You Wanna Watch What?

Last night Alan and Cole were sitting on the couch watching TV (well actually Alan was channel surfing) when all of a sudden Cole says, "Dad, you passed Hairy Puppets". Alan and I looked at each other wondering if we had heard Cole correctly. Alan asks him again what he said and Cole again tells him to go back because he passed Hairy Puppets. We are both totally bewildered. Neither of us have any idea what show he could possibly be talking about. So, Alan starts flipping the channels backwards when Cole shouts out "Stop, see this is what I want to watch, Hairy Puppets". Alan and I just looked at each other and started to crack up, it was Mary Poppins.

Yummy Easy Christmas Candies

CRUNCHY CRACKER CANDY
35 Saltine Crackers
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips (I used more than this, I also used milk chocolate)
1 cup chopped Walnuts (I used pecans)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place crackers in foil-lined 15x10x1-inch baking pan.
Place butter and sugar in saucepan; cook on medium-high heat until butter is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring occasionally. Bring to boil; boil 3 min. without stirring. Spread over crackers.
Bake 5 to 7 min. or until topping is golden brown. Immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips; let stand 3-5 min. or until chocolate is softened. Spread chocolate evenly over ingredients in pan; sprinkle with walnuts. Cool. Break into pieces.
Mmmmm, Tastes like toffee.

The next recipe I got from my friend Holly's blog. They are delicious! And sooooo easy. Definitely my kind of recipe!

OREO BALLS
1 pkg. Oreo cookies
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. chocolate chips, melted for dipping

Slightly crush entire package of Oreos in a large ziploc bag (Cole loved doing this). In a mixing bowl, combine Oreos and cream cheese. Beat until completely combined. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and set aside (I refrigerated them at this point). Melt chocolate chips. Dip oreo balls in melted chocolate and set on wax paper to harden or put in fridge to harden faster.

Christmas Craziness

Oh my goodness, the craziness of the season has totally consumed me. I finally finished my shopping on Wednesday and hope to avoid the stores until after Christmas at all costs, although I'm sure there are last minute odds and ends that I will need to run pick up. I feel like my brain has been totally scrambled, the last three times I've changed Carson's diaper I have tried to put it on backwards, oh my, I need help, lol. Anyways, this weekend I am hoping to get around to our baking, I tell ya, I'm totally late in the game this year and my excuse is that this is my first Christmas with two kids. Do you buy it?

Here is a photo run down of some of the fun holiday activities we have participated in over the last week:

Saturday we went to the Bellagio with friends to see the Christmas display in the atrium. It was gorgeous! They do an amazing job every season and this was no exception. The kids had fun running around checking out the larger than life penguins, reindeer and trees. After, we braved the cold and went out front to view the dancing fountain shows. Those are my favorite, if it wasn't seriously freezing out I could have watched them all night.

Cole, Haley "Jane" and Lindsey

Carson, the cutey bug

Cole had his winter singing program at school! Oh my goodness, they were so sweet! I seriously teared up! There is something just so cute about little kids singing. I was so impressed that they knew the words to so many songs. WOW!


Monday was his Santa party at school (and the last day until January). He had a great time. They made cute crafts and got a chance to visit with Santa, Mrs. Claus and a couple of elfs.




Wednesday night my sister took Cole to the Magical Forest at Opportunity Village. It was Cole, my sister and her family, my Mom and nephew. They had a great time. It was all Cole talked about on Thursday. The highlight for him was of course the train ride. I was smart and sent my little camera along with Cole so someone could take photos for me, lol.

Cousins: Morgan, Brett, Cole and Ashley

Gretchen and Cole

Our Christmas Baby

Carson's first Christmas!!!

Gingerbread House

Sunday night we had our 2nd annual gingerbread house construction extravaganza. Since Cole was a seasoned pro at this he needed very little help. He did a fine job decorating and then as soon as he was done he started picking all of the candy off the house and began eating it, lol. Our house is pretty sad looking now.

Breakfast With Santa

Last Saturday was our ward's Christmas party. This year they did a breakfast which was a nice change from the typical ham dinner of years past. The activity committee really outdid themselves with the party. They had several stations/rooms set up with different activities and the families rotated through out them completing fun crafts. And of course no Christmas party would be complete without a visit from Mr Claus himself. Carson was not too impressed by Santa. Cole gave the cheesiest smile ever (honestly, I didn't think it could get worse, lol). Cole brought a toy catalog with him to show Santa all of the things he wanted but we convinced him to leave it in the car, lol. Such a silly boy!

A cute craft, the kids made reindeers with their hand and foot prints:

Cookie decorating:

That "surprised look":

Pinecone Christmas tree craft:

Meeting Santa! Check out Cole's smile, lol!

The Surprised Look

This is the surprised look Cole will have on his face Christmas morning when he sees the shark ship that he is asking Santa for. What a goofball! He practices the face several times a day so that he gets it just right. It's a crack up. So Santa, if you're reading this make sure that your elves are making a shark rig ship especially for Cole.


Another version of the surprised look.


A sweet little face that I rarely capture in photos these days.

