Santa came...

...and brought candy! Yay!

Aunt Camie gave Shay a robe (and mugs with hot cocoa).
She'll be pampering herself with those. Aunt Steph
gave us yummy smelling candles she made herself. We
really like the lemon one.
Thanks so much!

What a treat to have Aunt Camie spend Christmas with us!

The boys got Wyoming sweatshirts from Lil Grandma
and Grandpa Craig. We'll be BYU fans decked out in Cowboy gear.
We can do both. Thanks!

Ya think Si likes his sock monkey hat?
Thanks Lil Grandma.

Our family photo minus Silas. He gave us a Christmas
gift by sleeping in!

The LEGOS are a big hit! We have had a blast with these.
Even Brig and Shayla have been building.
Thanks so much Grandma Risa and Grandpa Barry!

Christmas pics

The November Random

It's the hap-happiest season of all...

4 Months - ALREADY!

He can sit up for a few seconds. He giggles.
He smiles at almost anyone. He reaches for
toys. He can even play with a toy for a few
minutes. He reads books with Max and Avie.
He is a momma's boy for now. We love him!

The Conversation about Africa cont....

So Max hasn't let this past life in Africa go. He mentions it often and today he told me quite a bit about what it was like and the reason he left it. I thought it was pretty funny...

"When I was a little boy in Africa (so he was two when he came to our family), I popped out of my mom's belly and it was so cute. They loved me right away - so much - that my whole family gave me a group hug, even my mom and dad. I was so happy and I smiled like this (showing me some cheesy smile.) "

"For Christmas I got a binky and 'hanky' toys. I had three brothers - one brother that was 5 and in kindergarten, one brother that was 13 and in 3rd grade, and another one that was 86 and in 1st grade. I didn't go to school, I stayed home. My dad taught school and cut wood and he didn't do the dishes, my mom did. My mom sometimes played with me, but my dad ALWAYS played with me. I really loved my dad. AND I never had to go to time-out."

"I waddled like a penguin and my brothers laughed at me. My mom didn't feed me that much and when I ate, I ate peanut butter, just plain, not peanut butter jelly sandwiches. One time, my mom gave me pink pants and I gave them to my baby sister."

"But then my parents died because they ate too much and threw up so I came to you."

Oh, I see. So if you could, would you go back to Africa?

"Um, no. I can't walk that far."

Oh, good. I'm glad he knows he can't walk that far... I think he's trying to send me a message - he likes playing with his dad, he doesn't like time-out, and he wants to eat whatever he wants. This life in Africa was pretty good.

Conversations

I made taco soup last week and when we sat down to eat the conversation went like this:

Max (after looking into the bowl I set in front of him with a not very excited look):
Can we have those other sandwiches with cheese in them?

Mom: You'll like it, it's taco soup and you love tacos! Just have a bite.

Max: But Mom, where are the tacos?

Mom: It is soup, which means you eat it from a bowl and the shell is not needed but it has lots of things in it that we put in a taco

Max: Oh, well I don't like it. I had this already when I was a little boy in Africa.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I've been reading deployment posts while the kids nap today (and even gagging a bit how much I missed him and openly wrote about it - so, sorry about that!) - and remembering Brig's time in the military... I just have so much appreciation for his service and the service of all the other men and women who have fought and continue to fight. It is no piece of cake and does come at a great sacrifice. A big thanks to our service men today!

He once wrote, "I'm just here to help out my guys and others around me, improve myself, and come home to you."

Grateful to say he did it all!

3 Months for Silas

We love our little Si Guy. He is so precious. He brings us so much joy and his gigantic smiles would melt anyone's heart. He endures daily maulings and handles being woke up from loud voices quite well. He gets chewed on and kissed plenty! (And as you'll notice, the sock matching has gone out the window with #3, along with the underwear folding too!)

Real Halloween Costumes

By the time Halloween rolled around, Peanut and Silas weren't loving their costumes anymore. They had already been wearing them... This is a picture from the Law School Halloween Party. Peanut was a Minion from Despicable Me, picked by Brig because she is little and fat and can't move her neck and laughs just like them. She was really funny. As for Max, he wore his Batman mask every day in October! And Max had begged Brig to be Robin, so being the good sport dad he is, he pulled it off (even if his cape was my black maternity skirt tied with a string!)

Halloween Night

Our friends had us over for dinner for Spaghetti and Eyeballs... thanks, Cherisse! It was awesome.