It's a good thing blogging more is not on my new year's resolution list... I finally updated our blog from the past 2 weeks. Here's the link:

www.joshandshantelle.blogspot.com

We hope everyone is doing well!

Just finished updating our past couple of weeks.

www.joshandshantelle.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone for coming home for Christmas! We had a blast with everyone and feel very blessed to have such an awesome family. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas while you were here!

I just did a major catch up of our past two weeks. Here's the link:

www.joshandshantelle.blogspot.com

The new posts include the BYU game, our Christmas party, and our major headache of pipes freezing, bursting, and flooding our basement :( Not a fun week...

Hey everybody! We are getting VERY excited to see everyone next month. I've been thinking of some things to do while everyone is here, so if anyone has any ideas leave a comment so we can plan a fun week.

I have done quite a few blogs this week to get up to date. Here's the link: www.joshandshantelle.blogspot.com

New posts include:

New Trees and Shrubs for our house
Gateway Discovery Museum w/Justin and Ali
Brayden's Birthday

We had a great Halloween weekend. We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat, mom and dad's Halloween carnival/trunk-or-treat, a random party downtown, and trick or treating at Josh's parent's neighborhood. My blog posts are pretty lengthy, so check them out here:

www.joshandshantelle.blogspot.com.

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween and I can't wait to see pictures of everyone!!!

We have been working in the garage these past few weeks. We're finishing the insulation and sheet rock on the walls that don't have it. Here's a picture of the wall we've started. I also posted a picture of the second set of shelves I finished building. They will go around the window against the wall we're sheetrocking.

As it has started to get cold, we've had to bundle up, so I couldn't resist taking pictures of the kids in their cute hats and jackets.

The other day Brayden was naughty so I put him in time out. As soon as he was done, Brooklyn quickly followed and put her nose in the corner. It was hilarious! I couldn't stop laughing as she did it over and over again.

A few weeks ago Josh took the sugar glider cage outside and deep cleaned it, then he brought it inside so it could dry off. I came around the corner and this is what I found. (Look closely at the cage) She had way too much fun climbing in and out and playing with the little wheel. She's just as curious as her brother!

Last night Josh had his final baseball game. We wanted to go, but they kept playing until they lost (up to three games.) Since it was pretty chilly we hung out with my mom instead. We went over to the mall and let the kids play in the Dinosaur Land for about 45 minutes. My mom had free dinners at Souper Salad so we went there for dinner - with both kids under three they ate for free! My kind of eating out! It was such a fantastic night. Thanks mom for hanging out with us!!!

Brayden has FINALLY started letting me take pictures of him again. For a while he has been running away as soon as I get the camera out. Now he'll say cheese and let me snap a few before running off.

In most families riding in these little cars/trucks is a reward. For us it's a milestone. You see, Brayden has been scared to death of them for years. Every time we see them he will run, hop in, and play but starts screaming if we even suggest putting money in it to start it. (Maybe it was the Big Bird airplane he sat in when he was little. When I put a quarter in it Big Bird started singing SO loud even I jumped a little bit. Apparently he remembers...)

N-e way, about a year ago I started carrying a little bag of quarters in our diaper bag so I was always prepared if he wanted to take the plunge and ride one of these things. Well...the other day it happened! We went to Kmart (which I ended up scoring some fantastic deals on summer clothes for next year) and low and behold they had a car sitting out front. Naturally Brayden ran and started driving it. I asked if I could put money in it and he said yes!!! This has NEVER happened before! So I quickly threw in two quarters before he could change his mind and he LOVED it! He wanted to do it again - I couldn't believe it! However, we were in a hurry so I told him next time if he is a good boy we can do it again. Talk about a major breakthrough! Maybe I'll get to start using this as a reward now!