Do I really miss Utah?!?!?

I'm not so sure anymore. I can honestly say I DO NOT miss the snow and the cold. I'm turning into a desert rat I guess, because I froze my butt off while we were up there. I don't miss the inversion that seems to last all winter long. It made me feel a little claustrophobic! I DO still miss our wonderful friends and family up there. We just really love Vegas... I know that seems hard to believe, but we do. Utah was great for the 8 years we lived up there, but I just don't miss it like I used to. However, we do still have a great time anytime we go up there.

We were able to go up to Salt Lake the weekend before Christmas because Patrick had some business meetings up there. So the boys and I tagged along so we could see our friends up there. We hung out and played with friends, visited old favorite restaurants (we went to Crown Burger twice!), and visited family we haven't seen in a while. It was fun to introduce them to Landon and to craft with my crafty buddy, and laugh with them.

Just before we left for Salt Lake, Patrick gets an email from his aunt that lives in Jackson, WY telling us she had booked a King Suite at the Grand America Hotel for that weekend, but due to a close friend passing away and his funeral being that weekend, they were unable to use the room, and it was totally nonrefundable. She offered it to us!! We graciously accepted it, and it was so nice! It was fun to stay there, even if it was with all 3 kids, it was a nice hotel! While we were there, they had a Gingerbread Village up that you could go see. You could also bid on them to buy, and the proceeds went to some charity. Some of the houses had the bidding up to $1400!!!!! WOW!! They were pretty cool to see.

A HUGE thanks to Aunt Jenny for the room.... it was so nice of you to let us use it when you weren't able to. Hope you get to reschedule your trip soon so you can enjoy it for yourself!

Christmas at our house this year....

...was SO MUCH BETTER then last year!! Click here to get a refresher on our not so great holiday last year.

This year seemed just crazy the whole month of December. We were busy with normal everyday stuff.... school parties and programs.... work parties.... trip to Utah... and of course birthdays!

I kept feeling so stressed to get everything done. Having Landon just a few months ago... I still haven't gotten completely back to normal life, and feel like I'm constantly behind on everything. So I'll just start by admitting that I didn't get our usual Christmas goodies out to our friends and neighbors... and I felt really bad about that... especially since so many of you guys were on the ball enough to give us such yummy plates of goodies. But I just couldn't do it all... and I was running out of time! Birthdays and Christmas was coming faster then I was able to keep up. So thanks to all you who gave us yummy treats, they were very appreciated, and hopefully next year we will be on our game more to return the favor! We have great friends and neighbors here!!! I have never been so behind on shopping for Christmas... I even sent Patrick to the store on Christmas Eve for a few last things. However, amid all the stress, I tried really hard to remember something my wonderful friend Kym told me a few years ago when I was stressing about Christmas.... it doesn't matter how behind you are, or how many gifts you get people, that's not what Christmas is all about. Nothing I didn't already know... so I tried to not stress, and just enjoyed the reason we celebrate Christmas and enjoy my family! Kym always has such great words of wisdom! :) That is why we *heart* her!!

We all had a great Christmas. We left out cookies for Santa and carrots for his Reindeer. (this was yet another thing that I ran out of time to do... Santa got Costco Chocolate Chip cookies this year) When Santa comes to our house... he likes to have a Dr. Pepper too!! :)

The boys got lots of great things... Legos.... Wii games.... DS games.... Conner got a bike.... Harry Potter movie..... remote control cars... and a swing set from their Grandpa and Grandma Shumate. That has yet to be put together and enjoyed... but the kids are excited for it!

We had our traditional scones for Christmas breakfast.... they were YUMMY!! I used my new electric frying pan for it, it was wonderful. My old one was broken and old, the new one is so much nicer! I gave Patrick a new wedding band and the boys gave him a new BYU hat to wear when he watches the games.

It was a great Christmas at our house!!

HaPpY 7th BiRtHdAy Brayden!!!

How how has it already been 7 years?!?!

