The Christmas Spirit in My Home

I love to play Christmas music on the piano. I feel like thats what really what brings the Christmas Spirit into my home. Today however... I wonder if I accomplished that.
I sat down to play a few of my favorite Christmas songs. Bryce had gone to help a family in our ward move. The two boys decided to join me in playing Christmas music. They however were fighting over who got to sit on my lap. I was trying to play and I finally got fed up! I took both of them and put them in their room. I told them they couldn't come out until i was done playing this song.
I sat there and played beautiful "Silent Night" as my kids screamed from their room ''Mom!"
Oh the beautiful Christmas Spirit I had in my home!

Mr. Porcupine

We like to call Simon Mr. Porcupine. Calvin has always been our teddy bear. He loves to cuddle and sleep with us. Whenever we pull Simon into bed in the morning, to get a little extra sleep, he pushes us away and wont let anyone get near him.
This is our little Porcupine on the table. He lives there! We cant get him off. He thinks it is his place to eat. It drives me nuts! I have to pull all the chairs into the living room because he will climb up on them. He has been doing this since he was 11 months!

Mr. Porcupine!

Dad the horse

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is playing Christmas music on the piano. Simon and Calvin sit underneath and listen. It is cute.

We are going "Snowing"

We decided to go sledding... or "snowing" as Calvin would say... last week before finals took Bryce away from us.
We had to drive about an hour before we finally had enough snow to play. It was raining and we debated whether to actually get out of the car, but we were all glad that we did it. Calvin didn't want to leave! He loves the snow. Cant wait to get to Utah:)

Bryce and the boys getting ready to play!

Simon couldn't move too much so he just sat there and ate the snow. We have a picture of Calvin doing the same thing in this snow outfit:)

Bryce made a little snow cave for the boys... and him.

Simon in the cave

Calvin in the cave

I'm the king of the snow!!!

Simon just sitting there... it reminded me of the little boy on the movie "A Christmas Story"

Milo was back in heaven with his favorite snow"ball"... where'd it go?

Happy Birthday Calvin

Happy 3rd birthday to Calvin! We had some friends over for dinner and birthday cake on Sunday. Calvin opened his present on the morning of his birthday.

Calvin loves trucks. This is "Scoop" from Bob the Builder.

Every time I tell Calvin to smile, he throws his head back and makes a goofy smile. So I never get really good pictures. I made this "Scoop" cake for him and Elder Porter.

Simon had a battle with his girlfriend Amelia. He tried to steal her ice cream and she smothered it in his face.

This is sweet little Amelia... or so we thought :) Dont touch her ice cream!

Calvin and Elder Porter share the same birthday so we invited him over to celebrate!

Things we love about Calvin:
- His facial expressions when he "talks on the phone"
- He has to sleep with Hobbes, Bear, and Dog (stuffed animals)
- When we read scriptures he asks if we can play the "Verily, Verily Game" ( bryce helps Calvin read)
- He says "Gotfor" instead of Forgot
- He loves to play and play. He loves puzzles and can do them very well.
- He is a great big brother to Simon
We love Calvin!

Tut Tut it looks like... Snow???

Supposedly it rarely snows in Eugene. We were lucky enough to be here when it does snow. So there is about an inch of snow on the ground... if that. School was canceled here. (Not for Bryce but for the kids in the neighborhood). Kids across the street were outside in their coats trying to build snowmen and having snow fights. It was pretty funny. No one was on the road either! Which I understand because the roads were all icy. But I loved going to Walmart and having the whole store to myself.
To be honest, I was really thankful for the snow. I had been missing Utah and the "Christmas" feel. This gave me just the right dose. For those in Utah... please drive safe... I have heard there is a huge blizzard there and it is actually worthy of closing schools down. So Please be Safe. Enjoy some pictures and some of the activities we have done here lately:

Look at all that snow!!!

Bryce actually had to scrape it off our cars!!

We decided to stay warm and invite some friends over to make Christmas Cookies. Notice Simon is standing in his high chair. I dont think he has ever actually sat down in it.

