Welcome Back

So I know it's been awhile. Okay, like four months, but life is crazy, and I've had very little computer time lately. So, to recap:

First there was Christmas. It was our first Christmas NOT in Las Vegas.

It was fun to start our own traditions. (and then, of course we

drove to Vegas the next day)

The boys got a puppy from Uncle Robert. This is Max Hall. (And yes, we are BYU fans and if you didn't know that, then . . . just don't mention it to Doug.)

He is also known as "Maxie", "Maxiepoo" (Tyler started that one) and occasionally from me, "that dang dog!" But, we couldn't have asked for a better dog. It turns out he and Tyler are very similar - they both love food, can't sit still for more than a minute, prefer being outside, even in the winter, and get jealous if I give any one else my attention. So you could say I was quite prepared for Max.

It wasn't until after we got back from Vegas that life got crazy. It consisted of:

Month-long bronchitis for me

Surgery for me

Tyler's 3rd birthday!

Basketball Season for Doug ended. (Yay!)

Another trip to Las Vegas

Blue and Gold Banquet / Pinewood Derby for scouts. (I'm Brock's Den Leader, and Doug is Cubmaster, and so it took up a lot of our time.)

A trip to Salt Lake

And now we are back, and things seem to be calming down a bit, but I don't expect that to last long. Easter is right around the corner, and the snow has finally melted from our yard. Soon we'll be gardening and barbeque-ing, and school will be out. I'll try to blog when I can, but in the meantime, know that we are alive and well, and very, very blessed.

Evie

This past weekend we got to watch our niece, Evie. I had a blast! It was so fun to have a girl around. I got to do her hair, and we watched Princess movies while Tyler was sleeping. Here's a little of what we did:

Playing the piano

Coloring

Chocolate Milk and Snuggles

Jumping in the Leaves

Picking carrots from the garden

And, of course, the horses. Evie LOVES horses.

It was a good test for how we'd handle three kids. It's good to know that, when the time comes, we'll be able to handle it just fine.

Trick-or-Treat

I love when Halloween is on a Saturday. I actually have time to do everything I want to do. I miss living in Vegas where we'd always get Halloween off because it was Nevada Day.

This year we actually carved pumpkins,

which we haven't done in a few years.

We invited our friends the Morley's over for dinner,

complete with homemade rootbeer in a pumpkin.

Tyler was a ghost. He wouldn't wear his costume for long, so this was the best picture I could get. He shed it about ten minutes into Trick-or-Treating and asked for his coat instead.

Brock was Harry Potter. He found his wand (it's a stick)

when we went camping, and saved it for months.

He said a new spell from the book with every pose.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expecto Patronum!"

Brock, Adam, and Nate, waiting for the toddlers to get dressed.

Tyler and Ella (or for tonight "Cinder-Ella")

This is Tyler's favorite song. Only the encouragement of "Sing it for Grandma!" would get him to sing it on camera. Of course, he hid behind his cracker the whole time, but I'll take what I can get!

Translation:

Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!

I'm a ghost to scare you!

From Halloween town

I've come this night,

All dressed from head

to toe in white!

BOOOooooooo!

BOOOOooooo!

BOOO!