Good Times with Buddy

Buddy the Elf came back to our house again.  He showed up December 1st and then went back home when Santa came on the 25th.  Luckily Buddy is not a naughty elf.  He just plays and has fun while he's at our house.  One morning we found him holding a cute picture of Bridger.  That was mu favorite.  Another day we found him riding Bull's Eye with Hans.  

Another day we found him sitting in my top bedroom window with his Strawberry Shortcake friends.

Sometimes he would be a little tricky and hide from us but we would always find him.  Look in the tree for Buddy.

Nativity with the A's

I love the tradition of the Nativity with the As.  Ardell always reads the nativity from the bible as the kids put the nativity together.  It was sweet this year because Ella and Tanner were good helpers.

After the nativity,  Grandma handed everyone a present and inside were their Christmas ornaments.  The boys each got a ball ornament.  Chase got a football, Bridger a baseball and then Tanner a soccer ball.  Charlene puts so much thought into the ornaments and the sweet poems.  

Later that night, the kids put together gingerbread houses.  Mikayla had found the houses at work and then everyone brought some candy to help decorate.  They were very creative.

They're finally framing!!!

 Bridger's standing in front of his bedroom window!

 On November 22, the framers finally showed up to begin our house.  We had to wait a few weeks while they finished up the house they were working on so there was a delay.  We were getting really frustrated because Chris would say "Colby is coming for sure on Friday."  But then Friday would come and go.  Then the next week, Chris would say "Colby is coming for sure on Wednesday."  So we played that game for three weeks.  I would have handled it better if they would have told us, "Colby is a month out."  But instead we got strung along but I guess that's the construction game.  We've had a beautiful fall so it's been frustrating to see our house just sitting and wasting the good weather. We were hoping to have our house framed by now.  Matt and I got really frustrated and looked into having Mike frame our house.  But by the time Mike would have been able to clear his schedule it would have been the same time that Colby would finally be available.  It all worked out in the end because Colby and his crew have been wonderful!!!  I'm so glad we waited for them.  He's very thorough and they're doing a great job on the framing.

 It took them a couple of weeks to frame the basement.  It's been so exciting to see the walls of the house and the actual dimensions of the house!! Chase and Bridger have been so excited to see where their rooms are going to be.

 I LOVE the big windows in my house.  They're not done framing the family room windows so they won't be this big.  But I'll have a nice big sliding door out of the basement.

This is the basement family room, looking from the kitchenette.  It's going to be a nice big room!

This is our open theater room, just off of the family room/kitchenette.  

 This is our sports court.  We're so excited about the sports court!!  It's going to be so nice to have a space for the boys to run around in and practice their basketball no matter what the weather it.  This the overlook from the upstairs.  We based in off of Layne and Tiff's house.

 On December 1st, they started the upstairs floor.

 On December 6th, they started framing the upstairs!! I didn't realize the windows were going to be so big but I love them!!! The weather has finally turned really cold and it's officially winter because it snowed!

 My favorite room in the house is the family room and kitchen.  I love the big windows!  I have the most beautiful view!  It's a little piece of heaven!

The first picture is our mud room, right as you walk in from the garage.  Then the laundry room is behind it.

 This is a view from the family room, looking back towards the front entrance.  The den will be on the left and then the formal sitting room is on the right.

This is the back view of the sports court.  It was a very difficult wall to put up!

My little nudist

So Tanner is going through a phase where he does not like to wear clothes.  I have to get him dressed at least 4-5 times during the day because he's constantly taking off his clothes.  He'll say "I be naked like David."  So I'll say "you need to wear clothes."  Then he'll respond "No never!!!" After I put him to bed, he'll take off his clothes and his diaper.  So sometimes I have to wake him up to get him dressed.  I was talking on the phone and I came in to this room to find Tanner like this.  He cracks me up!

Happy St. Nicholas Day

Saint Nicholas wrote a letter to Grandma and Grandpa R and said that he was going to be dropping by some gifts before December 6th so we had a party on Sunday celebrating St. Nicholas day a little early.  He brought the kids their initial in chocolate.  That's alway their favorite.  The kids immediately ate them!

St. Nicholas also brought some Minion peeps and some candy bracelets.  Tanner's never had a candy bracelet so I had to explain it to him and show him how to eat it.  At first he was a little hesitant but then he caught on quickly and loved it!!!

Mom bought some white puffy balls and the kids and mom and dad had a "snowball fight."  It was the cutest thing to watch.  The kids loved it and had so much fun!

Mom made a wonderful dinner.  Then we opened our presents from St. Nicholas.  Before everyone left, we brought out the pyramid and had advent.  Every grandchild was able to pick a song.  I love this tradition!

Saint Nicholas found us all the way in Tremonton.  The boys came down and found surprises in their shoes.  But we had to wait until the evening when Matt came home from work.  Bridger begged me to open just one present but I wouldn't give in.  Saint Nicholas brought Tanner "Finding Dory" and a lego digger set.  Chase received new pants and some body spray.  Bridger received a sports edition of "Spot It" and a Kadama.  Matt got a shirt that has Buddy the elf on it saying "smiling is my favorite." Saint Nicholas brought me a cute American Girl outfit.  He spoiled us!!  He left some Dove peppermint bark chocolates in our shoes.  We were so excited to eat them.  But when I got back from taking Bridger to school, Sophie had eaten all but three of them which were in the bottom of my shoe.  She even ate the tinfoil.  We were so mad at her!  Luckily she never threw up in the house.  Stupid dog!

Jazz Game Fun

Matt splits a season of Jazz tickets with some friends at work.  It ended up that he got five games this season.  So Chase and Bridger get to go to two games each and then I get to go to one.  The boys have selected the games that they want to go to so I got the left over one.  I'm not picky with the teams anyways.  I'm just happy to go on a date.  Instead of going shopping for Black Friday, we went to a Jazz game and it was awesome.  The seats are in the lower bowl about 10 rows back!  Chase got a jersey last year that he hasn't worn so I asked him if I could wear it and he was super nice about it.  So we look like Jazz fans!

A couple of weeks later, Matt had another game and it was Bridger's turn to go.  I told Matt he needed to send me a picture so he was really sweet about taking a selfie with Bridger.  Matt also sent me a text that said "guess who made it on the jumbotron?"  Then he sent me the picture!  I can't believe he captured it!  Bridger was so excited!!  They had a great night.  They went to dinner at Crown Burger before the game.  I think it's great that he gets a special night with his dad.