Greetings from Pennsylvania:

we are back east... and loving every second of being here. this morning we woke up to this... i ran back and woke tanner up..."it's snowing, come on, come on..." he said, "i know, i couldn't sleep- i was so excited." he couldn't get on a snow suit fast enough. my dad plowed the driveway (him and tanner hooked the tractor and plow the night before). maddex is simply amazed by the snow, the coldness, and the tractor. we are stranded- and it is such a great feeling. i had a moment this morning... standing in the breeze-way... my dad was plowing the driveway... tanner and maddex were playing in the snow... my mom had the candles lit- and christmas music was playing in my ear. i teared up and though- i can't imagine being anywhere else for Christmas... this is Christmas to me. tanner loves to be outside in the snow... he is just looking for a reason to go out again. it started snowing late last night and is still snowing(4:40 pm)As of right now, we have about 15 inches... tomorrow we are planning on building a snowman, and maybe do a little sled riding... until then...

maddex watching from the window- until they convinced me to let him go out.

i'm sick- so i couldn't go out...

i laugh so hard when i see this pictures of maddex- i had like 5 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, two hats.. he was so bundled up- he couldn't move his arms from this position.

throwing his first snowball

my dad secretly loves doing this kind of stuff.

tanner loves being outside... before he came inside- he said..

i'm gonna go lay in the snow- i'll be back.

maddex loves his snow boots grandma kathy got him.

Happy Holidays

hello, my name is... mrs. peterson

my first day back to school

i loved my job as a teacher. it was more fun to me than work. i loved the private school i worked for, the kids i taught, and the teachers i worked with. my teaching experience was a blast. i was sad to leave on the last day of school, knowing i wouldn't be back- but instead having a baby in a few weeks. when i found out i was pregnant- i knew i wanted to be a stay at home mother... working never crossed my mind... there was no way i could leave my new baby. i am lucky that i am able to stay at home with maddex. i got a call from someone at the school asking me to substitute for them. what? i called the school staff right away- worked out a plan with them... and now i am substituting. i am so thrilled to be back... it is perfect for me. i can choose to work whenever... and it is only 4 hours a day. now that maddex is older- i don't mind leaving him for a few hours with grandma every now and then. this is truly a blessing for our family. 

Mr. & Mrs. Hales:

these boys are so fun together. 

ah, i love my brother.

maddex was being so funny that evening. he was so full of himself. 

he was tearing it up on the dance floor. 

i just wanna squeeze him. and yes- i am gritting my teeth as i write that. 

too many girls to choose from.

friends.

ok so... tanner and austin (grey sweatshirt) went to high school together.. and then they both were called on the same mission. they served as mission companions- had an awesome time... curtis (white shirt) also served with them in spokane. they have stayed friends ever since.

austin met sarah here in vegas and they got married a couple weekends ago. this was taken the night before their wedding... our group went out to eat at our favorite spot... buffalo wild wings.

(this photo isn't too great- it was taken by a drunk guy)

go rebels!!

we are so excited that rebel season has finally started... 

we love nothing more than going to these games as a family. 

GO REBS!!

Dancin'

look for me in the audience... i will be here tomorrow.

let loose.

a day in my new haircut. i took these pictures a few weeks ago... but never had a chance to post them. they are some of my favorites. maddex loves the park- almost as much as skittles. one thing i do love about vegas is that we can go to about five different parks within a mile from our house. with the weather being so nice- we get to go everyday. he really lets loose.

i love how you can see the moon in the picture.

cirque du soleil:

tanner told me one day last week that he and austin were planning a suprise date. he gave me no details other than; wear high heals, and lip-stick. (i know, i'm really aging w/ the lipstick. ha) i had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. we had dinner at gordon biersch and then we headed to the suprise (i crave suprises). i still had no idea even after we pulled into the mgm. we walked through the casino... still no clue.. and then all of a sudden- i saw the theatre... and went nuts. are you kidding me? i've always wanted to go to cirque du soleil!

