March

March was such a crazy month. Every week I had 2 ultrasounds and a non-stress test. It was so hard finding a babysitter and after the first week I was done with the 2-a-week thing. I made it once a week. It was fun to know how big she was and watch her move. We never got a profile pic (the entire pregnancy) because she was SOOO LOW! Literally smashed down there. :-) I have to write things like that so I don't forget my expressions and to blackmail my kids later ;0 Between J.D. and my mom, I had someone watching the kids and was able to make it through the next 4 weeks. Also, at my doctor appointments, at 34 weeks I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced. So I was told to take it very easy the next 3 weeks until they took her. This made life more difficult when Monty decided to break his foot.......

Yep, he broke his left foot in 2 places! The story... well Dawson said he would play with Monty downstairs so I could rest. For 20 minutes it was so nice... and then the screaming. I thought it would end after a minute or two. Finally I made my way downstairs ever so slowly. I get down there and can't even stand I'm in so much pain. Monty is bawling out of control. Dawson says, "I told him to not jump mom." He had climbed up the end of Dawson's bunk bed (which we had already removed the ladder so he couldn't climb up there) and jumped. He yelled for Dawson to catch him, but Dawson didn't react fast enough. Monty landed exactly between Dawson and the bean bag. What are the chances??!! Any who, I thought he just sprained it again. This is the 2nd time Monty had done this. I calmed him down, but Monty would not stand on it. I thought if we put a shoe on he would be fine to walk. Nope. Well I figured I wasn't going to pay for an emergency room bill so he would have to tough it out through the night. I'm a bad mom. The next morning I got him an appointment. It was miserable. My mom came to help because I couldn't carry Monty. He screamed through the appointment. Screamed bloody murder through the X-ray (J.D. had to go in because i couldn't being pregnant). And screamed through the results with the doctor. Broke in 2 spots. We left and I called my brother. He sent Monty a cute little boot and tons of treats and surprises. Monty was SO excited. Had I been smart and a good mom, I should have just taken him to Uncle Chad (a foot doc) in the first place. Maybe I would still have my hearing. But, now I'm deaf and disabled with a 2 year old and broken foot. Life was grand.

Monty was good while waiting for the X-ray tech to come...

 Here is the little boot!

 But the boot didn't stop Monty from jumping off things or climbing....

Surprisingly he did good keeping his boot on after a week. For the first week he would just kick it off no matter how tight we made it. He is such a good kid and is so tough anytime he gets hurt. He is so quick to be okay. Even though I couldn't pick him up because he was too heavy, he was so good to just crawl until he was ready to walk.

One day when the weather was warm, Monty and Dawson headed over to the ditch in front of our house.

I loved watching Monty want to be just like Dawson, and watching Dawson take care of his little brother. It was too cute to not capture. 

Monty's little legs couldn't keep up the whole way, so Dawson carried him. 

Dawson is helping Monty cross the bridge by himself. 

 One day Dawson came home telling us that what J.D. did for a job wasn't very smart. J.D. and I laughed and tried explaining that what J.D. does is an extremely smart job, he's a chemist. We explained how he had to analyze chemicals and take samples, and work chemical solutions to solve problems and so on. Dawson still wasn't convinced that J.D. was smart. SO, I took Dawson and Monty to J.D.'s work one night. The boys were on cloud 9! J.D. blew up trash bags full of helium, and showed the boys all of his cool machines he gets to work with. 

I didn't understand 1 word... and the boys didn't really understand either, but we had fun!

                                            Monty kept wanting more and more balloons. 
Hitting them across the room and getting beyond dusty from running around... It was heaven. 

March is an extremely busy month full of many birthdays and our anniversary. J.D. and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! It's amazing all of the things we've done and been through within the last 9 years. I still remember the first time we met and our first date. I love that we have blogged the last 9 years so we don't forget all that has happened. As far as birthday, we have Collin's, Chase Shelley's, Lucas', Parker's, Clara's, Bryant's, Brydons, Daxon's, Breslynn's, and Brie's. I think that is everyone's...

