Over the Hills and Through the Woods...

Well I knew we would have a great Christmas but I didn't think it would be THIS memorable! We traveled to Columbia Falls with 3 dogs and billions of presents to spend Christmas with Bj's parents. We had a such a fun and relaxing time sledding, eating too many cookies and wonderful food, playing with all the kids and wii bowling, and taking road trips. I wish we could do this every year! I put up quite a few pics, and the first one starts with Bj proposing! Ah! We are getting married! August 28th it is:) This pic is the very end of our trip when we returned home...I kinda went backwards. This little recliner was Braxton's one gift we didn't bring on our trip. He decided to relax and play the piano before bathtime.

Braxton got new bathtub crayons for Christmas which he calls "bubble crayons." Love it!

This is a picture from one of our drives to a little town called polebridge. Any by tiny I mean population 8. There is no other way to go in this town but turn around and go back where you came from! Haha! There is even a sign that says 'Slow down, people breathing.' What a beautiful drive!

Braxton thinks it's normal and is ready for me to turn the camera backwards and take a picture, Papa thinks I'm weird:)

Here is Polebridge. Enjoy.

Back at G and G-pa's house we had some crazeeeeness going on. Goof-balls!

During a road trip to visit Bj's uncle's house, we stopped to visit the tree Bj's parents planted down the hill from where his Grandparents lived in honor of them. Very neat. Here is uncle Nik with his Nephews.

The whole family minus Bj.

Our family.

Braxton and his cousins got matching pjs from Grandma and Papa from Christmas...we tried to take a picture but of course it turned out like this:) Simon's face is awesome..."I didn't do it I swear!"

Here are some pictures of everyone opening presents.

Dad and Braxton all snuggled up in their new Packer gear that my sister Lexi made for them in a class for school.

This is Bj's other Uncle's family, quite the crew! It was fun for Braxton to see and play with so many of his cousins, they were so cute to him!

Here is Miss Thumper roo-roo watching the boys sledding.

Braxton playing with some of his older cousins...

And in Grandma's toy closet with another cousin...

Time to sled! Simon and Braxton were buddies on the sled hill. Simon was the strong one carrying the sled for him...as you can tell Braxton is about to go down!

Little David, NOT a fan of sledding. But he did let Uncle Bj pull him around the whole time. You can tell by his face that this is not fun to him...at all:)

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas!

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

Hello all, we sure have been busy preparing for the Holidays this season. We have had a lot of get togethers with friends and family before we head off to Columbia Falls for Christmas. We are very excited to go to Bj's parents house for the first time WITH Braxton. All of his cousins and aunts and uncles are going too. But before we do, here are a few pics of things that have been keeping us busy! This is Braxton on the rocking horse my Dad made for me when I was 3 or 4. It is missing it's ears but other than that it works like a charm! Braxton rides it so fast that he scoots across the room quite well:) It's a great distraction while he is watching cartoons and I am trying to work out! It has been very cold this year. Some days we feel like we are going house crazy because it is soooooooooooooo cold outside! The dogs even feel restless(trust me). So we have done our best to keep busy, playing with friends in the mall play area and riding our bike in the garage. It's amazing that Braxton can ride his bike with training wheels already! Good job buddy!

One day Aunt Audrey had some things to do so we had Patrick over to play. We had so much fun pulling EVERY toy out of the buckets and eating lunch together. Before nap time, which they took together in Braxton's little bed, we made Christmas crafts. We painted mini picture frames for Patrick's parents and our family. The boys loved it and did very well.

Getting ready for lunch!

Thanksgiving was very busy as well. All of our families ended up here in Billings, which gave us 3 houses and get-togethers to attend. So I decided not to cook this year and instead do an appetizer party the night before to bring all of our families together. My Dad and Step-mom hadn't met Bj's parents yet. We had great food and home-made sangria! Thanks for coming everyone! The next day, we made our rounds to my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Roche's to see my mom's side of the family, Bj's sister's house for his side, and Granny's house for my Dad's side. It was great to have 3 dinners! Here are some pics from the party at our house.

