Vo-KID-ulary

I love to watch my kids grow. I love to see them figure out things, and make new connections. And I especially love to hear their vocabulary expound. Owen had been learning and using a lot of big words in the past couple of months. He does a pretty good job using them correctly, but his pronunciation of some words is pretty funny.
For example:
Motorcycle: he says Michael-cycle
Lightning McQueen: is pronounced Lie-Queen
Scriptures: Scrap-chores
Macaroni: Racaroni
Talmage: Taw-widge
Interesting: Distressing
Football: Hop-Ball, although he used to say Foodball.
"To Infinity and Beyond!": "Sitting in a car!"
Life Cereal is called Cracker Cereal
And KIX he calls Kendell Cereal (Kendell is his cousin).

But here is my favorite. Yesterday, Tom poured himself a tall glass of Orange Juice, then put it down on the table so he could make himself a sandwich. Owen sneaks up, grabs the glass, and takes a big ol' gulp, then says with a smile, "Mmmmm, that was Lidicious!”

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.

Camping in the Kitchen

Tom went camping with his Scouts the weekend before Thanksgiving; why, I am not sure, boys are just crazy. No surprize, but it rained the entire time they were out. So when Tom got home he draped the tent over the table in hopes that it would dry out. Well, our appartment is little, so having a tent laying over everything was not my idea of awesome, so after a day of this, I rolled it up, and stuck it in the corner.

A couple of days latter, Tom desided to set up the tent (yes, in the house) so make sure it was all dry. Owen and Talmage thought this was great. Owen insisted on sleeping in the tent.

So that night, we all camped out in the kitchen. It was silly, but the boys had a riot, and the blasted tent finally dried up.

Another Great One!

Once again, I am here to tell you that I Love Flash Mobs! How can they not make you smile?

Anyway, here is a new, and festive one. I am sure it will make you happy.

My Thanks Giving List

Here are some things that I was especially thankful for this year at Thanksgiving:

• Tom's job, and wonderful boss.
• Our house, and the Olson's for letting us live in their basement.
• That my sister's surgery went well.
• My parents, and for them being so loving and accommodating.
• Tom's mom, and her wisdom and foresight in deciding to celibate Thanksgiving the weekend before Turkey day.
• Brine Turkey. Mmmmmmm, so good.
• Dr. Vera Carlson, who is not our Primary Care Physicion, but was on call Thanksgiving weekend, and was willing to see our family on both Friday and Saturday, when our family all came down with Strep Throat.

And that none of our extended family cought Strep Throat from us (if you did, and I didn't know, I am truely sorry).

And that is my Thanksgiving List this year.

G.N.O.

All of Tom's siblings are in town this weekend, which has been really fun. But, for me, the most fun thing about having every body together, was that all of us Sisters-in-law and my Mother-in-law had a Girls Night Out. Our dear sweet husbands were kind enough to give us mom's a much needed break. So they kept ALL the kids (9 in all) up at Grammy's and gave us the night off.

It was so fun to just be able to just kick back and have a girls night. We ate "Girl Food," we soaked our feet, and we just gabbed the night away. I loved it! I got to know these ladies so much better. It was like a slumber party for mom's. Only it ended at 11:00. However, I think a slumber party would be sooooo much fun with my sisters-in-law. A weekend retreat! What a fabulous idea!

Thank you Fullmer Men, for giving us such a wonderful Girls Night Out!

Tender Mercy Moment

Do you ever have just a blah day? Where nothing is really wrong, but everything feels crummy? Well that was me today. My kids were grumpy, I was tired, I have not been out of my house in 5 days, and can't get out, because the weather has been less than great, and Tom has had the car. And to top it all off, Tom would not be coming home, because he is taking his scout troop camping (I know crazy to go out in the middle of November, but that is the Scouting Way).

So there I sat on my couch, just feeling sad, almost ready to cry, when all of the sudden my phone rings. I answer it and hear my sweet sister-in-law's happy voice, telling me that they just happen to be in town, and were wondering if I were up for some visitors. Holy cow, this was exactly what I needed; I honestly feel like I had not talked to an adult in ages. I almost started to cry, to realize that my Brother and Sister-in-law were thinking of me. I know, it may sound pathetic, but I was so touched, and felt very loved at that moment.

So they came over, and hung out for about an hour or so, and it was so fun. I hope they enjoyed themselves. I know I sure did. My brother and I used to hang out all the time, but then we both got married, I moved away, he and his wife both work full time; in short, life happens, and we obviously don't get to hang out as much as we used to. I really have missed that. It was so nice just to have a couple of hours to spend with him and his wife.

Thanks Brad and Kristen. I don't think you will ever know how much your visit meant to me.