Christmas Fun

We had a fun Christmas this year. We had no where to go on Christmas day, so we just hung around the house in our jammies all day! Ryan had Strep and thankfully Christmas morning was when the antibiotics finally kicked in. Nothing overly exciting happened that day so I'll just post a few pictures. We hope all of you enjoyed your Christmases and were able to spend time with your families.

Let it Snow!!

We had our first snowfall of the season and possibly our only. We got about a foot of snow (don't laugh you Utah folks, that's a lot for us). I wasn't planning on it snowing this much in Virginia, but I was wrong. I was at the store the other day and it was PACKED with people. Because I don't watch the news, I couldn't figure out why it was that way. So I asked someone and they said that it was going to snow (that was news to me). I remembered it was the same in every state we've lived in-North Carolina, Tennessee and now Virginia. Everyone runs out for milk, bread, and for some-beer (can't live without it!)

We had a great time in the snow even though none of my kids own snow pants. Aaron went to Walmart the day of the storm and said it was the best shopping experience at Walmart that he's ever had. Nobody was there! Although he thought he was an expert in driving in the snow, he got stuck trying to get up the hill in our neighborhood so some guys pushed him out and he had to park the car at the bottom of the hill. It's still there, but I just saw a snowplow drive by so maybe we can bring it back to the house. They have cancelled church for the day so we are just hanging out at home and the kids want to plan their own primary so they will be doing a sharing time for us (we shall see how that goes).

Here are some pictures of the kids in the snow. I have to say that the snow here is very icy and not the good powdery stuff you get in Utah, so it is harder to drive in (thus the panic of the locals) Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas week!

Carter's Birthday

Carter turned 2 yesterday and we had a great time for his birthday. I let him pick his "theme" for the party by having him pick a pack of character plates at walmart. He picked Mickey mouse and was soooo excited about it. We had a little party that Samantha planned; she even made tickets for everyone. We had dinner then opened presents and played duck duck goose and pin the tail on the donkey. Duck duck goose just turned into the kids all running around in circles every time goose was said. After that we had cake and ice cream. The cake turned out really good this year. I can't take total credit because I gave Aaron a picture of Mickey and he drew it with a tooth pick on the cake then I frosted it. It's a good thing Aaron has artistic talent because I don't have any!

We just love Carter and we're glad he's in the family.

Ryan made a "birthday cake castle" for Carter and it actually stayed up for quite a while. Usually it is knocked down by Carter much to Ryan's dismay.

Samantha also had her first piano recital. She did a wonderful job. Here she is playing a duet with her teacher (up on the housetop)

Halloween

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a great halloween and got tons of candy! We had a great time trick or treating and it was almost too hot for it. It was muggy and in the 70's, but I guess that's better than freezing cold. Carter was so sick of wearing the bee costume so I found this superman outfit in Ryan's old box of clothes and Carter was thrilled.

Here are the kids right before going out to trick or treat. I got crafty this year and made the trick or treat bags for Samantha and Ryan. I can do bags and pillows and that's about as far as I can go :)

My little Bee's

As many of you know, my children were all born in the winter so when it comes to hand me downs, they can share a lot. So in our family, the halloween before you turn two you are a bee. It's really because I'm to cheap to buy new costumes every year :). I wanted to share with you my little bee's throughout the years. It's amazing how your kids can look so much alike. This is proof that they are all from the same parents (no mailman here).

Can you recognize who is who?

I love Fall!

I think when it comes to fall, I live in the most beautiful place ever!! You may not agree and this picture does not do the colors justice, but this what I see everyday out my kitchen window! It is soooo pretty here. I wish I had a big professional camera (and knew how to use it) and could just take tons of pictures of my beautiful surroundings. I hope you are all enjoying your fall wherever it is. I'm sure it can't be as amazing as mine ;)

Apple Picking

Aaron's parents came out to Virginia to visit this past week. On Saturday we went to Ryan's soccer game (where ryan scored three of the five goals) then we went up to Carter mountain to the Apple festival and pick apples. It was so pretty up there and we had a great time. We ate lunch and apple doughnuts then picked and ate apples right off the tree. Aaron's dad bought an apple pie and apple cider that we had later that night. I also made an apple pie and froze it for Thanksgiving. The apples were great, but your stomach can only handle so many apples :)

Here is Grandma enjoying an apple doughnut and listening to the old country band playing in the background.

