Christmas

The customary stairs picture :) Metz was so great instead of coming upstairs when he woke up he talked into our monitor to let us know they were up, then they got Grandma and Grandpa.

Chase's new car. Cort and Grandpa worked on it late the night before so Chase could see it and play with it right away. Once Chase got in the car he wouldn't get out. Honestly, he opened most of his presents in there. Love.

Metz was spoiled rotten as usual. Great Christmas.

We did eventually get Chase out of the car and they had fun opening presents.

Cort and I were not forgotten . . .he now has an official Las Vegas Jersey to represent while riding.

The Rocket

Grandma and Grandpa came out for Christmas which means project with Grandpa!! Once Metz found out he was coming he planned the rocket. Here is the construction.

Metz so proud and excited about his Rocket. He still loves it.

Cort was a trooper and walked out to retrieve the rocket. It went really far out into the cornfield across the street from where we live. It got so deep that Metz got stuck and couldn't even get out to it. I'm so grateful for dads. Cort and my dad make my sons' lives so fun.

Chase couldn't sit out of the action. He got to hold the control while Metz and Cort hunted down the rocket. This kid kills me. How cute is he?

Metz with his snow hat I love!! What cute kid! (wait didn't I just say that? oh well it's true!) Love my kids.

Christmas Activities

Metz got out and made an awesome fort with our "bountiful" snow fall.

The fort. So great.

We did our advent calendar again this year and one activity was sugar cookies. Didn't get a picture of us making them but caught Chase sneaking one.

Also on the calendar was our now annual hot chocolate party. This year we added cookies.

Metz did a lot of crafts this year. It is so great that he is able to do more and more by himself each time. These hung on our tree with pride.

Halloween

The boys before trick or treating :)

Chase was our sweet little lion, we had been practicing his "ROAR" for a few weeks. He had it down pat. Metz was a lion when we lived in Dominica (not the best costume choice) so it was fun to see Chaser's running around in it and NOT sweating. So cute.

Metz was Boba Fett. Metz started watching Star Wars this summer and now he is addicted. When I asked what he wanted to be for Halloween he said Boba Fett. To be honest I freaked a little cause I thought "Who on earth will have a Boba Fett costume? and who is Boba Fett?" Luckily, he is more popular than I thought and we found it lots of places. And thanks to Grandma Leavitt, Metz was Boba Fett.

Trick and Treating. The boys were on fire . . .running to each house. Chase even got the "Trick or Treat" down.

Also, please be impressed with the pumpkins. Every year I buy them thinking "how fun" it will be to make them and forget how messy and how much work they are. I'm pretty sure by next year I'll forget again and we'll have another picture like this.

VACATION

The Boys and I were able to head west to Vegas and Idaho for a few weeks this summer . . . We had a blast, swam a lot, ate even more and just enjoyed family (oh and missed daddy lots too!) Here are a couple of fun pictures with cousins . . .

Chase and Cale are only 20 days apart. They had a great time together and were so fun to watch.

Most of the Leavitt cousins. We were able to swim a lot and it was fantastic. Seriously. Metz had such a great time with Rylee and Talin. Plus we finally got to meet little Logan. The best part of swimming all day . . .we slept like rocks.

Brittany and Cole are awesome. Metz has been missing them like crazy since we moved to WI. We had a week of fun with them. Metz even played Laser tag for the first time with Cole. He can't wait to get back to Idaho and play again.

These three kept busy in Vegas for sure . . . you can just see trouble!

Granny

This is how Granny makes up feel . . . Happy. We were able to sneak in a trip up to Cedar to visit.

Granny is so sweet she saved some tomatoes for Metz to pick. He was super excited. Funny thing was on the trip up Metz keep asking if Granny would have any sweet peas to eat. (I can't believe he remembers that from last year.) To bad they were already gone for the season.

The fruits of Granny's labor.

Metz and Granny. I hope to have many more pictures of these two. They are so close (she watched Metz from birth til we left for the island -15 months while I worked full time). They have a special bond and I am SOOOOO grateful for Granny.

Great Food

In Idaho we got to all sit around table to chat, eat and just enjoy each others company.

At the wedding Metz went crazy for the chocolate fountain!

Chase was our clean up crew. Any food left out was his to claim. I didn't get to the kids snack quick enough and found Chase enjoying TWO juice boxes and a plate of food. He cracks me up.