Happy Holidays!!!!!

Gingerbread house time! Whoohooo!

Bodie eating his weight in candy!

Annelise at play!

Secret secret, I've got a secret!

Eating the Gingerbread house. Two weeks and still tastes good!

"I'll take ya where you need to go brother!"

Santa Brayton!

Annelise Christmas Eve.

Everyone gathering outside my Brother's house to see his Grizzwald light show timed to music.

Holiday cookies and best buddies!

Uncle Kurt with Brayton

The Grizzwald house. . . aka Kurt and Angela's!

Who can believe the year is already coming to an end. Just a few short weeks away from what always feels like fresh beginnings. Like so many people, we have been scaling back this year so please take no offense if a Christmas card did not make it into your mailbox. We thought we would write a little holiday note here for all our friends and family.

It sure was a busy year! Winter sports, trips to the mountains and the coast, new friends, lots of toddler fun and the arival of Brayton Elliot! We have grown as a family and have hit a great stride now being a unit of five! Although the twins have been the light in our hearts, I must say that as cliche' as it sounds, Brayton has made us complete. They love him dearly and can hardly stand to be without him for any time at all. No doubt that this year made our lights a whole lot brighter.

As the year comes to a close, Bodie and Annelise are talking up a storm, discovering new things every day, and developing very distinct personalities! Bodie is orderly and busy as a bee ALL the time while Annelise is deep into her books again and always playing baby dolls. Brayton smiles non-stop! Laughs at his brother and sister and could care less about sleep. He is the happiest boy I have ever seen and still cuddles all day. I hope these phases stay a while because we just haven't had enough yet.

As for the grown ups in the house. . . Bodie is scraping up work as best he can. We have managed to stay busy and keep our guys working but things have slowed down for sure this time of year. While we struggle to adjust to this economy like so many others we continually count the amazing blessing we do have and remain grateful. We certainly cannot complain because our business is still operating and Bodie always manages to find something. He is quite amazing that way and we feel fortunate to know he is doing it for our family.

As for myself, well, I am still LOVING being home with the babies. I have taken on a few faux jobs here and there this winter and will do as many as I need to while the economy is so slow. The kids get Daddy time and the extra change doesn't hurt. Our hope is that I can continue to stay at home with the children as long as possible always keeping in mind that that plan may have to change one day. Until then, we just enjoy spending every hour of every day with them!

As the year closes in we look forward to ringing in the New Year in our favorite mountain town and enjoying the snow covered scenery with our family of five. We hope 2010 is a good one for us all! We think of you often and miss all the people we love living many miles away. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and God bless! We love you!!!

Post 176. . . Turkey time!

Our family!
Our Ham this year was super cute!

Learning to become a ham like his brother!

Madison and Annelise loving the baby!

This season brings mud. . .and we LOVE mud!

You read that right. . . .176! Really? Do we really have that much to say that we can fill 176 posts??? Apparently we do! As I stand here thinking this my mind is also flooded with all the things I forgot to share with everyone. For instance: Brayton is now 5 months old!, Annelise has declared herself a BFF and her name is Izzy, Bodie has a HUGE obsession with all things motorcycle, snowmobile season has started, Annelise was on the news for three days straight thanks to Boo at the Zoo and channel 7, and all the little play dates we do every week! All of these things are showered in humorous one liners from the twins and bright eyed smiles from Mr. B (aka Brayton!). If only I had the time to share everything with everyone. I guess the best thing to do is come and visit or we will come to you!!!

Just yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with loads of turkey and great food! The company was great but I am going to tell you about the food first because it was seriously that good! We went to my brother and sister-in-law's house this year. They had over quite a bit of Angela's family and we all brought a dish while Kurt fried the turkey and made stuffing. This was the best idea! Everyone seemed to bring their BEST dish and the result was a new and super yummy dinner! Believe it or not I did a jello dessert and it turned out fabulous thanks to my dear friend Paula.

We all ran around their house like hooligans and the kids had a great time with family, friends, and Bella the spoiled bunny! We have a lot to be thankful for this year and I don't mind saying so.

We are thankful for each other and our families, friends, and people that enrich our lives everyday. We are thankful for the home we share, the ability to provide for our family financially and emotionally, for our health, and most of all the love that lives in this house. This house is a happy one and there is no amount of money that could be better than that. Thank you God for another year and for all the things we don't have.

Brace yourself. . . Here are a few more pictures!

Brayton looks very concerned. . . very!
Annelise and her Baby in Mommy's bjorn.

A little fall motorcycle ride for the boys. We love our time in the hills just soaking up fresh air and family.

Our fluffy pumpkin and scary dragon!

Boo at the Zoo with Daddy.

A little mini-dragon and Minnie to start my day off right!

Making sure everything is alright.

The rare family shot at Boo at the Zoo.

Yes. . . it would be hard to love her more!

This is where you should be to watch mommy and daddy cook breakfast. Best seats in the house!

Nobody loves Bratyon more than his brother. . . I mean this for real!!! He loves him beyond words and can hardly pass him without stopping for a kiss. Makes my heart smile everyday!

Baby B!

Between the beautiful scenery and my three energenic babies I'm not sure how I even busted out the camera but I did! The baby is 4 months now and the twins have rolled into being two year olds like seasoned pros! Their vocabulary exploded overnight and with so much to do lately it's been a challenge keeping it all on record! However, as you can see we have made our ritual efforts in getting to anything and everything relating to fall! My favorite time of year will soon be over ,so in the mean time, I must run and soak it all up!

