{Gingerbread Train}

Isaac told me that he really wanted to make a gingerbread house this year. I kept trying to avoid the subject because I knew that I would get stuck doing it with Isaac observing and telling me where to put stuff. SO, I surprised even myself when I walked into Harmons for garlic, noticed this gingerbread train kit and bought it. I'm a sucker. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for the fact that it's a train! My little Isaac is obsessed with trains. I can't even tell you how thrilled he was when he saw it and knew that we would be putting it together. Needless to say, I ended up putting it together while Isaac told me where to put stuff. He wanted it to look EXACTLY like the picture on the box. No pressure, right? I think it turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Isaac wanted to take the train to bed with him and was devastated when I told him he couldn't. Silly boy!

{Programs and Parties}

On December 11th we had a very busy day. Isaac had his Preschool Christmas program that morning at 10:15am. It was so cute! We were sitting up in the balcony and the lighting wasn't great, so all of my pictures of the performance turned out pretty dark. It was great, though, and Isaac said his part very well.

Later that afternoon I took the boys downtown to the FBI office for their children's Christmas party. Juan had invited us and we were happy to find out that my Cherolyn and the girls were there, too. Isaac had fun eating jello and brownies, sitting on Santa's lap and making a cute little train out of candy. Both boys got some cars and cute little toys from Santa, although Eli was terrified of him.

Next was our ward Christmas party a few hours after the FBI party. They had a great meal and Santa came to visit AGAIN! Isaac was beyond thrilled. David came home in the middle of the party and since he wasn't planning to go, he picked up Eli from me so Isaac and I had a little quality time together. It was a VERY busy, yet fun day.

Isaac at the preschool program.

Isaac on Santa's lap at the ward party.

Santa entering the party--the kids went wild!

Isaac's car from Santa

Eli and his truck

Isaac and Santa at the FBI party.

Here are the cookies that Isaac decorated

And the little train he made from snickers, peanut butter cups, gum drops and m&m's.

Isaac stuffing jello in his mouth

{Biggest Fan}

I thought this was too cute to not share. While watching the BYU vs Utah game the boys and I put the tree up. I kept yelling and cheering during the game and it would surprise Eli, but the second I smiled or cheered he would get the happiest little look on his face and he would clap for me (yep, he's wearing an adorable BYU shirt). He was obsessed with this little step-stool the whole day. He kept climbing on it just to sit and be proud of himself, then he would get down. What a silly guy.

{Happy Belated Thanksgiving}

We had a nice time on Thanksgiving. We went to Grandma Names' house first and ate a delicious meal! I have to admit that I look forward to Jerilyn's cooking every year for the holidays--she's a great cook, and there is something about the Names Thanksgiving dinner recipes. Mmmmm. Anyway, we ate and visited and lost track of time...as usual. We had to rush home to put Eli down for a short nap while I cut up vegetables for my food assignment to take to the Jefferies dinner.

The Jefferies dinner was held at my aunt Sherrie and her boyfriend Mike's home in Highland. It is a gorgeous home--not kid proof at all, but beautiful! The food was great! Eli loved playing with his little cousin, Beau, who is only 6 months younger than him. He had fun going up and down and up and down the stairs, and he loved his first taste of candied yams. Isaac had a blast playing with his cousins and watching Ice Age in one of the spare rooms. It was a great day.

Eli 'helping' Beau. He was rocking him in the carseat and then he would stick his head really close to Beau's and smile. Beau was just fascinated with Eli.

Grandma Rondi with Beau and Eli. SOOOOOO cute!

Isaac and Grandpa Brad

Grandma Rondi and Isaac.

{Pumpkins}

This year we carved only two pumpkins. We haven't been able to convince Isaac to carve his own. He thinks it disgusting and doesn't want to touch or smell the inside of the pumpkin. Well, even if he won't do his own he still dictates to us what he wants the pumpkins to look like. The ginormous pumpkin in the picture was grown by David's dad in his garden. It was pretty awesome. It was perfect for having David carve Alvin's face from Alvin and the Chipmunks. I didn't have very good lighting for the first picture. The other pumpkin was Eli's, but Isaac wanted me to carve it to look like the face on the plastic pumpkin we have our Halloween candy in to give to the trick-or-treaters.

{I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home...}

I think one of the cutest things Eli does is demand that David hold him immediately after walking in the door from work each day. Eli just stands there and squeals until David picks him up and holds him for a while. Sometimes that isn't enough, and Eli follows him around the house until he can get just a little more daddy-time. On the day I took these pictures David had already held Eli for a bit and was trying to eat his dinner. I guess Eli thought that David needed a little help. Aren't his tiny legs the cutest? I love this boy!

{Finally, Halloween}

I know, I know...I'm getting behind on my posts, again. UGH! On October 30th Isaac's preschool had a little costume parade. It was fun to see all of the cute kids marching around, totally confused. Isaac decided he wanted to be a Knight this year because Eli was a dragon. Cute, huh? Next year he said he wants to be a Daddy Truck Driver, aka a UPS Driver. Hopefully we will be able to find a costume for him, or maybe we will just have one made. Anyway, Isaac loved Halloween this year!

