Snowed In!

I don't know about everyone else around here, but we were completely snowed in for awhile on Sunday morning! And amazingly enough... they even canceled CHURCH! Honestly! And, we live right around the corner from the church, it is not like we hardly have to drive to the building.
I guess a lot of people were getting stuck all throughout the neighborhood, just in their driveways, so they called it a "snow day" and canceled all of the meetings at our building. I am not complaining at all. In related news...Chad was just released from being the Elder's Quorum President after three and a half years. I know that it has been a blessing in our lives, but I was not complaining about that either. This all happened on the same day, and to be honest with you, I think it was one of the best days so far this year!

Here are some pictures of our snowed in house. This is our back door.



And here is our back yard. So, if you think about it... this is what a lot of our neighbors' front yards and driveways looked like in the morning.



















Well, it was SuperBowl Sunday (GO GIANTS!) And that was the first thing on our minds, so we ended up digging ourselves out and went to the Grundys for a little party. Before the game started, the kids (big and small) needed to see what damage they could do in all of the new snow. So here are Chad and his brothers in the cave that they built, while they used the kids as an excuse to play in the snow. In fact, I'm pretty sure the kids made their way in long before the big boys.

And I had to just add this picture because I thought it was cute. (of course a mom would).
Carson crashed pretty early from all of the excitement.

Carson's Birthday!

Carson is now officially three years old! He has been so fun and he never really had a terrible two stage, which worries me sometimes. He is definitely crazy and all over the place, but I think that might just be a boy thing. ( I'll be having another boy here soon, so I guess I'd better just learn to deal with it).

Here are some pictures of the kids painting. Carson got the all of the stuff for Christmas and I finally let them get it out.

Yes, Carson finally got his own Leapster for his birthday and it has kept him extremely occupied. He is so funny when he plays it, because he is super serious and he does this weird thing with his tongue like my mom used to do and it makes me laugh. ( I don't know if there is a connection, but I like to think so)

He had a little birthday party and Grandma and Grandpa gave him a Spiderman bike, and due to the weather....he has just been riding it all around the house.

His cousin Kyli's birthday is right next to his. They actually look like siblings with all of that blonde hair.

And here he is doing his best Ninja Turtle impression.

Not much...

Well, nothing much is going on right now with us. I am still pregnant and realizing it more and more now that I am so big, and now that Christmas is over the reality is kicking in. I am getting really excited! I am so excited to have another member of our family, although
sometimes I think about those long nights and I get a little nervous, but I know it is all worth it in the end.

I decided to put these pictures of the kids helping in the kitchen for family home evening, because they kinda made me laugh. Abby of course had to wear her tinkerbell dress and an apron, so Carson decided that he needed an apron too. Once the aprons were on, they were in full character...and very serious chefs. The strange thing was that they actually ate the dinner they made and it was Taco Salad, and if you know my kids they are not salad fans.
















These other pictures are of Carson stealing Abby's new Leapster that she got for Christmas and hiding under the table to play it. He does this all day long. He loves playing it and we have found him hiding in closets and other places in the house. He will be turning three at the end of this month, so we decide to buy him one for his birthday, mainly to avoid the fighting.

Back to "Real Life"

Happy New Year!! Well, it's kinda weird now that all of the excitement is over. We had such a great holiday and now that we actually have to get back to "real life" it is pretty hard. Here is some pictures of what we've been up to...

New Year's Eve....I never thought that Carson would actually make it to midnight, but he hung in there and then crashed about a minute later.

Here are all of the kids (with Kelsey & Kayla) on Christmas Eve at Grandpa's house.

We also went to my Dad and Kathleen's house and had a special dinner with them earlier in the week. I forgot my camera, but we had a lot of fun. It was so nice spending time with them and the Lails. I forget how cute he is sometimes.

After Grandpa's on Christmas Eve, we went to the Grundy's for our traditional pajama opening and story reading. We are thankful that Justin and the kids were able to spend Christmas with us again this year. (& Grandpa too!)

I just love the whole matching pajama thing, they might hate me for it someday, and I am really not sure how much longer I am going to be able to find them, but I used to love that part of Christmas... even when the pajamas were totally lame!

