Christmas Party with the Bruschke's

We had a fabulous time as always celebrating Christmas with the Bruschke's. It was especially fun because my sister and her family came into town from Nebraska. For some reason I didn't get a picture of us together:-( Grandpa and Grandma Bruschke gave my kids pillow pets which they have been wanting for a very long time, along with a couple books and flashlights. This year I was lucky enough to pull my brother Brad's name out of the hat for our gift exchange. He jokingly sent me an email a month or so before Christmas telling me a hand gun was on his wish list. Yeah right!! Since that was way over our gift limit I made a trip to Walmart and bought him a nice plastic pistol. It was definitely a good laugh and maybe someday he will get himself a real one:-)

Christmas Party with the Morgan's!

It was a different Christmas this year for us and our families since not living in Utah anymore. Normally we would have spent Christmas Eve with the Morgan's but since we wanted to be home in Idaho for Christmas our get together ended up being a few days before Christmas. I can't say that I liked it that way either as it was just another reminder that life really is different for us now. I love being with family during the holidays so it was hard knowing we basically had only one day to spend with each side of the family. But on the other hand I really enjoyed being in Idaho just with my little family on Christmas and not having anywhere to go.

At the Morgan party it was definitely the year of University of Utah gifts and we loved it! Grandma Morgan gave the boys U of U jackets, cute U of U decorations, a U of U quilt for our card table, along with many other fun things from aunts, uncles, and cousins. We also got to meet our new beautiful niece Taylee. She is such a cute little thing and Whitney is so happy she finally has a girl cousin on the Morgan side.

Cannon's Birthday

Cannon was really excited to turn 9 last Friday. He was also really excited to have his birthday announced on the intercom at school and to be able to go to the principals office and get his birthday necklace to wear throughout the day. In fact, I didn't realize how important this necklace was to him until he got home from school that day and was unable to find it in his backpack. Needless to say, he was in tears:-( Thankfully, his teacher had it for him on Monday in class. Turns out he had dropped it on the floor on his way out......typical Cannon:-)

Friday evening we let him pick where he wanted to go for dinner and what activity he wanted to do. He choose Olive Garden for dinner because of there delicious salad and breadsticks, and then a late night of video games with his friend " E." It was very low key but I think they had a lot of fun.

A few things we want to remember about our 9 year old:

* His favorite food: salad, corndogs, chips & salsa, hashbrowns.

* His favorite color: red

* His favorite TV show: any sports game....especially football or Wipeout.

* Favorite things to do: play sports or video games.....but mostly sports:-)

* All he wanted for his birthday was ticket's to the Utah football game, and football flags.

* One important thing I want to remember is a couple days ago we went to his school for a "breakfast of champions." Cannon was one of two kids that his teacher picked from her class to attend this breakfast and receive an award from the school for someone who makes "responsible choices." I was truly SO proud of him!! I hope he continues to make good choices and continues to be a good example to those around him. We love you buddy!

Utah Football Game

All this kid wanted for his birthday was to go to a Utah Football game. Thankfully, the Ute's were playing the day after Thanksgiving.....and thankfully we were able to get tickets thanks to Ryan's brother Shane. Oh, and thankfully we were already planning on being in Utah. Guess it was meant to be! We had a great time and Cannon was on cloud 9. Brock decided he didn't want to go, which worked out well since it was super cold and he probably would have only lasted 10 minutes. We told Cannon he could pick someone to bring with us to the game and he picked his cousin Davan. The two of them had a great time cheering on their Utah Ute's!

Thanksgiving in Utah

All the grandkid's minus Kinnie and Andrew who live out of state.
Can't get any better than that!
The girlies having all sorts of fun!!
The big girlies having all sorts of fun in the kitchen! My fabulous sister-in-laws!
The two "B's" having dessert.......
Brock inhaling his pumpkin bread! What a fun fun weekend!!

Halloween 2011

Whitney the fortune teller!

Cannon the zombie!

Brock the pirate!

We made it through 0ur first Halloween in Idaho! The kid's had a great time trick-or-treating with their Daddy (for about 30 minutes before he was off to Montana...boo!) and then with me for the rest of the evening. It was different this year not doing our usual traditions of soup and scones with our neighbors in Herriman, and not having my mother-in-law here that always hangs out with us Halloween night and helps pass out candy, but we still did it here with just our little family and it was great!

Brock's Halloween Parade

Brock's teacher Mrs. Hymas dressed up as a bumble bee.
Cannon happy to see his brother!!

Our little police officer had been counting down the "sleep's" until the day came for his class Halloween Party and parade. Unfortunately, the school does not allow the children to dress-up with the exception of the Kindergarteners. Therefore, the parade consisted of walking around the school, and through all the classrooms. Cannon had no idea about this school tradition, which explains the big smile on his face in the above picture when his little brother entered his classroom. Super cute!! I must say that only having to dress-up one child for school was cake:-)