Thanksmus

The Thanksgiving table:-)

The Johnson crew - (from back left)

Cole, Adam, Shaanti, Jason, Chad, Troy, Casey

Gramps, Missy, Jenny, Cooper, Kim

Mom, Mason, and Dad

We went up to my parents cabin to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Johnson family this year and decided to kill two birds with one stone and celebrate Christmas as well. We'll all be with our in-law families for Christmas this year so it worked out well and got half of the Christmas shopping done a month early!

We had a really great time up there from Wednesday to Sunday. It was bitterly cold for a couple of days which was perfect to just cozy up in the cabin and and enjoy the fire. We got out in the snow a little bit to play and the boys snowmobiled but not enough to actually say we were active of the time:-) Okay with me, Kim and Casey brought up their Rock Band and we all rocked out to that!

Auntie Fay, Uncle Charlie, Kate, and David were up there to celebrate Thanksgiving as well. Gramps was there too which is great and makes me miss Grams tons and wish she could know my boys. I have such a great family and we have so much fun together! We were commenting as ALL of us were in the kitchen preparing our usual seafood feast for Christmas that not many families can do that without major chaos or fighting! We love it and though we always eat about an hour or so later than planned, it's so great to sit down to a meal with my whole family and enjoy their company.

Besides having sick boys for part of the time, we all had a blast. The boys were spoiled, Cole getting a remote control monster truck and some of his favorite movies - Cars and The Incredibles. Mason got a big dump truck that makes sounds and goes on it's own too. We are so thankful for our time up there and the relaxation and fun it gave!!

Casey, Kim, Missy, and Jason waiting patiently
for the "big kids" turn to open presents:-)

Cole showing off the goods.

Dad reading a family Christmas Eve

tradition, "The Littlest Angel".Granny and Mason snuggling.

Mason trying on Troy's tool set goggles.

Cole, Mason, and Troy on the snowmonbile sleigh

Mason's new dump truck

Adam and Mason opening a present.

The silly picture with Thompsons added.

Bountiful Basket

I am so excited! My friend Brenda turned me onto a local farmer's co-op called Bountiful Baskets. They get all their produce from as locally as possible, some is not that close but they do their best. They just started a few months ago I believe and this week started sites in Boise, Meridian, Star, and Nampa. I went this morning and got my basket and was very happy with what I got. For $15 I got 8 bananas, 7 apples, 6 bosc pears, 2 asian pears, a bag of grapes, about 8 persimmons, cauloflower, collard greens, a large bag of green beans, a bag of potatoes, a bag of brussel sprouts, and a thing of grape tomatoes. I also signed up and got their whole grain bread, 5 loaves for $10 which looks great! I'm looking forward to continuing with them. If anyone else is interested, it's http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. Also, anyone have any good persimmon recipes?

Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween. As usual we made the rounds to grandparents houses and then did a little trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Then we sat back with some pizza and answered the door to the very few trick-or-treaters we got. Here's a couple pics of our ever so cute pirates!!! There are a couple with cousins in them too. Troy was a racecar driver and Cooper was a tiger but was asleep in the car so we didn't get any pics. Gage was a pirate a, totally unplanned!

2010 Pumpkins

We had fun carving pumpkins with our friends the Childers once again this year. We've started doing the more detailed template pumpkin carving and it is really fun and they turn our great! Cole got into helping scoop out the "guts" of the pumpkin and Mason thought stirring them around in the bowl was really fun. Now we're ready for Halloween! The Bucher Pumpkins (above)

All our pumpkins

And the third Bucher baby is... a BOY!!!

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since we found out that we're going to be having another boy! I've been wanting to scan in some ultrasound pictures and add some belly pics for the record but somehow time has gotten away from me. I'll have to play catch-up and add those soon but I wanted to get this post in.
We are absolutely thrilled to be having another boy. I have to say, I thought it was going to be a girl so it took me a day to get my thinking turned around but I am so excited. I can't wait to get down all my little baby boy clothes and to start getting ready for his arrival. The boys are very excited, Cole said "I told you it was a boy, Mom." It will be so much fun getting to meet this new little one and see what he looks like and how he will fit into our family. What a blessing!

The Big 3-0!

This weekend I celebrated my 30th birthday. I can't believe how quickly it snuck up on me, even with most of my friends already having turned 30. I still feel like I'm in my early 20's or maybe 25 at the most:-) Despite turning another decade older, I haven't had a meltdown or felt the need for an early midlife crisis. I've handled it pretty well!I had one of the best birthdays I've ever had though. Adam and the boys cooked me breakfast in bed and let me have some time to relax and read in bed. I opened my birthday present, a beautiful new cruiser bike with a bell and a basket on the front! I LOVE it!!! Then we got around and met some friends at Linder Farms and took a hayride out to pick pumpkins. It was lots of fun and the boys had a blast! After heading home for a quick lunch and short nap for Mason, we dropped the boys off at Keith and Michelle's and Adam surprised me with a trip on the Thunder Mountain Railroad's Wine and Dine train. I have wanted to do that for so long and we had a great time! They served ceasar salad, chicken parmesan, rice pilaf, glazed carrots, and homemade cheesecake for dessert! We stopped in Banks at their pumpkin patch and added 2 more pumpkins to our collection for the day and then headed back to Horseshoe Bend. What a great day!!!
I'm actually looking forward to starting my 30's. As I get older I find myself less apt to be a people pleaser and am stronger in what I believe. I've had 30 years to grow as a person and know that I'm getting better every year. I look forward to having my 3rd baby and raising 3 wonderful boys. I think 30 is going to be a good year!

Karate

At the Settler's Park Block Party last Saturday I got two karate lessons plus a uniform for $5 so I thought I'd let Cole try it out. Turns out he's not very excited about it but did have fun at his first lesson. We'll see how the second goes and then decide if it's something to pursue or not. It's kind of nice to have a trial period rather than wasting money on something he's not that interested in. He looked sooooooo cute in the uniform though!