The First Thanksgiving...

This past Thanksgiving was our 'first' Thanksgiving away from family. I have to admit that it was a little weird to not be preparing for our Thanksgiving feast with our families....but we had a great time with our friends.

The wives of all of the orphan families got together and planned the dinner.

My assignment was stuffing, yams, corn, and a dessert.

We got together at the church. It was perfect.

I thought we would have to put a big tarp underneath the "children" table, but they did pretty good. I think the only mess that was left on the floor was from my little darlings.

Peyton, Cohen, and Teegan enjoying their Thanksgiving feast!

This is Kael's kind of holiday...he is a chow-hound. His dad gave him a FULL cup of punch...I was shocked when it didn't end up all over the floor or all over him. I guess I should have a little more faith in my children...I just learn from my experiences!

Bryan and Jill loading up their plates. We had PLENTY of food!

We even had enough for Thanksgiving leftovers!

The Thanksgiving Orphans. We even had the missionaries join us!

Kael was still working on his plate even after most of the adults had finished!
He eats a lot!!

The kids found some balls and some hula hoops and had a ton of fun with them!


We are so thankful for all of the friends that we have made in Texas!
Even though we weren't with our families on Thanksgiving, it was nice to be with great friends!

Very Blessed....

Yesterday as I was getting all of my errands done before Thanksgiving we HAD to stop at the dollar store. Peyton had just got a dollar in the mail from his grandma and was itching to spend it. I heard the entire night before, how he wanted to buy silly string. As soon as he woke up he wanted to go buy it. After a fun lunch with Jill, Camden, and Rhett at Chick-Fil-A, we decided to head over to the dollar store. Peyton was so excited, he had two dollars to spend and decided to give one to Kael. He had earned these dollars and he was willing to share with his little brother....it touched my heart!
After we had paid for our items we walked out the doors and a lady stopped me and said, " You are very blessed. I had two boys about the same years apart and now they are all grown." I smiled at her and said, "Thank you, I am very blessed."

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As I continued walking to the car holding each one of my boys' hands, I smiled and thought, "I am very blessed." Being a mother is a very diverse and rewarding job. Most of the time it is funny, wonderful, and amazing. But, there are those moments where it is hard, so much harder than I could ever imagine that it would be. I have had experiences where I have wanted to sit down and cry over a mess and there have been times where all I could do is laugh, because I couldn't change what happened, so I might as well laugh about it. Sometimes I am surprised that my full of life and mischievous boys haven't figured out how fun they could have with flour like the little boys on youtube,

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But I am so glad that they are who they are, and most of the time I am glad that they do the things that they do because they make me laugh.

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I love when Peyton makes Kael laugh. That giggle leaves me with no choice but to smile. Kael loves Peyton and Peyton loves Kael. They are lost without each other. Kael cries when we leave Peyton at preschool and refuses to go to the gym daycare or to nursery unless Pey is there by his side. Peyton can't stand when Kael is asleep. He is bored and wants his little buddy to play with. I can hear him making sounds during "quiet time", also known as Kael's nap time, just so that Kael will wake up. It annoys me to no end because I don't want a grumpy, sleep deprived Kael on my hands, but at the same time it warms my heart because deep down they are such great friends. And I love that.

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Peyton is such a smart and meticulous child. He thinks deeply about everything and asks questions that sometimes leave me thinking, "You are three years old, how did you come up with that question or thought?" He never gives up on something that he wants, which one day will be good....but for now it drives me up the wall. He is just like his dad, he makes me laugh at least 100 times a day. His creative mind kills me. He can look at something and totally see something that I would not have seen or thought of at first hand. He has taught me a lot of patience, and for that I am grateful.
I love him and could not imagine my world without him.

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Kael is my sweet and tender little boy. He doesn't take easily to a scolding or the word, "No." His little lip curls up into the most perfect frown and big crocodile tears fill his sweet little eyes. He then has to make sure that indeed, you still love him and then things will be okay. He loves to be with people. The first night that he was born he wouldn't sleep alone, he had to be held and he has pretty much been that way ever since. He needs the reassurance that the people he loves and trusts are still with him. If he wakes up at night he will cry and Bryan will go in and pat his back, all he needs to know is that we are still there with him. It is so sweet. Even though he is sweet, he has his feisty moments. Kael works on his own time table, he will do things when he wants. If he doesn't want to try and say a word, he won't. Unlike Peyton, he doesn't feel as though he needs to entertain us. Kael has the most amazing attention span. He will literally sit and watch a movie from start to finish. Kael looks up to Peyton, just like a little brother should. He must do everything his big brother does and have everything his big brother has. Kael will laugh at anything, especially his big brother. I wish I could record his little giggle. It makes me smile.

