It's a beautiful day for a picnic!

It maybe 25 degrees out side, but inside it is a perfect day for a picnic.
We even had a bear attack!

Go Aggies, Go Aggies! Hey, Hey, Hey!!!

As we all know, WE ARE AGGIES at the Fullmer house. We wear blue, we bleed blue.
This weekend we got to cheer at not just one, but two Aggie events.

Friday night was the inter-squad meet. Tom treats a couple of the team members, so we decided to go and support them. It was pretty informal, it was actually held in their work out gym; but there was a good crowd that showed up, and WOW it was fun! After watching the first routine my boys were hooked, and in between events they would have crowd completions. Both Owen and Tom competed in hand stand challenges. After the meet was over, they handed out team posters, which my boys had all the ladies sign, and then they let the kids play in the gym. This was definitely my boys favorite part. The walked on the beams, and rolled on the mats. But their favorite, by far, was jumping into the foam pits. It was nearly impossible to get them to leave. In fact I got Tal's shoes and coat on him, and turn to help Owen with his coat, and the next thing I know Tal had ran across the gym, and jumped back into the pit still wearing his shoes and coat. Yeah, I think I might just need to get him into a tumbling class.

Last night we got to go to the Basket ball game. I love Aggie basketball! There is nothing like the SPECTRUM, the fans are crazy, the team is awesome, the crowd is loud, and the seats are orange. how could you not have a good time? Not to mention that the majority if mine and Tom's courtship happened in the Spectrum, so going to the games always gets me reminiscing.
The boys LOVED the game. I fully expected them to be ready to leave after the first half, but they lasted the entire game. We got to see USU completely trample Western Oregon, and we had the privilege of being part of the crowd that welcomed Danny back (sad story, one of the team members heart randomly stopped earlier this week, and he was in the hospital for 5 days). I really loved watching the crowds reaction when he walked out on the court (don't worry he did not play). Aggie fans may be ruthless to the competition, but the sure did rally around Danny. It was awesome.

Like a Fire is Burning

Well, our turn has come. There have been so many wild fires in Utah this year, we were starting to feel left out. Actually, we were feeling blessed that no fires had broken out in Cache Valley. In fact, my parents visited us yesterday, and I mentioned how lucky we have been to not have to deal with fires, like what seems like every other county has this year.

I guess I spoke to soon. Today, the mouth of Millville Canyon caught fire. It has been quite the spectical to watch. I heard a ton of sirens this afternoon, and they just would not stop. Then our next door neighbor came over to tell us to look out the window, because the mountain was on fire.
What is crazy is that we were just up that canyon not two hours before the fire broke out. We went for a drive up to Leatham's Hollow today after church. It was the first time we had ever been up Millville Canyon, and I feel in love. I honestly think it us the prettiest canyon I have ever been in. I remember seeing these vibrant orange flowers up on the side of the mountain, and thinking that they were the color of fire. Now I am wondering if they were flowers or flames.

As the fire progressed, we realized that we saw some people camping fairly far ip the canyon. Tom got concerned about them, so we drove over towards the command center to tell them about Hornsby people we would guess were still in the canyon. Luckily, the fire is only on the north face of the canyon, so people coming down can still get out.

After talking to the police, we desided to stay and watch a bit. I think all 2000 Millvillians had the same idea. I honestly don't think I have ever seen the streets of Millville so crowded. My boys thought it was so cool to watch the helicopter fill up it's bucket at the local fish hatchery, and go dump it on the fire (any body want some broiled fish?).

It has been about four hours since the fire department responded, and the fire is still burning strong. Hopefully, they get it under controlled soon.

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, Happy New Year!

Wow, what a crazy month this has been. Moving. Hospital. Christmas. More illness. Birthdays. And New Years! And that all happened in less than two weeks. I think it is safe to say life has been a but crazy for us lately. I think I have sufficiently filled you on on moving and hospitals, so I will start at Christmas.

Christmas was wonderful. I had decided back in the summer that I wanted Christmas to be ready before I had the baby. Talk about inspiration! With everything that has happened since Max has come, I am not sure Christmas would have happened. Plus it was nice to be able to just focus on the Christ part of Christmas during the season. Anyway, this year the boys got a whole bunch of dress-ups, which they LOVE. Here is some helpful advise: If you think you might want to give dress-ups as Christmas gifts, start collecting costumes in the summer. I got tons of dress-ups at garage sales. Then I hit up the local thrift stores for more costumes before Halloween, and the department stores at the after Halloween clearance sales. I also made some super hero capes, and really cute construction worker costumes. But the best part of Christmas was the Owen was home and healthy. What a gift that was.

