Christmas 2009

We have had a great Christmas season this year. It is our second Christmas here in Kansas and we have had fun doing all our favorite activities this time of year. We tried to do something seasonally appropriate every weekend of December. We made and decorated Christmas cookies, which both boys enjoyed. The dogs and the oven ended up with the last laugh on the cookie front though. The dogs got to a plate that Robert had made up to take to work, then to hide the rest of the cookies from said dogs i put the cookies in the oven and later that day i forgot and preheated the oven for dinner and opened it to a melted frosting mess. The boys still ate them but they were pretty crispy after that second bake. Below is a picture of the boys when we asked the question "Who wants to make cookies?"

Another one of our favorite things to do around the holidays is to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We had a fun little drive around our town and stopped in the park to take some pictures. We found a fun house on our drive that had there lights synchronized to music you could tune in through your car radio, the boys thought that was really neat. Jake was so cute because every time he saw pretty lights he would go "OhhhhOhhh" it was so cute, he did it all month long whenever he saw lights.




We went back to Utah again for Christmas this year. We started the trip off at Robert's brother's house in Heber. Cody was so excited to see his cousins again and they had fun playing in the snow and reconnecting. We also got to ride the Polar Express again this year, it is such a fun tradition and if you are in the area and haven't been it's a great way to get you in the Christmas spirit.


I'm not going to lie it was a bit of a rough year. Almost everyone at Robert's family's house was sick on Christmas and Cody threw up Christmas night, Jake had a ongoing fever and i couldn't stop coughing. While it was rough we got through it and really did have a nice Christmas day. The boys got spoiled as usual and Christmas morning was exciting as always. Cody was up at the crack of dawn and it took Jake a while to get into the swing of things but it wasn't long before they were both tearing into their presents.


The day after Christmas we headed off to my parents house in Orem. The boys had fun opening more presents there. The next day my sister Deena and her family came to visit and it was so fun seeing the kids play together. Jake took a liking to big cousin Hayden and it was fun to see the twins who have gotten so big.
We also took a family trip to Krispy Kreme right down the street from my parents house. Cody loves doughnuts and we wanted to subject Jake to his first Krispy Kreme ever and the results were great. He couldn't shove them in fast enough, it was pretty funny.

By the end of the trip we were actually ready to hit the road and head for home. We missed it a bit more than we did last year. The boys were good on the plane ride home and we were so happy to snag a earlier flight home that day. I had to take this picture of Cody on the plane, it was just so funny, does this kid have it rough or what!!

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Christmas and find themselves jumping into a great New Year in 2010. I am looking forward to a year full of family fun and great new memories.

Santa Visit '09

Since moving here to Kansas we have gone to see Santa's at Bass Pro Shops in nearby Olathe. They have a outstanding set up with a full Santa's Wonderland. They also have a lot of other fun activities for the kids to do, there is car racing, laser shooting gallery, remote control Monster trucks, Wii fishing, dart shooting and lots of neat decorations to look at. The boys had a good time. Jake was a bit more leery of Santa this year, i think if Cody wouldn't have been with him he may have freaked out a bit more, there were no tears but a definite worried look and he was ready to tell Santa Bye Bye. We go to Bass Pro quite a bit so it's fun to be able to go there and visit Santa this time of year. Cody told Santa exactly what he wants and he even told him what Jake wants, such a nice brother.

Waiting in line to see the man in red!

