HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY TO JOEL!!!!!!

So I am a terrible sister(in-law) and I'm wishing my FAVORITE brother-in-law a Happy Birthday a day late! Actually, technically it's two days late to him....oh man... Well anyway, Joel I love you, I thought about you all day and I'm sorry I didn't take time to wish you Happy Birthday on your birthday, but please don't think it went unnoticed! My whole family misses you and Teesha so much and when you guys come back to the US we're gonna have a birthday party for you (and Teesha) okay? I hope you had a great day and did lots of surfing! Love you!

No Pictures right now but....

I should probably give a much needed update anyway!
So Christmas was good for us. We had so much fun with the boys even though the morning started a little "early". Chandler is quietly "yelling" down from the upstairs "Mom, Dad it's time to open presents". So Bryant looks at his watch and says "It's 5:45 we better get up". I'm thinking okay, 5:45 isn't too bad... So we get up turn on all the Christmas lights (we left Hunter sleeping) and told the boys to come down. As they are looking at what Santa brought them I go in the kitchen for a drink and glance at the clock that now says 3:50 A.M. I almost killed Bryant for his watch reading skills, but we were all already awake so there was no turning back.
New Years was pretty uneventful for us, unless you consider each of us taking turns throwing up an event! We had a pretty bad case of the stomach flu go through our house starting with Chandler & Bryant on New Years Eve day, then Kayden the next day and me the following TWO days...luckily Hunter never got it.
On the 11th (of January) Kayden turned 8! We had a party at our house and invited a bunch of his friends. We had a "Wii Tournament of Champions" competition. The kids had a ball and it was pretty fun to watch. I have a really funny video of Hunter boxing that I'll have to try and figure out how to post!
On the 19th Kayden was baptized! We were so proud of him and it was such a wonderful day! We had a lot of family come and we were so grateful for the support! He really is a great kid and it was a very special day! Hunter keeps asking me when it's his turn to get baptized. Even a 4-year-old could feel the Spirit there that day. Awesome!
Our lives otherwise are pretty much the same! Bryant works all the time, I type all the time and the boys are enjoying Nash (our puppy) and playing the Wii. I have to admit that Bryant and I have even played with them several times and had a great time! I really like Guitar Hero III, but we all have SOOO much fun playing the Carnival games.
Sorry Teesha that I don't have any pictures right now. I have been a total slacker lately taking pictures! I promise I will start taking lots and post them for you!

An Early Christmas Present

This weekend we went to Kingman to visit with Bryant's family and exchange Christmas gifts with them. While there we saw some Shih-Tzu puppies that were for sale and ended up buying one for our boys for Christmas. We were going to wait until Christmas morning to give it to them, but decided it would be too difficult to travel with it (my brother-in-law followed us home so the puppy would have ridden with him) and not have our kids see it, so we gave it to them yesterday before we left. They were so excited and they love him to death. He also loves them and follows them everywhere. Last night was his first night with us and he did SO good. He really is a great dog. I didn't want a dog and Bryant wanted a big dog, so this was our compromise! haha.

Now we just need a name for him. We can't all decide on one name that we all like...hmmmm...maybe I'll see if I can start a poll on here and you all can help me decide!!! Merry Christmas everyone! We love you all.

My Christmas Present!

This year as party of the Black Friday deals Bryant and I found a new 9' Christmas tree. I was so excited to get a tree that actually looks like it fits in our living room! Well, my mom told me after I bought it not to decorate it, that that was what she was going to give me for Christmas was, all new decorations and come decorate it for me! So she came this weekend and the tree is now done! Here are some pictures of the finished project! She did an incredible job! This one is at night with the lights on.
This one is during the day with the lights off.
It is so beautiful I don't want to take it down after Christmas! I will definitely be waiting until after New Year's to take down my decorations! Let me know what you think!

Scholar Athlete Banquet

Okay so this is my THIRD post in a week...somebody stop me!!! haha...but seriously this is a record for me!
A few days ago the Chandler Youth Football League had their Scholar Athlete Banquet. This was a banquet to honor all the football players who maintained at least a "B" average in school last year. I am proud to say that both Chandler and Kayden were able to attend. It was held at the Ocotillo Golf Clubhouse and they served brunch (well, really just danishes, bagels and OJ, but they called it brunch). Anyway, after everyone ate they acknowledged each of the kids individually and gave them a "CYF" plin. They also had a few speakers come and one of them was Eric Swan who used to play for the Arizona Cardinals. Now, I'm not much of a Cardinal's follower but I guess he played for them for almost 10 years and is trying to make a comeback. The kids were all excited to get to meet him. The banquet was a lot of fun and I am so proud of both of my boys! Here is a picture of the boys with Eric Swan.

~HaPpY bIrThDaY tO hUnTeR~

Today Hunter had his 4th Birthday! It started out with him going to "school" and getting to take cookies and Capri Suns for all of his "friends" in his class. He was so excited about that! Because it was his birthday he got to be the special helper in class and got to hold the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance! He was SO proud of that.
Later that afternoon his Uncle Jeramy and Aunt Erin came over to bring him a present. It's funny because I got him a "Cars" Lightning McQueen cake, wrapping paper and toys for his birthday and Jeramy and Erin had no clue about that, yet the gifts they gave him were also Lightning McQueen.
This is a picture of him showing off the presents they gave him. They also gave him Pop Rocks and we were all quite entertained watching him eat those for the first time (of course those were long gone by the time I took the picture).
Finally we took the boys over to Peter Piper Pizza and let them play for a while and ate dinner.
We came home and FINALLY got to eat the Lightning McQueen cake he's been dying to dive into. He also decided at the grocery store today that he didn't want ice cream with his cake he wanted ice cream sandwiches, so he got those instead.
He opened presents and is now having a great time playing with them all.
Thanks to all who wished him a Happy Birthday! He was especially excited to get an email from his Aunt Teesha and Uncle Joel all the way from Australia!

My Baby's First Day of Preschool!

So today Hunter went to preschool for the first time!! It is a preschool called Apples to Zebras. He was so excited, as we pulled up in the parking lot and I turn off the car to get out he says, "All right bye mom". I was like, "I'm coming in with you for a minute" and he's like "oh do you have to pay for me to go?". Haha... but he loved it and they made the cutest craft there today.

I got some Christmas wrapping done while he was there so that was nice too! He only goes for 2 hours, but from now until Christmas break he goes M-Th, then starting after the new year he goes M-W-F for 2 hours each day. I think he is really going to love it. He is getting really bored at home lately with the boys in school all day, so this is so fun for him.
His birthday is Wednesday and he will be 4!! I can't believe how fast time flies!