Year in Review

Since I haven't done a Christmas newsletter or  anything like that I thought I'd just do a year in review on my blog for 2011

JANUARY-  We started the year off celebrating with my family.  I started my first digital scrapbooking class which has been a lot of fun.  Porter turned ten months old and started to seem less like a baby.  We enjoyed some warm  weather by playing outside.  Stephen was working hard on school and with him still being unemployed we weren't sure what the year would bring.

FEBRUARY-  In February I expressed my love for different people and things.  We also took our boys to see Rose in Charlotte's Web that her drama class put on.

MARCH-  In March Porter turned one!  We had a "On the Go" birthday party for him.  I made all the boys shirts and party hats.  He started to walk a little bit to that month.  I did have a hard time getting him to drink out of any kind of cup, thankfully with time we overcame that issue.  We also had fun celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

APRIL- In April Tanner gave his very first primary talk.  We had fun decorating Easter Eggs and doing a hunt in our yard.  We had an enjoyable Easter.  We also enjoyed some wonderful Spring weather.  At the end of the month the boys had fun helping me celebrate my 28th birthday.

MAY-  We spent an enjoyable Mother's Day with my parents in May.  We also got to see Eric and Tami and go to the annual Zillah Community Days Parade.  One of the most fun things we did was seeing Rose in her last high school play where she played Cinderella.  We also got to hang out with Holly and her family.

JUNE-  In June I found myself at Rose's high school graduation and facing the fact that I graduated ten years ago.  Yikes!  We had fun playing with cousins.  We also had lots of fun playing in our little swimming pool.  June was full of fun.  We celebrated Stephen's 30th birthday.  We enjoyed a lot of outside playtime.   We spent Father's Day with my own father and my wonderful husband.  By the end of June we knew that it was time to make a huge change in our life...

JULY-  We spent 4th of July with my family knowing that living close to them was soon coming to an end.  I think all of the fun that we had the last month and a half was Heavenly Father giving me a chance at some wonderful memories before facing a very hard change for me.  That change was moving to a new state.  The thing I had been dreading since Stephen had decided to go into Information Technology needed to happen in order for him to get a job and that was moving to an area where he could get an entry level position in something related to his field.  I knew it was and is the right decision, but sometimes those are the hardest.  We packed up our belongings and moved in with my sister-in-law while we looked for employment and a place to live.  Moving was tough, I won't lie, but at least we were moving near family and we moved in time to see our nephew be sealed to his parents and be blessed as well as celebrate our other nephew's birthday.

AUGUST-  In August Stephen got a job and we found a place to live (although we couldn't move in until the beginning of September).  I was able to attend a baby shower for Holly and her first little boy.  Stephen and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary.  By the end of the month we were getting ready to move and Vance was gearing up to start kindergarten.

SEPTEMBER-  My newest nephew was born at the beginning of the month and we watched his sisters, in the midst of moving.  Porter started nursery (unfortunately it hasn't been a big hit for him).  Tanner turned four and we celebrated with a Phineas and Ferb theme. Vance also lost his first tooth at school.

OCTOBER- We kicked October off with watching to General Conference, which is always a highlight.  We visited a fun pumpkin patch.  I felt like October was spent settling and adjusting.  At the end of the month the boys had fun Trunk-Or-Treating in their costumes.

NOVEMBER- In November we met with Vance's teacher to see that he was doing well in kindergarten.  We had a fun Thanksgiving with my family minus my brothers.  We also witnessed my youngest nephew, Elliot's blessing.  Stephen started working days (temporarily).

DECEMBER-  We kept ourselves busy in December with Christmas type activities.  The boys had fun doing gingerbread stuff.  We saw the lights on Temple Square.  Vance turned six and we had a spider themed birthday party for him.  We also had a wonderful Christmas despite most of us having colds.  

Now onto a new year.  What will it bring?

Happy Holidays!

I hope every had a wonderful Christmas.  We enjoyed ours despite most of us fighting colds.  This was the first year in the nine Christmas'es Stephen and I have been married that we did our own thing for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  Although I enjoy spending time with our extended family it was really nice to do our own thing as well.  We did spend Christmas Eve morning and Christmas afternoon with Stephen's family so we got a little of both worlds which was really nice.