Ten Months

Ten months old today. Where does the time go? Carson is such a happy baby and always makes us laugh. He loves to pull himself up and walk using the help of Cole's trike. He loves to climb the stairs and peek thru' the banister rails. He loves to tease his big brother Cole. He loves to kiss and snuggle and clap his hands. We are so blessed to have him in our family. Now if he'd just sleep thru' the night...

The Countdown Has Begun

It's December 1st and Cole is anxiously counting down the days until Christmas! Each day he gets to peek inside one of the doors of the little house and find an ornament to hang on the tree, (reminding me we are one day closer and that makes me one more day further behind). We are looking forward to lots of fun family activities during the month and creating lifetime memories and traditions. We hope that all of you (our family and friends) have a wonderful holiday season!

Our Thanksgiving Recap

Our Thanksgiving week started on Tuesday when we all piled into the car and headed up north to Salt Lake to celebrate with Alan's family. His parents moved into a beautiful new home last May and this was the first time we got to see it. Cole immediately felt right at home and started to explore.

We spent Wednesday at Red Pappa's dental office having our annual day before Thanksgiving check-ups. We all had one cavity (boo)! Cole was amazingly brave and didn't have Novocain or gas to have his filled. He was completely intrigued by all of the fun tools and gadgets around the office, especially the little water and air squirter thing, (which I'm sure has an official name).


Wednesday night Carson was up screaming all night and was totally inconsolable. Alan and I had to take shifts holding him all night. The minute we would try to sit down with him or try and lay him down he would just freak out and wail. We had no idea what was going on with him. Turns out it must have been a pretty good ear ache because on Thanksgiving afternoon his eardrum ruptured and drained and he was happy the entire rest of the week.

We were a pretty small group at dinner this year as two of Alan's sisters went to their in laws for dinner. It was fun to sit around the table together visiting and catching up with everyone. The food was good too. This year my MIL soaked the turkey in brine and it was so good and juicy. And those darn pies just kept calling my name, especially that coconut cream one.

After dinner I was looking at the black Friday ads and came across a flyer for 24 Hour Fitness advertising free workouts all Thanksgiving weekends. Can you believe I talked Alan into going to the gym? Seriously, we did! I know, we are nerds! We went Friday and Saturday morning. We even got my FIL to come with us one morning. On Saturday I took a class that seriously kicked my butt, I was sore til Monday. It was great!

This is Cole out on the deck at my in laws wishing you all a "Happy Thanksgiving". Brrrr, it was cold out there. Our thin Vegas blood wasn't used to the temperatures.


On Friday we headed over to Thanksgiving Point to check out the dinosaur museum. It was awesome! Cole and Carson totally enjoyed it (as did all the grown ups). They had lots of fun hands-on exhibits, Cole's favorite was the water/sand area (see photos below). I think that my sister in law Angie's favorite too, lol. We also watched one of the very cool 3D movies in the theater there. It also happens there was a Mod Bod sale in one of the upstairs rooms so me, my MIL and SIL had to go. The prices were ridiculously low and we all scored a stack of t-shirts and cami's, (my MIL spent the most and I spent the least). After the museum we headed to South Towne mall for dinner at TGIFriday's and some quick shopping. Alan and I got some new jeans at The Buckle (his are pretty sexy if I say so myself) and Cole got to see Santa. Of course I didn't get any pictures, duh!

Carson is fighting sleep so hard:

This dinosaur reminded me of Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas, lol:

Cute brothers:

My 3 boys :

Susan, Carson, Angie, Cole and George :

Carson and the baby dinosaur :

The awesome sand and water area :


Saturday was picture day and of course the BYU/U game. The goal was to get all of the kids dressed up and photographed before the game but we got a slow start and so photos happened alittle bit later. I think they must have been competing with nap times because the babies were not so cooperative. It's hard to get 8 kids (six of them 4 and under) to look at the camera at the same time. But I think we ended up with some cute shots. I didn't care to stick around and watch the game (I'm not a fan of either team) so Al and I snuck over to Jordan Landing for some quiet time. When the game ended we all went to the movies. We usually go on Turkey day but this year we decided to go on Saturday. We saw Enchanted (cute show). A huge thank you to my SIL Linda for holding Carson for half of the show so I could actually see some of it. Thanks!

Cole and his cousin Allison:

A group shot of all the grandkids:

Cute movie starring Dr. McDreamy:

Sunday we packed up and headed home. We made a stop in Beaver for the kids to run/crawl around & get their wiggles out in the McDonald's playroom. We also stopped in St George so I could go in the Gymboree outlet and Cole could go to KB Toys. And then we were home. Ahhh, Home Sweet Home! It's always fun to go out of town and it's always good to be home.

Cole's Trip Highlight:

Cole found some of Dad's old Star Wars toys in Grandma's basement which he brought home. Can you believe they still worked after 27 years? Cole thinks it is the coolest thing ever to have his Daddy's old toys. He is pretty sentimental for a 4 year old.

And that's it! Our Thanksgiving in a nutshell. Now onwards and upwards to Christmas!!!