Lava...

We decided it would be fun to head up to Lava Hot Springs on Thursday and stay a night to kill some time the last couple days before Christmas. We went for the first time the year before last right after Christmas and it was so fun, we were excited to go back. We stayed at the same place as before, this cute little place called the Alpaca Inn and happened to be put in the same room as before too! #6!

Like I've mentioned before anytime the boys get to go stay in a "hotel", is SO fun to them!

We got there and checked in about 1:00, then let the boys play in the room for a bit before we got our suits on and went over to sit in the hot pools.

 It felt SO good! When it is freezing cold outside, to go sit in that hot water...LOVE it!

Our good friends the Hansons happened to be going that same night, and with our recommendation stayed in the same place. So it was fun to have all the boys there to play together. 

After we'd all had enough of the hot water we went back to our room and got ready for dinner. We went to the little pizza place in town, then went and got our fishing licenses and snacks for the next day, then went back to our room again.

I have to say that I love Ashton and Gunnar's imaginations...they pretended and played for 2 hours straight in that little room! They built a fort, used the ironing board for a surf board, played swamp monsters and on and on and on all while Lars and I watched a Hallmark movie. Such a fun night....

They finally settled down to sleep...both of them in the same bed for the first time at a hotel :), at about 9:30, then we were all up at 6:00. They just get way too excited when we're staying somewhere.

We met the Hansons for breakfast, then all headed out for another fun day of ice fishing at Deep Creek...which is on the way home.

I had gotten Brianne a bright pink ice-fishing rod for Christmas and she got me this sweatshirt, that she also got for herself (and we both happened to be wearing!) haha!

We caught lots of fish throughout the day again, and it was another beautiful sunny day!

All the boys had fun for hours just sliding around on the ice and sledding.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that as we were getting ready to check out that morning Lars' back suddenly locked up on him and he was in horrible pain most of the day! He could tell that it was a pinched nerve in his sciatic nerve because the pain just shot down his leg to his foot. Off and on it would feel better, but most of the day it was really bad. By the time we loaded up the truck after fishing he could hardly stand up straight. He tried everything he could when we got home to stretch it out, but nothing worked. When he decided to try to go to bed about 11:00 and couldn't even lay down, he decided he was going to the emergency room. They figured it was what he thought and prescribed him some muscle relaxers and cortizone pills, so he started taking them, but was still up all night trying to sleep a chair in the living room.

Saturday morning all he could do was walk really hunched over and try to lay down...he was so frustrated thinking that this was how his Christmas was going to be! But then all of a sudden early in the afternoon, it just loosened up. I walked by the bedroom and he was standing straight up and said it was gone...we were so glad!

Next up...Christmas Eve!

Never Forget...

To be grateful....

Dear Ashton & Gunnar, you hear me say these words all the time and every night as we say our prayers we thank God for all of our blessings. As you read through this blog book some day years from now, I want you to know how very grateful I am for both of you.

So so thankful that you are my little boys.

So thankful I am blessed enough to be able to stay home with you every day because you have a wonderful Dad who goes to work and really works hard every single day. Even when he doesn't feel like it.

So thankful that you two are healthy and that Daddy and I are as well, so that we can get out and do fun stuff with you.

I am thankful for a nice home to raise you in...it is your favorite place in the world to be and that makes me happy. (even though it's a little frustrating to get you to leave it at times!)

Thankful for the food we have on our table (or a little too often at a restaurant) every night.

Thankful for the car I've had for 10 years that is still running great that I get to drive you around in.

Thankful for so many great friends and family members in our lives.

So many things to be grateful for every day.

Thankful that for the moment you two are running around the basement playing nicely!

I hope that you live your lives in appreciation of all of your blessings and that you never ever forget to be grateful as well as giving to others who may not share

in the same blessings that we do.

Love, Mommy

Another ice-fishing trip...

