The Polar Express!

Last week we had such a fun day! We left in the morning and met up with our friends Rex and Shauna and their cute boys, and we went and cut down our Chritmas Tree's. They live here in Nevada but when we lived in Logan we would go with them every year to cut down our tree, but last year when we lived in Laughlin we couldn't go. It didn't feel like Christmas without them so I was so happy when we could go this year! I didn't take any pictures of us cutting our tree, sorry. We got Tayton a little tree and he decorated it all himself. He wanted a pirate tree so he hung all his pirate toys on it, but then he decided he wanted to play with them so his tree is a little bare now. I will put some pictures up later.

Then later that night we went to Ely and rode on the Polar Express to the North Pole, Tayton had such a fun time. He loved it, here are some pictures:

Waiting to get on the train.


All Aboard, tickets please.





Tayton and the conductor!


Here they are reading the Polar Express book to us.


Hot choclate and cookies, can you tell Tayton loved it!


Dad and Tanna having a fun time.


I had to put this picture in, see the guy with the beanie, well he took all the family pictures for us. I didn't realize it until the end of the train ride, but that is the officer who gave me my speeding ticket. It was so funny, it is such a small world. He was nice so it was ok. I am just glad I didn't realize it until the end of the train ride.


SANTA! Tayton was so excited, I couldn't even get him to look at me he was that excited. Tayton asked Santa for an airplane with a hoop. (Geo Trax) Santa asked if he had been a good boy this year and Tayton said he was a good boy, so maybe, just maybe, Tayton might get an airplane with a hoop under the tree, we will just have to wait and see what Santa brings.



Here is the family with SANTA!


The end of the train ride, he has a hard time sitting still. On the way back from the North Pole everyone sang Christmas Carols, it was so fun, Tayton loved it.

So thanks Rex and Shauna, we had such a fun time. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, I can't wait! I think Christmas is so fun with little kids. I love this time of year, (except all the mean and crazy shoppers) Merry Christmas everyone:)

Our Thanksgiving trip!

We had a great time over Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. We brought home two German Short hairs. There names are Molly and Satch. They have been really good dogs, and we are so excited for them. Tayton is having so much fun with them, he will sit in the dog run for hours just playing fetch. He even wanted to sleep in the dog house last night with them. It was pretty cute. Here are a few pictures of our dogs.

Tayton having fun with Molly and Satch.


This dog is Molly, isn't she so cute.

We had to bring two cars because we needed lots of room for the dogs and all the stuff we got. So I decided I would leave early and go hang out with my sister and some friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. On my way to Salt Lake I got my first speeding ticket ever. I was in between Ely and Wendover. If anyone has ever been on that drive, you no there is nothing out there. The only car I passed happened to be a Highway Patrol. There were two officers and one was in training, the other officer even new Levi and I still got a ticket. So be careful when you come to visit me everyone, don't speed in the middle of nowhere. Other than that I had such a fun time, and Tayton had so much fun with my sister, he even said he loves Aunt Christa more then mommy and he wanted to stay with her forever. I didn't take any pictures of them, but here are a few pictures of another one of Taytons favorites Uncle Dante.


The weather was so nice, Tayton loved riding his bike that Uncle Dante made him.


Dante made this fun bike, Tayton loved it. Dante took him for a fun ride. Tayton always has so much fun with him.

Why we were there we went to temple square and saw the lights, it was pretty crowded but we had a great time. Tanna loved looking at all the lights. I also had some crazy times shopping on Black Friday. People can be so mean, I have a couple of bruises from all the people pushing and shoving but it ended up ok. I ended up getting everything on my list except I have nothing for Levi. He wants a nice bow for hunting but that is one thing he will have to get on his own. It was fun to see our family and friends again. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!


Here is Tanna, all bundled up.


Tayton saying cheese!


One happy family!

I have an obsession...

So I have been a little crazy the past week making tons and tons of hairbows. My obsession started a couple of months ago. When I found out I was having a girl I was so happy because I could put bows and bracelets on my her. My friend Shannon taught me how to make bows and now I am obsessed. Tanna has a bow for every outfit and the funny thing is, lately she has been pulling them off her head and smiles at me when she gets it off. It is pretty funny, but I hope she doesn't keep it up.

