The night Kyle came home from the hospital, he told me that he bought a dog for the kids for Christmas. I couldn't believe he did that. I was so so excited! His surgery messed up his plan of keeping it a secret. We told the kids before school one morning and showed them pictures of her. We then drove to pick her up about an hour away. It was such a fun day.

 Kylie and Carson had a fun Christmas party at school, my friend also had a fun party at her house that same day. I had to at least sneak in and take a picture of my kindergartners and their party.

 They got to decorate these cute houses. There was a milk carton under them. Great idea! They also made me the cutest ornaments that had a poem attached and it made me cry.The poem was a tear jerker!  They were so proud of themselves for making me cry over it. ha.ha. It was seriously the sweetest thing ever!

 Here is our dog Lucy after her first grooming appointment. My dad helped me come up with her name.

 On Christmas Eve we took the kids to our favorite theater that serves food. Kyle loves to do lots of fun things with the kids on his days off. I am so glad that he is such a wonderful dad and loves them so much. I know all these fun things will give us great memories that we call all look back on.

After the movie, we went to this cool light display that is set up along the river. It was beautiful! There were bridges covered in lights that we walked on and the reflection in the water was so neat. They also had music playing and we were in the Christmas spirit for sure.

 One last picture of our tree all ready for the morning fun.

 We did our stockings that night also......we had church really early, and that saved us some time!

Some yummy treats from neighbors and friends were left on our doorstep!

Christmas morning!! Santa brought some great stuff!

I bought Kylie a set of twin dolls with a double stroller. ha.ha. Let's see how she handles it.

A new razor for Kyle

Team work!

We let the kids each buy presents for us and for each other. Carson picked me out these awesome slippers. I have worn them a lot and he is so happy every time he sees me in them. The funny part is that he can't keep a surprise a secret very well........just like me. He told me when he got home from shopping that he bought me slippers that were monsters. ha.ha

All dressed up for church. I loved having church on Christmas. Kyle played his violin and sang in the choir. It was great to be there to Celebrate our Savior's birth and listen to the beautiful music.

We went to my parents house for dinner and my mom gave me a little treasure from MAC

I love the Holidays and especially love to spend them with my family. They are everything to me!!

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Time to get the tree!

 I finally found a place that had flocked trees. I think they are so pretty. My little Carson was devastated that I picked out a white tree. He cried so hard, that the nice people at the tree lot offered to give him his very own small green tree. I was so thankful that they offered that, because my white tree was already loaded in the truck.

 Here is his very own green tree and he even used one of his trains to go around the bottom of it. I really loved their tree as well. I think they will get their own every year.

                                                    My white tree before decorations

                                                                    and again after

Lexi and I took my dad to his chemo appt. and painted our nails while we waited for him

Lex and Carson snuggling in his bed. I love to see how precious they are when they are sleeping. They look so innocent. ha.ha Carson is a sweetheart. At night sometimes he would say " I love you more than ice cream" and then I say I love you more than something else. Finally he found, in my opinion, the best way to describe your deepest love.........he said " I love you to infinity and beyond" (from toy story), and now we all say it. We tell each other that every night, and I hope we always will.

 And here are the kids at our church Christmas party. Santa knew everything they wanted.

 We also went to see this awesome house that was programmed to music. It was so cool. We went several times. The kids call it  "the rocking out house"

 And last but not least, my poor hubby had to have his gall bladder out. He had been having some miserable nights due to it. After having an ultrasound, the Dr. found a large gall stone in it and recommended that it be removed. Lexi and I went to hang out with him before surgery.

We had a quick break to grab some lunch and let Lexi pick out a present for Kylie. I was looking at a few things and turned around to find this. ha.ha That girl is too funny. Gloves on her head and all...she is always entertaining!

Thankfully Kyle had a really quick recovery and we got to spend a lot of time with him that week. 

Thanksgiving!! We had the feast at our house this year with my dad. The kids helped Kyle and I get everything ready. It is a lot of work. By the time we got our giant meal prepared, we were tired and not overly hungry. my assistant chef!!
I love the holidays and the opportunity that we get to celebrate with family. It is wonderful.
Kyle's parents always make gingerbread houses on this holiday, and we have adopted that tradition for the last several years. It is so fun and gives the kids something exciting to do.
Kyle came around to help after it was almost fully constructed. Better late than never!

pretty cute and colorful!and then late that night my friend Melissa and I decided to brave the after Thanksgiving shopping. When they call it "after Thanksgiving" that is what it means. Just as it is time to go to bed, the sales start! Melissa loves shopping as much as I do. We searched the adds during the day and planned our route. It would probably have been a nightmare without her there to keep me laughing. We waited in lines for hours, and we got some great deals. We didn't get home until 5:00 in the morning. That is what you call Shopping until you drop! We were pretty goofy and giggly at around 2:00, so we got a snack and geared up for some more. It was actually so much fun. I got to sleep until about 8:00 and then Kyle was ready to head to the mall to get tires on our car. I couldn't pass up another shopping trip. ha.ha I think I may have a problem!!
Two days later was a BSU game. We hadn't been able to go to one all season and I believe it was the last home game. Kyle and his friend went to it, and I took the kids out to run some errands. We ran into Santa and got to take a picture with him. It was a nice surprise.
And here is my little buddy with another big bump on his head. His head seems to always get hit. This time he tripped over a curb and landed on the cement. Poor little guy!!
And here is Lexi in my bead exhausted after some fun holiday festivities!

Fall Festivities

Our annual pumpkin pizza for Halloween. It seems like things are so busy that day, pizza is the way to go!

My dad came out trick or treating with us, while my mom passed out candy at our house. The last few months of 2011 were very hard for my family. I found out in August that my parents would be getting divorced, which tore me apart. It really broke my heart. These are two people who together made my life beautiful from the moment they took me home from the hospital, and I just couldn't imagine things any different. I was literally sick over it. Two months after learning about this, my dad was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. I really don't know how I held it together as well as I have. I just felt like maybe I had things too easy during my life, and now it was my turn to experience some really hard times for the rest of it. I went with my dad to his appt. and I was trembling as we heard the news from the Dr., yet I tried to put on a poker face, and act like I wasn't too worried and that he would be fine. I must admit that I did a dang good job that day. It was a terrifying experience....talk about hitting rock bottom. Anyways, he wanted to spend lots of time with the kids, because he knew that he would be out of it for several months to come. We did have a great time going to around the neigborhood.
Our awesome neighbors really get into the holiday, by dressing up like pirates and sitting around their fire pit.
I love how excited my munchkins get! It is so much fun.
I also love when they share their candy with me=0)
a lady bug, a ice cream sundae, and a pirate. What a combo!!
This year we went with the painting route and it worked out good. The kids were able to participate morethe finished products
Lexi and I crashed our friends pre-school field trip to the pumpkin patch, while Kylie and Carson were at school
It was a beautiful day. That is partly why fall is my favorite season. The weather is awesome!

We can't miss the BSU parade. It is always so much fun. It was nice and sunny, and the kids get loads of candy

Love our Broncos!!
Lexi's little legs had enough walking, thank goodness for daddy!

We went to the pumpkin patch, my camera battery was on it's last leg and I only got to take a few pictures.

I know even though things have been tough, I am extremely blessed. Kyle has been amazing and so strong for me. My kids make me smile every day and I couldn't be more grateful for them. Carson includes his grandpa in his prayers every night, and I know his prayers are being answered. He and his sisters are awesome examples to me. We have wonderful family and friends who call to check on me on a regular basis. Their love and concern means the world to me. I have tears of gratitude as I am writing this. I could not get through all of this alone!!