Christmas Chimes

Every Christmas Eve at my Grandma Genny's we play carols on pipe chimes. My Aunt Peggy made them years ago and we have been playing for as long as I can remember. Someone holds the chart with the words and numbers and everybody else gets a chime. When your number comes up you hit the chime with a nail. At the end of every song everyone bangs their chimes at the same time. It is crazy, noisy fun. Hayden and Ty are getting old enough that they can participate with very little help. This is my favorite tradition and it would be Christmas without it.

Buddy the Elf

Yep, it's Chad.

Hayden and the iPhone.

This picture is classic Hayden. Every time he sees Jana's friend Stephen he asks to play with his iPhone. Since he usually lets him, he is now one of Hayden's favorite people. Thanks, Homer.

Sledding

At the top of the hill in our backyard there is a dirt road. Just south of our house about 100 yards the road goes up another hill. It turns out to be an awesome place for sledding. Our old green sleds have about had it, but the boys had a great time anyway.

Snow Day

The boys were thrilled we finally got enough snow to really play in. We all dressed up in our snow clothes and enjoyed being outside.

The first snowman of the season, complete with sunflower arms and almond eyes.

What little kid can resist making a snow angel?

Downtown Lights

Every year we go downtown to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. For the past two seasons we have eaten dinner at the Garden Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It has a great view of the temple and the lights and we love the Fried Pickles. We have so many great traditions with both sides of our family that Chad and I wanted to create a special something that just the four of us do every year. This night out works perfectly. The boys were great at dinner. I have spent years working on their "mealtime manners" and they handled themselves like perfect little gentlemen. After dinner we headed down to look at the lights. Hayden was very excited about the lights. It is hard to get a lot of emotion out of him, so I was thrilled when he was oohing and aahhing over the decorations.


The view from the top. I have been having issues with my camera and these were taken with Chad's phone.

Dancing in one of the ballrooms in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Check out Ty in the background, I have no idea what he is doing.

Gingerbread Houses

It wouldn't be Christmas without the gingerbread houses. I think this is one of my very favorite Hauser traditions and I look forward to it every year. Thanks for hosting, Katie.

Our Thankful Tree

I borrowed this idea from my sister-in-law Katie. Two years ago while we were decorating gingerbread houses at her house, she had a thankful tree up in her kitchen. I had really good intentions to make a tree, but time got away from me. We ended up just sticking the leaves up on the fridge. At dinner we would each tell something we are thankful for. These are some of my favorites....

Tyson:
Going to Church
Cake
...that we went camping for a little while (the non-campfire in November)
Friends
Spongebob Go-Gurts
Cousin Grace
Space Mountain, The Matterhorn & Buzz Lightyear
Christmas
Mrs. Hawkins

Hayden:
Basketball
Ice cream
Football
Friends
Jesus
Rats
Fluffy (his rat)
School
Cousins
Mom and Dad
Dogs

Chad:
Hugs from my boys
Freedom
Modern Medicine (he wouldn't have a family without it)
The second amendment
Fly fishing
Modern Conveniences ( the day of the campfire)
Mexican Coke (Jana always brings him one from Kohlers)
A loving wife

Emily:
Being home while my boys are young
Eyes
The Mazda keeps running
My family
Target
A comfortable home
S'mores
Airplanes

This is definitely something I will do again next Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. Chad and I both love our individual family dinners so much we can't imagine skipping either one, so every year we go to two meals. We have a big lunch at my Grandma Genny's house around noon. Then we head to Chad's moms for dinner. It is great that we are able to make it to both meals and see so many people we care about.

Every year since I was a child we have done an activity after dinner at my Grandma's. We used to go to a movie, but over time it has changed to bowling. Chad and I have not always been able to go to the activity, but we have made an extra effort the last few years to go. My boys really like bowling. Hayden really gets into it.


My Aunt Peggy has started another special tradition. Every year we write what we are thankful for on a big table runner. It's fun to look back at what we have written in the past.

The Deer are Back

YAY!!! The deer are back on the hill behind our house!

Go Jazz!!!

We are big Jazz fans these days, so it was a HUGE treat for us when my dad gave us second row tickets to a Jazz game. We went with my parents, Jace, Laura and NO little boys. It was awesome to have a night to ourselves doing something we both love.

Tyson the Wrestler

Tyson is really getting into his wrestling. He loves his gear and practices. He even earned his first medal in a tounament last weekend.

What Was I Thinking

Last week we had very uncharacteristic weather for this time of year, so I decided that it would be a good day for one last campfire. It only takes us ten minutes to get to our favorite picnic spot up American Fork canyon, so Chad agreed and off we went. We left at 4:45 and went to Kholers for supplies. We realized that we didn't have any hangers for roasting while we were at the store, so we stopped at home to pick them up. We made it to our spot at 5:30 and it was already dark.

