lorie's Wedding (all the grandkids!):

Josh's end table he built! I'm giving him more assignments now!

Thanksgiving, Getting ready for Christmas, and Officer of the Year!

This year for Thanksgiving, Josh's older brother, Bryan, invited us all to have Thanksgiving at the church that he is the Bishop over in Rigby. I took my usual candied yams and pies. Stacey drove up here for the weekend and went to Thanksgiving dinner and then Black Friday shopping with us the next day. I didn't really get too crazy with my shopping. We went out early Friday morning and went to Kohls, Target, and a few other places. Then we went to lunch at Rumbi and then met Josh, who had come to Idaho falls with Avery, and Stacey took her home while Josh and I stayed and went a few more places. We had decided that our Toyota Highlander was causing us more headaches than it was worth. It had stalled on the highway on me a few weeks earlier and it looked like it may have more troubles down the road. So we decided to a start looking for another vehicle. We test drove a Buick Enclave that night and I really liked it, but sadly it sold to another family the very next day. So we kept looking over the next couple of weeks and ended up buying one by mid-December. Some may say that a Buick is a grandma car. I saw that it's quite comfortable and has a place for me to organize all my change... haha okay so maybe that is a grandma car quality. Who uses change these days?! lol But anyways, it's nice and hopefully it lasts use for a while.

Also on Thanksgiving weekend, Josh got to go out and do one of his favorite things: going fishing down the river with his friends (well actually his cousins - Steve and Devin.) I legitimately thought he had died he was gone so long. I even went online and made sure his life insurance was paid for the year. I tried calling and calling him and he wasn't answering. Finally, as his dad and Devin's wife, Charm, were about to go out and look for their bodies, he did call us back and tell us they were alive and just getting off the river. I expected there to be a really good reason for his unreasonably long amount of time fishing, such as a problem with the boat or an injury. His good reason? "It was the best fishing I've ever had in my life." I'm so glad. Because he probably won't be going fishing again for a long, long time.

The Mighty Fisherman

Goodbye Toyota Highlander

Hello Buick Enclave

In between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a few fun things we did included going to see Santa at the carousel (The carousel closes on Labor day and Avery is always so sad, so this is a nice opportunity for her to get her fix again until Memorial Day)

Avery and I went swimming one day at a local hotel. She LOVES swimming and often asks to do this. I always say no, but one morning when the boys had just left for school and she happened to be awake early that day, I said "Let's go swimming!" She about fell off her chair. She was so excited! We just went from about 8:30-10:00 and then we had to hurry home and get to school by 10:45! But she had so much fun. We had the whole pool to ourselves!

Avery got this new dress that has a fox face on it. Here she is modeling it one Sunday:

Our ward had a Polar Express Party for Christmas on a Saturday morning (the 16th) and our bishop dressed up as the conductor and punched the tickets as the kids arrived. It was so cute! They had made everyone pancakes and hot cocoa. It was lots of fun and everyone came in their pajamas!

Kitty loves the Christmas tree...

Christmas shopping at Walmart:

A project that Josh build and I painted for the boys' room:

Playing in the very first snow for the season 

(we have gotten a little more since that day, but still not too much!)

Making Christmas cookies:

My "ugly" sweater (I actually really like it! And it lights up!!!)

I helped out with Avery's class party this year. I had helped with Caleb's for Halloween so I had promised Avery I would help with hers at Christmas. We had the kids make these cute ornaments with their pictures in the middle. I think I overestimated the skill level of the kindergarteners and the moms had to help wrap the yard around each one. It kind of turned into a scene of chaos trying to get each child's ornament done before the timer chimed and they had to rotate. LOL (Please note Avery's teacher in the background of the picture. Yes, I feel ya lady. It was a loooong day. haha)

Josh had quite the honor bestowed upon him. It's kind of funny how it all came to be. So every year the Police Department does a Christmas party. This year, the K9 division was in charge of it. That basically is just Josh and one other guy named Ryan! So they ended up doing a lot of work. One of their tasks was to collect some prizes to be handed out for the raffle at the party. So they went around to local businesses and were asking, "Would you like to donate a Christmas present to a police officer to be handed out at our party?" A lot of businesses donated things. They had tires, oil change passes, flashlights, remote starts for a car, movie passes, gift cards, and so on. But the biggest prize was that a local bank donated $1000 to be used as a vacation getaway and they had talked about Vegas specifically (since you can usually find flights there for about $100 a person). So when the Chief heard about this big prize donation, he said, "Why don't we make this an award for an officer of the year? We can send out a survey to everyone who works at the police department by email and they can submit their answers anonymously and then we will find out who the peers vote as the officer of the year." So they sent out this survey that had about ten questions on it, things like, "Who would you most want for backup on a call?" and "who is always willing to help without being asked?" and "who establishes positive ties with the community with his actions" and so on. The winner was then announced at the Christmas Party and only the Chief knew the winner ahead of time. Well guess who it was... yup. Josh. He actually even said to me before the party, "I really don't want to win" just because he knew there would be a new article involved. He's so shy about that sort of thing. But I think he is excited to have the extra $1,000! The bank manager, who is also our neighbor, said he didn't mind if we used at at Disney World so we may just do that. Josh is also talking to his dad about going to Alaska in June, so we will probably need to extra money to cover that also! Here is Josh accepting his award:

And finally, in these days leading up to Christmas, we had been spending a lot of time as a place called Gravity Factory. It is an indoor trampoline park about five minutes from our house. The kids LOVE it. We bought the boys some Winter Break passes so they can go as many times as they want over these two weeks when school is out. I probably should have just bought Avery one too since she always wants to tag along! We all went as a family the first time to check it out. But the boys have been back every day since!

