Snow Day

"Fresh" snow cones
Yummmm

Don't even think about it!

Hey, that looks like fun!

We had kind of a late first big snow. The boys went out and made use of it before it all melted away. Big fluffy snowflakes to catch on the tongue, snowmen to build, and snowballs to throw at mom! What could be better? Oh, I know, snow cones when you're all done playing!!!

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas season for 2011! It's so much fun to celebrate Christmas as the kids get older and are understanding more of what Christmas is all about. The excitement on their faces at seeing all the decorations everywhere we go and having lots of fun activities to go to is great. Of course it's also really fun to have them begin to realize that those things are not the best part of Christmas. Cole and Mason were both really excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday and are able to start to understand and appreciate the Christmas Story.

Here are some fun things we did over the holidays:- Started things off with cutting down our Christmas tree in High Valley Thanksgiving weekend, after a fun Thanksgiving at the Bucher cabin.

- Had a fun visit to Santa and one of his reindeer, Prancer.

- Made and decorated Christmas cookies

- Went to the Botanical Gardens "Winter Garden a Glow" for Adam's office Christmas party.

- Celebrated Christmas with the Bunn crew and a fun white elephant gift exchange.

- Had a fun dinner out and Christmas celebration with Adam's family!

- Went to the cabin with the Johnson fam for Christmas!

I slacked on writing a Christmas letter this year for fear that I wouldn't get them out until Valentine's Day! So I'll write a summary of our year here.

We've had a wonderful year this year. The biggest blessing was the joining of our youngest son to our family. Kade Phillip Bucher was born on February 6th, 2011, weighing in at 8 lbs and 20 1/2 inches. He is now 11 months and is absolutely wonderful! He is crawling and pulling himself up everywhere and is taking a few steps on his own. He just needs to braven up a bit and decide to venture out on his own, then I'll really be in for it! He has 2 bottom teeth and I think has more to come soon, for all the drooling he is doing. He has a sweet cuddly personality and pretends to be a shy guy to new people. He is our blonde baby and is just a sweet little angel!

Mason turned 3 (as seen in earlier post) this month. He is such a fun guy! He absolutely LOVES sports and spends hours playing football with Cole and letting his big brother "coach" him. When he has a frowny face, it can easily be turned into a smile with a little coaxing from his daddy. What a good big brother he has become to Kade. He likes to make sure he is not playing with something he shouldn't have and loves to make him laugh and smile. Whenever he wakes up from his nap, he says "Good morning!" and comes to give me a snuggle. I love this kid!

Cole is our big 5 year old! As the oldest he has asked me lately, "Why do you still treat me like a kid?". I tell him he'll always be my baby and I'm never going to let him grown up! Too bad for me though, he is well on his way! He is such a good reader, speller, and writer. He loves to write books and cards to people. He also has a very giving heart, he wants to earn money so that he can buy something special for the kids in Kenya, who don't have much of anything. I'm excited for him to be in kindergarten next year, it will be quite an adventure!

Adam is still working for Idaho Power as a project scheduler, going on 2 years. He enjoys his work and is thinking he'd like to settle in and see where Idaho Power can take him. He was able to do a little elk hunting and a deer hunt with his dad and brothers in North Idaho this fall. We now have venison in the freezer and Adam has another notch in his hunting belt! He is playing in a basketball league this winter with some guys from work and takes Cole with him to many of his games. He is the BEST dad and the boys can't get enough of paying football, doing projects, and just hanging out with their dad.

I'm still on the oncology unit at St. Luke's 2 evenings a week and am home with the boys the rest of the time, which I love! I love being able to see first hand my kids growing up and be their teacher for this short time that I have them at home. I love being a nurse and get to do that as well, but my priority is at home right now. The boys keep me busy and besides adding a new baby, my year has been pretty low key. I was in a women's Bible Study at church, studying the major and minor prophets this past fall, which was awesome to get into the word a little more in depth. I am excited to see what God has in store for my life and my family in 2012 and trust that He will guide us.

I become more thankful each year for the blessings I've been given. A husband who is my best friend, partner, an incredible dad, and all around awesome guy! Three beautiful sons who are so healthy and full of life. An incredible extended family who supports us and loves us unconditionally. Wonderful friends who encourage and help us, and whom we have so much fun with! And a Savior who was born one December night in a lowly manger. A God who loves us so much that he gave his one and only son, so we can be wiped clean of all the mistakes and blunders we make and can live with Him in heaven one day. What more could I ask for!

Mason's 3rd Birthday!

Wow, have some work to do on the blog here:-)

Anyhow, Mason turned 3 on December 14th! How did those three years fly by so fast? It's amazing how clearly I can remember going into the hospital to have him, the anxiety and fear of him being in the NICU, the joy of taking him home, and how incredible it was to add a second son to our family! He has added such life and energy to our home and has been SO much fun! He has been the 2 year old that gets into everything you hoped he wouldn't, that runs away as fast as he can in a store or parking lot, and laughs at getting in trouble! I don't know how 3 is going to be, but I'm buckling down for a good ride:-) He is fun loving and has a great sense of humor! He loves to cuddle with mommy after his nap and climb up on his daddy's lap to read a good book.

