Brinton's school had a family party last week.  The kids decorated cookies, made reindeer from candy canes, made bracelets with jingle bells on them, visited with Santa (and got a sucker), and sang the parents a few Christmas songs. 

It was super crowded because they had all the different classes partying at the same time.  Brinton and Zander had a lot of fun with the crafts.  Brinton wanted to see Santa because he really wanted a sucker, so we waited in line.  It actually moved faster than I expected, so it wasn't too bad.  The crappy part was when all the kids were singing.  They really just had all of the kids gather in one big area, all on the same level and the parents crowded around that to try to see.  My Mom came to see Brinton and she and Steve couldn't even see him from where they were.  I luckily got to a place where I could see him (and he could see me), but I was sad that I didn't have the camera with me.  I'm glad we went, but if they do an end of the year production of some sort, I think I'll have to give them some suggestions on how to make that better :)

Brinton got his first official school pictures this year through his preschool.  They took a little field trip on picture day to an elementary school so they could have them done by the school photographer.

I think he's such a cute little thing and I am happy with how they turned out.  He can name all of the kids in his class and he will tell you that he plays with all of them :)

Getting our Christmas tree every year is a pretty big ordeal.  The first weekend in November, we have to get the tree permits so we can cut down our tree for that year.  They only sell a certain number of permits and you have to go early to get one.  This year, my Dad booked us rooms at Zermatt during the tree permit weekend.  Our family stayed in one room and my parents stayed in the room next to us.  It was really nice because we left a door open between the two rooms and all hung out together. 

Of course there was swimming in the pool, which was really nice because it was freezing and we hadn't been swimming for a long time.  The boys had a lot of fun.  Conley and I mostly sat in the hot tub because the big pool temperature was a little chilly for him.  Brinton and Zander were like little fish, as always and had so much fun.  We typically go the Saturday after Thanksgiving to cut down the trees.  Often, Steve just goes with some of the other guys and I stay home with the kids, but we decided to all go this year and I would play in the snow with the kids while the boys found and brought back the trees.  It ended up just being Steve and my Dad to get their trees on this visit.  We have really decided that if we are going to continue this, we need to go in a bigger group.  For some reason, the main mountain roads weren't plowed this year and there was at least 18 inches of snow on them.  We had a hard time deciding even where to go, but ended up following a group of four heavy duty trucks up a particular trail.  Everyone had to stop about a mile in because there was another truck and trailer completely stuck.  We ended up pulling out of the main tire tracks and thought it would be best to just hike a little from that point to get the trees because there was no where good to go this year.  There was too much snow and the roads were treacherous.  We unhooked the trailer we had and decided to manually turn it around so we didn't have to try to turn around with it attached after we got the trees.  That was when my Dad slipped and hurt his back.  Luckily he's okay, but it was scary for me.  He and Steve ended up going to get the trees after that happened and I knew he shouldn't even be going up a hill in the snow, let alone dragging a tree back with him.  The spot we stopped at was pretty flat, so the kids couldn't sled or anything. 

We made some hot chocolate and hung out in the car . . . for a long, long time.  I can't believe how good they were for so long.  I didn't even unbuckle Conley from his car seat the whole time and he was still happy and fine.  It would have been completely unbearable if the kids were all upset while we were waiting in the car, but I feel really blessed that it worked out.  Anyway, they didn't end up dying or anything and returned with two beautiful trees.  While they were gone, the four heavy duty trucks had helped pull two other trucks out of the snow and decided to leave (probably because they would just end up helping people all day).  Two of them turned around and two couldn't, so they drove in reverse the entire way back to the main highway.  Once Steve and my Dad got back, we got the trees into the trailer, Steve turned our car around like a pro (I am sure I would have gotten us stuck), we hitched up the trailer, and got the heck off that crappy road.  I had promised the kids that we would go sledding once their Dad got back, so we pulled over on the road and found a hill.  It didn't work too good, so they only rode the sled down once.  No worries though, they played and played in the snow like kids can only do.  We returned home safely and trimmed our tree so it would fit in our house.  Brinton really wanted to help cut it and after sawing off a tiny branch, he was satisfied.  It took me a while to find the time to decorate.  Mainly because I spend about six hours just doing the lights. 

In case you are wondering, there are 3,670 lights on my 7'3" tree this year.  It was so full and beautiful.  And although I tried to skip some branches, Steve had to pick up more lights at the store this year.  I tripped the breaker at one point because we were watching a movie with the surround sound and then I started vacuuming (with the tree lights on).  Steve said if we ever build a house, I'll have to have a dedicated outlet just for my Christmas tree.  I know, that's kind of lame.  But, our tree looks great and lights up the room on it's own.

In October, we got family pictures.  My sister-in-law, Jess took them again and she always does an amazing job.  It took a little while to get them back because of some formatting problems, but they were worth the wait!  Be sure to click on the collage so you can see them bigger. 

These are my favorites.  I have to say that Zander was hilarious.  I was so worried that he was just not going to cooperate and I would be chasing him around the whole time.  Because Brinton is so obedient, Zander stayed right by him.  When it was Zander's turn to get some individuals, we would say, "Look at Jess."  He would immediately close his eyes and laugh because he knew he was being naughty.  It was so cute and we were laughing the whole time (which only made him do it more).  We got some great shots of him in a variety of faces.  Conley was having a hard time in his puff vest and was leaning over almost immediately after putting him down, so we didn't spend a lot of time on him.  However, I love the one we did get.  Taking pictures is so stressful for everyone involved, but I am so glad we get a family picture every year and I know I will be even more grateful for doing 20 years from now.  Thanks again, Jess!

On November 21st, Conley turned one!  I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone by.  For his birthday, Grandpa and Nana Bishop came over to celebrate. 

He was looking at the cake and then at us and he had this grossed out look on his face.  Oh, and for the life of me, I couldn't get him to smile for a picture.  He didn't care about me or Steve, no matter what we tried.  Luckily, Grandpa Bishop was there to save the day.  Conley would laugh and laugh at him.  I think pictures of him happy and looking to the side are better than just pictures of him looking into the camera like he's bored.  I had to help him dig in to his cake a little and by the end, he was good and messy.  We have so much fun with Conley and are so glad to have him in our family!!!