and a lot of winter.

I love Christmas! and I especially love the traditions it brings.. one of those for Luke and I is the tree farm. We have gone every year since we were married and chopped down a real tree for our house. I love it :) BUT this year Luke won't let me. Our house sold (hopefully?!) so we'll be moving out a few days before Christmas (hopefully?!) We still went to the tree farm this year.. ran around with Easton, went on a hay ride, drank some hot chocolate and got a pathetic little branch for a tree this year. We still had so much fun!

(sorry Mom, Luke is nuts.. probably why Leyton loves him so much!)

our cute 2010 Christmas tree.. it'll do, huh.

(Leyton's new stocking! Had to put it up even if it's for a few weeks..)

a little bit of fall..

it's already hard to remember green grass and leave on the trees! Here's to a long winter..

And some pictures from Thanksgiving day with the Kirkpatricks. We went to the Prosser side as well, one of the luxuries of living so close to our families!

cousins!

Just a quick picture of our latest adventure down to Iowa.. a one night stay to go to Landon's 2nd birthday. It was so much fun! And now when Leyton sees a picture of Landon he laughs. It's adorable!

Thankful list

I suppose it's this time of year, being Thanksgiving and all, where you stop and think about what you're thankful for. I'd like to say I don't need a holiday to realize what I'm thankful for, but I don't do this often enough. I hope it's more than once a year, but it really means a lot to think about the lots of ways that we are blessed. There are plenty of trials and difficulties in our lives, but the blessings totally outweigh the tough stuff.

Kristen's List:

My best friend and husband, Luke. These days you would think Leyton would be #1 on my list. But it's Luke. He is seriously the funniest person and I know and brings so much light and joy to my life every day. He is an incredible dad and has such a servant's heart. I am so thankful that he married me and puts up with me, I'll be forever grateful.

My #2 man in my life.. little Leyton. I don't even have to explain how thankful I am for this guy. Daily I look at him and can't believe that we are so lucky to have him in our lives. I know that goes for both Luke and I.

My family. I LOVE every single person in my family! (families.. wow, I get 2!) The ones that live close and the ones that live farther from us.. if it were up to me we'd all live a little community together so I could see their smiling faces everyday. I realize that it's pretty rare to have such loving families that love and support us, that love God with all their hearts. mmm :) I love our little ones so far (Leyton and Landon) and the ones on the way.. here come a bunch of nieces and nephews!

My friends! Wow, there's a lot of faces that comes to my mind when I think of our friends.. we're seriously blessed! It has been a really tough year for some of my closest friends. I'm thankful for them and our unity together and in the same breath, I'm thankful for these trials. God is doing some amazing things and I'm lucky to be a part of it.

My job. I don't think I will ever get to a point where I just do my job and don't think every second how lucky I am. I love being a photographer and all that involves. It really is so fun and I am so blessed to be able to keep doing what I love, while also doing my #2 job (which is really #1).. being a mom!

Those are the big things.. the daily stuff that I kinda just get used to but when you put them in a list.. sheesh, that's a lot of good stuff.

Then there's the little stuff.

My car (I love my Mazda!), the sale of our house (maybe?! still waiting to hear if it all goes through, but I'm thankful ahead of time), Easton, Starbucks, our weekly TV shows, cooking for Luke, the luxury of shopping for clothes, trips to Iowa, date nights, upcoming vacations to look forward to (Florida & Quebec!!), my camera, Luke's job, seeing Leyton after a nap (soo cute!), shopping for Leyton (that's fun), and. chocolate.

That's just a brief list, I know there's a lot more. I like this holiday!

And just because blogs are better with pictures, here's to giving thanks..

Luke's List:

Well jeez, Kristen, you stole like every word and everything good in my life. Let's see if I can do this and not have it seem like the exact same list...hmmmmm.

Well my number 1 has still got to be Kristen. They way you love, respect and care for me and our family is unlike any thing I've ever seen. The way you cook, the way you clean, the way you dress, everything you do, i adore. You are the most selfless person I've met (but then it gets to be all about you with it comes to shopping and clothes...you will stop at nothing to find that perfect fitting shirt or jeans) so its give and take i guess. I love you more and more every single day.

numero dos: Leytron 5000. You are best thing to have happened in my life...in this last year. I love getting to know who you are and finding new things out about your personality everyday.

number 3: family...aka support beams. without all of you, we would be living in a gutter in new mexico eating little debbies that we stole from gas stations. thanks for all youve done.

numero 4: friends....jeez. this is the exact same list as Krast...oh well. you all know who you are. you guys are saweet.

and that's top four. i don't do the little things. plus, that's enough goosh for one post.

