HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

So, this is the first year I have ever experienced snow and Halloween simultaneously. The boys are in complete heaven. The only thing that would have made this picture cuter is if Brayden were in it. He was napping while the boys built this cute little snow pumpkin man!

I know I have not blogged about our life in Evanston yet. I started a post about a month ago but since this computer is not at our house, I couldn't finish it before I had to leave to get home. I haven't carved out a time to get it done. BUT, it is on the to do list! It will get done!

Plus, our house is almost complete. We should be in it by mid November! I can't wait! I will surely make up for lost time once I get my beloved internet back:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas

This year we hosted Christmas Eve at our house since it was going to just be our small family plus my parents and brother, Kirk. We can't fit too many more in our tiny living room so it was perfect. Steve LOVES taking charge of the "program" and he did a good job of keeping us all entertained with games and stories and even the "Nativity" movie. Here is how it all happened that evening:

1. The guests arrived and we ate dinner (forgot to take pictures of our meal).
2. We gathered in the living room for the program. We played the "Left/Right" game where we each had a gift and had to pass it either right or left whenever we heard the words right or left in the story. The story was a version of the nativity story that Steve found online with the words left and right added in strategically. We all ended up with gifts we loved in the end and it was a fun variation to simply reading from Luke as we always have done in the past.
3. Brayden kept us all entertained throughout the night as well. He was so exhausted after his bath, he fell asleep in Steve's arms as he was being dried off in the towel. Too bad we had to wake him to get him dressed.
4. Both boys provided us with well played Christmas music for the program.
5. We enjoyed peppermint ice cream for a sweet treat.
6. The kids took some time to prepare for Santa's visit by sprinkling reindeer dust on the lawn and setting out cookies and milk.
7. We read "The Night Before Christmas" right before bed.

It was one of our most relaxing and enjoyable Christmas Eve's to date!

CHRISTMAS MORNING 2009-

Grandpa Bevan told the boys about a Christmas his dad had one year when all he got was a lump of coal from Santa. Upon hearing this, the boys voiced their worries and concern a time or two before their heads hit their pillows on Christmas Eve. We couldn't guarantee that the same thing wouldn't happen to them, even though we were certain they had more GOOD behavior days than BAD. They both said extra FERVENT prayers for sure that night and we tucked them in with our fingers crossed.

ALAS! SANTA DID COME!

You could definitely see the look of relief on their faces Christmas Morning, when they saw that Santa had indeed left presents for them! And WOW, he really left a pricey loot this year. The boys scored new BIKES and a Wii gaming system! Lewis kept saying, "I can't believe we got BOTH!"

Conner admitted that he didn't get EVERYTHING he had asked for on his list, but he said, he got the two best things he asked for. He vowed to be a perfect saint ALL YEAR next year to see if that will help him get his ENTIRE wish list fulfilled. We shall see.

Brayden actually slept THROUGH the first part of our Christmas Morning, with the boys excitedly unwrapping their gifts and taking their new bikes for a spin in the FRIGID temperatures. But as soon as we heard him, we all went in to get him. I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven with all of the attention that was being paid to him! The boys were tremendously cute with helping him open his presents. As expected, Brayden enjoyed eating the wrapping paper and boxes more than his new toys!

CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST/DAY-

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to visit Grandma's house on Christmas morning. She prepares the greatest breakfast of crepes with strawberries and whipped cream, sausage, bacon and orange juice! It is just perfection! This year, Lewis told Grandma that this breakfast is BETTER than going to Denny's (which is saying a LOT for this picky eater who happens to love Denny's)!

Usually, we go to Grandma's, eat and exchange family gifts, play for a little bit, and then head home to get ready for the day, visit Steve's family and sort of clean up Christmas a bit. Not this year. Steve's family wasn't around this year so we stayed at Grandma's almost the entire day, only leaving because Brayden had a massive "blow out" and I didn't have a change of clothes for him. So, around 3:00, we left for home, cleaned up a bit (I took a nap-thanks Steve) and then at around 4:30, we went back to Grandma's for more yummy food!

We ate Christmas dinner and then played games and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before heading back home again around 8:00.

It was such a RELAXING and low-stress day. Thanks goodness, since the days leading up to it were anything BUT stress-free!

