Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all have a great holiday season and an even greater next year! (Sorry cards didn't get out as planned this year.)

Cause and Effect

Handmade Christmas presents=Lack of blog posts, picture taking, and clean house. But it's all worth it. At the same time can't wait to get them all done!!!

BYU Wins!!

Saturday was the game we wait for all season - BYU vs Utah and BYU came out on top!! Beckam was in to watching the game as soon as he heard football.

Brylie didn't really want to have anything to do with it until I brought out the veggies and then she joined in the fun!

We also had a little visitor from next door during halftime. Our Ute friends let their puppy Romeo come over and play with the kids for a few minutes. The dog was so mellow that he ended up just sitting next to Beckam and laying down on Brandon's lap. He was my kind of dog.

Once the puppy left the kids lost pretty much all interest in the game. Beckam did stick around a little bit longer to play with the remote from my camera.

(Obviously we're not real thrilled by what was happening. Thanks Beckam for capturing the moment.)

The game was a long one, with ups and downs, but at the end we were happy with the outcome. And with how long the game lasted, Brandon and I got to spend a little time without the kids watching it.

Way to go Cougars!! Lets repeat the win next year.

Thanksgiving

(Really the only picture I took today)

Happy Thanksgiving!! We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. This year we spent Thanksgiving in Utah with Brandon's family. It was the first time we had really all been together in quite awhile and it was long overdue. We had great food and a great time seeing everyone. I'm grateful for this time of year to really focus on the many blessings in our lives. Through all the ups and downs of this past year the blessings have been there and we have a ton to be thankful for, the least of which that there was no snow on the ground today so the kids could play inside or out. The little things sometimes matter the most at the time!

Wonderful Day!!

It's finally here! In-N-Out opened in Draper today and thanks to my wonderful husband I was able to enjoy some from the comfort of my own home.

And no this wasn't all for me. This meal was a family affair. I'm getting the kids started early in the love of In-N-Out.

And if you love this food, don't make the mistake I did of looking at the calorie count of the food. Let's just say we won't be making routine trips because I would have to starve for three days to make up the calories. But it's definitely worth it once in a while.

1st Snow --- at least that stuck

The first official snow came a little while ago, but much to Brylie's dismay it didn't stick! From then until now whenever we drove by the littlest bit of snow Brylie would hope for snow at our house to play in. After last weekend's storm there was plenty to play in.

(Brylie's been waiting to make snow angels since last winter)

Beckam and Brylie only came in side after I couldn't handle the cold anymore. Good thing they like playing in the snow since there is bound to be more!

Getting Back to Normal...whatever that is!

Things in the Harward house have been a little crazy lately! My time as a single parent is over and I couldn't be happier. Brandon is now back in Utah after coming to the realization that Las Vegas wasn't all he had hoped it would be and a little nudge from his employer that firmed up that realization. I don't know how much longer I could have lasted with only having Brandon home every other weekend for a couple of days (if I was lucky) so this came at a great time. The kids are adjusting to having Brandon back and as soon as we can convince Beckam that Brandon isn't leaving again we'll all be a lot happier and more productive. It took two months for the kids to kind of get used to having a commuting dad so I'm sure it will take that long to get them out of that mindset. All I know is both Brandon and I learned a ton these last couple of months and now the realization of blessings and being watched over is really hitting us. Some of the top lessons learned are that if at all humanly possible we will never do the commuting thing again, technology is a wonderful, wonderful thing, and we are a strong, in it together all the way, family. Glad we can check this life experience off the list!!! Utah we're here to stay.

Halloween Weekend Fun

We had a great Halloween. Brylie had her preschool party on Thursday, so she actually got to dress up three times. The best thing is that Brandon was able to come home for a few days more then normal due to Nevada admissions day on Friday which gave him an extra day off. (I loved growing up in Nevada and never having to go to school on Halloween.) Friday night was our ward party and Trunk or Treat. The only way we could get Beckam to leave on his costume was to tell him he had to be Thomas to get candy.

We also got around to carving the pumpkins. Beckam wanted nothing to do with it because they (the insides of the pumpkin) were yucky. He wouldn't even touch the stuff. Brylie had fun carving her own pumpkin. (I helped with the mouth.)

We of course went Trick of Treating Halloween night. We did our street and then headed over to Brandon's parent's neighborhood. We hadn't seen his parents in awhile and the kids really wanted some grandparent time. (And Brandon wanted the can of soda from their neighbor.)

We had a blast and Brylie is already making plans for Halloween next year.

Pumpkin Patch

Since October isn't complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch and you need the pumpkins to carve anyways, once the weather got decent again the kids and I headed over to one of the many pumpkin patches around for some fun. I was kind of worried about taking the kids by myself (ie Brylie running one way, Beckam running the other and I'm trying to wheel a wheelbarrow around with a bunch of pumpkins in it), but the kids were great and even posed for a couple of pictures. Beckam's eyes closed, scrunched up face is his new "smile for mom" look.

Each of the kids found a pumpkin they wanted and Brylie did a great job of finding a big pumpkin for Brandon/dad. Now on to seeing what ends up being carved out of the pumpkins.

After the Rain

What do you do after it rains and it's not completely freezing outside? You put on your new boots and go jump in the puddles!!!

What do you do if an over active jumping brother gets your pants wet....

And your mean mom refuses to let you change them and come back out and jump some more? You have a little bit of a cry.

What do you do when you see all the fun your brother is having while your sitting throwing your fit?

You roll up your pants to keep them from getting wet again and join back in the jumping fun.

And when it's all over you pray for rain the next day so you can jump in the puddles again.