Coolest Toaster Ever!

So I know that sounds stupid... a cool toaster? But this is seriously amazing! My sister Michelle got this for us for Christmas. It not only toasts your toast, but it will poach an egg AND warm a sausage or bacon ALL AT THE SAME TIME! :) I know you are all thinking I'm crazazy, but my husband leaves for work at 6:15 and it sure is nice to know he's getting something decent to eat before he goes. Anyway, it's a "Back to Basics" product and they are available online. I'm sure they are in stores too, but I haven't looked. Check it out!

Christmas stuff

When I walked in the house this afternoon, I realized I'm ready to put Christmas away. I know my house will feel bare, but I'm tired of trying to vacuum with the over sized tree in the living room and dust under all the garland! Plus we are getting ready for a cruise in a few weeks and I'm thinking tropical! (Despite the soon to be 10+ inches of snow outside! At least it's not rain!) Anyway here a few shots of Christmas!

The boys on Christmas Eve


Bridger on Christmas Eve


New Christmas Jammie's!

What?!!!

It is RAINING!!! We are in North Idaho...right? And it's December...right? So why is it RAINING?!?! We had all this beautiful snow and now it is all washing away! I'm going to be pissed if we have a wet, grey Christmas! A week ago we were lucky if the temperature hit 25 degrees. Now we aren't even getting below freezing at night!

Christmas update

Alright so I mailed out our Christmas cards today. In the card I refer everyone to our blog for an update so I thought I'd post kind of a summary of our lives. A few notes:
1. If you read our blog regularly, I'm sorry if I'm repeating information you've already heard.
2. If you are reading this and you DIDN'T get a Christmas card, well it's your own fault! I posted asking for addresses.... (I'm kidding by the way!)

Alright so on with it...
We are still in Northern Idaho and still love it. We are NOT however enjoying the consequential darkness that comes from living so far North. This time of year I wonder if the sun still exists at all! But we will suffer through because the good things definitely out-weigh the bad.
Brandon is still the working like a mad man and business has been fairly good. A little slower this winter than normal, but that is not limited to just us or just this area. Fortunately the prospects for the new year look pretty good. He expanded his horizon's a bit and is General Contractor now, rather than just framing. He is currently building a new house that may be for us, if it doesn't sell. It is amazing and we have considered holding off moving into it so we can put it in the Parade of Homes next year. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Fortunately he was able to take some time this year to have fun too. We went on 2 4-wheeling trips together and he had 1 (or 2? I don't remember:)) with just he and some guy friends. One of those trips also included fishing in Oregon again and he brought home quite a bit of fish. Hurray!
Chase is 9 and is in 3rd grade. He has been placed in the ALP's program for both Math and Reading this year. He has a great teacher who just adores him and I think the feeling is mutual. He played soccer in both the Spring and Fall this year and was the star of the team. He also did soccer camps and swimming over the summer again which kept me very busy! He is in scouts and earned his Wolf in the Spring and is 3/4's of the way through his Bear. He loves scouting so much! He continues to ride Dirt bikes and has been asking about moto-cross. We will have to decide about that in the spring. He also asked me when he can start dating... I told him when he's 23.
Davin is 6 and is in the 1st grade. He too, loves school and excels in academics. However I think he would rather go to PE than reading! He played his last 2 seasons in the Mini's soccer and in the spring will be on a full sized field with the big goals. It was pretty funny to sit by the opposing team parents. Whenever the coach told Davin to go on the field they would all groan! He scored a minimum of 5 goals every game day. He also did soccer camps and swimming this summer and LOVES to swim! As Brandon is the Wolf leader at scouts, Davin often gets to go with him, even though he's not 8 yet. When he is he will cruise through his Wolf because he already knows all the info!
Bridger is our little caboose and just tags along with the rest of us. He follows the boys everywhere and cries when they leave for school in the morning. He's my little buddy and comes with me just about everywhere. He is so cute when he tries to run, and jump. He is such a little mimic and can't understand why I don't want him to help me pour bleach in the laundry or put the soap in the dishwasher. He is a sweet little guy and is all his Dad, both in looks and temperament.
I am the same. I don't change all that much! I'm still ridiculously OCD when it comes to certain things, but have learned to let other things go... a little!:)
We had a great year including a few camping trips, 4-wheeling trips, a trip to Orlando for just me and B, and even a trip for me to Lake Tahoe! (Bachelorette party)
I hope this finds you all well and we wish you all the best this Holiday Season!

Addresses

Ok so I'm actually going to send out Christmas cards this year!(I know, it's so not like me to do this for Christmas... or at all!) Anyway, I'm noticing many of my addresses are out of date, so if you want one and you've moved (like, within the last 2 years) I probably need your address!
Other than that we are not up to much other than the norm. Bridger is STILL teething and because of his asthma the post-nasal drip (medical term for a lot of boogers) has turned into a cough. He's not old enough to really "blow" his nose, so he's all drippy and gross. Yet he still manages to be cute! At least he's not grumpy about it.
The big boys are counting down the days until Christmas, of course. We took them to the store the other night and let them pick out gifts for each other. They are SOOO excited about giving them.
Brandon is working hard as always, and his mood seems to have improved since he went to work on someone else's house. When he's working on ours, he's also thinking of PAYING for ours, so he gets all freaked out. Yup, even contractors over budget when building their houses! I'll post some new pictures again soon.
Remember to leave me those addresses!