Christmas Time

On Christmas Eve we went to Tom & Shirleys and guess who came to visit?! Kaleb did much better with Santa this year, in fact no tears from either one of them :)

Christmas morning went in a flash! Favorite presents this year:

Kaleb - Nerf Gun

Tenley - baby doll

The day after Christmas we took the kids to see the Temple lights.  I think we'll go after Christmas every year from now on, the normal crowd just wasn't there.  It was much more relaxed and easy going :)  

We had a wonderful holiday season this year, can't wait for the next one!

AZ Wing Commemorative Air Force Museum

What better way to spend Christmas Eve for a little boy obsessed with planes!! We took the kids out to Mesa to check out the AZ wing commemorative Air Force museum (say that 10 times fast)  The admission was pretty dang cheap and Kaleb definitely had a great time!  They had small model planes everywhere, and then we got to just walk around the big hangars and check out all the life size planes :)  I think his favorite part was the little yellow plane wagon that he got to sit in!

We also got to go in the plane that was outside...I really don't remember what it was called (jared would be ashamed)  It's an old bomber of some sort and it was pretty neat.  Everything was really cramped, I cannot even imagine flying in the air in that thing!

a cabin trip like any other...NOT!

We decided to take another one of our spontaneous, "hey lets go to the cabin" kind of trips.  Plus we really want to go play in the snow!  Well this trip turned into quite the adventure, we got snowed in, couldn't go anywhere til we begged a neighbor with a plow to come clear our driveway and then dig out our van (the silver bullet did great on it's 1st cabin trip, haha)

Luckily there are some random snow clothes up at the cabin because we didn't have crap for snow clothes for the kids!  Took them sledding a few times, they loved it!  As you can see Tenley literally just layed in the sled and didn't move at all the whole time, it was pretty funny to see her just lay there and look around!

Kaleb getting comfy while watching a movie :)

 So continuing with our adventure....not only did we get completely snowed in and have to stay an extra day but the power went off.  It's happened a couple times going up to the cabin but only for a short time, this time it was ALL night!  We had to cook dinner on the fire and use candles and flashlights to go to bed.  It was kind of fun and annoying all at the same time :) Definitely a trip for the books, love that place!!!

my little brother is married?!

 This has to be one of the strangest moments of my life....but in a really good way!  He'll always be MY little brother, no one else's; so when he got hitched...yah, a little weird seeing him all grown up and Man-ish.  I do have to say he kicked butt at choosing a wife, we love Erin!! She is awesome, adorable, tons of fun, and fits right in with my nut ball familia! I don't have pics of the reception, but it looked amazing!  Yes, I am bragging, because me and my sisters, and my mom  planned and did most everything! it was a DIY awesomeness! Congrats Marbles, and good luck! We love you!

My kiddos were dancing crazies! and kaleb was obsessed with stealing silverware off of the tables :) he pretty much had a handful of forks/spoons in his hands the whole night!

Like I said, nutters!

FHE time

a little pre-Christmas fun! SO easy, and entertained my buggers for a LONG time! Do you think they enjoyed it?

Goodbye Old Friend

Out with the old and in with the new.........Our poor Colorado was just about toast, I mean we're talking almost 200,000 miles! We loved our little red truck, we've had it since we've been married but it was time to say goodbye :(  We went back and forth with wanting a crossover SUV but realized eventually we'll have a team of kiddos to drive around so we switched gears to mini vans.  Best decision ever! I love our Silver Bullet, it is amazingly easy loading the kids in there!! and yes, someday Jared will get to buy a truck again :)

Colored Rad

So back before November I saw that a 'Color Me Rad' race was coming up and immediately I signed up as much of my rockin family that would go!!  Poor Waylon signed up and everything, but he had a job interview or something and couldn't make itt :(  We had tons of fun and I can't wait to do another one!!

Tenley's 1st Birthday

Would you just look at her! AHH! can't believe my beautiful baby is this grown up! It was a tough year in some spots for sure, but she brings so much fun and joy to our little family!!

