Almost two months...where to begin?!

I guess I will start with the most recent and go backwards.

We had an amazing Christmas this year. We spent it here in Nevada City with Andrew's family and had a wonderfully relaxing day. Although we missed the other side immensely. We were spoiled this year! I got an amazing desk that I call my "sewing center", a Vita-Mix, and lots of thoughtful gifts from my husband. The best gift was being able to spend time as a family and see my boys open their presents. Austin got excited over all the little things and Summit just wanted to play with the balls. It was great!

The month of December was filled with fun crafting. I made some super cute Christmas decorations for the house and also some fun gifts for friends and family. I need to post pictures later cause I don't have any right now.

We also received our first snow. We got a foot and a half at our house. Summit had fun sledding with Austin. He didn't want to come in but he was so cold we had to force him.

November was a busy month also. I started out the month with Christmas crafting in hopes that I would be able to finish them in time to drive them up to WA instead of send them. Back in October I found out I had skin cancer. My mom flew out here in the middle of November to help me through my surgery and such. She took care of my family and I for a week while I recovered. She even took my stitches out for me while we were in WA...this picture was taken right before she took them out. Then we piled in our van and drove up to WA for Thanksgiving. We were able to spend a week there hanging out with my family. It was fun to be with my family and my boys together. It had been a year since we were all able to get together. We spent a day at the Pacific Science Center.

Andrew and Austin were able to go on a deep sea fishing trip in the beginning of November. They had a blast and came home with a few fish and lots of crab. We feasted for three days after their return.

We also spent some time playing in the fall leaves.

This is quite the quick recap of the last two months but it's about all I can do right now. It's almost midnight and I'm starting to fade. Excuse the grammatical errors...I'm outside of my thinking hours.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Summit. Just thought I'd share it with everyone.

Fort Bragg

We went to Fort Bragg a few weekends ago and I never got around to posting the pictures. We had so much fun. We met a group of people there from our ward.

Austin found this cave in the rocks.

Summit and I made a crocodile in the sand while the rest of the family went out boating.

Here we are exploring in the tide pools.


A little stroll down to the beach.

Summit was so helpful with putting up the tent. He wants to be just like his Dad.

Halloween Fun

Here are the costumes I put millions of hours into. In the middle of the night on Thursday I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep cause I was so excited for Halloween. How ridiculous is that?! I haven't been so excited for Halloween in YEARS! I guess it was all the anticipation from making the costumes. Here are the pictures. I do have to say that these are the best costumes I've ever made (I've only made two other costumes). Austin looked incredible!

I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of just Summit. This picture doesn't do him justice. I'll have to dress him up again and post a good picture of just him.

I know I already did Austin's Birthday post but today is the real day so again here is a tribute to Austin....You are the most amazing big brother and a great son! You make our family complete! We love you so much. You continue to amaze me every day. You are such a great example for good. You are such a strong young man! We are so lucky to have you as one of our sons!!!!!!

Reasons I love Austin

I've been reflecting the last few days on how grateful I am for Austin. He turns 14 on November 1st and it seems like his birthday is always overshadowed by Halloween. So here I am doing a birthday post for him without any Halloween distractions.

Here are a few of the reasons I love Austin.

1. He is the best big brother I've ever seen and a wonderful son.

2. He is funny. We can laugh at each other and ourselves together.

3. He is a hard worker. (When he wants to be) :)

4. He is forgiving.

5. He is such a strong person. He tries to move past the challenges in his life and continue on the right path despite hard times.

6. Our family wouldn't be the same without him. He brings a lot of personality and spunk to our home.

7. He trusts me.

8. He's so cute.

9. He's a great student.

10. He's loyal.

Update on Life

Here's a quick update...Summit and I have been working on Halloween costumes. We've finished Summit's and we are in process for the other three. I'm excited to do a Halloween post but I have to wait. We also made a cute Halloween decoration.

On Monday we had a card making day at our house. That was fun. Now I have a few cards stocked up. Here are the boys playing the drum while we made cards.

