Our great Christmas Tree Adveture

While living in Portland we got hooked on the tradition of cutting down our Christmas Tree. Since we moved back to Cache Valley, we have been getting a permit to cut a tree in the forest, which is always fun, but a bit cold for little kids. So when we learned that there was a U-cut tree farm in Far West, we decided to return to the original form of our tree tradition.
The boys thought it was great searching the farm for the perfect tree. And they especially thought it was cool that we got to cut down the tree.

This tree farm just so happens to be a couple of miles from Smith and Edwards Country Store, which Tom had never been to. The store is quite an experience in and of itself... Cowboy stuff, dollar store stuff, outdoor gear, army surplus, it is amazing; if you've never been, you should go. Although a visit to Smith & Edwards is not typically part of our Christmas Tree tradition, we could not pass up the opportunity to climb into a retired tank. Yep I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed the store.

Part of our tree retrial has always been to go get burgers after we get the tree. When we lived in Portland we always went to Calamity Janes, in Sandy, which is pretty close to a ton of tree farms, and also happens to be the worlds best burger joint. Convenient! Sadly, there is no Calamity Janes within 700 miles of us these days, so we had to settle for another hole-in-the-wall greasy-spoon. The restaurant itself was mediocre, but the rebirth of this favorite tradition was great!

Lesson learned

I learned a good lesson this morning. Here it is:

After cutting the kids and hubby's hair, PUT AWAY THE CLIPPERS AND SCISSORS, IMMEDIATELY!

Or else, you two-year-old may get the notion to "fix" his bangs, and end up looking like this:

Happy Birthday Macky-Mac

Yep, today is my little Maxwell's birthday. It is crazy how quickly a year goes by. Especially the first year of life. He has gone from this little lump of a baby to nearly walking, and getting into everything.

I think Mac had a good first birthday. Owen and Tal helped me make a monster cake, and help Tom put together Max's birthday present.

Grandma and Grandpa decided this morning to drive up and visit for the day. When they decided to come, my sister and her family desided to tag along. Because they came, my little brother Cuyler, who lives in Logan desided to drop in. Tom's parents also came over, so we had a very impromptu birthday party. It was so much fun. I am sorry that I did not get the word out to more people, I would hate for anyone to feel left out.

Here are some fun pictures from the day:

Our first Aggie Outing

A couple of weeks ago was USU's Homecoming. Due to our student government and spirit squad involvement we land enough free tickets for us all to go!

This was my boys first football game ever, and they were so excited to go. It happened to be a white out game, so we dawned all the white Aggie gear we could find and were off to the game!

Although I was the first Aggie in the family, I am proud to say that two of my dear brothers have followed suite. And we all happen to be at the game. Who knows the next time this might happen, so I has to take a picture.

Maxwell mad friends with the people in front of us, and insisted on sitting on their laps for most of the first half of the game.

This is then vantage point my brother had of the game.

That is the marching band during half time. Don't they look good? No really, I am particularly proud of how they look. Their uniforms are about 6 years old. While I was serving in ASUSU, I was able to help secure funding for those fancy threads, and boy, let me tell you it was a lot of work. But they look good now.

Bythe way, AGGIES WON!!!!  This year is shaping up quite nicely.

GO AGGIES!!!!

Making bats.

Today we decided to make some bats to decorate the front porch for Halloween.

I found totally copied the idea from Martha Stewart. Here is the link.

I cut out the bats from card stock, put my boys in art smocks, gave them paint and brushes, and let them go to town painting their bats.

Now, typically, when my kids have wet paint with in the tips of their fingers, I I believe in strict supervision. However, today my work phone rang right as they start to paint, and well, it is not the most professional thing to have the sweet noise of children in the background of a business call, so I stepped into the other room.

Not sure if that was the best judgement call, because this is what I found when I came back into the room.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day. This is one of those little-known-holidays that my mother has always celebrate, so naturally, I too celebrate it with my family.

Beyond talking and dressing like a pirate, it is great fun to inform others about this little-known-holiday. We call this "Pirating." We dress up like pirates, and deliver a yummy pirate snack ( usually Chips AHOY, or PIRATE-Os) to some unsuspecting neighbors. My boys love it; the neighbors think it is great; this is definitely one of the best little-known-holidays!

I love to see the Temple

On Tuesday, the boys and I had the opportunity to go to the Brigham City Temple Open house with my sister and her family. Wow it was neat. The boys thought it was super neat to be able to go inside the temple, and I loved being able to take them. Unfortunately, Tim had to work, so Grammy came with us instead.