Christmas Day 2014

Santa barely had time to come because a certain 7 year old could not sleep... OR stay in his bed!  But he made it to our house after all.  I went in to capture a picture of their "first look" at the tree and all, and it was as plain as the looks on their faces that it was NOT their first look! They were totally posing.  Lol, oh well!

Then they went through their stockings. Santa did an amazing job on them this year!

The boys all played some foosball and nok-hockey while Mom made breakfast.

Then Gray got to do his stocking because he slept in a bit later than his brothers.

He was so adorable.  We got a big reaction to everything he pulled out.  When he saw that he got his very own bottle of soda, his face went all surprised, then he started shaking (kinda 50 Mega-watts style for those who know what I mean)!

Here they are all lined up in their matching PJ's from Gramma and Grampa, ready to open!

We had fun taking funny pictures of each other opening gifts.

This guy... He's hilarious!

And so is this one!

And so is this one, as well as cutie cute

And the king of hilarious pictures:

HA!

The boys were amazing! They had so much fun, there were zero melt-downs ALL DAY (!), and they were all very appreciative of all their gifts.  After all the gifts were opened, we reminded each other again that we give gifts because we love each other and to remind us all of the greatest gift in our lives, our Savior Jesus Christ.

At noon time we were able to visit the boys' Great Grandpa Phil and his girlfriend Kathleen and wish them a Merry Christmas.  We came home and the boys showed off their new toys to their friend right next door in the apartment, then we headed to Gramma and Grampa's house for Christmas dinner.  

We made sure to call Nana and Pop-Pop in Florida to wish them a Merry Christmas and to thank them for their gifts.  We sure love them and were glad they got to celebrate with family in Florida! :)

For dinner we were treated to a delicious prime rib roast... YUM! Then we took more silly pictures!

These guys were making normal faces until I counted to 3! This is the picture I got, hahaha!

I guess Gray's version of a funny face was poking himself in the eye?! Lol

It was an awesome day!!!!!!! 

 I am so thankful for this time of the year when we get to think so much about our Savior and about other people.  I love getting Christmas cards from far away friends and family to remind me how much they have touched our hearts and our lives and it just makes me all the more grateful for the blessing of the Savior and His Atonement that allows us all to repent, to have comfort and hope in this life, and to look forward into eternity with all those that we love!

Merry Christmas again!

Ben's Birthday

My dear sweet husband shares his birthday with Christmas Eve. We had a great party with family to celebrate.  Even Uncle Dale (Ben's brother) made it after driving into town all the way from Utah!

If the birthday boy looks a little crazed he has the right.  It was a crazy day! He had to work extra hard to get water for the cows because of some electrical workers in his way, then Gray came down with a stomach bug minutes before everyone arrived! He made a quick recovery though, and we were still able to enjoy the night.

Then because it was Christmas Eve, the kids got to open a few presents too.

Then Santa came!

Visiting Santa

This year we went to have breakfast with Santa at the local fire station. 

I finally have a kid who will go see Santa! It was really cute, Santa was upstairs and took the time to talk with each child a lot so they could get comfortable.  Gray said he wanted a "blue truck".

But he wasn't happy when I backed away to take the picture. Classic! But he got a candy cane and was quickly happy about it all again.

Cattle

We have cows...

We have COWS!!!

We have spent the last 3 months preparing to bring the first residents of our farm home.  It felt good to finally get them there!  We now have two mothers with their year old daughters.  They are Highland Cattle.  They are a very docile, low-maintenance breed.  We are raising them for beef and if all goes well we may end up growing the herd.  And I love that they have the same hair as me, except theirs is way warmer.

Right now we have a friend living right next door in the apartment in our house, so we brought him along and invited Gramma and Grampa to welcome the cows to the farm.  

Wow, this is crazy!

An Indian Summer Day

We were blessed with an especially beautiful day a while back, so we took advantage by going down to Beavertail with the boys.  We hiked down to the rocks along the ocean and played in the tide pools.  Grayson and Tucker most enjoyed the periwinkles, while Russel still talks about the crabs and trying to catch little ghost shrimp with his bare hands!

Then we hiked back up and enjoyed the fields and the old bunker and war ruins.

It was beautiful!

Jog-a-thon

The boys' school does a Jog-a-thon to raise money for the PTO.  They had to find sponsors to pay for each lap they ran. It was a pretty cool event. 

Gray even had fun dancing to the music during Tucker's turn!

Off he goes!

Tucker amazed us all and ran 19 laps which comes out to 2 1/3 miles!

Each class chose their favorite literary character for their team name.

Tucker with his class/team the "Very Hungry Caterpillars".

Then it was Russel's turn!

He loves to run

Russel far exceeded our expectations and ran 34 laps which comes out to 4 1/2 miles!

He's ready for a 5K!!

Russel with his class:

We were super proud of our runners.... even though they cleared out the grandparents wallets!

Great job guys!

Firehouse Dinner

Our friend John volunteers at one of the local firehouses.  So one rainy evening, we and some friends ventured out to their pasta dinner and the boys enjoyed exploring the firetruck. As our friend Laurie said, it was a quintessential small-town good time! 

Good Food!

Good Friends!

Good Fun!