Christmas 2010

Our Christmas

Wyatt's Letter to Santa. He and his dad spent quite a few minutes deciding what to ask for from Santa. Grandpa and Grandma Teuscher came to visit the weekend before Christmas. They attended Breakfast with Santa with the boys and got to open one of their presents early.

Since Brad had to go back to work Thursday we did our Christmas dinner Wednesday night: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing. Good for some but the pregnant lady may never eat turkey anything ever again!

Just before he went to bed Wy helped me write a note to Santa and we set the cookies by the tree. He was very concerned that Santa might not be able to make it down our chimney so he insisted on unlocking the door so Santa could come in that way. I locked it before going to bed :)

Brad got home earlier than I thought (6:30) and so he had time to feed the animals and get cleaned up before we woke up - yes we had to wake up those little squirrels - the boys. They were sleeping so soundly I almost hated to do it! Wyatt was a tough one to wake up. I didn't think Brad was going to get him up anytime before 10! However he finally had success and we adjourned to the living room to open all the presents!And after it was all said and done we piled the wrappings and the bows and jumped in for a final snapshot:
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Here's to a great New Year!

Snow much fun!

The highly anticipated snow of the season finally arrived and after a few days of non-stop snow we looked out our door to a winter wonderland! Wyatt was so excited that he and his dad made big plans for Tuesday to get out and make a snowman. Well Tuesday Wy was sick all day so on Wednesday after Brad's work meeting he and Wy suited up and headed outdoors to make the best snowman ever! Obviously you can't send to kids out into the snow and not expect them to get sidetracked just a teeny weeny bit. Thus when I stepped outside I found Wy swimming (yep he was doing the arms and everything)

and I found Brad making a snow angel - he claimed he was trying to teach Wy how to make one. Boys!

There hard work paid off as Frosty, our Cowboy snowman, came to life in our front yard. Notice that the poor guy has no arms. Guess Brad forgot that component of building a snowman.

Toby wasn't quite sure of this new addition to the yard and was quite suspicious. Now they are best friends.

'Tis the Season

Once again we loaded the boys in the truck and headed up the mountain to find our Christmas Tree. We were excited to actually find snow since we have none at our house. By the time we got to the trees, Conner had fallen asleep so we bundled ourselves and Wy and stomped through the snow. Toby, who was experiencing snow for the first time, was so excited he'd bury himself than jump up trying to catch the flying snow in his mouth. He had a great time as we searched for...

our perfect tree! (it's the tall one there in the middle surrounded by a few shorter trees). Brad does a good job, albeit picky job, of choosing our tree and walked us quite a ways before stumbling -yep getting this tree included Brad falling on his hind end (I'm still chuckling)- upon this beautiful tree. We cut it down, loaded it up and took it home where we
decked the halls. Brad and I got the tree in and then he and Wy went to town putting all the decorations on as I decorated the rest of the living room. It was fun to hear Brad "teach" Wy how to strategically place the bells and the balls and explain why dropping them was not a good idea. I think we only lost one or two (makes me miss carpet a bit more).

I pitched in when it was time to put the specialty ornaments on the tree. I had Wy help me put the ballerina slippers and the nutcracker ornament that Brad and I purchased on our honeymoon after seeing The Nutcracker. Even now Wy will stand by the tree and talk about what I told him that night.
Then we turned off the lights, sat by the fire and watched our pretty tree come to life. So far neither boy has decided to untrim the tree but it's still early.

Truly Thankful

As the holiday season officially begins this week I would like to take a moment and share the things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who works so hard to provide for our family; who loves me; who loves our boys and plays with them and teaches them. I am thankful for Wyatt who has such a clever imagination; who helps me do the dishes even though he spills water and drips the rag all over the floor; who constantly worries about his brother and is earnestly trying to teach him to walk. I am thankful for Conner who brings such joy to our lives; who wrestles his older brother to the ground and laughs like it's the greatest endeavor; who climbs on the table, the counter, the bunk bed and then yells Mom until I arrive to rescue him. I am thankful for our home, our families, our Savior, the food on our table, for our ward, for wonderful friends and neighbors, for health and strength, for answers to prayers.
For all this and much more I am truly Thankful.

