Birthday Boy

12.29.10
Greyson's first birthday!

After dinner we sang happy birthday to him.
He wasn't sure what was going on.
We helped him blow out his candle and then he did the rest.


He didn't really eat much of the cake.
He just played with it.
Then he ended up looking like this....



Greyson at ONE....
you wave bye-bye.
you don't really say any words yet. you just make the noises. (uh-oh, bye, yeah, nite-nite)
you cry when dad has to leave for work.
you are walking all over the place. you have good balance and can almost stand up in the middle of the floor without holding on.
you are strong. you push all kinds of things around the house. you really like to push around the kitchen chairs or the ottoman.
you pinch and pull hair. sometimes you think it is funny. but we don't!
you really do not know what the word "no" means.
you are fast and get into everyting.
i can't load the dishwasher when you are around. you stand on the door when it is open & try to take everything out of the top shelf.
you love your brothers. you really like carson. you light up when he gives you attention.
you know when we pull up to grandma and grandpa duke's house. you know where we are and you want to get out.
you are starting to climb.
you are very interested in stairs.
you are loud and scream. (we are in the hall a lot at church.)
you are always going to be our bubba.
we love you!!

Christmas with the Santiago family

This year we had our Christmas dinner at the church with the Santiago family.
Lots of aunts, uncles & cousins came.
It was really nice to see everyone. Plus we had lots of good food and yummy treats.
All the kids had fun playing in the gym all to themselves. Lots of running, soccer and basketball!

Chris and his family were able to come done this year too.
The girls are getting so big. And they are beautiful!!

And we got to meet Sam for the first time! He sure is a smiley little guy.

Christmas morning

Greyson in his cozy coupe car. He loves it! And he knows that it belongs to him.

Crew on his "motorcycle bike".

Carson got a paper jams guitar and amp from santa.

Tanner with his air soft pistol and target.

After we opened our gifts and took a little nap, we went over to dad & mom's for some breakfast.

We did our gift exchange and then went to play kickball.

It was fun....even though I only got to kick one time. Then the rest of the time I was pushing kids on the swing and going down the slide at the park. But I did get to watch the rest of the game. Everyone played good and we even had some muddy clothes and tears on our way home. (that's another story!)

Gingerbread houses

We had our 2nd annual gingerbread decorating party.
The kids had a blast. I think they just like when we all get together.
They have so much fun just playing with the cousins.
It doesn't matter what is planned.

Cherine was able to come over with us since they were in town for Christmas.
I think her kids were a little overwhelmed by all of us.


I think more candy was eaten out of the bowls then on the houses!
But that is the best part!

Where does the time go? And why do I always forget my camera?
These are some things we have been up to:

* Pie baking with grandma. She made cute aprons for all of them.
* Thanksgiving. 2 dinners. both yummy.
* Black friday shopping. Always a blast. I went out at 10pm this year. Came home and slept for a couple hours and then got back up to hit a couple more stores.
* Decorated great grandma's house for christmas with the kids.
* Decorated our house. Bought a 3ft tree this year instead of setting up the big one. I didn't feel like dealing with Greyson and the tree. Everything is up high this year. Even all my nativities. :)
* My computer crashed. Have another ordered and now just waiting for it's arrival.
* Cleaning our house and getting ready for our christmas guests.
* Both Tanner and Carson received awards for A/B honor roll. We celebrated at U-swirl.
* Had family pictures taken and a christmas card is ordered. Wasn't sure if it was going to happen this year. Thanks Heather!
* Ward Christmas party. Crew finally got to tell Santa what he wants for christmas. (a motorcycle bike.)

Crew's birthday

11.16.10
Crew turned 4!
We were in the middle of craft show preparations.
Jen was over. We watched him open his gift.
Then he wanted to go get the boys from school all day.
He wanted to show them his presents.

He requested brownies instead of cake.
We sang happy birthday to him. He was so cute.

Then one week later....11.23.10 we had a friend party.
It was a pretty easy party.
A total of 6 kids.

Sam. Talan. Claire. Scott. and Jessica

Chicken nuggets, cheese puffs and kool-aid for lunch.
Brownies again. This time with frosting and sprinkles.


We played with homemade playdoh, played hot potato and simon says.
He told me later that his party was "awesome."

Happy Birthday Crew!

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland on Monday 11-1-10. We were there for 10 hours. The boys had a blast. We learned a few things:
1. Crew is not afraid of anything. He rode all the rides. And loved them.
2. It will be a lot easier when we go next time. When Greyson is older. (probably around Crew's age now) It was hard for him to be strapped in the stroller and to be held for so long. He just really wanted to get down and crawl around.
3. We went at the perfect time. Not one line was longer then a 30 minute wait. It was great.
4. It is expensive to go to Disney with 4 kids. It cost us $17.50 for all of us to get a churro!
5. Take more pictures next time!

10.29.10

Greyson. 10 months.
Brian came home from work today and said that he looked bigger today.
He said he looks like a 10 month old. ha!