So between everyone's, I got a pic of Parker. :-)

At the end of the month, I knew I hadn't taken one pic of me being pregnant. J.D. took Dawson shed hunting one Sunday afternoon. I packed up the camera, and went up the mountain to find them. I figured this would be the best opportunity I would have to get some pics. I didn't even care what everyone was wearing, I just wanted some pics. So with a few tips, J.D. caught the cutest pics. 

Monty was being a little stinker, but being a stinker isn't always a bad thing... I LOVE this pic and Monty is a cute little stinker. 

Dawson did not want any pics... so I pulled him in for a hug and kept making him laugh... which turned out to be picture perfect. I love having pics where we are just being ourselves and not trying to pose. I'm never not happy with these kind of pictures. 

My sister Amy sent me a wrap!! I've always wanted one and here it is! I had no idea how big it was going to be, but after practicing how to wrap it around, I found that the length is perfect! lol

We also were able to go to the park a bunch and I had to get this pic of Monty. Even with a broken foot, he is the happiest little guy. I am so grateful I have happy kids. I know Monty has a temper, but for the most part I can get him laughing anytime and he is always making J.D. and I laugh back. 

February 2016

This month went by so fast even with an extra day! It also was slow in ways. We were sick the entire first 3 weeks of this month. We had serious colds and headaches. It was bad news bears. We tried to spend as much time outside, get fresh air in the house, disinfect everything daily, but the colds continued longer than normal. It seemed like everyone was sick. It was really hard for me because I couldn't take anything or dare to anyways. 

We had our 28 week doctor's appointment for Hazyn and I. It didn't go as well as I wanted. I had told J.D. 2 days prior that I was feeling really nervous for the appointment and I didn't know why. Hazyn is doing fine. However, my blood pressure was at the limit and they concluded my telling me that they wouldn't let me deliver passed 37 weeks. 

back story: I had told everyone for the last couple months that Hazyn would come April 12th and it would be because of my blood pressure being too high. I just knew that she would come early for that reason.

back to the now story: I asked the doctor if I could deliver April 12th because of what I had told everyone. Just so that maybe J.D. would trust my motherly intuition more.... it would mean I would be 37 weeks and 5 days. The doc laughed and said, "no..." However, I was right about the situation of her coming early because of my blood pressure. I'm pretty sure I wrote about all of this in my post 'Baby Hazyn" so I won't continue on this post about all the doc drama. 

Finally this month it began to really warm up and we spent each of those days outside for hours.... unfortunately Dawson got some serious road rash from crashing on his electric scooter..

 Monty took advantage of our 'oh so quiet' street and went on his own adventure with the red wagon.

 J.D. has been able to find some more time to ride and train the horse to pull the buggy. Monty loves this so much! Mainly he loves doing things with J.D., but he also loves doing things with J.D. outside. This includes the horse. Monty loves to hold the reins and tell the horse to go and stop. It's so cute! J.D. is the best dad because he is so patient and will let Monty ride for hours it seems like. 

 My 2nd little cowboy.

 At home while Dawson is at school, it's been a struggle. Monty asks for dad or Dawson all day long. We do find things to do and entertain Monty for a little bit... today he took all the cooking stuff for a ride in his truck. He ended up breaking my thermometer that I just barely got for Christmas... I was devastated. 

 Monty also loves to draw.....on everything but paper. Each day I find a new piece of artwork somewhere in the house. On this particular night, we were about to put on pjs and Monty decided to show me what he had done. It took 1 week for it to fade enough so I couldn't see it. I hate permanent markers. 

 Exciting news for our home... we got a piano! Our friends Doug and Megan got us this piano for FREE and brought it all the way up to our house for us. They are so amazing and not only did we get the piano, but we got to spend the weekend with them. Peterson time is always a blast! 

 Since we got the piano, Dawson and J.D. are constantly tinkering on it. We got some books and I am teaching both J.D. and Dawson how to play. The piano makes our home feel more like a home. 

Now that the snow has melted, we have started yard work! Yay! This is the first job... all the green you see left is strawberry plants.. We will see how they turn out. I've never gardened before so I'm not sure how it will go..... we will figure it out though. 

