mErRy ChRiStMaS!

Once again Christmas has come and gone. I swear the years are going by faster and faster! :( We had a great Christmas this year as usual. Our celebrating started a couple of days before Christmas up in Logan with a party with Todd's family. It was a blast! Of course we had yummy food and opened presents, but the highlight was the "Amazing Race"! We started this tradition last year. Fortunately, this year there wasn't any blood shed, just some tough competition! We didn't get the traveling trophy, but next year it is ours!!! :) Thanks Kevin and Candace for hosting the party and putting together such a fun race!

The next day, Christmas Eve, we went bowling with Todd's family. It is a Mullen family tradition. Our boys had lots of fun...so did Todd and I!! We had a little competion going and thanks to Todd we won the couples. Todd also won the guys! Bowling must be one of Todd's hidden talents! :) After bowling we headed home to Delta so we could get ready for santa.

The Mullen grandkids at the bowling alley.

Briggs

Todd, Jaygen, Pace

Todd's parents came down to our house this year to spend Christmas with us. Our boys were really excited to have grandma and grandpa with Sage (their dog) here when Santa came. Christmas Eve we had some yummy cheese fondue, decorated cookies for Santa, went and looked at Christmas lights, opened up their new pj's and then ended the night with the Christmas story. Grandpa Mullen read the story while the boys acted it out with some puppets. I love feeling the spirit when I hear the Christmas story. It is such a powerful story! Then before the boys got in bed, I read them a new Christmas book we got this year. While we were reading, Pace was acting a little nervous and asked if the front door was locked. I told him it was but he went and checked anyway. I think he was getting a little worried about Santa coming in our house!

Grandma Mullen helped frost cookies for Santa. The boys made sure there was plenty of frosting on them for Santa!

The boys woke up with an orange by their beds Christmas morning so they knew Santa had come. But holy cow!! I can't believe how late my boys slept in. It was about 8 o'clock when Jaygen finally woke up and then Jaygen had to wake Pace up. What is with sleeping in Christmas morning?! We had a fun Christmas day even though I was sick and did not feel good AT ALL and Briggs was also not feeling good either. The boys had fun with their new toys and we ate some good food. It was really fun to have grandpa and grandma here with us. We are for sure blessed with all we have!!

The boys playing with their new GeoAir.

Opening presents from Santa.

Briggs liked to role his orange from Santa down his new slide.

Briggs having fun playing in a box.

Jaygen's Big Christmas Performance!

Jaygen was sooo excited for his school Christmas program. He has been coming home from school singing the songs for quite awhile now. But when it came the morning of and I got Jaygen's dress clothes out to wear, he started throwing a fit because he didn't want to go to church. It is obvious he is not a big fan of church !! :)

All the classes wore different hats. Jaygen's class wore Christmas tree hats. It was a cute program. Jaygen was making me laugh because he had a huge smile on is face and spent most of the time just watching the other kids and not really singing. But then when he would sing, he would look at me and tell me to clap!

I never really could get a good picture of Jaygen, but notice how handsome he looks in his new glasses. He is used to them now, but that is a whole other story!!!!!

Here Comes SaNtA cLaUs!

This last weekend we had a great Thanksgiving! My family all went to my sister's house in Sringeville for dinner. It was way yummy!! After dinner we went to see the fun Christmas lights that Spanish Fork does...the kids loved it! We all bundled up and loaded in the back of our truck and drove around and looked at them. It was cold but way fun!

After all that fun, the real fun began. My sister, my mom, and me did the crazy Black Friday shopping. This year was especially crazy because we started Thursday night at 10:00 and didn't get back to my sister's house until Friday morning about 7:30. I cannot believe we shopped ALL night!!!! It didn't stop there either. We then went to breakfast and then headed to a craft fair. Wow...we were tired to say the least!!! :) The sad thing is, we didn't really even get any great deals to show for it!

Well after all that, we headed back to Delta for the great and fabulous Christmas light parade (I think it might have lasted about 10 minutes this year)!! After the parade we took the boys to see Santa. I actually look forward to this every year. I love Christmas and this seems to totally start the Christmas season for me. We made it this year without any of our boys kicking and crying when we tried to put them on Santa's lap...I can't hardly believe it!