Well in Eureka there is a Christmas boutique and my friend has a booth and she mentioned I should sell my bows in her booth. So this weekend if you are not doing anything I recommend that you should drive on out to Eureka, and stop by at the opera house and there will be all sorts of things you can buy there. (Oh, and come visit me too!) I have made about 30 double bows (which are great for pig tails) and about 20 single bows. Hopefully I can sell a few or Tanna will have quite the number of bows. Anyway, here are just a few of the bows I have made. One problem I have is I don't know how much should I sell them for. Any suggestions? Here are just a few of the ones I have made.

I love my big brother!

To my big brother Tayton,

Thank you so much for being my big brother. I love having you around. I love when you read me pirate stories it is so much fun. I love to play pirates with you and I am glad you share your toys and always let me be Elizabeth Swan. I love it when you sing your pirate songs to me, it makes me happy.

I love it when I wake up and you climb in my crib to come and play with me, even though sometimes mommy gets mad at you for waking me up. I love to watch you dance and be silly, it is funny. I love to watch you play football but I really don't want to be tackled, or have you put your helmet on my little head.

I love it when we drive in the car and you hold my hand, it makes me feel loved. I love that you make silly noises right in my face, but please try not to hit me when you do that. I love it when you pick out clothes for me, even when they don't match, I love to watch you and see everything you do, but most of all I love having you as my big brother.

Love, Tanna

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! On Thursday we went to the Annual Eureka Halloween Party. They invite the entire town and they have costume and pumpkin carving contests. Tayton won first place in his age group for his pumpkin! He was so excited, he won $5.00. He opened up his envelope and he was so excited he said "I won fifty dollar bill!" (My son loves to watch Goonies.) Now my pumpkin took 3rd place in the adult pumpkin carving contest and I won $2.00! They also had all the kids line up and they had a little parade of costumes. Tayton had such a blast!


Here I am having so much fun getting all the seeds out of my pumpkin.


Here is the first place pumpkin! It was supposed to be a werewolf but I was almost done then I accidently destroyed it. So all that was left was a big hole. Tayton decided he wanted to hang skeletons, pumpkins, and a bat from the inside and then he painted the rest of the pumpkin. It was definitely one of a kind.


The other prize winning pumpkin. Too bad there were only 4 pumpkins entered and mine took 3rd.


Tanna and daddy. Tanna is a bear, it was Taytons old costume. Everyone thought she was a boy, but what can you do? Levi dressed up like a sexy Game Warden! It was very realistic.



Here is Tayton in the costume parade.


In this picture the high school seniors are reading a spooky Halloween story to all the kids, and they put on a little skit too. All the kids loved it.

Then on Halloween we went to the children's Halloween party at the elementary school. They had ring toss, bean bag toss, a egg spoon race, and a cake walk. Tayton had a lot of fun, he loves to play those little carnival games.


Trying hard at ring toss.


I did it! Sorry it is blurry but he was jumping up and down.


Tatyon throwing the bean bags!



Tayton doing the egg race. He was having a hard time because he kept dropping it but he soon figured out a way too cheat which made it a lot funner.


Then later that night we went trick-or-treating. Every year we have always gone trunk-or-treating, but it was so fun to go door to door. It reminded me of when I was little. People in Eureka are very generous and Tayton filled up his entire bag in an hour. We had such a great time, and Tayton was so excited he even forgot about going to the bathroom, so we had to leave a little earlier so we could take care of some business. Then later we went out to the local diner for a quick dinner and ended up staying for 2 1/2 hours. They had a little Halloween party and we just hung out with a bunch of people and ate some good food. It was so much fun. Then we came home and watched Monster House. (Smart idea to have a toddler watch a scary movie before bedtime.) So then Tayton slept in our bed all night because he was scared that the house would eat him. He seems to be over it today. This year was definitely one of the best Halloweens ever!



