Just my size

Grandma Judd gave Zeus a bone that seemed to be just the right size for Zeus

How old are you?

Tage asked for cologne and deodorant from Santa. (he got it)
This is what I caught him doing tonight....shaving!
Don't worry, it's for kids and is not a real razor.

To Utah for Christmas

I really, really wanted to be home for Christmas this year. Santa coming to our roof top, Tage come down our stairs, presents under our tree, playing at our home. But it's not all that easy when you have a separated family. With compromises galore we decided to have Christmas at the cabin in Fairview. It is only a couple hours south from our families, so I thought it would be best of both worlds.....our own Christmas, but having family too.

Well, it didn't end up that way.

On our way up to be with family for a few days before Christmas, we decided to stop at the cabin to drop everything off and spend one night there. But when we got to the cabin and there was more snow than we expected. We ended up having to park the truck at the bottom of the hill by the gate and hike up to the cabin. We hauled up our bags for one night and started a fire to keep warm.

The Cabin

View of Fairview

After getting the truck stuck twice and the 4-wheeler with the plow on front stuck twice, we decided that maybe our plan for our wilderness family Christmas was probably out.

So Plan A was: To have a quiet, wilderness family Christmas. Cut down our own tree and decorate it with popcorn and cranberries. And drink lots and lots of hot chocolate.

Onto Plan B......

I just wanted to throw in a picture of Zeusie Moosie. He loved the snow!

Plan B, C, D, E.....

Plan B: Hike up through the snow with all our Christmas stuff
Plan C: Pay someone to snow plow the road
Plan D: Use a snow blower to plow tracks for the truck
Plan E: Rent a snowmobile
Plan F: Stay at Grandpa Gary's condo that is vacant right now
Plan G: Stay at my sisters apartment for the night because she is going to be at Mom and Dads for the night.
Plan H: Stay at Grandma and Grandpa Judd's
Plan I: Stay in the basement of Grandma and Grandpa Rigby's

Plan I won

It actually turned out nice. We had our own little Christmas as a family, then when up the stairs and enjoyed extended family without even going out into the cold and driving somewhere.

Christmas Eve

Jammies!

Leaving a treat for Santa and his reindeer.

3 cookies, 8 baby carrots, and of course a glass of milk

Zeus picked his spot for the night

My boys

Dad and Zeus sleeping

Santa Came

Tager,

while you were sleeping....

Santa came!

Chirstmas Morning

Didn't get up until 8am! Which really isn't a shocker, Tage likes to sleep in.

Santa spoiled Tage as usual. He was completely shocked.

Opening his biggest present from Mom and Dad. A helmet and football shoulder pads. (His first tackle football game is January 16th. Yikes!)

Zeus got a football chew toy and a bone.

What we did while in Utah.....

went sledding

went to Temple Square to watch the nativity play and look at the lights

(Tage with cousins Wesley and Michelle)

went ice skating. (Tage didn't like it at first)

had a visit from Santa

ate lots of yummy food

watched movies

did last minute Christmas shopping (Tyson of course, I was completely done before we left AZ)

Tage played liked crazy with his cousins

enjoyed being with our families

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Zeus

Zeus turned 1 today! Or should I say 7 for doggie years...? However old he is, today was his special day!

I think he was all pooped out after eating a large doggie bone.

His morning didn't start off so great. He threw up right by my bed. Therefore, my morning didn't start off great either. I was cleaning up doggie barf at 5:00am.

Darn dog is still eating anything he can get too. Yesterday I wasn't fast enough to get one of Tage's socks out of his mouth and he swallowed it! Not to be gross, but the barf had not only that sock but the outer part of a baseball I saw him in the backyard with earlier in the day.

His day got better though. After church we spoiled him with doggie treats and a big bone that he ate in no time at all. We sang Happy Birthday to him and everything.

Happy Birthday Zeusie Moosie! We love you!

xoxox,

Mom, Dad, and Tage

Santa Visit

Yesterday we went to visit Santa. We always hit Cabela's for this.

And here is Tages letter to Santa

Football and the Toilet

Tage is so into football! It is crazy that a 6yr old (almost 7) would actually want to sit on the couch and watch a game rather than play with his friends. No lie, this kid would watch football all day if I let him.

