Here's some recent videos. Wyatt's class sang Jingle Bells for the Christmas pageant. Braylon sang O' Come Let Us Adore Him, but the video was too large to upload on here. Instead, let his Pledge of Allegiance be music to your ears :)

This last one is a time when Braylon got put in time-out for pushing Wyatt. Then Wyatt went to comfort Braylon...so sweet, Lil Red.

New Mexico, Round 2

This Christmas, we spent a whole week in the mountains of Eagle Nest. It was beautiful! We were located right in between Red River and Angel Fire. Being in the middle of two ski towns allowed us to enjoy both. Red River was cute and quaint, with lots of little shops for tourists to peruse, and Angel Fire ended up being better for skiing and sledding. Overall, it was a great trip! I can only imagine how much more fun it will be when both our lil' whipper snappers can hit the slopes (and BTV doesn't get sick)!

Grammar Dar reading a Christmas story before bed on Christmas Eve

Brad showing the kids where Santa was

CHRISTMAS MORNING: Wyatt, Braylon, Brady, Kenzie, Elle, Tate, & Luke

Kenzie and Wyatt having a picnic

Wyatt was pretty happy with the Bubble Guppies books that Santa brought him!

I think he was showing me his new Spider-Man watch here. He loved it!

New Mexico, Round 1

More pics and details to come...

Sledding the first day...Wyatt enjoyed about two trips down, then screamed the rest of the time. He wasn't happy trying to walk in all those clothes in the slick snow.

Braylon and Luke loved it! Poor Brad missed out on this because he was sick. He spent the first two days laid up in bed with the flu or some virus.

View from cabin front porch

The cabin we stayed in was awesome. The kids loved playing in the third level loft, and the adults loved it too! Not to mention the six bedrooms, five bathrooms, and 100 acres of a horse ranch to ourselves.

Driving into the cute lil' town of Red River where Braylon got to ski for the first time!

Braylon had a private lesson that started at 8:15 in the morning. He said he had fun but didn't want to ski again (IT WAS 3°!!!) His instructor said he did well, and only wanted to go fast once he figured out he could. That made it hard to show him how to stop. I wasn't surprised.

Kenzie and Wyatt spent a lot of time with each other, Grampa Rollie, and Grammar Dar. I think they enjoyed it much better than being out in the cold.

Wyatt was not a happy camper on the sledding hill. Right about the time I called it quits and wanted to head to the cabin with Wyatt, the resort security kicked us off the sledding hill. Who knew it was closed??? Woops. ;)

Thanksgiving

Sorry this is a little late. I had forgotten about these pictures. The whole Butler/Thomas/Volker clan was able to gather at our home the weekend of Thanksgiving. We cooked a huge meal, watched our favorite holiday movie (Planes, Trains, & Automobiles), and worked on some Christmas crafts once the kids were in bed.  Gage, Braylon, Wyatt, and Greyson had such a fun time playing outside together. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better weekend....well except maybe for the photo shoot we attempted with grouchy toddlers, eeek! Sorry, mom. Maybe next time.

Even Grandma Dar got to stop in and see the boys on her way home from Dallas. It was so nice that she was able to join us for dinner too.

Snapshots from the Week

Bouncing on the trampoline

Hanging out by the bonfire at Grandpa Rollie's

The cows were surprisingly close to the fire, especially for only being 60 degrees outside.

Wyatt has officially moved into Braylon's room. He is still getting used to it, because he will sometimes get up in the middle of the night. But each night has gotten better. This picture shows them in separate beds, but they usually sleep on the bottom together. 

Fruit Picking

This is the first season we've had substantial growth since having our fruit trees out back. We have gotten several lemons, mandarins, and oranges. We picked one grapefruit, too, and so far all of our citrus fruits have been very juicy and delicious. Wyatt screams for the mandarins and oranges as soon as we pick them. The kid loves them! We even bought a cheapo juicer so our lemons wouldn't go to waste. It's pretty neat to walk out back with the boys and see their excitement when there's something new to pick! It's also a good feeling knowing where some of our boys' snacks and juice come from, our very own backyard.

Wyatt at 18 Months Old

Wyatt hit the year and a half mark last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving! He had his check up the following Tuesday. The pediatrician gave him a thumbs up, and the nurse gave him four shots in his poor little thighs! Wyatt is becoming such a big boy. He has started sleeping in the bunk beds with Braylon as of today. He uses a fork and spoon decent, is learning new words, and copies everything his brother does. He sleeps from about 1-3:30 for nap and 7:30p.m.-6:30a.m. each night. He seems to have outgrown his eczema and peanut allergy. The dogs will still sometimes irritate his eyes, but not too bad. Overall, Wyatt is a super happy kid and will wear you out reading books every day :)

Here's some of his stats:

Weight: 26 lbs, 75th percentile

Height: 35 1/4", 98th percentile

Favorite Food: meat

Favorite snack: clementines, cheese & crackers

Favorite toys: books, trucks, football

Words he speaks: uh-oh, bye-bye, ow, Bubba, Momma, Dadda, dog, star, moon, tree, car, ball, boot, football, circle, bar, whoa, mine

He can identify the following body parts: toes, ears, eyes, hair, nose, mouth, teeth, belly, fingers, hands, weewee, belly button.

He can make animals sounds for cow, horse, duck, monkey, sheep, owl, bird, tiger, and bear.

Before shots

After shots :'(

On the way home, still with tears in his eyes but smiling now that he has his puppy and pacifier. He was ready for a nap!