Happy Holidays!!!

I just love the holidays!!! Everything about it makes me smile. Yummy homemade treats, Christmas lights sparkling in the night, people thinking of others, a beautiful new blanket of snow to cover the ground, sledding, excitement of the kids, etc... I seem to get a burst of energy (I would call it adrenaline) for the holidays. Last Saturday we had a babysitter come so Bryce and I could do some shopping and I was so excited that I was awake around 5:30 am with ideas running through my mind. We had such a great time together that I wished we could do it again soon! Again yesterday we baked 10 batches of gingersnaps for our neighbor gifts and had a BLAST doing it! It made the kitchen smell so delicious and it was adorable talking to Braxton, Landen and Abbey (all on seperate occasions) as they sat up to the counter to help roll the cookies in sugar. And then later to Bryce as we sat tying little ribbons on the bags of cookies. They are my little elves! (Poor Bryce, he must just want to choke me!!!)

I guess my energy spurt of excitement hasn't died down yet. I did fall in bed last night dog tired but somehow was woken up at 4 am thinking about Christmas again. I tried my best to go back to sleep, but to no success. I know I need all the energy I can muster up to keep up with the kids today. The weekends are a challenge to keep the peace and keep up with all they want to do. I have a feeling we will be playing in the snow since it just put down a little bit more and they will be begging Bryce to pull them on the sled w/ the motorcycle. Anyway- I figured I could take advantage of the opportunity and started a batch of dough for cinnamon rolls. I have always wanted to have fresh cinnamon rolls baking in the morning but haven't ever been crazy enough to be up early enough to do them! ... until now.

I feel so lucky this holiday season to be able to absorb the feelings of the holidays and to enjoy each activity that comes our way cause there have been plenty of years that it hasn't been this nice or special for me. I am grateful for the time to stop and relect on my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for all that he has done for me. I sit in awe as I read the story of his birth (especially being pregnant) and thing about all the sacrifices and hardships Mary had just being his mother. I thank heaven that when I get to have my baby I will drive in a comfortable car (for about 10 minutes) to a good hospital to be drugged up and taken care of.

Anyway- I can tell I am finally getting tired since I am starting to get mushy. Hopefully I can catch one more hour of sleep before the kids get up!

Lots to be thankful for...

Warm sunny weather and swimming on Thanksgiving Day... what more could I ask for? We were lucky enough to be able to to go Arizona to visit my brother, Dave, his wife, Lori, and their sweet little girl, Ila. We had a BLAST! We were so busy having so much fun that I didn't ever dig our camera out to take any pictures so I only have a few from my phone. The kids loved our stop in Las Vegas as we went to M&M World and stayed at the Excalibur. I have some fantastic air hockey players! We also had tons of fun swimming and playing with all of the cousins. Here is a few pictures of Bryce w/ the kids:

It was great to spend lots of time w/ my side of the family. We live close to almost everyone but don't really hang out w/ the whole group much.





To top off our trip to Arizona we had to make a trip to the local hospital. The night before we were leaving I got in a car accident w/ the kids. It was after 10:30 pm and the kids were tired so I decided to go put them to bed and let Bryce finish watching a football game w/ the guys. We were heading the 2 blocks from Dave's house to the hotel when a girl ran a red light and I t-boned her going about 40 mph. It is crazy that we all walked away from the accident with only a few bruises. I got to spend the night at the hospital while they made sure our baby was ok and no preterm labor will come from all of this. He is doing well and they verified that it is for sure a boy and a VERY active one at that. The car didn't fair so well and it is now making a junk yard in Arizona its new home. We feel so fortunate and blessed that we were watched over. Definately a weekend of thanks!





Here are a couple of pictures that Bryce took from his phone:

Can anyone find my front license plate?! :) We never did find it.



Only these few marks from such an event!

I loved that car and want another one. This next one I want to keep a bit longer though!