I could tell Jaygen was a little nervous but he totally just walked up and sat on Santa's lap. I think he is getting to the age where it is exciting and not scary anymore.

It is an understatement to say that Pace was scared to death to sit on Santa's lap. You can tell in the picture that he doesn't have his normal smile...it was totally a forced smile. But, he didn't cry. He walked right up to Santa and started telling him that his name was Pacer Mac and that he wanted more horses for Christmas, just as if he had been rehearsing it!! :) What a brave little guy!

Little Briggster didn't show much emotion either way. He just kinda stared at Santa and then looked at me like, "Who is this guy?!"

We had a great weekend and enjoyed all the time we got to spend with my family. These are great times and I will cherish them all! My boys just keep getting funner and funner. We are all so excited for Christmas to come. Pace is already asking everyday when Santa is going to come. Thank goodness we could finally start our countdown calendars!

Mesquite 10K (Todd's first and last!)

So, right of the bat I have to say what an awesome husband Todd is! Ever since I have been running races I have wanted Todd to run one with me. What could be more fun, right?! I kept telling Todd it would be just me and him and the pavement!!!! Well Todd is not a runner and it did not sound fun to him one bit, but finally he agreed to run ONE race with me. I was so happy. So, I signed us up for a race down in Mesquite and Todd kinda started training. He wasn't enjoying it but kept going. All the while Todd was training, I was trash talking him bad...I mean bad. I kept telling him that I wasn't going to wait for him and that I hoped he could keep up. Well the truth is, I knew he could kick my butt and he did! I run every morning and it is still hard for me, and Todd ran maybe five times training and he totally could waste me. That is the sad part of the story! I am so mad at myself because we didn't get as good as time as we wanted and it wasn't because of Todd, it was me! I am way too competetive with myself!! Anyway, I had so much fun with Todd. During the race it was so great!! Todd and I chatted and laughed while we ran and Todd even sang to me a little bit. LOL He wore my ipod so he kinda was singing along with some of the songs!! :) Thanks Todd for running with me!! It meant alot to me!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Briggs!!!

Briggs a few weeks old

November 18th was Briggs' first birthday...where did that year go?! Of course we couldn't celebrate just that one day, so we started last weekend with a party for him. My family came over to help us celebrate. We ate some yummy food, opened presents and then did the "cake thing"!

Briggs loved just playing with the ribbons and wrapping paper! Jaygen was going crazy because the presents weren't being opened fast enough. All the other kids were having fun playing with the new toys.

For Briggs' cake I made him is very own huge cupcake. It turned out really fun!

We just let Briggs have his whole cupcake to himself. He started out just very carefully picking the little M&M's off the top, but then he caught on and the fun began. It wasn't as bad as I though it was going to get, but I am pretty sure there is still some frosting in his ear.

All done!!!!!

On Briggs' real birthday we opened more presents and we thought it might be fun to stop at Jumpin Jacks to let the boys play since we were already up north. They all had a blast! Briggs went crazy and looked so cute trying to walk on the blow up things. He loved going down the slides. Todd even took him down the big slides and he loved it!

Briggs had so much fun with the wrapping paper! :)

We had a great few days celebrating! I can't believe how fast time goes by. I love Briggs so much and couldn't have been happier a year ago to get another little boy. My house constantly has balls being thrown around and tackling matches going on and I wouldn't want it any other way. Briggs totally has the "cheesiest" personality and I think it is just adorable. He always looks at people and scrunches his nose up and smiles sooo big. Briggs is starting to push little cars and trucks around and make car noises. He is also starting to toss balls around, that is when he isn't eating them!! He is still a climber. He tries to climb up or in anything that he can! It is so much fun seeing his persoanlity develop! Happy 1st birthday Briggs! We all love you!

My First Pheasant Hunt!!!

This last weekend we went up to Logan for some family fun. Todd's brother Kevin graduated with his MBA, so his wife Candace threw him a surprise party to celebrate...the party was great! Congratulations Kevin!!! Todd's sister Melissa had a little baby boy a few weeks ago so they also blessed him this weekend. He is a cute little guy!!