 We are getting the logs all organized for log furniture. I got the trash picked up from the very back and we are going to start a fire pit so we can have s'mores all the time. :-) 

Dawson is doing so well in school. We had parent teacher conferences and he was on a level 11 for reading. I began to tell his teacher that he cruised through the books she sent home and they weren't hard for him at all. They tested him that week and he jumped clear up to level 18. He is starting 2nd grade reading level books now. He understands everything so well and loves school. I hate how much time he spends at school, but he is learning and growing ... so I can't complain too much. 

Monty is starting to talk so much! He has some attitude as well. His favorite things are playing with Dawson and playing outside. Monty definitely is quick to get mad and will let you know if he doesn't like something. For the most part, he is so sweet and makes us laugh every minute. 

Onto March here we go! 6 more weeks left until the baby gets here! 

January 2016

Happy New YEAR!!! We seriously had so much fun for New Year's Eve. We went to St. George to spend the holiday with my family since Chad and Jamie were going to be there all the way from Wyoming. We went to the Washington Rec Center and had almost every grandkid there. We played laser tag, rode a bull, swam our little hearts out, and watched fireworks. Dawson was absolutely amazing at riding the bull, for 24 seconds! The longest out of all of us!

J.D. was headed back from riding the bull and jammed his toe so bad he couldn't hardly walk. After an hour or two he was walking back from playing ping pong and his toe popped back into place and he was finally able to go swim with the kids.

The next day we walked around St. George and breathed in the warm fresh air. It was heavenly! For Christmas my mom and dad got every couple a gift card to eat at Sakura! The older grandkids babysat all the little kids so it was an adult only dinner. It was AWESOME! We laughed and laughed at our chef. He kept pulling out racist jokes which for my family was hilarious. The food was divine! We didn't get a pic though!! What were we thinking?! We were all having such a good time we forgot to take a picture. It was the first time in a really long time that my parents had all of their kids and their spouses together. Even Brie, choc's fiance was there! We will have to get a good pic for the wedding when we are all together again.

We headed home and started school again. Dawson was anxious to have something to do. The rest of the month we went to games that our nieces and nephews played in. We have such talented nieces and nephews. All we hear on the radio is their names, and I'm not exaggerating. It is so fun to watch them play.

At home its been fun letting Monty pick out what he wants to wear. My parents bought him some camo overalls that are so dang cute! BUT up until now, Monty will throw a knock out fit if I even try to put any kind of overalls on him. However, today he picked them out! He loves them! He tries to find them everyday when we are getting dressed. 

My friend Kathy went to Hawaii for Christmas and guess what she found!? The cutest little hawaiian outfit for Hayzn! I can't wait for her to wear it and it will be perfect for summer!

Then, my niece Jetta made this beautiful blanket for Hazyn. She made it all on her own! I don't think I would be able to make a blanket this quality. Jetta was so excited to give it to us and I love that I have things that are just for Hazyn that aren't from Andee. Don't get me wrong, I love that I finally get to use the things we had for Andee, but I really want Hazyn to know that she is just as special and will be just as spoiled. Also, when Hazyn gets older and has kids of her own, I know there will be things I want to keep from Andee and I want to be able to give Hazyn all the things that were from when she herself was a baby. Here is the blanket from Jetta!

I have been getting ready for Hazyn as well. I remember waiting until I was 34 weeks to actually get Andee's things out of boxes and organized. This time, I want to do things different. So I began 'nesting' early regardless of how much time I have left. I'm pretty sure I was organized for Dawson and Monty right after I found out the gender haha!

I still have a few things left to do, but having this much done makes me feel really good and prepared. 

We also sold our truck :-( It was a vehicle that we bought for J.D.'s business up in Montana that he was starting up. The day we literally were about to spend thousands of dollars on the business, was the day that J.D. got the job offer to come back to Utah. Since we had bought the truck and trailers already it made it very convenient to move home. However, we had no need for the huge trailer and sold it last summer. Then this month, we finally decided with the new baby coming, our need for a family vehicle was here. So we sold the truck and bought a mini van which we absolutely love. I know mini vans have a bad rep sometimes or at least a stereotype to go with it, but after driving it for a couple weeks, to heck with the stereotype. It is the best vehicle we have ever driven and it works so well for our family. Eventually we will get a truck again because we used ours so much in the summer. For now, the mini van is serving us very well!