We piled out of the car and started to get set up. We didn't have a flashlight with us so that made it even more interesting. There was crusty white ice all over the table and benches. I pulled the boys booster seats out of the car and they sat on those, bundled up in a blanket and watched Chad work on the fire. We got the fire started for a few minutes, but then the tee pee tipped over and smothered the flames. He was setting up the next attempt when he noticed the fire pit was soaking wet. He put a box in the bottom, but the second attempt at a fire fizzled out as well. Chad is really good at starting fires, and it was odd that it didn't work that night.

After about half an hour we gave up and went home. We grilled the Nathan's hot dogs and had microwaved s'mores. Not quite the same, but hey, we have a new memory.

Jack O' Lanterns

This year Ty and Hayden both chose very small pumpkins to carve. They told me they wanted to carry them all over the house, but then they sat on the piano for most of October. The boys designed the faces for their pumpkins and they turned out really cute. Chad took them out trick-or-treating and they ended up with way too much candy (they probably wouldn't agree with me). Grammy came by for a visit wearing a really great cave woman costume. Grampy and Lynn also stopped by to see the boys in their costumes. I think the vampire and race car driver enjoyed themselves.

Halloween Parties

For the last few years my mom has been doing a family Halloween party. She goes all out and decorates the house. She comes up with fun Halloween food, like guts and eyeballs (meatballs with olive eyeballs and spaghetti) little trees with infested puss (broccoli and melted cheese sauce) and a fun drink. This year was green witches brew. Last year we had dragon snot to drink. My boys love Halloween and Grandma B's party is always lots of fun. After dinner we had a big FHE. Chad prepared a nice lesson on baptism and even bore his testimony. He asked Hayden a bunch of questions, which he answered with a little whispered help from my mom. Hayden is making his scary face in this picture.

The boys got dresses up for the ward chili cook-off and Halloween party. I thought these pictures were really fun. Hayden was hamming it up for the camera. I love the running football pose.

Fishing at Tibble Fork

We took the boys fishing at Tibble Fork Reservoir a few Saturdays ago. It is up American Fork canyon, so it only took about ten minutes to get there. Hayden had fun casting over and over into the lake. After a few tries he sort of got the hang of it, and stopped almost catching himself. We were using live worms as bait and the boys got a kick out of playing with them. They named them all wormy. That kept them busy for quite a while. We didn't catch any fish, but we still had fun. It's nice that we are so close to the canyon. Our house is kind of far away from the city, but being so close to the mountains makes it worth it.

Go BYU

On Saturday Chad took Ty to his first BYU game. He had taken Hayden earlier in the season and Ty was excited to get his turn. Chad switched seats so they could sit by his friend Gordon and his son, Ty's good friend, Landon. When I asked Ty what his favorite part of the game was he told me it was driving to it and eating hot dogs and licorice.

Turkey, Tycoons and Throwdown

We have had a week of firsts. On Sunday I roasted my first turkey! I cut my finger on a bone inside the bird, but other than that it was pretty painless. I realized I was out of tinfoil to cover it and we were running out the door to get church, so I put it in the oven uncovered. Despite being uncovered, it came out nice and golden brown and most of the meat was moist. Not bad for a first try. I think I am going to try pie crust from scratch next.

We also played our first game of Monopoly as a family. It's one of my favorite games and I was curious to see how my little family would like it. It didn't go over too well. Hayden is a very competitive little boy and he had a hard time with parts of the game. He had numerous meltdowns along the way, complete with tears, screaming and stomping out of the room. Eventually we started charging him one dollar for every fit. Tyson did pretty good overall, his only real outburst was when we started trading properties. He doesn't like change and this really upset him. Ty did go on to win the game, with many tears from Hayden. Hopefully I can get Chad to play with us again...I enjoyed myself.

Tyson started wrestling this week. He has practice on Tuesday and Thursday for ninety minutes each day. On Tuesday we go to a place called Throwdown in Orem. I think it is an ultimate fighting training club. There was some pretty intense stuff going on nearby where Ty was practicing. I think he is really going to like it. He gets to use his "mean" face without being reprimanded.

Oakley

I took this picture from my car window on the road up to the cabin. The light was amazing. It made the sky look even gloomier and the autumn leaves glow.
While the men were out contemplating which trees are going to need to be cut down soon, Ty found these sticks. He stuck them on his head and called them his horns. There have been three or four big bucks living under the deck of the cabin this summer, and the branches do look a lot like their big antlers.

Chad will never let an opportunity pass to use power tools.

I am strangely attached to this little general store in Oakley. It's the last place to stop and get supplies on the way to the cabin. It's small and crowded inside, but I absolutely love it. It's one of the few places that hasn't changed since I was a child. Before cell phones people would stop at Kens Kash and use the pay phone to call the cabin and have someone meet them at the gate. When I do start painting again, this will be one of the first things I paint. Complete with a white pick-up truck and a red suburban in the parking lot.

