Yay!

Ok, all done "privatizing" our blog! For those of you reading, it means I didn't screw up! So you know, I want it to still be easy for you to know when we've updated this blog. So I've made a second blog, daveanderingraves.blogspot.com . I'll put a new post there whenever this one is updated, so that those of you also on blogger can still have a link letting you know we've updated. I'll also post the link to this blog there so you don't have to save 2 blog links on the side of yours. Hope that all makes sense! Let me know if you have any questions! New post coming soon, gotta get dinner out of the oven!

Private

Hey everyone, due to a very creepy comment some random person online left us, I have decided to make my blog private for a while. I'm really disappointed that it's come to this, but our kids safety is the most important thing. Please let me know your email asap so I can send you an invite. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I've seen some people make a separate blog to let people know when they've updated their private blog, and we may do that to make it easier for people to follow. I'm going to make the change this weekend, so please let me know by then. I moderate our comments on here that we receive, so just leave me a comment with your email address in it, and then I'll delete it so no one else can view your email and send you junk. Thanks!

Pics From Phone

I have been meaning to put pictures from my phone on here forever, I just barely figured out how to get them on my computer though.

This is our pantry, as we were building it. It is all finished now and looks awesome! David did such a great job!

These pictures are from the BYU game we went to with Grandpa Graves. Johnny got his hair styled all blue for it.

Natey was so into the game, here he is cheering for someone!

Johnny and Grandpa, Johnny makes weird faces when I tell him to smile. Lol.

The boys like to pretend to be superheroes. Natey ran around all day with underwear on his head, and his favorite blanket tied like a cape!

At Super Saturday we learned how to make these yummy cupcakes! Cute huh?

Natey first thing in the morning. Doesn't he look like a little Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone?

Visiting Santa at the mall. Natey looks terrified, but really he loved it. After we left he got really mad and wanted to go back and talk to Santa again.

Johnny put these stickers that Santa gave him all over his face!

I had to get pics of them in these little chairs, I really want to get them some next year.

My battle wounds. Nate jumped on a treadmill at my dad's while it was going really fast, and I dove in front to get him off. This is what I got, they are mostly gone now.

Just having fun at the dollar store.

Natey's smoothie mustache!

My little alien Johnny!

Our Christmas Eve feast.

Johnny loved decorating cookies for Santa!

The finished product.

Digging through his stocking Christmas morning.

Natey got this car track for Christmas, he played with it all day.

Grandpa Moore got this awesome geo track set for the boys. It's all they've played with sense, they love the train that goes on it and love building the tracks.

They love it so much, Johnny even does it in his underwear!

If you haven't looked at our blog in a while, there are several more new posts if you scroll down!

Scroll Down

Ok, so I think I'm finally all caught up. Sorry it's been so long, busy couple of months. Anyways, there are 3 or 4 new ones, so be sure to check them all out! Starting at the furthest one down and working your way up would help them make more sense!

News

Not news like you're all thinking. News about my dad and family. My dad is getting married. While I was staying at his house he got engaged. Now, I'm going to be very honest in this post. When I first found out I was pretty mad, actually, very mad. I told him he wasn't engaged and he hadn't known her long enough and it wouldn't work out. I thought he was rushing into things and being stupid. Then after a few hours I calmed down and asked if I could meet her. So, we had her over for dinner a couple nights later. It was kind of awkward, but I decided to be nice and to give it a shot. She was really nice. I didn't really know what to talk to her about, but I thought she was friendly and a sweet person. She asked me to be her friend on Facebook and I decided to accept, mostly out of curiosity and to spy at first. From everything I could see on Facebook she seemed great. People love her, she's active in church and works in the temple, she's funny, and she really loves my dad.

I talked to her a little through Facebook here and there, and then she came to our family gift exchange after Christmas. I was worried it would be awkward, but it was really great! She was fun, she joined in and talked to everyone, and we all had a lot of fun with her. She was really sweet and brought gifts for us. She gave each of us kids an ornament with a picture of our mom in it and a poem on the back about remembering her. That really meant a lot to me. I know she isn't trying to replace my mom, but that she can be a good friend I can go to like a mom. And I see how happy my dad is with her, and I know it's good for him and her both.

Her name is Mary, and her husband passed away in a car accident the day after my mom passed away. She has a few kids that are grown, and a few grandkids. She is great with our kids and they already love her and love to play with her. She's very respectful about things with my mom, and doesn't seem to mind talking about her, which I love.

I got to hang out with her and my dad yesterday and help them with some wedding stuff, and I had a really good time. She is fun to joke around with and easy to talk to. It's still a little weird for me, just because it's different seeing your dad with someone else. But I'm ok with it and glad he met someone so great. The hardest thing about it is that I like her so much. I know that sounds crazy, but it does make it harder. Just because I'm having fun with her and enjoying spending time with her, which is great, but it reminds me of all the times like that with my mom. Which makes me miss her more. But I'd rather have fun with her and like her than have my dad marrying someone awful. I'm really glad he found such a great person.

So, it's taking some getting used to, but in a good way. And I think she'll be good for our family, and for my kids. I'm happy for my dad and hope they are always this happy. Congratulations Dad and Mary! Feb 4th is the big day!

Christmas Morning!

This Christmas we decided to stay home! We love our families so much, but we really wanted to use our Christmas tree and to start our own traditions, and to let the kids relax and enjoy their new toys. We had a fun Christmas Eve, we watched Christmas movies, finished wrapping some gifts, and had a big dinner to celebrate. After dinner the boys helped me make cookies for Santa. They were really good about going to bed because they were so excited for him to come.

Johnny woke up around 7 on Christmas morning and was a little out of it. As soon as I pointed out his full stocking he was wide awake! He was so excited about everything that Santa had brought! Natey was pretty excited too, he mostly wanted the drink and food in his stocking. He is a hungry kiddo in the morning.