* Daddy calls you T-rex.
* You yell and pinch. Oh and you like to pull hair. Even people we don't know.
* You hate when Crew tells you "NO-NO". You start crying.
* You fight us when we put you in your highchair.
* You are not a very good sleeper anymore.
* You are not very interested in babyfood anymore. You want what we have.
* We get lots of comments when we are out and about with you.
* What would we do without you? We love our bubba!

I had to smile when I came around the corner and saw this on the boys chore charts.
We are on the road to Disneyland right after church.

This last week and weekend......

* We carved our pumpkin. We only got one this year. Why do my boys get grossed out when they have to clean out the pumpkin? Don't boys like gross stuff like that? They even hate the smell. Go figure.

* Got on the floor and wrestled with this big baby! He loves it!


* Met Candace & the girls at the park.

* Went to see great grandma. Then were off to our 2nd trunk or treat. The boys scored on candy.

* We also helped clean the church and then our house, voted, went visiting teaching, and packed for our trip.

A few weeks ago Tanner was able to go with the scouts to the new bridge at Hoover Dam. I sent him with my camera. He got some nice pictures of the Dam and the kids on the bus. But none of the bridge. He came home with some treasures. He got a viewfinder and a blue water bottle (that he wanted to sell on ebay!)
He had such a good time and was really happy that he went. He had lots to tell us when he got home. We are going to have to take a family field trip out there one of these days.

These things I know.....

* Crew likes to dip his chicken nuggets in ketchup. But I always ask him because I think it is cute how he says "tetchup".

* I know that one day I will miss this baby grabbing my keyboard and everything on my desk. But I am not very fond of it right now!



* My boys say some funny things. I ordered a book. Especially for that. My goal: keep the book out -- and write in it!

* We have trip to Disneyland planned. We have not been since Carson was little. (I don't even think he remembers) I get so excited thinking about it. I know we are going to have a blast.

* Homework has always been my enemy. And I think it always will be!

* Carson has $27 birthday money burning a hole in his pocket. He wants to go to walmart.

10.17.10 Carson's 7th Birthday

We celebrated Carson's birthday on Saturday.
His request: How to train your dragon and GI Joe party.
We ended up just doing How to train your dragon.
Here were his invites:

I found the cute viking hat at the party store.
Here is all the guests playing viking says on the trampoline.


Actually I don't think that was all of them.
There were a lot of kids!!
Here are the rest of the pictures from the party.

I love this kid!
You are sure to laugh when he is around.
I am looking forward to many more laughs with him!
Happy Birthday Carson!

Things that made me smile this weekend

* Greyson grunting and wanting to go outside because he knew daddy and big boys were out there.

* Seeing Kim. Also my boys standing in the driveway watching Alex open the truck door for Kim when they were leaving. I loved that! :)

* The sticky note reminder that Tanner wrote for Brian. The boys did not want him to forget another day to get out the Halloween stuff from the attic.

* Carson's face when we saw his birthday present!

A couple of weeks ago Brian took the boys shooting.
It was a reward that Tanner was earning. But the other two boys got to go too.
He was excited when it was finally time to go.

Carson said he didn't want to go, but then at the last minute said yes he would.
Most the time he like to just stay home with me.
He is not really that into shooting like the other boys. But he still had a good time exploring and gathering treasures.



These boys are growing up so fast. It makes me happy that they enjoy being outside and doing the same things that Brian loves so much.

I have had a vision for this wall for awhile now.
It has finally come together and is done!
I love it!
I made the magnet board & the chore charts for the boys are from here.

Crew & Claire

These two are so cute together.
Crew is always asking if "Tare" can come over.
Since the kids have gone back to school they have seen a lot of each other.
We have had lots of play dates.
They have quickly become buddies.
And neither one really cares about playing with either boy toys or barbies. :)

I hope they will always be this way with each other.

He is all over the place.
Nothing is safe anymore!
He is crawling. And can go pretty fast.
We have to keep doors closed.
Like the boys bedroom. They get mad when he goes in there.
Or the laundry room. He plays in the cat's water & food dish.
And the hall bathroom. He can flush the toilet. Oh and he really likes the toilet paper!

Where did September go? I didn't blog all month. Not really sure why.
But now I am. And now for some reason I can't upload any pictures.
What am I doing wrong?
Well this is how our September went:

*Crew started preschool. 2 days a week for an hour and a half. He is really loving it. He asks everyday if he goes to school. I think it makes him feel like a big boy. He is so cute in the morning when he is getting ready for school with the big boys.

*Loving the Boutiful Baskets. Have only been able to get one so far this month. It just hasn't worked out with our busy saturdays.

*Our ward boundaries were changed and we are now in a new ward. We love it! I am primary secretary and Brian is a sunday school teacher.

*Tanner started basketball again. I can tell that he has improved from the last session.

*cub scouts, birthday parties, presidency meetings, baptisms, sunday dinners, baby who doesn't sleep, and dr appointments. Oh and an ear infection!

You know just the usual stuff. I want to be a better blogger. I promise.....I do!
Hopefully I can figure out this problem I am having cause I have some cute pictures.