Layton is 12!!!

Every year when Layton has a birthday I am reminded that my baby is growing up. I get out his scrapbooks and go through the years over and over again. This is it for me. I have no more babies. He is  getting older and Josh is getting older and when they move out, Vance is just stuck with me. I wish time would slow down just a little bit. I want my boys to be young for a long time! Turning 12 is quite a milestone in a boys life in the LDS church. He graduates from Primary and goes into Sunday School. He becomes a Deacon and helps pass the Sacrament at church now. He advances into Boy Scouts and starts working on his merit badges to get him closer to his EAGLE. He will be going into Junior High after the summer. He is so fun and so smart and I love him so much. I've been tucking him in every night his whole life and giving him a kiss on his cheek right before he goes to bed. Just this week he informed me that I don't need to come in anymore. He's "Over it." WHAT?????? It broke my heart! He's growing up. I guess its time I did too.

 We got Layton an airsoft gun for his birthday so he and his friends can go out and have air-soft wars.

 He had a little party with 4 of his closest friends. We had pizza and soda and opened presents and then I took them to the Show Low Pool to swim for a couple hours.

 This is Layton, Ethan Amos, Sam Rhuele, Josh Willis, and Coy Owens.

 The 3 boys int he middle are all older than Layton. He is such a tall boy!!!

 Make a wish!!!!

 Cheers! Here's to a great year 12 in my little boy's life! I love you, Layton!

Snow Fun at Sunrise

When Vance's family came up to celelbrate MaryAnn's birthday, we also took a day and drove up to Sunrise to play in the snow. This is Vance with his older sisters Monica and Michelle:

 This is Mike and Monica Olson with their daughter, Emily:

 This is Steve and Michelle Menlove with their kids Anne, Mathew, and Andrew. Blake is serving a mission in New York and won't be home till next fall.

 This is me and my boys, Vance, Josh, and Layton:

 Josh, Mathew, and Layton contemplating their first ride down:

 Anne did some contemplating too:

 Kevin, Misty, and their boys Cooper and Riley had a great time! I remember both Josh and Layton wearing that yellow jacket when they were little. So fun to see it again!

 Somebody shoot me next time I look like that! Whats wrong with me?

 This cloud of snow flying down the hill is Josh:

 Mathew lost his sled pretty much every time he went down the hill:

 Vance and Kevin were clinging to Cooper because they were scared to go down by themselves:

 Is it just me, or does he look a little worried...

 Kevin and Layton:

 

 Layton:

 

 Emily:

Layton:

Steve:

Layton and Emily:

Mathew and Josh:

Cooper:

 

Mathew and Josh going down together on one little tiny sled:

 

Andrew:

 

Riley and Cooper:

Riley:

 

Josh, Vance, Me, and Layton:

 

Mush, Uncle Vance!!!

Christmas 2012 and New Years

Merry Christmas!!!

 Grandma and Derrell gave the boys remote control laser helicopters that they played with for hours. They also got remote control cars from Santa. Layton's in next to him inthis picture:

 Josh got a couple dirt bike helmets, a new robe,  and some cologne:

 We made pancakes for breakfast and then went outside for one final surprise...to be revealed later....

 We actually had a white Christmas. Layton was really excited about that.

 JoJo doesn't mind the snow at all. I don't think much of anything could keep him from checking on his chickens every day. Look at his precious little paw prints...

 Layton was completely surprised to find a quad out in the barn just for him! He will need to practice a little to get the hang of the shifting but he took it out to the jumps and did great!

 We have fresh eggs ALL THE TIME and we love it! We usually have way more than we can eat so we give a lot to our neighbors.

 The boys took their remote control cars out in the backyard and raced them in the snow. And then of course they brought them back in the house all wet and muddy and put them on my kitchen floor. Man I love these boys!

Vance's mom's birthday is on Christmas Eve and she always celebrates it by making a seafood feast for all her family. This year, eveyone was too busy to come up on Christmas Eve so we celebrated on New Years Eve. Everyone went to the Cabin in Pinedale and had the big seafood feast and then we played games till 10 o'clock. It was a lot of fun.

 Over teh Christmas Break, I did something I absolutely love to do but usually don't have time to do: I put together this puzzle that my friend Brenda gave me for my birthday. It was HARD!

 One of the nights over the break, we played poker with candy instead of money. Josh had his friends, Loye and Brian, over to play too. Guess who won the whole jackpot???

 Who has two thumbs and kicked some booty at poker? This girl!!! I won it all! Of course I put it all in a big bowl and everyone shared it. But lets not pretend we don't all know I secretly took out my favorites and hid them in my nightstand. That would be silly!

 I made salsa over the break too. We love salsa around here.

 For one of our family nights, we let the boys pick a board game and we played Clue. Vance always wins and this time was no different.

 And one of my favorite pictures is this one of JoJo. He is such a good dog and so sweet and so smart. But not this day! He dug through the bathroom trash and then jumped into the tub with his muddy feet and then jumped out and took a little nap on the rug. He wasn't smart enought to leave the scene of the crime! You can even see his paw prints on the tub! I laughed out loud when I found him!