It has gone by so fast! Brayden is such a great kid... a great way to start off our team of boys! He was such a sweet little baby, and continues to be a sweet little boy! He is such a great big brother. Conner pretty much worships anything and everything about Brayden. He is so in love with his newest baby brother, and is such a great helper to ho

ld him while mommy makes dinner or running to

get diapers for mom, and he can always make Landon give big smiles. He is a typical little boy... doing crazy things, having a great (and most the time very funny) imagination, playing hard all the time, loves Transformers, Bakkugon, super hero's, Lego's, and video games. He is doing so well in school and really loves reading, and is getting so good at it! He loves to be with

his friends, and playing with them is always on his mind. He wants so bad to be grown up, to be able to do everything he sees his daddy do. He has brought so much joy and happiness to our lives and we are so very blessed that he is in our family.

He was the BEST Christmas present we have ever been given!!!

We love you Brayden!!

We started off the day opening presents and eating one of Brayden's favorite things to have for breakfast... poppyseed muffins form Costco! Then we played with some of his new presents for a while until it was time to go to lunch.

He chose to go to McDonald's. I find it funny that he wanted to go there because he said he only wanted to go there to get an Avatar toy in the happy meals. Stupid reason to go... especially since that is a movie he will never

see, but the birthday boy gets to choose!

After lunch we headed over to the movie theater to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. The boys loved it. The rest of us thought it was just ok, I personally liked the 1st one better. Then we came home and made Brayden's favorite dinner... Mexican Fideo. (I find that no one knows what this is.... it's a yummy mexican noodle dish that you put in tortilla's and it's so yummy!)

Then we had Cupcakes with peppermint frosting and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Brayden. He even got 7 birthday spankings this year, he was laughing so hard he was crying after the spankings, he thought it was hilarious!!!

Another year grown! I can't believe my little boy is growing so fast.... he'll be baptized next year!! How crazy is that?!?!?

Our life sure is a fun and eventful place with Brayden around!

The Great Debate!

For several years now, Patrick and I have had a little debate going. I find it quite humorous! We battle it out every year around Christmas time. We even have our kids picking sides, although they seem to waiver on whose side they are on. What is this great debate all about you ask??? 

The Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Song!!

See we seem to have different versions of it. I say it's fine to have different versions, however, it pains Patrick to hear my version. The song itself it the same. It's the "extras" that you add in between the lines of the song that we debate about. After the first few years of this debate (all in good fun of course... we are usually laughing as we talk about it) I started asking friends and family how they sang this song. I was quite sad to learn that most people did NOT sing the song my way, but the way that Patrick does. This only fueled the debate. I finally came to the conclusion that it is a Prescott thing!!! Maybe more specifically a Taylor Hicks Elementary School thing. See, everyone that I grew up with in Prescott and went to Elementary school with knows my version. My mom says that is because that is the "silly" version the music teacher there taught us.  My siblings know it, my friends know it. But Patrick won't let me teach it to our kids!!  Hence the debate! Whenever we hear the Rudolph song, I just start to smile and snicker, and Patrick just looks at me like "don't even think about it!" Then we both just laugh while we listen to the song. Despite Patrick's opposition, I have taught the boys my version, only Brayden likes to take his Dad's side and tell me I'm wrong when I sing it. I think it's just a funny way to sing it. I'll let you be the judge... here is MY version........

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (reindeer)

Had a very shinny nose (like a light bulb)

And if you ever saw it (saw it)

You would even say it glows (like a lollipop!)  *this is where is takes a turn*

All of the other reindeer (reindeer) 

Used to laugh and call him names (like mud-face)

They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)

Join in any reindeer games (like hoof-ball) *get it... like football, only with hoof's?!?!  LOL!!!

Then one foggy Christmas eve... Santa came to say (booga-wooga) *this is Patrick's most upsetting line... he says Santa NEVER would say "booga-wooga". I disagree!!

Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight.

Then how the reindeer loved him (loved him)

As they shouted out with glee (whoopee!)

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, you'll go down in history!!  (LIKE TOOTHPASTE!!)

*Patrick claims toothpaste never went down in history... I say, where would we all be today without toothpaste?!?

So that is  my version. What do you think... catchy..... no?!?!?  :)

Too Fast!

I can't believe that Landon is already 2 months old!! How does that happen so fast?!?! He went to the Dr. for his 2 month check up this week, and boy is this kid growing!!!! 

-He is now at 12 lbs. 11 oz. and 23 inches long (just in case you are wondering, that is about the 70th percentile!!) 

