Its a Boy!

So sorry this is late! We found out in the Land of Milk and Honey that the baby is a boy on December 20th and since were away and visiting family we did very little other than an occasional updating on facebook. So sorry this has taken me a bit but we are home and getting back into life and ready to get ready for the our new little boy!
Yes, I will be a busy teenage mom if my boys carry on the family sporting spirit! We are just thrilled he is healthy and so exciting that it is another boy!
We drew out the winning name and the winner is Jen. Jen if you could e-mail your new address...I think I might have it but if you could double check me I then can get your guess gift off to you!
There were only two people in the drawing for the boy, sorry to through you off but my husband was so shocked it wasn't a girl. We are 100% sure that is it is a boy, so now for a name! What fun we have a head of us as we plan and prepare for our little one!
We will post pics of our bundle soon, I need to get further unpacked and organized then I can get it done!

Lets Have a Little Fun!

I have been looking for fun widgets to place on the blog so everyone can vote but I thought it would also be fun to see what you all have to say since a poll just shows results and not who thought what. I am having my ultra-sound on December 20th. Since this is our 3rd baby and we have had already two boys there is great speculation as to whether it is boy or girl. So I have decided to have fun with this and see what you all think and why. So lets make this into a contest...prize I have yet to decide but if any of you followed my recipe blog we gave some good ones. So here is what you do..

1.Guess the sex of your choice and state why you chose that sex. Then we want to hear some of your favorite names of that gender. So leave gender, why and name and post it.

When we find out we will put all those that named the right gender names in a hat and draw a winner.

All guesses must be made before midnight on December 19th!

Shutterfly Awesome Deals!

Friends this is a must check out! Each year I try to do thoughtful, keepsake presents for my family. Shutterfly is the best and only place I shop and trust with such momentous gifts! Here is a sneak peak at my Christmas Card...Guess what?? I got 50% off my cards AND FREE shipping! You must stop using other places and check this out!

Oh Holy Night Religious Christmas Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Birthday Mr. C

3 is such a fun age! Mr. C was so cute at his birthday this year. We let him pick his birthday dinner and he chose McDonald's hamburger. He loves hamburgers but it was quite a surprise it was selected over Pizza Hut. We all had the Micky D's delight, except for a picky brother that just had fries and mini corn dog bites. It was great to have a party with cousins, the kids made it more exciting! He had a two day extravaganza due to the Thanksgiving holiday and travel plans. In the end he felt so special and loved and that is all a parent can hope for. My favorite birthday memory was his heartfelt thank yous, we are still getting them! He has thanked us for everything from the hamburgers to his cousins to his bike to his star wars guys to his horsie barn and horses and even setting up his toys. He has been so sweet about it! I also loved when he opened presents he would exclaim very loudly..."AWESOME!!" He loved everything, he was so cute! Enjoy the pictures!

So happy with his Micky D's Burger!

Everyone liked their Micky D's!

Uncle Jake looks like he wants me to stop the picture taking so he can really eat! ;)

While we were finishing up he sneaked over to the couch and peaked into the bag...present opening immediately began he was ready!

He wanted to play with everything as he opened it!

Love his hat but he doesn't!

Opening more presents!

The Captain Rex helmet!

Now the presents were open and on to the Captain Rex cake....notice it had to be just like brother's! Except this time I made it much smaller!

Brother was proud of the cake too!

After we got home we got him his bike out, he was thrilled!
A big boy bike just like brothers!

The handle bar makes reved up noises like a motor bike...he loved it!

The horsie barn Pop and Gran bought was a bugger to set up but worth it,
it is soooo cute, loves it and so do his horses!

Simply Irresistible!

It is that time of the year, family picture time and since my belly is in full pregnancy mode I refuse to take pictures of me so this year for the Christmas card I decided to do one of the cutest boys on earth! I just love my boys and they are so fun to see pictures of. These pictures really capture their cute personalities! It was a fun but cold photo shoot with some great results on my favorite spot on our walking trail. Of course I saved back my personal favorite for the Christmas card, so you will have to wait for that one. Enjoy these though because I think they are simply irresistible!

This is 100% my boys, dressed in their dress clothes but still cowboys at heart! Love the windmill in the background...a common sight in fields here.

Carson kept saying "CHEEZZZEE"!

A guy and two dogs came up which provided the perfect opportunity to take a profile shot.

We were trying to coach Carson to tilt his head toward Jayson's. Carson has always never been a follower, always!

Jayson loves pictures! So handsome- even if I do say so myself!

This was not planned but turned out cute!

Love this one!

This is his fake smile and I love it!

My Little Patriot

It has pleased me so much that my Gap Cowboy has always had a respect and love for this country and our service men and woman. He loves to ask me to talk of my Grandpa, my uncle and my husband's dad who have all served in various capacities of the Armed Forces. He has always by heart been a patriot with reverence and respect for our flag. This has has been a relief and joy knowing he gets it and at such an early age. Already my Uncle has given him so much National Guard stuff and he wears it all with such a honor and privilege.

Today on Veterans day, he gets to wear his boy scout uniform. I stayed up until after midnight sewing on his badges with fishing wire, no less. (That is what they recommend now, it wasn't that I didn't have proper thread). We received word via mass email sent out yesterday asking that all the scouts in his troop wear respectfully their scout uniforms. So we dressed him and sent him off to school- now in his uniform...ten feet tall and bullet proof. (I have never dressed a scout so I had to run to his dad's work for help because as you will notice in the picture I did it wrong- Oops)!!