we had a great hook-up... and our seats ended up being amazing. the show was unbelievable- nothing i could ever describe...you don't know things like that happen until you see them. so you just have to see it for yourself. seriously the coolest date ever... thanks babe.

also.. thanks sarah and austin for a great time!

us & the soon to be "hales"

the characters were so creepy.

southern voice...

so- i'm not a fan of tight jeans on men, or any kind of low cut shirts... but seriously?

we went to the tim mcgraw concert here in vegas a few weekends ago. it was different than any of the other concerts i've been to. it was outside- around the pool at a beautiful resort. it was so much fun- we had great weather, and the atmosphere was perfect. i could have stayed there all night and rocked out. :) the group consisted of kathy, tanner, me, paige, cory, and mindy. 

we were singing so loud... i loved it.

thanks kathy! 

me & my honey

kathy, paige and i

{happy halloween}

hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween. we sure did... maddex is old enough to enjoy it now. he was a mechanic- he fit the part. i was a cat...simple but something & tanner was a retro b-ball player. dressing up for halloween is a must in our house- i think it is fun and shows personality. we were kind of sad that we didn't get to trick or treat in our neighborhood but we really wanted to go to grandma and grandpas trunk or treat. by the end of the night maddex was totally getting the hang of walking up to cars and holding up his bucket. after that- we then headed over to the great-grandparents. everyone kind of gathered there after so it was a nice little gathering. he has been slightly addicted to candy ever since- and knows right where his candy bucket is hidden. i love halloween- i can't wait until next year. :)

getting all ready for the night...

meow.

after a long, hard day in the shop. ha

maddex and his cousin, peter

"the mechanic" and "peter pan"

isn't alina the most beautiful tinker-bell

he would get so happy after someone put candy in his bucket 

i love him... w/o the wig. :)

trick-or-treat. smell my feet. 

m's halloween concert:

maddex had a halloween concert at pbk. i loved getting him all ready in his costume. he is just the sweetest little... i mean, roughest and toughest little mechanic ;) he totally looked the part. maddex is all boy- so this costume couldn't have been any better. he is constantly carrying around a truck, car, skateboard or train. we don't leave the house w/o at least 3-4 in my purse. the day before halloween is nevada day so there is no work/school. so tanner was able to go with us. he was the only dad out of about 20 women. :)

he is so into peek-a-boo

maddex loves "wheels on the bus"...

tanner took pumpkin carving to a whole new level in our house.

he got down right serious. 

*there is actually a story behind this costume... shauna and i were looking at costumes (for the boys) on ebay for days- we couldn't find anything we liked w/o paying over 40 bucks. we would call each other and be like- this one is cute, or what about that one. well, shauna called and said to check out the mechanic one- it is so cute. then we started talking about a different one. well, i slept on the mechanic costume (not knowing she did too) and when i woke up i put a nice big bid on it. i was so excited i called shauna... and come to find out... she was bidding on that one TOO! so we made an fair agreement- i had to go to an appointment so i wouldn't be there to bid again if someone outbid me... so then shauna could bid- but only if i was outbid by someone else... which happened- and then shauna won- by .40 cents! but then sent it to me. what a nice sister. i didn't feel bad considering the next day she got the same one on ebay for about 10 bucks cheaper than mine. :) the boys looked so cute in the same costumes. 

THE cat.

we do not have a cat, but at the same time... we do. this is our neighbors cat.. but it spends more time at our house than hers- (not really the way we'd have it) it loves to play with maddex, and i think he feels the same way about her. i caught myself saying the other day... "maddex where's your kitty.." it really has to stop. 

i love this picture below. 

maddex when he saw the kitty under the chair. 

the pumpkin patch.

going to the pumpkin patch, an over-priced tradition. at dollar a ticket, most rides vary between 3 and 6 tickets each. maddex got to ride 2 rides this year... the carousel and the jumper-slides. he loves action. he loves anything fast. so i think his favorite this year was the jumpers. i mean, i'm sure he loved to ride the carousel with me...ha. but i think he absolutely loved going down the slides with uncle crew. he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

the carousel ride: 3 tickets

the jumper-slides: 6 tickets

until next year...