-He is now wearing 3-6 month clothes

-He LOVES to give big smiles

-He is totally fascinated by his big brothers... who by the way sure do love him too!

-He sleeps through the night almost every night (seriously, easiest baby I have had!!)

-Loves his mama!

-"talks" to us all the time

-He is pretty strong, and always kicking his legs or trying to stand up

-He's getting pretty good at grabbing things... like mommy's hair, glasses, earrings... whatever is in reach!

-He is losing all his hair!! Sad!! It was so soft and cute... but he does have a patch of longer hair at the base of his head. We joke that he is all business in the front.... party in the back!!  :)

-He is starting to like his baths more and more

-He has the CUTEST chunky, kissable cheeks

-He has brought so much love and happiness into our home!!

We are so happy that he is part of our family!

Birthday Time!!

It was Patrick's birthday!!! YAY!!! I love birthdays! Patrick think his is "just another day" and doesn't like to do to much for it. But I always insist on doing at least a little something for him. So this year his present was that he was able to go shopping at the outlets while we were in St. George for Thanksgiving and he got some new work clothes and new shoes. Patrick really does like shopping, so he loves it when he can go pick out new clothes for himself!

I had heard from several friends about this bakery called Nothing Bundt Cakes and that their cakes were amazing!! Patrick doesn't really like the traditional kind of birthday cake, because he thinks the frosting is usually gross or too rich. So I have had to get creative over the years for his birthday. Some years we get ice cream cakes, some I have made him a German Chocolate Cake (his favorite, but I HATE it!! Coconut.... BLAH!!!) and some years cheesecake. But this year I decided to try something different, so I got him a Marble Bundt cake. It was SO SO SO yummy!! He loved it! SCORE for ME!!! 

Landon helped his Daddy celebrate and blow out the candles.....

Some fun things about Patrick... just in case you didn't know....

*he is such a great daddy

*he works SUPER hard to support his family

* he LOVES Dr. Pepper

*cheers for the Cougars and Cardinals... the AZ ones

*he has a very strong testimony of the gospel

*can speak Hungarian... since that is where he went on his mission

*he is my own personal shopper, he picks out most my clothes, shoes, and accessories

*is an amazing husband!!!

*loves watches, and just added another one to his collection for his birthday bringing the total number of watches he owns to somewhere between 10 and 15, I stopped counting after a while

***he is the LOVE of my life!!!!!***

I'm so glad you were born Patrick!

Brayden came home from school the other day with this......

I told him that was a great turkey he made as he learned about the first Thanksgiving, and asked why it was all red in the middle. He very casually told me that is where it got shot and killed so we could eat it because we can't eat it if it's still alive. 

I'm kinda sorry I asked!!!   LOL!!!!!!!

Landon's photo shoot

The other day my friend came over and took these AMAZING photos of Landon and the boys. I absolutely LOVE them!! She did a great job.... thanks so much Shadoe!! 

This one is one of my very favorites!!!

You can tell he has chubby cheeks in this one... so sweet! Those cheeks are VERY kissable too! 

Brayden and Conner are great big brothers, and love their new baby brother a ton!!!

Sweet little feet!

The older boys were kinda being little stinkers while getting there pictures taken and I was so worried that we didn't get any good ones of them all together, but I was SOOOOO happy that we did, there were several that turned out good!!

Landon was kinda pooped out by the end of all these pictures, but still a cute bunch of boys if I do say so myself!!!

Firelight.... so funny!

For all of you Twilight fans out there, here is a funny spoof from when Taylor Swift hosted SNL last week. SO FUNNY!!!

Just FYI.... I'm so excited to see New Moon next week!!! :)

Can't deny it!

Just for fun I started looking at some pictures of the boys when they were about 6-8 weeks old, which is how old Landon is... I can't believe how fast its' gone. We keep going back and forth about who he looks like. Some times I think that he look just like Brayden....

Above is Brayden at about 2 months old, and below is his blessing day, about 7 weeks old....

Defiantly some similarities!

Then there is Conner. I have this picture of him in his blessing outfit (about 6 weeks old) hanging by my stairs, and every time I pass it, I think, dang, Landon looks just like Conner...

(don't mind the bad coloring, I don't know what the deal is with my scanner!)

Then in this picture, if I didn't know any better, I would think it was Landon, not Conner laying there.