Here's hoping your Christmases were just as relaxing and fun!

Holiday HAVE-TOs

I don't know why it is, but every Christmas season, there is always ONE week that is jam packed with what I call, "Holiday Have-To's". They are the events that come around every year that MUST be attended. All of them are FUN and purposeful, but somehow they all end up in the same week, proving to be exhausting and crazy! I kind of thought this year might be a little less stressful since I am not working full time, but that theory was beaten down pretty quickly. I was still lost in a deep sea of Christmas chaos right up until the last Christmas carol was sung and the last present was wrapped and tucked under the tree. Here is a quick re-cap of SOME of the events (I didn't even take pictures of all of them this year):!

Conner's Piano Recital-

Conner started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the year soon after Lewis started them. It has been fun to watch him progress and develop in his skills. Piano doesn't come as easily to Conner as it does to Lewis, however; Conner is better at practicing than Lewis, so it has been interesting to watch. They each have different teachers with different techniques. It has been a good learning experience for our whole family.

At his recital, Conner played two pieces: "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus". He was the last player of the evening which was a good thing because Steve was busy overseeing one of Lewis' basketball practices and got to the recital just in the nick of time! Conner did great and we are so proud of him. We went out to dinner at Durangos to celebrate!

Ward Christmas Party-

Steve was recently appointed Ward Activities Chairman and this was his first opportunity to try out his party planning skills. It was actually super easy since the former chairman had already booked the entertainment and basically mapped the whole thing out! It was all a matter of advertising and delegating. Some of the highlights were:

1. Re-connecting with old friends and neighbors,
2. eating a warm meal that I didn't have to cook,
3. listening to good, live entertainment,
4. watching the boys run around with their friends and do karaoke,
5. taking advantage of a photo opp with Santa!

Nothing better than a good, old fashioned, ward Christmas Party!

Traditions Show and Tell-

Conner had an assignment to tell about one of his favorite holiday traditions at school. I was surprised when he chose this one that we do with our Christmas books. I started this tradition when the boys were really little to give them something fun to look forward to each day as we count down to Christmas. What I do is gather up as many Christmas books as there are days until Christmas and wrap them up. We start on the first day of December so I wrap 24 of them. I then number the "gifts" and put them in a basket next to our Christmas tree. Each night one of the boys unwraps a book and we read it. When they were little, Steve and I read the books to them, but now they are old enough to read them to us which is a nice change. I can see why this is a fun tradition for Conner (a man obsessed with presents). He gets to open a present every day and even though we have read all the books before, they somehow seem more special and new as they are opened and revealed.

I brought the basket into his class one day and he unwrapped book number 15 in front of his class and then had his teacher read it. It was the book, "Bear Stays Up For Christmas" which was just a perfect book for the occasion. Not too short (some of our books are little board books) but not too long (some of them are really lengthy). His teacher was interested to see what some of our other books were so Conner showed the ones we had already read to his class too. It ended up being a really cute little show and tell situation!

Preschool Polar Express Party-

One of the major stresses of the season for me is preparing for the Christmas festivities at preschool. From art projects, Christmas gifts, party preparations and on and on, it can take a lot of time. Luckily, I just have the one class this year so surprisingly, it was easy to pull it all off! We did the Polar Express party again (my favorite way to celebrate) where the kids wear their jammies to school and we have a yummy breakfast, read the story, drink hot chocolate and make fun Christmas crafts. You know it is a good party when the kids beg to stay longer! That is exactly what happened this year. No one wanted to leave! Ahhh. So sweet:)

Ugly Sweater Party-

Laura and Kurt hosted the Christmas party at their house again this year. It was the ugly sweater competition and I must say, we all could have won! It was a nice change to be able to wear something UGLY instead of having to try and pull something CUTE together in my limited, 'plus size' wardrobe (I still can't fit into most of my pants. . .arghhhh). Anyway, we did the annual white elephant exchange (which gets a little more R rated with every passing year hmmm???). No one will fess up to who is bringing the questionable stuff, but it sure makes for some good laughs!

