Yay for 2015!

Hello!

Happy New Year!

Don't worry, I'm not giving up blogging!

It's always in the back of my mind. It's just not always the first thing on my checklist. But I've really come to value this blog for the great record it has become. This is the second time this month that I've checked my blog for the date of an event that has happened. When I first started blogging, I never realized what a valuable resource it would become!

Hopefully, I can keep it updated more frequently, though. The holidays got me pretty distracted. They were great, though. Here's a little flashback on the past few months:

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The rest of November: 

Visiting the Caldwell Light Festival

Decorating the Family Christmas Tree

 

They were pretty proud of their handiwork!

 

And TJ and I were so proud of these two for both becoming "Students of the Month" for November!

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Thanksgiving 2014

We had much to be thankful for,

with two wonderful families to share the holiday with that day! 

First, we celebrated Thanksgiving at TJ's parents' home.

After dinner, Isaiah couldn't get enough of the mini 4-wheeler.

All the cousins went on a fun scavenger hunt,

And then made tasty Turkey treats afterwards.

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Then... 

We had Thanksgiving again!

At my parents' home.

Isaiah and his cousin Atticus had their own "big boy" table.

Then, the kids made Gingerbread houses.

 

And we topped the big day off with a glow stick dance party!

Woo Hoo!

What a FUN Thanksgiving!!!

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December:

Family Photos for Christmas Cards

I just took these in our backyard one Sunday afternoon and was SO glad they turned out so well! It's amazing what a little bribery will do...Our first attempt at photos, the week before, was not as productive. hahaha!

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December was full of parties!

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The Ward Christmas Party:

Trever was feeling a little too old to be sitting on Santa's lap still.

Nathan told Santa he wanted "a bunch of money!"

I was really bummed out that Isaiah wouldn't sit on Santa's lap...he just ran away crying. But my disappointment was forgotten while we were sitting at the table together...

We were waiting for the dinner to begin, and Isaiah kept fussing and reaching for a bowl of sliced butter on the table, begging for a snack. Not knowing how much longer dinner would be, we finally gave in, and let him pop a slice of butter in his mouth, thinking he'd spit it back out. But instead, he just hesitated for a moment, chewed it up and swallowed! hahaha...TJ and I burst out laughing! It was so gross!

Trever and Nathan kept us entertained, as well! haha!

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Christmas Eve Morning! 

Since we had planned to drive to East ID on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, we asked Santa to come the night before and bring the presents.

Trever and Nathan, woke up at their usual 4:00am Christmas time, went downstairs, hooting and hollering with excitement over all the presents, watched SpongeBob on TV until the assigned 6:00am that TJ had given them, then burst through our bedroom door with all the energy and cheers of an entire cheer squad! hahaha! Isaiah awoke shortly after, cheerfully curious about all the excitement.

And Christmas began... 

Isaiah's reactions were especially fun this year!

And the older boys' reactions were still as fun as ever!

TJ's gift to them were tickets to the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Utah Jazz Basketball game in March! They CAN'T WAIT!!!

happy...

happy...

happy...

hahaha...

Needless to say, the boys had a very fun morning.

TJ and I enjoyed watching our boys' excitement and joyful attitudes, 

and  then, we were busily packing bags and loading the car for our drive to East ID.

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We arrived at my parents' home that night,

and were soon followed by a special visit from Santa Claus! 

And Isaiah actually sat on his lap willingly,

so I finally got a picture of him with Santa,

which made my day!

Trever almost got away without another photo op...

Nathan was mystified by the presence of the REAL Santa!

My parents gave everyone of my siblings and their kids new pajamas for Christmas, so we had a jolly pajama party with everyone there! It was so much fun to spend time with all my siblings together!

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Christmas Day! 

Even though the boys had their gift opening the day before,

Santa made sure to fill their stockings for Christmas morning.

(haha...TJ was still waking up!)

and so was Isaiah.  :)

The boys had fun with their stocking stuffers,

then we shared a delicious Christmas breakfast with my family and then drove over to TJ's parents' to spend the second half of the day with his family.

Because of the big snow storm the night before,

TJ's dad was dutifully clearing snow-covered roads that day,

so while we were waiting for him, we visited together and watched the cousins play with punch balloons!

They were so cute and funny!

Isaiah loves visiting all of his grandparents and cousins as much as his older brothers do. We love how exciting it always is to see all of our family and other relatives when we go to visit! We had a wonderful Christmas, full of all the best parts of the holiday season!

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Back in Middleton, the boys spent the rest of their break from school enjoying their new Christmas presents, but still took some time to enjoy the great outdoors, also, playing in all the snow we came home to here.

Isaiah found it quite tasty!

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New Year's Eve:

We had a family Fondue party! Yum!

Cheddar fondue for dinner...

And white chocolate fondue for dessert!

 

Afterwards, we played a board game, watched a movie and fell peacefully asleep before midnight. It was so nice to spend a relaxing evening with my favorite people in the world, and awake to begin a new year with them. I couldn't ask for more. Truly.

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January 2015

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After a great Christmas break, the boys returned to school, and we got back to our regular routine.

We got Nathan signed up for another season of Basketball to begin next month, and Trever tried out for a more competitive league.......and made the team! Yay!

Not only that, but...

He placed 2nd last weekend at the Elk's Regional Hoop Shoot Contest, after placing 1st in his age division at his elementary school's hoop shoot contest.

It is so exciting to watch him develop his talents. He's doing great at piano, too, and is excelling in Scouts also.

Nathan watches him closely and is already planning to reach the same achievements as his big brother. He'll start scouts this year, as well as turning eight and getting baptized.

I can already tell it's going to be another exciting year, full of great accomplishments and grand adventures!