The day after Christmas, Tom and I got super sick. I honestly believe that this the sickest I have ever been. I could not stand up for four days, because I would fall over if I did. Sound seem to be amplified 100 times and would bounce around in my head; the noise of air blowing out of the furnace vents sounded like I was standing in an air tunnel. And I had a fever of 102. Tom had something similar, but poor guy had to go to work.

Because life gas been so crazy, we still have not unpacked our house. My sweet sister came to my rescue on New Years Eve. That is Tal's birthday, and I was still so sick, that I hardly had enough energy to make him a cake, let alone unpack boxes. So my wonderful sister brought her family up from SLC to help. The kids got to play together, she unpacked my house, I made a cake, and we had a Happy Tal-Tal/ New Years eve party. And we were all in bed by 8:00 pm. AWESOME!

I really liked going to bed early. I think this might be my new tradition.

Anyway, Happy New Year every one. I am totally ready to say good by to 2011. WELCOME 2012!!!!!!

New House! New Baby!

Wow, we have had a crazy past few months.
About a year ago, Tom's boss offered him a partnership. Of course we were super excited, and thought this was a dream come true. So we started the process of securing a business loan, which easier said than done. We have talked to countless banks, but had no success with any of them. Back in September, We started to think that maybe we should consider buying a house; then we could build up a bit of collateral, and perhaps the banks will give Tom a business loan in a couple of years.

We looked at 50 or more houses until we found the ONE. It was weird, when I walked into this house I felt like I was coming home, which was a feeling I had not had at any other house. Tom says he felt the same way. We knew that this house was supposed to be our home.
We put an offer on the house on October 16, went under contract on October 26, had a baby on November 3. After the longest 2 months of our lives, we finally closed TODAY! Sadly we won't get keys until Wednesday, because a relocation company owns currently owns the house, and their is a bunch of red tape when dealing with such a company (honestly, I would not recommend buying a house from a relocation company).
But we are so excited to finally have a little place of our own!!!

Bunk Beds

Let me brag about my awesome husband....
He made this....Yes, that is right, it is a Toddler Sized Bunk Bed. With the immanent arrival of monkey number three, we relised that three bed in one tiny bedroom is not going to work. So we either needed to move or get a bunk bed. And seeing as we don't foresee a move in the near future, the bunk bed is the only choice. But still, a twin sized bunk bed would be huge in the room, so Tom decided to make a toddler bunk bed.

It turned out awesome. My hubby never cease to amaze me. We got the plans from our brother-in-law who is a complete math whiz, and converted the plans from a twin sized bunk bed he found on Ana-White.com.

Here are some pics of the boys checking out their new bed:

See How They Grow!

Kids grow too fast. I swear you can lay them down in bed at night, and the next day they look taller. Because we live in an apartment, and who knows when we will buy a house, I decided
to make a Grow Stick, so I can mark their height, and not have to worry about leaving the marks behind when we move.

I am really proud of it, it turned out super cute.

Sledding is Fun!

Our Brother-in-law Trevor's parents live out in Avon, which is about 11 miles south of us. They have an amazing piece of land, with horse property and fields, and hills. It is so pretty out there. A couple of weeks ago, Trevor invited us out to go sledding with his family. Have you played on your own private sledding hill? It is a blast.

Our Vegas Vacation

Last week Tom had a Chiropractic Seminar in Las Vegas. We decided to turn it into a family trip. Because Tom was going to be in meetings all day long, and I did not want to wonder around Vegas with two kids by myself, we invited my sister and her family to come with us. We had a great time. And the weather was beautiful, like 68 degrees, which was much better than the 17 at home.
I will say this though, I finally understand why it is call the City of Sin. Every carnal sin is there, and very prevalent, you have Drinking and Gambling, people are passing out porn like candy, and there are ads for other inappropriate things. Then you have the buffets which can lead to GLUTTONY. But most of that is isolated to The Strip. If you get off the strip than it is a really pretty place, with a lot to offer. This was my first time to Vegas, so I was not sure what we were going to do, but we managed to stay busy, and had a blast doing it.

