My Best Boys :)

Gosh, I love these two boys!  They bring so much joy to my life.  Cason hasn't been feeling well and is a bit extra cuddly when he is sick.  After naptime today he just wanted to lay on the couch with his daddy and when the two of them woke up they had a little converation that I couldn't resist capturing on camera.  These pictures melt my heart!

Christmas 2o11

Santa stopped by our house this Christmas and spoiled our little Cason boy.  He got an awesome truck and new clothes.  In his stocking was a ton of candy, big boy cups, a coloring book, crayons, and paints.  Jeff got a new Nike golf sweater and I got some picture frames.  Apparently, Cason must have been better behaved than Jeff and I throughout the year ;).  It was fun to see Cason's reaction when he first saw his truck.  He absolutely loved it!  He didn't seem too interested in the clothes.... big surprise.... and didn't really understand why I wanted him to look in his stocking.  However, once we got the paints out they were the biggest hit of the morning.  He would have spent hours playing with them if I had let him. 

We debated back and forth whether or not to spend the night at my parent's house with the rest of my family.  Although it would have been a blast to be with everyone, I am so glad that we decided to stay at our own place.  It gave us the time to focus only on Cason and be together with just our little family.  We spent the entire morning sitting on the floor playing with Cason and his toys.  Jeff and I got Cason a little piano and a race track for his trucks.  He enjoyed ripping apart the wrapping paper to see what was underneath.  The look on his face was priceless each time he would see something new. 

After all of the presents were opened my mom stopped by to see us and we then spent the rest of the day making the rounds to see everyone else.  We went to my parent's house for breakfast, stopped in on my grandparents, and after naptime had dinner and spent most of the evening with Jeff's family at his grandparents house. 

The only person we didn't see was my dad.  He ended up making it home from Denver late Christmas night, but we weren't able to see him till Monday.  This is the first Christmas ever that I have not been with my dad and I sure did miss him.  I know that Cason missed his "pop pop" as well.  Luckily we were able to spend the entire day after Christmas with my family.  That night we stayed up till the wee hours playing games together.  It was such a fun weekend with family.  Although my family is pretty close as it is, I especially love the holiday season because it brings us together even more.  I wish every weekend could be like Christmas!

 To Cason from Santa.

To Jeff and I from Santa.

The surprise of opening presents is much more fun with a toddler around!

He opened the top first, exposing the race cars.  It took some coaxing to get him to stop playing and open the rest.

Cason is obsessed with trucks right now.  Now that he has his own big truck maybe we can stop checking out the truck aisle every time we go to target :).

Our little prodigy is starting young on the piano.  He is intrigued by music, dancing, and instruments. 

Vroom Vroom!!

Cason loves to draw, paint, color, you name it.  Bonus- these paints are spill proof and washable!

Cason loves to watch the ducks at my grandparents house.  When we pull up in the car he immediately starts saying "duck, duck, duck."  I took this picture right before the big swan got angry and charged at us.... scared poor Cason right to tears.

Jeff's mom got Cason this awesome bike.  Although he can't quite reach the pedals yet, he loves riding it around the house with the occasional tip over or crash. 

Cason was surprised to see this wagon from my parents.  He loves climbing in and out and opening and closing the door.  Perfect gift, thanks guys!

First wagon ride to the park.  I love this genuinely happy smile!

Christmas Eve

We spent most of Christmas Eve at my parent's house this year with my mom and sister and family.  It wasn't quite the same as years past because my dad was unable to be there, but we still had a lot of fun.  The kids loved decorating (and eating) Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses and just playing with one another.  At the end of the night we sat around drinking hot cocoa and reading Christmas stories.  We decided to sleep out our own house so that Santa would be able to find us  On the way home we drove around to look at Christmas lights.  There is an amazing house by my parents that Cason absolutely loved.  He kept saying "lights, lights, lights."  We ended the night with a few more Christmas stories for Cason and a Christmas movie for Jeff and I.  It was a great night!