Miscellaneous Have-To's-

For Young Womens this month we went to the Dickens Festival, had a White Elephant Party, went Christmas caroling and participated in the "Koins for Kids" charity drive at Walmart. I thoroughly enjoyed attending all of these events with my girls. They are so great and added so much to my holiday season. I only snapped pictures of the Dickens Festival and the caroling though.

Steve decided that it was MANDATORY to go COYOTE hunting with one of his Lunch lady's husbands days before Christmas this year, causing me a little extra stress. Hunting isn't exactly something you can do in a couple of hours and I was feeling pulled from all directions so to have to give up my hubby for the day was a bit tricky but I survived and Steve had fun, although-no coyotes!

Speaking of Steve, this year his school district had a party at his boss's house in Beaver Dam and I tagged along. The boys were in HEAVEN because they got to go play at their friend Jaiden's house for the evening while Steve and I partied, ate and exchanged white elephant gifts. The boys made plates of goodies with Jaiden's grandma, played video games and had a general blast that evening. We didn't get home until really late and it was a school night. Kind of inevitable during this crazy week of holiday have-to's!

Santa Baby

Funny to think that last year at this time, he was only a thought, a dream; tucked away like a tiny peanut inside of me. We weren't even sure if he was a boy or girl at this time last year. Now he is here, bringing us so much holiday cheer! He laughed like crazy when we put this Santa hat on his head. Everything is new and fun for him. And that makes everything new and fun for us all over again! Babies are so great!

November

Well, here it is, December, and I am ONCE AGAIN looking back on a month's worth of memories I failed to report, in a timely manner, on this here blog of mine. So, ONCE AGAIN, here is a LONG WINDED, super in depth, probably not interesting to anyone but us, re-cap of November happenings (in no particular order):
My little (BIG) Brother's Birthday-

Yes. It is hard to believe, but Kirk is now TALLER than me and 14 years-old! He is such a good kid and I am glad he's around, not only for someone fun to hang out with but also for my boys to look up to. He has always been such a fun, good uncle to them. We had an enjoyable dinner with cake and ice-cream and then opened presents and listened to a private concert:) A typical, relaxing birthday occasion!

I found this picture of Lewis (on his first Thanksgiving) while at my mom's for Kirk's birthday. People are always asking me if any of my other kids were as chubby and huge as Brayden, I think this is sufficent proof. I actually think Lewis looks chunkier in his picture, and notice the two teeth! Lewis had two teeth by the time he was two months old and kept getting two more every two months after that! Brayden still has not had any teeth cut through his gums, but he has been working on it for a few months now. Hopefully they will just come in already and leave him BE! Anyway, I thought it was fun to see a picture that really showcases how similar Brayden and Lewis look.

The END of Football Season 2009-

Um, sadly this is the ONE AND ONLY image I have of EITHER of my boys playing football this year (and they aren't even playing)!!!! Our computer crashed last week and some of our photos are gone forever! That is indeed a whole 'nother story (a sad one) that I might feel up to telling later. As for this post, I just want to say that football season was pretty good this year. There are PROS and CONS to going with the Washington City League this year as opposed to the pricier SUSA that we have done in past years. With SUSA, the kids have way more playing time and they get to have custom jerseys and mouth guards and weekly games and practices. With the city league, there are WAYYY more kids per team and they wear the city jerseys. Also, apparantly nobody is at risk for losing their teeth 'cause mouth guards aren't required and, they have some different rules that I am not sure I liked or understood, but whatever. I guess the only thing I really liked better about city league was having the games on Saturday as opposed to week nights and you save a few bucks. I really think the boys had better opportunities to grow and shine on the pricier teams. Hmm, I really didn't think I'd come to that conclusion or even notice! I am so not a sportsy person! But, I guess as always, you get what you pay for. REGARDLESS, the boys had a great time and isn't that all that matters:)?!

Young Womens-

Man. This calling has certainly been keeping me busy! Between meetings, events (like Young Women In Excellence that we had at the beginning of Nov.) and other weekly activities, I am BACK in the saddle for sure!

Could not ask for a cuter group of girls to be hanging around with though! I have amazing girls who are so WITH IT! Here's something sort of funny, one of the girls in this picture I used to babysit when I was in college! She was THREE at the time! Now she is fifteen (and still cute as ever)! This really shows my age. . .

