Oops, I hope 3 weeks between posts isn't the new normal for us! I've sat down many times and tried to post these pictures but there's so little time in the day....
Anyways, we had a wonderful time in Stanley celebrating Christmas with the O'Malleys. The day after Christmas, we packed up, rented a car and drove 16 hours between California and Idaho and the boys did SO well- they are the best little travelers we could ask for! Driving saves us tons of money, so I'm glad the trip isn't a miserable one. On the contrary, we actually enjoy the long drive together, it's fun family bonding time ;-)
Here are some pictures of our time in Stanley:
Family photo
The boys absolutely LOVED all the snow, which was a nice change from last year when they weren't too sure about it. They wanted to play in the snow all day this year!
They talked for weeks beforehand about the "snowmens" they were going to build at Grandma and Papa's house.
Jack and Cullen were given several new trains including James which was the highlight of the night for them! They also got lots of Matchbox cars which have already gotten hours upon hours of playtime. And they were spoiled with many other gifts, and were so excited opening each one!
Lightning McQueen pillowcases, also a hit!
Sledding! The boys loved it of course and wanted to go over and over again!
This is a bit blurry, but you can see the expression of pure joy on Cullen's face :-)
Playing with their cousins and new toys!
Decorating (and eating) gingerbread cookies
This is incredibly sappy of me but I took this picture of them as they were going to bed on December 29th, the last time I saw them as 2 year olds :-(
Here are my big 3 year olds decorating their own birthday cakes!
Enjoying Auntie Ashlee's Mickey Mouse pancakes one morning :-)
Jack and Cullen loved the snowmobiles! I went up and down the driveway a couple times (very slowly) but after our ATV accident last summer I am much more wary of big, scary machines like these. Brandon went out with his dad a few times though, so he got to enjoy himself while I stayed warm inside. And he saw a wolf on one of his rides! I'm a little jealous of that part!
Brandon's parents watched the boys for us so that we could go on a date to Sun Valley for the whole day! We sat in the ski lodge and talked, went to Starbucks and talked, walked around town and talked, and ate dinner and talked. It was so nice to catch up with my husband during this busy season of life when we don't have a lot of time to spend together! We spent a long time planning out our year, talking about what we want to focus on as a family, talking about the boys and deciding what things we want to work on with them. It was the most time alone together we've had in months and we loved it! Thanks for the great date Gary and Sari!
Oh and last, but not least, here's a picture of the O'Malley's pet fox ;-) Just kidding- sort of. We fed it some meat a couple days before we left and it kept coming back for more. Jack and Cullen got so excited when Mr. Fox came for a visit! Gary and Sari said it's been back nearly every day since, haha.
I guess it's about time I post some pictures from our trip West. We've been back for about three weeks and I finally feel settled in and have some extra time to blog. We had a nice long visit with both of our families over the holidays. The boys and I were in California for two weeks and Brandon joined us the second week after he took his finals. We had a great Christmas with my family and also got to enjoy some warm weather, something I always look forward to in December :-)
I was pretty bummed to realize that my Disneyland pass expired the day before I got to California. But the boys were still free since they were under three so my Mom took them to Disneyland for the day by herself and they had lots of fun!
We cut their hair later in the week, but seeing these pictures makes me regret it! I love their long curly hair!
I picked them up around 7 pm and this is what I found waiting for me. They were pooped!
My Dad treated us to frozen yogurt a couple times, Jack and Cullen LOVED getting to pick out their own toppings. They liked the gummy bears (or "vitamins" as they called them), chocolate chips, M&M's and sprinkles.
Brandon and I got to go on a fun date in California. My Mom gave us a restaurant Groupon for Christmas and after dinner we went skating. I had planned on taking Brandon ice skating but when we got to the rink, we found out it was actually a roller skating rink, but we ended up having a blast! I think Brandon and I were the only newbies there, everybody else looked like they'd been skating for years and there were tons of roller derby girls there. Some of the people were literally dancing on the rink! Within a few minutes, Brandon got into his groove and was skating laps around me- I was by far the worst person there! But by the end of the night I was skating pretty quick and I never fell down, so I considered it a success. And we had so much fun! It was a great date!
Another highlight of our trip was getting to spend so much time with Violet. She is the funniest little girl and I just love playing with her! Here she is stuffing her face with popcorn. She took the bowl, ran across the room so she wouldn't have to share and sat down to eat it by herself!
Cousins in pajamas!
Cullen and I came down with a stomach bug a few days after we got there. I haven't been that sick in a long time, and poor Cullen threw up 9 times in one night. Thankfully we were at my Mom's and she and my sisters took care of us. We spent 48 hours just snuggling on the couch watching movies.
Another cute picture of Vi
Juli flew down for a day just before Christmas, it was great to see her! We all went for a walk on the beach and it was so windy it nearly blew Jack and Cullen over!
Baking
Climbing trees
Jack and Cullen helped make tamales this year. Jack's main contribution was to lick all of the olives before he placed them in the tamales.
We celebrated Christmas with my Dad on Christmas Eve, he got these Mexican wrestling costumes for the boys. Everybody thought they were hilarious!
After opening presents, we all went bowling. It was Jack and Cullen's first time and they loved it! When they saw these pictures they asked if we can go "rolling" again.
After his turn, Jack would get so excited he'd run back and start break dancing!
Another funny picture of Violet :-)
Jack trying on Violet's headband
For some reason, my Mom bought Jon some swim trunks... from the Big & Tall store... in size 2XL. We all laughed so hard we cried!
Then we went outside for some family photos. This is a beautiful Mommy/daughter shot
All of us with Grandma
Whew, I'm halfway done! Next up, our pictures from Idaho!
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