These two cousins have a love-hate relationship. Fortunately, I was able to capture this photo during one of the good moments :).

 It's fun to have cousins so close. My sister's kids are so good to Cason. I love to watch them play together.

 Me and my beautiful sister.

 I'm sure Cason ate enough candy this night to last through 2012. 

 We're weird :).

Twenty Eight

I can't believe that Jeff is only 2 years away from the big 3-0.  Thinking back I realize that we started dating when he was just 18 years old and here we are 10 years later.  It's crazy!  We spent the night before his birthday celebrating with my family.  On his actual birthday we really splurged and went to dinner and a movie.  Funny that this is a big deal to us now.  It seems very rare that we go out just the two of us so anymore so it really was a lot of fun.  Man we're getting old :).  Love you babe!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Early Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Clark

We headed up to Lindon over the weekend to spend a little holiday time with Jeff's dad.  It is always fun to spend time up there and it seems that we don't get to near enough.  This time we took 2 days off of work so that we could really relax and enjoy the weekend.  Unfortunately, Jeff and Cason ended up being sick the entire time we were there.  A lot of fun we are!  Despite being sick Cason loved playing with all of the new toys and getting spoiled by grandpa and grandma.  Thank you guys so much for the train set, zhu zhu pets, and golf clubs.  He absolutely loves them all!

 Cason loved playing with these toy computers. He carried them around everywhere. At the end of the weekend grandma let us take the little one home. 

 Relaxing with grandpa.

 This adorable bear reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas" out loud. Cason LOVED it!



Cason LOVES Santa :)

Christmas Projects

I've started a few Christmas projects recently that I am super excited about. In the past I've made a few things here and there, but this is the first year that I've really gotten into it. I don't have a ton of spare time, but have been getting a little bit done each weekend. It's fun to have something to work on and look forward to doing. I love seeing the difference between the materials in the beginning and the final project. I'm planning on giving some things away as Christmas gifts so I can't post pictures of everything just yet, but here are a few. 'Tis the season!

 Advent Calendar- Each of the little boxes is filled with a piece of chocolate to eat each day leading up to Christmas. The trick will be getting Cason to stop at just 1 each day.

 You know those little paper boxes we used to make in middle school? Yep, that's them. Took me FOREVER to do all 24. I love the way it turned out though.

 Advent Calendar #2- Each of the pockets has a little card with a Christmas activity (watch a Christmas movie, drive around and look at lights, drink hot cocoa, etc) to do each day leading up to Christmas.

 I think Cason will love this one as he gets a little older. We can take the card out in the morning and anticipate the activity all day until daddy comes home from work :).

 Candy Cane Wreath- Because this was so cheap and easy to make I made several for different family members. Could be a cute neighbor gift too?

Thanksgiving

"Having someone to love is family.  Having somewhere to live is home.  Having both is a blessing."  This is a favorite quote of mine and kind of sums it up for me this year.  I have so much to be thankful for that I often take for granted.  I am blessed with an amazing family and we have everything that we need and more.  I'm thankful for the big things like my house, my job, and my health, but I am also thankful for all of the little things like being able to snuggle with Cason everynight before bed, the inside jokes that Jeff and I laugh at daily, and a nice warm bath and good book at the end of a long day.  I think it's the little things things that I appreciate the most.  Even though little wrenches often get thrown into our lives, life is really great!  It's all about family and I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else than the amazing people I do.  Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving at my parent's house this year with my sister's family and both sets of grandparents.  The boys went golfing while us girls prepared the food.  It was fun to spend the morning with my mom and sister.  The kids played with each other throughout the morning and made apple turkeys which was a lot of fun.  Dinner was delicious and it was so nice to spend quality time with everyone.  Later that night we stopped by Jeff's grandma's house to visit for a bit and then went to my grandparent's house to visit with my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I love that the holidays bring us all together.