HAPPY HOLIDAYS

....and then some....

I would say Merry Christmas but that has come and gone so Happy Holidays it is.

It was great to see and talk with Mom and Dad on Christmas! Thanks to Doug for all the great things that he does.

Before I get to the Christmas pictures, a few pre-Christmas pictures.

Blade picked out a hat that he really wanted, and of course it was a great deal, and wanted a photo shoot as soon as we got home.

I thought he was working the cap quite well, I would buy it (hey, I already did).

The beginning of December meant 3 Advent calendars for Blade and Chay. Chay was picking the chocolate calendar and Blade was doing the Lego ones, then it was all Blade.

It kept him busy.

The hands of an active 6 year old boy....

I needed pictures for Auntie K and quickly took some on Nicole's camera but then the battery died and she didn't know where her charger was so I took some on mine. But thinking that mine wouldn't compare to her high tech camera I didn't even consider mine.

But there were some decent ones. (I need to send something to Auntie K). There's still no family picture thus, no Christmas card this year. That hasn't happened for a long time.

Then it was time for the annual Live Nativity in the Glenn by our house.

The camel is alway an amazing sight.

I wanted to capture Chay and Blade in front of an amazing partially frozen stream but I couldn't figure out the camera fast enough to get the background and foreground to appear...so I captured it in TWO shots.

....loses the effect alittle but I still like the little waterfall.

Blade started playing basketball for the first time. He's enjoying it. There is a practise once a week and a game and skills are practised but the basic rules and terminology of the game are not really discussed...makes for an interesting game. But it got better with the second game.

I bought a new area rug from Costco and it is so soft. Blade said that he wanted to sleep on it since it was so soft. Little did I know that he was very literal about that. When I woke up the next morning, this is what I found.

...so cute...

The next few pictures are not so CUTE but they are indications of what we do in our free time.

Chay does so many (weird) things with his nostrils, some things I know that I don't know about, and it's best that way.

Here he is inhaling and holding gumballs...that's some suction going.

And Blade couldn't let Chay have all the attention so he joined in.

...I'm so proud of them...

And...while Nicole is asleep, the boys will play...

On Christmas Eve, I had the kids play the "right left game" for the first time.

They each started with a gift and then I read a version of 'The Night Before Christmas" with the words right and left in it and each time "right" or "left" is read, they had to pass the gift that way.

They actually ended up with the gifts that I had intended for them.

An acquaintance of mine, gifted me with a dog Scentsy (a home sales company that sells home fragrances) that has a spiced apple cider scent inside. As soon as Blade saw it he loved it and I found this cute site.

Time to put out milk and cookies for Santa!

Chay has always wanted a pet monkey and this is as close as he'll get to owning one!

This straps to his shoulder and talks, waves, burps (or farts?).

Nicole is great with locos and so this was the picture game for her. We played it on Christmas and it was alot of fun. Dave won by a long shot because he was getting the easy cards and car cards...

Chay got a gift from all the grandparents and parents in his life.

A perfect gift for Chay. He didn't disappoint with his reaction to the shirt. And he did wear it on Christmas Day but, not prematurely....

Blade received an IPOD touch from all the Grandparents and parents in his life...

And you all know what Nicole received from all the Grandparents, parents and Santa.

While we were outside waiting for Nicole to return after she took off in her car, this adorable ball of fur showed up in the front room.

"Aiko" was in her kennel in the room and the boys didn't even notice. Chay walked past it numerous times and then was sitting in a chair and then finally noticed it and exclaimed "what is that!" and then jumped up and went over to it. Luckily I have it recorded! Chay said until he watched the recording, he thought that he had calmly got up and walked over.

Blade was the only one who made sure we took the traditional picture with all the Christmas gifts!

Aiko likes to be by people. She also loves my new carpet that I was concerned about her being on (I didn't want her to pee on it). We've been lucky so far, no accidents in the house.