Disappointing Day

I went to the orthodonist today and found out that I won't get my braces off before Christmas like we had been planning on. I have slacked off a bit here and there wearing the horrible rubber bands that I need to be wearing and I think it has slowed my progess a bit. I am SO ready to be done with this stuff! I just want to go out in public without feeling like a total dork, eat regular foods, brush my teeth in less than 5 minutes and not have to peel my cheeks out of my braces in the morning to discover another cut in my mouth! GRRR!! I need to put up a picture of me from 2 years ago to help give me motivation to continue on! I guess that I can survive my third Christmas without cinnamon santas, caramel, toffee, caramel popcorn and snickers bars! I will probably eat enough pie and york peppermint patties to make up for it!

It's a Boy!!!

We had our ultrasound this morning and it is definately a boy!!! Talk about swinging the scale to the boy side! Bryce and I both felt like it was a girl (and since we are always completely wrong) we were not surprised in the least that it is a boy. We are both VERY excited that things look good with the brain, heart, two legs, arms, hand, feet, etc... I was sick to my stomach all morning worrying about it (even though I have absolutely no control over it) so it was nice to get confirmation that I am just hormonally crazy! The technician did comment on how active this baby is so we definately know it is one of ours!

Anyway- no names picked out yet. Bryce wants to name this baby and wouldn't talk about it at all till we knew the sex of the baby so I am hoping that he starts chatting away! (not likely though)

We are excited and I love that I can start planning stuff now!

Spooktacular Family Night

With the chill in the air it was time to warm up with hot pizza & breadsticks... then freeze our fingers off digging guts out of pumpkins! Tis the Halloween season!

We had a blast making "monster" pizzas and carving pumpkins for family night. Landen was totally grossed out by the slimy feeling while the other two wanted to make sure every seed was saved to bake as a snack later. Abbey drew her face out for me to carve, Landen picked a picture of a jack-o-latern that he liked from the newspaper and Braxton took a totally different approach and did a snake. (He was listening to me tell Bryce that I saw a cool pumpkin carved into a snake.)

Sorry for the blurry picture-- I need to get a tripod for these kinds of shots!

Handsome Boys

It was time to get the boys new Sunday pants and shoes and boy was that a nightmare to get the two of them to focus long enough in the store to actually try on something!!! I was hoping for one stop shopping, but to all our dismay... it didn't happen. Eventually we found some stuff and they sure looked cute on Sunday. I was glad that Bryce took a second to grab this snapshot of them before we headed out the door. Here are two fine future missionaries!

Happy 5th Birthday Braxton!

This week was Braxton's 5th birthday and he could hardly wait! Every morning he would get up and count down the days on the calendar. On his birthday he asked me how many more days till his next birthday. When he found out it was 365 more days he said that was too long to count down from and walked away.

I think Braxton had a fun time bringing a birthday treat to preschool, having a tiny friend party and then a big family party that night! We were jam packed with activities all day (not to mention the other appointments and obligations from regular life to do).

Braxton was able to invite 3 friends to go to Carl's Jr. with him for lunch and then back to our house for icecream. They boys all had a blast! They were so well behaved and having so much fun that we had to extend the party out another hour! (I didn't expect that one!) Here are a few pictures:

Parker, Braxton & Carter showing off their kid's meal toy at Carl's Jr.

Parker & Braxton
Carter & Braxton

We were sad that his cousin, Porter, was sick and couldn't come cause Braxton would have loved for him to join in too. Landen had a blast and felt so cool to be able to be one of the "big boys" all day and skip a nap to party!

Braxton loved opening all of his presents! He received a bike ramp and a castle from our family, pj's from both Grandma & Grandpa Christensen and Grandma & Grandpa Bezzant, money and then lots of dragons and guys to go with his castle from lots of different family members! He was so excited for everything and hasn't given them a rest yet! Thank you to everyone for their generosity and helping to make his birthday so much fun!!!

A few things about Braxton:

*He LOVES playing with friends

*Misses Abbey when she is gone to school

*Loves to ride the little motorcycle

*Loves TV and movies. I think he would watch all day if I would let him!

*Loves gum and all treats

*Full of energy

*Loves preschool

*Wants a pocket knife and a BB gun REALLY bad but mom won't let him have them yet

*Loves to play nintendo

*So good to help Abbey with her chores after he is done with his own.

*Very competitive! Doesn't like to lose at all!!!

*Tender hearted

We love Braxton so much and he has brought so much fun into our house! I can't believe that he is already 5! Happy Birthday Braxton!!!