Cake boss

So, I guess this blog isn't just about the adventures of Leyton.. Luke and I still have some sort of life outside of him (hard to believe, I know). We really love our friends and are so grateful to have the friends that we do.

Let's start with the background. Hilary and I challenged each other to a little cake off.. a few months ago, we decided we'd create some cakes for Watson's birthday and see who would win. Hil and I are avid Cake Boss watchers.. if you haven't seen it, check out Buddy, the expert cake maker, on TLC. So fun.

And these are the cakes we created! Mine took maybe 12 hours and Hilary's over 20. Aren't they cool? Fondant and all... we are really so proud, I personally didn't think I could do this. And I guess I didn't by myself, props to Luke and Firkus. Happy Birthday to Watson! We had such a fun night celebrating our dear friend!

My cake: (Chicago Bears colors)

Hilary's cake: (Watson loves the outdoors, tree swings and fall colors)

Oh, and we won. :)

playdate with Peyton!

These pictures are hilarious! I love that Suz and I can be obsessed with our babies and know just how the other one feels. We loooved hanging out with Brent and Suz last weekend and it was so fun to play with our little monsters! Their faces in these pictures are hilarious and it was so fun to watch!

Leyton looks so confused why she took his letter!

So cute. Their faces and hands are the same.

They were tired after such a fun day!

Love you guys!

8 months!

Happy 8 months to our Leyton Christian! (I know, one day late)

At 8 months, you are such a sweet, smiley boy and so full of energy. One of your favorite activities is wrestling on the bed with mommy and daddy. We can be pretty rough with you and you just smile even bigger.

You still love to bounce.. in your bed, in your jumper, on our laps.. you should have been Tigger for Halloween. Your thighs get bigger by the minute and you really had a big growth spurt this past month. You love to eat and have three meals a day along with mommy's milk.

You are starting to talk more and more and love to say "ma ma" and "da da".. you're starting to associate who "da da" is and understanding hello and good bye.

You love to snuggle in our arms and give big hugs around our necks. Gosh, mommy loves that! You are also starting to get more attached to mommy (which melts my heart every time) but when you're feeling tired or sensitive, you just want mommy.

We are so happy to have you in our lives and couldn't imagine life any different!

Troy + Leyton

My friend Angela came from Iowa to visit the past couple of days, she did a Premier Jewelry party that our friend Mary and I hosted. Way fun and such cool jewelry! We said that Angela found her calling.. she's so good at her job! She brought her sweet baby Troy that's almost a year old. It was so fun to have our sons play together! Leyton's friends around here are either younger girls (he sure loves them) or older boys (Mr. Zakary!) .. it was really fun to see 2 boys pretty close in age play together. Troy can sure motor all over and Leyton was keeping up chasing him!

This is Angela and I with our boys still cookin'...

And here's some highlights from their sleepover!

Such a cutie!

Ya right.. they didn't sleep in there. And my stinker barely slept at all. Which is why Leyton is realllly making up for lost sleep today. :) Such a party animal.

Having so much fun!

my little dragon!

We had such a fun Halloween weekend! I am SO grateful for these free weekends to spend with my little family.. it is so wonderful to not have a wedding and just be able to relax!

On Saturday, after Luke let me sleep in till 9:30 (ahh!) we walked around the Anoka parade passing out fliers for Luke's uncle John, running for judge. The parade was huge! Anoka is apparently the Halloween capital of the world (who gave them that title?) so it was such a big deal! Leyton rode in the stroller, decked out in his little dragon costume.. loved looking at all the little kids and their cute costumes.

Then, in the evening, we met Greg, Lizzy and baby Evelyn and went to my parent's church Harvest Festival. That was fun too.. the mini dragon and baby Dorothy attracted a lot of attention!

On Sunday, we had a relaxing day around home that included a long family nap (I guess I need sleep!) and passing out candy to our neighbors that came by. Such a great weekend!

eating.. everything.. !

this picture cracks me up!

with the Easton man.

wishing he could eat all this candy!

watching all the kids... just wait til next year, my boy!