I wanted this picture to look like Samantha and Ryan were best pals, but they started bugging each other and this is what I got.

Carter would pick up apples from the ground and eat them...yum!

The forgotten post

In June Aaron and I went to NYC for our 10th anniversary. Our life was so crazy at the time that I never posted anything about the trip. Well, I'm not going to post a bunch of pictures, but I did want to show you just a few.

On the first day there, we went to time square and they had blocked off the road and put out lawn chairs for people to sit in. We decided to sit and take a breather and for me, to people watch (and you can really do a lot of that in NYC). So there I was taking in the gandeur of Time Square and I look over and see this...

Aaron is fast asleep in the middle of Time Square!! If you know Aaron it's almost believable, but come on! Time Suare!! So I took a few pictures of him to remember this moment and to prove that it really can happen. A nearby siren finally woke him up.

I think this sleepy gene comes from Aaron's dad! I swear some of those Stevenson's can fall asleep mid sentance! I always tell Aaron that the sound of my voice can put him to sleep, but he denies it. We were meant for each other. I can blah blah blah forever and he'll just sit and listen (or sleep). Don't you just love him!!

First day of school

The kids had a long summer! They were out of school in May and just started today. We had a fun summer, but we were all ready to get back into a school routine again. We were going to walk to school for the first day, but it was raining so I reluctantly put them on the bus and watched it drive away. It was sad for me :( Their school wants everyone to ride the bus and you can't walk your child to class on the first day. This was a change for me, but I survived. I've been to both of their classrooms with them before school started so at least it wasn't a mystery to me! The bus was late getting home, but it came and the kids were happy and had a great day. I told them to sit on the front of the bus because the back is where the big kids like to sit. I want my little kids to stay little as long as I can :). I'm not sure what they'd learn sitting back there with the older kids. By the way, I was right. Samantha said all the older kids sat back there.

Here are a few picture we took this morning.

I couldn't believe how quiet my house was and how much Carter wanted to play with me! It was nice to spend alone time with him and to finally have a kitchen that stayed clean until 4pm.

First lost tooth!

So more than likely this is not exciting news to any of you, but Ryan was just soooo excited. I believe it was for two reasons-1)he gets some money and he is always trying to find a way to get more money 2)he finally feels like he is in the same league as Samantha.

When he finally pulled his tooth out, he gave it to Samantha to hold and she wrapped it in a kleenex. I went to get the camera and by the time I returned they had lost the tooth. It was nowhere to be found, but I told Ryan that the tooth fairy still knows and he will still find something under his pillow in the morning.

With a lost tooth and starting Kindergarten next week, I'm realizing that my kids are growing up so fast!

Birthday girl

Yes, that birthday girl is me! I had a great birthday this year. The good thing about having your birthday over the weekend, is it actually lasts all weekend! Friday night we went to Cheesecake Factory and it was soooooo good and sooooo pricey for the entire family (but well worth it). Saturday I went shopping by myself to spend some money I got. It was so relaxing shopping by myself and being able to spend money that I didn't feel guilty about spending. Then we went to a soccer game (the Richmond Kickers). They are not MLS, but USL and still really fun to watch. I never really watched soccer until I married Aaron and now I quite enjoy it. Going to the soccer game wasn't really for my birthday, but they were having a great deal on the tickets and it was the last game of the season. Then on sunday we had Cake and it was deeee-lish! It was the same cake I made Aaron on his birthday, but our family just can't get enough of it! All in all it was a great birthday and I can't believe I've already turned 29 three times!