That pretty much sums up our life in January. We are starting to see some warmer days and are excited to go outside and play! 

Baby Hazyn

I wanted to do a separate post about Hazyn because there is so much to tell and I want to be able to find the story easier when she wants to hear about 'when she was in the womb.' Plus it fun to compare and see similarities between all of my kids when I was pregnant with them.

So first and foremost, I hope I'm not repeating myself, but her name is Hazyn. We have known this would be the name of our next girl since Andee passed away. J.D. and I were walking through the cemetery and looking at all the names of our ancestors. We came across "David Riley Stevens" and listed below were the names of his 9 boys. One of those boys' names was Hazen. I noticed it immediately, but just kept quiet. Little did I know, J.D. had the same name pop out to him and just kept quiet as well. Later on that day, we were laying down for bed and I said, "Those names were really neat to look at today. There was one name that really popped out to me." J.D. replied, "Me too. On the headstone with the 9 boys listed." At the same time, we both said, "Hazen." It was truly a sign because we both liked the name for a girl instead too.

You know me and how the name is so significant to me. There is always that one name that feels right. We have yet to figure out her middle name, but we are working on it. J.D. really wants to pick it out. He said, "You've got to pick out all the other names." My reply, "Well.... that's 85% true." lol! So I'm going to let her daddy pick out her middle name. I do write down a bunch of names to give him ideas, but he hasn't found the 'right' name yet. We have to know soon though so I can get her scrubs ordered before she comes.

So far this pregnancy has been very different. I STILL have to take my medicine which is more how I was with Dawson. If I miss that time to take it, I am throwing up. With Andee and Monty, I had stopped taking it by now. I am 28 weeks and there is no indication of things lightening up. It's okay though. I am just glad we have the right meds that work and keep me from throwing up or feeling nauseous. Hazyn has always been a pretty active baby so far. She doesn't move a lot through the night which gives me hope that maybe she will be a good sleeper at night..... maybe.... She is really good to get kicking when I push around on her too.

She tends to move the most when Monty is around. Monty will come sit by me and I will ask, "Where is Hazyn?" He pushes on my tummy and says, "Hazyn's in tummy." Then he pokes and pokes and pokes and pushes and pushes around on my tummy. While doing so he repeats, "Hazyn, Hazyn, Hazyn...." It is the funniest thing. The hardest part is keeping Monty off of my stomach. I likes to try and sit on me and squish Hazyn. He is only 2, so I hate to push him away. I have to give him attention in another way so he doesn't feel like I'm pushing him away. Yesterday I felt that Hazyn had the hiccups! Neither Monty nor Andee had hiccups. Dawson did all the time, so I knew what it felt like. This little girl definitely had the hiccups. It's funny that this pregnancy is relating so much more to Dawson's. J.D. and I have both felt very strong that she would look more like Dawson.

I missed my appointment at 24 weeks because of a terrible snow storm. Two days before my 28 weeks appointment I told J.D. how nervous I was feeling. It wasn't that Hazyn wasn't moving, it was just a different feeling I got. Also, I need to record that about 3 months ago, before we knew Hazyn was a girl, I woke up from a dream. I was panting and my heart was pounding. It woke J.D. up because I was so startled.

The dream: I was at my 36 week appointment and the doctor (Dr. Rees) was telling me he wasn't going to let me go home and he wanted to just go ahead and deliver the baby. I kept pleading with him and begging him to give me ONE MORE WEEK because I KNEW she wasn't ready. I had to BEG. He finally agreed to let me have 1 more week, but by the end of my pleading I was already so worked up and beside myself. Dr Rees seemed a little confused because a lot of women would have just been done being pregnant and happy to get the baby out. I remember explaining that I didn't mind being pregnant because I knew her health was so important. I just knew she wasn't ready.