Christmas morning was everything that you would expect. The kids were "in heaven" and I'm sure a little overwhelmed. Carson was ecstatic about his "real bird" that he asked for (which isn't really real), and Abby just kept saying that this was the Best Christmas Ever! She just couldn't help telling us how much she loved us ...all day long. (she wasn't really saying it to thanks us, since it was all Santa's doing, but she was just so happy that she loved everyone!)

We were even able to get Carson to dress up nice, but he refused to wear a tie.

We had a great couple of weeks, and even though it gets hectic at times, I absolutely love the Christmas season. It seems like I just love it more and more the older I get, and the more I understand (also the more kids I have). I love spending time with family and I love to see the excitement in my kids eyes as they experience the magic of Christmas. Some of this could be because it reminds me of how special Christmas was for me and my family growing up. Mom always made sure that it was perfect for everyone and the entire Christmas holiday was "magical". Of course,I think about her a lot at this time of year, but I miss her everyday!

It also amazes to me that one holiday can make you feel the spirit so much, and that it could force you to be thankful for all of the little things in life, even in the midst of all of the big things that are going on at this time of year. Well, I'm glad that it is all over, but I am going to miss the feelings that it creates and just pray that I can keep them going throughout the year.

Ready for Christmas!

Well, I think we have done everything possible to get ready for Christmas! We made our gingerbread house. Actually, Chad, Abby, and I made it. We had a lot of fun making it, but Carson only wanted to eat it. He really didn't want to take any part in the decorating, he was completely focused on eating the candy and sneaking all that he possibly could.We also made the yearly trip to the mall to visit Santa. The kids were so excited, and I think they talked Santa's ear off. Of course...what is Christmas without visiting a couple of Santa's! We also had a visit from Santa at our family Christmas party.
In all of the Christmas preparation, we have watched every Christmas movie and sang every Christmas song over and over...

And Carson was so excited when he heard the "Two Front Teeth" Christmas song, because he

could really relate! (I have a feeling it will be his favorite Christmas song for the next 5 or so years.)

Snow Day...Again

It snowed again...and this time it wasn't quite as exciting as the kids looked out the window and just knew exactly what they wanted to do. . .

Carson just looked at me and said, "I'm hungry, I'm going outside to eat some snow!" Abby on the other hand was determined to make a snow man, since her last attempt was a bust! And if you know Abby, not just any snowman would be good enough...it had to be the best and the biggest. So, she enlisted the help of her dad.

While Chad and Abby worked on the snowman, Carson kept to his word and ate all of the snow that he could. He was even going through the yard to find the "best" possible snow to eat. He was also very interested in making snow angels, but the huge snowman didn't get any attention from him.
The snowman turned out great, except the fact that it looked slightly like an alien due to the pink golf balls for the eyes.

In the end, the kids made sure to tackle Dad and start a fight (as usual) with Chad losing (as usual).

Snow Day

The kids went CRAZY when they woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window! They were running and screaming around the house, so we had no choice but to go out and play. This winter is going to be fun, because Carson is now old enough to actually play with Abby, and they have a lot of fun together. I was even excited to see the snow,  although I don't like driving in it, the holidays just aren't the same without the cold snow. For me, it just makes the holidays more real, since it was always my favorite thing about this time of year when I was a kid.

We've Been Tagged!

Ok, ok. Apparently in the blogging world there is something called tagging (which I never knew existed until now). We were tagged by Amy & Justin (thanks), and asked to write six things about each other that people may not already know. So here we go. . . .


1. Chad is a great dad and loves playing with the kids. In doing this he frequently becomes a child himself, often fighting with them over toys or who's right and who's not. I sometimes hear things like "she started it", or "is too" and "is not" going back and forth. Thankfully, I usually come in to settle things and remind Chad of his adult role.


2. Chad LOVES Christmas. He even loves decorating for Christmas. He loves the lights and all that comes with the holiday season. Every year he wants to buy something new to put outside with the already full light display. He would also have the Christmas tree up in October if I would let him.


3. Chad thinks that he "sneaks" Cokes and donuts from me. To be honest, I could care less what he has, but he frequently sets up these "plans" to stop drinking Coke and stick to diet or something else. But he finds ways to get them, even if I don't buy them for our house. He steals from his parents and even the mortuary. I know, it's sad. He even tries to trick me by getting gas and sneaking a Coke and a donut on the end so that I won't notice it on the receipt. He has also set up a "secret" tab at work. He just truly wants it to look like he is following his "plan".