As of 3 years old, Mason is 36 lbs and 38 inches tall. He got a perfectly clean bill of health at his check up and found out that flu shots are NO FUN!!!

For his birthday party we went to Chuck E. Cheese with some friends and family. He had a blast and the party was lots of fun! We're looking forward to a great new year in Mason's life and I can't wait to see what God has in store for my wonderful 3 year old boy!

Deer Camp 2011

Every other year Adam, his dad, and brothers go on a deer up in North Idaho. They take all the sheep herder tents and set up for a few days of hunting and true guy time. Adam and Keith both got deer which was just a nice plus to a fun trip. Keith's brother-in-law and a friend of Phil's also went along to make the group a little bigger. They had lots of fun despite it being a little windy and soggy. Afterwards, they met us at the cabin for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Neil's takin' a breather, not a bad view!

Adam's deer... Yeah!!!

Around the camp fire

Tent City

Halloween 2011

I'm so far behind on blogging. I guess I just better start with what I have now and then back track later. At least that way I won't get any further behind!

Halloween 2011 was a low key and fun event for us. We had 2 fighter pilots and kept up the tradition of the littlest cowboy in the red hat. They were of course all the cutest things you've ever seen! We hit Granny and Papa's where we met up with Jenny and Chad and their little fire fighter and monkey. Granny had lots of good candy, including the wax soda pop bottles that have the juice inside! (I love those things!) Then we hit Grandma and Grandpa's where the kids got goodie bags with TONS of stuff inside! We walked down to all of their neighbor's houses as well, since they rarely see a trick-or-treater.

We ended the night with our usual Papa Murphy's pizza and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood until the boys froze. They have almost as much fun answering the door for kids at our house so they spent the last hour of the night doing that and loving it. Cole kept answering the door without the candy bowl and would have to run back for it, leaving the kids on the doorstep just standing there. Lots of fun!
I also included pics of our pumpkins this year. We had a pumpkin carving night with the Daytons and I thought they turned out pretty darn good! Here's what they were: Adam - scary clown, Me - stars, Cole - scary face, Mason - howling wolf, Craig - elk antler, Brenda - moon and stars, Rylie - flower, Ella - kitten.

Cole Turns 5 Years Old!

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! That is the one thing that makes me feel like time has flown by. I can remember finding out I was pregnant with him and can remember being pregnant for the first time. I remember him being born, holding him for the first time, and doting on my first baby! Now, he wants nothing to do with being a baby!!! He is all big boy and sometimes wants to be much older than he is... slow down, cowboy.
He just had his 5 year check up and his stats are as follows: 43.3 lbs and 44 1/4 inches tall. He told Dr. Gee he likes to play outside, go for walks, and ride his bike. He is really getting into legos and building sets and just made a motorized car out of the erector set he got for his birthday. We're doing home preschool and he amazes me all the time! He can read most 3 letter words and is working on 4 letter words. He can say, write, read, and sound out all the letters of the alphabet and is working on letter combos. He is doing easy addition problems and loves science. He also loves to help me in the kitchen with baking and is great at measuring out my ingredients... and tasting them:-) Kade absolutely adores him and smiles and laughs at everything he does. Mason also looks up to him and I can tell they will be great friends. At this time he likes to boss Mason around a little more than Mason would like, but they love playing together. He amazes me as a fisherman and can't wait until he is old enough to hunt with his dad. He also has really taken to swimming, especially after a week in Park City swimming in the hotel pool every day!

For his birthday this year Adam was up at elk camp hunting for a week. So, my mom and I decided to do a little tirp of our own and go to Park City, Utah where she has a time share. It was fabulous and Cole really got into spending his birthday deciding what we got to do all day. Morning at the pool, shopping with gift card at Walmart, building lego helicopter while watching Despicable Me in hotel, playing Ticket to Ride with Granny on her ipad, going out to Mexican food for dinner (where he ordered a cheeseburger), going to the hotel pool again, and ending the night with a popcorn party and the movie Soul Surfer. What a day! He kept saying, "It's my birthday so I'm the boss, all day long!" I had to remind him that I was the overall boss but he got to dictate most of our activities! The next day he asked, "Am I still 5?" and "When will it be my birthday again?" I think it was a hit!

Once we got back into town we had a birthday party with our families and some friends. We went to POJO's, one of Cole's favorite spots. I had gotten some Living Social deals for tokens and ride tickets so each friend got to have some in their goodie bag. I made cookie pops (a family effort to decorate), and had rootbeer floats and cream puffs at the party. It was a great party and Cole was so blessed to have such great friends and family there to celebrate with him!

Birthday sombrero, Ole!

The "gamers", Granny on her ipad and Cole on her iphone

Birthday presents, Mason gave him the sunglasses

Birthday fish from Granny