Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I've decided Christmas is much more exciting when you have kids believing in Santa. It was so much fun. Crew woke up and said that he heard Santa's bells! Such a funny kid! Anyway, they had a wonderful Christmas filled with lot's of family and fun. And of course, since they are the only grandkids on Rett's side, got way too spoiled. At some point I hope to instill the true meaning of Christmas to them. I talked a lot with Crew about baby Jesus, but I know he doesn't really get it. Anyway, Christmas is fun with little kids!

Here are the boys in their matching Christmas Eve PJs. And then the next morning with a few of their new toys.

























These jammies were so funny! Grandpa Kip and Debbie got them for the boys. We told them they were the kind of underwear cowboys wore and that's all it took for Crew to fall in love with them! Anyway, I know there's a bunch of pictures, but I couldn't choose between some of them! They are just too funny! Handsome cowboys in their undies!!!

Gingerbread Men

My mom sent us these cute gingerbread cookie kits and the boys had fun making them with some help. Rett helped Drake and I helped Crew. We had fun, but of course the boys favorite part was eating all the candy off of them. They licked off all the frosting and ended up getting it in their ears and hair and up their noses. It was funny! When I got the camera out, Drake was already stuffing candy into his mouth, but very happy about it!









And I have to share Crew's Christmas wish and some of the things that have happened with it. Crew was in Cabela's with me one day and ran into this toy truck, horse trailer, and horses set. It was love at first sight. He was begging me for it, but of course, I couldn't give in. He would say "Mom, come look at it for one minute" and then, "But I love it mom!" It was quite the experience. Anyway, I was finished with Christmas shopping until Rett decided we had to get it for him and take him to see Santa and make him ask for it. We're instilling a strong belief in him. So we did. Crew was really funny, he walked right up to santa and said "Bucking horse, horse trailer, and truck please!" Then, we went to my nieces dance recital and there was a santa and Crew ran right up to him, even though there was a big line, and two little girls sitting on his lap, and said to him "Bucking horse please". At least he said please, even though he totally cut in line and ruined the cute little girls experience! Needless to say, we're excited for Christmas morning to see the complete and utter joy on the boys little face!

Stockings and Dogs

So, three years ago I decided I wanted to make some stockings for Christmas. And I finished them enough so that we could use them that year for Christmas, but had planned on getting our names embroidered on them. And, I just did it! We used them for two years without names on them. But now, they are officially done!



My husband is an obsessive waterfowl hunter. So, I decided to make them so that they appealed to him! And yes, they are camouflage. But I still think they are pretty! Anyway, they are unique at least! But I am very excited to have them finished and hanging up. Oh, and yes, we did actually get one embroidered with our dogs name on it. I know, very sad, but Rett loves his Chief. The saddest part is, that we got our dog Bell right after we were married, so we've had her for over 7 years. Rett really wants a new dog to train and I feel like 3 dogs is way too much. So, he's trying to sell her. Poor girl. I feel bad when I really stop and think about it. She's been with us for so long. But, Rett doesn't even take her hunting anymore, he uses Chief, because Chief is a way better retriever. So, hopefully we'll find her a good home and she'll be happier there. Because Rett put a deposit down on a new puppy in Washington that will be ready in February. Two months to sell our sweet little Jezabell!



This turned into a long post, when all it was really supposed to be about was our stockings getting done! YAY for projects that finally get finished!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Full of family, food, and love. We have so much to be grateful for! It would take me hours to get it all written down. So, I'm just going to say we are so thankful for all that we've been blessed with.

For Thanksgiving this year we went up to Rett's Dad's house in Idaho. It was a lot of fun. We had a great meal with good company and the boys got tractor rides from Bampa.

The night before we left, Crew was so excited. He's been talking about going to Bampa's for weeks now. We told him when he woke up we were going to drive to Bampa's. He got into bed and couldn't wait! He got up two minutes later and said, "time to go to Bampa's!". I explained to him he had to sleep all night and we'd leave in the morning when it was light. Later he woke up and said "It's yight outyide mom! Time to go to Bampa Kip's!". Again, we got him back in bed. He even woke once at 3am and asked if it was time to go yet! You would have thought it was Christmas Eve!! He was so excited! I'm glad he loves his Bampa so much!

My Little Cowboys

Of course this is Crew's every day attire, but we've never gotten Drake dressed up in cowboy clothes, so we were going to a rodeo a friend was in the other day, and thought we'd get both boys dressed up. TOO CUTE! Yes, sometimes it is seriously annoying that Crew wants to wear his hat, boots, buckle, and a button up shirt every single day, and that some days, like for church, I have to argue with him about it all morning or even hide them from him, but hey, he really is a cute cowboy!!

