And the countdown begins!

How can you not get overly excited about Christmas when you have little ones running around? They can't wait and have marked their wish lists through the dozen toy magazines we have gotten in the mail. They each sit down and circle their favorite toys so we can send them back to Santa. I can't wait either. Christmas makes me smile and for one time of the year, it's okay to be sentimental. I seem to be that way every day so I love that others are joining in too!

Raef insisted on putting the star on the top of the tree. He was smiling the whole time.

We loaded up and went to get the Christmas tree right before Thanksgiving again this year to beat the crowds. I remembered quickly why I love Christmas so much as I watched my little boys stare in amazement at all of the Christmas decorations and lights. There really is something magical about this time of year.

Trick or Treat

Halloween finally made it here and we had a magical night! It was one of those nights we put on the "priceless day" list. It was perfect. We rode the train in the day and the boys loved it. Then we all had a long nap and woke up ready to get dressed and head out. We went to a party composed of kids that were almost all the same age. The boys couldn't wait. They had pizza, movies and games and then went out trick or treating for probably almost 2 hours. They slept good that night. Raef kept saying, "mom, this is the best Halloween ever!"

It's tradition isn't it? The counting of the loot! The boys had to dump it out and see what treasures they got while dentist dad snuck some candy out and away to the garbage. I don't think they even noticed. Then they ate a few pieces and off to bed they went! Exhausted!

The boys were so excited they could hardly stand it. Ryan didn't have a clue what the excitement was all about but he understood enough to get into it. He knew treats were coming although he didn't understand where from or why.

Visit from Gammy and Doug

Gammy and Doug came and spent about 5 days with us and had a great time. The weather wasn't great but we definitely made the best of it. They watched the boys while I worked on Friday and took them to the dinosaur museum which was a big hit. We went to Boo at the Zoo, Amish country, Patterson's Fruit Farm, the mystery dinner downtown, Cuyahoga train, and had some delicious food that I prepared none of which. It was fantastic. They said they tried to give us a break by being here since we couldn't go there and I do believe they succeeded!

Mom was laughing harder than the boys on this ride because Doug was not going the legal speed limit. He was flying and she didn't have a chance of keeping up! It seems that Doug was laughing pretty hard too though.

Congrats Dad!

Dad tied the knot on October 4th in Montana. I flew out there by myself(yahoo) and spent a few days with everyone. The wedding was beautiful and Dad was smiling ear to ear. He had one of those smiles that spreads from ear to ear and even if you tried to, you couldn't help but smile! I even managed to gain two more sisters!

I got to spend some time with Dad the night before the wedding and listened to him play his guitar. He was working on a song to sing to his new bride the next morning and I absolutely loved that time with him. Dad can sing. That's the best way to put it. His song was beautiful and this picture captures a moment I will never forget. Listening to Dad play and sing brings me back 20 years and I rememeber loving hearing him play then. Love you Dad!

New bikes!

Gammy and Doug bought these early Christmas presents for the boys and we have never gotten so much use out of an outdoor toy. They absolutely love these bikes. There are no pedals so as to teach the boys to balance first and then go straight to a big boy bike without training wheels. Ryan was a bit hesitant at first but now puts his legs up also and they glide down huge hills, scaring us half to death but they love every minute of it. Thanks Gammy and Doug!!!

We have been really fortunate to continue to have some warm sunny days and we are taking full advantage of them. I am kicking the boys outside every five minutes because I know that pretty soon, they will be stuck inside and we will all be wanting out!

Once in a lifetime

We were so lucky to have a friend whose suite at the Indians stadium completely opened up and offered it to our family for the night. It was a night we will never forget. Our own suite. Wahoo! It was a beautiful night and we had all of the food we could want and the boys were given toys and souveniers. We have been to many games since living here but now I think sitting anywhere else will be a disappointment. We had so much fun!

The boys sat out and watched the game and ate and ate and ate until they were bored and then went inside and watched a movie while we all relaxed. This is definitely the way to go to a game with kids!

Pattersons Fruit Farm

We go here every year and love it. Tons of treats, beautiful scenery, pumpkin and apple picking, and lots of fall activities for the boys.

Camron came with us this year to the family fun fest instead of just eating all of our spoils. Usually we bring home doughnuts(I don't like them but the boys say they are heaven on earth), a way too large bag of homemade kettle corn, and gallons of the best apple cider you will ever drink. This is the stuff about ohio I will really miss.

Trent decided he would see if he still had the touch with the tractors. I don't know anymore city boy!

The boys could spend the whole day on this cool slide. They must have gone down about 50 times.

The trek!

