Lately...

Visitors
Over the last couple months we have had a few visitors.  It has been really great.  This term has been killer for Kurt.  He litterally has to study all day every day.  So...needless to say, visitors are very nice for me and the boys. 
First, Kurt's sister Lisa and their family came and spend my birthday with us.  We had so much fun.  The boys sure enjoyed having the cousins around to play with.  Thanks for making my birthday so fun.  It wouldn't have been the same without you.

Last week, my sister and her family came to Arizona for their yearly family reunion.  They were able to stay with us, which was so fun.  They were nice enough to let us tag along on some of their family activities.  Thanks for the great time.

The day my sister's family left, my parents came to stay for a bit.  My dad stayed for the weekend, and my mom was able to stay for a few days longer.  It was so nice to have the company.  We just wish we had taken more pictures.

Thanksgiving
Given that I am very behind on my blogging, I will just do a quick update about the holidays.  For Thanksgiving we drove to New Mexico to visit my sisters.  My parents and brother were able to be there too.  It was great to see everyone.  Sadly we forgot our camera for most of the activities. 
My parents were so nice and paid to have someone take pictures of our family.  It has been quite a while since we have had one with everyone in it.  Here are a few...Sorry they are difficult to see.  For some reason they downloaded very blurry. Clicking on them brings them up much clearer.

Over the Thanksgiving break, we also did a few things just the four of us.  We went to the zoo.  Colby always loves seeing the animals.  This time we decided to let him ride the camel.  He was pretty scared at first but after a minute he really started to like it.  Of course by then it was time to get off.
We had such a great time over the break.  We always hate to see Kurt go back to school after all of the fun.

Colby loves his dad.  I am constantly finding him doing exactly what daddy is doing.

Pre-Christmas Activities
We Started out the Christmas season by decorating the tree.  Colby had a great time helping this year. 

Colby is completely obsessed with trains right now.  So, we decided to take him to the train park.  Every year around Christmas they have the train travel through a land of Christmas lights and lit up characters.  The first time we went with the Bushmans.  The line was an hour and a half wait, so we decided to skip the train and see Santa instead.  The boys were so tired by the end of the night but we all had a great time.
After Christmas we decided to try the train park again.  This time it was an hour wait, so we decided to stick it out.  Colby loved it.  Well worth the wait.

We couldn't quite get both boys in the picture at the same time.

Colby waiting for the train to come.

Finally on the train!

New Years Eve
For New Years Eve we got together with some of our friends and did fireworks in the cul-de-sac.  Colby was very cautious.  He kept his distance by watching from the driveway.  Once again, Kurt and I ended up calling it a night at about 10:30.  What can I say...we are party animals.

Christmas

This year for Christmas we were able to go to Utah and visit family.  Colby couldn't wait to get on that airplane.  I made the mistake of saying we were going on an airplane a week before we left.  He didn't stop talking about it for the entire week.  The funny part is that a couple minutes after taking off he fell asleep for the entire flight.  He missed the whole thing.

There wasn't any snow while we were there, so it was plenty warm for Kurt to go dirt biking (if a 30 degree high is plenty warm).  He had a great time at the dunes with his dad and brother Tony.
During our visit we went to see the lights at Temple Square.  The lights were beautiful but we froze to death.  Our bodies are a bit too used to the Arizona heat. We only made it a half hour.

We stayed with Kurt's parents this year.  Being in a different house made Colby a little nervous when he would wake up in the morning, so we reluctantly let him hang out in bed with us each morning.  One morning Colby came in to hang out and fell asleep next to Kurt.  I went upstairs to feed Cameron his breakfast.  About an hour later I went downstairs to check on them.  Kurt was sound asleep and Colby was jumping over him on the bed.  Not only had Colby been jumping on the bed but he had gotten into the diaper bag and busted open a bag of crackers.  Helping himself to them in the bed.  Poor Kurt.  I don't even think he knew what was happening.  The late nights studying have made him very difficult to wake up in the mornings. 

Colby had a great time playing with his brother and cousins.  We only wish we had remembered to take more pictures.   

Unfortunately, shortly after returning home from our Christmas vacation, Cameron caught a nasty bug.  It lasted about 10 days.  It was the worst!  He couldn't keep anything down the entire time.  He averaged 2-3 baths per day and we did a couple loads of laundry a day as well.  Poor guy...and of course poor us. This is what he looked like most of the week...

Just hoping we didn't pass it to anyone else. 

Learning At A Young Age

One of the boys' favorite things to do with daddy.  No matter how sad they get, a little song from daddy makes it all better.  He even lets them play along.

After hearing loud music and Cameron laughing, I went back into our bedroom to find Cameron helping Kurt play the guitar.  He wouldn't let go.
(Is it just me or does Cameron in this picture look identical to the old baby picture of Colby directly to the right.  The one of him leaning against the pillow.  Never noticed just how similar they look.)

Halloween

This year Halloween was especially fun.  Being a little older, Colby enjoyed it much more this time around.  I had the hardest time figuring out what to dress Colby up as this year...until I ran into the perfect thing while shopping at Walmart.  They had the cutest little motocross outfit.  When I brought it home to show Kurt, he was so excited.  Being the dirt bike fanatic he is, I knew he would like it, but I had no clue he would be so happy.  He was so proud of his little boy when we dressed him in it.
Kurt and I have never really been great about dressing up for Halloween.  This year, last minute, we decided to dress up for a friends party.  We didn't have anything prepared, so we pulled out all of Kurt's motorcycling gear and dressed up the whole family.  I looked rediculous.  The clothes were so enormous!  Of course we didn't have anything small enough for Cameron, so he went as our pet dragon.  What a crazy looking family.

Colby looking at all of his candy.  He was in shock.

Poor Cameron.  The only baby costumes they make are so warm.  He was probably sweating to death in the Arizona heat.

Halloween was also fun because my parents were able to come visit.  We had a great time.  They took us to the zoo one of the days they were in town.  Colby had so much fun.  He loves animals, however, we found out he likes them better from a distance.  We tried to get him to feed the giraffe, but he didn't seem very interested.  He liked watching me feed them, but was too affraid to do it himself.  I don't blame him. It was a pretty weird experience.  Their tongues are so long. 

 
While my parents were here we also went to the park to feed the ducks.  Apparently there is a huge fine for feeding the ducks.  Oops!  We didn't see the sign until we were leaving.  Those ducks are pretty vicious.  They follow you around begging for food.  I guess we weren't the first to feed them.  We had such a great time with my parents and are glad they were able to come visit.