Christmas Pictures

The boys and their new computer! You can actually turn it on now and not have to wait 25 minutes for it to warm up! Yayee! Thank you to all who put money in for this awesome gift!



















The screamed over gift from Brandon, Shannon, Cassidy and Connor!













Nerf War! We had such a fun time with these Christmas day.













Brett and Cynthia still trying to put Jamison's together.













I know it seems that I've been a slacker, but really I've been waiting to get my camera back from my parent's house. By Christmas Day eve I was running on fumes and am surprised I was able to make it home, pop popcorn, and get a movie set up for the boys before passing out... It was only 8PM!
I was pleasantly surprised when the boys woke us up at 7:30 Christmas morning. Shortly following the wake-up call, Jamie got his own call from work. Bummer! Jamie stayed to watch the boys open Christmas presents and I can't say we rushed it, but we could definitely feel the pressure that he needed to leave us shortly.
I made my yummy butterscotch rolls, but sadly they didn't turn out so yummy this year. I don't know what I was thinking, but they were rising too quickly so I threw them out into the garage to slow down the process. It worked, but it also ruined the yeast. They refused to bake properly and ended up being burnt because I couldn't get the middles baked.
Wess and Mary made their Christmas morning visit. I love them coming over and visiting. It gives us that little bit of time of not having to rush out anywhere and enjoy our morning. We showed off our Christmas present from them to them. What can I say, I'm in love with my new freezer. No more climbing into the freezer and trying to dig something out, not knowing if there is any more of that something left.
Luckily Jamie was only gone for a 3hr call and we were able to scoot on over to my family's house. All in all the boys had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled rotten again, even though we had all vowed that that would never happen again. ah! Such is Christmas when you have kids!

The boys during the last big snow storm.

My best friend and I... also known as my husband

















It's been so long since I posted last, but I wasn't sure what to post. My mind is focused on one thing and one thing only, and not much else is getting past that thought. My quote for the month and the next few ahead is this: "When we think of failure; Failure will be ours. If we remain undecided; Nothing will ever change. All we need to do is want to achieve something great, and then simply do it. Never think of failure. For what we think, will come about."
We had our Judy Family Party this past weekend. There was an element missing though. My Aunt Susan and I talked and both agree that that element was Stacey. Her outrageous flare for getting what she wanted during our gift exchange allowed the rest of us to play off of her. We thought playing in memory of her would be a fun idea, but it just wasn't the same. I miss her so much! It might be time to start searching for a new game to play. 
I have so much to do to prepare for Christmas. Anyone want to come clean my house and finish my laundry while I take a nap? (The chorus of coughing from the boys the entire night last night, has stolen the little energy I would have had left this morning.) Oh and if you have time I welcome you to finish my Christmas shopping. The cookie baking and decorating I will happily keep for myself and what help I can squeeze out of my boys.

Trae participated in the Science Fair this year. He and his Dad worked so hard putting together his DC Relay experiment. I think his Dad was more disappointed that he didn't make it to finals than he was!














Mason the destruct-or . He is prepared for any enemy he meets.




















I have been swamped this week trying to put together a family Christmas party, working, being a Mom, housekeeper, etc. I'm so excited for Christmas, but very unprepared. I had good intentions to be all ready a few weeks before Christmas (which would be yesterday), but I'm not even close to being ready. Oh well, should have a grand time with all the other procrastinators on Christmas Eve. Haha!
I was riding in the car the other day with my boys (I was heading to a Dance Explosion Reunion... it was amazing to see everyone again!) taking them to my parents house for a visit. They were talking about ages and comparing how old they would be at different times in the future. I overhear Jamison tell Mason "You don't want to turn 8. Eight is such a paining age. Eight is when my back started paining me and my legs starting paining me. Yep, eight is a painful age." I just couldn't hold back the laughter. If he only knew what was to come! haha!
Well, back to the DVD drawing board I go. Someone closed out the program I was working on without saving my project. Oh well, such is the life of a busy Mom.

Trae, Nana, Jamison, and Mason on Thanksgiving morning

Great Uncle Mike, Mason, and Aunt Cynthia

Jamison playing catch with Uncle Brett

Trae golfing in the little snow we had

Jamison, Great Grandma, Trae, and Mason

Jamie and Brett couldn't stay away from their game

"I got my flipflops that I left here all summer and my toysrus ads... I'm ready to call it a night."

Another amazing Thanksgiving has come and gone. Every year that we are able to celebrate with my Grandma is a great year. I absolutely love her humor and beautiful spirit. We are so lucky to still have her with us and that my Uncle Mike is so willing and able to help her.

I had 5 days off of work and I can say that I didn't realize how much I needed a break until I had one. I loved just hanging out with the kids and husband, watching movies, eating homemade caramel popcorn. These are the life moments that I hang on to and love to look back on.