O Christmas Tree

We got a beautiful tree this year! I have absolutely loved having it in my house. It smells incredible and is so full and green. I love it .. there is something about having it in my house that just makes me smile (except when my boys keep using the ornaments as a kicking ball -haha ... luckily they are shatterproof!)

We had such a good time decorating the tree! We set it up and put on the lights, but didn't have quite enough so only put the star on next. I know, tradition is supposed to be to put the star on last and Kayson was just too excited! So here he is putting the star on .. with his daddy not shown! :)

Without putting on the ornaments, the boys went to bed. Altho, they had a good time playing with the ornaments first.

It turned out as a good thing that we didn't finish decoration ... b/c the tree fell down on Jess and I that night. :( It was such a disappointment for the next couple days to have our tree here, but leaning on the wall. We tried again the next night, but it was very crooked and would have fallen over too. Third time is a charm b/c it worked the 3rd night! Hooray! I put on the lights and ribbon w/o the boys, but saved the rest for them to help me with!

My big helpers.

Concentrating so hard! The finished product! Isn't it beautiful!?!

This is what Len looks like when I tell him to "look with your eyes" .. only w/o me and the camera he is looking right at the ornaments.

I'm sure it will still be up after the holidays .. especially since we'll be gone for a while .. we are all enjoying it too much!

Side note:

Glad we got more snow, the boys and I spent the entire morning playing in it! We all had a blast! Here are the 2 things Kayson wanted to make sure happened (I only have a pic of 1):

1. Build a snowman

2. Eat the snow!

I don't think they anticipated the spitting .. but they thought it was soo funny. Eat, spit, say, "yucky" and eat it again and again and again!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Last weekend, we had friends over for dinner. I wanted to be a little festive for Halloween and finally tried for the first time, on my own, Dinner in a Pumpkin! What fun!

My happy helpers, scooping out the muck and seeds!

They are hard workers and,

as Kayson says, "I a strong boy!"

The finished product!

I know the pumpkin looks a bit unappealing, but

trust me, it had to look like that for the pumpkin

to taste so good! :)

"and they all fall down!"

Having fun with friends! (If you listen carefully, you can tell Jess is having his own kind of fun with his friend!)

Photo shoot!

As you can probably tell, I'm not much of a photographer. But my boys are so cute and did pretty well for these shots, I just had to share them!

Brothers!

This is doing the "rock" after a high-five.

Sweet smiles!

One of these days I'll catch one of Kayson's

real smiles. But for now, I'll enjoy the cheese!

Playing with each other.

"cheese!"

And a video to show how much Len is learning from his big brother!

And the new outing is ...

... bowling! My boys love it! Our first time, Kayson already knew enough about what it was to be excited. The second time we were planning to go, I told Kayson and he said, "I love bowling!" Lendon showed his excitement by chanting most of the way there, "I, bowling!"

Lendon could carry the ball basically on his own.

We still helped him tho .. that would hurt!

He just loves watching the ball go.

But even more, he wanted to make sure both

mom & dad saw him push it!

The happy bowler!

Check out his hold on the ball!

He's got it down!

And now for the victory dance!

They have a dragon that the kids can push it down the lane. Lendon uses it every time, but Kayson chose not to use it at all our second time. And he's pretty good! I hate to admit this, but all 3 of my boys (Jess included) bowled a better game than me. Sad. :( That just shows how good they are .. right!?! :)

My boys!

A load of pictures .. I'll just let you enjoy them. I have to tell you the truth tho .. you're missing out, they are even cuter in real life. :) I know, is that possible!?! :)

Aren't they sweet? Especially my sweet Jess. I'm sure you all can see why I feel so lucky to be the girl in these boys life. I love them deeply and am so glad to have them! :)

Anniversary and birthday.

I know I'm a little late, but these were such fun days, I wanted to go back! Our anniversary is the day before Kayson's birthday. We got a wonderful babysitter and spent the evening together. We were able to go to a nice restaurant and have the best steak I think I have ever had. Yum! The nice thing about Jess is that we can often share a meal .. so it isn't too pricey! :) Then, with a nice deal from citydeals.com we were able to go on a sunset sailboat ride. The sunset was nice .. and it was just nice to spend the time together.

This was the yummy dessert they served us on our boat ride .. unfortunately I was soo full from dinner, it was hard to enjoy. :)

My sailing partner!

Kayson's birthday was a fun day .. but I think it was a little full for a 3 year old. He enjoyed every activity, but when the end of the day came .. he was soo tired.

We took him to Toy Story 3 for a matinee. He was so cute in the theatre. I think he was very amazed at how big the screen was .. and loved the treats he got to snack on the whole time!

We also went to Pirate Island, where they have pizza and arcade games. He had a good time with both .. especially since his friends Seth and Ellie were there.

Playing air hockey with daddy .. he did pretty well!