On Christmas Eve we had a bunch of goodies.  We did a flannel board story of the Nativity Story with music included.  I was proud of Stephen for singing along with me so I didn't have to do a bunch of solos because the boys weren't on the bandwagon with singing.  Anyway, before I told them about the birth of Christ we talked about each one of their births and how special they are.  I thought it would be a good way to link their personal lives to the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas.  I think they enjoyed it.

After that we put out some milk and cookies for Santa as well as some carrots for the reindeer.  They left a little note for Santa on the white board.  It says "Vance."  "Santa." "toys."  "thank you." and "Tanner"  They also drew him some cookies.

 It is hard work to get a good picture of the three boys together.  Especially when the little one is trying to bolt and the other two won't smile, but here is my Christmas Eve attempt.

 I took a picture before the gift unwrapping happened.  We had some "Christmas Cereal" for breakfast and then went onto the festivities.

 Porter opening a gift from Santa.

 Tanner opening a gift that was in his stocking.

 Vance opening a gift from his stocking.

 The boys got this hexbug toy from my parents.  They love it (Stephen does too).

 We went to church with Stephen's parents so we could hear Grandpa give a talk.  I tired to take a picture of them after church.  They weren't interested.

 As uninterested in a picture of the three of them, they really were not interested in a picture with their two cousins, but we tried!

We also attempted a nice family photo.  At least we are all there...

Here is a video of Vance and Tanner opening their gift from my parents.  I posted a different one on facebook as well as more pictures.  

Vance's Birthday

I think Vance had a great birthday.   He wanted a spider theme which feels really weird three days before Christmas, but what can you do?  

 Here's my birthday boy showing of the party hat I made him.  I can't believe how fast kids grow up.

 I pretend like I can decorate cakes even though I really can't.  Vance saw a picture of this cake on the internet a couple of months ago and told me he wanted it for his birthday so I tried.  He seemed happy enough with it so that's all that matters.

 Here is a birthday banner I made for him with some spiders.  Thank goodness for my Cricut!

 My three boys in their party hats.  Porter thought they were hilarious, but by the time we got to partying he didn't want to wear it anymore.

 Me and my birthday boy.  He is a good kid.

 Vance told me before the party he wasn't going to get embarrassed, but he did a little when we sang to him.

 He was not embarrassed to blow out his candles this year though.  He did a good job too.

He has been asking for this T-Rex since Tanner's birthday.  This was the only present he requested specifically.  All the boys at the party thought it was great, but the girls weren't so sure.

We are so glad that Vance is part of our family and it was fun to celebrate.  You can see more pictures on facebook as well as a video I uploaded of him opening a gift from my parents.  Thank you to everyone who wished him a happy birthday and to those who were able to come celebrate with us.

Happy Birthday Vance!

Happy Birthday Vance!  

I never want to have a baby so close to Christmas, but I will say that having a baby three days before Christmas does make me think of Mary and the miracle of Christ's birth all the more each since since being pregnant with Vance and reflecting on his birth each year since.  Mary had to have been a very special person to have been trusted to be Jesus' mother.  Vance is a wonderful boy and I feel a great deal has been entrusted in me to be his mother as well.  I am not trying to compare us to Mary or Jesus, but I do feel a great responsibility as Vance's mother to raise him in a way that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.  I am so grateful for Vance and the things he has taught me the last six years.  He loves birthdays so I hope he has a wonderful day.  Happy Birthday Vance!

Temple Square

We visited Temple Square last night to see all the lights.  I was wishing my brother, Eric was around to come take pictures of my boys with the lights because he has an awesome camera and knows how to use it.  I have a decent camera, but don't really know how to use it especially when it comes to being in the dark with lights...  Nevertheless, we all had a wonderful time.  The weather was cool, but to too cold and there was no snow or ice to worry about.  I am sure the weather isn't so cooperative every year.

