Gingerbread Houses and Candy Cane Lane

Sunday night on Candy Cane Lane in Vacaville with the Garcias

Look at that rascally face!

Shell Holiday Party

We had fun at the annual Shell holiday party this weekend. The kids thought Santa was cool, but the Shell fire truck really stole the show!

Carson is Rudolph, in case you were wondering.

 They also enjoyed the magician.

Luke sitting front and center with all the other big kids

Cordelia 1st Ward Christmas Party 2012

Ugly Sweater Party 2012

Always a blast! This year I decided to go for preschool teacher/early 90's Mormon/festive sister-wife look. Steve and I won best male and female sweaters. 

Coral, Julie, Sarah

Sara, Karen, Terri, Me Coral

Ben, Barbie and baby Livi 

Sam and Sara wearing their treeskirts

Brandon and Terri

Todd and Steve (Steve looks a little too happy...)

Ruth and Steve

Megan won Steve's white elephant and yes that is a picture of him.
(He had me get a gift for him and he didn't know what it was until she opened it. Classic!)

Craig and Megen

Dave, and yes, that is just how he is

Rebecca and Scott

Indoor Sledding in Martinez

One weekend in December Martinez closes down a few streets in their downtown area and sets up sledding and ice skating. This year it was poring rain so it had to be moved indoors.The kids had fun though, until they got too cold. I am seriously lacking in the winter clothing department.

Carson

Luke playing in the snow zone

Attempting a snow angel  (in sweatpants)

Action shot

Luke and Steve

Ty Addington came along. His rides were always a little crazier then the rest of us!

2012 Christmas Card & Letter

2012 recaps...

Carson turned 4 last month and had an awesome Puss and Boots birthday party. He was one happy birthday boy! He loves going to preschool three days a week and is learning so much. Carson is quite the Mama's boy right now. Mom is ready for him to switch to Dad. Any day now buddy... As a potty training (finally pretty much trained) reward Carson got his very own fish, Wallie. He's been a great addition to the Bonner clan. Carson also got a disneyland pass this year and gets to go with Gma and Gpa Kelley when we visit. He is one lucky little boy!

Luke turns 2 this coming Christmas Eve and is Carson's little shadow. He likes to copy everything his big brother says and does. He is still Mama's little snuggler and recently switched back from "I only want Dad" to "I only want  Mom". Once again, Mom is ready for a break. He loves to read books and play outside. We have a neighbor cat who thinks he belongs to us and Luke could play with him all day long. Both my boys are baby hungry and just melt around little babies. Luke talks to them in a high-pitched voice and will kiss them all over.

I (Leah) keep busy with with my online etsy store selling vinyl lettering.I'm in the primary presidency and my days are full of play dates, Target runs, and laundry. Luckily, we have an unlimited kids club pass at the gym. The combination of exercise and no kids help keep Steve and I sane! This spring we got new kitchen counters and backplash. I am in love. It's the little things, right?

Steve Continues to enjoy working at Shell. He is a teacher's quarm adviser at church and has fun spending time with "the big boys" as Carson calls them. Steve took on the challenge of building a treehouse this summer and it turned out great. He is a fantastic Dad! Both boys favorite part of the day is when Dad comes home and rough-houses with them.

We had a few fun trips this year. Our biggest was to Hawaii  in September. Much to Steve's dismay I wanted the kids to come along. My sister and her family moved there last year and we got to spend a whole week with them. Carson loved to swim in the warm water and do everything his big-boy-cousin Oliver did. Luke had the flu and was happy to be home, poor guy.

It was a busy and chaotic year, but that's how we like it!

We hope your family has a wonderful holiday season as we focus on the celebration of Christ's birth.
Merry Christmas,
Love The Bonners

Thanksgiving in Portland

This year we headed to Oregon to Steve's sister's house. They have 8 kids (4 of which are young boys) so obviously Luke and Carson had a grand time. Steve's parents drove down from Washington for a few days so It was good to see Grandma and Grandpa too. The drive wasn't bad at all. Our boys are pretty used to driving and did great. We enjoyed our yummy Thanksgiving dinner, inviting everyone to play in our hotel pool, Carson getting plenty of wrestling in, and the playing with all the toys in the basement. I only got two pictures at dinner:

Luke after eating his and Carson's mud pie. (In his defense he napped through dinner.)

Other than those the only time I remembered to take pictures was when we went to the Portland Zoo. If it looks wet and cold in the pictures it's because it was. It was pouring rain, but that's what is funny about pacific-northwesterners... It is always pouring rain, so you learn to deal with it. Despite the wet weather the kids had fun.

Luke, Joseph, Carson, Daniel, Caleb, Beth, Jacob, Michael, Rebekah)

Luke and Carson in DANIEL'S lion's den =)

He was DONE by this point

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and will have a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas!

Happy Birthday Carson!

Carson had his fourth birthday party on Friday and he was one happy kid. This upcoming party has been the topic of  frequent conversations and bedtime stories over the last few months. Seriously, for at least the past month he has requested his bedtime stories to be about his party. He wanted a Puss and Boots party, which was tricky because there isn't much Puss and Boots stuff out there. He made it trickier on me, having to hand-make almost everything, but it turned out great. Carson got off the bus from pre-school 15 minutes before the party started and was so excited to see all the decorations. He just kept saying "thank you mom!!" over and over.

I used pool noodles to make and beanstalk and found these character templates. They were a PAIN to put together, but they turned out cute.

Since Puss and Boots takes place in San Ricardo the party looked a little bit like a Mexican fiesta.

We had 12, that's right 12 kids come. Carson handed each kid a Puss hat when they got here. (I bought cowboy hats at the dollar store around Halloween and glued a feather to it.) For the first 45 minutes they could play outside on the bounce house and in the tree house, then the rain came and it was inside for all.

We had cake, which Carson and I made. (I am not a cake maker, as you can tell from the picture...but it tasted good and that's what really counts, right?)

Next was the pinata in the garage (because of  the rain.)

Presents followed.

All the kids got a "Treasure of San Ricardo  treasure box when they left. I put magic beans, golden goose eggs, Swedish fish, gold coins, bubbles, and a notepad with Puss and Boots crayons in each box. I think they turned out cute.

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of all the kids playing, but with the chaos it was hard. I also wish I would have gotten a picture of everyone with their hats on. Bummer =(. Here are just a few random ones.

Luke (still in his jammies) wearing his hat

Millie and Aaron

Amy and Melissa