Then I woke up from my dream. J.D. woke up and asked what was wrong. I told him my dream and then it took forever to fall back asleep. My conclusion at the time was, "pregnancy causes crazy dreams." I didn't think it would become more of a reality.

Back to my 28 week appointment on February 4th. My mom came up to watch Monty, but ended up coming with me. I thought it would be more fun to visit in the car and get my brother a surprise for his birthday. We get to my appointment and I immediately drank the glucose drink. I waited for my appointment and got right back to the room. I made the nurse wait for 5 minutes before taking my blood pressure, but I knew it would be high. 140/90. Not good. We go into the room to wait after giving a urine sample. The doctor came in and it was Dr. Bennett (who delivered Monty). She kinda joked, but said "your blood pressure is too high. So you know this means we won't let you go a day over 37 weeks." I tried to understand and just stay calm. That was based on blood pressure alone. She wanted me to 24 hr urine tests because she was pretty sure I had preeclampsia. I had a mild case with Monty. I didn't really know how serious preeclampsia was until I go home later. Then, the doctor checked my thyroid upon my request. She could feel it bulging (another thing I had with Monty) and she wanted a blood test done. The baby herself sounded really good, 143 bpm. AND I was measuring right on (which is something that wasn't right with Andee). So it was bitter sweet. I had my blood drawn, and went home.

My mom explained that preeclampsia (previously known as toxemia) is known as a silent killer. So now, at the time I was way stressed and crying. The next day the doctor called with test results explaining both my glucose and thyroid were abnormal. So now I have to do a 3 hr glucose test and wait to hear about medication for my thyroid. I was so worked up over it all I just needed a break.

So J.D. took me out to see a movie. Today I am feeling much better. I am really reading into the preeclampsia and have found that severe nausea and throwing up along with high blood pressure are both symptoms. I feel like those are the two reasons I do have preeclampsia, but I also feel that its a mild case. I will find out for sure on Tuesday, but I just wanted to write my thoughts for now. I feel like everything is going to be okay.

Back to how my dream is becoming a reality. Well, I scheduled my next 3 appointments because they get overbooked when it comes time to try and schedule my 2 week appointments. my 36 week appointment is with Dr. Rees. It couldn't be more of a coincidence. However, knowing they will let me go until 37 weeks as of now I feel like it will be okay. If my urine tests increase with protein they may take the baby earlier. :-/ For now, April 8th is looking like a good day to have the baby. It will be a weekend and easier to find sitters for the kids.

I will begin my non stress tests as well starting at 32 weeks. However, I can do them in Delta which will be really easy and more convenient finding a sitter for Monty for that long. Between my mom and J.D., i'm hoping it will all work out with needing a babysitter.

Other than all of that, I am really excited to be having a girl. With all the things going on with this pregnancy it really is making us feel better about choosing for Hazyn to be our last. The boys are both excited for the baby and as time goes on, it gets more exciting. We have her room all set up and all of her clothes washed. There is still little things to do, but not much. We will be ready for her!

November & December

November wasn't very eventful for us other than Thanksgiving. I was still trying to get over being sick, and all of us couldn't wait for Thanksgiving break. We were all pretty burnt out. 

We celebrated Andee's 3rd Birthday. We let balloons go and watched them until we could no longer see them. We also had some cake and ice cream. My mom came up which made it more special. :-) I love it when she comes. Time definitely helps, but all of us still have our days when tears find their way from memories. Dawson seems to still be affected by the loss more often than the rest of us. He has more nights that he just wished she didn't have to die, or that he could have his sister back. It surprises me how much he remembers from it all. Each night when Dawson says his prayers, or even the family prayer he never fails to ask that we get to keep this baby and that she will be healthy, strong, and nothing will be wrong with her. Maybe some of this seems a little too personal to put on the blog, but I really don't want to forget how we all were feeling at this time. I also want to journal it for Dawson since he isn't quite old enough to really want to journal. Monty says "Andee" and he really loved letting the balloons go. He cried for the balloons more than Andee though. :-) It just made us all smile and laugh. Monty seems to always do that for our family. He has a natural ability to just make us laugh no matter what mood everyone is in. I watch Monty play with the cousins that our Andee's age and it always makes me think that that's how him and Andee would be playing together. Quiet thoughts of Andee always make their way into my mind and at those moments time stops. 

