Happy 29th Patrick!

At the trax station in SL after seeing Mission Impossible in Imax.

I surprised Patrick with an overnight stay at The Inn on the Hill in SLC. They had it so beautifully decorated with Christmas decor and lights. We went to The Roof Restaurant for dinner, to a movie, ate a great breakfast, and had a wonderful birthday celebration. Thanks a million Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting Braxton (who had a fantastic time)!! :)

Christmas Chaos!

Patrick, Robyn, and Clark

Papa Jay on their new deck :)

Playing with cousin Clark...they had WAY too much fun with the remote control car that Papa Jay got for Christmas.

Braxton got color tablets for his bath in his stocking. This was his bath on Christmas Eve.

Bekah and Grandma making snow angels

We spent Christmas Eve at home as a family and had a lot of fun. We all opened one gift and read Luke. Above is Braxton having a little too much fun with Daddy (as he usually does).

Braxter and Mommy

New toy organizer....Santa was thinking of me perhaps?

The box fun

Christmas Cookies

Cute snowmen, but maybe some color next time?

The finished product

I like the one on the left better....

I almost hate to put these on here because I feel inadequate compared to others; however, I always get inspired by others blogs so I am posting these. I made these cookies as neighbor gifts and put the initial of their last name in the middle. This was my first time with these cookies (cream cheese sugar cookies) and I stole the snowman idea off of pinterest :) I just tried a few different things. I tried two different snowflakes and liked the one with less better. Happy giving!

Poor Dad!

My poor Dad tripped and fell on the stairs in my parents backyard. This was the end result; 35 stitches and two black eyes. Here's hoping he heals quickly!

Rockin' around the Christmas tree...

Even though we've been a little under the weather Braxton has still been amazingly happy.

I love this cute little boys smiles :)

Christmas is coming...

Growing up we got an ornament every year that signified something that we accomplished or did that year. We have continued this tradition in our home. This year Patrick and I got an ornament from the Hoogle Zoo in Utah. We had Braxton's first trip to the zoo and he gave me the cutest smile and loved the giraffes. By getting this it reminds me of a wonderful memory.

Not the cutest card but this is Patrick's birthday card this year. I love making cards and love doing them like this. This one is pretty basic, but I love the basic idea.

Countdown to Christmas blocks are almost finished...just to paint the base

Braxton's ornament this year is a pair of baby boy shoes because he learned how to walk this year.

Braxton's newest trick...

Braxton can now climb onto our kitchen table and all of our furniture....hooray!

Look at this cute face!

First visit to Santa

Playing with Santa's jingle bells

Apparently bored...but NOT crying or scared :)

Thanksgiving/Christmas Day!

The aftermath of dinner...

One of the cutest families I know :)

Eating pie

"Christmas" morning

Braxton loved the lights!!

We spent Thanksgiving in Virginia with the Dillon's and were excited that Jeff, Alicia, and Brooklyn could join us in the festivities. Since we don't get to see them very often we had a fabulous Thanksgiving and Christmas on the same day. We got very spoiled by them and can't wait for our next visit! :) Braxton especially loved playing with Brooklyn!

We are a family...

Grandma Jane and Braxton


Meeting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Mauck

Chuck E. Cheese

Braxton had the time of his life at Chuck E. Cheese; this was his first time and he absolutely LOVED it! We loved it because we got to see about 1,000 huge smiles from Braxton. He had fun playing with cousins from both sides; Alicia, Eva, and Brooklyn. He was spoiled rotten by being with three cute girls.

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...

Playing with Grandma, (cousins)Alicia, and Eva

Trying to get the three kiddos to all look at the camera; this is the best we got

Braxton's favorite toy his whole time we were visiting was the workout step...go figure

Daddy's work pass

Braxton loves trying to put things over his head; this time he succeeded :)

Happy Halloween!

How come daddy got the cutest smile out of him?

Just leaving

Braxton with mommy's wand




As our ward did not have a Halloween party we opted to go trick-or-treating at the local businesses on center street. It was really fun to be able to take Braxton this year as last year he was too little. As you can (hopefully) tell in the pictures we were princess and the pea (inspiration by Colette). Patrick and I had a fun time and I think Braxton enjoyed himself as well. We also enjoyed hosting a small caramel apple party this month and going to a Harry Potter Halloween party at our neighbors. We have had a very fun month; Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin "carving" night

Braxton drawing his sugar pumpkin

Braxton loves trying to draw! I have been trying to let him draw (with our help) more lately; otherwise it would obviously end up all over. He has already drawn with pen on our couches twice. I try to have a "pen check" before bed to make sure he can't get into any pens in the morning. Last year Braxton did not participate in Halloween very much. This year I wanted to include him in our pumpkin carving night a little bit so we gave him a marker and let him draw his pumpkin. I don't know if he drew more or just tried to eat the marker...either way happy (almost) Halloween!

Blue potatoes

My sister's mother-in-law was sweet enough to give us some of her garden goodies when we moved in. Here is a picture of her blue potatoes she gave us. They taste pretty much the same as a red potato. They were really yummy as hashbrowns :)

A funny...

I heard some squacking coming from the kitchen and went in to find Braxton had gotten out the upper part of the steamer and fallen into it.

Braxton's "New" Room

We survived our move and are still getting settled in but here is Braxton's room.