Let the Christmas Celebrations Begin

We kicked our Christmas celebrations into high gear by starting off with the traditional Christmas Eve dinner in a not so traditional way. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner on Christmas Eve's Eve. The boys were so excited to be treated to such a fancy feast.

After dinner we delivered some Christmas cookies to some friends. We then came home and watched the story of Christ's birth and sang some Christmas carol's by the tree. Then the boys got to open a very special present. I made each boy a photo book about them. They have been asking for a book like this for a long time. They LOVED their special books!

On Christmas Eve we packed up early and headed out to spend the day in the happiest place on earth. We had a blast! It was crowded, but when is Disneyland not crowded?

For dinner we got a special treat. Cafe Rio! The closest Cafe Rio to us is about a 2hr drive. We capitalized on one being so near by Disneyland. I think we may have created some new Christmas family traditions.

Happy birthday to the world's best dad!

Wishing the leading man in our lives a very happy birthday!

Our lives our blessed because you are in it.

What we love most about you.

- You are always up for fun.
- You are a practical jokester. Sometimes this gets on our nerves, but most of the time you are pretty  
  funny.
- You provide an excellent livelihood for our family.
- You honor your Priesthood.
- You love each and everyone of us.
- You are always up for an Adventure.
- We love playing nerf guns with you.
- Wrestling you out of bed is the highlight of the boys weekend.
- You make the best pancakes, waffles, chocolate chip, cookies, homemade rolls, and Muddy buddies.

We love you dad! Thanks for being you!

Practice Makes Perfect

One day Ash decided that he wanted to learn to skate and that is exactly what he did. He strapped on his skates and began practicing. Everyday after school Ash spends about a half hour outside practicing. He picked skating up all on his own after about two weeks. Now he is a pro. He is hoping for roller blades for his birthday.

I love this boy's determination. I am so proud of him for deciding he wanted to try something new and not giving up on it.

 Silly brothers! I love this duo.

I've got a two year old attitude!

Months before little B turned two his attitude started changing by becoming moody and stubborn. He has got a two year old attitude and he has it bad. Seriously, I don't remember my others being so stubborn. Luckily he still has some redeeming qualities and that I love him no matter what. I may just have to take a few more mommy moments and deep breathes to deal with him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE B. We sure love you around this house.

For your birthday daddy son date dad took you to Disneyland. Dad followed you around and let you choose where you wanted to go. You loved being in charge at Disneyland. Dad also let you pick out some toys you wanted to buy. Of course you got a glow in the dark Mickey and a glow in the dark gun. Your brothers were both very jealous. We had a Mickey themed bday party for your birthday. You loved all the balloons and your Mickey shaped cake. Your brothers liked the Mickey shaped rice krispie treats. You were thrilled with all of your presents, again your brothers were jealous.

At age two:

You love the big yellow dump truck. You push it around the tile floor as fast and as loud as you can. You only stop to add more items into the back of the truck.

You idealize your big brothers and have to do whatever they are doing. This both frustrates and amuses your brothers.

You love being outside playing. Whatever your big brothers are doing outside you are doing too.

You love family time and being the center of attention. You sure can be a loud kid.

You like wearing hats and gloves. 

Your favorites include: 

banana's, apples, avocado's, pancakes, and chicken nuggets.

The big yellow dump truck

Small cars that you can double fist

Reading with mom

Watching Mickey Mouse

Legos

What I love about you:

I love that you are so full of energy and life.

I love that you look up to your big brothers.

I love our mornings together where we ride bikes, exercise, play toys, watch Mickey, read books and take naps.

I love your big blue eyes.

Where did November go?

I can't believe how fast November has flown by. 

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we were too busy having fun that I forgot to take any pictures. My cousin Leslie and her fun family came up to celebrate with us. They came up Thanksgiving Eve and spent two nights with us. The boys loved, loved, loved having so many kids to play with. We played games, ate tons, and spent a lot of our time outside playing in the street. In the end we were all sad to see our cousins go. We loved having such fun company!

My first time cooking Thanksgiving was a success! We feed 16 people in all. I can't say I pulled Thanksgiving off as flawlessly as my mom does, but I can say that there were no food disasters. I can't believe how much work goes into making Thanksgiving dinner, mom makes it look so easy. Thank heavens I had Nate and Leslie to help pull it off.

The day after Thanksgiving our Christmas tree went up. The kids were thrilled. I love watching the magic of Christmas through my kids eyes. I look forward to the next month of creating new Christmas traditions with our boys.

Christmas 2012 at the Franci casa.

My little Halloweenies

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday and is even more fun now that I have kids. I love watching them decide on their Halloween costumes, seeing their anticipation grow as the BIG day approaches, and seeing them all dressed up.

 Ash as a zombie.

 Coach as a vampire.

 Little B as a sweet lion.

 I love the back side of the lion costume.

 This is what the boys looked like when they showed up on a porch. For all of those family members who missed out on my boys trick or treating this year.

Little B was so cute this year as he was totally into trick or treating. He knew if he showed up on someone's porch and say twick or tweat he would get a sweet reward. He was always kind enough to say tank tou after receiving his prize. Our plan was to take Little B to a few streets in the neighborhood and then he would stay home to hand out candy with me. When we got home to do the switch off he was upset and knew he was being cheated. My little man gave it his all and almost made it the whole evening of trick or treating, but in the end tiredness won out.

Saying Goodbye

We lost our dear sweet Cookie Grandma (Nate's Grandma) at the end of September. Cookie grandma loved her grand kids and great grand kiddies so much. We always loved to visit as she always had cookies and the best hugs for us. We are going to miss you dear sweet Cookie Grandma and are glad that we will be able to spend the eternities with you.

We headed out to Utah for the funeral. It was a beautiful funeral full of sweet stories and lots of love. Even though the circumstances were sad we were glad to be home in Utah with so many loved ones.

 Nate, his cousins, and grandpa.

 The cousins decided to recreate a family portrait that cookie grandma loved. Silly cousins.

 Three generations of Francis boys. Nate, his brothers, his dad, and grandpa.

 Four Generations of Francis boys. Our boys, Nate, his dad, and grandpa. So far Nate and I are the only ones carrying on the Francis name. Lol! I think we are doing an excellent job!

While in Utah we had to check out the beautiful fall colors with a hike.

 I love Utah in the fall!

 We also made a trip out to Gardner Village to check out the witches. So fun!

Best buddies! I love that these two get along so well.