The Christmas Day "Look"

I got a picture of both of them opening one of their Santa presents! Kade's was a watch and Cole's was a pirate game (of course). They were stoked! We were just home this year. It was so relaxing and fun to do our own family thing Christmas Eve. We made cinnamon rolls, watched The Christmas Carol, and opened our family gifts to each other. After reading Luke 2, the kids were in bed at 9:20! Yes!! They slept until 7:30. Not bad. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year in a few days!!!

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When Owen watches the boys, he takes it all in. Hopefully he is learning how to be a good boy! This is what he will do lately while he watches. Check out his hands!

Dreams Really Do Come True!

We surprised the boys and drove to the airport Monday afternoon. Our suitcases were packed in the back with a blanket over the top. They had no idea! We were going to Disneyland! I love surprises!!

Here are more pictures.

Words cannot describe the excitement when Cole saw Hook!

It was the cutest thing to watch as Cole was in his own little world.

His dream to one day meet Captain Hook came true.

He LOVES Hook!!

Kade was the enemy!

Thanks CDI!

Idaho Snow

For Thanksgiving, we were in Idaho. The snow came the day we drove there and the day we came home. Even though it was 6 degrees outside, it didn't stop Kade and Cole. I dressed them in their snow clothes and they were off. I sent Mark out with them while Owen, Grandma Purser, and I, watched from the window.

The wind blew the snow all around to make little sled hills. I was perfectly warm watching from inside!

Too BIG too FAST!

Owen had his first haircut on the 18th. Thinking his hair was going to fall out.....I waited...

After 3 inch strands of sporadic hair pieces, it was time to pull out the clippers. I can do that on him. If I had a girl....no way!! Every piece of hair would be important. He still has hair, it's just not wild! Isn't he the cutest??

44 Quarters

44 pieces of chocolate were traded for 44 Quarters! Yes....Kade worked harder and smarter this Halloween. Mark trades one piece of chocolate for one quarter. The plan was concocted about 4 years ago because of Kade's milk allergy. This year if the candy giver held out their basket or bowl to choose, he always grabbed the chocolate to get money instead. Kade made 11 dollars!!

Cole insisted on being Hook again. With a new hook, sword, and his worn out droopy pirate hat, he was ready to strut his stuff. Cole wears his costume a lot. A month ago, I found Cole outside, costume and all, being the leader with the neighborhood kids following behind him. He taught them all how to be a true pirate! After watching Kade trade chocolate for money, he was quick to dump out his loot and separate. He was ready to make some money too!

Owen's 1st Halloween! He just loved being outside. Because of the rain, we waited to go out until later. I bundled him all up. He was my little heater.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Now that it's almost Thanksgiving...HA

Y or why?

Mark took off model time for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for Fall Break. With other meetings that came up and of course golf, we finally got to be with him Friday afternoon. We decided we wanted to go on a "little" hike as a family. On our way, we stopped at Babies R' Us and got a baby carrier to hold Owen.

Kade and Cole got more and more excited as we drove closer to the infamous Y. Really, we were ALL excited!

We parked our car and looked up...

ZIG...ZAG...back and forth...the hike to the Y.

No big deal. Lots of people have hiked the Y. We were going to do it. ALL of us!

It was HOT!

I am not sure...

WHY we never noticed the steep inclines,

WHY we were wearing pants,

WHY we chose to hike in the middle of the day with young kids,

WHY we only had two bottled waters,

and

WHY we packed our hoodies.

Turn 5: Cole was on Mark's shoulders, Kade was not as far ahead, and Owen was loving every minute attached to me. I thought I wanted to be done! Mark just kept telling all of us that if we made it this far we were not turning back. We kept going. I was grateful I brought a hat for Owen. With little shade on the hike, it kept him covered. He was definitely having the most fun.

Turn 8: We could feel the burn. We could feel the heat. Why would we turn back now? We really really wanted to. But we were so close. We were the slow family...one foot in front of the other as people would pass us with smiles. I guess they thought we were okay. I was getting grumpy!

Finally the TOP! We made it!

We always wondered what the Y was made of. We made it!

ALL of us made it!

The best part was seeing how proud my boys were when they saw the Y.

They knew they made it to the top. It was hard work!

10 years from now maybe we'll do it again.

I would not recommend this hike for young children who need to be carried!

FALL

Today felt like a hot summer day with bare trees and a few hints of color here and there. It was 84 degrees!! The weather couldn't have been better. It didn't feel like the cool...crisp...autumn air. With less color, the view was still amazing and we all had a blast. We missed Owen, but we didn't trust bringing him so high up there. Thanks to my sister who watched him. Hopefully next year, we will try to go about a week earlier.

My BOYS!

A LONG way down....