october 12, 2012

This year's annual trip to the pumpkin patch was probably our best one yet.  We went on a Monday night so it wasn't too busy and the weather was beautiful.

Cannon's horse was named Charlie and Charlie's horse was named Snowball.  They thought that was so cool.

Charlie got picked to cheer on one of the pigs in the pig races and his pig won.  

We enjoyed the world's largest corndogs for dinner.

Then we finished off the night picking out the most perfect pumpkins.

july 4, 2012

Once again, we kept it pretty low key for the fourth this year.  We contemplated fighting the crowds and heading out to one of the big shows, but in the end decided to skip it.  Cannon was getting over a cold and we didn't know if he would make it through the evening anyway.

Jon has been in town for the week and he prepared a delicious dinner for us, tri-tip steak with parmesan asparagus.  Then the guys headed to a local stand and picked up a few fireworks.  They got the boys the typical tanks, snap-its and sparklers.

We noticed the neighbor was putting their fireworks on a ladder and they looked so much better, so we copied them.  All we could find was this step stool, but it worked.

Obviously, I do not know how to take fireworks photos.

Feeling grateful that we are once again close to family to celebrate the holidays with, even when they are kept small and simple. 

june 18, 2012

Father's Day weekend was pretty much perfect.  It was busy and sometimes crazy, but it was full of the best kind of activity: time together.

We kicked off the weekend with the Meridian Dairy Days parade. (and I only took one picture!)

This was Cannon's first parade.  He seemed a little confused at first, but once we told him they were going to be throwing candy out, he was all over it.  As usual, the boys bickered their fair share and they got upset when the candy distribution wasn't even, but overall, we had a great time.   The music, horses and candy were the highlights of the evening.

We did some things around the house on Saturday and went to dinner at Famous Dave's, Eric's choice of course.

On Father's Day we headed to Eagle Island for some fun in the sun.  The adults hung out on the beach area while the boys played in the water and sand.

The guys tried to do a little fishing, but there were too many people around so it wasn't the best conditions.

Charlie wasn't as into playing in the water as much as he was into "relaxing".  He does NOT like to be splashed on so he would freak out a little when the rambunctious kids got too close.  He was perfectly content chilling out on this float tube.

On Monday we took the boys to the zoo.  We got there right after they opened and it was perfect because it was not very busy and the weather was awesome.

Charlie in the same spot 4 years ago, July 2008.

Awe, he looks so young.  Mr. Charlie just keeps growing up on us!

It really was a great weekend.  Now that I am working I find that I am appreciating these times even more than before.  I am happy for the reminder that we are so very blessed.

february 15, 2012

Nothing says love on Valentine's Day like a membership to the Bacon of the Month Club. 

february 14, 2012

Valentine's Day was a bittersweet day for our family this year.  We don't know for sure which day Priscilla passed away, but from the few clues we have we are pretty sure it was on Valentines' Day.  The day snuck up on us as we had been so busy with the move and everything else going on, but it definitely hit hard that morning.  Eric hasn't sent me flowers very often in our marriage (at my request) but when they arrived at my office, my heart smiled and was broken at the same time.  And then I cried and I think all of my coworkers thought I was a little crazy. 

Last year, a few days before Valentine's Day, I told Eric that I thought we should send his mom some flowers.  She was a few weeks out from surgery and she was healing well from her hip replacement, and I thought it would be a nice surprise, especially because she loved flowers.  She received them on Friday the 11th.  She called both Eric and I that day to tell us that they were beautiful.  It was the last time that either of us talked to her.  I remember the night that we found out she was gone, we laid in bed crying and I kept thinking about how I was so grateful that I had gotten to talk to her one last time and that she was happy.  I was so grateful to God that he prompted me to send those flowers because I know for sure that it was all in his timing.

Eric told me that even though Valentine's Day will always be the day he lost his mom, it will also be the day that he can thank his wife for making his mom feel special before she died.  (see why I was crying at work? Thanks a lot Eric!)  Instead of telling Eric not to waste money on flowers, I will now gladly accept them. Because even though I think of her every single day, the flowers are a nice reminder of her - her beauty, her generosity, her love. 

We love and miss you Grandma P.

february 13, 2012

Now we are officially ready for Valentine's Day.  Yum!

january 2, 2012

Celebrating the new year with dinner out at the Texas Roadhouse.  The boys love any place that you get to throw your peanut shells on to the ground and country line dance with the wait staff.

december in a nutshell

The last few weeks have been a little more crazy than I had expected.  A few days after my last post we found out that my grandma had passed away.  On the same day that my dad had his thyroid removal surgery.  It was such a terrible thing to have to tell my dad that his mom had died while he was in the recovery room.  I traveled with my mom and dad to California for the funeral while Eric held down the fort at home with the boys. 

Cannon also got ear tubes put in on the 8th.  He had been on very strong antibiotics for a while and his ear infections still kept returning.  He did really great.  Luckily, we knew what to expect since Charlie had tubes too and it all went as expected.  Cannon is also doing really good with potty training.  He still has some trouble with going number two on the potty, but overall he has it down.

I was so relieved that I had so much of my holiday preparation done early this year so I didn't have to stress too much while I was gone.  Eric kept up with Teeny the elf and the advent calendar activities.

So here's our December in a nutshell:

We made snowflakes.

  
......and salt dough ornaments.

We decorated gingerbread houses.

We said goodbye to Grandma's house for the last time.

We did some holiday baking.

The boys met Teeny the elf.

And we inherited my mom's ceramic christmas tree from 1976.

It has been one heck of a month.  I am not ashamed to say that the Christmas tree and all decorations were taken down and put away yesterday.  It was great while it lasted, but it feels so good when it's over too!