Decorating fun

The boys really enjoyed decorating the tree and preparing for Christmas this year. They really loved picking out the Christmas tree at the tree farm.

The tree farm we went to had "reindeer" and hot apple cider and a sleigh for fabulous picture opportunities

When the tree finally got home the boys were very serious about decorating, especially Conner......

They have both enjoyed opening their advent calendars from Grandma and Papa ( I mean who wouldn't enjoy chocolate every day!) and decorating gingerbread houses and of course decorating cookies!

Now just a few more days until Christmas!

Snow!!!!

We cannot believe all this snow we have been having! Braden loves it!

He especially loves riding the quad around in the snow. (yes, he has a grownup with him except when posing for awesome pictures)

Conner is interested and tolerated a few sled rides with mom but mostly wanted to be held.

We have had some fun days away from school!

Santa Breakfast

This weekend we went to the Santa breakfast here in Anacortes. Braden and Conner got to go with Grandma and Papa Acuff and Grandma and Grandpa Thomas and of course mom and dad. We had a great pancake breakfast although Conner mainly played with balloons.

We decorated cookies...

and really, really enjoyed eating them (yes, even after a non breakfast of balloon playing)

It was a good day of family bonding! Merry Christmas!

Simple Pleasures

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Braden and Conner enjoyed a celebration with each side of the family so they had their fill of turkey and fun! Now December is definitely here with the cold weather. Here is a picture of the boys gearing up for the cold (thanks for the Wilder cap Kim!)

These hats gave Braden and Conner a good 30 minutes of entertainment. Oh the simple things......
Yes, it is fuzzy because they were jumping up and down for a good half an hour throwing and catching their hats. It was quite funny......

Halloween carnival

Braden and Conner enjoyed the annual La Conner School's Halloween carnival. Braden has acquired quite a good throwing arm and is showing great potential as a future baseball star. He even won his mom a 10 lb bag of potatoes by throwing 4/5 potatos at a target. We are so proud.

And he was not to proud to cheer himself on as well......

Conner really loved trick or treating.....

But as you can see he is much more stubborn than his older brother and this orange spiderman shirt was all the costume he would tolerate.

We hope everyone else enjoyed their Halloween as much as we did!

Class Field Trip

Braden's preschool class had a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday. Braden had a careful method of selecting just the right pumpkin. Luckily he chose a nice big orange one instead of this little green one.

Braden and Conner shared a hug on the hay ride in from the pumpkin field.
We then went on to see all the animals in the petting zoo. Conner loved feeding the chickens corn.
But Braden was brave enough to pet the chicken also!
There was story time, coloring and apples after we got to meet the animals. Conner joined right in with the class to enjoy a good story and a few apple slices.

Thanks to Grandma Marion for driving the kids to the pumpkin patch so mommy could meet them there from work. We all had a great time!

Sad to see summer go.......

Well our nice summer (well September anyway) has seemed to end. We are sad to see the nice weather go...... Hopefully we will get out in the boat a few more times before we have to pack it up for the summer. Both boys seem to love the water like their daddy.....

Vegas Dancers?

Today I was trying to call some preschools on the phone so I wasn't paying attention to the boys while they were playing for a minutes. When I got off the phone I found my handsome boys with stickers in interesting places...........

Training for Future Husky Tackles

One of Conner's favorite activities...............tackling his big brother.

Children's Museum

We went to the Children's museum last weekend with Grandma and Papa and Braden and Conner's cousins Sammie, Toby and Zack (of course Aunt Tina too!). It was very fun! Conner is in love with his baby twin cousins Toby and Zack and wants to hug and kiss them constantly (much to their dismay!)

They loved the upstairs playground and digging with the dinosaurs!

Braden loved pretending to be a restaurant owner and building with his Papa!

A good time was had by all! But with a 3 year old, 2 year old, 1 year old and two 4 month olds all I can say is thank goodness for grandparents!

A Day at the Zoo

Braden and I enjoyed a fun first day at the Woodland Park Zoo. He has never been there before and he loved it. It was a fun day! Braden got to see all sorts of animals he had never seen but I still think his favorite part was the petting zoo. That and milking the fake cow of course!

Track Meet Superstars

Braden has been so anxious to start any kind of sport and he has loved running in these track meets. He does the 50m hurdles, 50 m dash, 100 m dash, long jump and softball throw. He got 3rd place in both the 50 and 100m dash last night and may have placed in softball but we left before we could find out. We are so very proud!

Then there was Conner.  He really wanted to join the fun but the first racing group is for 2 year olds. We decided to be rebels and let our 19 month old run with the 2 year old group. Conner got 3rd place in both the 50m and 100m as well. He smiled the whole way! We expect next year when he really is 2 he will clean up in all categories!