just checkin in...

This one just got over a cold and is loving being back outside in the snow with his best bud.

This one still has the cold, and is currently sleeping it off. The girl likes her sleep.

for the record...

So on Sunday we realized that we needed a Christmas tree, and that it needed to happen right then, or we probably wouldn't have another day to do it. So on our way home from grandma and grandpa's house, we stopped the car and Rogan and the dad went off into the forest to find one quickly. By into the forest I mean 20ft off the road. maybe. Rogan found one and said it was so pretty and made him so happy, so this is the trophy we ended up with. And I love it.

The boy is SO excited about Christmas this year. He woke up the other night and said "I think I heard Santa saying "Ho, Ho, Ho" in the sky!"

And the girl...she is pulling herself up on EVERYTHING lately. she is ready to walk. It wont be much longer...

Rogan put the star on the tree.

But we quickly decided it was a hazard, and took it off.

And this is the finished project. I should probably get a better picture. But this one looks like its melting.

And I would just like the records to show that today is December 6th, and there is NO, yes I said NO, snow in our yard. WHAT!?

And speaking of Dec 6th...Happy Birthday Britt!

pictures, pictures, pictures of my babies

Sister took this picture on Kya's 6 month birthday.

She was 13.03lbs and perfect.

And she just keeps growing.

She has discovered her tongue.

And loves to giggle. At everything.

She giggles at our toes.

And she seems bigger every day.

And speaking of babies getting bigger...

What happened here?

He's getting SO big!

And he has a sense of humor you wouldn't believe.

He is constantly making us laugh.

a boy and his dog

 I remember, growing up, my dog was my best friend.

I would tell her everything. Carry on full conversations with her. (I may or may not still do this with Darth)

 I'm pretty sure she talked back. Answered my questions. Played along with my stories.

 This continued with all of my animals.

 Its so fun to watch my boy with his dog.

I think every kid needs a dog. A guaranteed best friend.

relax

Fun in the Sun

 Spring is here for the week!

We had so much fun outside today. 

Running through sprinklers

Watering trees

Washing dump trucks

Digging trenches

Chase with Darth

Ice cold fruit smoothies

And lets not forget playing with our curly haired girl!

tree hunting

We started off this years tree hunt my making approximately  1 million salt dough ornaments, which the boy carefully hand painted.

Then off to the woods we went, hunting for the ultimate tree.

We found a tree that fit our extremely high standards, and from there Darth took over to get it home.

And the dad hauled the boy home.

but took advantage of the big hill on the way and hopped on for a ride himself...

We got the tree home, and the boy loaded it full of his beautiful decorations...

And has happily been sitting and watching the train ever since.

Countdown to Christmas

Our Christmas countdown started out a little differently than the average countdown.

We headed to "the big city" for an archery tournament.

We started our big journey with this beautiful view:

 We then continued on our journey and made it to our destination.

Unfortunatly all of the pictures here were of the back of the husbands head. 

We did manage to squeeze in a little Christmas though- we hopped on the train and headed to Temple Square to see all of the Christmas lights.

Where, as usual, all of my pictures were a blur.

So sister kindly took a family photo for us-the first since....well, probably since the boy was born.

We came home and decorated (and ate) sugar cookies

And of course-we cant forget poor Darth at Christmas time, so this afternoon the boy and I threw together a quick treat for Darth's stocking

If you feel like baking one day but want need to give your own waste-line a break from the cookie madness this time of year, here is the recipe:

Homemade Dog Treats

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour (I used regular all purpose flour)

1/2 c milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1 large egg

2 Tbsp flavoring (bacon grease, chicken/beef stock, tuna juice....whatever. we used chicken)

Mix together dry ingredients, then add the rest. mix well. Will be thick. If its too thick for your liking, add more chicken stock (if thats what you used)

Roll dough on floured surface to about 1/4" thickness and cut into shapes of your liking. We did snowflakes and triangles (I got tired of cutting "cute"cookies for the dog, so finished up with a pizza cutter)

Bake for 30 min. at 350*. Let them sit in the oven while it cools off to make them extra crisp.

Darth taste tested (even though they are for Christmas. We'll assume he'll forget about them by Christmas) and loved them.

swimming lessons

The boy LOVED swimming with his dad.

The dog was thoroughly enjoying himself as well, as you will notice in a few pictures...

 The dad gave the boy a few swimming lessons.

But he preferred being up high...

After a long day in the sun and water, the boy crashed. Hard. Nothing could wake him up.

Notice his blue bandaged hand....why is it people feel the need to break glass beer bottles all around the fire pit and leave it for poor little boys to fall in?

Now for the important part of camping....preparing for smores.

The grand finale of the evening...

YUM