old!

Does Brandon look as young as Bryson?

So Brandon's goal in life is for people to think he is as old as he is. At least once a week someone tells him, now way you can't be 25 or what you have two kids. He does not like looking like a teenager. He keeps thinking he needs to change the way he dresses but the other day he went out with the Elders in his church clothes and was telling some inactive members they were visiting that he had been in Disneyland the previous week. They just stared at him really confused and so he started thinking he said something backwards. The Elders caught on and said "oh he is not a missionary, he is a member if the ward and he has two kids." They were shocked! Then one of the Elders agreed with them saying that the first Sunday Brandon stood up to teach Elders Quorum he thought they were having a priest teach Elders Quorum. But the best one is later on that week on the playground in our complex we were playing frisbee and Allie and Tyler were hanging out on the grass by us. There were two 8 or 9 yr olds playing soccer next to us and Brandon overheard them discussing whether or not we were the kids parents. They eventually asked us and they said "no way, you don't look like a mom and dad! Especially not him, he looks like a teenager!" We got a good laugh out of that one, at least I did. I guess he is never going to look old enough.

SNOW!!

We had been talking to Allie about the snow for so long we were SO excited that it snowed while we were in Utah. Allie thought it was pretty neat! She never really wanted to come in from playing in it.

Getting all dressed up!



Snow Angels!

Christmas

Hello Everyone, I know I am a little late posting Christmas but I have been trying to post the video of Allie telling the Christmas story. So every time I sit down to post I think this time it will work and for whatever reason the video will not post. I have tried many different ways. Oh well! We celebrated Christmas early since we were headed to Utah for Helaman's wedding. It was fun! We had quite the time keeping Allie in the playroom while we set everything up. She kept trying to come out and peek at her surprise.

We made Allie a Kitchen out of an old bathroom shelf but because we left to Utah earlier than we had planned doesn't have all the details yet. When we finish it I will post a before and after picture. She has been waiting for one of these strollers for SO long. Thanks, Grandma Sanders! Tyler really could have cared less about any of it. Allie kept taking over everything so he really didn't have the chance to get in on it. He got a dump truck and LOVES it! He is totally all about the boy stuff. He pushes it around and makes noise already. He is lots of fun and going to be lots of trouble. He just smiles when he knows he is going to do somthing he is not supposed to. Anyway, that has nothing to do with Christmas.

El Paso Zoo

We had a great time at the El Paso Zoo besides the fact that it was one of the coldest days we have had this winter. We have still been wearing shorts every now and then. I would have to say they both LOVED the Sea Lion show, probably because that is where we saw the most movement. Allie spotted out the Tiger and had to show Brandon where it was. She had a great time.

Decorated Tree!

Allie and I had a great time decorating the tree. I did the lights and Allie hung a few ornaments. Surprisingly, Tyler tried to pull the lights on the tree last night for the first time. It has already been up for almost two weeks.

Cutting down a tree...

We decided to cut down our own tree this year. Something I have loved doing with my family every year at Thanksgiving except I have not been home for Thanksgiving since 2002. Pretty crazy!! I am just glad I overheard people talking about it and that the permits are sold at Wal Mart for $5. We had to drive about an hour and a half but it was worth it. Once we got up there it was SO cold. It made it nice that we found our tree right to the side of the road. Not the paved road but one in the middle of the woods. Anyway, we were hoping for snow but it was all melted except a few piles. Tyler slept through the whole experience and that worked out great because by the time I would have had him bundled up the tree would have been loaded and us back on our way. Allie thought it was great and really felt important loading her top end of the tree. I LOVE real trees! It makes it feel more like Christmas!

Hanging up Christmas Lights!

There is not much Christmas light hanging going on in these photos because I was outside doing it myself. I had given Tyler a SMALL amount of cheerios and wanted to hurry and get the rest of the lights hung. The next thing I knew Allie was telling me that Tyler needed more cheerios and so she helped him. Thanks Allie!