Christmas 2018

Christmas this year was subdued.  Kaiden came over not feeling well and spent the afternoon in bed.  Gavin started feeling bad after we ate and slept the rest of the day.  Barbara and Gary left early as Barbara was having shoulder replacement in 2 days and did not want to get sick. 

We did have a nice meal and exchanged gifts.  Kaiden perked up enough to open his gifts.  

Traditions

 A few weeks ago the word tradition came up in a conversation and Trevin didn't know what it meant.  I explained it to him and he said that's like when we get together every year and decorate cookies for Christmas and then eat one when we go look at Christmas lights and we haven't done that yet this year.

So yesterday we decorated cookies and then went to look at the Christmas lights.

They get pretty creative with what they can find - pretzels, peanuts, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, marshmallows along with sprinkles - plenty of sprinkles.

This was the first year Gavin took part in the tradition.  He was very excited.

Mostly about eating the decorations.

He was very excited about looking at the Christmas lights.  I hope we get to do this tradition for many more years.

Gavin is 2!

 I tried all day to get a good smiling picture of Gavin, but couldn't.  It is hard to believe he is 2!  He is such a happy little boy and very active.  He loves to be outside especially when we walk to the park and he can swing and slide and climb everywhere.  He loves books and takes me to get them to read over and over again.  He likes to drag out all the blankies he can find and have the spread all over the floor.  He really likes bunnies and I made the mistake of showing him pictures on my phone.  So every time I see him he wants bunnies and if I am slow he gets the phone out of my purse.  The bunnies have to go to sleep quite often!  Unlike his brothers he said Gram before Tito so I told him he was definitely in the will.  Tito and I adore him and think he is so smart and special. (But we think his brothers are too)

 Here are the brothers holding up how old they are - Gavin says 2 but doesn't always hold up 2 fingers - we said he used 2 hands here.

Happy Birthday to you dear Gavin.  Gram and Tito love you very much!

Rock Hound

Kaiden loves rocks.  He is always picking them up when we go for a walk or whenever he is outside.  Showing us quartz, petrified wood, etc.  He knows everyone's birthstone (and agrees that us lucky people born in February have the best one)!  He was in 7th heaven when we stopped at this rock shop in Estes Park.  Both of his brothers were asleep so he and I got the chance to browse on our own for a few minutes.

4th of July Cupcakes

We made and decorated 4th of July cupcakes.  The boys decided to use the batter as face paint.  Gavin just enjoyed licking the spoon.

My New Favorite Picture

After running around with the boys one day doing errands we stopped for an ice cream on the way home.  I snapped this picture right after Gavin said please for another bite.

Splash

The boys love to throw rocks into the lake and stream.  Gavin became hooked as he watched his brothers.

He studied them for a bit and then set off to find his own rock.

He didn't often get the rock all the way to the water, but that didn't seem to bother him.

Whenever a rock would hit the water, he would crouch down and then stand up and yell splash!

After that it was hard to keep him away from the water - he kept yelling splash.

The simple things are often the most fun.  I remember loving to throw rocks into the rivers and my Dad telling me I would fill them up.  Nathan loved doing this also and now all 3 boys.