O Christmas Tree

Even though we're never home for Christmas, I can't let the Holiday pass without at least some decorations and some traditions. Taylor is always putting in long, late hours at work trying to get ahead so we can leave, so the boys and I end up doing most things together. They don't mind. They actually enjoy being given some responsibility. So this year, I sat beside and supervised. Okay so I set up the trunk of the tree and did the fragile ornaments, but these guys did the rest.
First they sorted the limbs into colors so the right branch would go in the right place, and then they put them all in the right holes.
I may have helped with the taller ones and the light stringing too.

But even the star was done by Ethan on a step ladder.

And these guys were in heaven unwrapping each ornament and hearing who it was for and when it was bought or made.

That's about all the decorations we had besides a few pointsettias and nativities, but it was enough to bring some Christmas cheer into the home.

Thanksgiving 2011

We LOVE Thanksgiving most of all because we get to see family. We Love living in Utah because Taylor's parents are right next door and his only living grandparent lives 8 houses down the street. And because of this, his cousins come to visit and we get to see them in the process.
Every Thanksgiving his Aunt who has the 3 youngest (11, 14, and 16) come and my kids LOVE them. It helps that they seem to like them as well so we have a great time. This year we only got a few days with them before we headed off to Las Vegas to visit my sister and brother-in-law, but we made the best of those days with dinners, legos, movies, and trips to the zoo.


Milo is in love with snakes- and even more with the railings he's big enough to climb.

The whole group L to R: Miles, Russell, Isaac, Ethan, Isabella, and Sofia.

Back in July we trekked up to Washington State to visit my sister Kelli and her cute hubby Dana. It's just 11 hours but with the weather being questionable at Thanksgiving, we decided we'd meet in sunny, warm Vegas instead of either group attempting the drive through Idaho. We drove the 6 hours and they flew in and stayed at Taylor's grandpa's unused home.

Did I mention warm and sunny? It was perfect! And so nice since it had been cold and snowy in Utah already. Thanksgiving day we hung out and then Taylor really wanted to go to a buffet for dinner (since we weren't cooking) so we headed to a casino to find one. A 2 1/2 hour wait later (thankfully we had 2 iphones with us which both had angry birds on them) we made it in and had the feast of a lifetime. The normal Vegas buffets are pretty impressive, but Thanksgiving dinner was over the top. Taylor was completely overjoyed by the meat selection and definitely ate more than we paid.

Unfortunately this fall we've been plagued with some funky flus. No one seems to get them back-to-back which is nice, but everyone (except Milo hallelujah!) has gotten it at least once and me twice. Somehow that just seems wrong for the mom to get the flu. Who's going to take care of me???

So Isaac spent one night with the flu and then Taylor got it later on in the trip. Ethan got it the beginning of November and I had it the middle of November and again in December. We are hoping that's the end of this (and for the first time every we actually ALL had already gotten our flu shots).

Other than sickness we had a great time just hanging with family and relaxing. Shopping a little (since you can't pass up black Friday), playing some golf (since you can't pass that up when the weather's so nice), and eating lots of great food.

And of course there was lots of video gaming on the Wii and XBox since Taylor and Dana aren't competitive at all.

And since we were in Vegas we decided to walk off all the good food we were eating by walking literally miles along the strip and through the amazing casinos.

Seriously, anyone who doubts that these casinos are taking their money needs to just look around. How else could they fund the over the top ambiance.

But my kids love it and it's nice to walk and talk and look and have the kids entertained.

While the boys golfed Kelli and I entertained the boys at home. Legos did the trick.

And a trip around the corner to feed the ducks was a requirement. Miles LOVES feeding ducks. At the same time he is terrified of them- mostly because he doesn't throw the bread and so they come closer and closer to him even when he keeps backing up. We tried to teach him to throw the bread and when that didn't work we showed him how to jump forward at them and scare them away. After that, he didn't care about throwing bread but was all over chasing them around and laughed his head off doing it.

See he's still not sure he wants to part with his bread.

Can you beat the scenery? Or the weather?

Isaac is much more methodical and had almost all his bread left when everyone else was done and bored. He watching the ducks and waits until he finds the one he wants to throw it to. Then he does his best to get it to that one and if another one snatches it, he waits and comes up with another strategy. He'd have stayed for hours if we had let him.

Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end and we said goodbye to our family, our time off work and school, and the lovely weather.

Isaac's Preschool Picture

If Ethan gets a post, Isaac needs one too. Especially with his cute preschool portrait. Ethan's first year at the McKee School there were less than half this many kids in the picture. This program is exploding because it's so wonderful. Someday they'll have to expand to a bigger facility but for now he gets the same cute, close-knit experience Ethan did but with a few more teachers to rotate between.
Isaac is a cutey-pie. Those chocolate brown eyes, monster long lashes and curls to die for melt my heart. He seriously gets away with a lot. Of course mostly he gets away with things because he's such a little joker. Life is non-stop fun for Isaac. Even if it's not supposed to be something fun, somehow Isaac makes it fun for himself. He has the best laugh I have ever heard and no one seems able to resist it. He's patient with Miles who is just absolutely SURE he's just as big and can do everything Isaac can do. He follows Ethan around like an adoring brother and will play or do anything he tells him to do. At the same time Isaac just isn't as competitive as Ethan and Miles and is pretty laid back (so nice as a parent that everything doesn't have to be a competition). Isaac LOVES life and if there's one comment I get more than any other (besides how cute his curls are) it's how they wish they were as utterly happy as he is. I hope he never loses that happiness. It shines so much through him and his actions that he brightens our family. We're so blessed to have him.

An Ethan Update

Okay so how cute is this first grade portrait? For once I actually remembered it was picture day and put Ethan in a nicer shirt. It's amazing he's as old as the kids I taught in D.C. Boy do I miss teaching somedays but I love it when he comes home with homework and we get to spend time together learning. So fun! Ethan is such a sweet kid. He is happy and enthusiastic and loves life 99% of the time. He's a great helper at home and I hear non-stop praise from his teachers at school and church. We're so blessed to have him in our home and to have him as the first to set a good example for his younger brothers.

For the primary program, the kids wrote about their favorite scripture hero and drew a picture. I love how detailed his drawing is. You can totally pick out the rod of iron and the tree of life and even the dark wasteland. We're so glad to be a part of his life!