Polar Express Party

Shantelle really wanted to have a Polar Express party in our pajamas.  We invited Mom, Marilyn and Mylissa to the party but they were too stressed getting ready for Christmas.  Shan and the girls came up one afternoon and we had a party.  When Shan got out of the car, she was wearing her robe over her clothes.  I just love her!  Aliyah was in her pajamas so the boys changed into theirs for the party.  We watched the movie, Polar Express. During the hot chocolate scene, we paused the movie and made hot chocolate.  Shan brought some whip cream so everyone piled it on their hot chocolate. It was a fun afternoon!   

Gingerbread House

One night we decided to build our gingerbread house that St. Nicholas had brought us.  The boys are getting very grown up because they did most of it all by themselves.  There were a couple of times that I had to help and it was mostly with frosting issues.  The boys were very creative in their decorating.  Bridger cracks me up in the pictures.  He's holding up a sticky toy that Isaac gave him for Christmas.

Boys Artwork

The boys made some fun art projects for Halloween.  Bridger made a ghost at his Halloween party and then Chase drew the pumpkins.  

Chase made this fun turkey with water colors.  In December, Chase found a picture of the grinch and then had to draw a bigger version of it at school.  I think he did a terrific job!  Then Bridger made a Christmas Village.

Rach's Hand Surgery

I had surgery on my wrist at AF hospital.  We purposely scheduled it while Matt was off.  As a joke to Matt, Dr. S. wrote a big "yes" on hand.  I had a ganglion cyst but when Dr. S got in there he started to feel something that didn't belong.  I had a bone spur on one of my wrist bones so he filed that off.  It was really sore for a few days but then it was more like an ache.  Sweet mom came down to help us for a couple of days.  I don't remember it but when I was coming out of the anesthesia, I tried to climb out of bed.  I answered my phone and was talking to a neighbor.  Luckily Matt came in and took the phone away from me and talked to the neighbor.  The nurse was really trusted with me that I kept climbing out of bed.  Luckily I don't remember any of it! Everyone was so nice to us.  It's nice to have connections!

Matt's New Truck

Matt's Nissan truck started having trouble again.  Something underneath the bed of the truck started popping up through the metal.  Matt had this problem on the other side but luckily Nissan covered it. Matt didn't want to pay a few thousands to have it fixed.  His truck is 9 years old and he's been wanting a new one so we decided that now is the time.  Matt spent some time looking and decided to go with the Ford F-150.  He wanted a 2015 but they are hard to find especially in red plus it's an extra $5,000.  So he decided that he was happy with the 2014.  We shopped around a little bit and ended up going with Ken Garff right here in AF.  They were wonderful to work with!!!  No jerking us around.

He narrowed it down and chose to go with the red, platinum edition.  It has all the bells and whistles.  It's a beautiful truck!!!!!  Matt is so happy with it!  Bridger's favorite thing about the truck are the running boards on the bottom.  When you open the door they pop out for you to step on and then when you close the door they fold under the truck.

Chase Scouting Awards

Chase is on the path to earning his eagle (at least we hope).  He was awarded his Tenderfoot and Second Class.  He's very dedicated to going to scouts every week.  Most of his friends like to go too so that helps.  He has awesome leaders that are helping him achieve his scouting goals.

Sophie and Bridger

Sophie likes to get up on the couch and snuggle with us.  (It's a good thing our couches are so old and crappy).  I was doing the dishes when Bridger hollered to me and said "Mom! Take my picture with Sophie."  She thinks she's a little lap dog.  It cracks me up!

Chase Nova Graduatuion

Chase had his NOVA (Nurturing Opportunities Values Accountabilities) Graduation on December 11th at the elementary school.  For the last few months, Officer Rigby has been working with the 6th graders.  They've talked about kidnapping/stranger safety, internet safety, pornography, drugs and alcohol. For one week, Chase accepted a challenge to watch no TV, no cell phones/ipads and use no internet.  Chase started it the week before we went to Florida.  The first day was the hardest but then he was amazing.  He didn't complain about it.  He played lots of board games and card games.  Bridger was in heaven!!  I was so proud of Chase for completing it because only a handful of kids finished it.  Chase's favorite thing was the "drunk goggles."  Officer Rigby had some goggles that the kids would wear that distorted their vision and made their vision seem like they're drunk.  

New Fridge

Our old fridge has been making a loud clicking sound for the last six months.  We joked that it was knocking on death's door.  Even though we've had it for almost 12 years, I would say that last four years it hasn't worked well.  The water was temperamental and it would freeze stuff all the time.  So I wasn't sad to see the fridge die.  I just was sad with the timing (Merry Christmas to Matt and I).   I opened the freezer to get a toaster strudel out for the boys and everything in the freezer side was thawed!!!!  I tried to save what food I could by putting some in the garage freezer and some food in a cooler.  When Matt got home from work, we went shopping.  Kip found us this fridge at Home Depot but it wasn't available until the end of December.  That doesn't work!!  So we drove out to RC Wiley and luckily they had this fridge for the same price as Home Depot.  Plus they had it in stock.  So we drove out to their warehouse and got there 15 minutes before it closed (8:45).  When we got home, Matt called the Pitchers to come help us unload it and bring it into the house.  It was a beast!!!  Luckily Michelle had a dolly that we borrowed which helped a little.  The fridge looks massive and very shiny!!  But I love how much space it has inside!  

