Christmas Day, 2010

We did not wake up on Christmas morning until 8:45. I informed Shane that there are probably a lot of households who are already done with Christmas presents by 8:45 on Christmas morning and that we are very fortunate that our children do not understand it all yet!! We ate breakfast and then let the boys open a few of their gifts before their naps.
Hayden gently going into one of his gifts...
Elliot eating his way into his...
We all know that Hayden's love in life are trucks...particularly fire trucks. While speaking to my parents over skype, Hayden opened one of his gifts from them - lo and behold what did mumma pack back in her suitcase from England...a fire truck!! Christmas Day, for Hayden, was officially signed, sealed, delivered and done after opening this gift.


Not to be outdone, Boone, of course, got to open his stocking too. He loved Christmas...he got away with all the things that he is not normally allowed to do - like over indulge in treats...he even got a little turkey in his bowl too! Lucky boy, Booners!


Christmas Dinner was a big ol' feast...roasted turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted parsnips, roasted carrots, roasted brussel sprouts, steamed green beans and homemade cranberry sauce all covered in delicious gravy! Hmmmm. It was good. Elliot out ate us all. I am not sure where he puts it...but, given that his body is so long, I am thinking his hollow legs need a lot of filling.
I made a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. That went down very well with Shane and Hayden! Here are the boys modelling their cracker hats...!!

In the evening, we opened a couple more gifts. Hayden got daddy a nice, wooden checkers board. Here's Elliot 'challenging' daddy to a game...

Christmas Eve, 2010

It was Elliot's first Christmas...and he loved every square inch of paper that he could grab a hold of and put in his mouth. The toys were good too; but, nothing beat pulling all the tags and ribbons off of each of the gifts. Hayden showed more restraint and tried his hardest not to tear the paper too much when he opened his gifts. They just have two different styles of doing everything!
There were definitely more gifts this year and so we decided to start the family tradition of letting the boys have their stocking gifts and a couple of other gifts on Christmas Eve afternoon. It's a good thing too...we did not actually finish opening all the gifts until Dec 27th! Hayden likes to play with every gift as he opens it. He could be easily entertained for up to three hours with each new toy that he opened!...Not that I am complaining, it means that he gets to enjoy every new gift.
Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve afternoon:
The children in front of the pile of Christmas gifts. Shane and I braced ourselves for getting this shot...we were convinced that Elliot was going to give us a hard time - truth is, he was the easiest one of the bunch! He just sat there and smiled and smiled!!
The stockings for the boys hanging by the woodstove. Boone had one too...full of doggie bone goodness. Boone was a good dog and had left the stocking alone for the week that it was hanging there...although, he did give it a frequent sniff to make sure no one else had removed it!
Stocking stuffer gifts - a pack of chewy snakes for Elliot and a flashlight for Hayden. Great fun!

Christmas PJs from Aunt Diane...the first time the boys have been dressed in matching clothes!

New Pictures

And some pictures of Hayden. Here he is at the fair.

Some New Pictures

Since Marisa is gone, I thought I would just put up a few pictures so everybody could see what has been going on. Here's some new pics of Elliot at the playground.

Second Hair Cut...At Last!

Most of you probably remember the heart breaking photo of Hayden in April from his first hair cut...well, it is no wonder, then, that Shane and I have procrastinated in getting his hair cut again. But, alas, we could not ignore it any longer...so, Shane took Hayden to Redding today to get it cut. It turned out to not be so horrific - thanks to a couple of strategically placed trucks (in Hayden's white knuckled hands) and having Hayden sit on Shane's lap while Shane had his hair cut first.
The day did not end badly...Shane and Hayden went to the book store to get Hayden some new books and then enjoyed a lovely lunch out together.

Inter-Mountain Fair

We went to the Inter-Mountain Fair yesterday. We got our fill of sheep, pigs, cows, chickens, rabbits, trucks, rides and, of course, the junky fair food...like corn dogs!!
While Elliot kicked back and relaxed in the stroller, Hayden and I were escorted around the fair by Miss Kaila and Miss Kathy. We got to see lots of our friends that live in the Fall River / McArthur / Burney area and a great time was had by all.

Elliot in all his glory:


Petting one of the sheep:


Petting one of the competition rabbits. The rabbits were Hayden's favorite of all the animals - we'll have to talk to the Easter Bunny next year to see if Hayden can get one of his own:


Feeding the steers:


Of course, the absolute highlight of the day for Hayden were the big trucks. Here he is climbing aboard the mighty dump truck:


Great view from up there:


Not wanting to get down:


One cool dude and his girls, Miss Kaila and Miss Kathy:


Shane wanted to ride the train; of course, he had to take Hayden on there too - you know, to make it look like it was really the two-year old that wanted to ride it(!):


Helping cool down the pigs by spraying some water on them:

Back Garden

I have to dedicate a whole post to the back garden. Shane has really worked hard in our back garden and has made it one of the best 'rooms' in the house to hang out in. I cannot, and will not, take any credit for the back garden as it has all be Shane's vision and creation. For those of you that know what the back garden looked like before, the difference is amazing. For those of you that do not know what it looked like before, there are no words to describe the transformation.

Here is a visual 'tour' of the garden (taken from the back door) in all it's glory:

The patio and vegetable garden - the vegetable garden has been a huge success...just ask Hayden:


The other end of the vegetable garden, the beautiful baby tree, the wood shed and the kids with their wonderful Miss Kaila:


The shed/mother-in-law cabin/escape hatch with the beautiful flowers, organized tools and clock (made by our good friends Daryl and Gayla):


The 'back 40' (!) - Hayden and Boone love having all this space to run:


Sand pit, water table, canoe (Not shown: around the corner of the house are fruit trees being trained to grow along the house):


The new outdoor kitchen (I should really have tidied it up before I took the picture - oopsy, sorry Shane) - the kitchen has been a great addition to this summer. We have used the BBQ and kitchen to cook most of our meals outside, the fridge keeps Shane's beers cold and the sink has the multi purpose of cleaning dishes as well as kids on those really hot nights. Good job on this Shane!:


Hayden standing next to the vegetable garden. The really tall one is our pole beans...they have been delicious. Hayden will eat them straight off the plant! Another one of Hayden's favourites?...The small tomatoes! Every night we get asked "matoes?" And, Hayden runs to the tomato bush, climbs over the little fence and just crams as many into his mouth as he can. I don't think Shane and I have had eaten more than a dozen tomatoes between the two of us! Another big hit has been the lemon cucumbers. We will pick one or two every evening and Hayden will eat them too. I love watching Hayden eat all these healthy vegetables:


Harvesting the 'matoes':


Eating the evidence:


Of course, now that I have dedicated all this space to the back garden, I will have to do the same with the front. I'll take pictures soon of the grape plants and the roses.