Ethan & Brendan's Christmas Tree

This year I bought the boys their very own Christmas Tree...so they wouldn't feel that they have to touch the big Christmas Tree. They were able to decorate it their own way (although Mommy helped...just a little). We are still missing a tree topper and a tree skirt but they were very proud and excited about "their" tree. They asked if Santa was going to leave presents under both trees!

Although it only took us fifteen minutes to decorate this tree; it is a record time for me. :-) I am just happy that they enjoyed decorating it and they are getting very excited about Christmas. Now next weekend we will decorate the big tree and outside.

Happy Birthday Boris!

Dear Boris,

You would have been 6 years old yesterday. I remember throwing you a first birthday party as if it was just yesterday. You enjoyed all the company and especially your doggie birthday day. I wish that you were here so I could hug you and tell you Happy Birthday. Ever since the day a piece of our hearts went to heaven we have thought about you and have talked about you. You truly have left dog paw prints in our hearts. We miss you and wish you were here to share your special day with us.

Happy Birthday Bor Bor!

~Love you

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took a Family Trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The three boys really enjoyed the animals and the corn maze and everything else! In fact, I think we all had a good time. The weather was beautiful and it was wonderful just to be outside and enjoying the fresh air. My boys actually slept in today (which is a miracle) from all the running they did last night.

We even bought both of the boys tiny little pumpkins. They are all ready for Halloween now. Only a week ago before they get to go trick-or-treating! They are really looking forward to that.

Congralutions to my husband!

Last week Jason was asked to accept a promotion at work. He has gladly accepted the offer and is now the head of the Vendor Management Department. He currently is working on a year long project for the Audit Department and will continue to do so until it is completed. He will have a dual role in both departments.

Congratulations Babe! We are so proud of you.

Boris - Nov. 17, 2004 - Sept. 12, 2010

Dear Boris,

You were the best dog a man could ever hope to share his life with. Each and every morning you were there to tell me hello. I never once took for granted the moments I was able to spend with you walking the neighborhood, walking around the show ring, or scratching your giant head. Boris, I love you. I will never forget you and the joy you brought to the family. You fought hard against your disease, and for that I commend you. In your dogged stoicism, I didn't fully realize the pain and suffering you endured daily, yet you still managed to love your family to the fullest extent. You fought to the very end, to the point where basic life functions began to elude you. I hope one day I can live up to how much fortitude you displayed in the waning months of your life. Boris, I am truly sorry your journey down here with us was so short-lived. You were able to lie at our feet while we said our goodbyes and the fade to blackness was pain free and liberating for you. Thank you, my friend, for all that we were able to experience together. You are gone from my sight Boris, but you will never be forgotten.

Victory!!!!

First victory game of the season for Notre Dame! Notre Dame 23 Purdue 12.

Of course we were all ramped up for the first game of the season and so the boys wanted to put on their shirts and show their spirit.

Thank you to our family back east that sent us shirts for the college football season. The boys have their ND shirts and Michigan shirts ready to be worn. Not sure how we are going to handle next weeks game when ND plays Michigan. I guess they will have to switch shirts at half time. :-)

Ethan kept telling us throughout the game that he wanted to go to Notre Dame and see the golden dome. We kept telling him that soon we will go there and see it...but he kept telling us "No, I want to go right now!!!"

Sorry little man...we aren't going to get there until next year, hopefully! Great way to start the new season. I was impressed on Brain Kelly and his interviews...much better than Charlie. But Charlie had a good year or two.

Let's go Irish!!

P.S. Sorry had to put a picture of Emalia in there...she was helping us celebrate!

Bubba Keg

Recently we have been experimenting with the new recipes and cooking on the Bubba Keg!

Most recent we cooked a pork loin and potatoes. We marinated the pork in a mojo sauce (super yummy by the way) and the potatoes had butter, cheese, and onions. They both turned out great and the flavors were wonderful!

Great job to the Master Chef Jason!!! He loves to cook on the keg no matter how hot it is outside.

Brendan's B-day Pictures

My Brendan Michael is now 2 years old!! I am not sure where the heck the time went.

Brendan you are extremely independent just like your Big Brother! Of course, everything Ethan does you have to do as well. You two are just like the saying "Monkey see, Monkey do." You are very active just like Ethan but you are always up for some good old cuddling with your momma! I love to sit with you and your blankets and just cuddle.

Your current weight is 31.8 lbs!!! You are just 7 lbs shy from Ethan's weight. I can see us sitting on the football field cheering you on!

We have recently had to take you to daycare and all of the ladies just love you there! They think that you are so cute and sweet. They want me to bring you all the time. But I told them they couldn't have you.

Happy Birthday to my baby boy! Enjoy your "little" years and many more to come.

Love you,
Mommy

Ribs from the Bubba Keg

These were delicious ribs that Jason made on the Bubba Keg...and Ethan being silly!

Sedona

Not much to say about Sedona...but it is beautiful. We took a beautiful drive down from Flagstaff to Sedona and just enjoyed the scenery.

Had dinner and then drove home. It was a wonderful way to end an awesome vacation with the boys.

Hopefully we will have many more great vacations to share with all of you.

Lake Mary in Flagstaff

Jason took us to Lake Mary to show us where he used to fish while in college. Ethan was very disappointed that we didn't have a boat to go on the water with...sounds like we need to take a trip home to Grandpa Smith's house for some quality boating fun!!!

It is peaceful and beautiful there. We even looked around for some houses that were for sale...but nothing jumped out at us.

One day Jason would love to live there...but I am still on the fence.

