Hello, 2013...

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Normally, January 1 comes around and I've had all kinds of illusions of grandeur

for how much better the year will be. For some reason,

this year I just... haven't so much.

Break Time

Our family is back in the saddle! Maybe even more so than ever before :) The saddle as in archery, that is. This year Keaton got a compound bow for Christmas and Stephen surprised me with one too! Cooper,  Taron and Stephen already had one and little Ry is still happy with the good ole' kids string bow. Over the break, we went to Downwind Archery and got  the feel for shooting again.

I know most women wouldn't be too happy about getting hunting gear from their husband, but this is one hobby Stephen brought into our marriage that I really do love! Remember we spent our anniversary a couple years ago at a 3D shoot? I think the last time we all shot together for real was a few years ago and I was carrying Cooper (maybe Ryder??) in a baby backpack and hiking/ shooting at the same time. Since then I've taken a bit of a break to let our little guys get big enough to enjoy this with us for real- I am so excited! I think we are all in our element here :)

The boys did a lot of just chillin' over the break too. One fun thing they did was battle with their Hexbug Warriors they each got in their stockings- they are these fun, beefed up little Hexbugs that actually have lives and armor and stuff- kinda neat :)

We also enjoyed the snow and did several rounds of sledding at the hills right by our church building! Didn't get any pics- was too busy watching them have fun I guess. I have awesome memories of sledding trips as a kid and this is sure a cool spot to make some for the boys! I love that it's seriously right down the road :) We also pulled the boys behind the truck in the big, slick church parking lot- saved us having to fight the crazy crowd on New Years Day!

The little boys and I also went with Stephen flying on the hills around here- it was SO, SO, SO cold! I really wanted to get familiar with my other Christmas present- a tiny bright red hand gun! Stephen and I will be taking a day-long concealed weapons class later this month and I can hardly wait! Now is the time and I am so ready to have the security of knowing I could be helpful in a bad situation if I had to be. Anyhow... we did shoot a little bit, but wow, it was so cold I didn't get in nearly as much of it as I would've liked- check out this frosty sagebrush we were in. I'm lovin' that it's actually white around here!

Another cool thing we've done over the break is stock our freezer! My parents very generously gave us the neatest Christmas gift- a gift card to purchase a significant supply of meat! We got to pick the items we most needed and wanted at Costco and then cut it up ourselves- what a great feeling! My parents are amazing and we are so grateful. Wrapping our meat in freezer paper and labeling it with a Sharpie sure brought back memories of  butchering my Dad and Grandpa's harvests from hunting trips  as a kid...

Christmas Rocks!

Christmas Eve day was a matter of getting things cleaned up around the house- I remember it being a work day growing up too! By the afternoon, the boys were all rather antsy and cranky, so we let them open up this fun Headbanz game to play for the evening! We all really enjoyed it actually :) They also were in and out of the snow all day- we've been getting pretty good snow and are loving it!

Yet again, the boys simply cannot hold still long enough to get a decent Christmas lights pic, but I tried! By the time we had opened Christmas jammies, Cooper was seriously fried- the wait was so close to over! Before they went to bed, in our usual style, we had a fun dance party :)

Each of the boys was excited about their presents Christmas morning-

their faces were so happy and fun!

Later that day, Ryder was so tired he fell asleep while having a snack! My parents and Grandma Laura were over for the better part of the day too- they were sports to play with the boys too...

For the first time in our married life we didn't have to travel on Christmas Day and it was so nice!

Awesome, blessed Christmas Day :)

The Days Just Before

I'm certainly behind the curve posting about the little bit before Christmas

now that it's over, but oh well I guess!

A week or so before Christmas, Cooper and Ryder were trying to "hide out" in the hallway bathroom. When I tried to find out what they were up to, they said they were "doing you (me) a surprise." They were cleaning the bathroom together! Coop had brought Ry in a stool so he could get up to clean the mirror- this sure made me smile :)

December 23 we were in Pocatello for the Buffat Family Christmas Party! A couple of family members ended up being sick and we didn't have all the time we would have liked, but it ended up being a great time anyway. Each family brought pantry items to create several big boxes to give to a family friend in need. Grandma Janie also had candy canes with notes on them about the spiritual significance of the candy that the kids got to "knock and run" around the neighborhood- they loved this part!

We met several of Stephen's cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds to give them a super-size caroling treat! I think they said they counted 52 of their posterity in their front yard! It was neat to watch them watch us :)

After their house, we all went to the mall in Pocatello to try out a little flash mob style Christmas fun! We all stood in the center court of the mall, in smaller broken up groups, while Stephen started singing solo! Then we all joined in with him- it was pretty interesting! A unique memory for sure! We noticed a few people joining in around us.... and that the Pocatello mall is pretty well a tomb these days :/

Then the next day we got duded up for Christmas Sunday-

don't the boys all look so handsome!

From Our Family to Yours...