Yep! She is still such a sweetie. I can still hear her little three-year-old voice saying "Nick Jr." 'cause that is all she wanted to do (watch Blue's Clues on Nick Jr.)! So funny. Her little sister is in Y.W. as well. I used to change her diapers (she was one at the time). Oh, I am sooooo old:)

Being Thankful-

This year we did a Thankful Jar where the boys chose a paper from the jar each day and on it, it had something for them to be thankful for and a task to perform representing the item. This turned out to be a really simple and fun family thing to do each day. I was amazed at how little I had to do to help the boys perform their tasks. They were really cute about doing them and seemed geniuinely excited to choose a new one each day. I am thankful to Lindsay for sharing this cute activity with us. Otherwise, I never would have known about it and never would have done it. I think our family truly benefitted from this:) Here's the link in case you want to give it a go next year: Thanksgiving Thankful Countdown

First Place Lewis-

So, Lewis memorized a fairy tale for his school's Story Telling Festival and as no surprise to me, he took FIRST PLACE in his division and went on to perform for the district. He is such a great storyteller, a natural, and I am so proud of him for giving it his ALL! He had some pretty stiff competetion in the second round, but he did his best! Everytime I crack open the book, "Falling for Rapunzel" and read the words. . ."Once upon a bad hair day, a prince rode up Rapunzel's way. . ." I will hear Lewis' funny, little British accent-voice and smile! He is such a funny kid and never ceases to amaze us with his hidden talents.

Time to Ourselves-

One great thing about Steve's mom is that she is always begging to have the grandkids come and stay with her and Grandpa. Since we were up to their house in Richfield for Thankgsiving, we decided to leave our boys there for a few nights of fun with them and some of their cousins. While they were off riding four wheelers, building gingerbread houses and Christmas caroling, Steve and I had some time to re-connect and relax at home with Brayden.

Steve is soooo super busy all the time. He is always running from one thing to the next and it's hard to carve out time for just us and for just FUN!

We spent our three days getting Christmas shopping done (yeah Black Friday!), doing odd jobs around the house and just CHILLING! It was so great! We even got a jump start on the holiday decorating and surprised the kids with most of it done by the time they got home on Sunday.

Of course, Conner was soooooo stoked to see his baby brother again. He is such a sweetheart when he wants to be. He played with Brayden for HOURS non-stop and was just so obviously excited to be with him again:)

Of course, we saved the decorating of the tree for the boys to do with us that night. It was the perfect way to send November out the door and welcome in the December festivities. We had a fun and packed month and look forward to more of the same in Dec.

ONCE AGAIN, I am going to make a promise to myself to not wait until the very end of the month to post the happenings! I am going to try harder to keep that promise this time:)

A Chuckle for You!

This needs no words. It is an actual house in my neck of the woods. I'm guessing the inhabitants must have spent most of their Christmases, previous to this one, in another country. Or maybe they have a son named Leon? What do you think???

Thanksgiving Day 2009

This year we spent the big day in Richfield with Steve's Mom's side of the family. Of course, no one's house can accommodate the hugeness of this family so we took over the town church which was just the right size. The food was GREAT, the company was FUN and there was plenty of entertainment for the littles. There was bottle rocket making and shooting, an Oreo turkey craft and Snowman craft (for the girls). My favorite though was the Rock Band extravaganza that took place on the stage for hours and hours.

It was fun to hear both Lewis and Conner ripping it up at the mike and also trying their hand at the guitar and drums. Of course, Steve loves to let loose and did a great job with David Bowie's "White Wedding". I think he will always be a kid at heart. I am so grateful for my family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

The Blur That Was October

Along with the usual comings and goings of the every day. . .

October was a month that packed in a LOT of little "extra" festivities and celebrations. It was crazy and sometimes exhausting trying to keep up with it all, but we did our best. I made it to about 50% of what I needed to or wanted to, I guess there is some give and take in life.