I have caught him not once, but several times, sitting on the toilet with the door open just so he could still see the game.

Pumpkin Pie

Ok, this is a total funny story that I just realize I forgot to tell from Thanksgiving..... and yes, this defiantly needs to be documented. I can't believe I forgot this story!

It all started a year ago (Thanksgiving 2008) when Tyson brought home a pumpkin pie that a customer had given him from a store call AJs Fine Foods. He raved and raved about this pie so much....this is pretty much a quote from his mouth. And no, I'm not exaggerating.....

"Oh honey, this is the BEST pumpkin pie I have ever had. It is SOOOOOO good. Its even better than yours"

Really? Better than mine? Nah....can't be, mine is the best. (thanks Grandma Baird)

And for the longest time I told him that I was going to do a blind fold taste test and see which pie he would pick. He told me that FOR SURE AJs would win.

Well, that day came on Thanksgiving 2009. I didn't have to blind fold him because he had no idea that I secretly went to AJs before going to Utah for Thanksgiving. I told him that Ajs pie was a recipe my Mom had tried.
I put a small piece if each on a plate and had my Dad and Ty taste test it. (my Dad had no idea either)
And the winner of the BEST pumpkin pie was...........

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I pretty much went berserk, jumping up and down like a crazy maniac shouting "I won" a million and one times, and then showed him that "Moms pie" was really AJs!!!

Oh, and it gets even funnier....My Grandma was there (it was her recipe) and she told me that she has had that recipe for many years and it just came off a can of pumpkin! Who knew that recipes off a can could be better than a fine food stores product.
HA!
I WIN!

Lost tooth

FINALLY!!!

Tage lost his first tooth! After watching all his friends loose teeth, he finally got to be part of the club!

It had been 'wiggly' for almost two weeks. And this past weekend we really worked on getting it out. But Tage kept wimping out and didn't want to touch it.

Sunday: I thought it was going to fall out. He let me try to pull it more that Dad because I was 'the dentist'. Tage said that he wanted to wait until tomorrow to pull it with 'Moms pliers from work'.

Monday: He wouldn't even eat his cereal for breakfast because he said his tooth hurt to eat anything.

I brought home 'pliers' and pulled that puppy out! I didn't even have a chance to take off my jacket or change my clothes. We got right to business.

He was so dang happy!

Tuesday morning: Tooth Fairy came!

Tage said that he wanted to keep his tooth so he could show his class. He didn't write a letter to the tooth fairy saying that, but the tooth fairy let him keep it anyway!

Little Emma

My sister had her baby yesterday morning!

Emma Laurette Lowell
born 12/8/09 at 4:35 am
7lbs 6.5oz 19 inches long

My Mom had arranged to fly out yesterday. So Emma came just in time for Grandma! With bad weather, her continued flight got cancelled and she got stuck in Minneapolis last night. She will continue on and fly to Des Monies this morning.

Happy Birthday Emma!! We love you so, so much! What a little miracle you are.

Phoenix Snow

It snowed in Vistancia!

Ok, Ok, I lied...it's really 30 tons of shaved ice. We call it snow here. But hey, the kids don't care! They had a blast!

Razmataz

Love this store! Has such fun, chunky, unique pieces of furniture and home decorating. This is also where we got our large entertainment center and now this beauty....it was love at first site.

It fits perfect upstairs in our little nook. Now I just need to get baskets for the cubbies. Oh, and a small table top Christmas tree to go along with the small children's manger scene for the holiday.

Elf on the Shelf

There is a really cute book that I got called The Elf on the Shelf. It is about an elf that comes to you after Thanksgiving and watches you. At night he flies to the North Pole and reports to Santa whether you have been naughty or nice. Then comes back to your home and hides in a different spot. The fun of it is that you get to play the "I spy game" every morning! Rules are that you can't touch the elf, but you can talk to him. Here are a few places that he has hid so far....

Why not a pair?

Oops, I left the laundry room door open. This is what happens when I have gone to bed and Ty is asleep on the couch. Zeus goes to town....

one brown

one black

Come on Zeus, next time at least pick a pair!