After looking through our stockings we headed downstairs to see what Santa had brought. The boys were so excited because he brought them a Buzz Lightyear and a Woody doll! They have been wanting them for a while. We immediately had to take them out of the boxes. They got excited about all of their gifts and it took a while to open them all because they wanted to stop and play with each one.

After opening presents we had yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Then it was back to the toys, the kids were awesome that day. There were no fits, and they just played all day long! They were really good about sharing with each other, and Davie and I even got to take turns and take a nap! It was a great relaxing and fun day!

Seeing Buzz and Woody!

Davie's BYU blanket that I finally finished, I was worried it wouldn't be done in time for Christmas. I keep stealing it, it's so soft.

The haul.

Look how happy!

Natey was very excited to get his own Thomas the Train backpack.

Half of their spoils!

Some of my spoils! I got a couple shirts and a sweater, The Hunger Games (which I've been dying to read), a gorgeous winter hat that my friend made, and these cute pics of the kids. Natey's is in the pile.

More spoils: Notice David finally got a new wallet!

It was a great Christmas, we had fun as a family, we were back in our new house, and the boys were more into it this year. A few days before Christmas we went to Salt Lake to visit Davie's family and for his brothers endowment. We had fun seeing them, and doing some Christmas stuff with them.

The day after Christmas my family came over to exchange gifts and for dinner. It was fun seeing them too and for the kids to show their cousins their new toys.

The Flood

We were very excited to come home the day after Thanksgiving and put up our Christmas tree and listen to Christmas music and make yummy treats. We made it home in good time, and with great weather. We walked into our house and immediately realized something was wrong. We were standing in about 2 inches of water and could hear water gushing in our kitchen. Davie ran into the kitchen to find rapidly spraying out from under our kitchen sink. Our pipes under the sink are on an exterior wall and it had gotten so cold the night before that one froze and burst in the morning. We rushed the kids upstairs and then lost it. I started crying, thinking we would not be able to live in our house ever again. Davie started soaking up water with towels. ( BTW, this was covering our entire downstairs) I called my dad to ask for advice. Then Davie called our insurance. That calmed us down a lot, our insurance agent was great and immediately starting calling people to come and help us.

An extraction crew showed up shortly after and began tearing our place apart. They had to tear our my kitchen cabinets, rip up our carpet, pull off our baseboards, and lift all our furniture onto blocks to dry. Then they brought in huge fans and starting drying things up. After assessing the damage they said it would be 2-3 weeks before our place was back to normal, possibly longer.

Our insurance put us up in a hotel nearby for a few nights until we could figure out what we were going to do while waiting. The kids loved and hated the hotel. They loved the pool, and the free breakfast, but hated being cooped up and not having any other normal meals. We decided it would be best for the kids and I to stay at my dads until our place was put back together. Davie had to stay in Logan to finish up his last week of school and his finals. It was so hard to be apart, but he was able to come visit us twice and help us when it was time to come back home.

Our insurance really came through for us and got our place finished and all back to normal in just under 2 weeks. We were so excited to go home and prepare for Christmas, and Davie was so awesome and completely cleaned and organized our whole house! It looked better than it ever has!

Winter Wonderland!

It may take a few posts, but I'm determined to get caught up. These pics are from the first Big snowfall here in Logan. We have had much more and much worse since then. This is about a week before Thanksgiving, we played in the snow for about an hour that morning. The boys had so much fun! They were very excited to wear snow clothes and boots.

Natey so excited about our snowman, we didn't have any carrots, so we used celery for the nose.

Ignore my no make up face!

Love my John Johns!

This is how our yard looked after rolling snow for the snowman.

He wanted it to be perfect, he was so sad when it melted.

We went to my brothers house in Price for Thanksgiving, and I totally forgot to take any pictures. We had a lot of fun though. The kids loved playing with their cousins, and their cousins were so entertaining that Davie and I got a little break and got to relax. It was so fun hanging out with Ben and Charity, and then with the rest of the family when they got there. Charity, Emily, Stephen, & I went shopping at midnight on black friday! It was so bitter cold down there, but worth it, I was able to get some great gifts that would've been too expensive if I hadn't gone. It was a great break until..........continued in next post.

Johnny's 3!

Johnny's birthday was yesterday! He was so cute, all day he walked around talking about how he's 3 now, and he's a tall big boy now. We had a small party with a couple of his friends and a couple of our friends. He had a blast playing, we had to go chase him and his best friend so he'd come blow out candles on the cake and open gifts.

Blowing out his candles!

We let him have one small piece of cake, his cheek didn't get too bad. But we bought special almond ice cream so he wouldn't blister.

Natey Poo was a big fan of the cake!

He was so excited opening presents.

He seemed most excited about this one, he loves pretending to be a doctor!

Cuddling with his new dog from his friend Benzyn & still excited about his doctor set.

We got him a couple puzzles, he's having a hard time with this one right now, but I'm sure he'll get it soon.

He loves this puzzle and is really getting the hang of it already!

Johnny loves sleeping in tents so we got him this toddler tent! It's great, it folds down flat & is so easy to store! He slept in it last night and has been playing in it all day with Natey!

I can't believe that Johnny's already 3! It seems like so much has happened in the last 3 years, but also like I just had him yesterday. Today he switched out of the Mommy & Me tumbling class and into the "big kid" class. I don't go in with him anymore, I can sit in the waiting area and watch though. I was pretty nervous about how he'd do but it went great! He listened to his teacher really well and made friends with the kids in his class right away, I'm so proud of him! He's just a great kid and a sweet older brother, he's into helping me out a lot right now, which I love! He loves teaching Natey new things and has an awesome imagination!