Well, this weekend was also the open of the pheasant hunt so you can guess what else we did!! We loaded up the whole family and headed out to shoot us some birds. This was my first real hunt so I didn't really know what to expect. My boys were sure excited and so was Todd. We were only a few minutes in to the hunt and I had myself my first pheasant...wow! I was so excited...so excited that I started jumping up and down and cheering while holding my gun. (I will have to work on that!) I couldn't believe that I really hit it with my first shot and only one shot...yea for me!!! I must have just hit the wing on the pheasant because when it hit the ground it took off running. Thanks to Uncle Jim and Sage (the dog) for chasing it down for me. Then Grandpa Mullen had to ring its neck to finish it off for me. Thanks for all the help everyone!

Briggs got to go on the hunt too. He hung out on Todd's back and slept most of the time. He even slept through the sound of Todd's gun. What a good baby!!

I only got the one pheasant but Todd got two more and also a Hungarian Partridge.

We had a great hunt. All together we got 15 pheasants. Jaygen and Pace and all the other kids were great during the hunt. It was a big hike and they all made it. Who knew bird hunting could be so much fun?!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!

We had a great Halloween, but I was kinda nervous when months ago Jaygen said he wanted to dress up a like a wolf. I had no clue how I was going to come up with his costume. I kept thinking he would change his mind but he stuck with it until just last week...I was so relieved! He decided he wanted to be a vampire instead. So, I went and bought all the stuff for his costume and then the night before he had to dress up for his school party, he changed his mind again. He now wanted to be a football player...go figure!

Pace always wanted to be a cowboy, except for a couple days he thought he wanted to be a garbage truck driver. I totally tried to down play that and thank goodness he stuck with a cowboy. The only thing with Pace being a cowboy is that he wanted to have a pink, yes pink, cowboy shirt to wear. I didn't know how that would go over with Todd, but we found one and Pace couldn't have been more excited!!

This was Briggs' first Halloween and I felt so bad because he had a bad cold and did not feel good at all. We still got a few smiles out of him though. I made him a frog costume and he looked so cute!!


We loaded Briggs in the wagon and headed out trick-or-treating. Jaygen wanted to run from house to house and Pace was for sure not in any hurry. He was to busy walking with his cowboy strut! Briggs lasted for a few houses and then Todd and Briggs went back home and me and the other boys finished the neighborhood. By the time we made it back home, Jaygen and Pace both had full buckets of candy. We had a fun night but I want all this Halloween candy out of my house! I can not quit eating it!! :)

The Pitter Patter of Little Feet!!

If I didn't get tired chasing Briggs around before I will for sure now...he has started walking!!! Every milestone that Briggs has hit I think it is my favorite, but I am certain this is my favorite. Briggs is such a happy, buisy baby and he is so cute walking around. He started taking one or two steps a couple weeks ago and now is he walking clear across a room. My other boys didn't walk until atleast 14 months so having Briggs walk before he is one is really fun. Briggs is always smiling and laughing when he walks, and he will stop for a second and let out a squeal like he is so proud of himself and then he will keep going. I have been trying for days to get a picture of Briggs walking but as soon as he sees the camera he heads straight for it. I finally kinda got a good one. He is half smiling and half crying in the picture because he wanted the camera.

pUmPkIn PaTcH

Summer is finally over and Fall is here...yea!! I love this time of year!! We headed up to the "Big Red Barn" for family night to let the boys pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. We had a great time! The boys had to look at every pumpkin and then chose about the biggest ones they could find...of course!

When Pace found out we were going to a farm and there would be tractors, he made sure he wore the proper attire! He was decked out from head to toe when we left the house but decided to leave his chaps in the truck. Look'n good Pace! :)


This picture totally shows how Jaygen was at the pumpkin patch. He was running from pumpkin to pumpkin the whole time like it was a race or something...what a fun kid!