truck obsession:

we went to the races here in las vegas. we couldn't miss them. maddex has a big obsession with trucks, cars, and anything else with wheels. he was going crazy. he wanted to ride everything. i know a lot of the pictures are repaticious but they are all so cute. i just love his mouth when he sees the trucks... it is a complete "o". enjoy the ride:

the boys and brian deegan. quite funny.. he pulled up beside me on his bike.. i thought oh, that's a cute little bike...and asked him if i could get a picture of maddex on the bike. he looked at me and said, what? 

i didn't know he was anyone famous at first- and then i caught on. 

the group.

cheeser...

the new do:

is where it all happened. it was time to get the first official haircut. i was nervous... i spent days researching the best salons in las vegas, and everytime i'd ask someone- they'd say- "oh, take him to cool cuts, or snips.n.clips..." i thought to myself- no way. i tried to fight it. i talked myself out of it several times...  and when it all came down to it- i gave in. - i knew maddex would love it and it would be fun for him.. despite their haircutting skills. as soon as we walked in- he went nuts. he loved playing with their brio train set. then it was off to the haircut. he had the option between a car or a train, and suprised me by his pick... he chose the train. i though for sure he'd pick the car. we picked elmo for our dvd. i was nervous... i couldn't stop biting my nails. i loved nothing more than his long shaggy hair... but i knew it was time for a trim. i was fun... until she got out the clippers. as soon as those things fired up... i about died. i wanted to cry... it was then that i said, "what am i doing"..... this is not a trim... this is a cut. 

i put a smile... but wanted to cry. i strapped him in his seat... and started home. i kept turning around to look at it... hoping it would be longer in a few seconds. it took some getting used to.. and a lot of fixing.. and believe me- i am not a hair cutter, but i could have done better than this chick. never again. he will never again get his hair cut... you think i'm kidding... i'm so not.

love him.

i love this little boy. i love everything about him... even his messy eating habits. 

oreo sticks... what a great invention.. ;) 

they just keep getting messier.

backyard renovation...

i just had to blog this. justin and i were sitting in the backyard having a nice little conversation this is how it went:

j: that tree is really ugly 

a: yeah, i know. tanner hates that tree

j: do you know how much bigger your yard would look without it

a: yeah, but...

j: it's gotta go. i'll be back

jusin seriously walked straight to his car... drove to lowes and bought a saw... came back and chopped down the tree. it was all so fast- i couldn't even get a before picture. that is one think i love about justin- he is such a go getter. we didn't tell tanner and suprised him when he got home. what a suprise... 

big ol' tree.

AFTER:

(we are waiting for the stump to rot- for easier removal)

this will have to do until we can get grass for the backyard.

happy birthday to me.

a happy birthday is what i had. for our birthday we flew home to pa. yes- our birthday...i share it with my sister... we are 6 years apart (do the math) i am now 23. a number i am having a hard time getting used to.. but that comes with time. i occasionally lie and say im 21, it makes me feel better, cuter, funner- you get it. ;) it was such a great trip. my cousins came from ny and hershey, pa. and my sister and her family came down for the weekend. a full house filled with nothing but family, toys and kids= nothing but great fun. i wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. 

we started off with lunch at shives. then the antique mall. a trip to the farm, playing outdoors and then some cake and homemade ice-cream.. (and some of jen's awesome snacks). bright and early we headed to bedford days... where i fell in love with a swing, ate lots of sweets (potato candy, carmel apples, whoopie pies, steak n cheese, and apple cider) and maddex took his first pony ride. he is so sweet. the weather was so nice... it couldn't have been better. i lucked out big time at hokie-g's.. and found some really cute stuff for our playroom, an old-school gum-ball machine that i've been on the lookout for. (pics to come soon when the playroom is done). 