Chase Student of the Week

Each week the school selects one student from each grade as Student of the Week.  Chase came home and said that they announced it over the intercom and he was selected as Student of the Week.  Chase is so dedicated to his schoolwork.  He's so good to follow the rules and obey the teacher.  He's a good friend to everyone around him.

St. Nicholas Party with the R's

We carried on the tradition and the R St. Nicholas party.  Everyone came down to our house for the party.  We had a potato bar and lots of other yummy food.  I made an oreo peppermint ice cream dessert that was delicious!  The kids put together foam gingerbread houses.  We sang "The 12 Days of Christmas."  Then Mom and Dad gave us a bag filled with European goodies.  There was a chocolate letter for each grandchild, even Tanner got one. (The boys helped him eat it).  Bridger tried on my wooden shoes and they were a little snug on him.  

Mom and Dad were very generous because they had a special present for each grandchild.  They didn't want the kids to wait until Christmas because they thought they needed to start using them. The kids opened up their gifts at the same time and they were big soft fleece blankets.  The girls were a "Frozen" theme and the boys either got a "Lightening McQueen" blanket or a "Spiderman" blanket.  The kids went wild with them!!!  They have loved them!!!!  It was a great gift!

St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas still comes all the way from Europe and visits us on December 6th.  Bridger has been so excited.  Santa sent our elf Buddy to come with St. Nicholas.  We're so happy to have Buddy back with us for a few weeks.  It looks like Buddy was excited too because he tried to get out of the box.

St. Nicholas brought Chase a Rubix's cube and Bridger a kadama.  They were really wanting those things for Christmas so they were very surprised and happy.  St. Nicholas brought Tanner some touch and feel books.  He loves them.

St. Nicholas brought Matt, Chase, and Bridger Disney classic dvd's, "Have a Laugh."  St. Nicholas brought me the new Taylor Swift CD.  It's awesome!!!  St. Nicholas brought Matt a Christmas Vacation shirt.  It put a smile on his face. Tanner got some touch and feel books from St. Nicholas.  He was very happy with them!

On December 5th, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa A's to celebrate Ashtyn's birthday and to set up the Nativity.  Ashtyn had a big surprise for her birthday.  Amy flew Mikayla in and had Mike pick her up.  Then Amy had a box waiting in the garage for Mikayla to get into.  They rang the doorbell and Ashtyn opened the door and saw the present.  As she started opening the present, she realized Mikayla was inside.  Only Matt and I knew about the surprise.  Everyone was so surprised and excited!!!  Charlene found darling ornaments for the boys.  It's such a fun tradition.

Tanner 7 Months

I took the boys to get pictures done before our Florida trip.  Tanner was not very cooperative because they didn't get any pictures of Tanner smiling.  They could tell that I wasn't very happy with the pictures of Tanner.  They said to bring him back and they would do a reshoot.  So when we came back I took him back in and they spent 15 minutes getting pictures.  I'm so glad we redid the shoot because they pictures were so much better.  It was just a better time for Tanner.  He was so smiley!!! It was worth all the hassle!  The one of Tanner sitting up is a little misleading.  He's not quite sitting up all by himself.  I was sitting just off to the side of him and kept boosting him up.  He's figuring out his balance and is getting really close to sitting up for longer periods of time.  

Tanner is 7 months old.  He loves to eat!!!  He eats a fruit in the morning (applesauce, banana, pears or peaches), and then a fruit and a vegetable for dinner.  I mix them with rice cereal to fill him up.  He takes a 4 oz bottle before his morning nap around 9:00.  He usually sleeps for 2-3 hours which is wonderful!  When he wakes up, we play for a little bit, go on errands.  He's usually ready for his afternoon nap around 1:30-2:00.  I give him a 6 oz bottle and he usually sleeps for 1-2 hours depending on how noisy the house is. He eats dinner around 5-6:00.  He's ready for bed around 7:00.  If he's had a little cat nap in the early evening he can stay up till 8 or 9.  Tanner is rolling all over the place!  He pushes up on his arms but he's not crawling yet.  He can sit for about 10-20 seconds or until he reaches for something but then he tips over.  He still loves the Johnny jumper.  He actually jumps in it now.  He likes to be in it when the boys are practicing their piano or when I'm fixing dinner.  He's getting too big for the bumbo.  He almost wiggles his way out of the bumbo so he doesn't spend much time in it now.  Bridger has had some of his matchbox cars on the countertop.  When I put Tanner in the bumbo he likes to play with the cars.

I love the picture of Tanner sleeping.  I was putting him down for his morning nap and he fell asleep in my arms.  I wanted to remember that moment forever!  His little lips looked so perfect.  I love it when he totally relaxes and falls asleep in my arms.

Tanner in the Bathtub

I had Tanner in the bathtub before his morning nap.  He was SO serious!  He was cracking me up with his grumpy face and his hanging out pose.  Normally he loves bath time so it made me laugh.  I think he was just too tired.  When I rolled him onto his stomach, he perked up a little but he still didn't smile.  He's still really cute!!!!