Here our some Monty moments of November... He is quite the character! He has a new love for cooking...

He found excitement in coloring...

He likes to picnic and found that he doesn't really like cheddar cheese..

He loves his Uncle Parker!

And he likes to read to Grandma Marjorie.

For Thanksgiving we spent it in Holden with the Stevens' side. It went so fast and smooth, but then around 2 J.D. and I headed down to St. George with the kids. We had to get our black friday shopping done and we refuse to go anywhere except St. George because its the least crowded. We were very successful and we got everything on the list. We were done shopping and finished up the next morning at the last store. We love black friday shopping. It is so nice to shop and get good deals, and its kind of a date night for J.D. and I. We meet so many people standing in lines, and with J.D. being so friendly, we make a lot of new friends. This most recent black friday, we actually only stood by people that we had common acquaintances with. People that knew my family from Kanab and I didn't even know who they were. It made for a really nice evening and more enjoyable. 

December

This month was almost too eventful after our calm November. We set up our Christmas tree and put up all the decorations. I really wanted to start focusing more on the Savior because Dawson is getting older. We had fun, but we had a different kind of Christmas Spirit fun. We watched the Nativity, several versions throughout the month. We read about the birth of Christ. We made cookies with the cousins, and sent letters to Santa. (Dawson even got a letter back from Santa!) We made Christmas countdown chains for Monty and Dawson. Monty pretty much destroyed his by the end. He just kept tearing more links down than he was supposed every night. We couldn't help but laugh. We went to a Polar Express night in Oak City with our friends too. We had hot chocolate, cookies, coloring, singing, story time, and we sat on Santa's lap. 

December 8th was Monty's 2nd birthday! He got a power wheels 4 wheeler (one that was Dawsons, but had been stored away for a couple of years), an outfit, some cars, money, and other little toys from the cousins. We had lots of cake and lots of ice cream. Monty however, was more excited about the kids playing with him. That is pretty much the high light of Monty's favorite things to do. 

He loves ice cream!

And he loved his 'camo' overalls from Nanna as you can see.... no pics please!

We also took him on a buggy ride to the park for 20 minutes before it got too cold. Being outside would be the other favorite thing to do for Monty. He could care less about the cold, he just wants to be outside. It was so fun to celebrate this day with him, but it was so hard to face the reality that he is 2! Time flew by way too fast! 

December 11th we headed up to the doctors office to have our 20 week ultrasound! Clara and Bryant met us at the doctors office and watched monty so J.D. and I could go in alone. I could hardly wait to confirm our thoughts about the baby being a girl! Within 5 minutes we knew! It's a girl! Everything else looked so good too. She was so active and SO LOW! We didn't get a profile shot because she was so low and hiding. Trust me, I could feel how low she was and she wasn't going to budge for a picture. We go so many fun pictures. We came out of the ultrasound room into the waiting room and both of us were smiling beyond belief. Clara immediately knew when she saw us smiling so big. Monty was SO good for Grandma while we were away. He just played and played and didn't even notice we were gone. It was so nice to hear that. I am pretty attached to that little boy and I hate hearing him cry. 

You can see how she is holding her hands over her ears and covering he face. This was the best profile we could get. 

Afterwards we went to Monty's doctor's appointment and found out he isn't as big as we thought. He is in the 30 percentile for weight (which is not what you would guess based on his broad build), and in the 80th percentile for height. He is built so different from Dawson, it kind of surprised us. He was also told many times that his development was amazing and he was doing things that surprised the doctor. She couldn't believe his coordination skills. That's our Monty though. He is fearless so he gets lots of practice doing things that most 2 year olds don't do. He keeps up with Dawson pretty well. 