Pumpkin Patch Season!

My amazing trio!

We may have chickens in our yard all the time but these are NEW chickens!

They refused to cuddle up with this man!

Staring at the pigs was a full time job. Bodie could not get over what a mess they were making!

There is something different about this man but Bodie couldn't put his finger on it.

Sneaking a peek at Wyatt's pony ride.

Bodie administering one heartly pellet at a time.

Tis' my favorite time of year again friends! Orange, gold, and autumn tones leaves, yummy food, crisp air, and breath taking scenery. I seriously love fall!!! With that said, we make every effort to hit any acitivity fall related. Pumpkin Patches are my favorite places to start this generous helping of fall fun. The kids have went on hay rides, jumped in jumpy houses, rode on tractors, stared at the mysterious scarecrow men, flew high on swings, and have man handled camels, goats, llamas, sheep, and even a piggy or two! Whew! We aren't even done yet! So sit back and enjoy as we throw more fall pictures at you than you can shake a stick at!

See Spot Walk!

I'm gonna Git Chu!
Brayton
On our walk for the Humane Society

So many dogs to watch!

Annelise and Bodie supporting Brayton on his big banking day!

First of all, let's start by wishing Daddy a Happy Birthday!!!! Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!!!!! Now shshhhhhhhhhh. . . . since he's out of town our real celebration will be next week when he's home so we will save our enthusiasm for then!

While Daddy's been working hard on the Oregon Coast. . . yeah, doesn't sound like work to us either :). . . . we have been busy! On Friday we opened Brayton's first savings account. He is now a member of a credit union and building his college fund! We really do believe that this a great moment for him. Learning about finances and the importance of saving can never be taught early enough! So rest assured, if you sent him a "Welcome to this world" check, he saved it! We even got it done before the checks expired which is not something we can say about the twins! Oooops!

Today we joined the See Spot Walk event in support of our local Humane Shelter. The kids had a great time tooling down the streets with thousands of dogs while the loud speekers played "Who let the dogs out?" We loved all the dogs in costume and I may be crazy but we have decided that animal lovers are the best people ever! What a great crowd and an amzing group of dogs as well. After the walk we ate our lunch in the park away from the animals but it gave my own little animals a place to run. We waltzed thru the rose garden and played a mean game of "I'm gonna git' chu!" The drizzling rain out an end to our adventure but we still had a great day. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at them lately and thought they had grown since morning. It makes days with a little something special in them even more so. What fun they are at this age!

Happy Birthday Daddy. . . We love you to Pluto Planet!

It's a heavy load!

What I see here is a Daddy with two of his three babies.

What I see is a Daddy taking his family on vacation.

I see a man that is devoted to this beautiful family of five with all his heart.

I see a man that takes the time to make memories with us all.

A man that provides for us on his own so that I can be with our babies at home.

A man that loves us, forgives our faults, and holds us dearest to his heart.

What I see here is a Daddy.

Travels to and from!

Annelise with the wind in her hair!

Some of our favorite friends with growing families!

Hanging out on the beach watching the surfslam event.

Not our best family photo but the only one from the trip.

Brayton. . . .poor little fella is always in the bjorn while I'm snapping photos. I swear, we do love him dearly and love to see that little face on film!

Bodie all snuggled up in his cozy jacket.

Daddy and Bodie taking a ride on the beach

Enjoying the sun on the three wheeler!

Daddy and the babies watching some kite surfing on our trek home.

Summer is drawing to a close and as we try to capture the last of the sunny warm days it seems I have fallen off the blogging wagon. As you can see, we have been busy little bees!

First we had a visit from Bodie's childhood friend, Russ. He brought his daughter Avery and she proved to fit in perfectly here. The kids played so well together that we were sad to see them return to Washington. Catching up with people who know you so well is really a special thing for us and we truly appreciated our time together.

Of all the exciting things we have been up I would have to say that the entire families favorite adventure was our recent trip to the Oregon coast! We had a mini six day vacation and enjoyed every single moment to the max! There was an event we were planning on attending on the beach call Surfslam which proved to be amazing! Riders, who we have the privledge of calling friends, from all over the world came to compete in a stand-up jet ski competition. As they pulled thrilling trick after trick we watched from the sandy beach with children in tow. We did plenty of riding ourselves and the kids thought they were in heaven!

For the first time ever we hired a babysitter for the weekend named Dezi. She was serioulsly the BEST sitter ever and I loved hanging out with her while she provided an extra hand. The babies were each able to have some one-on-one time with me us as well. She should write a book on childcare! I lovingly call her the "Baby whisperer" and I am sad she lives in Oregon. Annelise just loved her and it was nice to have someone so easy to be around. Ahhhh. . . .we miss and love her lots!

The other special thing about our trip to the coast was seeing our Oregon friends! As the years have passed all of our friends families have grown and watching everyone with children is so much fun. It is one of my beliefs that you should surround yourself with people you admire and want to be more like and they will rub off on you eventually. I must say our Oregon friends prove this to be true. We have always admired their ambitions, committment to family, and sense of adventure. Now we can add great parents to that list and it will give us one more reason to return to the coast other than the ocean and amazing riding.

The last few weeks have been flying by and our newest member is rolling over and cooing like crazy! Three babies is certainly a challenge but with every day that passes we learn a little more and it becomes a little less chaotic. Now, off to new adventures!