Halloween Fun

First I have to say how wonderful it is to have the fruits of our labors sitting on our table (picture below) as well as stocking the shelves in our pantry for food storage. It really is amazing to plant the little seeds and then watch them turn to plants that can then be harvested to feed our family and to share with our neighbors. A big thanks to our friends Bryan, Aubrey and Aaden for sharing our garden and helping me keep up on the weeds!
These pumpkins came from our garden and so we decided to carve them instead of buying. It was a bit tricky since they really weren't that big (must work on that for next year) but it was a fun family night activity and I must say that all three of my guys really got into the spirit of carving pumpkins.
Above: Brad being very precise and serious about cutting the tops off of each pumpkin.
Below: Brad teaching Wy how to scrape out all the guts. I should mention this is the only one they did. I scraped the other two myself.

The finished products: This year Wyatt wanted to be Super Why from the PBS cartoon Super Why and so that's what we did. He did dress up as a dinosaur for the Mom's group Halloween Party. Conner was a gumball machine and had an okay time at the trunk-or-treat. Mainly he was trying to figure out why all those people kept putting stuff in his pumpkin. The only drawback was that Brad had to work and so he missed out on all the fun Halloween activities.

Conner's Busy Days

Conner is 16 months this week and continues to be a joy in our lives. He still will not walk although he knows how and teases me every day by taking a step here and a step there; standing up in the middle of the room without any assistance from the couch, the wall, or any of us. Then when he sees me watching, the hopeful smile on my face he slowly lowers himself to the floor and gives me the Cheshire Cat grin that says "I know you want me to but I'm gonna make you wait a looooong time" and I exhale a dejected breath thinking maybe tomorrow. Stubborn little cuss, must take after his dad! He may not walk but that kid can crawl and scoot as fast as Wy and his friends can run. He can keep up with them and needless to say I'm tossing pants not because of size or holes in the knees but because he scoots everywhere, even outside, and has created holes in the seat of his pants. I can mend/patch holes in the knees but I don't even know where to begin with holes in the rear end. He loves to wrestle and his new favorite move is to catch Wy around the knees and pull him to the ground and "pin" him. He has graduated to his own popcorn bowl but once his is empty he makes his way to Brad's and devours dad's popcorn too. He thought he was the bee's knees the first night he got his own bowl. He loves Toby, our dog, and harasses him every chance he gets. I thought Toby was being mean when I saw him drag Conner off his bike but not two minutes later I saw Conner scooting pulling Toby behind by his ear. I think they have a love/hate relationship as opposed to Wy and Toby who I believe have established a mutual hate/hate relationship. Conner has now mastered the following words: dad, MOM, mom, moo, boo, Wyatt, up, eat, milk, hi. He likes to wave at all the cars we pass since he can see them out his window. And last but not least he loves to sneak into our bedroom and hide behind my rocking chair or he'll get into our bathroom, crawl into the shower and hide until someone goes looking for him. He loves his older brother and tries to do everything that Wy does. It is so cute.

Wyatt's happenings

Wyatt has been very busy the last few months. He attends preschool twice a week where he has a great time learning and playing with his preschool buddies. He gets so excited to go to school that he is constantly asking if it is Tuesday or Thursday. He has been on a field trip to the Dinosaur Museum, the Ouray Fish Hatchery, and will be going to the Heritage Museum and the Library in a few weeks. He also plays with friends every week and has been sad that he's missed the last few weeks. He never ceases to amaze Brad and I with what comes out of his mouth. For instance we were driving the other day and Conner did something for which Wy disciplined him. Brad and I both told Wy that he was not the parent and that we would take care of Conner's issue. Not even twenty minutes later we said something and Wy retorts I'm not the parent, you are so you'll have to handle it. Ahhh out of the mouth of babe! He loves his nursery class but is really excited to go to Primary in a few months. He also got to go hunting and spend a whole week, minus one night, with his Grandpa Patterson. I'm pretty sure Grandpa was worn out when he left to return to Blanding but I'm not sure if it was the hunting or the boys that truly wore him out.

Work

One day I heard these words come out of my 3 year old's mouth: I hate work! when I grow up I'm never, never going to work! It's not nice to go to work and leave.

It was 4:00 pm and Brad was gathering his stuff to head to work. I had packed his cooler and left it on the kitchen table and all of a sudden it mysteriously disappeared. After a brief search we discovered that Wy had taken off with the cooler thinking that his dad wouldn't be able to go to work if he couldn't find his cooler. Brad sat down and talked with Wy and when I looked outside a minute later this is what I saw:

Summer Time & the Livin' is easy

The boys worked and played so hard one afternoon that they kicked back on the deck with a Popsicle and took a much needed break. The other little guy is Hayden who we love to have come play at our house!

All Because Two People Fell in Love

And then there's the crazy part of us....

There is so much I love about our family but I think the one thing I really enjoy is the humorous moments that we have when together. As you can see we can be serious but we can be very off the wall and those are the best times.