I had so much fun planning/preparing for her party!  Don't you just LOVE all the pink? you know her daddy did :)  Seriously it looks like a lot of work but I spread it out over a whole lot of time and thanks to Pinterest for making me look creative!

She loved all her presents and even though she was a little lady and shy about her cake, she loved it!

We also rented this killer bounce house/slide combo.  We had lots of kids coming and I needed a way to entertain them without any effort from my part, bingo!  and the stinking LOVED it!  My kids even played in it once everyone was gone and up until it was dark...money well spent!

We had so much fun celebrating her big day! We love you miss Tenley!!!

the cabin and Bearizona!

 So moving back to AZ in July....not cool, not cool at all.  Actually it's blazing hot!! So basically the first weekend back Jared decided he was tired of the hot and wanted to go up to the cabin to enjoy some nicer weather.  It was even more beautiful than normal with all the rain too!  We went up Friday in the late afternoon.  Saturday morning we decided to go see the Dark Night Rises in Flagstaff since grandma and grandpa were willing to watch the babies.  It was super good and we had fun getting to to go out together on our own!!

(Bearizona: at the walk-thru entrance)

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to Bearizona which is in Williams.  We've gone there a few times before and every time we go it gets bigger and better.  This time was no different, they had lots more animals and a pretty cool bird show that they added on.  And it seemed like the bear population doubled in the drive thru area.  Kaleb had a blast running around everywhere, and Tenley was happy to be outside :)  I didn't take any pictures while we did the drive-thru section of the park, but I did take a few in the walking area. We really had a great time up at the cabin, like usual :) can't wait to find another excuse to go up!

Kaleb peeking through the bars at something?

Kaleb waving 'bye' to the goats in the petting zoo

Handsome freaking boys!

Kaleb in front of the baby bears looking super cute :)

quick move...again

We have been back in AZ for a few weeks now, and since I am done unpacking and actually have some free time I am finally getting around to blogging about it :)  I never did post about our 1st "quick move" because 1. we were in a new state all by ourselves so getting settled in took a while.  and 2. i had a new born baby who was quite the handful!
To make a long story short, Jared came home one Monday evening when I was HUGE pregnant and said "hey we're moving to New Mexico"....I went into labor that night :)  I had a beautiful baby girl that was about 2 weeks old when we moved...so yah we had about 2 weeks to pack, find a place to live, and move.  We did have a lot of help getting ready to move, thank you Grandmas!  It took a long time to get to our new place in New Mexico...lots of stops with a brand new baby :)  It was a pretty hectic, crazy fast move...fast forward about 9 months and we had to do it again :)
The job in New Mexico was basically done so we knew we would be going somewhere else soon, we just didn't know where or exactly when. Jared texted me from work saying "I know where we're going, do you want to know?" lol, of course!  So he tells me back to AZ on the 23rd, and I was super exited to be around family again.  I didn't realize when he told me the 23rd, he was referring to less than 2 weeks away July 23rd...I just assumed he meant August :)  SO in a giant blur, and basically solo I packed up everything in our little apartment in about a week!  The kids were a little crazy, they got into every box and Kaleb got to watch a lot of movies that week :) We also ate way too much fast food since i refused to go grocery shopping or cook...and all our pans were packed anyways.  I have to admit, even though it was a faster move and i had less help than the 1st time it was much MUCH easier this time!
Because the notice was so short and because we didn't know whether the job here would be another temporary move we decided to move in with Jared's parents until we find all that out.  They are awesome, and let us take over the basement for the time being :) I didn't get pictures of the move or the drive down but i did take one of Kaleb's favorite place to sit while mommy packed and packed and packed :)

I am so glad we are here and done with boxes, hopefully I won't be posting about anymore speedy moves anytime soon!

super speed

I'm not quite sure how Kaleb pulls off these stunts in the amount of time that i'm either: using the bathroom, getting a bottle for his sister, sorting laundry, or anything under a couple of minutes really!  I'm starting to think he has some sort of super power; super speed, or maybe he can freeze time :) Why on earth does it surprise me every time, i guess i should start getting use to it :) 

Today I found him in the kitchen with the fridge wide open.  A few snacks on the floor, but he managed to get my chocolate pie open and started eating it.