We went to watch our Ducks run in the Cross Country Western Region Championship. Crazy... they run 6 miles at about 4 1/2 minute miles! I didnt take very many pictures because I didnt want the boys to get trampled!

This is a picture of the boys making cinnamon rolls. It was so cute... I was trying to take the picture without anyone noticing. Right as I clicked, Simon turned and said "Cheese!!!"

We took a little day trip to the fire station next to the law school. Calvin loves firetrucks... what kid doesn't? I dont think he realized how big they are. When he got next to them, he cried and cried. Notice he is trying to smile in this picture but he is crying at the same time.

He only sat in it for about two seconds.

Happy Halloween!

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Baggaley in town for Halloween Weekend. We did some really fun stuff!
We started off in Portland at the zoo. The kids loved the Sea Lions! Specially the one that came right up to the glass so you could almost kiss him :) Bryce took us all for a bike ride around the river and up on campus. My mom couldnt get enough of the bike ride. I think that was her favorite thing.
Bryce also took us for his usual crazy idea of a hike:) We headed up to Sahalie Falls (which is an hour and a half away... just in case you thought of doing it).
We ended our fun weekend with the Halloween Party at the church. It was a ton of fun and Calvin loved dressing up like Bob the Builder!

Bob the Builder Family

Our two little workers. We finally had to buy a tool set for Simon because they both loved it so much. Simon didnt let go of the hammer the whole night!

Grandma and Simon

Our Bike Ride with the Willamette River in the background.

One of my friends let us borrow her bike and trailer. My mom rode her bike. She loved it!

Sahalie Falls... yes it is pretty and was worth the hour and a half drive.

The Coast

We had a friend that let us borrow her beach house for the weekend. We decided to invite our friends and their kids along.
We arrived early the first day and played on the beach. It was a beautiful day! The beach was warm. Bryce, Calvin and Simon could play on the beach forever.
Everyone else showed up that night. After putting the kids to bed, we stayed up late playing games and laughing.
We woke up and it was raining pretty hard. The boys decided to go to the beach and jump in the water. Pretty crazy if you ask me.
The girls got away for a while and looked at all the little shops around. We were in no rush to get back to the beach house.
Before dinner we all went down to the wharf to see the Sea Lions.
We had a ton of fun time and hope we can go again.

Calvin, Mac and Carter

Us with the Sea Lions.

Calvin went with dad down to the beach when it was raining.

The boys after their polar bear swim.
Ryan Belton, Nate Wolfley, Bryce Huff, Zac Harris

The view out our window. You could hear the waves crashing in the middle of the night.

All the kids eating breakfast.

Bryce doing his "coach" impression... Survivor

Mus play in the dirt!

Simon my little dare devil was not at all afraid of the water

Calvin's footprint is on the left and mine is on the right... I just want to remember that Calvin's foot was smaller than mine at one point.

Sisters, Sisters!

I took a flight to Utah at the end of September. The flight there was a trip in and of itself. Calvin fell asleep five minutes before we landed and I had to try and carry 3 bags, Simon, and Calvin off the airplane. It was pretty entertaining.
The flight was totally worth it because I was going to see my family.
My sister Janelle came up from Arizona. My sister Laura is still hanging out with my parents while she finishes her masters and her husband is back east at medical school. It was important for me to come because who knows when we will all be together again.
We had a great week!

We had to hit Gardner Village with the "Witches." After all my mom is the "Wicked Witch of the West!" and we take after her.

Some of the grand kids at Gardner Village

Calvin loved to look at the witches... from a distance

We also went to "THis is the Place Monument" Calvin was lucky enough to ride the horse.

We also had to go to Wheeler Farm. I love this place... and its free!

Calvin and William fishing at Wheeler Farm

We also stayed with the Huffs. We couldn't miss out on all the great rides with Grandpa Huff!

Simon would walk around the back yard at Grandma and Grandpa Huffs and eat all the apples that had fallen from the tree.

While we were gone... Grandpa Huff souped up Johnny Tractor for Calvin. It is much faster and it now tows a trailer! (The reason why it is faster is because Calvin broke the battery by trying to plug it in and somehow reversed the polarity on the battery... Grandpa Huff had to buy a new battery!)