True Blue Through and Through

Back in July we began the great room swap.  We had decided to move Braddock and Bridger into the smaller bunk bed room and Tanner and Landon over to their bigger beds.  We had to replace the floors in the bunk bed room so we'd be moving everything for that anyway.  To sweeten the deal they got to pick a new theme for their room and after I scored some cool cougar items at Ross, I managed to convince them that a BYU Room would be amazing.  Braddock and Bridger were pretty excited to make "Y Mountain" as the focal point and especially to add a light up "Y" and even more excited to actually get in on the action.  They helped me paint and I loved watching them feel some ownership in their new space.  It took us till now (January!) to put the finishing touches on everything to finally stamp it as done, so here's the end result. (Just for reference this was the Harry Potter room before this.)

Love these cute little Cougars!

And thanks to some extreme night time anxiety (Braddock), the top bunk is typically the only one they use....guess we could have gone with a queen sized bed instead.  But I know it won't last and they're pretty cute all snuggled up together each night so I'll allow it. ;) And I think it's nice of Bridger to appease Braddock and help him feel more comfortable falling asleep, plus it gives me a place to park my big, pregnant, belly down below when we read "Harry Potter" each night.  These moments are fleeting and I don't want to miss them....

Winter Wonderland

We haven't had much snow this winter so far, so this beautiful snowfall Monday brought on all the feels.  We did some quick shoveling to get everyone to their buses and I was grateful I had nowhere to be but my cozy house.  I think Chloe felt the same way.

Family Craft Night

 

Gone are the days when all the boys want to attend elementary school activities, but I did manage to convince Braddock to come to the Family Craft Night with Bridger and I Friday night.  I didn't take many pictures because I was holding everyone's coats and crafts while being very pregnant, and trying to help all the kids with their crafting (somehow I ended up helping everyone's kids not just mine!).  Next time I need to just find a corner to stash all the things.  But we had lots of fun eating pizza and chips, and making millions of bouncy balls.  That seemed to be the favorite for the night.  Grateful to get away and spend the evening with these two.

Mini Cakes

Last week the boys had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day.  Dean still had to go to work, so it was just me and the boys for the day.  We had planned to decorate mini cakes and Tanner got a head start on things the night before by baking all the cake for us.  I took advantage and slept in and then these three spoiled me with some breakfast in bed.  Tanner was just photo bombing.....he deserves no credit. ;). They also decided to coordinate outfits for the day.  I was laughing at their style choice.  And it was definitely not shorts weather, but we weren't going anywhere so I let it go.  That afternoon we whipped up several batches of frosting and dyed it the colors the boys wanted.  We pulled out our sprinkles and they all went to work.  Dean got home before they were done and offered some welcomed help for Bridger.  I love seeing their personalities shine through in each of their cakes, even if it meant some stressful moments from my perfectionists. 

 

Braddock made a Zelda themed cake of a shrine.

Tanner got those layers frosted perfectly, but his sprinkle method has me still finding sprinkles around the kitchen a week later! Hahaha!

Bridger's cute smiley face is my fav!

Landon's more interested in the eating part of things and dubbed this good enough to eat! ;)

Bridger Lately

This kid has hit a naughty streak.  He loves to do the exact opposite of everything we say.  I'm hoping it's just a phase, and that we'll grow out of it soon, but I'm trying hard to relish the positive moments and the good things in an effort to get him to want to do that more often. ;) The other morning I needed to drive him to the school because I had a marquee message that I needed to put up.  The van was covered in ice and it was somehow the first time we had pulled out the scraper this winter so Bridger was enamored by it. He sat inside while I scraped the windows and he was feeling so bad for me.  The next time that happened he insisted he'd do it for me so I could get in the warm car and not freeze.  I sure appreciate his sensitive side.

His reading skills are improving all the time and he started reading a chapter book a month or so ago called "The Wild Robot."  Now that he's in the Children and Youth Program at home and Church, he made it a goal to rotate between exercising and reading every day of the week.  He's gotten ready extra quick in the morning so he can pound out his exercises or spend time reading with me and I love to start our day that way!

Venus Fly Trap

When winter hit our local grocery store had Venus Fly Traps on clearance. Braddock just HAD to have one, but felt instant regret on the drive home when he realized that bugs have disappeared for the winter and he wouldn’t have anything to feed it. 🥴 That little plant has held on by a thread and when the weather warmed up a bit last week we got a few flies in the house. I walked down our hall to find his plant taped to the wall on top of our doorbell because he had seen some flies near the ceiling! 🤣🤣🤣 Never a dull moment around here. Now who’s going to check if that little plant was successful?? 🪴🪰

Janna's 45th Birthday

Janna's birthday always comes hot on the heels of the holidays, but that makes it extra fun to still have family in town to help celebrate.  We spread the celebrations over two days this year so that Jared and Genevieve would still be here since they'd be taking off on the morning of her actual birthday.  It's always a bit of a challenge to come up with a good gift that Janna would use and enjoy considering her limited abilities and her unique interests.  This year we found a cool idea where you can buy a bracelet with different animal charms on it, and the money goes to conservation efforts and they provide you with a QR code to track that animal for the next 2 years.  Janna's love of sea creatures made it easy to settle on a sea turtle and we anxiously awaited the bracelet's arrival.  Dean looked up the turtle's path, and we put together a topographical map so that Janna would be able to feel it.  We mapped out where the turtle had been with push pins and string, and we're hoping the workers at her house will keep it updated over the coming months.  And as a bonus Janna gets to sport her new turtle bracelet bling.  We finished off her birthday with Orams Donuts and we were all happy to help her celebrate! ;)

I loved this cute octopus Geoff and Dianne found for her, and it can even be heated which is just Janna's style!

New Years 2023

We rang in the New Year with this fun crew.  Our night was full of endless eating (Mom Nelson's homemade pizza and wings never dissapoint!) and game playing.  The boys were THRILLED that Grandma put on BINGO for all the grandkids again.  We are now the proud new owners of several kazoos.  Haha!  There was also movie watching and Kyron wowed us all when he went PRO on Wii Bowling.  That kid can bowl!  2022 was another crazy year of ups and downs, but mostly ups.  We're looking forward to all that 2023 will bring, especially the arrival of Baby Boy!  Happy New Year everyone!

 

Love that big smile on Great Grandma's face!  She's in her element when she's playing games with the family.

His many hours of practice paid off.  This kid is a pro!

These two are the cutest cousin buddies.  I love how well they get along and how much fun they have together.

Tanner made sure to take some pictures on his new camera....still waiting to see how they turned out!