We came home in high spirits and couldn't wait to tell Dawson. Dawson already knew though. Monty already knew. Monty is the one who would only say "Hazyn" when we would ask him to say Hazyn or Cannon. (Cannon for a boy and Hazyn for a girl.) We would ask Monty, "Is the baby a Cannon or a Hazyn?" His response was always Hazyn, AND we could never get him to even say the name Cannon. Dawson just kept telling us, I know its a girl mom. He never felt that it would be a boy. I guess both my kids were more in tune than me. 

The rest of the month we continued to get ready for Christmas. Dawson did service by shoveling sidewalks for others on our street. They built lots of snow angels and snowmen. My mom came up to spend the weekend and brought the cutest gifts for Hazyn. We opened up our Andee tote to get out all of the girl things. I think I was more ready to open this up and go through everything. Had Monty been a girl, I'm not sure I would have felt the same excitement. I don't think I would have been ready. My mom helped me make my first ever batch of caramels which kind of turned out. :-) Our elf even made an appearance and decided he would come in on a wrecking ball..... or a light. lol!

Christmas was so special. We love that Holden has a primary program (15 minutes) of the Nativity. We all go and watch, and then sing some Christmas carols. Santa surprised us all and came to hear what the kids wanted for Christmas. Monty was not a big fan. lol! 

As you can see...

We came home and opened up our 1 gift....which was pajamas!

Dawson was beyond waiting any longer! 

Monty didn't really get it, and was just happy for Dawson. SO Dawson helped him open his gift. lol!

And then they immediately changed and ran around in their new pjs! They are so cute! 

I love how cute these boys are. 

We all made it to bed early that night and no one woke up until 6am. Dawson got an electric scooter, a universe pop out book, Halo, and a basketball! Monty got a truck to ride in, a movie, and a little couch. Santa spoiled our family with Clue and Connect 4 as games, as well as a few other movies. 

Obviously the couch was for Dawson too...

Monty only wanted the couch when Dawson had his turn. 

The scooter.....with a stuff mouth full of candy! 

Clara, Bryant, and Parker came over and looked at all we got. Parker had to try out the truck while Monty rode on the tailgate. 

Then we went to their house for breakfast and more gifts. The boys got tickets to the planetarium! I got a rolling pin made out of the same wood as Andee's crib. J.D. got a 'salt' gun. It was so fun to hang out at their house and play with everyone while we relaxed and ate breakfast.

J.D. and I packed it up and headed to Kanab for a couple nights. It was Carson's baptism the next day. We also opened gift cards for Sakura from my mom and dad. Dawson got an Art kit and Monty got a drum set. With all the new toys, we hardly knew where our kids were that day. 

Dawson helped with the packing too....

We also finally got Dawson's room finished. We started it and finished within 5 days. What a relief to have another project done!

Before pics....

After pics....

Everything is organized and put away!

BUT the soft carpet made for a better invitation for landing... Monty got this great idea to jump off of Dawson's top bunk! Dawson thought it looked fun, so both boys were jumping off the top bunk onto the bean bag. This did not end well for Monty. He missed the bean bag and landed hard on his foot. For 3 days he wouldn't walk on his foot unless he had a shoe on. He sprained it pretty dang good. My brother, the foot doc, came the next day and told us it was just a sprain. Thank goodness! I did not want to pay for a broken foot. lol! 

We had a blast that night with Chad's family. We stayed up really late catching up and the kids running around wild. We made a really big breakfast, and they headed to St. George. We headed to St. George. We headed there New Year's Eve and spent the evening at the Washington Rec Center. We rode a bull, played laser tag, and swam our little hearts out until 10 pm. We left and all crashed at the hotel really fast. The next day the kids swam at the hotel and played in the ball pit. The adults got to go out for a really NICE evening at Sakura. It was OH SO DELICIOUS! We didn't even have to wait because we got there a little early. We laughed so much and really had such a good time. Our cook was HILARIOUS! We came back to some tired kids. They older cousins babysat and wore them out. lol! We left the next morning and came back beyond exhausted from all of our vacationing and Christmas hype. What a great month and holiday. So much family and so many memories made. 

All of this led us right into the New Year excited for what 2016 will bring besides a sweet baby girl added to our family, a wedding of my brother and my best friend growing up, 

and a summer of my first garden.