Boys (plus one girl) Gift Exchange

The tradition continues of a gift exchange with Payson's buddies Hudson and Zane. Now, to make it even more fun, we have a second set of buddies with Dillon, Grayson and Reese. With Reese only being 7 months old, the boys still rule the house, but I have a feeling next year will be different. We rotate who's house gets trashed, I mean who gets to host this wonderful party. Luckily we are not up until 2014.
The best group shot we could get. Not good.

These boys are best buddies!


Crazy Boys!


My attempt to not allow the boys to get EVERY toy we own out was to decorate cookies. Decorating cookies always seems like a good idea, but not really with four year old boys. They eat the cookies and the candy before the cookies even get decorated!



The unwrapping is pure chaos!

The boys sporting their Under Armor shirts and spiderman caps.

The oldest boys tried to hide on the stairs.


But, there really is no place to hide in our house.

Holiday Fun with our Fort Collins Family!

We are so glad to have Uncle Jon, Aunt Christina, and baby Mattias back from Peru! We headed up to Fort Collins for a fun 6th Birthday party for Susie and a Christmas gift exchange with the Lands. We started out the day with a awesome visit to see Grandpa Solly.



Before we headed over to the birthday party - we had to treat the boys to a visit to Pickle Barrel. Best sandwiches in Fort Collins. The boys loved it and Todd and I realized that we are not in college anymore! We now have to sit upstairs at the restaurant as high chairs do not fit at the high top tablesin the bar!




Opening presents was crazy, and once Porter opened up his Mack Truck, he was gone. Off to play with his cars.

Everyone loved their special hats brought back from Peru.



You can not tell it from this picture, but everyone loved their new hats, and it is worth trying to get an all cousins picture

A Visit with Santa

It was time to go visit with Santa and let him know exactly what we wanted. We decided to make a trip out to Bass Pro Shop and see all the sites out there. I am so glad that we did go out to this store, they had so many wonderful activities for the boys. All for free - even better of a deal. We rode the carousel, played the games, and walked around the store many times to check out the animals and the fish tank.




SANTA TIME.....Not a favorite time for Dillon - but perfect picture moment.




After scarring Dillon with Santa, we decided to play around on the "toys" in the store.





This is about as close to Santa as Dillon wanted to get. Oh well, can't wait to see how it goes next!

Thank Goodness for Preschool Teachers

Payson's Guppy Class - each class had their own poem or song.


Payson had his first Christmas concert at Preschool and he had a great group in attendance. Nana and Grandad enjoyed the show with Dillon, Todd, and I. I could not believe that there were close to 200 kids up on stage. Payson enjoyed the attention, sang SOME of the songs, and most of all, Todd and I were so proud of him!

So, impressed with the teachers at Payson's school. This was no small task.
Payson is the kid in the back with his shoulders going up and down!

Candy Cane Factory Tour

Billboards and advertisements are posted everywhere for the Hammonds Candy Factory during the holidays. and since we love candy around here, we wanted to go tour and see exactly how candy canes are made. Zane and Reese joined us and it is a short tour that ends in a HUGE candy store. That was best part of the tour.








The best part - the lollipops! Payson picked a chocolate flavored candy and Zane picked a bubble gum flavored one. Both Matt and Todd scored a special Bronco Candy Cane!

Oh Christmas Tree & Camera Self Timers

Payson came home with this great Christmas counter, and we have made sure to tear off a ring every night before we go to bed. I am grateful to have this because it really is helping Payson to understand how many days until we are able to celebrate Christmas!



Before I get to the trimming of our tree, here is an update of Dillon and his walking. We are still not walking, but his confidence is growing every day. As you can see, he is pulling himself up into a standing position. The funny thing is, once he gets there, he just looks around for a few minutes before sitting back down and scooting or crawling to whatever he wants!


The entire family had a great time putting the decorations on the tree. I was so concerned with Dillon and the ornaments, but since he is not walking, he really is not showing much interest in the tree. Payson on the other hand is in love with the tree, and most days I walk by the tree I see many of his toys nestled inside. Our tree is full of traditional ornaments along with many cars and dinosaurs!





We tried our timer on our camera for the first time. Todd and I were laughing so hard at many of the outtakes. Trying to find the perfect place to place our camera to center our picture was our first challenge, then getting the boys to pay attention and cooperate was our second and BIGGEST challenge!
Good Picture....

Even better than the good picture!

See - catching Payson in the act of sticking some random toy into our tree!