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I am so blessed to have my husband and my little family. I am so grateful that my family is eternal.
I love these boys with all of my heart and soul.

I am so grateful to whomever that woman was for taking the time to stop me and remind me that I truly am blessed.

Frosty Frenzy....

I think Peyton may be addicted to buying things. Recently he has been working on a sticker chart to earn dollar bills from my mom. Every time he gets ten stickers she will send him a dollar in the mail. Every time he receives a dollar in the mail he is so excited and cannot wait to spend it! We always hit up the dollar section at Target. Bryan on the other hand, is VERY tired of toys, let alone the dollar toys, so he has been trying to teach Peyton how to save money. This concept has been so hard for him. Every day he thinks of something new to buy and we have to talk about how if we save our money we can buy something really cool. So after the nineteenth toy conversation of the day, I was dreading the shopping trip to Walmart. After a few tears in the store Bryan told Peyton that instead of a toy he would take him to Wendy's and get him a Frosty. I guess the ice cream was good enough...for today....or until tomorrow morning at 7:03 a.m. when we have to start our "toy conversations" for the day.

He is obsessed with making this funny face. He thinks it is so funny that he can give himself a double chin.

Kael on the other hand, doesn't have time to stop for funny faces.
I don't know if he even took time for a breath.
This kid means business.

Somehow he muscled Peyton's ice cream away from him.
I have NO idea how this kid is so slender. He eats like a horse....especially if its main ingredient is sugar.

He had ice cream EVERYWHERE.
We had to transport him straight from the car to the bath when we got home.
This child never ceases to amaze me.

In Two Minutes.....

In the two minutes that it took me to unload the dishwasher, this little one found a marker and decided to do a little coloring of his own.

Kael colored his face, hands, and Levis.

He looked like he had chocolate smeared all over his face {or something else. but we won't go there}. He was not happy when I had to use a wipe to get it all off.

Luckily he only colored on himself and not the floor and or walls.
:)

You got to watch this one.
He is full of mischief!

Random Happenings....

I have a lot of random pictures from when Bryan's family came to stay.

Peyton wanted to wear Jana's pajama pants.

Kael, Peyton, and Jana ready to hit Costco!

While Bryan had our brother-in-law Mark in town, he utilized his talents. Bryan has a big video project due when his trimester ends and Mark brought all of his equipment and shot a video for his class. It starred the wise Yoda {played by peyton} and the fierce Darth Vader {played by camden}! And even the adorable Rhett, in which I forgot to get a picture of....but he was cute! It will be a really cool video when Mark is finished editing it! The little boys were hilarious little actors! {and it also made me realize that i never want to be a stage mom}

Peyton enjoyed being the "star" of the week. And then we spent the next week adjusting to the lack of attention.

See what I mean?
This boy will even adorn sparkly earrings and a goofy face to get a laugh!
Funny kid.

What a Day.....

It's never a good sign when your day starts at 5:30 am and both children are awake. Curse this time change. Nothing says good morning like a barely awake mother and two little boys watching "Home Alone".
Peyton had kept me awake most of the night with his coughing {this is when i reminisce about the old days. triaminic cold and cough. takes the problem right away.} But nontheless, I don't want to cause any strokes or other medical issues so we listen to the coughing. It was preschool day, and even though he doesn't have a runny nose or fever I didn't feel right about sending him with a cough. No preschool? Ugh. And if I was keeping him home from preschool for a cough then I most certainly couldn't take him to the gym's daycare. This day was already not turning out how I had planned. By 9:00 am my newly vacuumed and mopped floor was destroyed {all i want is a maid who washes floors...everyday. not too much to ask for, right?} It was time for a caffeine run. I have got off of caffeine and diet drinks...but this morning called for a Diet Coke. So I loaded up my children and ran to the nearest McDonalds. I got my drink and returned home. As Peyton was getting out of the car he decided he wanted a sip. Not wanting to argue with him, I let him hold the drink {big mistake} and take a sip. For some reason he wanted to give Kael a sip {Kael had fallen asleep} as soon as I could say, "No. He is sleeping." Diet Coke was all over my backseat. Seriously? I got two sips of that caffeine heaven I so desperately needed and now it is allover my car! I cleaned up the mess and since Kael was asleep I figured it wouldn't hurt to go back to McDonalds for another drink. This time I made Peyton keep his slippery hands off of it. :) After four tantrums from each child, a messy lunch, and play time, it was finally naptime. Ahhh. Naptime. :) Shortly after naptime, it was time to make dinner. Why do children think this is the perfect time to fight and to annoy one another? Ugh. Bryan came home from school for a quick pit stop and to eat dinner before he needed to go to the library to study. {well, he thought it was going to be "quick".} Shortly before leaving he realized that Peyton had locked us out of our bedroom door. Awesome. Bryan removed the doorknob and still couldn't get it to unlock. I believe his exact words were, "This is like trying to break into Fort Knox!" After banging and a little prying, he finally got the door open.