we did a lot of stuff on our trip... maddex rode the 4 wheeler everyday with pappy dave.. he loved it. almost every time he would ride he'd fall asleep. we did some fishing.. rain or shine. we took the boys to the pumpkin patch. his favorite part was the corn pit... and he also loved the john deere tractors. 

we love going back east. it is such a different life-style than what we live- and we love it. i love that i am able to take my family back there and show them my way of living. happy birthday to me. :)

bedford days:

my dream swing... if only i could have gotten it on the plane.

nothing like FRESH apple cider.

maddex loves his tech deck.

yum.

m's first pony ride...

the biggest whoopie-pie ever.

m loves grapes... he was eating them off the ground.. ha

visiting grandma crouse... love her.

i love home.

hellllooo mr. fix it..

my little mr. fix it. it's hard to resist this tool belt huh? we had a little bit of an issue- that needed a handy-man, and who else other than mr. maddex. i took maddex up to give him a bath and it was nothing but cold water. after justin and tanner did some investigation- we realized that our hot water heater broke... which is really weird for our home considering it is new. but that's how it goes. tanner knows somebody that got us a great deal on a new heater. so then the boys put it in.. these boys are such handy-men! 

tanner and maddex painting the playroom. we wanted maddex to give it the first swipe. we handed him a smaller brush with some paint on it and the first thing he did was stick it in his mouth! i started to scream, but still snapped the picture. tanner was in the way but you get the point. he was a little upset for while- but once he got over it he was a great painter!

the chair:

my first anywhere chair. one day as we were shopping maddex found a chair... just his size. it was a must have, but first it took some convincing tanner that it was worth it. obviously that worked. maddex loves his new chair. at the most random times i'll look in his playroom- and he'll be sitting there holding his baby, or running a car over arm of it. he also loves to watch movies in it. the other day tanner asked him if he wanted to watch a movie and he went over the playroom and tried to pick up his chair. it was priceless. i've had to wash it 3 times already. a couple of days after we bought it- he took a pen to it... but with a little help of grammy (hairspray and gain) we were able to save the chair. there is no eating in the chair.. but uncle justin was unaware of that. justin asked me if maddex could have an oreo- i said yes- assuming that justin knew he only eats oreos in his high chair. i was busy with something when i looked over and saw the back of m's head sitting in his chair.. not his high chair. as soon as i put it together that he was eating an oreo in his chair- i lost it. the boys think i'm crazy, but i would say i'm just a little particular. i think it is worth a lot of penny that it was just to see these photos: 

this is m's new smile. lovely huh? when i say maddex cheese... 

this is what i get.

this was a tear-jerker for me. i cried on the spot. i will never forget this moment.. i looked in his playroom and he was sitting there- just like this, patting his baby. maddex loves his baby... he is gonna be a great big brother someday. (the baby is a whole other story- we saw it at the d.i. and he couldn't let go of it... )

cheese.

my little cowboy:

maddex is getting so big lately. he just turned 15 months. he is at an age where he loves to play. he is always pushing a car, truck, train or tractor around the house. his new obsession is his skateboard "tech deck" that uncle crew gave him. it is the funniest thing. i'll have to snap a photo of that. one thing he really loves though is his horsey that aunt michelle got for him. at first he was kinda nervous- but now he just rocks it out. he is such a spoiled little boy. i can't help it. 

the new playroom.. coming soon:

we are in the middle of a transformation, we are turning the dining room into a playroom. it was time. we never used it as a dining room- and a playroom seems more practical for us right now. it is still a work in progress- but i wanted to share what we have done so far. we did find a rug- finally. i ended up getting an 8 x 10.. it covers almost the whole room. i love this rug. i found it at pottery barn on sale- thank goodness- i was going insane w/o carpet in there. we painted the room last saturday.. i love the color. it is a very light yellow (behr- hummus) it's perfect. we still have so much to do... hang a new light, get bookcases, hang art, add the art table, finish the chalkboard frame, and etc, etc.. i'll keep you posted but for now...