Oh, our little Briggster!!! He smiled the whole time, as always, and was just happy to be there. We wouldn't let him down much because we knew he would probably eat anything he could get in his mouth!:)

The hayride was of course the biggest hit with my boys because the trailor was pulled by a tractor! Todd loved it too...the rode was bumpy and we sat in the back of the trailor and that made it even more bumpy. He didn't think the hayride would ever end! :)

We had a way fun night! This was our first time to a pumpkin patch and loved it...especially the treats afterwards. I always love spending time with my little family...what a fun family night!

What has Briggs been up to?!

Holy cow...Briggs is the busiest baby ever! He is always on the go and I can hardly keep up with him. If he is not chewing on something, he is climbing on something. He never wants to sit still so it is hard to ever hold him. Sacrament meeting is a great example of that...it is basically impossible with him! Briggs is already starting to take steps and he is only 10 1/2 months. It is totally true that all your kids can have different personalities because Briggs is WAY more mobile and mischievous than my other two boys ever were! I try to keep doors and cupboards closed but somehow, someway Briggs always gets to what he is after!

It is an understatement to say that Briggs loves the bathtub! He usually gets to bath with Jaygen and Pace so that is probably why because it is just a big splash party. Anytime you take him out of the tub he throws the biggest fit. Sometimes when I hear him crying in the day, I will find him standing at the tub crying because he wants in (that is after he has eaten the toilet paper and put all the bath toys in the toilet). Well one time I heard a big bang so ran to see what had happened and he had flipped over the side of the tub and was sitting in there proud as could be!

So what is this a picture of? Well just one more minor thing. This is a picture of one of my window sills. Briggs has eaten the edge off all the ones he can reach in the house...no joke!!! I mean he has chewed them until they are down to the metal. He has been standing up to the windows a lot but I just thought he liked looking out...wrong! I have noticed white stuff on his face and couldn't figure out what it is, but come to find out it is the wall!

It is a good thing that Briggs is such a cutie because it is hard to ever get mad at him! He always looks at you with his big brown eyes and just smiles!!! How can you get mad at that?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYGEN!

We've been partying again! Jaygen had his 5th birthday on Monday and he had only one thing on his mind...football! He had been telling us for months that he wanted a Wii football game, so we got him one and thought it would be fun to have a helmet and jersey to go along with it. Grandma and grandpa gave him some football pads and that made the outfit complete. He had been especially excited for this birthday because I told him he could have a friends party...of course it was all football too! He invited 7 little friends over and we had a football training camp in the backyard.

Then we came inside and had some BBQ hotdogs and of course birthday cake. I told Jaygen I was going to make a football field cake and he said he wanted it to be Steelers against the Broncos. It turned out pretty cute and Jaygen loved it!

I can't believe that Jaygen is already 5 years old!!! Jaygen is such a good helper around the house and an awesome big brother. Jaygen has changed a lot in the last little while and seems so grown up to me. He loves anything to do with sports, reading books, playing the Wii, being outdoors, and especially hanging out with his dad! Happy Birthday Jaygen...I love you!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PACE!

Pace turned the big number 3 last week! It seems like we have celebrated his birthday for a whole week because last weekend Todd's parents came down with presents, then his birthday was wednesday and we did presents, then my family came this weekend with more presents and we had a little baseball party!

We gave Pace a big garbage truck for his birthday. Holy cow...he was so excited! Now I get to play garbage guy with him, only I get to be a garbage girl...thanks Pace!

We had a baseball pinata at his little party and had tons of fun with it. I think grandpa and grandma Marshall had the most fun swinging at it. Now I know where I get my athletic ability from!!! :)

Pace loved his baseball cake. I totally intended to frost the cake blue not green, but I made a buttercream frosting that was yellow and then added blue food coloring. Note to self: yellow and blue really do make green!

Pace has the best personality and I hope that he never changes. He is such a laid back kid and always content to be doing his own thing. He always follows his big brother around and mimics what he does, but it seems that Pace is always the one with the big ideas when they get in trouble. Pace has such a sweet, innocent face that it makes it hard to ever really get mad at him. Pace is a really caring kid with a soft heart. He has the best hugs and kisses that he likes to give. Pace makes us laugh everyday! He says and does the funniest things. I have no idea where he comes up with some of the things he does! I love you Pace...you are one of my special boys!