One of the events I really enjoyed (and look forward to every year) was the annual Girl's Weekend event. It is the best time, getting together with the high school crowd and just relaxing and chatting the night away. I always come away from this event with my cup filled back up again! Such GREAT girls and amazing examples to me. The conversation never fails to be impressive and amazing. I feel like I need to take notes; so many great ideas, home remedies, advice about child rearing, marital counseling, and endless humor! It's the best:) This year, I was only able to make it to one night out of the two. Such a bummer, but it was still great! It was held in a beautiful cabin in Pine Valley and it could not have been more enjoyable. I didn't bring my camera but Erin, the amazing photographer that she is, got a GREAT group shot of most everyone (I wonder if we'll ever be able to swing getting EVERYONE there all at once?). You can click here to see it, plus some head shots of each beautiful girl. My favorite is the last group shot. I feel like they are all smiling at me! I love that I am not in this photo (especially since I am so overly critical of myself lately). I can look at each person and remember something funny or encouraging or motivating that she has said at any given girl's weekend/life event and it makes me feel so blessed and inspired and happy! I am a total product of good friends. Without their influence (and a lot of their families' influence) on me in high school and college, I think I would be a completely different person. What an amazing group of girls! Glad I made it to at least one night, oh and Brayden got to go too!

Actually, part of the reason I didn't get to go to the entire girl's weekend was because he was just getting over his first yucky cold. No fun! Actually, our family dealt with our share of illnesses and trips to the doctor this month. We did get our flu vaccines though, including H1N1, so hopefully we will be on top of our game come winter (fingers crossed).

Okay, so when we were all feeling up to par, we were able to make it to some fun seasonal, family events, like the Staheli Corn Maze. Laura's family invites us every year and it has been fun to see the boys grow and change at this same event each time. They looked AWFULLY big to be sliding down the slide and riding some of the rides this year, but I am convinced it is still fun for all ages! I even had my brother Kirk come along with one of his friends. They are 14 year-olds and they had just as much fun as the younger variety. Brayden enjoyed the crisp, fresh air more than anything I think. We played around on some of the fun "farm" rides for awhile, then hitched a ride on the trailer bed over to the actual maze.

We spent plenty of time getting LOST (the fun kind) in the maze. Conner was worried about everyone getting lost (the scary kind) so I sent him off with Steve to keep track of the bigger boys. I had a grand time chatting with the girls (all two of them) and looking after the smaller kids. Brayden fell asleep in the carrier thing I had him strapped in. He loves that thing. I swear, if he weren't so dang heavy, I'd pack him around in it more often!

Of course, we have to get a great group shot with everyone. This year, only mine and Dani's family joined Laura's so it is fun to see that ALL the kids in the picture are BOYS! Pretty crazy huh?! Yep, we are mamas of ALL BOYS and definitely outnumbered:)

Another fun fall tradition that we were able to make it to this year was the annual Peterson Pumpkin Party in Farmington at Steve's sister Shauri's house. I really love this event. It is such a fun idea and I love being at Shauri's house in the fall. She lives in the coziest, cutest little neighborhood that reminds me of days gone by. They just don't make neighborhoods like this anymore:

Shauri's house is the one in the middle and the other images can be found either across the street or right next door. I should have taken more pictures, these are not doing it justice. It really is so quaint and festive! Of course the kids had a blast with their cousins and I had fun visiting with everyone and keeping Brayden content. Shauri's family has a great little garden and they grow their own pumpkins. They invite all the siblings (and their families) from Shauri's side of the fam (which is a LOT of people) and we get to carve pumpkins and eat homemade donuts and other goodies! It really is so simple and so fun!

Capitalizing on the fact that most of the family was in Farmington for the P.P.P. anyway, Shauri's son Heath had his missionary farewell the following day. I can't believe it is his turn to go out into the field! His brother Morgan will be returning from his Australian mission in January. Heath won't get to see his brother for another two years and it has already been two years since HE left! I realize this will be the exact same situation for our boys when they go off on their missions. Their birthdays are EXACTLY two years apart. Just one more thing to test their faith. We are proud of Heath and his amazing example to our boys. He'll be an awesome missionary to the Spanish speaking people in California.