A Cowboy and his Horse

So, as if anyone wouldn't have guessed, but Crew was a cowboy for Halloween. Yes, he wears his hat, boots, and belt every day, but we added a few more special touches to his costume. Grandpa bought him a pair of spurs and found him a feather for his hat, we have a pair of chaps that are still a little big, we made him a contestant number for his back that said "Frost" and "1987" (the year he won the world), he also wore Wranglers and a 20X shirt. So, it was a little more than normal!

Anyway, we decided to have Drake be the cowboys horse. He didn't really like wearing his costume because he couldn't see that well or walk very easily. But he loved cuddling with it when he wasn't wearing it!!



We took the boys to our wards Trunk or Treat, which had a huge turnout. I got three big bags of candy and two smaller ones and I totally ran out. Anyway, I think Crew had fun going around and getting candy. Drake didn't really know what was going on. Now my chore is to keep the candy away from Crew and try to limit his intake to one or two pieces a day. Which is hard.




I think we had the cutest cowboy and a pretty good little horse too! Afterwards we had Rett's parents over and had lot's of really bad for you snacks and junk food. Crew really didn't want to take off his chaps and spurs, but the chaps are a little too big and hard to walk in and the spurs are scary mean and can do some serious damage to furniture. So, I had to take them away and lock them in a closet. Every day since he's asked me where they are and then says "In closet, mommy hide them. Can wear them tomorrow?" It's a constant conversation. He's totally obsessed with cowboys. But at least he's a really cute one!

Lane, Tuff, and Cody

SO, Crew is totally obsessed with the movie 8 Seconds. He probably watches it at least every other day. Needless to say, I have it completely memorized! And he thinks he is Lane Frost and has for quite some time. Sometimes for lunch, he won't come eat until I say "Lane your lunch is ready". It's really funny. Really he says it "Yayne Boss" because his pronunciation is still not perfect with some sounds. Tuff is "Tupp" and Cody is "Tody". It's really quite cute!

He has also called Drake Tuff for quite sometime. Lately, he's started calling Rett Cody. Tuff Hedeman and Cody Lambert are the other bull riders Lane rides with. During the day Crew will randomly say "Tupp leeping (when Drake's napping), Tody working (Rett's at work), and "Yayne Boss playin wiff mommy". It's so funny.

It is getting kind of old though. If he's doing something and you tell him to stop, he'll say, "But Yayne does it". Everything is Lane Frost! I can't believe how obsessed this kid is with cowboys and Lane! It is ruling our entire life at our home!! But, he really is the cutest little cowboy I have ever seen! Gotta Love it!

Lineman Position

So, I've posted about Rett passing his journeyman test in September. Well, once he passed, he needed to secure a position. The bidding process is kind of crazy, but he was awarded a job at the same dock he's currently at, American Fork. YAY! Don't get me wrong, we still have dreams of moving somewhere where it's a little smaller and we can afford some land for our crazy cowboys to run around on. But for now, it's a great feeling for us to know that we don't HAVE to move somewhere we don't want to. Since he has the job now, it means that if a position came open that we wanted to bid, we could. And American Fork is a good dock. There's a lot of overtime for the taking if you want to work it, and they're a pretty good bunch of guys that he works with. So, sorry to all my neighbors who were trying to get rid of us. For now, we're here to stay!!

Happy Birthday Seth & Kip!

Today is my brother-in-law Seth's 19th birthday!! I made him a batman birthday cake.

I hope you have a very happy birthday Seth! Thanks for being such a great brother and uncle! We love you!


Tomorrow is my father-in-law's birthday! This is the cake I made for him.

I hope you have a great birthday! Do something nice for yourself! Thanks for being such a great father and grandpa to our boys! We love you!

Onion Rings

Since I posted that soup recipe that is probably not even good to think about how much fat is in it with all of the cheese, I thought I'd post a recipe that is really pretty good for you!

This is an onion ring recipe that is actually pretty good for you, but still really yummy!! I just used some store brand Bran Flakes, and it worked fine.

1 large onion
1/2 c Fiber One Bran Cereal
1/4 c egg substitute
salt
black pepper
oregano
garlic powder
paprika

Preheat oven to 375
Cut onion into inch wide slices, separate into rings
Grind cereal into crumbs in blender
Pour cereal into small dish and add spices
Fill bowl with egg substitute
Coat with eggs and then crumbs
Place on baking dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray
Cook 20-25 minutes.