Feeling ready and thankful for Christmas (sigh)

Today was a big day for the boys and I. I started feeling a little panicked realizing that "our Christmas" was coming soon. We are flying out to Virginia on Tuesday to spend Christmas with Tommy's family, so we will be doing our own celebrating on Sunday night. Tommy is leaving tomorrow for the Las Vegas bowl (Merry Christmas to him) and will be returning Sunday afternoon. That only left me with today and tomorrow to "wrap" up all of my shopping. Not really wanting to go out on crazy Saturday, I was out the door this morning by 9 and home at 11. I have everything from gifts to wrapping paper so it was a very successful trip. Keep in mind that Weston was strapped to me in the baby bjorn, and Ashton rode in the carts. They were extremely good boys. Santa will definitely be visiting them.

It feels good to be done with all of the whirlwind shopping. I am truly grateful for this time of year. I am thankful for the real meanings of Christmas and the love that our Savior has for us. Merry Christmas, Love The Bells

Christmas crafts

Ashton and I had a fun time doing some coloring and crafts this morning. Weston was content in his chair, so I printed out some coloring pages and let Ashton go at it. We also made some snowflakes, and yes I let him use scissors. Don't worry though they were not sharp and they barely cut paper. He had a blast with the scissors and loved to cut. We had some Christmas music on and one of the chipmunk started playing. It was funny to see him start nodding his head to the beat.

Ok, I did it

I walked downstairs to put something in the storage room, and I saw them. All of our Christmas decorations begging me to please put them up. I thought ok, maybe just some figurines, garland and the nativity. But it turned into a full on Christmas decorating party. So what if it was just me, Ashton and Weston. We turned on some music and decorated away.
We are going to visit Tommys family over Christmas, and I was set on not putting up anything this year. For one I didn't know how I was going to chase a 21 month old away from the tree and ornaments while taking care of a 4 month old, and for two why put it up if we weren't going to be here to enjoy it? Well Ashton has proven me wrong and is doing great with just "looking and not touching" the tree, and I guess we can enjoy it for the next 12 days while we are here.
Tommy was pleasently surprised when he got home from work to see all that we had done. Our house looks great and I'm glad I did it. The kids love all the sparkles and lights and it's fun to see the "magic" in there eyes.

2 peas in a pod

Ashton loves playing with Weston, but I never thought that I would find him inside of the bouncy chair with him. I walked away for 2 seconds, and found these two little guys giggling and smiling together in the chair (yes all 4 of their legs are through the holes and everything). I grabbed the camera as quick as I could and was happy to capture my boys being ummm, boys :)

just 4 fun

Holding his new Cars and Go Diego Go underwear

Being silly

Reading some stories to pass the time

Yay! I did it!

We decided to kind of get into the swing of potty training. We are going on vacation over Christmas, so the serious efforts will be postponed until after we get back. We bought Ashton a "big boy" potty and underwear this weekend. I am pleased to report he is doing exceptionally well! He is so smart and gets so excited when he goes in the potty.

Our little guy is growing up so quickly. At 4 months old he weighs 16.5 lbs, and is 27 inches long! He can roll from side to side, giggle, coo, grasp everything, and has the best temperment ever. He has been so much fun, and we love watching him grow. What a sweet boy!

Thanksgiving

Wow! What a fun Thanksgiving week. We left for my parents house on Friday so that Tommy could go to the Utah/BYU game on Saturday and I was able to visit with my extended family in Lehi. Then we spent the next week just being with family and relaxing. On Thursday we enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner. Tommy's brother Jeff was able to come up from Provo and spend a few days with us also. Friday was my Moms birthday so we headed to Utah for a Cheesecake Factory dinner. Saturday was the Christmas party on my Moms side ( yes it was early, but it worked because everyone was already together for Thanksgiving). Ashton had so much fun playing with cousins, and it was fun showing off Weston to everyone. After the party we headed back to Wyoming and celebrated my Moms birthday and enjoyed watching some movies. Sunday we tried to get home, but were'nt able. Monday we tried again and thankfully the roads and weather were great.
We are so thankful for family and friends-especially this time of year. Happy Holidays!

The girlies in my fam

Crazy pic

Tommy, Jeff and Weston

Preparing for dinner

The dinner spread

My mom and Weston

Kisses from brother Ashton

Jameson making a crazy face

Weston checking out the Christmas tree

My dad taking pictures of himself

Ashton playing at the Christmas party

Ashtons silly face on the drive home

And here is what we paid for gas :)