I knew that having two little boys was going to be busy....but WOW....I am exhausted!
I think it would be best for this day to be over now. And as I am typing this I just heard a "crash" and crying from the toy room. I guess this is where I say, "goodbye"!
:)

Texas State Fair 2011...

The Texas State Fair is a very highly anticipated event in the Dallas-area. There is always buzz about what they new fried experience will be this year. The only new one I personally saw this year was fried bubblegum. I did not partake....but I did however, partake in other fried goodness. Luckily Bryan's family was here to experience this much anticipated event.

So excited to be at the fair! Of course Kael had to bring Woody along...he was totally in his element.

This trip we had to bring a long a gimp. Unfortunately there were no rides to be had like at Disneyland where it is in fact nice to have a gimp...right to the front of the lines. Just kidding. Mark tore his MCL in his knee and didn't want to limp through the day. I didn't blame him.

Big Tex welcoming us to the fair in the background. Ann had already bought her first set of tickets. I think she went back to the ticket stand 32 times. You can only use tickets at the fair for food, rides, and anything else.

Another quick family pic.

Bumblebee made it to the fair. Bryan has made his boys love Transformers.

Mark and Bryan had to have their picture with Bumblebee as well.

They had a big petting zoo for the kids. They had some weird animals in there. The weirdest one that I saw was the zebra mixed with a donkey. Huh? We couldn't get too close to him because apparently he bites.
Kael loves animals...from afar. He looks like he wants to be close but he was secretly relieved that there was a fence in between him and the animals. {he may or may not have screamed his guts out when the ducks at the park got a little too close to him. he he}

Mamau bought some food to feed some of the animals. It doesn't look like these pigs were too interested.

This was the boys' most favorite part of the fair, the fountains. It turned out to be a pretty warm day so I am sure that it felt nice.

I was shocked when Peyton got his clothes wet and didn't freak out. He usually cries when he drools on his shirt. Ha ha. He had so much fun.

Kael really had fun. He even lost his pants.

He loves water!

The fair is always a good time. Really it's all about the food. We all enjoyed corn dogs, funnel cakes, fried snickers, fried cake balls, fried oreos, and fresh lemonade. And then we I, needed to hit the gym

The Pumpkin Patch....

For the last two years we have visited the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. It is a fun place for kids to go. They have a hay ride, bounce houses, hay mazes, and of course pumpkins {very, very, expensive pumpkins. learned that lesson the hard way last year.} I was a little skeptical last year that they actually grew the pumpkins on site. The pumpkins were a little too neatly placed in their rows and there was no evidence that any "growing" was going on. This past summer we took a little drive passed the old pumpkin patch to do a little investigative work. My suspicions were confirmed, they indeed do not grow the pumpkins on site. They must have them shipped in from somewhere...thus the reason for the outrageous prices. :) I know, I am weird like that. {who investigates a pumpkin patch? oh yeah. me.}

Anyhow, moving right along. This year we visited the pumpkin patch twice. When my mom came out to visit in early October we took her to the pumpkin patch.

We took Peyton on the hayride. He was not happy. He said that the straw "pokes is bum." So he got to sit on Grandma's lap the whole way.

Kael enjoyed the ride.

They have tons of wood cutouts for the kids to look at. My mom bought the kids a little pumpkin. They had so much fun with those little pumpkins. I had no idea that tiny pumpkins could bring hours of entertainment for little ones.

When Bryan's family came to visit I took them out to the pumpkin patch. They had been hearing about this place forever from Peyton and they wanted to see it.

Peyton loves the bounce houses. They have about six of them set up for the kids to play in. Even Kael was able to enjoy them this year.

