Fun in December

We went to the Portland festival of trees and each picked out our favorite tree. Hunter was thrilled to find a space tree and Haylee found a musical tree. I found a snowboarding tree that makes me want to snowboard again this winter.

Basically only one time a year I get to dress my kids matchy matchy!!

We had some snow days before Christmas break due to two snow storms. The first storm was only predicted to start snowing in the afternoon so they cancelled school without one snowflake in sight. We had to find fun ways to entertain ourselves. The next storm was pretty decent for Washington so we got some fun sledding in. It was so fun getting snow before Christmas. It made all of our festivities so much more festive. One night Haylee and I went on late night walk in the snow. So peaceful and beautiful and I love just being able to talk with her about anything and everything without the boys around.

Our first snow day, with no snow. School was cancelled so we went Christmas shopping. We rode the train in the mall. Hunter kind of looks like he is robbing us.

We left the mall and surprise, it was snowing. Yay the snow came after all. We went home to do some Christmas baking and then we waited for enough snow to fall so we could go play in it. We got some good Christmas crafting in too!

Hudson's first time in the snow. He did not like it because he had a hard time leaving his gloves on. He hates things on his hands, gloves are no exceptions. His poor hands were so cold. These kids built massive snowballs for the little snow we got.

The next week we got another snow storm and more snow for good sledding at the park!

Between giving Chritmas gifts to my primary, and organizing primary classes for the new year my dining room table was covered like this most of December. Our Ward Christmas Party was fabulous a night. Haylee was the only one who sat on Santa's lap that night. Hunter said he didn't need to tell Santa twice what he wanted because he already knew from his letter. Smart Boy

Hunter has a lot of energy to burn. One night we went on the trampolines in the mall and he is constantly teaching Hudson some of his tricks. One night they were skateboarding circles around me as I made dinner. Boys! We also went to the Oregon zoo lights on a freezing cold night. I was hoping it would deter the crowds but it was a dry night here in the northwest so it was pretty crowded. Christmas lights are always magical to me. I love them!

Our elf was in full force and pulling some pretty funny shenanigans. We loved having him around. Hunter's favorite was when he was snowboarding on our banister.

I love all the Christmas décor around our house all December. And Haylee is my extra special helper elf. She is pro at wrapping presents!

My favorite activity is looking at Christmas lights with the kids. We kind of have turned it into a fun activity to do when Weston is working late. He drives too fast past the houses anyways. So we take our time and keep a running tally of all the lit décor we see. So fun! This year the kids invited some friends over for a gingerbread house party.

During Christmas break, Hunter participated in a basketball camp while Haylee did a holiday baking class. Since we had so many snow days before Christmas this was a perfect time for me to finish up last minute Christmas shopping! Win, win!

While Haylee and I were painting our nails for Christmas the boys were playing dress up. Santa and his little elf!

Now we are ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas!

November happenings

Haircuts and all the sudden he seems all grown up.

Weston and I went to a Seattle Seahawks game. Without kids!! Weston was beyond excited for this. We had a fantastic time. So much fun. We also experienced our first uber ride. And by the time we left Seattle for the day we ubered 3 times. It's amazing.

We always like to have lots of play and craft time.

Magic snow is the best. Especially when we live in a place where it doesn't snow. Hahahaha apparently not this year. We are on our 7th snow day today.

It happened to be a beautiful, warm, sunny day on a day Haylee had a dr's appt so I decided to let Hunty ditch school too and we headed to the zoo.

Haylee and Hunter participated in our ward talent show. Haylee wrote her own song and sang and played it on the guitar with her guitar teacher. Hunter that same day decided he wanted to juggle. I kind of explained to him there would be about 300 people there, trying to kind of discourage it since he doesn't know how to juggle. But very confidently he walked right up to the stage and started throwing and catching bean bags. He even threw in a few tricks like dancing while juggling. It was great!

I've never had a child that is a daddy's baby before. But man oh man Hudson loves his daddy! And Weston is loving having a little buddy. Lots of football watching together!

We do decorate before thanksgiving around here. Our favorite is getting the trees up in the kids' bedrooms. And the tree in the playroom.

Onto Thanksgiving! We went to silverfalls lodge to enjoy a thanksgiving dinner with my parents, my brother and my grandpa. A change from our traditional thanksgiving dinner but it was fun and a yummy meal.

Thanksgiving night the kids get to open up their Christmas jammies to enjoy all month long. Such a fun tradition that the kids really look forward to now. Its always amazing to me how traditions start. Long ago when Haylee was 1 or two I gave her Christmas jammies on Thanksgiving and it has now stuck.

Thanksgiving was pouring down rain so we did our turkey trot the day after thanksgiving. We do one mile and the kids were sure they could both beat me. I was sure of it too but I was talking it up to them pretty hard core that I would beat them. I was in the lead the whole way and dying but Haylee kicked it into high gear the last half lap and sprinted by me to the finish line. Hunter needed a little help and encouragement from dad to finish the race but I was proud of him for finishing. He doesn't like to lose. Especially to his mom. Then it was off to do some black Friday shopping and visits to Santa.