Small and Simple Things

Now that both my boys are in school, I have every afternoon to myself. My only commitment is volunteering at the boys school for three hours one day a week. I am trying to make the most of this time so I am trying some new stuff. I am teaching myself to bake artisan bread, like they have in the fancy bakeries. My first attempt took two days and turned out edible, but kind of small. I am going to get some better quality flour and try again tomorrow. We also tried to grow our own pumpkins. A few months ago Ty and I went to the nursery and bought seeds. We planted in ten different spots and had five plants grow. On those plants we have two pumpkins, that are currently the size of golf balls. Maybe they will turn orange by Halloween, but I doubt it. It's been fun watching them every day hoping for them to grow.


My first loaf of home made bread

Our cute baby pumpkins

Soccer in the Rain

Hayden's last soccer game was played in the rain. There was no thunder or lightning, so they let the kids play. Only half of our team showed up, so Hayden got to play the whole game. He had a blast! It was pretty miserable weather, but he enjoys playing so much he had a smile on his face most of the time. We came home and had hot chocolate. That makes a pretty great morning for him.

Timpanogos Cove Park

Timpanogus Cove Park is favorite of my boys. It is set right against the mountain and has a great view of the valley. Now that they are older the ordinary playgrounds are a little tame for them. The play structure is three levels tall and shaped like a rocket ship (sometimes it's a treehouse). Tyson can keep himself busy for hours climbing and sliding. Hayden's favorite thing is to play catch with the football - he throws a better spiral than me.

The Ratigans

In July Hayden finally broke us down enough to get his first pet, a rat. He used his birthday money to buy all the supplies and his rat. They are surprisingly fun pets. I find myself pulling them out of the cage when the boys are at school. They have distinct little personalities. Sue (right) is a wild child, she is constantly moving and trying to escape from your hands. Fluffy (left) is very calm and mellow, she will sit still and let you pet her. This may be because she has been traumatized. Hayden is not always very gentle with his special little rat. He carries her on his chest, with all four paws hanging on for dear life. She also spins in circles, bounces and rides on his head. Hayden is known for putting her down and walking away. One time I was putting my bedspread into the washing machine and felt it move slightly. He had put Fluffy down on my bed and forgotten about her. I am so glad I saw her. Can you imagine telling your child you washed their pet? One thing is for sure, they are good entertainment.

Our First Trailer

For years we have been spending time at a campground just below Deer Creek Damn. Chad's dad has a spot, Cori has had a spot in the past and Brent and Cindy have a great river spot where we have campfires and make s'mores. It has been a gathering place for Chad's family for quite a while. The boys love to play in the river and at the playground. It's a great place for Chad to fish, he can fish for a couple hours then come and hang out with us. For years we have wanted our own spot, but we didn't want to finance a trailer...so we waited. Earlier this summer Chad's uncle offered us a great deal on his trailer. The first time I saw it my heart sunk. It is only fifteen feet long and was built in 1971. I was pleasantly surprised when we went inside. It has charm, character and a great layout with enough room for my little family. We are planning on redoing the interior early next spring. I am going to paint the walls and ceiling pale yellow and the cabinets white. We'll put up new red curtains and make new red couch cushions. We will redo the floor, counter top, electrical and gas lines. I am hoping it turns out as cute as I am imagining.

Tyson's Diagnosis

Wow... we have had quite a day. I am writing this post from Primary Children's Medical Center, where we will be spending the next few days. This morning Tyson was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and he has been admitted to the hospital to get his blood sugar levels straightened out, and find the proper insulin doses. Chad and I are going to be taking a lot of little classes so we are able to fully understand the diabetes and to help Tyson take his blood sugar levels and give him his insulin shots. He is having a very hard time with the finger pricks and the shots. He doesn't fully understand what is happening to him and he sobs every time they have to take blood. It is very hard to watch your five year old go through that, knowing that it will happen many more times. I am grateful that I have such a caring, supportive family. We appreciate all the visitors who have come to see Ty. He is going to be OK.

Artists

We did a fun art project a few days ago. The boys learned a little about the artist Jackson Pollock and his messy style of painting. They put on their old pajamas and headed into the back yard to paint. Hayden used the paintbrush to flick and splatter paint all over his paper. Tyson took the little jars of paint and dribbled and glopped them on his paper. It was a lot of fun for the boys to get messy and get paint all over the place (the rocks, the grass, themselves, the house). Their paintings turned out so great I framed them and they are hanging in our kitchen.

Timpanogos Cave

We celebrated the the beginning of summer with a hike to Timpanogos Cave.

The boys climbing


The entrance to the cave


A pool in the cave

Hayden and Ty did really well on the hike up, and loved the cave. I think they liked the ice cream from the snack bar even more.