She was sleeping on the corner of the rug and then woke up and moved over by sleeping Dave...ahhhh, so cute.

PUPPY LOVE for Chay!

I want to get this posted so I'm not proof reading, if there are errors let me know, just mention "proof read" and I'll know to correct.

Happy New Year!

And I'm back...

Things are good with us down here.

I was having technical difficulties with transferring pictures to the blog, thus, the delay in updating.

We did venture out and visit another Utah site (Alana, believe it or not but, it was in October).

We travelled 3 hours southeast to Vernal and visited a dinosaur quarry (yes, a quarry, like in the Flintstones).

I've never been to Drumheller but I think Vernal is to Utah what Drumheller is to Alberta.

I found the quarry to be quite interesting as it has a building built around part of a rock area where dinosaur bones are embedded. There are literally layers of bones.

The bones are layered heavily because there was a flood (Not "THE" flood) and it washed all the bones down the river. Alot of bones are scattered but there are many where the dinosaur was alive and buried so quickly that all the bones are in place.

(there may be a test later...)

The next picture is of Chay's favorite bones at the quarry.

Blade busy working on his workbook to earn his Junior Ranger badge.

There was one area of the quarry where people were allowed to actually touch the bones. An amazing experience to see and feel dinosaur bones as they are found.

We took a couple of small hikes that showed more bones in their "natural habitat".

A quick sprint up the hill back to the quarry.

The official ceremony for Blade to receive his Junior Ranger badge.

And we HAD to stop at the famous pink Vernal dinosaur painted by contestants on The Amazing Race a few years ago.

I don't know how but our freezer is left open a crack at times...and so this lovely build up of ice grows. Blade loves to defrost the freezer and had been asking to do it for a while. I finally said we could do it. It's like a game to him...he LOVES it!

I should have taken an after picture but I was so excited to organize everything back into the freezer that I forgot.

Dave celebrated his birthday.

(I took the easy way out this year and let Sam's Club make Dave a carrot cake)

Halloween has come and gone, but we did all the traditional things to celebrate the Holiday.

Blade carved his pumpkin.

(this is a bonus shot that Chay took of Blade twirling around. He does it with such energy that the G-force is enough to distort his face!)

We went to Hogle Zoo early the Saturday morning before Halloween and Blade collected his treats. Since we have a Booster Season Pass we were able to go in an hour before the general public and I am so glad that we did...when we were done and ready to leave, the lines were insanely long. We didn't have to wait in any of them. I had to convince Blade that the plan was to collect the treats first and THEN take the time to appreciate the animals.

Chay loved how soft the wolves looked AND wanted one.

Blade taking one of his traditional zoo pictures but, looking alot different.

At the Verizon booth, Chay stopped at the different stations and earned himself a free T-shirt. He also got a watch for "liking" them on facebook.

The story behind this picture is one that Chay will remember and never let me forget it.

We were watching the gorilla and I had Chay and Blade turn around for a picture. All of a sudden there was this noise and the gorilla literally ran across the room next to the glass....and this picture captures the boys reaction to that sound. And because I HAD to take a picture, the boys missed the action.

Another "must" shot when at the zoo.

Chay made sugar cookies and royal icing with me as his assistant. He did a great job.

Chay was getting creative and decorating with his eyes closed.

Chay had different ideas for a costume but decided at the last minute to be a "nerd". The scary thing is that he had everything he needed in his closet....

creepy...Dave trying on Blade's mask, and Chay creeping in the background.

(masks are creepy. I don't like it when you can't see the person's face. Even painted faces like with clowns creep me out.)

Blade as Anakin from Star Wars.

It was nice to have Nicole stop by for a group shot!

We put up the same decorations from last Halloween. I had to move a couple because Nicole indicated that there was too much going on in the entry way (alot of sound/motion activated things).

And another Chay exclusive shot.

It's still amazing where and how Blade falls asleep.

Well, that's us in a nutshell...