These are my two kids that never really fall asleep anywhere but their beds. I guess we really wore them out thanksgiving weekend. Turned around to find them both fast asleep in the car.

Haylee's 9th Birthday

Her Birthday weekend started out with a soccer game and a win. She was also thrilled to have scored 4 goals!

Following the game she picked 4 friends to take to get their nails done and dinner. Hazel, Haylee, Payton, Ava and Ella.

Do I look tired with all those girls? Because I was.....they were a ton of fun but they move fast, talk a lot, sing loud, and eat fast! For a few hours I felt like a 9 year old again but I am way too old to act like that for long. So. Much. Energy! The next day was her actual birthday and we celebrated by opening presents, eating cake, and having fun with family. EVen my 93 year old grandpa could be there for her birthday!

Such a perfect weekend all the way back in November celebrating my sweet, kind, smart, talented, and helpful 9 year old. Love her to pieces!!

2016 Year in Review

Our year was pretty calm and uneventful and I'm learning as I grow older that is a good thing. Not many changes took place this year. We kept busy but with good things. ~January~ Weston and I drove to Seattle to take a look a truck Weston had his eye one. We drove up in our car, and drove home in his new 2015 black ford 150 with 5,000 miles. To date his truck, one year later, has 50,000 miles on it. He drives A LOT! The kids went to ski school most Saturdays in January and learned to ski for their first time. Both Hunter and Haylee played on basketball teams in January. I was sustained into YW's as the miamaid advisor and Haylee participated in a cheerleading camp and performed at a highschool basketball game half time show. ~February~ Weston and I went to a comedy show with some friends of ours for Valentine's Day. Hunter had the flu and was on the couch for 9 days. He missed a couple Saturdays of skiing and basketball games. I hosted our Wismer Women's Weekend for my sisters' and my mom. ~March~ Hudson finally started crawling and 10 months old. We as a family went to Coeur D'Alene to have a good bye party with my dear friend Lucy who was moving to St. George Utah. Hunter started playing T-ball for the first time. ~April~ The kids and I had really fun spring break visiting places around where we live. We went to the tulip festival in Woodburn, We went to the Oregon zoo, the Oregon coast, and we visiting the visitor center at the Portland Temple. The next week we went to Olympia for my cousin's baby blessing. We had fun as a family walking around our state's capitol building. Hudson also turned one year old. We had fun celebrating with a family birthday party. I was called as the ward primary president. ~May~ We celebrated 10 years of marriage on May 6th. We had a fun spontaneous photo shoot for the occasion. We were also in boise for Sadie's 8th birthday and baptism. We surprised the kids and took them to Great Wolf Lodge for a weekend. Haylee had a couple of her friends over for a memorial day picnic lunch. ~June~ Hudson learned how to walk and has been sprinting everywhere ever since. The kids had their last day of school and were on a summer track team. We had fun going to the library every week, watching various shows and participating in the summer reading program. ~July~ Haylee and Hunter took swimming lessons. We went to Eugene, Oregon to watch the track Olympic trials. It was HOT! Hunter turned 6 and had a birthday party at chuck-e-cheese. Haylee participated in a cheerleading camp and then marched in parade. Hunter attended a flag football camp. Haylee went to her first stake activity day camp, and then we went to the Oregon coast for a wismer reunion. ~August~ We took a two week vacation going to Boise to visit cousins. Then to Pocatello to visit with more cousins and grandma and grandpa Teuscher. We spent a day in Rexburg showing the kids BYU-I. Weston and I had so much fun remembering our college days there. We also went to Bear Lake and had so much fun swimming in the lake. Weston took us to his high school and told us about some of his big football games. Haylee then started 3rd grade at the end of the month. ~September~ Hunter started all day Kindergarten. He also played on a flag football team for the first time and soccer again. Haylee also played soccer again. Went to Corvallis, Oregon to watch boise state play Oregon State. Boise state won! ~October~ I flew to Salt Lake City with my mom, and sister, Stacey for our Wismer Women's weekend. Weston and I celebrated our 36th and 35th birthdays. We had fun celebrating Halloween all month and I worked hard on our primary program and ward trunk or treat. Hudson started going to Nursery. We are still working on that transition. ~November~ Haylee celebrated her 9th birthday with a nail party and going out to dinner with friends. She also had her last soccer game of the season, where she scored 4 goals and the game winning goal! Weston and I went to a Seattle Seahawks Game. We had a blast! We went to Silver Falls Lodge with my family for a Thanksgiving Feast. ~December~ We had two small snow storms, which meant we had 4 snow days! We went to the Portland tree festival and the Oregon zoo lights. We had fun celebrating Christmas all month but on Christmas morning, Hunter had the stomach flu. He recovered just in time so we could fly to Boise for New Years. We went sledding, celebrated birthdays and ate lots of yummy food. Then we rang in the new year with glow sticks and bubbly. It really was a fantastic year for our family!