Derby Cars

Pinewood Derby time!!! This year Pop pop helped Shermie with his car ...
...and Sherman helped Tuffer with his. (Can you say competition?)
Both the boys came up with and drew their own design by themselves. It was fun to watch them get excited about them. They had help cutting it out on the band saw then the rest the did with just supervision. The cars came out great!! They both worked very hard on them.

Shermie's Rocket Car

Love the flames

Tuffer's American Flag Car

I especially like the missiles on the top of it.

The cars are weighed. The wheels on. Good Luck Boys! Now on to the derby.
(Pop pop and Sherman have a bet loser buys lunch)

Bear Bellies and Walking Lessons

We have a hard time putting Annalyn down to sleep. As soon as you hit the bed with her she starts crying (yeah I know this is probable because we spoil her and we did it to ourselves yadyadyad). So we have come up with a few thing to help us get her down. First we try to swaddle her with a blanket. Then as we put her in the crib we lay her next to a stuffed bear that her brother kindly let us barrow. That way it feels like she is still close to us. We have also found that she is extremely fond of large bellies and will quickly fall asleep when placed on one
(i.e grandpa). Anyway I put Annalyn down for a nap the other day and she rolled herself onto the bears belly. Maybe she figured it would do in a pinch.

Before she was born Nicholas would always tell us how he was going to teach her to walk. Today he was doing just that. He walked her back and forth for about five minutes.

Annalyn was loving it! She thought she was so cool. Got to love those brothers.

Another Chocoholic Is Born

Sherman shared is chocolate milk with Annalyn. She LOVED it and went nuts when he stopped sharing. Which was an open invitation for him to tease her.
This is hilarious!

The Many Faces of Sherman

For the past few months my husband has been attempting to grow a beard. This is what he got.
He does this every so often in an attempt to see if it will ever come in thick. This one is the best one I've seen. Along with it he finds that it does not and he can not stand it to touch his upper lip, so inevitable he decides to shave it off. We were having some fun with it last night.

Say Hello to Side-Burn Sherm

Goatee Sherm

Wyatt Earp


John Travolta

Hitler (scary the resemblance)

Here is the clean shaven Sherman. Back to the beginning. Until the next time he decides to grow a beard. That might take awhile.

Racing Cars

The boys were playing with Tuffer's slot cars the other night. We had a blast. Who new watching little cars go round and round could be so fun.
Here is just a little of the fun.

Sledding On the Mesa Again

Saturday, Mande's Family, Monte's Family and our family packed up the sleds, chili, hot chocolate, and camp stove and headed up the mountain for a day filled with snow fun. The weather was perfect. Annalyn had her first sled ride. Sherman took her first and then I took her. She seem to like it though you can't tell by the look on her face. Yes, that is Sherman putting her on by herself and sliding her to me.
It always takes a little work to get things together, get up there, and get everything set up but it is always worth it. Watching these guys just cracks me up!

They all had such a blast. In for lunch and hot chocolate then right back out for more. Annalyn and Ava sat out and opted for sleeping on Monte and Tim inside the warm truck.

Ava had her first sled ride to but after the second run she let her dad know exactly what she thought. Marcus was fun to watch. Mande and Tim took him down a few times. Then Sherman suggested he go by himself. He laughed all the way down the hill. It was hilarious!

Madi was and I wear snow buddies and went down together several times. She is so cute and did so good getting up the hill on her own.

Matthew and Nic had a little run in with each other but other than that everything went well.

By the time we were done my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much. I really can't wait to go again. We are glad we could share it with family.

More Christmas Fun

The best gift we got Christmas morning was this Little Christmas Angel.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Loa McCall

8lbs 10.2oz and 20 inches long

We are all very excited she is here.

I got some very special rings from the boys. Monte, Kimi and Madi came from Idaho. We love to spend time with them. Madi is such a cute, sweet, fun girl. She use to be solidly on team Edward but before she left she said she was on team Uncle Sherman. I think Ava is on team Uncle Monte.

The kids had just as much fun opening present for the second time. Annalyn was definitely getting the hang of it.

Shermie found he shared a name with his toy, "Sherman Cortez". The boys and Madi help Uncle Mikey find "Waldo".

With all of the family it has been one of the best Christmas' ever. Nothing can beat spending time with family. This year it was Awesome.

A Very Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Annalyn's first. She had a good time and I think she actually kind of got how the whole opening presents thing went.

All the kids coming down the stairs on Christmas morning.

Spencer and Sarah we knew were coming but Jessie's family came on Christmas Eve as a surprise for Susan. Gavin spent the night. Then all the Alexanders came over for breakfast and presents. It was fun to share the excitement. For breakfast we had stuffed french toast, potato casserole, eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice and milk. YUM!
Gavin divided up the presents for everyone. We even had Steve here.

Nicholas gave me the one of the best presents, his "Rocket". Silly sweet boy.

At school this year the boys had a Santa Shop where they bought presents for their family. They each went at different times but they all managed to pick the same present for Dad. A Superman key chain, so he has three.
Good times for all now on to the next house.

The Stockings Were Hung...

...By the fireplace of course ...After much yelling, I made myself horse...
But it was all worth the fun for the smiles on their faces...

And seeing all the stockings put in there places...
Now cookies for Santa and then off to bed...

To listen for reindeer and bells on his sled.

Christmas Ornaments

Aunt "D" came over yesterday to help us make our Christmas tree ornaments for this year. The boys were very excited. She is so creative and we sure love her. They were making gingerbread house and men.

Ava and Annalyn had fun playing while Jake (the dog) baby-sat.

They got to decorate the houses by themselves. What fun that was.
Annalyn wanted Marcus to share his chair. She getting big so quickly. She is going to be walking in no time.

The end results were very good! Very creative and individual. I especially like how we put they put the pictures on them.

Thank you so much Aunt "D" for the idea and for over seeing the execution. They are wonderful!