Our Christmas Tree Tradition

Each year, since we have bought our houses, we have trekked out the weekend after Thanksgiving for the Reffner/Bassler gettin of our Christmas trees family tradition. It is amazing to think back how different this year was from the first time, I believe it was five years ago. Kelly is my best friend and our husbands have become very close friends also over the years. We had our little guys with us this year and they both loved it! Austin and Tanner both loved the wagon ride and looking for the pumpkins leftover in the pumpkin patch. We did leave Ethan with Grandma, it was a rather cold day. We searched and searched and had a difficult time deciding (as we always do, ask the guys about the search for the perfect tree!) We did settle on blue spruces this year, the frasier furs were slim pickins. The kiddos were getting rather cold (why do kids not like to keep gloves on?) and tired of walking so we thought we should decide.
It was just the four of us and the dogs the first and second years, now the dogs stay home and the kids come along. I was pregnant last year and Kelly is this year with the same due date as Ethan!
WE love this tradition so much and we just kept laughing and thinking what it will be like in five more years and five after that!

Family Pictures

WE had our family pictures taken back in November by my friend Jills dad. He took a few hours of his Sunday to meet us and take pictures. We really appreciated his time and we ended up with some really nice pictures. It isn't an easy feat to get a two year old and nine month old to sit still but they sure were troopers. We had the most beautiful weather. I think it was the nicest day in November! I have been waiting to post some of our other favorites until after the Christmas cards went out. We still look at these two perfect little boys and can't believe they are ours sometimes, we are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy family. Thank you again Jeff for your time and these beautiful memories.

A little late but tricks and treats nonetheless

The kids were "The Deadliest Catch" for Halloween this year. We had a fun filled couple of days too! Wednesday night was trick or treating at the Penn State Altoona campus. Tanner really got the knack for what to do there. I am quite sure that Halloween is his new favorite holiday and no doubt Trick or Treat his new favorite words. He loves to dump his candy and look it all over. He was so pleased that he could get candy for just looking cute!

His is a meaty crab, many layers under that costume!


All aboard!

On Thursay night we walked our neighborhood and then passed out candy to Trick or Treaters at our house. Tanner is a very generous candy giver so we ran out pretty quickly. It was a fun couple of days and the kids just loved it, I must admit I did too!

More weekend joy!

Tanner loved the hay maze...



Ethan loved the hay!

Tanner and I on the Alpine slide!

The Reffner Family had another fun and busy weekend. We were celebrating our six year anniversary this weekend. Mike and I had a very nice dinner and night out Saturday and then family day on Sunday. It was perfect weather on Sunday so we headed to Autumnfest at Seven Springs ski resort. It is so beautiful there. Tanner and I rode the ski lift up the mountain and an Alpine slide down, it was so fun. We got to see and do lots of other cool things too! We are cherishing these beautiful weekends together.

We love the weekends!

Our weekend was full of fall (winterish like) fun! I love having these kinds of weekends where we really don't have to be anywhere or do anything at all, just spend some time together. Weeknights are way too fast for me!

Tanner was not too crazy about the messiness of this project.

We really thought he would dig right in.

He is into not even wanting to push up his sleeves lately. Kids little quirks are so funny.

Standing outside with my mouth open wide, eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh

They get the biggest kick out of this!

Look at those teeth! The top side ones are through and the top front are right behind. He has been such a trooper and still smilin' too. He loves to show off his progress.

All in one

just brothers havin' fun

Tanner's very first corn dog ever!

Checking out the sharks at the aquarium

Ethan, really, it's okay! So funny!

Cousin Gabby helping Tanner through the corn maze

Let's find the perfect one!

Ethan loved the hayride too!

This is an all in one blog of the 'goings-on' over the past several weeks. It has been quite a while since I have had a chance to just sit down and journal. The whirlwind that is called back to work has really thrown us all for a loop. Yikes, do evenings go way too fast. We have had so many other things going on too. Between little trips to see Uncle Josh and family coming to visit us, it has been a very busy fall. The boys are growing and changing each so much. It is a blast to see them crawl together around the house. Yep, Ethan is mobile and boy is he ever! He has two teeth on the bottom and four right behind on the top (and not the top front teeth either). He is just full of spunk and so happy. Tanner is just learning so much every day. He loves his tractors and trucks, but still can't seem to find the tr blend at the beginning of truck. He instead replaces it with an f! It is hilarious! My personal favorite is firetruck, go ahead, say it out loud, so funny. He are a few pics to remember our last several weeks, we have been having some fun!

A weekend packed with fun!

On Saturday we celebrated Tanner turning 2! We partied a little early this year because we will be at my Dad's on his actual birthday. We had family and friends over and played in the yard and enjoyed the perfect day, we really lucked out! We had a nice time and Tanner was really into it all. He liked the decorations and his train theme, he just bopped all around enjoying all the company and his new treasures. He loves his new backhoe and John Deere tractor the most.

On Sunday we continued the celebration at a Pirate game. We had a really nice time hanging out with friends and enjoying a ballgame. Tanner loved his hot dog and popcorn from the concession stand and he loved watching all of the people. We were in a box so it was really nice he could run around and didn't have to be in a seat, ideal for a 2 year old. Ethan just hung out and took it all in, he even dozed off until they hit a home run followed with a firework explosion. It was quite a whirlwind of a few days but so fun and memorable. I was watching some of the older boys with their mitts and utter excitement of watching a major league ball game and couldn't help but think ahead a few years and picture our family. I think of all of the memories from this summer and all of the fun we have had as a family, it is so exciting to think about the future too and all of the fun we will have watching the kids grow and become little people. I can't help but to say it again and again, WE ARE so blessed!

