Thanksgiving 2015

We started off the day by watching the parade and prepping some food for dinner.  After we were finally all dressed and ready (that takes lots more effort these days!) we headed over to Mom and Dad's to enjoy the beautiful weather and the great company.  Dean took the boys out for rides on the quad, and then I even managed to sneak away for a few minutes for a quick ride.  By 4:00pm it was time to eat and boy was it yummy.  We stuffed ourselves, relaxed, and visited with everyone.  The kids colored some cute thanksgiving printables we put together, complete with pilgrim hat crayon holders.  Man do we have a lot to be thankful this year.  Especially for the sweet new addition to our family.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Uncle Geoff holding Bridger

Janna made this awesome cornucopia and leaves out of clay.

Hylie and Braddock all geared up for dinner.

Bridger was nice enough to spend dinner like this so I could eat.

Spirit Week

This week at Tanner and Landon's school they got to dress up everyday for spirit week and they were asked to donate to "The Caring Place" which is a crisis center for kids.  It's a great cause and the boys have so much fun dressing up.  They looked pretty great if you ask me!

Mismatch Day   -   Wild West Day   -   Black and Gold Day   -   Blue Day (for the Caring Place)   -   Pajama Day

Big Boy

Braddock has been potty trained for a while now, but he kept having accidents, and life has been pretty crazy for us and Dean's parents lately, so it wasn't until last week that he finally got to go on his much anticipated trip to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson for being a big boy.  He was beyond excited and came home just raving about it.  They even took him to the store to pick out some prizes after lunch.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, Braddock LOVED it, and Mom loved getting in a nap with Bridger while he was gone. ;)  A win win in my book.

A Gift for Bridger

On Sunday these cute boys got to work making some homemade gifts for their favorite baby brother.  I love watching how much they adore Bridger and seeing them work together on a project.  The "gifts" they came up with were hilarious and I never want to forget these little things...

 Tanner rummaged through my stuff and was so proud of this baby gift bag he found to stick all their stuff in.

 Funny thing about newborns is they never seem to be awake when you want them to be or asleep when you want them to be.  The boys were bummed Bridger was sleeping, but we made the best of it.

The gifts: 

• A rattle
• A "tape ball" (since he can't control his hands yet this would stick to him making it possible for him to play with- clever huh!?)
• A leftover spider ring from Halloween
• A picture by Braddock and Tanner
• A felt pillow
• A Ghost and Imaginary Friend "Certifakit"
• A book of instructions for the ghost and imaginary friends...

And we were all pleasantly surprised that the rattle actually works.  He calms down every time we shake it.  Sure love these brothers and the relationships they're building.

Indian Dolls

Tanner was assigned to make some Indian dolls out of wooden clothes pins and then write a little paper about how he made them.  We recently went to a fireside put on by a Native American Sister Missionary who's serving in our Ward.  She had a bunch of Indian dresses and did some dances for us too.  He was insistent that his doll should have metal jingles like her dress did, and when Tanner puts his mind to something there's no convincing him otherwise.  I wished him luck and he went ahead and designed them out of aluminum foil.  Genius!  He also braided the tiny girls hair all by himself.  He amazes me on a regular basis.  We sure love him and we love how his dolls turned out.

Thankful Turkeys 2015

Grandma and Grandpa were lucky enough to be here for the first Monday in November and around here that means our Thankful Turkey FHE.  Dean gave a great lesson on gratitude, Landon told the story of the Ten Lepers, and then we got to work making our turkeys.  I usually put together turkeys that everyone can assemble, but considering our crazy state with a new baby, and less than optimal health, we kept things low key and just drew them this year.  I love how different they all are and I always love hearing all the different things everyone is thankful for.  We truly are blessed and it's always nice to slow down and recognize those blessings.

Grandma and Grandpa Hilton's Visit

My parents got here a day later than planned after missing their flight on Nov. 5th.  Dean picked them up at the airport the next morning and they quickly got to work playing with grandkids and helping me while I was flat in bed.  They were fantastic and such a big help while I had my headaches.  They fed me while I laid down so I wouldn't have to sit up to eat, and took Bridger every chance they could get.  Grandma gave Bridger his first bath at home and even put notes in the boys lunches.  Grandpa's lap was Bridger's favorite place to nap and Braddock spent most his time there as well.  It was great to have them here and although I'm sure I wasn't the best company I sure was grateful for their help.  I was lucky enough to finally be headache free by the following Monday so I could actually stand for the last two days they were here.  We even got to sneak over to the boys school for a Veteran's Day program before they left. 

Not so happy in the tub.

But nice and cozy in his towel after the bath.

Tanner's Teacher MC'd the whole thing.

Our neighbor was honored for being a Vet

  Thanks again for all your help Mom and Dad.  We sure love you!

Big Brothers

After coming home from the hospital Bridger was nice enough to put together a little gift for each of his new big brothers (with just a little help from Mom of course).  If they didn't like him already this sealed the deal.  He's currently the favorite around here and we all agree we should keep him.

Tanner and Landon were so excited they wore their new shirts and brought this picture of them to school to show off their new brother to their classes.  Landon came home and said, "I just LOVE looking at that picture Mom!"  Too cute!

Bridger's Newborn Pics

The whole time I was down with headaches I was just itching to get a chance to take some pictures of my new little bundle of joy.  Now that I can actually stand up it was one of the first things on the list.  It's a lot harder to get a baby to sleep nicely for pictures than I planned, but we managed to snag a few good ones.  Here's Bridger at 12 days old...