Love Buckets

The first Monday of February during FHE, we introduced the "love buckets".  We filled them up with little notes to each other and by the time morning had come our buckets were overflowing.

Here are a few letters I thought were so sweet:

Dear Kendall,

You are the best brother anyone could ever have!

You make my bed for me and give me hugs.  I love you.

XOXO,

Nathan

Daddy,

I love that you really look out after me. I love you.

I could just give you 100 hugs and kisses.

Love,

Kendall

Mammy,

 You have lots of ideas of fun.

You play board games and go swimming.

You make good food like good toast.

I like your eyes cuz their just nice.

Love,

Kendall

Dear Nathan,

You make me so happy.

You make me laugh.

I love how hard you work at everything.

I love you and am so lucky that you live here.

Mammy

Dear Kendall,

You are so fun.

I love your happy face playing basketball.

Love you,

Dad

Dear Mom,

I love you and you have the best FHE.

When it is my birthday or Christmas you make it so special.

Love Kendall

XOXO

Dear Nathan,

I love you.

You play with me so often

I could just give you so many hugs.

Love,

Kendall

Ant Farm

 4 days later

Justin had ordered the ants for the ant farm and he was notified that because of the cold temperatures they were unable to ship the ants.

One cold day a surprise arrived in the mail.

It was the ants!

The boys were excited and I was grossed out that about 50 were in a tiny test tube.

We dumped them in their new home and they went to town.  It has been so fun to watch them dig their tunnels and to see how busy they are.

When Buddy would watch them he would shout, "WOW!"

1 week 4 days

Rodeo

 After getting a delicious barbecue beef sandwich, a powdered sugar dusted funnel cake, and rainbow snow cones we finally settled into our seats to watch the RODEO!

The boys were in heaven.

Mammy had never been before and our plan was to take her with us.  A few days before Justin had hurt his back and could not make it.  We tried not to have to much fun without him and face timed him as we were waiting for the show.

It was amazing!  The show was awesome and we had some stellar seats thanks to Justin's boss.  Mammy and I got hit with dirt and manure that was flung from a bull.  My purse pockets were full of it.  We were surprised it got to us but laughed non-the-less.

We loved the smell of the coliseum and loved the memory even more!

Flag Ceremony

Nathan's scout troop got to present the flag for the Chatfield / Dakota Ridge varsity basketball game.

The scouts were waiting off to the side as all the players were warming up to loud "pump-up" music.  Mammy and I could not stop laughing at Nathan because he was shocked.  He had his arms to his side with his hands in fists and his mouth was wide open.  The players looked huge to him and the gym was FULL of cheering student body.

Nathan said that during the ceremony all the boys were whispering, "Salute! Salute!"

They did great!

After, Nathan came and sat next to us.  He decided to cheer for Dakota Ridge and got really into the game. We slipped out to get some bottles of water and a bag of chips and returned to watch Dakota Ridge seal the victory.

As we were walking out I asked Nathan what he thought and he said, "I was so embarrassed!  Here we are in our scout uniforms in front of ALL the teenage cheerleaders!"

Birthday Night

We got to take mom on a date for her birthday to the temple. 

 It was an amazing experience.

Ice Sliding

 Justin took off a half day from work and we went up to Evergreen to do some ice skating.  When we got there the sixty degree weather had had caused the lake to start melting.  They had to close early but said we could slid around on the ice.

It was so pretty and warm!  We had never been on a frozen lake before so it was fun to slip and slide knowing you were above lots of water.

We watched several people ice fish and worked up an appetite for some ice cream.

We went to Dairy Queen and Kendall got a chocolate dip cone, Nathan got a banana split, and Justin got a chocolate covered cherries blizzard.  I was lucky to get a taste of each.

We can't wait to go back and try ice skating!

Sleeping Bags

This is my view each night as I pass their room.

Flashlights and a good book tucked into snugly sleeping bags.

Face Paint

The boys are putting their Christmas gifts to good use this year and keeping themselves entertained, (after I paint up their face) .

A tiger and a skeleton can only mean one thing...

Time to play scary circus.... and store after that.

Rainbow Loom, Oh How We Love You!

A few months ago the boys pooled their money together and I took them down to Michaels to buy a Rainbow Loom kit.

That was the best $20 they have ever spent!

It has provided many hours of creative time and we all have had the bonus of getting some pretty neat jewelry.

Santa filled their stockings with rubber band refills and they are going to town again.

Can't wait to see what they make next.

It's A New Year!!

We are welcoming this new wonderful year with open arms!

I have a hunch that it is going to be pretty amazing!

We went to a New Years Eve Party and were asked to bring some white elephant gifts.  Justin and I decided it would be fun to bring a couple of ducklings but they were not in season.

We went to the pet store and found Griffin, this sweet little dwarf hamster.  Perfect.

It was hilarious and in the end he went to a great home.  Nathan and Kendall's previous sun beam teachers.

We also gave a work out video with a bag full of candy. Ha!

It was great to see a lot of our friends from our previous ward.  It made me realize how bad I missed them.

The boys were up when we got home watching a movie with Mammy.  Pots and Pans were everywhere!  It looked like they had the time of their lives.

The next day we went to the park and the boys played some baseball.

Justin took us to Virgilio's to try his favorite dish, Chicken Parmesan.  When we came out of the restaurant the blue skies had turned gray and were furious.  A storm was brewing.

We all ran to the car and went home to get warm.

That night we worked on our resolutions for our New Years Box.

A great start for this wonderful year!