This was Landon's blessing day at 5 weeks old......

Do you see the resemblance??  I don't think these kids can deny they are brothers!

Landon's Blessing Day

We were able to bless our sweet little Landon this past Sunday.

He was such a handsome little guy in his blessing outfit. My mom made it for him, as she has made all of my boys blessing outfits. In fact, I think she has made all of her 12 grandkids blessing outfits over the years. She did such a great job on Landon's, I loved it!!

He was a good baby during the blessing, no crying, just stayed asleep, which his Dad appreciated! Patrick gave him a awesome, beautiful blessing. 

We had to get lots of pictures of this day!!

I just LOVE this new little baby in our family!! He is going to be another momma's boy I think, as have all my boys. Conner a bit more then Brayden. When we were taking this picture he was giving me the sweetest looks. We were trying to get him to look towards the camera, but he wouldn't stop looking at me. I just love that! I wish my boys would stay little forever!

So handsome and all ready to go to church! I just love my boys!! I love that Brayden looks so much like Patrick did when he was little. 

My wonderful little family! I must say I don't particularly like how outnumbered I am, but I sure love being a mom of little boys!

All my boys with my parents. Look, my Dad is even smiling!!  :)  He tries to be so serious in pictures sometimes, but I love it when we get one of him smiling, especially with his grandkids! Once when I was visiting my parents ward with my boys, my dad was sitting in Sacrament meeting with one of them and holding them on his lap, scratching their back, and giving plenty of hugs, and afterwards, a guy sitting behind us told me that seeing my Dad with his grandkids proved that my Dad really is just a big teddy bear. Which is so true!! Many know my dad as a tough old cop guy, but his grandkids sure melt his big ol' heart, and I'm pretty sure they all have him wrapped around their little fingers too! My parents are such great Grandparents to all 12 of their grandkids!  :)

We were lucky enough to have some of our family come to be with us on Landon's blessing day. My parents came, Patrick's mom, and my Aunt and Uncle all came from out of state to be with us. We were sad that Patrick's Dad and Step Mom were not able to make it. They live in Jackson Hole, WY, and got stuck at home under 6 FEET of snow. Needless to say, they weren't going anywhere for a few days. Also we missed my brother and his family who were planning on coming up. They all got really sick, and were kind enough to keep their germs home. But we sure missed them. My sweet little Conner cried and cried the night I told them his cousins weren't going to be able to come. My boys were really looking forward to playing with their cousins and going trick or treating with them. Thank goodness they will get to see those cousins, and more, in just a few weeks for Thanksgiving. For having all of our families living our of state, we defiantly felt blessed having those who were able to attend be here with us and we missed all those family and friend that live too far away to be there. I promise, we were thinking of all of you!

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year, complete with grandparents and everything. We had some family come into town for Landon's blessing, so it was fun! We had hoped to have some of the cousins here, but they all got sick a few days before they were suppose to be here, and so they decided to stay home in AZ as to not get our family sick. Which while that was GREATLY appreciated... we really missed having Uncle Russ and his family here. The boys were really sad they wouldn't get to play with their cousins or go trick or treating with them, but good thing we will get to see them in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.

We had a great time at our Ward's truck or treat. They boys got so much candy!! It was a tri-ward trunk or treat, so there were LOTS and LOTS of people there. It was a blast! We ran outta candy really fast to hand out to the trick or treaters, so I felt kinda bad about that, but I had no idea there was gonna be so many people there!

What cute and excited little boys we had! They could hardly wait to go get dressed up and get to the church. Landon was Baby Superman... Brayden was the Incredible Hulk... and Conner was a green Power Ranger.  

He was a little unsure about all that was going on.....

Just flying around.....

Don't they look tough?!?!

We also carved pumpkins. This year I finally got the boys to help clean out the inside of the pumpkins. They usually think it's "so gross" so they won't touch it, but this year they thought it was super cool! So they each hollowed out the inside of their own pumpkin.

This was Landon's pumpkin.  I meant to get a picture of him with his pumpkin but forgot to since we was asleep during all the carving fun that was going on.

Here are the finished results! They turned out pretty good I think!

Here is good ol' Grandpa taking a nap with Landon! So classic!!   Grandpa sure loves his grandkids!!!  :)