Family Pictures 2009

Jake 18 months

Cody 5yrs

Turkey Day 2009

I just wanted to take a minute this Thanksgiving eve to say how many things that i have to be thankful for....I have a beautiful healthy family and we are so blessed to be living the life we live. I am thankful for my freedom and for the men and women who fight to defend it everyday. Our family had a wonderful day aside from the fact that our big screen t.v. went out about a half a hour before dinner. I won't lie it did throw Robert into a big of a frenzy and i thought i might loose him for a while but i had him take a deep breath, eat some turkey and then go get those ad's that we thought we were done with. As is stands right now he will be at Wal-mart tomorrow at 5am, i am hoping for the best.
We did have a yummy dinner though and Jake sat with us at the table instead of in his highchair for the first time, he thought he was so cool and he was actually very well behaved and ate like the champ that he always does. Cody had chicken nuggets and he was forced to take a bite of turkey before he left the table, mind you he had to do it while plugging his nose and followed by a quick drink, i mean really!
I made my own pies for the first time this year and they turned out pretty good, i know a few things to change for next year but i think it was a good first attempt. Next year i will make real mashed potatoes and then maybe the year after that i will dive into homemade stuffing. I am baby stepping my way to a full homemade Thanksgiving meal.

My first pies - Pumpkin and Cherry

We played pin the hat on the turkey, it was actually pretty fun...

The end result..

The boy's ready to eat

Jake was digging his Turkey dinner

Cody's 5th Birthday

Well another birthday has come and gone. We are trying to recover from a fairly exciting weekend around here. We had Cody's birthday on Saturday(also opening day of the Kansas pheasant hunt, for anyone who cares, and for the record Robert was a very good dad and missed the first day to attend said party). We woke up to a very excited 5 year old who wanted to open all his presents right away.
We had the party at the Mall at a bouncy place called Monkey Bizness. He wanted to invite all his friends from school and the neighborhood and i didn't really want them all in my house, nor did i think they would all fit so the result ended in renting out Monkey Bizness for a couple hours of bouncing fun. Everyone who came seemed to have a blast, i couldn't even keep track of Cody and only saw him a few times. Jake had fun too and i even took him down the big slide a couple of times. All in all it was a great afternoon and the party was a success. We got home and Robert packed up his truck and headed out for the pheasant hunt. Cody was so happy to have his dad at the party and was grateful that he gave up opening day to spend his birthday with him.
He is still anxiously waiting for Dad to come home to tell him all about his hunting trip and to bring him more presents from Utah family that he hunted with. He got some neat gifts from us, grandmas and papa's and family and friends. His Grandma and Papa Davis got him a trampoline but it probably will not get set up until spring so we will have to take a picture of it then, i think the boys will have fun with it next summer.
Cody has really been enjoying playing with Aunt Dayna who came from Utah to visit for his birthday. We are so glad that she was able to come, especially since Robert has been gone hunting, it gives Cody and Jake someone else to torture besides me for a couple of days:)
Here are some pictures of Cody's day of birthday fun......

With his new G.I. Joe

The goodie bags the i made for the party goers

The cupcake cake that i made

Going down the slide with his buddies

Me and Jake on the big slide, it really wasn't as scary as i am making it look.

Jake and Dad in the bounce house

Party table #1

Party table #2

Blowing out the candle, he told me he remembered to make a wish but wouldn't tell me what it was because then it won't come true.....

Opening presents, he got so many, which are now all over the house.

Time to ditch the binkie???

Halloween 2009

Well Halloween has once again come and gone for another year. We had a fun year this year and the boys really enjoyed themselves. Jake was so much fun this year and really got into the whole trick or treating thing. He was knocking on doors, putting candy in his bucket and remembering to say thank you, what a cutie! Cody was super cool as G.I. Joe and had a great time leading the pack while walking around the neighborhood. Jake was all about the suckers and was hording them while we were sorting the candy. He would have eaten them all if we had let him. Cody was so so excited that one of the houses in the neighborhood was giving out whole candy bars and he got a big Hershey's Bar, his favorite, that pretty much made his night,he is a chocoholic! We hope you all had a great night and that your kids or yourself are coming down from the sugar high and headed for a good night's sleep, i know we are.

Driving Mr. Elmo

The cup cakes that i made for Cody's class party.

Pumpkin carving fun, Jake loved it!

Elmo and G.I. Joe - A likely pair

The trick or treating crew.... what a cute bunch.

We hadn't even started and somehow Elmo found a sucker to eat!?

At Miss Anne's, Jake is knocking....

The stash!! You have to click on this picture and look at Jake's face, priceless!