One Brave Boy!

It was about 5:45am and I could hear some stirring upstairs, so I got up, grabbed a quick drink of water, then headed up the stairs to see which one of the kids was up. As I neared the top of the stairs, all got quiet. I peaked around the corner toward Mason's room, and found myself staring into the barrrel of a "nerf" long-shot rifle! When Mason saw that it was me, he let out a huge sigh of relief. I said "Mason, what are you doing!" then he explained that he thought it was a stranger in the house. I said "what were you planning on doing?" he said that if the gun didn't scare him off, he was going to hit him over the head with it! I was amazed that an 8 year old kid wouldn't just run and hide under the bed. He was prepared to stand his ground! Everyday is exciting around here!

daily laughs...

This is how Mason came down for church Sunday morning. I convinced him to leave the hat and fedora home! I love how he just likes what he likes and doesn't care what anyone else thinks. He wears a fur hat to school everyday and the call him "the sasquatch". He loves it!

Snow!

The boys got sleds for Christmas and have been dying to use them. There are some pretty good hills around here. Mason was going off of jumps and Ethan preferred walking to the bottom and carrying the sled back up. Lincoln had fun as long as he could ride with daddy!

Holidays!

We have had a fun Thanksgiving, and a wonderful Christmas. For Thanksgiving, Erick, Leslie, Bryn and Kyler came to our house. Leslie and I, with some help from our wonderful husbands, cooked a huge feast and we all ate and ate. That night, grandma and grandpa Sakes (Stowell) arrived in Erie. We played and had a blast. Grandma and Grandpa took all the kids to a hotel one night and we 4 "grown ups" got to go out to a movie and play Guitar Hero half the night! (thanks grandma and grandpa). We also drove up to Niagara Falls, had some excitment when we accidentally drove into Canada. We eventually found our way back to the New York side. Ann, Leslie, and I were even blessed with such wonderful husbands to send us on a girls night to watch "New Moon". It was so fun to have family here, our only complaint is that it was too short of a visit!

Fun with Cousins!

So I have added 3 posts in one day so make sure you scroll clear down to Ethan's Bday. Erick and Leslie live in Michigan now, they are about a 6-hour drive away is all! We went to visit them a couple of weeks ago and it was so fun to see where they are living and to spend some time with them, the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins and Lee and I enjoyed catching up on all the hugs from our neice and nephew. We also met them halfway and we were able to spend the afternoon together. It is fun having them so close!

Happy Halloween!!!

I am a little paranoid of this flu going around so the kids and I stayed home on Halloween. The boys had fun answering the door to trick or treaters. Lee was on call so we just watched a Halloween movie and made popcorn. I think the boys had just as much fun! We ran out of candy at about 7:30 so Mason and Ethan dumped their candy from the trunk or treat into the bowl and gave that away as well! Good choice boys! We did get to do some celebrating, we of course went to the trunk-or-treat at the church, and we carved pumpkins with Lee's cousin and her family who live here in Erie. It is fun to have some family in the same town after living so far from Utah for so long! I feel bad I didn't get more pics of the kids, it was hard finding a spare minutes for pics when Lee is not home.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

I can't believe Ethan is 5! He makes us laugh every single day, he loves playing all kinds of super heroes, and he always has a smile on his face. He has always been such a mellow child, easy to please and willing to do whatever is asked of him. He is always honest and will just do or say what he wants when he wants. He definately has a mind of his own! Ethan we love you and hope you had a fun day.

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

I can't believe our little Linc is 2! He is getting so big and talking so much. He loves to be daddy's helper and is and always has been a daddy's boy. He is so quick to give loves and kisses and is soooo snuggly! He makes us all so happy and we are so lucky to have him in our family. He loves balls so we made him a ball cake. He got a stick horse for his bday and we were all laughing so hard, as soon as he saw it he hit the ground running and galloped through the house back and forth until bedtime. He loves it!