Merry Christmas!

We had a GREAT Christmas this year! Zack woke up before Austin which is usually what happens (Austin is definitely like me with sleeping where Zack is like Aaron) so we gave Austin about a half hour before we decided to just wake him up. Zack was really excited when he saw the big wheel that Santa brought him and immediately ran over to it and started saying Vroom and riding it, but Austin was really struggling to wake up and probably sat on my lap for about 5 minutes before he would even look around. They both love their big wheels and I can't wait for warm weather so they can ride them outside. They also got magna doodles, books, clothes, bubbles, puzzles, and a few other toys. They were a lot of fun this year and loved opening presents, but after their birthday they didn't care quite as much about opening them so we had to bribe them and open up quite a bit for them. I think Aaron is concerned about all of the weight I have been gaining because I got 7 work-out dvd's and a running watch. :) Or it could just be that he is a good husband and knew that I wanted all of that stuff, I can't wait to start working out again!!! I also got a roasting pan and some other dvd's and Aaron got a snowboarding pass, a new game that's like speed Scrabble (it's a lot of fun!), and a few other random things.
Zack
Austin
After presents we had a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and oranges. Then we stopped by Aaron's parents for a little while. The boys got some fun books and cute stick horses with a few other toys.
Then we went over to my parent's where we again got very spoiled! My parents do an amazing job every year of getting us all the perfect presents! My dad surprised all of the boys with these incredible rocking horses that my dad made. Austin and Zack love them!!
Then my mom surprised all of her kids with scrapbooks that she made for us. My parents are both so talented and I'm so grateful for all of the thoughtfulness that they put in to their presents for us! They also gave us all food processors, clothes, and books.
The boys had a blast wrestling and playing in the mountains of wrapping paper after and they were pretty fun to watch. That was one of my favorite memories of Daxton last year, he went crazy in the wrapping paper. We missed him more than I can put in to words, but were grateful knowing that he was spending his Christmas with Christ. I'm so grateful for this time of year so we can remember all that we have to be grateful for and the real reasons we have to celebrate. I can't wait until we get to see him again, we love you Dax!
That night we drove home in one of the worst blizzards I've seen, but after almost 3 times the amount it normally takes we made it home safe. We have had a great week being able to spend so much time with our family!

Party, Party, and more Parties

Tuesday we had our 2nd annual Christmas party with my mom's family. We had a great dinner and then a few of the grandchildren and all of the great grandchildren put on a nativity. They were really cute! The shepherds all just wanted their moms and were not happy about the costumes. My cousin's son in the middle of it got his hulk gloves on and came out to show his powers, it was really funny.
Riley with his hulk gloves and the angels
Austin, Neal, and Zack with Mandy
Then we played some really fun games and Santa Claus came to see the kids and brought them all a bag of goodies.
Austin with Santa
Zack with Santa- he was obviously not at all happy about sitting on Santa's lap
The boys highlight of the night was playing basketball. Zack even learned how to dribble.

We were going to have a birthday party for Austin and Zack on Sunday with my family, but they woke up from their naps with croup so we decided to combine our Christmas Eve party with their birthday party. We had one of their favorite dinners of chicken roll-ups with mashed potatoes and beans and then had fun playing games after they opened up their birthday presents. They were very spoiled!
I make them baseball cupcakes for their birthday this year since they LOVE balls. Like last year Zack wouldn't eat any of his cupcake, maybe he's like his dad and doesn't really like cake.
Austin apparently thought us singing to him was like praying. What can we say, we have reverent children. :)
Thank you to my family for loving our boys and letting us share the Christmas Eve party!

Happy Birthday Love Bugs!!