My sister Katie and Braxton

My sister's and Brother were keeping the little kids busy and happy downstairs while we had adult time upstairs. It was like they weren't even there! The little ones just love being around and playing with the big kids!

Brother Ben playing pool.

The next weekend we headed off to the indoor waterslide park to let the kids have some fun. Braxton is a fish and did NOT want to leave but we played our hearts out anyway. Here is Bj with Braxton and his partners kids Tailoranne and Kylen.

Tailoranne and Braxton on a pizza break!

Uncle Roger and Patrick in the lilly pad pool.

Matthew had a long day frezzing in the cold water...so cute! His little cheeks were being taken over by his life jacket!

A few weekends later we went over to our friend's Destiny and Cj's house to watch the UFC fights. The boys (and moms) stayed up stairs and watched Christmas movies. They were all bundled up on the couch with their blankies before they fell asleep, and by 'they' I mean Braxton...no way was Patrick going to sleep!

Growing Pains

Well, I don't know if any other 'mother' does this...but Braxton is growing sooooo BIG and it forced me to put some pajamas away in a bin (maybe for another baby someday:) and snoop through his baby clothes. Tear. He was sooooo small! Now they only snuggle when they are tired! These were some p.j.s we had for him when he was a newborn. His whole little body was as tall as his toes up to his waist right now! Crazy! It's such a overwhelming feeling seeing and smelling his baby clothes. Here is a pic for comparison:) Also, on the topic of growing...Thumper is weighing in at 4 lbs. She is a little terror and enjoys digging dirt out of my plant pots in the house, eating x-mas light bulbs, chewing on golf balls, and shredding my poor plants to death. I am forced to punish her but feel her pain as she just lost ALL of her top and bottom baby teeth this last week at the same time!! Don't worry the new ones are growing in!

She wasn't satisfied with our picture together and said it didn't show her full size or personality, so she made me take this one of her alone. So cute:)

We have been busy making cupcakes the last few weeks. We tried some new healthy recipes and one unfortunately tasted healthy! So we made another batch the next week that were great! Braxton loves helping cook and I need one of those ladders for kids cooking in the kitchen that have sides so they don't fall off!! Here is bubs being silly working the mixer!

Cream cheese frosting....mmmmmmmmmmmm!

We did not have bubs this year for Halloween, so on the Thursday before we went to the 'Halloween Store' as Braxton calls it (Party America) and got a little clown costume. He has been a little weary of clowns for the past while now, so I thought how fun to dress him up as one so he understands it's not real!! He sat sooo still while we painted his face and then ran and danced around while we waited for Dad to come home so we could jump out and scare him and then carve pumpkins!

Braxton has also been enjoying washing his hands lately. We are trying to stay healthy during all of this H1N1 stuff:) He got his vaccine for that bug last Monday and has been doing great! We are also practicing sneezing into our elbow and disinfecting the grocery cart. You will have to excuse me in this pic, I had to stay close enough with the camera to make sure he didn't fall off of the counter:)

Here is our creepy little clown face, we think he looks like the joker...spooky!

Trying to put his sunglasses on Thump.

Dadeeeee and Bubs carving pumpkins. He was not a fan of digging out the goop with his hands.

Reading books with Dad before bedtime...this kid definitely has his favorites!

We had some friends over a few weeks ago to watch the UFC fights. Roger and Audrey came over with their little boys Matthew and Patrick and then our friend Dez. The girls all stayed upstairs and hung out with the babies and ate some good home-made pizzas while the boys watched the fights. Here is a pic of Roger and Bj. Best friends:) So cute:) p.s. they look like omish men because they grow beards before their fall hunting trip with their buddies...dorks:)

Me being silly...weird!

Here are the girls, Patrick finally fell asleep after playing all night with Braxton's toys. It sure is funny to watch little kids not want to go to sleep in a home that is not theirs!

This is little Matthew, he wasn't feeling well and did NOT want to sleep either! He was sooo funny!

What a great time! I love get-togethers at home better than going out to do something! (unless it's disco bowling;) Take care everyone.

Lauren