Happy Birthday Braden!!!

Brady Boy is 11!!!!

Braden had a wonderful day, he stayed home from school and mom took him to see a movie! He got to go out to dinner with just mom and dad (he chose Tepenyaki) We enjoyed cake and ice cream with Grandma and pa Farr and Uncle Spencer. Please don't look too close to the disaster of a cake I made. Thankfully nobody cared, it still tasted great. As Tyson said when we were eating, "it is a good example of not judging a book by it's cover"

I can't believe it! He is growing up and maturing so fast. He is still our funny, laid back guy, who loves to play video games and veg in front of the tv. He also loves to beat up his dad and wrestle. He LOVES his babies and is always willing to do things for or with them, except change a poopie:) Braden plays basketball, flag football, and baseball, with a desire to try almost any sport. He continues to play the piano, though we are in between teachers at the moment. Braden wants to be a teacher when he grows up, and we think he will make a great one!! He has surprised us more than once this past year with his deep thinking. The other day he was talking to us about evolution and how he thought man did not evolve from apes, God created us. He continues to have a LOT of energy and likes to make people laugh. He is very social, sometimes too much for his teachers sake:) Braden is a joy in our home and we love him very much!!! Happy Birthday "sweep lips"

The birthday present....a new bike. Now that we don't have buses, he wanted some new wheels to ride back and forth from school.

Trouble

How could this sweet, innocent boy cause so much trouble? We all know the many messes that an 18 month old can cause. Well my sweet little boy does enough for himself and his sister!

Emptying the tissue box from the nightstand. Every time they watch tv in mom and dad's room, Justin has to climb on the table and destroy all that is on there. He loves to change the time on the clock and a few times has scared himself by turning on the radio with the sound all the way up!

Caught in the act...climbing onto the kitchen table to throw all the balls off!

The other morning I returned home from my run to find him on top of the table throwing all the crayons out of the crayon bucket. Jessica was coloring the tile floor. Spring needs to come so he can climb and explore outside...He is ALL boy!!

Who Needs Toys!

What do we do with these long, cold days inside you ask?? Well, we find whatever we can to entertain us. Today mom was doing laundry and we found that pushing the empty baskets around the house was quite fun! We would go down the hall, turn around, and come back to the kitchen. I, Justin, figured out this fun thing first and then Sissy copied me...Just had to put that out there since everyone thinks that I copy everything she does. This activity entertained us for quite awhile which made my mommy smile:)

Merry Merry Christmas!

All dressed up for Christmas Eve!

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior and give gifts to those we love. This year we held our Christmas eve dinner at our house and Grandma and pa Farr, Spencer, Panter family, and Hooton family joined us.

Kate, Julie, Grandma, and Jessica!

Grandpa with Kate, Braden, and Nathan!

CHRISTMAS MORNING

The kids woke up around 7 in the morn and we all went down to see the spoils...and spoiled they got! The boys recieved great gifts from Santa, Grammie and Grandpa Wardle, Grandma and Grandpa Farr, cousins, and eachother. Every year we draw names among ourselves and along with getting a gift for that person, with your own money, we write them a blessing. We tell them what we like, admire and love about them. It is the best gift we get I believe. We also open as our first gift a box we have out during December in which we write the things we are thankful for. We read all of those notes before we move on to opening all the presents. This year after all was done, we got on Skype and called Noni and Popi. It was then that we opened our gift from them...a 7 day trip to Maui! The boys are so excited and bummed they have to wait until July. They have already been planning what they are going to do and how much money they need to start saving. We are so excited!!!

Jessica showing off her new "pretties" from dad...yay we don't have to use the old soccer ribbon anymore!!

Happy Justin boy...as always!

Nathan with his snuggie from cousin Brooke in CA!

Tyson showin off his new shirt!

Braden showin off his book and money....he LOVES money:)

Justin amid the treasures...love the animal cracker in his mouth!

In the afternoon we ventured to Grandma and Grandpa Farrs to be with the family! We had a wonderful time as always!! We missed Ryan and his kids this year but other than that we were all together.

Wells with Kate, Julie, Jaxson and Lauren!

Brooke and Jeff with baby Jessica!

This year at Grandma and Grandpas we had a talent show. It was so fun to watch everyone "do their thing" I wish I could post video so you could see it all but you will have to just take my word for it. Beautiful Ashlee taught Marci some new dance moves!

Tyson, Braden, Nathan, and I sang a couple of songs while Ty played the guitar. Braden and Grandma played a duet on the piano. The Panter girls, including Julie, sang a cute hot chocolate song. Marci and Wade did a funny skit with Wade being Marci's hands and arms and feeding her cereal...it was very funny!! A wonderful Christmas day!

Christmas Time is Here!!

December is always such a full month with Christmas prep, programs, and all the fun things to do around the town. We add to that a couple of family birthdays which we love to celebrate! Early in the month Grandma Farr has a birthday. We got to celebrate with her this year! It is always nice to spend time with family, the babies are just eaten up by the cousins and Aunts and Uncles. We have a cute nephew Wells that is 6 weeks older then the babes and it is very entertaining to just watch those three interact.

Here is Lauren with Wells and Kate with Jessica!!

5 days later is Tyson's bday, which I already posted about, but here are some pics from his celebration. Grandma and pa Farr came and also our cute nieces Lauren and Kate...they are the best baby helpers and so fun to be with. I wish they lived closer so they could just to come hang out more often:)

This month we also had a small recital in our home with Grandma and Grandpa Farr and Uncle Spencer. Braden played the piano and Tyson the guitar. It is great for them to work towards something and be able to preform for other people. I love how often we get to see our family during this time of year. It is always hard for me to not be able to be with my side so I am grateful that we live so close to Jaron's family so we can make memories with them!

Tyson's Bday!

It is official, we have a teenager in the house. Tyson turned 13 on Friday...yikes. He is all teenager, even giving his mother grey hairs and all:) Tyson is liking 7th grade, but is having a hard time keeping everything for 7 teachers together. I have had to step in and help him out. He is learning organization skills and the hard life lesson of, you just gotta do some things no matter how hard they are or how much you don't want to:) Tyson is still a great help at home and always kicks in if Dad is away. In fact the other day Jessica said tyty, that sure made his day. He enjoys hanging with his friends and texting them. He enjoys a good game of ping pong and is better than I am. He did beat his dad the other night, dad plays with his left hand. Tyson continues to like the guitar and anything music related. He often hears a song he likes and looks up on you tube how to play it on guitar or piano or both. He has started basketball again this winter and is a great ball handler. He also excels at being a soccer defender. This year was a quiet family party. He had a pretty bummer actual birthday - thank you to grammie for making it a little brighter! Dad was out of town so our family celebration occurred on Sat. However Sat. was a wonderful day for him...two days of celebration you can't beat:) We love you Tyson and are thankful that you are such a good example to your younger siblings. We hope you can find the bright spots in your day everyday!!

Fun in the Fall

What better thing to do in fall then to play in the leaves. This week has been a wonderful and mild one. So we took advantage before the storm arrives tomorrow, to get out to the park. Let the leaf throwing begin...

And I had to get in on the action too

Of course there was the park as well that we all got to play on...

Poor Ty took a spill on his skateboard and skinned up his hands pretty bad, so was left out of the leaf party.

Oh how they LOVE swings