Utah- day 2- Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, we woke up, got dressed, and enjoyed our hotel's free breakfast. Thank heavens for that, the kids (and I) are so used to eating first thing in the morning. Then we had some fun going fast over "tickle hill" and then going to the cemetary to visit Jer's grandpa's grave. Brayden was extremely excited about his first cemetary visit, no joke, and he had the time of his life. He asked if he could "dig someone up" too. Yikes. Then we went back to Grandma Judd's and Kosty had a blast playing floam with Bompa.Brayden's first cemetary visit

Grandpa Figgins grave

playing floam with Bompa-Jer's dad

Then we headed to "Moccasin," I don't really know where that was, but there was a stake building there and that is where we had our first Thanksgiving meal/family reunion. That was with the "Figgins" side of the family and very extended family. Most everyone didn't know who each other were, but Kosty got up on his chair and did his famous dance for them all anyway.




Later that night, we drove up to Uncle Chris' beautiful cabin. There was a ton of snow! The kids were elated. Aunt Jeri read a book about the Nativity story by the big windows, and Santa Claus came walking up while she was reading. Then he burst through the door, and sat down and handed out gifts to everyone. It was really magical, and he looked very authentic. Brayden was not shy about sitting with him and telling him that he wanted "Webkinz" for Christmas. Kosty was nervously playing with his lips the whole time, and when it was finally his turn, he sat on his lap, and stuck out his big lips and looked like he was going to start balling. The more we all watched, the bigger the lips got, the weepier the eyes got, so finally Jer went and helped him tell Santa what he wants most of all, The Harry Potter DVD Collection.

Then the kids played in the snow, despite the fact that their hands were freezing because their loser mom didn't pack mittens. Brayden got to play ping pong and a card game with his cousins too. This was the highlight of the the trip!Defrosting their hands after some snowball fights

Brayden hangin' with the big kids on the way back from the cabin. Notice the ipod in one ear.

Utah- day 1

We always say we will leave "first thing in the morning." That always turns into noon for us. The drive was only 6 hours to Kanab, but because it was pouring rain, it seemed long! When we reached the Kaibab mountain, my anxiety set in. As long as I can remember I have had extreme anxiety when driving over winding mountain roads. If there is a guard rail, I can usually remain somewhat calm, and if not, I'm a mess. I picture horrible things in my head like a tiny swerve of the steering wheel, and our car goes flying over the cliff. My hands get really sweaty too which doesn't help when I'm driving. I remember as a kid stressing in the back of my dad's subarban on any road trip, and especially trips to the lake. Anyways, combine my severe "winding mountain road anxiety" (is there a real diagnosis for this?) with:

• Thick fog
• Pouring rain
  
• Winding roads
• Pitch Black
• No guard rail
• Steep cliffs
• "Watch for ice" signs
• "Watch for deer" signs
• "Watch for cows" signs
• A highway patrol car behind us
  
• A deer running out in front of us

I was seriously stressed. But we made it. We got into town at about 7, and went straight to Grandma Judd's house, then to Grandma Figgins'. Then we went to the Junction to eat with these two knuckleheads.Kosty enjoyed "stuptifying" everyone in the place. We finally checked into our hotel, and crashed. Well, Kosty decided to crash at midnight. Stinker.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so greatful for two happy, healthy, adorable, funny, loving, and full of personality little boys.

*(no I'm not blogging from Utah, this is a prescheduled post, pretty cool.)

first lost tooth

{this really happened two Sundays ago, but I couldn't find my camera and we were about to be late to church}.

Kosty's church shoes are very wrinkled dark brown leather, and Jer has given them the nickname "brownie shoes." The top of them really do look exactly like a good brownie. So Brayden was pretending to "eat" the brownie when Kosty smacked it out of his mouth, and out popped Brayden's semi-loose tooth! Brayden was a little confused, Jer told him it was his tooth, and he said, "I thought it was a big piece of granola!" It bled quite a bit, but it didn't hurt him, just not quite ready. Oh well, Brayden was absolutely THRILLED, and why? because he doesn't realize that baby teeth are absolutely adorable and white and cute and smooth and perfect and straight...and well, we all know that the adult teeth start out pretty gnarly, a shade of yellow, ridges, large, awkward, crooked. I will certainly miss that cute perfect baby tooth and every one hereafter!

on my mind...

I feel like I haven't blogged or even sat at the computer for weeks, and its really only been like 3 days...yikes. Another boutique done and over, I have 14,000 things to do before we leave to Utah on Wednesday, the list keeps growing for some reason. Last Sunday we put up all the Christmas decorations, to appease Brayden, but we left our Thanksgiving stuff out on the front porch, just to fool you all. We are not weirdos. {Even though we are}. Tonight, we finally gave in to his pressure of putting the tree up. The Christmas music has been on all day long... I love this time of year, I am soooo excited because both the boys are at such fun ages this year! As we were putting up the tree, there was a loud knock, we opened the door to find a bag of cookies and a note from the "secret agents" it couldn't have been more amazing timing. Brayden was thrilled, he has the best Christmas spirit about him. He loved every minute of unruffling the tree branches, drinking hot chocolate, and putting the ornaments up.

Kosty fell in the pool today while we were at Grandma's for Sunday dinner. All the {men} were outside grilling chicken, all of a sudden I hear Jer yell, "KOSTY!" and I just knew... I ran over to see Jer pulling my sweet soaking boy {fully church clothed} out of one freezing cold pool. Not a fun sight to see. Jer said he fell in when he tripped over a big stick he was playing with, and when he was running to get him, Kosty was already swimming to the side and grabbed the ledge. Thank you Miss Pam! Those swimming lessons really paid off. This is Kosty's third time falling in their pool, (all three times there were adults out there with him, thank heavens). I am so thankful even though he was fully dressed and the water was frigid, he kept his wits and knew what to do. What a smart boy.

Oh, and just in case you wondered about his sleeping arrangements...we are back to normal, finally. One late night after he promised that he would stay in his new big boy bed, and he did, he layed there perfectly still for about 30 minutes, then he came out and said, "I ready fo my crib." He went right in and is completely content now. Everything is back to normal, he's just not ready for the big bed.And has a strange way of letting us know that. ;) His middle name should have been "routine," he does not like change.

I'm going to try to do one more post before I leave...its long overdue, and I am such a procrastinator when it comes to downloading pictures!

37

I stopped counting at 37. That's how many times I lifted and hoisted Kosty back into his crib. Yes, we are back to the crib now, for Brayden's sake. This kid belongs in the Guinness Book for most stubborn, I think I'll call. If my arms look extra buff, you know why.

advice 911

we are attempting to train Kosty to sleep in his new big boy bunk bed, and its obvious that we suck. He went through a stage in his crib that he started climbing out, but luckily I had seen a SuperNanny episode and followed her advice which was to immediately put him right back, with no words & no eye contact. It worked like a charm. It is not working now. This is night 4 of him literally running out every 5 seconds. And he won't go back to his crib either. He's been up till 11 every night since this whole thing started and I'm ready to strangle him! HELP!