Here are some of the things we did:

We stayed at Circus Circus, which is supposedly the "Family Casino." My guess as to why they claim this is because they have a FREE Circus Show every hour (which Owen LOVED), and they have the Arcade, which is basically a Gambling Training ground. Here is Owen sitting with my sister Charis and her Family waiting for one of the shows to begin.
And here are some pictures of my brother-in-law Craig with his daughter Kendell, and my Owen playing an arcade game (notice how the game looks a lot like Roulette).
I guess not all of the games in the arcade where meant to train your children to gamble. We did find a Ski-ball game. In case you were wondering, three-years old have a hard time with the concept of this game.
Ok, here is a confession, I am a HUGE fan of Pawns Stars on the History channel. Since we where in Vegas, we had to stop at the Gold and Silver Pawn shop. I was really hoping to get a picture with Chumlee, but they were filming, so that was a no go. And now that I have been to the shop, while they were filming, I think a lot of the show is staged. Oh well, I am still a fan.
I am also a huge fan of M & Ms. Lucky for me M&M World is in Las Vegas. It is "Four Floors of Fun!" Seriously, It was a ton of fun, and FREE! (Well, unless you wanted to buy some M&M Merchandise). They had anything M&M. Honestly, if you could think it up, they probably had it, M&M Bed Sheets, M&M Christmas Ornaments, an M&M Race Car. They even had a 3D movie featuring Red and Yellow. The favorite for the kids was making customized M&Ms. We made some for my mom and dad. Owen and Kendell got a kick out of it. My mom put these on her Valentine blog, click here to see.
The only time Tom was available to hang out with us was at night, when a lot of kid friendly activities where closed, so we walked The Strip. I was amazed. There were some amazing buildings, and architecture, and gardens, and street performers. It was so cool. But I gotta warn you, go prepared to have your blinders on, there is pictures of scantily-clad women everywhere you look. It is to bad that all that garbage has to be mixed in with something so awesome.

Here is a Gold Statue man, who was really good, and would not move for anything, unless you were a little kid, and then he would shake your hand and give you a lollipop.
Then there was the Bellagio's fountains. AMAZING!!!! Seriously, this was the coolest thing ever. I have seen video of this, but nothing does this justice. If you have not seen this, you should add it to your bucket list.
My Dad is a Civil Engineer. As a result, he finds bridges and dams fascinating. Every trip we went on growing up, it was inevitable that we were going to stop and look and a bridge, or take a Dam Tour, or check out a Water Treatment Plant. Charis and I figured why stop the tradition, we were only 45 minutes from the Hoover Dam. It was cool to see the bridge and walk on the top of the dam, but sadly we weren't able to do my favorite part of the dam experience....the Visitor Center and Tour. Security at the Hoover Dam is tighter than the TSA. First of all, they check your car before you even drive on the road to get to the dam. Then, to get into the Visitor Center, you had to stand in line, and go through a metal detector. Once we were done with that, we came to a queue at a Cash Registrar. There was a sign that read, "Dam Tours $30.00." So no tour for us. I explain that we just want to go to the Visitor Center, and the attendant says, "Ok, that will be $8.00 a head."

What? $8.oo? Who has ever heard of being charged to go into a Visitor Center? I believe a cover charge would make it a Museum, NOT a Visitor Center. And there was no signage explaining that anywhere. Grrrr. It was rather frustrating. So we did not go visit the center, but at least we got some nice pictures.

If you have kids, or a husband, and go to Las Vegas, I would highly recommend paying a visit to the Silverton Casino. First of all, they have one of the large Bass Pro Shops on their campus, and what man doesn't love getting lost in an Outdoor Sportsman Store. Secondly, they have a Fresh Water aquarium, with huge fish......and a Salt Water aquarium, with a really live Mermaid. She was awesome. I think that she was the Tal's favorite part of the entire trip.
Here is Kendell and Owen trying out the 4-wheelers at Bass Pro Shop.I know that Vegas has a ton of rides, that are supposed to be awesome, but this is the only ride we could afford:
And of course we ate at the buffets, well, some of them, the MGM's Grand Buffet, and CiCi's Pizza buffet. And Tom got to go to the Hilton Buffet with the seminar, lucky guy.I really enjoyed this trip. It was my first time to Vegas, and I would not be surprised if it were my last, but than, maybe it wont be. Only time will tell.