BEFORE:

i loved this table- and it was so hard to see it go- but it never got used- and i knew the room would be so much more useful. i was so thrilled- we sold our table just 3 days after posting it on craigslist. we sold it for 100 less than we paid 3 years ago. cha-ching.

NOW:

maddex loves his new room, almost as much as me.

AFTER:

coming soon. stay tuned.

a country girl...

i've mainly been putting off this post simply because i can't look at these pictures w/o crying. i have been more homesick lately than i have ever been in my life. i not only miss my family but i miss my home... i miss where i grew up and the things i used to do, the things i love to do. after the beach we had one full day to fit everything in that we wanted to do. on saturday night we (mustin, and us) visited grandma crouse- that was so nice- i miss her a lot. she lives in a town that consists of just about everyone i went to school with and she always keeps me up to date as we sit on her front porch. sunday we started the day off the day with church. i love seeing how big the kids in the ward are getting, and giving brother forney a big kiss. we then ate a good home cooked meal at grandmas- nothing like it. the boys got out their guns and shot some water jugs. they even let me smoke a few. i'm not as good as i once was- but i still got it. we ate some grapes... right off the vine just like we used to. tanner and michelle don't agree with how we eat them... "why don't you put the whole thing in your mouth"... "hmm, i don't know- we just don't." rode 4 wheelers- maddex loves riding 4 wheelers- he never wanted to get off. and then lastly- my favorite...we all went fishing. i wasn't getting on that plane until i went fishing. tanner and i caught the most fish- i don't know if anyone else was counting- but we had like 15-20. :)ha. i could have sat there all night long. there is something so peaceful to me about it. i mentioned to tanner that is all i want to do for my birthday- i want to go home, get some worms... sit on the dock with some IBC's and fish... all day long. so that is what i'm doing. we are flying home next thursday... to do some more of this:

we don't have enough of these pictures... :)

m loved grandmas pudding... he licked the bowl clean

eating grapes

this is funny to me- it shows just how much i over-excite things- 

so maddex will be excited about them. a fish jumped!

yah, i'd say i caught a good one

i love home... i love everything about it.

family photos:

we took some family photos at the beach. most of them are on brent's memory card and i don't have that yet... but here are just a few:

ah, i love my family

we laughed so hard when we saw this photo. maddie really drove the boys crazy with her squeezing.

hurricane danny coming during our photo shoot

my beautiful grammy

OBX 2009

Outer Banks 2009. I think it is safe to say- this is one of our best vacations yet. For one, we love the beach. Two, It was Tanner and Maddex's first time in Outer Banks. Three, the 4x4 beach was awesome! And four, we had a great time with my family. You know you are on a true vacation when you leave your beach house/beach one time the whole vacation. We went out to eat at a crab sh

ack one night- and the boys went to a movie one day, but other than that we did nothing but lay and play in the sand. Ah, it was pure relaxation. I miss it.. I can't wait to go back. I was skeptical of the whole driving on the beach with horses idea, but it was so awesome! We had a great time... Thanks Mom and Dad for everything. Maddex loves the beach/ocean- he would run full speed into the ocean.. he had no fear. Now I on the other hand... di

dn't want anything to do with the ocean. It was so wild- Hurricane Bill gave us some killer waves and major rip-tide. I was fine with that though- I didn't mind laying out the whole time. Speaking of Hurricane Bill- We got hit by it on the way to the OBX. Thank goodness Tanner was driving... I had like 5 anxiety attacks on the way there. It was the worst rain storm I've ever been in, in my life! Here are some photos we snapped:

it's all fun until someone gets hurt. the best part about the picture below is that maddex is pointing to maddie.. i wonder why?

that would be shauna running. 

i love this pictures just because what we are doing. cant you tell- 

i'm pulling in my fish. 

m fell asleep eating an oreo. love it

brody had some weird obsession with the teapot