{Cutest Boys in the World}

I might be biased, but I think I have the two most adorable boys in the world! I had my very talented cousin, Lindsey, take some photos of the boys a few months ago. It took me FOREVER to pick my favorites to order because I loved so many of them. I had been so worried about having Eli's picture taken because he is a little on the serious side and I wanted smiles. He had started teething the day before, was drooling everywhere, had little red cheeks and a fever. But, we got to Wheeler Farm, sat him on the grass and he was all smiles. It was Isaac who ended up being the challenge. He kept running off and making goofy faces--the little stinker. Here are my favorites of the day. Thanks, Lindsey!

Photo credit to Green Apple Photography...

{My Special Day}

On October 24, 2009 I received my endowments at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan, Utah. It has been a long time coming, and I am so happy that I finally did it! It was an incredible experience, and I have never felt so happy and peaceful in my entire life. I can't wait to go back! Tomorrow evening I will be going with part of my family to the Jordan River Temple to attend a session while my little brother, Caleb, receives his endowments in preparation for his mission. He has been called to the Argentina, Buenos Aires North Mission and will be leaving on January 6th. My other little brother, Zach, will be returning from his mission in Mexico on January 13th. I am so proud of them.

Thanks to all who shared in my special day--it means the world to me that you were there. The picture below is of some of my family after the session. I feel bad that I didn't get pictures with everyone who came for me, but many of them left right after the session ended. Thanks to BreeAnn for providing the camera--I can't believe I didn't take mine!

In this picture, from left to right...Branigan, Julie, Brad, Rondi, me, Grandma Brown (my mom's mom), Sharlene (my mom's sister), Grandma McDermott (Rondi's mom), Rachelle (Rondi's sister), and my cousin, BreeAnn. Love you, guys!

{Tunnel Time}

I thought I'd share this video of the boys that I shot when they were playing in the pop-up tunnel back in October. I wanted to post this on the "Tunnel" post a few days ago, but I couldn't figure it out. Isaac is loud (as usual) on this video, but Eli was having so much fun and Isaac's giggle is the BEST!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

{Fire Station}

A few weeks ago I took Isaac and Eli on a playdate to a Fire Station here in Riverton. We went with several ladies from our ward and their kids. It was very cool. First, we were taught about what to do in an emergency and what to do if your house is on fire. Then, it was time to see the fire truck! Isaac was so excited! He got to go inside the fire truck, and see all of the buttons. They even turned the siren on! It was so loud--of course Isaac had his ears plugged. Silly boy!Then, all of the kids were given little fireman hats. Too, cute! Little Eli was a good little guy, checking everything out from the comfort of his stroller, drink in hand. It was a fun day.

Isaac 'chillin' on the ambulance bumper.

In front of the fire truck.

Isaac inside the fire truck.

Isaac with the firemen.

Eli looking up at me from his stroller.

Eli with his drink--enjoying watching all of the other kids.

{Tunnel}

Isaac has the coolest pop-up tunnels. He found them last month and decided that it was time to introduce Eli to the joy of crawling through tunnels. So, Isaac brought them out and I untied them and WHOOSH--they opened. I saw Eli's eyes get really wide and a huge smile land on his face. He was thrilled! At first he didn't quite know what he was supposed to do, but after watching Isaac go into them, he followed right behind. He loved every minute of it, and I loved every minute of watching my precious boys play together and love each other.

{Go, Cougars!}

It's that time of year again--well, it has been that time of year again since the beginning of September, but who is keeping track? I know that I am behind, and it's killing me to know that I am over a MONTH behind. Yikes! So, David's dad has season tickets again this year to the BYU home games. Isaac has been so excited to be able to go with them. It is his special time with David while Eli and I stay home. I bought him a cute BYU shirt that is two sizes too big--hoping that it will last more than one season this time! He looks so cute and even though he doesn't really understand what is going on, he LOVES it. And so do I.

I love this picture of David and Isaac at Lavell Edwards Stadium.

Funny how Isaac posed for a picture with Lavell Edwards without his knowing...cute!

Isaac with his sign in front of the cannon that he HAD to see after the game. I'm pretty sure it's his favorite part of going to the games--hearing the cannon after each touchdown.


Messing around with the cannon.

{Making a Splash!}

HOLY COW! I can't believe I am so behind on my blogging! So much for the new computer helping out with my procrastination...UGH!

It dawned on my this morning that I hadn't posted anything about Isaac's birthday party at Cowabunga Bay on August 22nd. We had to keep pushing the date back because of the rain, but this turned out to be a great day to go. This post in going to show what a lousy mom I can be--at least in the picture-taking department. It was Isaac's party, but I only took ONE picture of him, and it was a bad one! I got several picures of Eli, however. I guess that's good. But, I didn't even take a picture of the private cabana we were in, the balloons and birthday crown that Isaac was given, or the yummy pizza, drinks and ice cream sundaes we consumed. **SIGH** We had a great time, though! Here are a few of the pictures I did take...

Grandpa Brad and Eli. Eli loved the water. He went around the lazy river with Grandpa tons of times and he didn't want to get out!

This is David and Isaac (the only picture I took of him that day).

Grandpa Brad, Eli, Dolly, Jonathan and Dylan all in the lazy river.


David and Eli going down a kids slide. David was trying to block the water from going in Eli's mouth.

I can't tell by that expression if Eli liked it or not, but David sure did! Hee, hee!