Joined the Club

Well, it is official, we have finally joined the rank (and have done something that as I teenager I swore I would never do). We are the new owners of a Mini-van.

We have been looking into getting a second car for almost a year now. The more we thought about it, a minivan made the most since. After a bunch of research, we decided that the Kia Sedona was what we wanted. It is ranked right behind the Odyssey and the Senia, but still $10,000 cheaper.

So we have been looking at, and test driving the Sedona for a while now, and yesterday was the fateful day, the price was right, the miles low, and the color...well it is blue.

I am so excited!!

Merry Christmas to all!

I love Christmas! I loved the Christmas magic when I was little, and now I love trying to create it for my boys. I started Christmas chopoing this past summer, which I used to think people that Christmas shopped in the summer where crazy, but now I did it. Hey, sometimes you just find the coolest things, and if the price is right, why not. Mostly, I found things at garage sales. I figure, if it is in pristine condition, why should it matter where it came from. Anyway, most of my shopping was completed by the end of the summer, which made me happy, I figured I could spend December actually focusing on having a Christ centered Christmas.
Then I went to the Big Sale at Joann's the day after Thanksgiving, where I got struck with all these brillian ideas of thing I could make for my boys for Christmas. Suddenly, December turned into a month of frantic sewing. Hooded towels, blankets, crayon rolls, matching shirts for Tom, Owen, and Tal, I-Spy Bags. Yep, Lots of sewing. Don't worry, I think we still had a fairly Spiritual Christmas, but I deffinately felt the Christmas pressure this year.

Santa was really nice to the boys this year. Tal got a Fisher Price Noahs Ark, and a tool box, and Owen got an Elmo Chair and a Balance Strider Bike (Awesome!). It was pretty funny when we went to see what Santa left. I asked, "Owen, what do you see?"
He got all excited, "A Boat!!"
Tom asked, "What else?"
"Oh, tools!"
I ask, " Do you see anything else?"
"Elmo Chair!!!"
Really? Come on, the bike was leaning infront of the chair. Come on, it was totally the elephant in the room, and he was completely missing it.

Finally, he saw the bike, and I think he likes it, but he is still trying to figure out the whole two wheeler thing. And Tal loves his Noah and tools.

We also had a some wonderful family parties. I love spending time with family at Christmas. My brother and his family came to visit from Maryland. Tom's brother came down from Idaho Falls. My mom made nativity costumes, and had the grandkids dress up. We got to go to Tom's sister's Chior Concert down at Temple Square.

I just love this time of the year.

The Hunt

One of our favorite Christmas Traditions we did in Oregon was cutting our own tree. Oregon supplies like 90% of all the Christmas Trees in the nation. So there are plenty of Tree farms around, that let you cut your own tree. It is so much fun, I was a little sad that we weren't going to be able to do this year, so we decided that we would get a permit, and go find a tree up in the Mountains.

It turns out that Idaho's Tree cutting laws are a lot more lenient than Utah's, so on Saturday, we headed up to Preston to get a Tree Permit, and start our Tree Hunt Adventure. When we got there, they told us they had just ran out of permits, and we would have to go to Mont Pilar (which is an hour East through the canyon), or wait till Monday to get a permit. For some odd reason, probably routed in High School rivalry, Tom HATES Mont Pilar, and decided that we were not about to grace the town with a visit. But I convinced him that this was just added to the Great Tree Hunt Adventure, and we went and got the permit, then head back to the canyon to find our tree.

Searching for the Tree was actually quite the event in and of it self. We had to hike in a little bit, so Tom tighted a sled to his waiste, so he could pull the kids up the trail. They loved it.

A couple of times, Tom thought we saw the perfect tree, and would leave the trail, and go waiding through the snow to take a closer look.

Meanwhile, Owen and Cousin Liam, who was hanging out with us for the day, played in the snow.

And Talmage stayed on the sled.

Finally, Tom found THE TREE.

It was not exactly easy for him to get it out because he keep falling down in chest deep snow (which was pretty funny to watch).

By the end, the boys where cold, and tired, and we had a beautiful tree.

All and all, I would say it was a pretty successful hunt. Tom, was a bit disappointed when we got the tree up in the house, he thinks that it looked more full out in the forest, which may be true, but I love it. I think that it turned out lovely.