Winter Wonderland

Ever Green

I've been so anxious for this Christmas season to begin, we've been listening to Christmas music since October. The day after Thanksgiving, I was convinced we needed to get a Christmas tree right away. We had originally planned to buy a permit and cut our own tree this year, but we decided to go to a Christmas tree farm about thirty minutes from our home instead. As it turns out, the farm no longer exists. However, on our way, we passed this very tiny nursery, called Rustic Gardens. The place definitely had a very rustic feel, but the lady was super nice, and the trees were the right price, so we were happy.

I've been a little nervous about how Ezzy is going to do with the Christmas tree, and when we decorated it, he kind of went nuts! His absolute favorite things are balls and we had them carefully placed all over our Christmas tree, which he wasn't allowed to touch. Needless to say, there were ornaments scattered all over our floor and a few tears shed each time we had to tell him no, but I have high hopes that the novelty of the Christmas balls will wear off.

This Christmas, Gabe and I are really trying to emphasize the importance of giving with Anni. We have a wonderful list of service ideas to do for all 25 days of this Christmas season, and I cannot wait to get started! Giving has always been my favorite part of Christmas, and I am excited for Anniston to experience how rewarding, and what an amazing feeling it is, to give to others, especially those who really need it.

The list we'll be using can be found right here if anyone else wants to join in to make this Christmas season a little brighter. 

Ezra's the big 0-1!

Our baby boy is now one year old. I'm trying not to get too emotional, but really, I'm happy he is one. Gabe and I don't love the baby stage. 

• Ezra is 21 pounds (45%) and 29.5 inches long (35%) 
• He is in love with our Roku remote. He carries it around the house all day long, and he has been caught multiple times trying to smuggle it out of the house with him. 
• Has learned how to say 'cheese' and requests it all the time, because it is, of course, his favorite.
• Has started to enjoy longer books. Praise the heavens, because the same 3 books every night was making me CRAZY!!
• Pretty much since the day he turned one, Ezra has been all about walking solo. He was just waiting for his birthday I guess.
• His lovey that he sleeps with is a black stuffed llama, which was the first gift Gabe ever gave me. When I give it to him in bed, he always says 'Ama' and it's the cutest! 
• If you ask him what a dinosaur says, he will make a very throaty and creepy roar. 
• Is a total goofball and is always making us laugh.

Ezra's Birthday Trip to McCall

A few weeks ago, my parents, my brother, and his fiancee, came out for Ezra's birthday. We all headed up to McCall to spend the weekend there and celebrate Ezra's first birthday. McCall is absolutely beautiful and has tons of wildlife and hot springs. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to enjoy both. We saw lots of whitetail deer, chipmunks, and even a red fox, which I was extremely excited about. While we were up there, Ezzy got his first real taste of cake, and he wasn't the biggest fan, but Anni picked up on his slack. ;) We all loved it but were very sad that the trip couldn't have been longer. We had much more McCall that needed exploring. 

Ezra at 11 Months Old

Ezra now weighs 21 pounds and 4 ounces.

• His new favorite word is "No!" 
• Loves music and dancing.  During his sister's dance class, he loves to watch and dance along with the rest of the class. 
• Loves water, but he has the hardest time actually drinking any. He always seems to spit it all out or choke on it.  
• When he's in the mood, he gives the sweetest and wettest kisses.  
• Thinks the silly noises that his sister makes are hilarious. 
• Prefers to eat the crumbs under his high chair over eating his actual food on the table.  
• Can walk on his own, but he prefers to hold his mommy's or daddy's hand, usually his mommy's.
• Usually sleeps from 6:45 pm to 6:45 am. I guess he wants to make sure he gets exactly 12 hours of sleep in. No more. No less. Ha. He does, however, still wake up once per night to eat. One of these days he will sleep through the night, one day! 

A & E's first trip to Linder Farms

Back in October of 2011, Gabe and I discovered this awesome pumpkin patch called Linder Farms, and ever since, it's been our absolute favorite p-patch. Once we moved back to Boise, Gabe and I had  been looking forward to taking the kids, like we were excitedly discussing it back in July. We finally got to take them this past weekend, and the kids were just as pleased with Linder farms as we had hoped they would be. Ezra was especially excited, because there were orange 'balls' everywhere for him to play with, and Anniston loved the tractor ride. She thought it was pretty cool picking out her very own pumpkin as well, but the tractor ride definitely beat out the pumpkins in her book. It's funny how you really enjoy something, and then you see it through your children's eyes, and it makes it like 100 times better. Here's to Linder Farms, making our pumpkin patch dreams come true since 2011. 

Here are the links for the two previous times we went to Linder Farms as college kids, before we had any of our own, if you wanna look, 2011 & 2012.