He requested a guitar cake (which he kept calling a piano) .. so whenever anyone asked him about his birthday, he would say "piano birthday" or "it's my birthday" or "happy birthday me" :)

Here he is enjoying cake with his friends!

His birthday is close to the 24th of July which (for those outside of Utah) is a Utah holiday .. which means we can set off fireworks. So, we ended the day with some fireworks. He loved the ones we did for the 4th, so we invited a bunch of people from the neighborhood and lit up the night. He loved it. This pic is actually from the 4th, but here he is with his good friend Gavin .. watching the fireworks!

Bedtime! As mentioned, he was so sad. Is it mean that I took a picture? I guess I wanted to remind myself to take it a little slower next year .. fun activities, just not so many (or just not so late into the night)

I am so happy to have this sweet boy in my life. He brings so many smiles to my face. I can't believe at times it's been ONLY 3 years ... just because I feel like he has been in my life forever. I am so lucky to be his mommy and so pleased with the boy he is. I love you, Kayson .. with all my heart!

Water!

Yesterday, I was planning to set up our cool beach ball sprinkler for the boys. Kayson LOVES running thru any type of water and I knew he would love it. Lendon gets in the water some, but loves being outside no matter what we're doing. :)

Plans changed, however, when we had quite the rain storm!

This was our alternative:

At least they still got to play in the water!!!

Binkie Boy!

For those of you who don't know, my Lendon is addicted to his binkie. He loves it. He'll see one and start saying please (so cute) then, when he gets it he opens his mouth super wide and chomps down on it as dramatically as possible. haha - you'd have to see it. :)

Well, today he was very sad about the toothbrush being taken away from him and after a few minutes of sadness, I decided to look for his loved binkie. I found 2 sitting in a regular spot and give him one. "Please" he says pointing to the other one. So, I give it to him. "Please" again .. I look, he's pointing to a binkie on the floor. I laugh and give it to him (why not!?!). "please" --pointing to yet another binkie hiding partially under the couch! You've got to be kidding me!! However, I admit, I gave that to him too! So, he went down for his nap just now with one binkie in his mouth, one in one hand, and 2 in the other. (Happy as can be, I might add!)

Silly, cute little boy!

There he is with his binkie .. and Kayson with his finger and "blue blanket"! My boys!

Thank you to my wonderful husband!

Here is a big THANK YOU to Jess!! His work schedule is always so busy, yet he is always so willing to work it out so I can go do fun things. A couple weekends ago was the BYU Women's Conference. If you haven't been or haven't heard about it, it is a wonderful experience. It is 2 days full of spiritual upliftment. It was well needed for me and without Jess, it would not have been possible. He worked from home both days so he could watch the boys while I went. I'm sure you can imagine, it wouldn't be easy to watch a very active almost 3 year old and a very cuddly 1 year old AND try and work as well. However, my Jess is amazing and he managed just fine!

This is me, Sharece, and Shonda waiting for our class to begin on making your Sabbath day more committed to Christ .. it was great!

This last weekend, my sister's had a "sister sleepover" planned. It was all 6 Petersen sisters, plus Bettie, and even Karina, Lydia, Renae, and Gideon. We all met at a hotel in Salt Lake City and spent a night of fun and laughter together. Again, without Jess and his support, it wouldn't have been possible. He stayed home with the boys, putting them to bed and taking such good care of them for a full 24 hours! This break was also well needed, more in an emotional way. We laughed and laughed with everything we did .. and laughter is very good for me. It made me set a specific goal to LAUGH more with my boys. WHY NOT!?! Life can be full of laughter here too! And it is!

I didn't get a pic of the full group, but here is one of 3 of us. Just chillin' at the hotel room after a fun(ny) time of swimming in their pool and a yummy pot luck meal we brought!

Lastly, a pic of the hero of the hour with his wonderful boys. They love him soo much! Lately, Kayson will cry and cry when his daddy goes to work. It is so sad. But I sure love the excitement when Jess comes home - both boys run to him as happy as can be! I am very blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves me and who takes such good care of me and my boys. I couldn't ask for a better husband and best friend.

Thanks, Jess, for all you do!! I love you forever!

Happy First Birthday!

My sweet Lendon turned one on March 5th .. I can't even believe it's already been a year. We are so blessed to have that sweet, smiley, cuddly, loving boy in our lives!

Can you believe how much he has changed??

Opening presents!

He loves hugs (when he wants them!) Sweet Karina.

His cake! What do ya think? :)

First taste.

Loving it now!!

So thirsty .. they sure dug into it!

On his birthday we went to the aquarium ... the boys had so much fun! Kayson even touched the starfish! He was trying to touch the stingrays, but the water was too deep! Lendon just loved watching the fish swim around. He would just stare and try to touch them! It was a wonderful day!

A video of the cake .. I love that Kayson was right there with him. So much fun!

Happy birthday, sweet boy!