Yesterday we went to Ashton's last basketball game (I'll post about that later), then decided to load the boys up and take them ice fishing again. They weren't happy at first because they just love to stay at home and play, but then they warmed up to the idea and were excited to go.

It was SO nice to get out of the horrible inversion that we have here in Cache Valley. In the past few years it seems like it hasn't started till January and now it's already bad in the middle of December. It is so cold and ugly! And so interesting how you can drive a few miles north or south and find beautiful blue skies & FRESH air!

 We went up to Deep Creek in Idaho a few miles out of Weston. We fished from about noon until 5:00 and caught 11 or 12 fish, so it was a fun day!

There was also a fun sledding hill, so the boys had a blast doing that for awhile too.

I hooked this one and let Ashton reel it in...the biggest fish of the day!

I went to take a picture of Lars with one of the ones he caught and it jumped out of his hand and landed right back in the hole!

This has become such a fun winter family activity for us...love it!

Our Family pictures :)

This year I decided to have Kelli just take a few pictures of us with my camera to try to get a good one for our Christmas card. At the last minute, I asked her to come down one day and actually came up with clothes out of our closets to go together!

As usual it wasn't very fun...it was really cold and my boys at their ages (and well personalities..haha) are just not very cooperative on picture day. And that is Lars included!!! Poor Aunt Kelli...

But we did manage to get a very few good ones before everyone got really onry (yes I know that's not how you spell that word, but the real spelling bugs me)...anyway here's what we got... 

  And our 2011 Christmas card...It was fun to make!

Thank you Aunt Kelli!!!

More pictures!

Just a few more pictures I've taken recently...both pretty chilly days, so I was happy to get some good ones :)

Our good friends the Villas...

  And our wonderful neighbors the Johnsons :)...

 Such cute families...I love all the experience I've been getting!

First Ice fishing trip of the season!

Last Saturday we decided to skip out on Ashton's 8 am basketball game and take the boys ice fishing instead :)

We went up to Treasureton in Idaho and the fishing was SLOW. But it was a beautiful sunny day and always fun to get out.

Here is Lars with the one fish he caught all day...

And me with mine...

The boys got bored of fishing soon after we got there since we weren't catching anything, so they ate donuts, had hot chocolate, played in the snow and on the ice...

...then I told them I'd pull them in our big sled.

They LOVED it! So fun...

Then Ashton decided he wanted to pull Gunnar around. He did that forever! He was pretending to be a horse and Gunnar repeated over and over..."Giddyup HorSAY!" It was so cute!

Lots of fish or no fish...fun family day!

Oh and that night Aunt Kelli watched the boys while we went to Lars work Christmas party. Such a treat for them :)

I've been doing my hair curly a few times lately since it is finally long enough...it's been short and straight for a long time!

(Lars is thrilled to get his picture taken as usual :)

We Saw Santa!

A couple weekends ago we decided to drive over to Brigham City and have dinner at Maddox, then head over to Williard Bay to see the lights and see Santa. It was a fun night out with our friends the Hansons.

We hadn't been to Maddox in years, and had never been over to drive through the lights. We also went on the sleigh ride (pulled by mules) around to see the lights.

It was a bit chilly, but all the boys had a good time.
After our sleigh ride, we walked over to where Santa was. Ashton was so cute...he pulled out his camera right when we walked in and started trying to get pictures of Santa :)

We only waited 5 minutes or so before it was our turn. Ashton went right up and sat on his lap and when he asked him what he wanted, he told him "A Nintendo DS." To which Santa replied "Wow, you're the first kid who's actually said Nintendo DS. The rest have just said DS...and you know what that means? "Dumb Stuff." That made Ashton laugh...he thought it was pretty funny and he's glad he said Nintendo!

When it was Gunnar's turn...surprise, surprise he wouldn't do it without me. So I sat on Santa's lap and put Gunnar on mine. His request for Santa..."A mini Crane Machine." Santa had to think hard about what it was he was asking for, but then he figured it out. :)

Anyway it was a fun night and a great way to see Santa, rather than the mall!