Saturday was Austin and Zack's 2nd birthday. They were grumpy when they woke up so I had the brilliant idea to let them open their presents while Aaron was making us french toast for breakfast. Once they saw the balloons and basketballs nothing else mattered. To say that we bought them the perfect gift and that they were excited is an understatement! We had to force them to eat breakfast and after a couple of bites they kept saying, "done!" They couldn't decide what they wanted to play with more and were so cute and happy! It took them two hours to want to open up their other presents and after reading their new books they went right back to the basketballs and balloons. We try really hard to buy them the exact same thing to try to minimize fighting, but these boys are smart! Even though the basketballs look the EXACT same somehow they always know which one is their's, it can be quite annoying!


I wanted to do something fun with them that day since it's our own family holiday with two birthdays and our anniversary so I got the brilliant idea to take them tubing since they love being outside. I didn't think at the time about how I can't do my coat up anymore and snow pants weren't going to fit either or that we would be taking the boys away from their beloved balloons and basketballs. The boys were not happy when we left and when we got there they weren't happy about being out in the cold. They don't like snow to get on their boots or gloves and they don't like sitting in it or having that cold air on their faces. I know they were warm because when we took their snow clothes off they were toasty, but since they have a hard time moving around in the snow they were not impressed! I think about the only time they were happy was when they were going down the hill or if we were holding them. Regardless me and Aaron had fun and we made some great memories! Here is what they really thought about going:
Me and Zack
Aaron and Austin
Happy Anniversary to us
That night we went to Chile's for dinner and then went to Temple Square. The boys seemed to enjoy the lights and kept saying WOW, but I think they were just thinking, "Why did mom and dad take us away from our basketballs and balloons again?"
We love these little boys and are so grateful they came in to our family! Two years ago was a day of very mixed emotions, we were so excited and happy to have these two little boys come in to our lives and our family, but we also found out right after their birth that Zack had a mass in his abdomen and they were sending him to Primary Children's, after arriving there they gave us a poor prognonis. I have never been so scared in my life! The first few months were some of the hardest of my life and I thank Heavenly Father everyday that things turned out so different than what they very easily could have.

These boys amaze us everyday with what they are learning. They are talking a ton! They talk in sentences now and copy everything we do and say. They copy each other a lot as well and are the best of friends (most of the time). They love to climb all over everything and thanks to their cousin Neal they also love to jump off everything now. Their favorite things right now are Utah football, any sports or balls, dinosaurs, and animals. We love you boys so much!!!!!!

6 Great Years!!

Yesterday was our 6 year anniversary. Since the boys decided to steal the spotlight we celebrated on Friday. Aaron being the romantic that he always is, surprised me with these 24 beautiful roses in the morning.


Then we took the boys to Nate and Malinda's (thanks again for watching them!) where they had a blast playing with them and their kids.
Aaron took me to Maddox for linner and then continued my addiction and bought me some beautiful sapphire earrings. He spoils me and I'm so grateful that he loves me and puts up with my addictions! After we went to the Egyptian Theater and saw The Nutcracker. Apparently we saw a very condensed version that I'm sure if we had had a daughter performing in it we would have loved it, but I think next time we'll stick with plays. We had a great time together, I feel so lucky to have found a man like Aaron! In honor of our 6 years here are 6 of the reasons I love Aaron:
He's HOT!
He's given me 2 1/2 wonderful boys
He honors his priesthood
He works hard and provides for our family
He is a great example to me and always challenges me to do my best
He is very handy around our house and yard and can teach himself to do anything.

I love you Aaron and I'm so excited to see what the next 6 years has in store for us!

Family Pictures

We got our family pictures done the end of October by Kirstin Roper and I finally got Aaron to sit down with me last night and help me pick our favorites; so here are some of the highlights:

Our family pictures:

Some of the boys:
And just a few others we liked:

Chicago

I thought I'd share a few pictures from Chicago. It is a really cool city and I would love to go back sometime when I can actually enjoy it. During the short time I was there I was able to confirm a few things: great pizza, great skyline, and frigid wind.

This is a time exposure looking up from the bottom of the Sears Tower

Chicago Theatre

Looking north at the city and Lake Michigan

The Sears Tower on the right

Looking south at Chicago and Lake Michigan