I wanted to get a picture of the kids bundled up and ready to go.  I took Porter's pacifier out and you see the end result.  (Mean Mom).  You will notice, he has it in his mouth the rest of the night.

The older boys in front of the temple.

All three boys.  I have no idea why Tanner looks so sad in this picture because he wasn't.

Porter was actually playing peek-a-boo with me when I snapped this.  He doesn't have mittens so I put socks on his hands.

All of my men.

The temple.  I didn't get a shot of it with lights except the little bit showing up right here....

The boys had fun looking at the lights on the water and this nativity scene.

The boys and I.

Tanner

Tanner is at an age where he says the funniest things.  I wish I could remember a fraction of what he says because it can be quite comical.  I thought I would write down a few things I remember that he has said lately.  (check out details about his shirt here.)

One night Tanner asked me if dragons were "instinct".  Then he wanted to know what dragons ate.  I told him to ask his dad.

One day he was flipping through a toy ad and saw some Transformers he said, "Mom, I want Bumblebee and Octopus Prime."

The other day he was throwing a fit so I told him to put a game away he had been playing and he turned to me and said, "Mom, my heart is mad at you!"

Last night he was looking at our Christmas decorations and I heard him saying "Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus, what do you see?  I see a penguin looking at me..."

It had been a while since Stephen had shaved and Tanner looked at him and said, "Why does my dad have pinchy things on his lip and all over his face?"

Yesterday we were in the kitchen and he said, "Mom, you are a good Mom."  :)

I wish I could remember everything he says, but those are a few things.

Gingerbread Activities

We did our annually "Gingerbread Baby" (by Jan Brett) activities today.  I thought I'd share some pictures of the boys.  We actually made sugar cookies rather than gingerbread, but they are shaped like gingerbread men so it counts.  The boys have all helped themselves to them.  Actually Porter got two bites out of two cookies this morning while I was trying to clean up...

 We also did a gingerbread house which Vance was so pumped about.  I found one this year that was preassembled so I got that.  We avoided the frustration of putting it together nicely and focused on the fun part- decorating!

Gratitude

We did the gratitude leaves that we have been doing for the past few years and I wanted to share what the boys told me they were grateful for throughout the month of November.  It seems that I had a lot of repeats this year.  I am still working on trying to get them to realize how important it is to be grateful for certain things, but I am glad that they are starting to realize what it means to have gratitude.

Vance is grateful for:

Going to Grandma and Granpa's house

Playing outside

Dad and Mom

Pepperoni pizza

School

Movie Theaters

leaves

Mrs. McNeely

Mrs. Evans

Being able to play in the snow

New toys

Painting pumpkins

Family

The Bus

Mario Galaxy 2

Grandma Porter

Chase

Grass

Sid the Science Kid

Angry Bird Toys 

Tanner

Tanner is grateful for:

Grandpas (we wrote this down three times)

Christmas Trees

Snacks

Video Games

Mail

Brothers

Toys

Being able to play with Mom

Books

Sunbeam Teacher

Snow

Mom and Dad

Being able to paint pumpkins

Grandmas

TV

Going to Grandma's house

Porter

Thanksgiving

Vance

Blessing Day

My littlest nephew, Elliot was blessed today.  He is a sweet baby and we were glad to be there to share the day with my sister and her family.

Thanksgiving

I am hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We sure did.  My parents and little sister have been in town. 

 What's Thanksgiving without a little pie? 

 And some napping?  Tanner and Jillian were tucking the angry birds and piggies under a blanket next to Rose while she napped.  She woke up into for a photo though.  :)  Although, I did catch Mom snoozing in the background.  What is in babies that makes you need to nap when you are holding them?

 This would be Tanner asking Rose why she had holes in her ears.

 Little bit of Just Dace to work of all the food they ate.  Tanner especially needed it with that one roll he ate (most of) and a piece of pie, talk about a big eater...

 This is a fun sorting game that Stephen folded for the boys.  They were enjoying it.

 Chloe and Porter wanted to "Just Dance" as well.

My parents brought some books for us to borrow and Tanner has had a great time getting Grandpa to read them to him.  I think he is going to be my book worm.