This was before the soccer game. I wanted to put it in because Ryan is actually smiling and not making a crazy face and Carter is smiling because he is riding a "Choo-Choo!"

Day trip to DC

Yesterday we took a trip up to Washington DC for the day. We parked and took the metro in to the Mall area. We went to the Air and Space museum where it was soooo crowded. It was a bit too crowded for my taste and it made it not quite as enjoyable as it has in the past. We saw the classic imax movie "To Fly". I've seen it three times, but I still enjoyed it. Then we went to the National Natural History museum. I think the kids liked that one more. They spent most of the time in the hands on Discovery Room. We ate at the Old Post Office then walked to the monuments. The kids were really troopers. We did a lot of walking and didn't get back to our house until almost midnight. I'm glad the kids got to see the national monuments because who knows when we'll ever go back

The kids were excited for their first ride on the subway (metro). It wasn't Aaron's first ride, but he was still excited!

Air and Space museum

Ryan getting to know a skeleton at the natural history museum

I love this picture of the kids dressed up in the Discovery room at the museum. Unfortunately the flash was reflecting off the mirror. My brother sucked all the photographic talent out of me.

The whitehouse (Obama wouldn't come out when we knocked on the door)

The boys being very respectful at the WW2 memorial.

Samantha giving her classic elementary school smile in from the Washington monument.

Lincoln memorial

Piano practice

Samantha just started taking piano lessons. The first time I asked her to practice I went downstairs and found this....

I guess the boys were feeling like they needed to be in on the "fun" of piano practice. For Samantha's sake, I removed the boys and let her be on her own.

A Contract!!

We finally got a contract on our house!!! We are very excited, but won't truly celebrate until closing day because anything could happen between now and then. We are supposed to close on the house mid Aug. so hopefully everything goes smoothly. When it's all said and done, we won't make anything on the house, but with this yucky market, we are happy with what we get. :o)

Happy birthday Aaron!

Aaron turned 33 on friday and I just wanted to remind all of you how great he is! We went out to dinner then came home for cake and ice cream. Each of the kids gave him a gift and he got a few things from me. We had a great time together as a family. Aaron is a wonderful husband and father. The kids think the world of him and get so excited when he comes home. Ok, I'll admit, I also get really excited to have him home from work and not just so he can help out. Aaron is very giving and will do anything for anyone. We all love him and I'm glad he was somehow convinced to marry me ten years ago! :)

The Big Move!

Well, we are finally here in Virginia and moved in! I feel like my life has been in a whirlwind the past few weeks. My parents came out to Tennessee to watch the kids while Aaron and I went to NYC for our 10th anniversary. We had a wonderful time, by the way (thanks mom and dad). Then we came home and had a week to pack and get out of there. My parents helped out soooo much and we are forever greatful. It was hard because between all the packing, we had to keep the house looking good just in case someone came to look at it. It was tough. Well, we finally got packed up and the day arrived to load the truck. We hired some guys to load the truck and they did a great job at using every square inch, but we still ran out of room! So after a lot of stressful debating about what to do, we decided to rent a small trailer and my dad would drive the car we were going to drag behind the truck with us to Virginia then he would fly home the next day to Utah. It was very last minute because my dad had a flight from Tennessee to Utah the day we left for Virginia, but thankfully he was willing to make the seven hour drive with us.

Another crazy thing - about two days after moving in, both of our computers crashed and we found out how much we actually use those things! We got the desktop fixed, but the laptop is a goner! We also got an offer on the house and we were very excited to get that out of the way, but it never went through. Arrrrggggg!! Now back to square one.

All in all, we love our new house! It's in a beautiful quiet area and the kids love all the trees and room to explore. We think we will have a fun year here and you all are more than welcome to visit!

Here are a bunch of moving pictures

Notice the Budget truck and Uhaul trailer!

Out with the old...

In with the new!