Well, Christmas is just two days away now! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we plan to go to church during the day and then relax in the evening and get to bed early! (Well that is my plan anyways.) Today we went to Josh's parents' house to have their celebration with a breakfast and then some outdoor fun. The boys (and Avery a few times) got pulled around on the sleds behind the four-wheeler. Then Avery and I left by about 11:30 and she went to her friend, Kendalin's, birthday party at the gravity factory! (We can get enough of that place!)

 (Bryan and Jada's family got a new puppy!)

 I am just finishing up some last things for Christmas while they are away! Next blog will be Christmas stuff and then start prepping for Disney World! Soooo excited!!!

Halloween Fun!

We had so much fun this year for Halloween (Well at least I did! I think everyone else did. Josh is kind of a Halloween grinch but whatever...) Caleb had originally said he wanted to do some sort of Star Wars costumes this year. But then he saw Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 and thought it was the best movie ever and the whole plan changed. We also found him a Rocket Raccoon costume at Target one day for like $17 so I figured I should support this decision.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of doing group Halloween costumes that match. I think the first time I did this was in college when me and my room mates went to a Halloween party as the cast of Beauty and the Beast. (In case you were wondering, I was the Beast.) Then there was the year that our family and my mom and Jesse and Rachel and Jasmine did the Wizard of Oz thing (I was the wicked witch and my mom was Glenda the good witch... wearing my prom dress... let's not talk about it. lol)

But anyways, in the past few years Avery has kind of run the show when it comes to the costumes. She wanted to be Princess Peach one year... therefore Gabe and Caleb were Mario and Luigi. She wanted to be Tinkerbell one year. Therefore Gabe was a pirate and Caleb was Peter Pan (he wasn't super happy.) So this yea, Caleb said "Mom, it should be MY turn to pick the costumes." Gabe is kind of getting to that age where he's not sure if it's cool to still dress up or not. A few of his friends said they weren't dressing up (and then later did so... haha) but Gabe was going through this kind of inner debate about what to do. So I think when Caleb wanted to take the reigns on costumes, it made it easy for Gabe to say "Okay... I guess I will... for Caleb... you know, not cause I want to... but cause Caleb and my mom are making me" (but secretly he wanted to dress up anyways.) So Gabe ended up being StarLord and I ended up being Gamora. Caleb of course was Rocket Racoon. We wanted Avery to be baby Groot but there was no way she was agreeing to be a little brown ugly tree person. She instead just went her own way and was "Shimmer" from the show "Shimmer and Shine" (a pink haired genie girl.) Her next door neighbor friend, Kendalin, was "Shine" (the other genie.) I wanted Josh to be Drax so bad (and everyone knew he would've been perfect) but he didn't want to because, like I said earlier, he is the Halloween grinch.

So my costume was actually super easy. I had the black leather pants (this surprises anyone? lol) and I found a cheap black tank top at Walmart and a long sleeved green shirt in the boys department. Then it was just a matter of painting my face green and putting on a wig from Amazon! I think we turned out pretty amazing. See comparison below:

We even ended up winning second place at the school carnival! We wore our costumes that Friday before Halloween for the carnival, then again on Monday night for a church party, then again Tuesday (actual Halloween) for school parties and trick or treating. This year we just stayed in our neighborhood for trick or treating. By the time it got dark it was so cold we just wanted to come home and relax. I also helped out with Caleb's class party this year and so I was in charge of some minute-to-win it type games. We did a eyeball ping pong type game (basically beer pong... thanks Wisconsin upbringing), throwing spiders into a web on the wall, tossing a ring around a pumpkin stem, and assembling a skeleton. So it was pretty fast-paced and fun! I had to wear my pirate costume from a few years ago to school though because heavy makeup at school was not allowed (and I am not a rule breaker.)

So what else...? Oh, we went to a fun pumpkin patch (another one) where we did a hay ride and they have this pumpkin cannon that they launch pumpkins and try to hit these old cars in the field! (Idaho redneck fun) And Gabe had a field trip one day to the straw maze in town so me and Avery tagged along to that. It just happened to be on a day when Avery didn't have school due to parent teacher conferences. That was really fun. They had this big slide that we went down at the very end. I'm glad Gabe doesn't seem to mind us showing up. Maybe he realizes that all the girls in his class think it's so cute that he's nice to his little sister. 

I think that's about all for now! It seems like winter is officially knocking at our door. The leaves are now all fallen and raked up. We put all our outdoor patio furniture away, vacuumed and washed the 4 Runner and put it in the garage (it's usually usually on the street for Summer and all our bikes are down in the garage), cleaned up all our rotting pumpkins and threw them away, and some people are even putting up Christmas lights already! (gasp) We haven't done that yet, but probably soon! We even had a tiny snowfall this morning that had the ground dusted in white. Avery insisted on putting all her snow clothes on and playing in it! Time keeps on ticking by! I wish we could fast forward to Spring again. Maybe someday I will be able to get on a plane and fly away when the first snow falls and come back in April! 

Here are some more pictures of the last of Fall 2017!