Carson just celebrated his fourth birthday! He is so fun, and I love doing things for him because he gets so excited and he is always so appreciative. This birthday started out pretty big. We took him to the Walking With Dinosaurs show that luckily was going on the weekend before his birthday. He had seen the commercials and he really wanted to go, but I told him that we didn't have any tickets (I had to build up the drama), then the day before we went, I wrapped up the tickets and gave them to him as an "early birthday present" and he knew exactly what they were when he opened them. He was also super excited, because his cousin (and current Best Buddy) Ethan flew in town and was able to come with us to the show.We had a lot of fun. I thought the show was great and very interesting. Abby was terrified before it started. She was holding on to her seat, expecting the worst. She even leaned over to me and said, "If I have to go to the bathroom during this, I will be happy to leave." Well, it turned out that she loved the show almost more than Carson. It was very educational and really amazing . Carson was a little disappointed that the dinosaurs didn't fight more or eat each other.

He had a party on his birthday and all he wanted was to have a Batman birthday cake. He had been talking about it all month, so I couldn't disappoint.

"What is this?" you might ask. . . .pure 4 year old JOY!!! Grandma and Grandpa gave him the remote control dinosaur that he had been wanting since way before Christmas. He even announced through the microphone at his preschool Christmas program that, "All I want for Christmas is a remote control Dinosaur." Well, Santa had other plans, plus he knew it was coming for his birthday. (Don't worry, Santa found a cheap, small one to give him at Christmas so that he wasn't totally disappointed, and it was almost holding him over...until now.)

Of course Cooper liked it too. (benefit of two boys in a row, one toy pleases many)

The cutest thing was Cooper playing with his cousin Nate. Nate has Down Syndrome and a heart of gold. Cooper loved that he was getting so much attention from one person, and Nate loved that Cooper was copying him.
I'm glad that Carson had such a great birthday. He has so many personalities in one little body. He is our crazy boy, and our comic relief, he is also our sweetheart and sensitive one. Happy Birthday buddy, We love you!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We have had so much fun this last couple of weeks and I am sad to see it all end. Chad has been off work since Christmas Eve, and we have done nothing but play. I'm not sure who enjoyed the toys more, us or the kids. I hate, hate, hate that my kids are growing up, but I have to admit that this was the funnest Christmas we have had. I just wish I could freeze time. They are at such a fun age, and they really make us soak everything in.This is one of my favorite things about Christmas. . . seeing my kids in their matching jammas. They love it too (for now) ,so we all get excited for them.
We spent Christmas Eve with the Grundy's, Justin and the kids were here, so Abby and Carson were in heaven playing with their cousins. We adopted a tradition from my family and we had Fondue. We had lots of fun and tons of food.

Christmas morning was crazy fun! The kids are so fun to watch and they get so excited over every single thing (Carson was even hugging his socks !).

______Carson has been funny all week. He has just been so impressed with everything that he got on Christmas. He keeps asking me which things I gave him and what Santa gave him and he tells me "thank you" over and over. He keeps saying "Man, Santa sure did a great job" and "Santa is really good at surprises". He makes me smile.

Abby was adorable. She is growing up so fast. She had been counting down the days for weeks. When we put them to bed (both in the same room of course) we told Abby that we would come and wake her up early, so if she gets up to just stay in her room until we come. Well, we were planning to get them up around 6:15, but at 5:40 Abby came up and said "I just need to go to the bathroom, plus I've been waiting for you guys forever". So, who knows when she actually woke up. She had so much fun all day, but by the end of the morning she was looking a little glassy eyed. My favorite thing was on Christmas Eve she kept talking about how excited and nervous she was for me to open her presents that she bought for me at "Santa's Secret Shop" at her school. I swear she was more excited to give everyone her presents than she was to get them. After going through the "Santa" presents, we headed over to our tree and she was almost shaking with excitement for me to open those presents and she wanted to do those first. I've never seen someone so excited to give a porcelain poodle ring holder and a two-inch cup with a bear in it (oh! and I can't forget the glass kissing angels).

Cooper is hilarious. Of course he was not too concerned about the actual present, but he loved the wrapping. I think his First Christmas was a success. He was super happy and just loved all of the excitement. He also loved that everyone was looking at him and taking pictures.
Did I already mention that I hate that my kids are growing up? I want to keep Cooper like this forever. I am trying to delay his milestones, but he is not cooperating. His new thing is saying "Uh-Oh". All day he just goes around the house picking things up and then dropping them and saying "uh-oh". Over and over and over. He makes a cute face and it is really cute until you are the one that he thinks should do the picking up, then it gets old fast.

On Christmas Day, we went to Chad's parents house which was fun, like all Christmas mornings with them. Then, we went to Grandpa Grundy's house and spent time with him and all of the cousins.

The good news is that we only got stuck in the snow twice. For those of you who live around here know about the snow on Christmas. If you don't. . . trust me, there was a lot. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't work out. For some reason, the snow seemed the worst in our neighborhood, actually more specifically in our drive way. Ya, it snowed a lot, but the worst part was the wind. So, our famous fluffy Utah snow was all getting blown around and decided to land right on us. The snow drifts were crazy. We could literally see the grass tips of the people across the street, but our light up reindeer were completely covered in our front yard. (I'm sure it doesn't help that we live in place were we are surrounded by fields). Anyway, we got stuck once leaving Chad's parents and then when we got to our house, we literally hit a wall and could not get into our driveway. So, with the kids asleep in the car, Chad and I spend a lot of time digging us into our garage. By the time we made it in, it was about time to head out to Grandpa's. It was a little crazy, but it definitely made our day interesting. And since I LOVE having a white Christmas, I think it is worth the sacrifice and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have to say that the holidays were great and I loved all of the gifts, but my favorite thing was being snowed in with the people I love. We had so much fun together and we enjoyed every minute.

