Oops! I had no idea my last post was the first of November! It's that typical busy holiday season, again. But I have had my camera with me, so I thought I better get these pictures up on the blog.
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Since November started, Trever's been participating in a community basketball league. He has two practices each week and a game each Saturday. After his first practice, he was really discouraged that he couldn't play as good as he wanted to, so TJ and I told him he didn't have to keep going if he didn't want to. But the next morning, Trever woke up and told us that he had decided to keep going to practice. After his second practice, he was feeling a lot more optimistic and had a lot of fun. TJ and I were so impressed with his decision to not give up and we've really enjoyed watching him improve each week and have so much fun with it.
Trever plays excellent defense and is great a hustling down the court and helping out his team.
Nathan's been a good sport about Trever's basketball league, too. Still too young to participate, Nathan's been Trever's #1 fan, watching from the sidelines and giving his brother lots of "thumbs up." Watch out, basketball players, next year Nathan's going to hit that court running! He can't wait to play!
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In preschool:
We've been plugging away at learning those numbers and letters, shapes and colors. Before Thanksgiving, we studied the history of the holiday, frying up Indian fry bread, coloring Tee Pee's and Log Cabins, and more. One day we discussed the traditional Thanksgiving meal. So I gave Nathan this paper with a blank plate on it and told him to draw the foods he was going to eat for his Thanksgiving meal. He immediately started drawing purple Jello shapes all over his entire plate. I asked him if he wanted anything else for Thanksgiving, but he was certain that the only thing he intended to eat that day was Jello. haha
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Before Thanksgiving:
The boys finally talked TJ and I into putting up the Christmas tree on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Since we were planning a trip to Idaho for the holiday, we decided we'd indulge their request earlier that usual. The boys did such a great job at putting up all the ornaments. I have to admit, it's really nice having the ornaments at the bottom half of the tree, too. For years, while they were toddlers, all of our ornaments had to stay at the top half of the tree, since they were always taking them off. Not any more. They're at such a fun stage, now. However, we're all ready to have another little one in our home. We've been hoping for a long time now, to have another baby. I'd be glad to put those ornaments up higher on the tree again. But, for now, we're so excited to share Christmas with our two amazing little boys.
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Thanksgiving in Idaho was perfect. We got to spend the day with both TJ's family and mine. I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving! We had missed everyone so much and it was just wonderful to spend time with all of them again. But the party didn't stop there. Friday, I spent the day at my parents' home, helping with last-minute preparations for my baby sister, Kye Leah's wedding on Saturday. But before we went to her wedding, we got to go to TJ's oldest niece, Kaitlyn's wedding at the Idaho Falls temple. The ceremony was beautiful and Kaitlyn looked like an angel. We were so happy to share in her special day. As soon as it was over, TJ and I jumped in the car and zoomed over to the Rexburg temple for my sister's wedding. Another beautiful ceremony and another angelic bride! It was such an incredible day! We were so happy to be there! Then, that evening, I started out as a bridesmaid at my sister's reception and ended up as a guest at our niece's reception. Then, Sunday morning, we said our goodbye's and made the 11 hour drive back to Colorado. The whole weekend was so perfect! I couldn't imagine it going any better and I left truly Thankful for the opportunity to be there and be with our beloved families.
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Since we were so busy, though, I completely forgot to take pictures until Saturday night at Kaitlyn's reception. We were pretty much exhausted by that point, so TJ and I just sat at the table and clicked a few shots of each other with our two little buddies:
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Back in Windsor, our little town had the cutest pre-Christmas celebration outside. There was a hot cocoa booth, fudge booth, free wagon-horse rides, free books from the local library, free visits with Santa and Mrs. Clause and even real reindeer!
The reindeer were, by far, my favorite part. I'd never seen real reindeer before, so that was very exciting for me. And the boys were pretty excited, too! TJ will be the first to tell you, though, that I was complaining about the cold--it was VERY cold! And the line for Santa was SO long, so we decided to skip the cold wait, and drive to the mall to see Santa.
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Excellent idea! It was so warm and so festively decorated. The boys loved the huge tree in the mall's center.
After their exciting visit with the man in red, they cheerfully played at the mall's play area. TJ and I had so much fun watching them run around that we took a few photos:
(Don't let him fool you, he really was having fun. haha)
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Trever has already had one school music program, too. TJ got called in to work that night, so he regretfully didn't get to come, but I video taped the whole thing, and got a few silly photos after the program, too. Trever was a great little choir member, and they sang some fun Christmas songs at the end. He was all energized after the program, feeling so proud of himself. It was cute.
And Nathan was pretty proud of his big brother, too.
Since then, we've been up to the same preschool with Nathan, basketball with Trever and everything else in between, plus getting ready for Christmas. TJ and I can't wait to share Christmas with the boys this year. They're SO excited for Santa and we can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning. But because of their excitement for Santa, we've also been making an effort to remind them each day of the true meaning of Christmas. In the "Friend" magazine for December, there was this awesome "ABC's of Christmas" chart with a scripture about Jesus's birth for each day. So we started that on December 1st, instead of our usual Book of Mormon family scriptures, and now, every night the boys are jumping with excitement to read the Christmas scripture for the day. We've also encouraged them to do as much service as they can to give as "gifts for Jesus," since it's His birthday. Trever & Nathan think that's so cool, that Trever even made this request in his recent prayer: "...and please bless Christmas to come fast, so Jesus can have a good time."
Cute! I am loving motherhood!
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What's been hard, though, is having recently lost my dear, sweet Grandma Mary.
She passed away two day ago, and my heart has been heavy. She's the closest person to me that I've ever lost and facing that feeling for the first time has been painful. I just saw her at Thanksgiving and sat next to her during Kye's wedding. Although I knew of her health struggles, I didn't realize she'd be gone so soon. She's always been there for every holiday and every important event in my life, and I always knew where to find her. So I guess I felt like she'd just always be there. Knowing that I'll have to wait until the next life to see her again, makes me miss her so much. She's greatly influenced my life and I know I wouldn't be the same person without her. I loved her so much. I am so grateful for her and for all the time spent with her, and now I realize how important it is to cherish every moment spent with every person who is dear to us. Most of all, though, I am grateful to know that she's in heaven with the loved ones that she has lost and missed for so long, she's no longer suffering from physical pain, and I will see her again, someday.
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