Look at all that candy!

Grandparents are the best!

My parents came to visit this past weekend and we had a blast. I found this swingset for sale on KSL classifieds, and my dad was so sweet to go pick it up for me and set it up. Tayton loves it! He came in my room this morning with his shoes and he was rubbing his eyes saying he wanted to go play outside on his swingset. It is so much fun for mom too!

Starting to put it together, but Tayton was too excited. He went on this slide at least 100 times.


The finished product!


Havin fun with grandpa!


I went to church for the first time here. The church was really small. We had a linger longer after and there was no cultural hall so we just put tables up in the chapel and ate in there. It was a lot of fun. I met a new friend here, she has a little boy Taytons age and a little girl Tanna's age. She moved to Eureka from Perry of all places. It is such a small world. She even bought a lot of plants from my dad. My dad came to church with me and she recognized him but couldn't remember where. I thought it was so funny. I like our ward a lot, there are a lot of really nice people. I still miss everyone in my old ward, I hope they all move to Eureka soon.

I also had to throw these pictures in. Tanna had her first vegetable. I gave her some sweet potatos and she loved them. She was grabbing my hand to get it in her mouth faster. She would smile everytime I fed her some. Then she would start laughing. It was soooo cute. I just love that little girl. She still just melts my heart. Ahhhh.



I love sweet potatos:)

Happy Birthday Lover Boy!

So yesterday was Levi's birthday and we had such a fun day. Tayton was probably more excited for Levi's birthday than Levi was. We just spent the day at home together. We haven't relaxed for a while so it was nice to have a lazy day. On Saturday I tried to go birthday shopping for Levi but the only store open on Saturday was the grocery store and the hardware store. We couldn't find anything at the hardware store so me and Tayton went to the grocery store. Tayton picked out a present for his dad, he was soooooo excited to give it to him. It was so funny. (Levi did his birthday shopping about a month ago when he was at Cabellas so he needed one surprise present.) We also decorated the house with a lot of birthday banners, balloons, and crate paper. Tayton had such a blast and when Levi saw it Tayton yelled SURPRISE!!!!!!


Here is Tayton showing Levi the birthday card we made him. Tayton drew a submarine, a pirate ship, black clouds, and water on his birthday card. It is a one of a kind. Tayton is so proud of himself.


Now this is the present Tayton got for dad. It is a Western Play Set!!! It has horses, cowboys, and Indians. Look at Taytons face in this picture, he is so excited to give that too his dad. He told Levi it was the best present ever, I was laughing so hard I was crying, it was so cute. Totally worth the $1.25.


Now look at how happy the birthday boy is with his new Western Adventure Play Set!


Dad sharing his best present ever with Tayton. They had a lot of fun playing cowboys and Indians.


Levi blowing out his candles on his birthday brownie. Levi didn't want a cake. Tayton was clapping because Levi blew out all of his candles in one blow.


Tanna enjoying the birthday party. She didn't quite know what to think about the hat on her head, but she didn't try to take it off. She is getting so big. She rolled over about a month ago and she gets so frustrated because she can't crawl. You can tell she wants to move but lucky for me she is just staying put for now. Anyway, Happy Birthday Levi, I love you!

Lovin Eureka!

So the whole week and a half we have been here it has been wonderful. The weather is perfect and things have been going great. Everyday we go for a walk down our street to see the horses, goats, and Taytons favorite, our neighbors puppy. That puppy loves Tayton, it follows him everywhere. It follows us on our walk and it follows us home. Tayton cries whenever it is time to go inside because he still wants to play with the puppy. They are so cute together. So every time we go in Tayton tells me he wants his own dog. Tayton is very specific on what kind of dog he wants. He wants a black doggie with spots and one black eye. Levi on the other hand wants a hunting dog, either a german shorthair or a german wirehair. So if anybody can find a german shorthair or wirehair that is black with spots and has one black eye please let us know.