I also made these cute beanies for my nieces.

Austin is doing great in 8th grade. We got a call from one of his teachers last week to tell us how awesome he is doing. She went on for 5 minutes about how wonderful he is. That was really neat to hear!

That's about all the excitement we have right now. I know it isn't anything too monumental but that's our life! :)

Busy Crafting

Well I've been playing a little bit lately. I made myself a Halloween decoration cause I don't have any. It turned out kinda silly but I think it's cute. The ghost reminds me of an ugly doll. For some reason I can't get it to face the right direction but here it is....

These are some super cute shoes I made for Summit. The pictures doesn't do them justice!

I also made Summit's Halloween costume. I'll have to post pictures of that later.

We Need Everyones Help...Please Vote!

Austin's trying to decide which hairstyle to go with. Which one is best A, B or C?

A

B

C

Isn't he CUTE!!!

The Birthday Weekend

We had such a fun weekend. Summit's birthday stretched all weekend and it's still not over. He hasn't opened his presents from Grandma and Grandpa yet. Friday night (the night before his b-day) we went shopping and got his presents. On Saturday morning he opened a few and played with them. Then we relaxed and cooked for his party/family reunion that we had on Sunday night. On Saturday night we ate pizza and opened another present. Then on Sunday morning we opened more presents, went to church and then that night we had a party. He got more presents and had a huge cupcake all for himself. It was so much fun.

Thanks Nana and Grampy for the cool truck and the fun instruments...we love them!

Here he is giving Muno loves.

He found his favorite animal in his book.

Dinner. Yum.

Here are some of our friends that were there...Polly and Beckett.

More friends...Amanda and Kayden.

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Little Boog!

I can't believe it's already been a year. Time goes so fast! We are so lucky to have our little Summit! He has been such a blessing in our lives. I thought I'd share a few reason's why I'm grateful for him.

1. His smile lights up my day.
2. He likes to make me laugh. He knows what to do to make me laugh and he does it with a straight face which is even funnier.
3. He's so smart...he can say eight words now.
4. He trusts me.
5. His cheeks are softer than velvet and so incredibly kissable.
6. He loves to snuggle me.
7. He gives great kisses.
8. He is obsessed with toilet paper and wipes...can't find a toy much cheaper than that.
9. He's a great shopping companion.
10. He says "HI" to everyone we pass in grocery store.

This is the first moment we met and the bond was so strong already. I am so grateful that I get to spend everyday with him. Our bond has grown so much in the last year. It's incredible how a parent can love their children. I'm so blessed to have my amazing boys!

On the way home from the hospital, as tears streamed down my face, I asked Andrew, "How can they send me home with this baby? I don't know what I'm doing. I can't be a Mom." I couldn't imagine how I was going to do it and now I can't imagine how it could be any other way. My life is amazing.

HI DAD

Well...Dad has been gone for two weeks on a crazy backpacking trip and we're visiting Nana and Grampy. Here is a post for Dad so he can see his cute little boy and see what we've been up to. Welcome home Dad...we're so proud of you...you're amazing! We miss you like crazy. Two more days and we'll be home.

Here we are at the zoo watching the whales swim.

Here is Aunt Vika taking Summit down the slide...he loved it!
Here we are in the yard playing with Grampy and setting up their new tent.
Summit is playing with his new monster toy from Aunt Becci...he thinks it is so funny!
Here he is picking blueberries with Nana up at Uncle Steves house.
Here he is playing with the bowls were were using to pick vegetables in the garden.

Here are the blackberries we picked...like 16 cups or something. Then Nana made a pie...yummy!

Lost Coast

It's a little late but here are the pictures from the lost coast. We had such a blast! It's hard to backpack with a little baby though. Austin and Andrew were so awesome though...they carried all my stuff so I could carry Summit and his stuff. What troopers!

Here's the before shot

And the after shot

And a few in between

Wish it didn't take so long to download them or I'd put more. We're headed to the fair....I'm excited!