camping is intense

CAUTION

**picture overload next 3 posts**

Last weekend our little bitty fam headed up north an hour or so to spend sometimes with our friends at their cabin. We had so much fun!

We played games. Bags was new to us and our love affair has just begun. It's crazy addicting!

Eh hem, might I had that I won! :)

The fellas decided to campout and watch us ladies chuck these been bags like they were shotputs. We had to lower the scoring standard so that we weren't playing one round all day long.

It's ok, I'll admit it. I'm a girl and I have hardly ANY coordination.

We also played in the snow! G loved sitting on the icy mound and feeling the flakes in his fingers.

G went in for his first kiss: 

(I apologize for the blur)

It was such a fun weekend! Thanks for having us!

santa? i know him!

Last weekend we did the obligatory santa photo ritual. We went to Bass Pro Shop because we had been told that it was the best. It was indeed. Part of the store is turned into Santa's Village and there are children activities to keep them occupied and free popcorn. There also was the added bonus of being at Bass Pro Shop. Tanman had nothing to complain about. When we got there we got a pass that told us to come back an hour and a half later, so we shopped for necessities like camo lingerie (it exists... it really exists). We could not contain our laughter when we found that gem and quickly thought of any white elephant gift parties that we could bring it to. Tan and G roamed all over and played with the quads and the huge fish tank. Both boys were in heaven.

(excuse the blur)

When it was our turn to get in line it was about 45 minutes after G's bedtime so we were dreading the tears but the closer we got to the front the more hyper we tried to make him and by golly it worked! It worked! It worked! He was chill and just stared at his beard and best of all we had a not crying baby:

now if only he smiled...

(notice that he is smiling bigger on the quad than with Santa? Dad is so proud!)

best mom ever.

G got stuck in his highchair last week and I grabbed the camera instead of helping.

polar express part deux

The in-laws started a new tradition this year! Tanman's aunt holds a Polar Express party for her grandchildren and we thought we would do the same! It really is a genius idea! This gives our little fam the chance to have Christmas eve all by our lonesome without planning multiple schedules and keeping kids up like crazy... and added bonus: they get to wear their Christmas jammies all month long! We started the night with dinner and hot chocolate. After the nourishment we opened up the sleepers for the youngins and Grandpa read the book to them... or at least tried to long enough for us to snap some pictures. After the show of kids and craziness, we attempted to watch the picture show of polar express but that lasted long enough for G to find the stairs (for the first time) and decided to climb all the way up by himself.

G and baby H love eachother! (although H might be a little mad that G just stole his toy)

Erin, I think I figured out why H kept crying when we tried to take pictures... sorry! We are in the process of learning what "gentle" means.

polar express

The saturday after Thanksgiving while everyone was still huddled into our abode, we piled into our cars and made the trek up north to take the boys on the Polar Express. (This was definitely a "parent's will remember more than the kids will" kind-of deal but we couldn't pass it up) It was a bit of a drive for only an hour and a half train ride but the output was definitely worth input.

We all dressed up in our night clothes and piled into the train,

waved goodbye to Grammy, Grampy and Aunt Smelly (they were too cool for the train)

and headed to meet santa!

Words fail me when I describe how much fun we really had on this little train! Our chefs walked up and down the aisles with hot chocolate and cookies while reading the story to us and letting each child see the pictures. Once we arrived at the North Pole, Santa came on board and gave each child a bell! ...of course we lost ours *irony* and Santa turned right around and gave us a new one!

Once Santa had paid a visit to each little boy and girl, we journeyed back to our homecoming while the chefs danced and sang up and down the aisle. G and W adored it!

thankful

"the best Thanksgiving ever" - big Wade

The results are in and even the family Scrooge agrees that we had a rockin' Thanksgiving! It was so fun, so packed, so delicious, so eventful and so fast! I wish we could stretch Thanksgiving to a whole month! I can't remember a better Thanksgiving, honestly! (well if you compare to last year when I went into preterm and missed out on our big family trip... then anything is obviously better). Tanman and I hosted this year so everyone (minus Hannah) showed up at our house! The best part about this craziness was that somehow or other everyone fit!

We even got to have Melissa's new fiance come too.

On Thursday morning Liz, Dave and W made up some excuse to leave us at the house and they come back with a HUGE surprise!

They came back with HANNAH!

Hannah had to work Wednesday night and Friday afternoon so she decided just to stay in Utah for the holiday but Liz came up with a brilliant idea to fly her down early on Thursday morning and then back again on Friday right before work. BEST. IDEA. EVER. We were all so excited and it made the whole week that much more special.

the boys were excited too!

It was so fun for G to have W to play with! He was always so excited when he woke up from his nap because he knew it meant play time. These two boys are going to give us a run for our money when they are older, I can just tell.

(we start them young)

When the food was in our belly we headed on over to the Temple to see the Christmas lights.
We never had Temple Lights growing up and it was so fun to see the whole thing so decked out! I loved it.

G's having a good time!

This is one of my favorite pictures from this week! It looks like G is totally into this funny joke that he is telling Mort and Mort is thinking it's the best joke he has ever heard! haha

What an amazing weekend we had! I just love my family so much. They are the best. No one else can quote Tommy Boy, John Denver and Pride and Prejudice in the same sentence quite like we can. I would be lost without them in my life! Love you all!