It's so hard to get mad at him when he looks so incredibly happy and proud of his accomplishment.  It's difficult not to just laugh about it, so what do I do.....I bust out the camera, so I can record the event and then I finally decided to take the "If you can't beat them, join them" approach 

So I shut the fridge, grabbed a fork, and we shared the rest of the pie :)  Kaleb thought it was pretty cool to sit on the floor together, taking turns with the fork.  He pretty much giggled the whole time :)

:D

I had to post this because it just made me laugh! I totally did the same thing when I was a kid :)

So I gave Kaleb a handful of those ritz sandwiches and this is what I found after he was finished....a bunch of slimy, separated halves, he just licked off all the cheese! 

potty training?

So we started potty training a little while ago, and it's been going...well interesting i guess :)  I've discovered that Kaleb could care less about feeling wet, he would sit in wet undies all day if i let him!  Well, not quite undies, I got him some cloth training 'undies' but they are pretty bulky, more like a diaper.  They aren't very absorbent though, so I know he can feel when he's wet from peeing his pants....he just doesn't mind i guess.  I really like tho them because they don't leak like regular undies, we'll probably move to regular undies when he does better.  The naked approach doesn't work for him either, he actually thinks it funny when he pees without any clothes on :\ Right now he does pretty good with numero 2, he likes going in the potty but probably just because I make a big deal when he does it :)  Rewards, excitement, treats, etc...it's cute because i can tell how excited he is when he goes in the toilet.  

I do feel like I'm spending most of my day constantly taking him to the bathroom, so it feels like a lot of work but I'm gonna keep chugging along since he is not resisting it.  He's super stubborn so I thought he would just reject the idea all together, but so far so good.  We have a long road until he's totally potty trained, that is for sure! And washing the cloth super undies isn't very fun, but I'm happy to be spending less on disposable diapers :)  Here is Kaleb hanging out on 'his potty'

oh and on a side note, I'm kinda glad we're living in a small apartment right now because every time I take Kaleb to the bathroom, Tenley disappears! Luckily there aren't very many places to look for her, especially since i've been keeping all the doors closed.  

This is one of her favorite spots, and it's nearly impossible for me to get to her when she crawls back there so I usually just wait for her to decide to come out :)

Shake it girl!

What's up with my kids and the word 'No'?  Kaleb loves to constantly say it, even to things that he actually likes....for example, a typical conversation goes like this:

Me: kk's, do you want a snack?

Kaleb: NO! no no no no no no....

Me: Are you sure buddy?  

Kaleb: NO NO NO!

-I start walking away with his snack-

Kaleb: (runs after me) No no no no (points to snack) Please?!

So really it should be no surprise to me that his sister is following suit.  Although she cannot say the word yet, she has still found a way to express how much she loves to use the word  'no'...enjoy her in all her cuteness!

Finished!

So I finished my little 4th of July project that I mentioned here earlier, and I finished WAY faster than I thought I would, woohoo!  I love what Pinterest does for me, because there was no way I could have come up with something that cute on my own.  In fact I always laugh pretty hard when someone who doesn't know me very well says 'wow, you are so creative!' :)  Oh how completely off they really are!  I just have the 'i could make that' mentality.  

It was a super easy project, and really cheap...especially if you already have the yarn on hand!  I do feel like I used more of the off-white yarn just because you could see through it easier.  I did the stars in felt, and I knew I wanted them cut at different sizes, so i was thrilled when I found a pack of felt sticker stars in different sizes at Michaels that saved me a ton of time and annoyance! Now i'm thinking that star shaped buttons would have been really cute, oh well.  Seriously though, if you want quick and inexpensive decor for the holiday, I would highly recommend this one!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!