Okay, let's see, what else happened in October? Oh yes! My birthday! I can't believe I am thirty-something! Steve and I are noticing that we are turning into those "older people" we always looked at curiously from afar-never imagining we would become them someday. . .
I had a nice little birthday this year. One of those events that drag on over a few days. Steve and Lewis were off hunting for the first part of the weekend, but cut the trip short after Steve shot a deer on the first day. It was a nice present to have them come home on my actual day (Sunday). Also included in the festivities; I went out to lunch with some girlfriends, went to my mom's for dinner/cake & ice-cream on Sunday, ate a yummy birthday breakfast prepared by the boys on Monday. . .all good stuff! I am blessed.

Alright, moving on. Let's cut to the chase. We all know HALLOWEEN is the main event in October. We had our fill of the holiday for SURE at our house. Lots to do. We managed to squeeze in a ward carnival:

School Halloween Parade and parties:

The Beaver Dam School Carnival (Steve's school-yes, he dressed as "The HULK"):

You might notice in the pictures that my kids had SEVERAL different costumes this year. This was the first year that I made a mandate that they choose their costumes from the large collection we have here at home. No need to fork out an arm and a leg for costumes when we have an assortment of perfectly great costumes right here. Conner ended up being really logical in his decisions to dress up for each event. For the church carnival, he opted for last year's Storm Trooper costume which was just down-right easy and comfortable. He had been planning to be a vampire for weeks leading up to Halloween and he ended up being a super cute version on the school parade day. However, later that night at the Beaver Dam carnival, he said he wanted to be a Karate Kid (again for comfort) and because he didn't want to have to do his makeup over again. Amen I said! Now he has an INKLING of an idea of what it's like to be a girl that has to be "made up" on a daily basis-sometimes twice when we have evening events to go to. "Man, I'm glad I'm a boy!" he said! So cute:) For the ACTUAL Halloween event, once again-he went for his GO-TO storm trooper ensemble. It was all about the candy at this point!

I really have no idea what Lewis would have chosen to be if he could have chosen from the store again this year. I am sure it would have been something "scary" but he was happy to bring "the Joker" back to life again this year. He wore the mask to the church carnival and we did his make-up for school. He opted for the "football player" costume for the other two events.

Then there was Brayden. Now, I confess, I know there are people that literally go NUTS over 'Baby's First Halloween.' I am not one of them. I am a little more laid back and VERY traditional. I ended up dressing him in the same dragon costume that his older brothers wore for their first Halloweens. It makes my heart happy to know that someday there will be a scrapbook page in our Fall family album with a picture of each of them as the dragon. I don't even know where we got that costume? Oh well, it's cute and warm. Brayden, our little chunky monkey, was a bit too chubby for it though. We weren't able to do the top snap because of those cheeks of his! Even though it is a size 12 month, it barely fit him. He is such a big boy! He was "sort-of" a pirate during some of our day time events (preschool party and the boy's school parade), but I didn't officially get him all decked out as a pirate. Let's face it, we were SWAMPED! I keep thinking I am going to dress him up with all the trimmings and at LEAST get a good picture! Better hurry or he'll be too big for IT too!

Oh yes. I did dress up as well. Of course, a witch, it's what I do best! Plus, I really like singing, "I'm a mean old witch with a hat. . ." to the preschool kids! Wouldn't be Halloween without that!

and then, of course, there was HALLOWEEN NIGHT Trick-or-Treating! Steve took the kids out while I stayed home and RELAXED (gave out candy)!

Needless to say, with all that runnin' around to all those different events, we ended up with WAAAYYYYYYYY too much candy! How 'bout you? What's the deal with people giving out FIST fulls of candy these days? I'm so old school. The candy seems more special if you have to work for it. How pathetic I must have seemed to the poor kids that came to our house and I was giving ONE measly piece to each person! The boys RAVED about the houses that just dumped in handfuls of candy! WHAT???

So there it was! October-what a blur! Now, I need to go put away all those darn Halloween decorations before Thanksgiving gets here!

Easter Weekend

This year for EASTER we did the usual, dyed Easter Eggs,


Found a community Easter Egg Hunt to attend (the one at Bloomington Park, even in the rain),

Went to church,



Had Sunday dinner at Grandma B's where the Easter Bunny hid some MORE eggs out on the lawn for the boys. This year they were much too fast for me to get some decent pics-but they had a blast and each ended up finding quite a supply of goodies!


Yep. Another FABULOUS Easter Weekend! HAPPY EASTER!