Sand from there to here and grins from ear to ear

July has just flown by huh! We are having a great time together this summer despite the not so great weather. We enjoy the coolness outside but not the yucky rain. Did you know that our average daily temp for July as of now is only a tenth of a degree warmer than Fairbanks Alaska! Anyway, Tanner got an awesome new sandbox for his birthday handmade by his PapPap. I love it because I can fit in it with him to play. He spends a lot of time these days digging and filling his trucks and finding every place he possibly can to hide sand. Ethan is just the happiest baby! He is eating so well, everything from roast beef dinner to spaghetti, he loves food! If he were one of the dwarfs he would definitely be smiley. He bears that gummy smile every chance he gets, especially when his doggy or big brother catch his eye. He has grown and changed so much. He is sleeping so well, about 9 hours every night, and taking 2 about 2 hour naps every day! He even wakes up happy from his naps and just lays in his crib and babbles around. I still look at the kids and I can't believe I am a Mom of two beautiful, healthy boys. I wonder how I ever got so lucky, I just feel so blessed and my heart feels so full every time I think about them.

Forget the mini-van

Tanner wants a mini-horse. We went to this cool little petting farm that a woman has set up at her house every Thursday. She had a million goats, a calf, peacocks, horses, a bunny, guinea pigs and a few chicks. Tanner loved seeing and petting all of the animals and riding Cricket the most. If he could I know he would have said "can we take her home?" It was a funny little outing for the evening but fun nonetheless.

We have been enjoying little trips or outings since we don't have a vacation planned this summer due to Mike's new job. We packed up the kids, dog and a picnic on Friday to celebrate Mike's day off! We went to a beautiful local park and had a blast. They have a swinging bridge, waterfall and a beautiful trail to get there. We went with our friends, their 4 month old Owen and Stanley their Golden Retriever too. We were quite a sight to behold, adults outnumbered by kids and dogs, yikes! Tanner loved to play by the river and throw rocks, he is such a boy! He was so cruddy, he is an outdoorsy kid for sure already, thank goodness! We had such a great time, we are so lucky in our area to have access to so many wonderful parks and FREE stuff to do. It just takes a little time to find it.

Camping out...really!

Okay, so it was only in the backyard, but O what fun it was. We got the tent and fire pit all set up while Tanner was napping. He squealed with delight as he noticed the giant new blue thing in the yard. He ran right down to check it all out, the doggy door was his favorite part. We sat around the fire, had S'mores and sang some songs (Tanner mostly wanted to run around in the dark.) We headed down to the tent, Tanner even has a cute little sleeping bag, and attempted to get all settled in. Tanner has never slept in any sort of bed before, only his crib and pack-n-play, so we were a little worried. I guess the marshmallows didn't really help either :) He did settle down and slept great with his Dad, I went back up to the house with the baby. They didn't come in to the house until 8:45 the next morning! It was so fun and I can't wait until we all pack up as a family and go camping together. I have so many wonderful memories from camping as a kid and I can't wait to make memories with my family now.

Ethan enjoying his part of the campout - dinner!

Sun drenched memories

What a beautiful week it has been and we are loving it up! I think Tanner may have had the best day of his two little years on Tuesday. We went to a beautiful park called Raystown Lake on Tuesday. My best friends parents were camping there and invited us to spend the day. We started off with a 1 hour cruise around the lake on a huge houseboat. ( I had to nurse Ethan on the boat, a first for me, quite interesting!) Next we went to eat lunch at the campsite then and off to the beach we went for swimming and digging. Then came feeding fish, playground time, eating more, fishing, playing, on and on. It was the best day and the kids were great, even with no nap for Tanner. I think we weren't even 2 minutes out of the park and they were both sound asleep, not another peep for the hour drive home.

BTW-Busted out and shined up the exersaucer for Ethan. I think he could spend the day in that thing, he loves it! It is an old hand me down from a friend at work but it has the coolest gadgets on it. Exersaucer on little buddy!

Are you cereal?

Yup, Ethan tried some rice cereal for the first time today. Tanner spent the day at Grandma's so I decided with a quiet and calm house today was the day. He did great, a little irritated at the slowness of the whole process but all in all he was lovin' it! It was so funny, he kept sticking his thumb in there like "am I not supposed to be sucking right now?" Our highchair reclines but it was still a little awkward for him, he did much better in the Bumbo this evening. (I love those chairs, my friends 5 year old daughter explained "it is called a Bumbo beacause that's where your bum goes!" love it!) So, it looks like game on for feeding, can't wait to start shmushing stuff up again, gotta find that food mill. He is rolling and rolling all over the place and very curious of his surroundings. You can tell he just can't wait to keep up with his brother. Tanner is just so funny too these days. He is still not really talking yet, says a lot of words and knows exactly what you are telling him, but hasn't come up with any strings of words yet. He knows exactly what he is saying though, but it is all dutch to me. He is such a boy; bruises, scrapes, dirt under the nails. Most times there is never a tear shed for any of these injuries, we barely ever even know he got hurt unless we see it happen. I am enjoying my time at home with them so very much. Tanner and I signed up for story time at the library on Wednesdays, I am really looking forward to that. Ethan has a Dr. appt on Monday too, so I am really excited to see his stats! So, more to report next week. It is funny the things we get excited about and look forward to, the life of a Mommy but I wouldn't trade it for anything!