Perfect Day

Last Saturday was such a great day. I probably told Matt at least 20 times how happy I was. We spent the day in San Clemente and it was just the most beautiful day! Sunny, no wind, 70 degrees, lots of dolphins and an added bonus of the Ericksen family meeting us there. Matt, Tom, Stacey and I relaxed and caught up while Jake and Abby kept the kids completely entertained. Such a good day even if I was at the beach in tights and tennies (only 11 weeks to go!)

Six

How Crew is already 6 years old is beyond me! I don't know what I would do without this boy. He is the BEST big brother and such a great helper for me. It is fun to have him getting older and have our relationship grow too. Crew has a fantastic sense of humor, rocks any physical activity he tries, loves school and has such a sweet and sensitive heart. We love this boy!

Birthday morning

 Crew requested rainbow frosted cupcakes. That was no easy task but they turned out pretty fun and tasty!

 Crew has been begging us for the past year to have his 6th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. So we planned his party and made all of his birthday wishes come true. He was a great host and had so much fun. As we were getting ready to leave he said "Mom, this was even more fun than I thought it would be." Thanks Chucky:)

Windy!

We have had some blustery days lately. One day after church it was raining leaves and the boys couldn't resist.

Sadly, all the leaves have blown off now. Luckily we still have lots of other green trees around us!

G turns 3

Look at this cute face! Can you believe he is three? It is sad really that Graham's birthday is two days after Christmas. Despite my good intentions, I never seem to be able to really think about his birthday until after Christmas. Next year for sure.

Here he is opening presents on the morning of his birthday

 The rest of his day was pretty mellow. A play date and hanging out around the house. That night though we celebrated with our dear friends the Brutsch's who just happened to be in town. That was a present to all of us! (sorry Crew is blurry but I loved the other's expressions)

 Lu treated Graham by bringing the birthday cake- Nothing Bundt Cake- oh my heavenly! With lots of sprinkles for Graham.

 Saturday we planned a little "Fun and Games" party with his best friend "other Graham's" family and Maren's family. Despite the chilly day it actually turned out very fun for everyone!

 The Grahams

 All the participants got gold medals!

 One of Graham's most favorite things is sprinkles so we decided to ditch the cupcakes and decorate as many sugar cookies as we could!

 It was a hit

 The birthday boy

We sure do love this boy and are excited to see all that he does this next year!

Merry Christmas!

December was such a fun month: Christmas caroling, Gingerbread houses, visitors and trips! Here are a few of the highlights. Crew loves making Gingerbread houses and is the perfect age for these already assembled Costco ones. All he has to do is decorate- the best part.

We were so excited to have Katherine, Devin and Clara come and visit us for a couple days. Matt and Devin went to the BYU game and the boys and I loved being able to play with this cute little girl. Of course she was armed with numb chucks and a sword within 5 minutes (we corrupt any girls!) but the boys loved having her and she really enjoyed them too.

Crew's kindergarten did a big Polar Express the last day of school. They all had to make their own trains and then they paraded around the school in front of all the big kids. It was so cute and this little man looked so good in his Christmas train.

I love that we still get fall colors, even though they are pretty late.

We did make a quick trip over to Arizona to spend Christmas with Matt's family. Crew and Graham both loved cousin time. Crew and Sammy did a Christmas puzzle.

Grandpa taking kids to the park

This was such a cute pic of Remy

A family game of wiffle ball.

Riding home in style

Look at Graham torturing poor Baylor. He LOVED Baylor and Gunner

Cookies for Santa

Santa's note for the boys about their big Christmas gift

Christmas Day some of us went to the Wildlife Zoo. It was so much fun!

Matt feeding, or getting slobbered on, by a giraffe

Matt with his sister Buffy and her husband Chris

All the animals at this zoo wanted attention! It was so much fun to see them all so close. This little guy was one of our most favorite

Roasting marshmallows by the fire pit

And coming home to Santa's big surprise! A major hit! (May I remind you that this is a rental house and that room came this color.)

Graham's birthday is soon to come!