Just One?

The boys ask at least 10 times per day if they can open just ONE present under the tree.....it's going to be a long two weeks until Christmas!!

Dad's Birthday!

Ryon's birthday usually begins with his favorite breakfast, and this year it was no different.  The boys and I (OK...just me, the boys watched cartoons!) got up and made waffles with fruit and cream, bacon, eggs and hash browns before Ryon made it down the stairs.  After a big breakfast we let Ryon open a few gifts - some new shirts and a wool coat I thought  he would like; however, he informed me that the wool made his neck itch so it looks like that present is going to be returned!

Later that night we celebrated with a little cake that the boys couldn't wait to dig into.  A few nights later we went out for a birthday dinner with some friends at the restaurant of Ryon's choice - SIZZLER!  He likes to joke that it's the only time each year that I'll go to Sizzler and he just may be right.  Happy 38th to our favorite guy!

Good Ol' Annie

Truth be told, Annie is a great horse for the boys to ride.  She is generally very mild mannered and both Hoyt and Jett love to feed her, pet her, ride her....  Since we have moved to Idaho it has been great to have Annie "just out back" in the pasture.  She is close by and, therefore, easy for the boys to ride.  This was one of our last rides of the winter before the bitter cold and snow set in!

O' Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving, I made Ryon help me bring the Christmas tree up from the basement.  I have to admit that I love the Christmas tree and I want it up and decorated as long as possible, so I wasted no time in getting it done.  And to be honest, the boys love decorating it as much as me so they were thrilled!  This year, I decided to let Hoyt and Jett decorate the tree as much as they wanted before they went to bed, and then I strategically moved things around once they were asleep. The boys must have spent an hour putting ornaments on.  Every time Jett put an ornament on the tree he would throw his hands up in the air and say "yay", and Hoyt took his decorating job pretty seriously! 

When Hoyt woke up the next morning he said, "Wow mom, we did a really great job decorating the tree!"  I'm glad he didn't notice that I had done a little "rearranging"!  Next year I've decided the boys will have a little tree all to themselves that they can decorate - they'll love that.

Thanksgiving!

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year.  Noelle, Kyle and the kids came for a few days, and Ron, Kathy and Markus were also here.  The kids had lots of fun running around the house, playing in the basement, jumping on the trampoline (bundled up in coats) and riding the horse after Thanksgiving dinner.  I had the greatest intentions of taking pictures of our "Thanksgiving Feast" but I think I got too busy cooking and forgot!  Let's just say we had tons of good food, and thoroughly enjoyed eating our Thanksgiving meal. 

That night we also had the Symons over for dessert, so that added an extra 8 people to the mix.  We had so much fun, and I'm glad we have this big house to entertain in.  The kids were able to run and play downstairs, while the adults had a bit of quiet upstairs - definitely a beautiful thing!!

Thanksgiving Feast

Hoyt had his Thanksgiving Feast at preschool today.  The children had prepared a program for the parents to watch, and then we all had lunch together at his preschool teacher's house.  It was so fun!  We had stew, cornbread muffins, fruit and dessert.  The kids were able to serve their parents and siblings lunch, and it was nice to sit and visit with the other parents. 

Hoyt did an outstanding job on his parts in the program - we had been practicing them for a few weeks!  I don't think I have written much about Hoyt's preschool this year, but I have loved it (and so has Hoyt).  I am taking him to a woman who used to teach 2nd grade, but now runs a small preschool out of her home.  There are only five other children in Hoyt's class and they are all five or almost five-years-old.  Hoyt has learned a lot so far, and we are happy that we made the decision to wait another year for kindergarten.  Here are a few pictures of the Feast:

 

Boise Temple Open House

The first week of November, I was pretty much out of commission.  I had my hernia surgery on the first, and then for the next week was pretty sore and on the couch.  Ryon and I had planned to take the boys to the Boise Temple open house on November 2nd, but had to push it back a week due to the "unexpected" events! 

On Thursday the 8th, we picked up Hoyt a bit early from preschool and made our way to Boise.  Hoyt was really excited to be going inside a temple; we had been having family home evenings for a  month all about the temple and how great it was going to be.  Hoyt loved the temple and just soaked everything in.  Jett, on the other hand, was a little bit whiny.  He made it through the entire tour, but at the end Ryon had to take him out.  They missed the celestial room, but Hoyt and I were able to go in.  Hoyt had a very special experience in the celestial room, and I was so glad that we had taken him to the temple.

After our tour, we took the boys to Chile's for dinner, and then we made our way to Cabela's to see the animals and check out the aquarium.  By the end of the evening, I was feeling pretty sore, so we hopped back in the car and made it home by about 8:00. 

    

Halloween 2012

We had a pretty busy Halloween this year!  To start things off, I had a doctors appointment two days before Halloween where they told me that I was going to need hernia surgery the day after Halloween.  (Actually, the surgeon wanted to schedule the surgery on Halloween and I told him "no way!")  So, the morning of Halloween I was at the hospital doing some pre-op. work, which wasn't so fun.  After that, however, it was home to get the boys ready for our church trunk-or-treat.

We had our trunk-or-treat that the boys loved, and then ran home to eat a quick dinner.  Grandma Murray met us at our house for dinner and then helped us take the boys around the neighborhood for a little trick-or-treating.  We only went to about five houses, but the boys had fun ringing door bells and getting candy.  When we finally made it home the boys were ready for bed - they had a great day!

   

Vampire Hoyt

Hoyt decided early on (sometime in August) that he wanted to be a vampire for Halloween.  He wanted scary teeth, blood dripping out of his mouth, the works!  So....when it came time for his preschool Halloween party, he was up at 6:30 asking when it was going to be time to put on his costume.  After he was ready to go, he just stood in the mirror looking at his costume and telling me how great he looked! 

Hoyt was also excited to take treats to his party.  He helped me make some witches hat cupcakes that turned out pretty cute.  At the end of preschool, the parents got to come in and listen to some scary songs the kids had prepared.  It was pretty cute!