Eureka is a very friendly town and did I mention is is pretty small. I went into town the other day and everyone knew who I was. Seriously, I went to the library, the grocery store, the museum, and the doctors office. I asked all the people how they knew who I was and they said they heard a new family moved in with 2 young kids and the dad was the new Game Warden in town. So around here I am known as the Game Wardens wife. Yesterday we went to the DMV. Now normally I hate the DMV, long lines and very mean ladies working at the desk. Not in Eureka. We walked in and we were the only ones there. There were two ladies there and one came to hold Tanna why we filled our our paperwork. We spent 5 minutes on the paperwork and about 10 minutes talking to the cute ladies and telling them about us. It was the funnest time ever at the DMV. Also in Eureka, whenever anyone drives by they wave hi, even if they don't know who they are waving too. I really like this friendly little town, I feel safe and it has been fun getting to know a lot of people here.

Oh, I found my camera but the batteries are dead so I will put up more pics once I find the box with the batteries in it.

We moved!

Sorry things have been just a little crazy at the moment. We are all still alive. This move was by far the craziest and most stressful. But everything worked out how it was supposed too, so I am so grateful. So here is how the move went:

Thursday- Loan officer called and said we won't get our grant $ unless we go to Reno to sign the papers with the title company, but won't tell us what day we need to be in Reno.

Friday- We decided we would pack up and leave Sunday morning. We are all sick, Tanna the worst, she had a fun fever this day. My sweet friend Amber threw me a surprise going away party. I felt so bad, I was late showing up and all my friends were so wonderful and it was hard to say goodbye. I got home from the party and Uhaul left a message saying they don't have a moving truck for us. I finally found a truck up in Kingman and we were supposed to pick it up Saturday morning. I called the store at 4:00p.m. and they said they were closed Saturday and he was walking out the door right then but he would wait for me if I left Laughlin that moment. Levi walked in the door right then so we hurried up and left. (Thanks Amber for watching Tayton.) We started packing that night and we went to bed around 2:00 a.m.

Saturday- Our wonderful ward showed up to help us pack up, we were totally done by 9:30. Drove all day and arrived in Eureka around 8:00p.m. There were so many nice people that helped us unload our truck. I don't know what I would have done without all these wonderful people. Thank you everyone who helped us.

Sunday- unpacked all day long.

Monday- Left at 5:00 a.m. and headed for Reno. Signed our papers at the title co. We got back to Eureka around 11:30 p.m.

Tuesday- We had to drive up to Elko to take the U-haul truck back. Got home around 11:30 p.m. again that night.

Wednesday- We were putting up a little storage shed and we were almost done, it had half of the roof on when Levi leaned on it wrong and broke half of the roof and a couple of major parts. So we ordered new parts for it which should come pretty soon. I will take some pictures later if I can find the box that has my camera in it.

And basically that is our move, we are all still alive and doing good. We still have a lot of boxes to unpack but we found everything we need. Tanna is still sick but hopefully she will get better soon. Tayton loves it so far, he just says our new house needs some grass and a playground. Hopefully sometime soon.

My little brother is going to:

The Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East mission! He will be leaving for the MTC on Jan, 14th. He is way "stoked". He said he didn't care where he went, he just wanted to speak spanish. Well he got what he wanted. I am so proud of him, but I can't believe that my little brother is still big enough to be a missionary. Congrats Tyson, we love you!

I Love Family Night!

For Family night we went to Scooters Family Fun Center. Tayton had such a fun time. We went miniature golfing, hit some balls at the batting cages, and then Taytons favorite we drove go-carts but Tayton called them super fast race cars. Here are just some pictures, oh and my little brother should be getting his mission call within the next couple of days, I will let you all know where he is going!





Tayton playing miniature golf, he was so proud of himself for getting the ball in there!

Here is Levi wondering how to get his ball out of the water! (I hit mine in the water too, but since I am the one blogging I won't show you that picture:)


Tayton watching Dad at the batting cages.


Dad and Tayton getting ready to go on the super fast race cars.


Mom and Tayton on the super fast race cars.


Our beautiful baby girl sittin in her little bumbo chair! She is growing up way too fast.


I've had enough with this picture taking stuff mom.