happy christmas!

christmas this year was spent in idaho falls with the rucks' family.

we drove down from moscow, making it our 3rd trip down since august.

crazy? possibly. this trip took us a little longer, with the snowy roads we encountered. 

 

but it was the first time we have all been together in at least 2 years.

so it was fun to see everyone all together again.

we took parker to see santa with his cousin charlee, hoping he would see her with santa

and then not be afraid of him. boy were we wrong. 

 all smiles while waiting.

and then......

BAM!

maybe next year buddy. 

christmas eve was parker's 2nd birthday. still cant believe i have a two year old.

and i still really cant believe his birthday is christmas eve. 

we took him to chick-fil-a for his birthday lunch, because its my favorite, and he doesnt

have a say yet. can you believe jared's family arent really fans of chick-fil-a? 

crazy right?

i sure enjoyed it. and i think parker did too, since he ate 6 chicken nuggets. plus some fries. 

they gave him a balloon, a stuffed cow, AND a free cookie,

plus they sang to him. and he covered his face with his balloon the whole time.

we came home and had some cousin bonding time

then had some papa murphey's pizza and opened presents.

he.was.spoiled.

 happy 2nd birthday little dude! 

you drive us nuts but i guess we will keep ya.

with all of us home this year, there sure was a lot of presents under the tree.

parker got just as many presents christmas morning as he did for his birthday.

he very much enjoyed eating candy for breakfast.

im afraid to know how much he had.

he most definitely had a very thomas filled birthday and christmas.

thank you to everyone who helped make parkers birthday and christmas very enjoyable.

between his aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents and me and jared, he sure made out this year.

we had a white christmas this year and a few days after christmas jared took parker out to play in it.

i was sure he wouldnt last long, but an hour later he was still out there playing. he loved the snow

and didnt complain one bit about being cold. even after jared threw a snowball in his face.

good thing jared enjoys playing in the snow, because i would not have lasted 

that long out there with him. 

it was a great christmas, and so fun to see parker get SO EXCITED over everything.

we were all very spoiled this year.

we are definitely very blessed to have such good families that take care of us. 

parker boy

Ive been rather grumpy this week. For one reason or another.

And poor parker, has taken the brunt of it.

My mom must have sensed my grumpy vibe and called me yesterday morning.

She asked me how I was, I told her I was grumpy, and that parker was driving me nuts. Our conversation went on as she asked if I heard the news about the school shooting, we discussed that and then I vented to her for another minute before she had to go. But she told me to go play with parker, and to be grateful he was here to play with.

And so I did. Soon it was time for his “rest” and I sighed a sigh of relief as I sat on the couch after putting him down. Being a mom is tough.

But I cant even begin to imagine how tough being a mom has to be to those that lost their innocent children yesterday.

today my heart literally hurts for them. Im sure their sweet children drove them nuts as well, but Im also sure they are wishing they could hug them one more time.

So this morning, I woke up and decided id put my grumpy pants away, and try to have a little more patience with my parker boy.

i sure do love this dude.

thanksgiving

we flew to colorado for thanksgiving this year.

and boy was it a fun trip! full of lots of family,

shopping and eating. what else is better than that?

it was parker's first time ever flying. 

and thanks to the ipad, he did GREAT! 

it was a really full flight, so parker had to sit on my lap.

that was a little squishy, but we survived.

once we made it to colorado, parker had the time of his life

running through the house, playing with new toys, terrorizing 

the dog, playing with cousin kyler, having the undivided attention of

grandma and grandpa and his aunts and uncles.

 im not sure who enjoyed this activity more... aunt stacey or parker.

he loved the stickers. and just might be getting some in his stocking this year.

we also took him bowling for the first time.

he LOVED it. it was so cute to watch him.

see for yourself....

he did that dance/gallop/clap after EVERY turn.

seriously, so cute.

enjoying some pie with grandpa on thanksgiving.

and helping grandma make lots of stuffing. 

he got a little carried away.....

 poor kid.... he loves to watch this video over and over and over.

and shouts OH NO! when he falls. so funny. 

cute matching cousins.

i cant believe we caught them both looking AND smiling!

we took him to see santa, but he didnt want to sit with him.

but he was all about this barney! 

helping grandma make some dinner.

the weather was BEAUTIFUL up until the day we took our family pictures.

it was so cold!

 

that poor little christmas tree has served us well the last 5 years....

and to think jared almost threw it away! 

we are SO excited to head down to idaho falls in a week

to spend christmas with the rucks family.

i just cant believe parker is going to be TWO! 

and still cant believe his birthday is christmas eve.