Random Cuteness

Cute thing number 1: Playing in the yard in January:

As I watch the news and see people having to deal with snow, I am so grateful to live in Northern California. I know sometimes Lance misses the snow, but all he has to do is drive for about an hour and he can enjoy as much snow as he wants--perfect! Yesterday the boys came home from school and spent hours playing in the yard. Zac even ate his snack on the trampoline.

And when he spilt his cereal, Shay was very happy to help clean up the mess.

Cute thing number 2:

My mom bought these little baby Crocs while on vacation a couple weeks ago. I guess she is as baby hungry as we are.

Cute thing number 3: Boys and their toys:

I went to cover Brycen up last night and found him sleeping like this:

As I went to put him back in his bed completely I found all these toys in the bed, no wonder he has to sleep standing up.

Cute thing number 4: Kid Artwork

After being inspired by a close friend, I have decided to teach the boys about a different artist each week. Yesterday we learned about Winslow Homer. The boys had a hard time remembering his name and kept calling him Martin Luther King Jr. At least they remember Luther's name!

Winslow Homer's "Catboat"

Scott's version of Catboat

Brycen's version

Zac's version (I think he is my abstract artist)

A Little Get Away

Last week Lance and I went up to Lake Tahoe for two nights with our friends who have a timeshare. The resort was wonderful we got to play indoor tennis, soak in the jacuzzi, and enjoy the steam bath. In the evenings we just hung-out playing games and talking. The boys stayed home with our friends and had a great time too. It was very nice to have some quiet time to just be together.

These pictures were taken from our balcony.

Our friends Tricia and Dave

Saturday

On Saturday morning we braved the cold and went to the park to launch our model rocket. Our dog Shay didn't quite know what to thing, but the rest of us had a great time.

After the park, I went to check out the after-Christmas sales. I can never resist just looking at the baby clothes. Okay, so most of the time I can't resist buying them either. I picked up this adorable dress and little sweater just to add to my ever growing collection.

Happy New Years!

We celebrated New Years with our annual fondue and pizza New Years Dinner. Some friends joined us and we all ate way too much cheese and chocolate, but then we all played wii fit, so I'm sure we're fine! We rung in the New Year at Eastern Time and then after everyone went home and the kids went to bed, Lance and I watched the Twilight Zone Marathon until 2009 arrived here on the West Coast.
Once the chocolate cooled down Brycen and Zac found that just dipping their fingers saved time.

Here we are celebrating the New Year three hours early.

Scottie was not a big fan of the top hat

Just checking to make sure it is completely off!

It is a tradition in our town to place luminaries out in front of all the houses on Christmas Eve. But, since it was raining on Christmas Eve, we all did it on New Year's Eve instead. It is a little hard to see clearly in the picture, but it really is beautiful to look out and see the entire neighborhood lined in lights.

Lance and Brycen concluded our celebration by placing the last state quarter in our map.

Merry Christmas

Here in California real snowmen are hard to find. The other day Brycen suggested that we make a "rainman." Zac and Brycen thought it was pretty silly to add a carrot nose and paper eyes and a smile to a bucket of water.




Still, even without having true Christmas weather our town knows how to have a great Christmas. We have an adorable little skating rink in old town. My sister Ali and her boyfriend and I all took Brycen skating while Grandma watched and took pictures (the other boys were still in school, just one of the perks of half day kindergarten!) Brycen was kind of like a wet noodle in skates, but it was a lot of fun.




A couple weeks before Christmas, Santa rides through town in his sleigh pulled by his reindeer and a firetruck. They are escorted by the other firetrucks, and police cars and motorcycles--all decked on with Christmas lights and sirens blazing. They stop to hand out candy and collect can foods for the needy. Brycen was the only one who wanted to take a picture with Santa.

On Christmas Eve we invited my parents, one of our neighbors and the pair of missionaries from our church over for dinner. The missionaries are young men who leave their families for two years to serve their missions. Without them knowing, I contacted their moms and got their favorite Christmas recipes. They were very excited to have a bit of home away from home.



We ate and ate and ate and then we sung Christmas songs around the piano.

We had a very Lego Christmas this year. Lance and I stayed up until 2am putting together a Lego train and helicopter. The last two days have been spent putting together other Lego sets with the boys. Even my niece got Legos this year. Her brother has lots of Legos and little Hannah was just thrilled that there are finally Legos for girls.




Zac snug out of his bed on Christmas Eve to check out the toys under the tree. After that Lance slept on the couch by the tree to protect the presents.




Brycen was thrilled to see his lego train on Christmas morning.



Zac got a robot dinosaur in addition to legos.



Scott and his bongo drums.


Even Shay got a present


Lance and my brother playing Lance's new wii football game.



Lance got his big present a few days early when I surprised him with a weekend in Las Vegas to go watch BYU play in the Pioneer Bowl. We watch and froze as BYU lost badly, but we still had a great time.

Happy Belated Lump Day!

Yesterday in the car Brycen kept saying "Happy Lump Day, Mommy!" I asked him what Lump Day was. A look of amazement came over his face and he said, "You mean you are as old as you are and you don't know what Lump day is?" (Looking back I should have been astute enough to figure it out, but I wasn't) SO he explained "Okay you know what you get when you add three plus three, then you add one more and you get seven. Well there are three days before Wednesday and three days after Wednesday so Wednesday is LUMP DAY." SO happy-belated Lump day to all!

Wild Pup

Zac was sitting on the couch playing Lance's guitar when our puppy, Shay, discovered the reflection the guitar was crreating on the wall. Some dogs chase cats our chases lights!

Click to see the video of Shay the Wonder Pup vs The light spot


Shay vs The light Spot