Temple Square

We went to see the lights this weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Tuft and the Andrew cousins. It was pretty cold, but we had a great time (aside from getting separated once or twice).

The temple looked so pretty with the lights and a small covering of fog.



Matthew said his favorite part was the Nativity and the Christus statue.

Ryan liked everything. When asked what color of lights was his favorite he responded, "Blue, green , red, pink, purple, orange...." Glad he liked it!

Zachary wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing. I think he would have liked to get down and run around, but he was too bundled up to move.

Afterward we went to IHOP for some hot chocolate and pancakes. The kids had a great time with their cousins, but I didn't bring the camera in, so no pictures. It is finally starting to feel like Christmas. Are there really only 5 days to go?

New phone number and address

We have our a new phone number and our new address. We want to share it with our friends and family, just not the rest of the Internet. So if you would like the new info, give us a call at our old number...it will forward for two more days. Or send us an email or make a comment below.

Firsts

We've had a lot of firsts lately. The big news is we spent the first night in our new home recently! After selling our first home we finally found a new place to live. We are still trying to get things organized and put away, but we are making progress. It has been fun to put together a brand new place and the boys have LOVED exploring.

Our first time at church had some new moments as well. While in sacrament meeting Matthew leaned over to me and told me he was nervous about the new church. I asked him why and he said he was expecting orange lights to be along the sides of the chapel. (?) I told him there was nothing to worry about and that he was going to have fun in his new Primary class. I could tell I wasn't convincing him, so I tried to think of something else to say. I happened to glance up at the pulpit and knew I had my answer. "Matthew," I whispered, "there may not be any orange lights, but there are pink seats on the stand." He looked up and with a huge grin on his face said, "Pink is my favorite color." I knew we would be okay.

A little later on we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Ryan had the hymn book open and was singing along in his own little way. All of a sudden he perked up and said, "Hey, that's the Charlie Brown song!" That's the first time Charlie Brown has been mentioned at church. I knew Ryan was going to like it here too. But I think we may need to work a little more on the meanings behind the songs.

We are excited for all new things that will come our way, especially our first Christmas! Here is a picture of the boys with the Christmas tree and our first fireplace. (Ornaments soon to come!) I think it is adorable, but of course I'm extremely biased.

We also want to send out a special thank you to everyone who helped us move. We have been very blessed by your service. Thank you.

Christmas Lights and Santa

For Family Home Evening, we went to the "Fantasy at the Bay" Christmas display in Willard. We were able to drive around in our warm car and see the fun Christmas displays. The lights were nice and the kids loved it - especially the ones that looked like dinosaurs. After the lights we got in line to see Santa...and waited for two minutes...awesome! Santa was very kind and unlike last year our kids were excited to see him.

Santa asked Matthew if he listened to his parents, if he went to bed on time and if he was good. Matthew said yes (mostly true). Matthew told Santa that he wanted Lego Star Wars and Lego Space Police.
Santa asked Ryan if he was good...he said yes. Ryan asked for some cars games and some toys.
Zach, wasn't quite sure what to think of Santa.In the end, Zach wasn't a fan of Santa. Look at that sad face.
After visiting with Santa, candy canes were eaten, the Christmas spirit was felt, and an amazing battle on the Lego Star Wars video game was played! Isn't Christmas Fun!

SNOW!

Now that it is snowing again I figured I would post about our adventures from the snowstorm last Saturday. After lunch I took the kids outside to play - something they had been begging to do since they saw the snow. Zach didn't get to go out because he was recovering from strep throat, but he had fun watchin through the windows. The snow wasn't wet enough to make a snowman, but we had fun running around, throwing flaky snowballs, and making snow angels. I think the boys would have stayed out there all day if their little noses hadn't started turning red. And the best part about coming in? Hot chocolate of course!

Matthew making a snow angel

Ryan with his snow ball - an actual ball covered with snow

Matthew eating the snow

We "tried" to shovel, but of course it turned into some sort of battle.

Ryan trying to get mom with some snow.

There's No Buddy Like a Brother

We found Ryan in Matthew's bed the other night when we checked on them.

So sweet!

Halloween

So this is a little late, but it's still fun - right? We had a great day. First we colored and carved our pumpkins. Ryan has been waiting for the day we could bring his "punkin" in the house. He would have slept with it in his bed if we would have let him. He liked coloring it, but wasn't sure what he thought about cutting it up with a knife. Matthew, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get his hands in the pumpkin guts. He thought it was pretty cool, but decided it was too much work after four or five handfuls.

