road trip + air trip

 We were long overdue for a trip to Idaho, so we took advantage of the cheap airfare on Allegiant and made our way up north.  It turned into quite an adventure, though, because we flew to Idaho by way of Arizona and there was a lot for us to accomplish in a few weeks.  

Christmas Day

Christmas day was perfect.  We relaxed, opened our presents, and just enjoyed each other's company.  We were definitely spoiled by our families, and we're grateful for such a wonderful time of year.

Christmas Eve

We got really lucky at Christmas with Matt's schedule.  There aren't exactly days off and vacation time for interns, and many of our friends were working during Christmas.  Matt was on an internal medicine rotation, which is hairy, but the amount of patients they had on the 23rd was manageable, and they were able to send them all home on the 24th.  So, Matt got home early on Christmas Eve and didn't have to go in on Christmas day.  It was perfect.

On Christmas Eve during the day, we went to a friends house and decorated some cookies.  It was particularly warm that day, so the kids had a picnic outside and played jump rope.  We couldn't help but laugh at the fact that if we were to eat watermelon and light fireworks it wouldn't seem strange or out of place.  It felt like a summer day.

For Christmas Eve dinner we had various finger foods.  The favorite, by a long shot, was little smokies.  The boys devoured them.  We also had lots of other yummy foods, like spinach artichoke dip, but the boys were only interested in the little smokies.

Christmas Festivities

Each year we come up with a list of things we'd like to do and see before Christmas.  This year, there were a lot of new and exciting things for us in a new city.  Despite Matt's busy schedule, we were able to spend some good time together as we prepared for Christmas.

Mason's surgery

Our sweet Bobby Mason had to have surgery in November.  He had an inguinal hernia that wasn't going to resolve itself, so he needed to have it fixed.  It was a simple day surgery, but kind of sad, nonetheless.  

Graham's 3rd Birthday

We can hardly believe that our little Graham turned 3 years old!  He had such a great birthday.  He was so excited for days and was continually asking if it was time to open his presents.  He loved every minute of his day, and it was fun to see him so excited for his birthday.  Graham is such a sweet little boy.  He is so easy going aware of everyone's feelings.  He often asks, "what's wrong?" or "what's going on here?"  It's too funny.  We sure love this little boy and are glad we got to celebrate his big birthday with him.

Around the house

Halloween

This year for Halloween the boys were Jake and Cubby from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Graham loved his Jake outfit.  After the ward party, he refused to take his costume off and insisted on sleeping in it.  Mason made a perfect Cubby, and did pretty well in his outfit.  He liked to point out that he was wearing a hat.  They were pretty funny.