It makes my heart soar to know he gets it, he respect those who have served and he is so excited to honor them. May we encourage such patriotism in all our children. Our freedom that we enjoy have been purchased at the price of precious life. May we never forget "Freedom is not Free!"

My little scout....ready and excited
(I put his neck-kerchief on wrong, his collar isn't suppose to)!

My Grandpa, my Hero! A great example to my sons!

His funeral, my brother putting a flower on his casket!

Two Halloween Posts in One Day! Don't Miss Them!

Yes, we were sinners but that is what you do in an area where Mormons have zero to zilch say about the celebration of holidays holidays... AND our branch has all but maybe 10 families in it so a Trunk or Treat was out of the question... I guess if you can't beat em' join em'! So we did! ;) Here is our fun!

This digital slideshow made with Smilebox

Hippity Hoppity Happity Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! Hope you have had a safe and fun time! Enjoy our spooks, tricks and treats!

This free photo collage made with Smilebox

Pumpkin Patch...Super fun!

So we went on a little family time getaway this weekend, a very much needed one to a large city in our state. We did a little shopping and of course a trip to the Olive Garden! We also took the boys to a pumpkin patch outside of that large city that was out of this world cool. They loved it and it was large we didn't even get to do and see half of what they had. We had walked and walked and by the time we left 3 hours later we were soooo tired! Here are the pictures!

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Because of Your Faith

This was such a neat, loving talk, it is worth a look or a second look. If you are not even LDS you can feel the love. This is a must watch, time and time again! I cried through it once and will probably do so each time I watch it! What a beautiful message!!!

The Birthday Boy!

It is official! The birthday came and went. The Gap Cowboy had so much anticipation building up to this day and I am so thrilled that we could fulfill his dreams! Everything this year was perfect! I am thrilled our hard work paid off! Here are the pics! Enjoy!

His morning started off with opening three small presents and his favorite breakfast!

His Star Wars cupcakes! (Yes, I made those too)!

Granny and Pop sent him a horse treasure box with money. Gummy and Grammy sent a card with money as well so he has some money burning a hole in his pocket!

He loved the cake!

He had to wait for his dad and it was torture! (For me more than him!)

The loot...took me all afternoon to wrap and took him all of 5 seconds to rip open!

Granny and Pop's last gift arrived via the UPS guy just in time! Cabela's snow pants!

Ready to blow out the #7 candle!

Make a wish!!

24 hours from when the cake was complete...it was dismantled...face first!!

The Gap Cowboy received so many well wishes and calls from such sweet and thoughtful family and friends! Thank you for remembering him, he really felt special!

The Birthday Cake of ALL Cakes!

On Mr. C's first birthday we had a professional cake decorator make a fun Lightening McQueen car cake. We had fun professional pictures taken with him and this cake so it was fitting to get a little crazy for his 1st birthday.

Well....ever since that cake the Gap Cowboy has been begging for something similar...a fondant dream, a decorator's special. Last year he wanted a car....

I tried...yes I will say it...only a cake full of a mother's love, that is all he got!

So this year I set out looking for local decorators that would do the cake of all cakes. He wanted a Star Wars Clone head this year and I knew it had to be a fondant cake. After combing 150 mile radius of local wedding cake decorators laughing on the phone at me.... "A KIDS CAKE!" they would say as if I had lost my mind, I realized I was dealing with a very different, simple state here, they are people of simple tastes here, I must sound like a pampered housewife who can't make a cake for her spoiled kid.

So I got online...google, to be exact and I found informational videos that made working with fondant and cake decorating look like riding a bicycle...anyone could do it right!? So I then found a baker's store with all the fondant and gum paste and fondant tools of all shapes and sizes. I ordered all the colors and tools and waited!

Finally today was the day....I attempted my first fondant cakes for my very special soon to be 7 year old. I have already been to the moon and back for this kid and I would go again. My children are precious and any special effort I can make on their birthday to make them smile and their eyes sparkle is worth everything.


Now I am not an "Ace of Cakes" or the next "Cake Boss," but I did it. I gave it my best and made some mistakes but I covered them up with more fondant. It was very rewarding. Mr. C was so fun to watch, you would think I was the "Ace of Cakes" the way he was exclaiming and thrilled with my work. We will have to let you know what the Gap Cowboy thinks! Me I think it was worth it, and yes, I will do it again. Here is hoping though, I get better at it and I don't have to cover up soooo many mistakes!

Temporarily Private

Temporarily we have made our blog private. I have been watching on my map for the whole summer and someone from Mississippi is a daily watcher of my blog. Until I find out if I have a long lost family or friend from there I thought I would make the effort to see. So until I figure this out or "lose" my strange follower I have elected to go private for at least a month or two.
Thanks for you continual love, support and comments!

Landscaping Project

Since we got home from the cabin we have been on project..."get rid of weeds!" Hubby heard from a lady at work that if you go to the rock quoiry and haul it yourself you can get a ton of rock for a fraction the cost that local nursery would charge us. We weeded and hauled rock until all 5 flower beds were filled. We had some help sent from Heaven! The last flower bed pictured below was started by a friend and finished by missionaries! It was so wonderful to pull into the driveway and see the last and the worst flower bed done! They all had blisters and my dirt had a "We Love You!" dug into the middle of it. So finally we are finished....well just one more load of rock and we should be finished! So here it is....try to imagine next spring though with more shrubs and trees planted in the blank rock.

We do have a start to some shrubs and bushes but our flower budget
didn't stretch as far...next year though!