Here are the pumpkins
Ryan's bat, Zachary's Mickey Mouse, and Matthew's Tie Fighter

Later on in the day Grandma Tams made a special dinner with pumpkin breadbowls, soup, and doughnut eyeballs for dessert. It was around the end of dinner when some of the other trick-or-treaters started coming around and the boys could hardly contain themselves. They were practically out the door before we could put their costumes on.

We didn't get any pictures while we were out trick-or-treating (Amy forgot to bring the camera), but the kids had a blast and got LOADS of candy. Everyone around here is so sweet and insists that they hand out handfuls at a time. Ryan's pumpkin actually got too heavy for him midway and had to give it to Amy to carry between houses. But he was more than happy to take care of his loot when we got home.

May the Force be with you!

The Buzz is...Ryan's Three

This week we celebrated Ryan's Birthday. Here is a quick recap.

The day started with fun at the park with Mom and the Boys.	Hanging with the brothers on the slide.	Waiting for the Birthday Celebration to start.
Ryan wanted a Buzz Lightyear and Zurg cake...good job Amy.	Ryan easily took care of the candles and Zurg in one single action.	His Toy Story action figure set was definitely a hit.
He is three but he hasn't mastered cake eating quite yet.	Matthew and Ryan with their Birthday PJ's from grandma and grandpa Tuft.	Yes, Ryan can smile.

Happy Birthday Ryan...We Love you.

Playing in the Leaves

Sorry for the bulk upload (four posts) but we are a little behind. Enjoy!

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Getting ready...

On your mark, get set,

Go!

Cute Boys!
Making Zachary laugh

Leaf fight
We love Fall!

Following the Leader

We had a fun time during our walk yesterday. Zachary loves to be pushed in the stroller and see new things in the world. Matthew has been practicing on his bike and is getting better every day. Ryan has fun running around and picking up rocks or other random things. This time he found an old bolt that he dubbed his new microphone. He started singing "Tee dum, tee dee. A teedle ee do tee day" from the song "Following the Leader" from Peter Pan. I asked Ryan if we were following the leader (Matthew) as he pushed his bike up the big hill. Upon hearing our conversation Matthew begins singing:

We're going up the steep hill, the steep hill, the steep hill,
We're going up the steep hill, wherever we may go.

To which Ryan cleverly adds the chorus:
You bet, you bet, you bet, you bet, you bet!


Broadway here we come!

Ryan's Frog

I noticed Ryan was running around with his hand in a fist while playing Star Wars with Matthew. I asked him if he was holding something and he answered matter-of-factly, "Yes mom. It's my baby frog!" Intrigued, I asked him to show me. He holds out his palm and smiles. "Hmm, what color is your frog Ryan?"
"Green"
"Does it have any spots?"
"Nope. Just green. And it has bouncy feets that go boingy-boingy-boing."
"Wow, he must jump high."
"Oh no, there he goes!" Ryan exclaims as his hand bounces.
Don't worry. Baby Frog was immediately recovered and placed in the safety of Ryan's fist.

And I have Ryan to thank for discovering that Yoda can easily be reached with a simple call on an old cell phone. If only I had known that years ago!

Matthew's Thoughts

Some words of wisdom and curiousity from my oldest offspring

"I don't want water. It doesn't have any taste. Why can't you make it have a taste mom?"

"What does R2-D2 mean when he says beep whoot ooo?"

After seeing daddy sleeping on the couch he bursts out into song (to the "Muffin Man" tune):

Do you know the napping dad,

The napping dad,

The napping dad,

Do you know the napping dad

Who lives on Mary Lane ? (Matthew's version)

And my current favorite:

"Wow, did my head grow really big when I turned five? I can't fit it through the arm hole in the chair."

Aren't five-year olds great!

Guess who turned five this week?

Happy Birthday Matthew!May the force be with you......and keep your helmet on tight.
We love you!Here you can see little Green Army Men attacking Darth Vader, the Storm Troopers and the Tan Army Men. With the Dinaco Cars are watching the battle. In the end Darth Vader was victorious.

Amy's how old?

It's Amy's birthday this week! Happy birthday to Amy. Happy birthday to Amy. Happy Birthday Dear Amy. Happy Birthday to you!

We love you Amy!