In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Andy filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve.....The boys put on matching pajamas,

put out the milk and cookies for Santa, put out the carrots for the reindeers and read "The Night Before Christmas" before heading to bed.

White Christmas

Winter Wonderland!

We were fortunate get 12" of snow this week in Louisville, CO. Ryder and Taggart were so excited that they were able to sled.
We are all set for a white Christmas.

Message from Santa

To Ryder and Taggart's surprise, Santa left them both email messages on Mommy's computer. These are some of the photos from Ryder watching and listening to Santa.

Ryder was amazed and a little shocked when Santa actually called him by name, talked about where he lives and knew what he wanted for Christmas (and had a picture of him, see below).
The following link will allow you to watch/listen to Santa's message to Ryder........Still cracks me up!

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/9c9d2ae7015fcec520deee75a31c19f2

Christmas weather....snow

Snow, snow, snow....

Even though it is back in the 40's this weekend, the boys really enjoyed the snow and cold weather over the last two weeks.

Christmas Tree search

Once we found the tree, we enjoyed roasting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate with the Goodson's.

Tagg enjoyed a candy cane.

Christmas Tree search

We headed into the mountains to find a Christmas tree.

Tagg was bundled up and readdy for the search
Tagg and Mommy took time to enjoy the sled.

Thanksgiving Hike

Daddy seems a little confused as to how and why he had both boys in tow? "How much do they weigh?" Ryder's comment, "Daddy, where are the bears and mountain lions? I want you to carry me."
"Look mommy, that looks like a mountain lion!"

Thanksgiving Hike

No better way to burn off all the Thanksgiving food than a family hike.
Grandma Hutton did well considering the altitude.

Book Time

Book time with the boys is a little more active than in the past. Ryder prefers Super Hero books while Tagg prefers Diego books. Unfortunately, they want to read together and at the same time. We are just fortunate that both love books.

Thanksgiving Day

Hutton family Thanksgiving Day festivities.......
.....and more active festivities.....

Movie Theatre

Ryder's third Thanksgiving day will be one he remembers for years as we took him to his first movie at the theatre.

Grandma, Daddy and Ryder saw Planet 51. He loved it and yes, he ate way too much popcorn.

Mountain Men

It snowed over the weekend so the boys found a way to get to the mountains. Ryder was enamored by the snowboarders, Tagg thought the snow was funny and Daddy just enjoyed it and looks forward to getting them both on the slopes.

Loving bath

Ryder and Taggart look forward to bath time and actually play well, that is when Ryder shares his super hero toys (that's Flash in Tagg's hand).

Look, No Feet!

Ryder has really taken to his Strider bike. Yes, you are seeing it correctly, the bike has no pedals.
Fortunately, he has not yet attempted to ride it no handed.

This photo was taken prior to him announcing, "I am going to jump the curb". Let's just say that he did jump the curb and landed it but without having anywhere to place his feet for support he had a hard landing.

Halloween Trick or Treating

The Dynamic Duo ~ Batman (Ryder) and Robin (Taggart) the Boy Wonder ready for the evening festivities.

The Joker (Papa Leveque), Batman, Robin and Spiderman/dog (Wilson) hit the streets of Louisville.

Halloween

Ryder and Taggart enjoyed carving pumpkins with Nana & Papa Leveque.

An early snow storm made it a little interesting to decorate for Halloween but Papa was creative and created a snow pumpkin.

Ryder's 3rd Birthday

Ryder was so excited all day to celebrate his 3rd birthday.
Nana & Papa Leveque flew in for the party. Ryder and Tagg were both so excited to see them.
The toys and gifts were great but the rice kripy treats were awesome!

Unfortunately, with Courtney having the flu we had to cancel Ryder's actual party at the Boulder Indoor Cycling facility so we look forward to that in the coming weeks.

Soccer Practice

The day before his 3rd birthday, Ryder decided to take Daddy to soccer practice.Practice started with a little stretching.....Ryder may be a little like Daddy, not too flexible.
Practicing his ball control and dribbling skills....
Shot on goal....

Ryder likes all sports but is definitely showing interest in soccer. May Cousin Arron needs some young talent at Carnegie Mellon??

Flu

What a week.... unfortunately, Courtney was ill all week with the flu. The boys didn't want any part of that and decided to take precaution.

Bedtime

Bedtime routine.....Forget reading books only to Ryder. Taggart now wants to be in the middle of the night time routine.

Ryder likes having Taggart participate as long as it is in his room and we ready his books.

Pumpkin Patch....Again

The boys love the pumpkin patch. Daddy left work early on Friday so we could all go together. It was Daddy's first time this year, the rest of the family had already been twice.
Between the farm animals, corn field maze and actually pumpkins in the field the boys were all over the place.
Finally, they (Ryder) selected four. Word to the wise, make sure that they all stand up straight on a level surface. Ryder has little appreciation for this skill and now we have the best looking tilting pumpkins in the neighborhood.

Soccer Jersey

While on a recent trip to Spain, Daddy picked up great Spanish league soccer uniform. Ryder wore it with pride last week to his soccer practice.

Halloween prep

Ryder gave the Spiderman costume a try. Well, he loved it. Actually, he refused to remove it. Most little girls have a costume closet.... it looks as if our boys will create their own with Super Hero costumes.

Pumpkin Patch

The boys are both excited about Halloween. So much so that they already made one visit to the pumpkin patch. Still debating the Halloween costumes or should I say Ryder is telling Tagg what he will be. Odds on favorite at the moment......Ryder goes as Batman and Taggart goes as Robin.