Once there was a Snowman...

We went out and built a snowman in our almost freshly fallen snow (it was pretty wet by this afternoon). The boys were pretty proud of it. Jace wouldn't put on his gloves, so he didn't touch the snow much. He fell once, and you would have thought that he was instantly getting frostbite by the way he reacted.
Dallon did some re-arranging of the snowman's arms....
Then he decided the snowman looked like a hunting trophy!

I love the snow...it makes it really feel like Christmas is coming. We're tentatively planning to go up and get our Christmas tree this weekend. It will be fun to decorate with the boys this year. I'm hoping to find a chance to see Santa this year too...we missed him last year.

Winter Wonderland!

We walked into the family room this morning to find that it had snowed. I took the boys to the back door and showed them. Dallon let out a big gasp and said, "a Christmas!" I quickly got the boys dressed and Dallon went right out to play. He began by scraping snow off of everything he could with a little toy hammer. His hands got cold in his little gloves, so I went out while he was at school and got him some better gloves for his recess time. I stayed and watched him play at recess, he was throwing snowballs at his teachers and helping to build a snowman. After lunch we'll go out and try the snowman building thing. I doubt this snow will last long--it never does here. I'll post some more pictures later.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving Day we spent at my Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's house. We had an early dinner at about 2:00, and the food was so good we stuffed ourselves a couple of times. We went back to our hotel room to put the boys down for a nap, then headed to my parent's house because they had some early Christmas a birthday presents for the boys.

Jace was cheesing it up for every camera he saw even though he had been sick since Tuesday and was feeling pretty lousy earlier that day.
For Christmas they got an electric Polaris Sportsman that I'm sure they will have tons of fun on soon.
Kaylee and Colton being silly playing cards.
Jace playing with Grandpa, pounding on the big ball and growling.
For Dallon's birthday he got a flashlight that he was supposed to wear on his head, but he thought it was a camera and went around for the next couple of days saying "smile" and making shutter noises.

On Friday we got together with all of my siblings and their families to have some family pictures taken (Jace and Dallon were not in the mood), then we had breakfast at Elmer's. We spent some time with Colton and Whitney and their new baby Andee. That evening we picked up some pizza and went to Jeremy and Liz Branson's house for a couple of hours and just lingered and played with some friends there. We went back to our hotel and swam in the pool with Kaylee, my cousin Kourtney, and a couple of their friends until we got kicked out.

Saturday morning we packed up, made a couple of stops to say some good-byes and headed on our way. We make a stop in La Grande, and made it home a little after 9:00.

Today we are trying to recover. Dallon is sick with what Jace had last week, so we'll see how things go for him to go to school this week.

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday, and that this holiday season is just as wonderful.

Gratitude

Gratitude is the word I think of when Thanksgiving rolls around each year--and I have so much to be thankful for. I have a fantastic husband and two beautiful and healthy sons. I have a job that keeps me busy and healthy. I have many talents that makes my life more full and gives me opportunity to serve others. I have a calling at church that has pushed my limits and helped me to give more freely of myself to people I barely know. I have a life filled with love and enriched with knowledge of truth. I am especially grateful this year to have been lucky enough to have been born in this great country. I am a huge fan of America, and most of my blessings are a direct result of the opportunities provided to me through the freedoms in this country--the most important of which to me is the freedom of religion. All of these great things in my life I know come from one source--my Heavenly Father who has given me so much opportunity to make something great out of my life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!

New Classroom

(This is an older picture--from February--but I realized that I didn't have it on our blog yet.)

Dallon had his first day of school in his new classroom. The new building is really great, and his classroom is about 3 times the size of their temporary classroom. He seemed unsure about this new place, but he went in and found his way around. It will be a much better place for him. There will be a work station set up for Dallon for his STAR program. They will be getting started on that soon now that they have room for a real work station. I will be going to more training on the 20th before we leave for Thanksgiving.

We will be in Pocatello for Thanksgiving this year. We'll be leaving on Wednesday after Chris is off of work, and we'll be heading home on Saturday so we can have Sunday to recover before Dallon goes back to school. Can't wait to see everyone there!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Silly Jace

So Jace has been getting himself into trouble a lot lately. He loves to climb, and will launch or walk off of something if he thinks I'm close enough to catch him (he doesn't care if I'm looking or not!). He also tries to go out in the cold with no shoes or pants!
Luckily, I caught him riding his tractor pantless on a chilly evening and got him some sweats and shoes. His nose was really rosy which is a dead giveaway for how cold it really was.
Last night he had been bathed and put in his jammies before Dallon took a bath. Turn your back for one second, and he's in the tub fully clothed!
He thought he was pretty cute, we were unhappy about his really soaked diaper, but at least he was clean.

Bathroom Remodel Almost Complete

So Chris has been working on our master bathroom for a really long time. Since July actually. He tiled and put up the new light, but then he went on his inspection job for 2 months. After inspection we went on vacation, then it was hunting season....you get the point. He has slowly been buiding this cabinet for our vanity for weeks now.
The sink is now functional, and the base molding runs all the way around the room now.
We even have a little helper installed under the sink which is a unique feature.

Trick or Treat

So Halloween has come and gone. We spent the evening with our neighbors, Jerry and Missy. We met at their house, and the boys went out to play on the trampoline.
Then we headed out for Trick or Treating. Dallon was really into it. After an hour he was still going strong, but Jace was getting cold and ready to head back.
The boys all played (Jerry and Missy have 2 boys age 6 and 2, and another couple brought their boys too), and the adults sat around munching on snacks and finger food.
Jace loves their dog who is a black lab mix. Jace was laying on the floor eating the sprinkles off of a cookie, and the dog slowly scooted closer and closer to him. Eventually Jace's head was laying on the dog's front paw, and he was feeding the dog one sprinkle at a time.

Dallon's Halloween Party at School

At first Dallon was really excited to wear his costume to school. But I guess before the party they were carving pumpkins. Dallon was really grossed out by the smell and feel of the pumpkin guts and he ended up having a melt down over it. So he was ready to get out of his costume by the time I got back to the party. Chris was able to come because he was able to run an errand for work into town, and take a brief detour before lunch.
Dallon was really good during circle time. This use to be the hardest part of school for him. Now he loves the books and songs.
Heading home to get ready for Halloween!