Valentine's Chocolates

Gettin' ready to dip pretzels in chocolate (Josh couldn't wait :)

He looks serious, but Sam really did have a great time dipping pretzels in chocolate and then playing with his best bud, Josh.

As you can see, Josh knows how to really do chocolate covered pretzels! You dip them, bite off the part with the chocolate on it, then set the rest on the pan and repeat.

Chocolate double heart suckers or lollipops (whatever you want to call chocolate on a stick) This was a new mold we bought for Valentines and it was fun to experiment with "painting" the colors into the bottom before filling with rice crispy chocolate.

The goods we got to take home - so yummy! The chocolate roses were really fun to do as well.

The Real Reason I Love Winter

When you wake up one bitterly cold morning to look out at the gorgeous blue sky and the frost on all the trees, that is why I love wintertime! That, and snowman building with your kids :)

Our maple tree with the winter frost

Sammy's Rockin' Party

Just to give you a taste of our party fun tonight: five blonde haired, blue eyed two year olds playing with balloons, bubbles, and new toys they all like (ex: Cars characters, tractors and trucks)

They did pretty well, all things considered, though! And it was fun to watch them help Sam open his presents, too!

Sam enjoying his tractor birthday cake and not letting Mater out of his sight :)

Blowing out the candle

More presents, with Daddy's help this time.

They all squealed with delight when we did the bubbles (GREAT idea, Julie!)

A picture before the mayhem. Thanks to Julie for being our photographer and thanks to all the Moms for bringing their kids to help us make Sam's birthday memorable and being so patient!

Proud of Myself

Before I go on to brag, here a few cute pictures I took this morning of Sam and his good buddy Josh playing in Sam's bed this morning. Aren't they just the cutest little boys you've ever seen? (and you'd BETTER be saying yes! ;)

Little monkeys jumping off the bed. Good thing it is only a few inches off the floor!

Ok, so here is my proud moment. Honestly, I think I did a good job considering #1 - No help from anyone else #2 - I've never taken a cake decorating class or anything and #3 - How impatient I can be, but I stuck with it and two hours later, you have a very discernable John Deere tractor.

I had tons of frosting leftover and hate to waste, so I added some grass on the sides (and to cover up the white frosting swirled with pink from the strawberry cake)

As you may have guessed from the cake, we are working hard to make Sam's birthday memorable this year. With Kaylie passing away, I feel like I have to make every birthday that Sam has count, does that make any sense? Plus a little "only child to spend our money on" syndrome doesn't help either! :)
Last year was a randomly decorated cake and just us. This year Sam has a few really good friends, so we are having a Lightening McQueen party with four of his friends. We will be building our own pizzas, playing with balloons, opening presents, and maybe if I can whip it up in time, a version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey in Lightening McQueen fashion. We'll see. We will post pictures after the party so you can join us for Sam's 2 year birthday!

Snow Fun

On Saturday morning, I decided it was time to get outside and play in all the snow that we have gotten recently, so we both bundled up and headed outside for some snow fun!

Sam had such a great time (don't know why he's being a grump in this picture, but I thought it was still cute) wearing his hat, running around in the snow and playing on the little snow hill I built for him. We got him a small round disc sled, but Robert wasn't thrilled about it, so we were going to take it back. But it was the perfect size for Sam to hold on to both sides and slide down the little hill of snow I piled up, I think it will stay.

So happy to be outside again and throwing snow everywhere!

This is a random one I'm throwing in. Sam only got a half an hour nap on Saturday because we went shooting with some friends, so he fell asleep on the floor in front of the tv around 7:30 or so. What an angel!

Smoothies

Sam has become a huge fan of Mommy's homemade smoothies.

What a mustache!!

Here he is trying a new concoction (?) of Cheetos dipped in the smoothie, I guess playing off of the dipping-the-french-fry-in-your-smoothie practice.

Time for a Movie

This is one of Sammy's new favorite games to play.

Just goes to show how simply kids can be entertained!

Spending Time with Friends

Sorry there hasn't been a whole lot to post about lately. We mainly have just been getting back into the normal routines of Robert going to work and me and Sam hangin' out together as buddies. The first weekend of January, we managed to find a babysitter for Sam and Robert and I hit the slopes for some snowboarding (which we haven't done in two years or so) and had a great time. Then the next weekend we decided at the last minute to go for the ward sleepover up Swan Valley to the girls camp. It was ok, nothing too great because we didn't really know anyone well, but one guy managed to bring some excitement by breaking his back sledding down a 60 foot very steep slide on a tobaggan (?) with a jump at the end of it. And then this week we have just been enjoying all the newly fallen snow. Today Sam and I went over to the Potters' to let the boys play in the snow and Julie and I built a snowman. Brings back so many memories of playing in the snow with my awesome sisters. So that's pretty much it for our family, sorry no pictures, but Sam's birthday is next week, so we will have some to post soon!

Line 'Em Up

So cute I had to share! While Robert was cleaning up from work and I was doing the dishes from dinner, Sam decided to help out by unloading the case of water bottles we have for Robert to take to work and lined them up in the middle of the kitchen.

When he was done, he proceeded to try and fit the leftover packaging and box into the trash can! Gotta love my helpful little guy!

Sno-mazing!

When we woke up this morning, this is what we saw outside our back window!

It's amazing what nature can do, huh?

Happy Birthday Robert!

Yesterday was Robert's 26th birthday. We didn't do a whole lot, although it was really nice that he only had to work for an hour in the morning, so he came with me and Sam shopping in Idaho Falls. Which turned out to be really nice because Sam was somewhat of a grouch and it was snowing like crazy and I was really glad to not drive in it. Then we went and visited his aunt and grandma in Shelley for a bit. When we got home, we just took the afternoon to watch a movie and be lazy, it was really nice.

He requested his mom's meatloaf for dinner, which turned out pretty well and then we just had the usual cake and ice cream bit and then spent the rest of the night playing with one of his new gifts - Wii Resort (thanks to Grandpa in Virginia!) Other stuff he got: the movie Up, a gun cleaning kit, gun oil to go with the kit, binoculars (he has wanted these to help with checking his pivots), and a new Sunday shirt and tie.

Here Sam is taking after Daddy and digging right in! What's funny is that it took a few minutes of convincing to get him to lick the cake! Strange kid! Happy birthday Robert, hope you had a good one!