4. Chad can fall asleep anywhere at anytime. I know he is up a lot with work, but this is a skill that he developed long before his "on call" days. (I think it is inherited). We have been at parties with people. He has been in conversation with people at work. I have even seen him fall asleep sitting straight up on a bar stool. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I am jealous of this skill, but it has definitely caused its share of problems with my talking abilities in the mix.


5. Chad has a huge heart. He can never be mad for more than a second before he feels extremely guilty. Trust me he tries to be mad, but it is just not in him. This shows itself mostly with the kids and myself. He has a very hard time getting mad at the kids if they give him any kind of "sad face". If he does, he feels terrible almost instantly and tries to do everything he can to make it better. I for one love this about him, especially when I am on the receiving end. He is really great about making me feel right, even when I know I am wrong. (which is very rare).


6. Chad loves watching TV with me. He claims that it is just so he can cuddle on the couch with me when the kids are asleep, but. . . he knows all the scoop on all the shows and is just as excited as I am to see the next episode. Grey's, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, and even The Bachelor. I love him for it!




So, I am not appreciating the cyber bullies out there (Amy) but I have given in to the requests to write six things about my wife, Kelly, that some of you may not know, or you may already know but get to hear my spin on it.

1) Kelly is extremely organized. You may pick up on this by the amount of list's that we have in our house, or the notepad that she has kept our financial payments on for the past nine years (yeah that is right, one notepad for nine years of payments), or you may find this out by looking at the amount of storage containers (large plastic tubs) that we keep just about everything in. There are many more examples but I cannot give away all of her secrets. I truly love this about her. It keeps everything running smoothly in our family.


2) Kelly loves to cook and is very good at it. You can pick up on this by looking how quickly her husbands belly has grown. It is hard to not eat a lot when she cooks so good. I love just about everything that she makes. She is really good at planning big meals (Thanksgiving) as well as meals for our small family. But all in all the food is always great, and always available.


3) Kelly is great at planning and sticking to a budget. Well she is good at budgeting our money and good at finding ways to get the things that we need, even if she throws in a shirt for her, or shoes for the kids every once in awhile (stinking kids). This includes clipping coupons, not only from one newspaper but it usually is from several (her Dad saves the adds for her, she stills the adds from my parents, and I am convinced she has a secret stash somewhere).


4) Kelly is HOT! Have any of you seen her lately. We have been married for like fifteen years and I don't think she has ever looked as good as she does now. She is always doing something, walking, the stepper, the bike, chasing kids......I love it.


5) Kelly is an extremely caring person. She seems to always know when someone needs a card or a phone call. She is so much like her mom in this way. We always laughed because everyone used to come to Shauna with their problems or concerns. But, after seeing how Kelly is with people I know that like her mom they just know when someone needs them. She has always been their for many of our friends and family. She has that intuition.


6) Kelly loves picking at zits. Pretty gross huh. We fight about this all the time. She loves when I have my shirt off, not because my shirt is off, but because she can now see the little "black heads" on my back. If I "weren't such a baby" (those are Kelly's words) then I would let her pick at me forever. I think this is not only disgusting, but it hurts really, really bad. (or maybe I am a little bit of a wimp)

I could not put everything about her on this post but I do love everything about her. I wish that I could give her the world. She deserves it. I love you.

The Kids

I needed some recent photos of the kids for our house, so I decided to take them outside and have a photo shoot. It went pretty good as long as I kept promising Carson more and more treats. Abby was great, she loves the attention.

They are growing up so fast!

Gone Fishin

Carson went fishing this weekend with his dad, Grandpa and Great Grandpa Grundy. We don't really do the "outdoors" thing much, so he was in heaven being with the guys. His favorite part was eating all of the snacks that they brought, and he loved playing in the mud.

But the most exciting part was when they actually caught a FISH! Grandpa let Carson help bring it in and that is all that he has talked about for two days.

I don't think he realized how "big" fish can be. (Nemo seems so small).

Sometimes we catch Carson doing the funniest things. He likes to just make up songs for even the simplest things.