We started the drive from Ohio to Montana and had great adventures. The boys did so great and I think I whined more than they did. We had great weather and stopped at hotels along the way and then let the boys play while we slept in and then headed for the pool for a few hours before we hit the road again. We had to stop in at Wall Drug along the way of course and get some dinosaur toys and treats and play a bit. On we go to Wyoming!

Sheridan

We made great time on the way to Montana so we decided to swing down to Sheriday and say hi to some old friends. We had to stop at the Brinkerhoff ranch and say hello. It was weird being there and having our minds flooded with so many memories of life before kids. It is a very pretty place that we will never forget.

We had to take a pic of our old stomping ground. This was the home we lived in while in Sheridan across from the Brinkerhoff ranch. We lived here free of rent(except for two days a month Trent became a ranch hand) and free phone(except for taking care of their very old dog-Patches) and loved every second of it.

Montana

We made it! The gang of little boys immediately snatched Ryan and Raef up and out they went to Papa's backyard for water fun and eating raspberries. Ryan ate a bucketfull I think.

There was a lot of little boys running around Dad's house when we joined our two more in. Raef instantly remembered Jared and they became best buds again and Ryan tagged along with everyone. Our boys had so much fun running with the Heidema gang.

The last view of the siblings before the big campout. It was short and sweet this year. Lots of fun. We were all ready to get going and get dirty!

When we arrived, we set up camp quickly before fishing and tried to get some logs that were big enough for the amount of people that were coming soon to sit on around the fire. This seemed like the perfect one until we realized how long it really was. We took turns hacking on this thing for an hour and then finally got it. We were all soaking wet and Matt was covered in slugs! Nasty! He didn't even realize he had a whole family strewn across his arm(mostly dead of course.)

This was really quite the scene. Matt and all of his sisters out trying to load the boat into the water when the shore wasn't completely settled. Oh boy! Or maybe I should say, "Oh girls?!" He really was very patient with us. The truck got stuck, I got knocked into the water and then shaken by the nice lab dog helping us, and even managed to lose my sunglasses! But we couldn't stop laughing at the scene. As soon as we got out and going it was a perfect evening. We caught lots of fish and just enjoyed the scenery and eachother.

The rest of the family joined us on Saturday morning and we got camp set up, fishing poles ready, and took off for the river. Some people were fishing, some 4-wheeling, some kissing (Dad), some floating on innertubes, and some just chilling. It was so fun! Raef loved learning how to string the pole.

Mom and Doug met us on Saturday and spent some time meeting everyone and just catching up. Mom delivered her handful of presents as always and then they headed to the river too.

Matt, Becca, and Hyrum

Looking good stud!

The kids spent the day on the river and had a blast floating along with the current until they hit Jen and Dad who steered them back around to the shore. It was a beautiful day and the water felt just perfect.

Raef made sure to get his fair share of fish too! He was catching them all over the place.

We broke the group up to go fishing the last day and we got lucky to have Dad come and fish with the boys! What a memory! The boys will probably never cherish those moments as much as there mom will. Jen and her crew fished with us and then played catch the frog and dead fish catch. A few games I tried to avoid. Yuck!

Hey! What are looking at? You just watch! I'll catch the biggest fish out here!

Told you!

Goobers was all grins with this big catch! And so was I!

As Trent and I discussed how much fun it was to fish with the boys, he commented on Matt and said, " he just really doesn't care if he gets dirty does he? He could have fish guts, boogers, blood, and slugs all over him and it wouldn't even phase him." That's just Matt. And we love it! And thank goodness, we all stood over him as he rescued, killed, and unhooked many fish. I honestly don't think we could pull a trip off like this without him. He really is irreplaceable.

This is me in my happy place. I love fishing! Sometimes, I think that the perfect trip to just relax and find myself would be fishing. All alone...well maybe with Matt or Dad in tow also.

Beartooth Pass

Beartooth Pass is a hard place to even describe. It is probably our favorite place to visit and if it is at all possible to live near it, near Red Lodge area, we would die to live there. Just the smell of the pine makes us crazy to get there. The road winds up the mountain, above the clouds, and pretty much straight into heaven. It is out of this world crazy beautiful and literally takes your breath away. It's freezing! The boys played on glaciers and explored for awhile while we snapped pictures. We drove from Billings to Red Lodge and then over the pass and then entered Yellowstone and went through to Idaho. What an amazing drive!

I wish I could just climb right into this picture. It's beyond words beautiful.

I love moose! If you have been to my house you already know this. So I couldn't believe we actually came this close to one. I haven't seen a moose since we lived in Jackson and there it was a regular occurrence. Even better, though was when I climbed out of our sunroof to take a picture and saw the baby tucked into the brush a little ways back. So cute!!! I didn't get a clear shot but it still shows how cute the little one was.