Turkey Day

Lilli made it for Thanksgiving!! I love having all my kids under the same roof!  And you can tell by the sleeping arrangement that I'm not the only one that has missed her.

I love that my family gets together for holidays.  It give the grandkids cousin time.

9 of the grandkids were able to make it for dinner.

Grit got some time with Uncle Matt.

Boone is just like my sister, DJ.  He sleeps with his eyes open.

I love that they just pile on top of each other all the time.

And pretend to be sleeping to avoid pictures.

Ice Cream Reward

My boys have been hard to potty train.  Well, I should rephrase that.  It's hard to get them to go #2 in the toilet.  They are great at going pee, anywhere, not just in the toilet.  Sometimes it's a bad thing.

Boone FINALLY earned enough stickers to complete his potty chart and earn a ice cream cone.  My goal was to get him completely trained before he became a sunbeam.  We did it!

Mouse Killer

We caught a mouse in the pantry.  I really wanted it gone.  Brandon was in a hurry trying to get on the road to Elk Camp.  

Then the greatest thing happened.  Brandon stopped, grabbed Lilli's BB Gun, and told Boone to meet him outside.  It's the simple things that make little boys happy. Boone was super excited to shoot a mouse. It doesn't matter that it was already dead on the sticky pad. To him, he shot and killed it all by himself! And that's all that matters.

To me, all that matters is that my husband took 5 minutes out of his busy schedule to bond with our son and make memories.  And to get the nasty mouse out of the house!

Fright Night

Duke found a cat skull outside.

Such a perfect find on halloween!

For costumes, Duke was willing to wear his Army guy suit again. He kept saying he already wore it for preschool so he needed a new costume, but in the end, he put it on.

Hoss is getting to the stage where dressing up is a bore.  So we convinced him that being a farmer wouldn't be so bad.  He humored us and went with it, not sure how much longer he will.

Grit, our cute little tiger.

And Boone, the football player.

Then we got a big surprise when we received this picture of Lilli dressed up. Makes my heart happy!

Boone turns 3

I tried a little extra this time for Boone's birthday.  I hung streamers on his door and then hung balloons above his bed for a morning surprise.  I snuck in right as he was waking up and got this cute reaction, all without him seeing me.

It was also the pumpkin patch field trip day, so he felt like we picked pumpkins for his birthday.  It was perfect.

He really was happy in this picture.  They got to attend the weekly cow sale with Grandpa Johnson.

Then it was time to open presents.

And eat his requested dinner of pizza.

Blow out candles.

And take the yearly growth measurements.  He's hated this since he was one.  Maybe one day I'll get a smile from him.

Silage Fun

Brandon is fully engaged in silage season.  We decided we wanted to see him, so we headed to the pit.  The boys loved running up and down the pit.  Grit really wanted to join him, but, he's still a bit small.

The Work Norm

I always laugh when Brandon sends me pictures of the boys at work with him. The first picture is always a super excited boy holding whatever snack dad spoiled them with for the day. Then, I kid you not, 5 minutes later I ALWAYS get a picture of the same child sleeping. Life is rough when you drive harvest truck with dad.

Worker Bees

I am so proud of these boys!  They worked their tails off getting our corn in the freezer. They all chipped in to help, never asked how much longer, or to go play somewhere else.  They stayed until the job was done, with smiles on their faces!

 Even this one.  He was on Tess duty.

Kiddie Pulls

Brandon took the boys to the Malheur County Fair to watch the tractor pull competitions.  During intermission, they let all the kids come down to the arena for a little fun!  Boone couldn't really touch the peddles.

Duke was fast!

And Hoss was a bit too big.  Reminds me of the story of the three little bears.

They each got a goodie bag and certificate, highlight of their day!

SchulSon Annual Adventure

We love the annual Schuthies/Johnson family 4 wheeler adventure!

I'm always amazed at the beautiful places they visit.

The scenery is always gorgeous.

I love these boys of mine!

Boone is loving being able to be big enough to go with the big boys.  He thinks he's pretty tough stuff.

Lunch on the trailer.  Easy peasy.

Family Visit

Also over the 4th of July Holiday we were able to hang out with lots of family.  Shane & Katie blessed Tommy here in Vale so it brought all of Brandon's family together.  We all enjoyed the Lumberjack competition together.

Grit and Tommy are 4.5 months apart.  At their age right now, it seems like a huge difference, but soon, you won't be able to tell who is older. 

I went outside to grab some food from the freezer and came inside to catch all these cuties snuggled in dad's chair together.

Tommy looked adorable on his blessing day.  They wanted to invite everyone back to our home after the blessing for a little lunch.  Katie was busy in the kitchen, so I begged to help her.  Grit's blessing day is still all too fresh in my mind and I didn't want Tommy's to be anything like ours.  So I made her put me to work.  Hopefully they have better memories.

They gathered all the Great Grandkids that were present of Brandon's maternal Grandma for a picture.  

They also got a 4 generation picture.  Brandon's Grandma, Mom, siblings, and their kids.

Stick Horse Race

We decided to sign up the boys for the stick horse races. Last night Sexy Farmer pulled the boys together so they could practice their "ride".  

Once we got to the park, Boone decided he didn't want to race after all.  The boys did well!  There was only a handful of participants so they really didn't even have to have a high score.  Hoss was the only one in his age division and there was only 1 other in Duke's group.  So they each won prizes.

We had them pose with their horses.  Hoss used the same horse that he used a few years ago.  Duke wanted his gold, so he was pretty happy when dad found a rattle can of that exact color hidden deep in the shop!

Hoss even got his picture in the newspaper.  I'm glad he was smiling. 

Father & Sons

Ah the Father & Son's campout!  One of my favorite times of the year.  I'm so grateful that Brandon is dedicated to taking the boys on this adventure.  Not many from our Ward attend this Stake activity so I'm happy that Brandon sees it's importance.

Look how excited Boone is to be hauling his own sleeping bag!

 They made their way to the river and played with friends.

 And you can't go to Camp Hycliff without enjoying the waterslide.

 Hoss took a ride on Diesel's back.

 Boone found content on the swing.