Holy Star Wars.
Luckily Mamau {aka bryan's mom} and Grandpa Ron had just bought "real" light sabers for the boys at Costco. Peyton had to bring his along to the pumpkin patch. Kael was too busy looking at the characters to turn around for any of the pictures.

Megan, Jana, and Peyton in the "Flower Patch" at the Pumpkin Patch. He he he!
{megan, jana, and mamau will enjoy that line. mamau works at a flower shop called the "flower patch" back in utah.}

Mamau bought snow cones for the kids. Of course Kael had to hold his own cup. You can imagine how that one ended up.
Good times.

A Preschool Halloween...

Peyton's preschool put on a little Halloween program for the parents! It was so cute. I am sad because I had a couple videos to post on here and they won't post. Their songs were so cute!

Here is Peyton with his preschool friends. He was so interested in his little friend Troy who was dressed up as a ghost. {he is the little boy on the right of the picture dressed in all white} He kept looking at me and saying, "Look Mom, Troy is a ghost!" It was so cute!

He had a fun little Halloween party after the program! They got to eat pizza and decorate cookies and go trick-or-treating to each other. He also got to have his face painted, he decided to go with the ghost {a little shout out to his friend troy i suppose}. :)

I can't believe I have a child old enough to put on school programs.
Life happens fast.
:)

Halloweening......

We had a lot of Halloween festivities this year! Our ward didn't do a Trunk-or-Treat so we crashed my friend's ward's Trunk-or-Treat.

The evening of course had to start off with DRAMA. Peyton wanted to be Spiderman instead of Darth Vader. He has literally been waiting to be Darth Vader for two months! And of course, at the last minute he wanted to change his costume.

Seriously? Well it didn't matter what he wanted because I couldn't find all of the pieces to his Spiderman costume so he was stuck with Darth Vader. As soon as he saw his friends though, he changed his attitude!

Our fun little Halloween friends.
We have Bric {the pirate on the left}, Broc {the taller pirate with awesome cowboy boots on}, Peyton {finally a happy darth vader}, and Kael {little yoda...with a binkie}.

Nursery buddies.
Peyton, Tristan, and Broc...and then Kael wishing he could be one of the big boys.

Yoda and Darth.

Sorry for the double picture, but here is our family on Halloween!

My friend Jill and her cute baby Rhett {p.s. he is the best baby ever}. Jill is moving in 5 weeks and I am so sad! Her husband Joel is graduating from Parker in December. Lucky.

Ever seen a REALLY ticked off Yoda? Here he is!
And yet another meltdown. The night wouldn't be complete without both of them melting down over something at some point. :) I think he was mad because Peyton got to get out of his carseat and help Dad pump the gas. It's sad when you get left out.

Ahh! The binkie. Isn't it funny how a little binkie can solve all the world's problems?
Peace once again. :)

On the actual holiday, we went trick-or-treating with some of our chiropractic friends.
We went with the Gibbs, Austins, and the Brimhalls.

On the top row we have Ashlyn, Teegan, and Bric.
In the middle we have Kael, Peyton, Bric, and Camdon.
And the sweet babies, Rhett and Corbin. {i love that they are checking each other out!}
What a sweet Halloween bunch!

Our Halloween crew.
We went to a neighborhood in Coppell where all the houses are close together {for easy trick-or-treating}. It was perfect.

Broc and Peyton loved running from house to house. Kael didn't really have a clue what was going on....but that's okay. Every time he got a new piece of candy he wanted to eat it. The suckers were especially fun, he would drop them {of course} and they would land inside his sleeve and stick to it. He was so ticked when it disappeared!
Peyton took the creative liberty and deemed his costume as "Darth Vader-Batman" He wanted to be Batman last minute and was not happy when I told him that we don't even have a Batman costume. So he decided that he could be Darth Vader and Batman. All righty then. He just ignored all of the puzzled looks that people gave him after he told them that he was "Darth Vader-Batman". Ha ha!

We only had a few minor mishaps...Kael darted into the road 3 times and only almost got hit by a car once {my heart almost stopped. naturally. luckily bryan saved him}, he only tripped twice, and almost ran smack dab into a light pole {he's our clumsy one, but we love him!}. Peyton only tripped once and spilled all his candy. A special thanks to Joel who probably picked up our children's candy buckets and candy about 32 times last night, {for some reason they were hard to hold onto} thanks Joel!
All in all it was a success and Peyton cried when we told him it was time to go home. But then he and Broc found a frog hopping on someones grass and happily followed it until it hopped into the bushes {there are so many little creatures here in texas}.
It was a great night!