Merry, Merry Christmas!! We are so excited for the holidays around here. We have all the decorations up, new ornaments have been picked out, Santa letters have been written, the movies have been playing for weeks, Carson already has the Kids Bop Christmas CD memorized, we've seen the lights at temple square, done all of our shopping (including our angel), presents are wrapped and under the tree, Christmas books are being read, 4 different countdown calenders are being done nightly, but when, oh when will Christmas finally come? Hopefully with all of the Christmas parties and other activities, it will go by fast and Santa will be here before we know it.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We were lucky to have the whole Grundy family over to our house, it is so nice having such a close extended family. And yes, I hit the stores early Friday morning, well actually only two, but on black Friday, that is an all day event.Abby lost her two front teeth in a three day period. She was so excited to finally have them out because they had been bugging her. Once the first one came out, it was only a matter of time until the next one did, but she wouldn't let us touch it this time. So while playing around with her dad, he flipped her over his head and knocked it out with his elbow and it went flying across the room. I guess that's one way to do it. Needless to say, I now have all three kids who could honestly sing "All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" It's kinda our motto this year.

Here is a picture of baby Kamryn and Cooper on Thanksgiving in their matching turkey jammies (thanks to grandma). Kamryn is probably a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, as you can see. . .she thinks we're crazy!
We made it to see Santa. The kids were so excited and Carson told Santa "You can bring me whatever you want to", to which Santa replied "I'm gonna surprise you then". And that has made things a little easier for me.

So, with 11 more days until Christmas (trust me, we know), we are truly enjoying the holiday season. We pray that through all of the Santa insanity, we all take time to remember our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas. I love this time of year, mostly because it forces me to think of all of the blessing in my life. The Lord has blessed me with an outstanding husband, wonderful kids, a supportive family, truly amazing friends, and a testimony of His birth, His life and His sacrifice. We hope you have a great Holiday!

My friend Robyn just recently asked, "What is the best age ?", when talking about our children and today I think 8 months is the answer. Cooper is so fun right now, but I think I am just a baby person. He is starting to really get his own personality. He wakes up super happy and I love how he lights up when he sees me. He LOVES going outside, and he thinks Abby and Carson are the funniest thing in the world (which makes their day). He's crawling all around, but not running, so I can still catch up to him.

He is also starting to have his own "little things" about him, like the other day when he was playing in the tub, Chad took his ball away from him so that he could wash him off , not thinking Cooper would even notice, but he was very upset. Now every time he gets in the tub, he holds on to his toys super tight and won't let go, because he is afraid someone will take them away.

This is just a fun age where all of the learning begins and I am excited to watch him come up with something new everyday.

Ok, 3 years olds are pretty funny too! Carson learned this at school while ago and I finally got him to do it on camera. I'm sorry to say, but it wouldn't be as funny if he had all of his teeth. When I watch him use words like this, I learn to appreciate his struggles. Luckily, we have two more years until Kindergarten. (maybe at least two of his teeth will be in by then)

October

October is finally over. It has been a crazy, but fun month. Here are some pictures of all that we have been up to lately.Fun at the pumpkin patch. Cooper enjoyed his first wheel barrel ride.
We went to the mountains to see the awesome fall leaves. (but had to explain to the kids that the beer bottles were not a part of "nature")

Abby and Carson finished up their soccer season. Abby did great. This was her third year, and the first time they played on the "big field". We were super proud of her. Her favorite part was when she was able to play goalie, because then she didn't have to run so much.

Most of the pictures of Carson are of him "not playing". This was his first year, and he was just funny to watch. We never knew what kind of crazy thing he would do next. He liked playing, but just kept saying that everyone was going too fast for him. . .maybe better luck with T-ball.

We went to Las Vegas to see Amy and Justin, and see their little Kamryn get blessed, we had a lot of fun with the whole family in their little apartment. The kids were in heaven because they could go swimming in October.
We made our best efforts at pumpkin carving. ( these are our scary faces)
Halloween was a blast. Carson was hilarious in his batman costume. He was determined to be batman this year and he definitely played the part well.
Carson and his partner in crime before their big preschool Halloween party.
Abby was so grown up this year. I am the room mom for her Kindergarten class (by assignment, not by choice) and I came to her class to throw their Halloween party. We had tons of fun, and I couldn't help but think about how grown up she is getting. Cooper made is first appearance at Halloween as a pumpkin. We actually had another really cute costume picked out but he grew too fast and it didn't really fit by Halloween. (but when else can you pull off a costume like this and still be stinkin cute? )
Chad and I dressed up as ugly people. I was suppose to be Joe Dirt and Chad was some weird guy with lots of chest hair. It took Chad a couple of days to get my image out of his head.
In Cooper news, he is finally crawling. He made it official on Halloween night as he was watching all of the chaos. He is still a beginner, but slowly he is making his way were he wants to go.