Bearizona

Bearizona is also located in Williams, Arizona. This is a newly opened wildlife park where you are able to drive though the forest area and view these animals up close and personal.

Each animal has their own area with houses and feed storage containers right by the road. We were able to see all of the animals up close and talk to them. Your car windows are allowed to be open until you get to the bear section, of course...but who would want to leave your window open?

The bears like to play with your car and try to touch it. They tell you that you are able to stop your car and watch them but if they start to approach your car to start moving or you might have a bear on top of your car!! These bears are extremely playful and fun.

Some of the pictures are hard to see because of the windows being up and reflections. Pictures do not do this trip justice.

I also recommend this trip. The boys really enjoyed seeing the bears and all of the other animals.

Deer Farm - Petting Zoo

The third day road trip was to Williams, Flagstaff, and Sedona. This, of course, was the longest day trip this week. The boys did really well for being stuck in the car for so many hours and not running around. Thank god for portable DVD players and Disney movies or we might not have made the trip so successful.

In Williams they have a petting farm with tons of deer. They are vultures if you ask me! They tried to eat our shirts...since they had eaten all of our food we bought them. Crazy animals!! We even got to see Santa's reindeer. We had to explain to too little boys that this is where Santa's reindeer rest until Christmas time.

Ethan kept telling us that the deer really liked him and they are going to miss him. Silly boy!!! Thank goodness he didn't ask to bring one home.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Our second day trip was to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. We all had a great time here and again there are a ton of things for the kids to do. They had just about anything a kid could want to do there. Just a few things they had are: a grocery store, kitchen, pizza oven, planting flowers, riding bikes, noodle forest, and arts & crafts.

Ethan and Brendan really enjoyed shopping at the grocery store and checking out at the register.

Lots of fun times!! Check out that climbing thing...boy did my muscles hurt the next day. Some of those tubes are very small...they want parents to climb up with the kids...but they don't make the tubes "parent" size though.

I highly recommend taking your children here.

Makutu's Island

This week we were on vacation and did a few day trips with the boys.

The first stop was to Makutu's Island in Chandler. There are a ton of fun things for kids to do there...and keep them busy.

We have never seen Brendan's little short legs run so fast before. He was running around with all the big kids and even found himself a girlfriend...although she didn't want anything to do with him. :-)

All in all they had a great time there and they want to go back again.

Bubba Keg

Welcome the newest member of our family...the Bubba Keg. We received this generous gift from Jason's mom and dad and have been cooking on it every night since. It is a wonderful thing because Jason has been cooking every night for the past two weeks.

We have cooked meat, pizzas, and vegetables and everything has turned out great.

Jason thinks he is a real manly man now! :-)

Splash Park

Laura and my mom have been taking the boys to the splash park and letting them enjoy the water on these hot summer days. (Not so sure it is cool and refreshing for them though) The boys enjoy every minute of it...as you can see in the photos. I just love the picture of the 3 of them sitting and eating lunch.
Tyler looks so grown up in that Elmo hat. And my boys just look so grown up. Can you believe Brendan is going to be 2 in just a month and a half? Oh my!!!
A special thank you to Laura and my mom for taking the boys out to play...while I am at work. Ethan comes home and tells us all about the splash pad and what happened. Maybe I will be able to go with you guys sometime before the summer is over?!?!

Toy Story 3

Nana and I took Ethan to see Toy Story 3 this last weekend. It was cute...but I didn't know that it was going to be so sad. I don't think that there was a dry eye in the theater at the end of the movie.

Ethan enjoyed seeing Buzz Lightyear on the big screen...and hasn't taken his Toy Story 3 t-shirt off since. He has worn the shirt everyday...even if I hide it in the hamper he always seems to find it.

This is definitely a movie he will want to watch over and over and over. If it is possible to out play DVD's I am sure it will happen to us.

Thanks Nana for coming with us to the movie. He was very excited to call you and invite you out to the movies.

Wonderful News!

I think that I can safely say that Ethan is completely potty trained now!!! I never thought this day would ever come. He actually has been trained for a few weeks now but I didn't want to jinx myself by announcing it.

He has been going to school dry and leaving with his extra change of clothes! I am so proud of him. But it does make grocery shopping more difficult. We could be half way through the store and he looks up at me and says "Mommy I have to go potty!" Off we go running through the store to make sure that we get to the potty on time.

All in all he has been doing a wonderful job and no accidents.

Now only if we could get BB potty trained. :-) He actually has tried to sit on the potty a few times...but nothing.

Wow, I never thought that I would write a whole post on going potty. These are the things I have to look forward to...now that I am a mommy.

But moments like this make motherhood awesome!!

Sleepy Baby Boy

Mister Brendan Michael just waking up from a nap. Isn't he just so cute?? Look at that cute smile he has...will melt girls hearts (hopefully many many years from now). I also call him Hillbilly BB cause he doesn't have a shirt on under his overalls. Nana likes to dress him like that!!! :-)

sun + pool = fun

The boys have been loving summer! They both are swimming and jumping in the pool. They are always asking to go to Nana's so they can go swimming. I have to admit I love to go swimming too. It is a great way to cool off in this summer heat...along with having fun with the boys.

These pictures are from when Uncle Bill was here this past month.

Coloring & Baking

The boys having really enjoyed coloring lately. There is a website were you can print off " just about anything you are looking for" pictures. So the boys have been picking Elmo, Shrek, and Monster trucks. Then we display their art on the kitchen wall. They love to tell us who colored which one.

I was baking a Apple Tart and Brendan was eating all of the apples that I was peeling. Silly Boy!!!