Christmas Season Begins

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had our Ward Christmas Party on Dec. 1st and it was a great success! The Primary was in charge of the party and it was a lot of work, but many hands makes light work!! I am so glad to have it at the beginning of the month so that I can enjoy the rest of the month! But the kids loved the Reindeer Run obstacle course, crafts and of course visiting with Santa! Zoe asked for a new blanket and Ryder cars (of course what else would they ask for?) We also started a new tradition! Santa sent us another elf- his name is Eddie and he hangs out with Buddy our other elf. The kids love getting up in the morning and finding where they are hiding! Today the Elves brought the kids doughnuts from the North Pole!

We've been Christmas Punked by Naughty Elves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So our friends invited us over last night to make candy houses! It was a fun night, but when we came home, we didn't even recognize our own house. Some Naughty Elves came over and decorated our house for us! It is a neighborhood tradition, that if you don't get your decorations up early, the naughty elves will do it for you! As you can see by the pictures, the decorations are quite tacky! A very old and homemade star hangs from our roof, an inflatable Santa is lounging in his hammock, the "Merry Christmas" sign only lights up to say, "Me Christmas" and there is a random kid lazy boy decked out in tinsel! We had a great laugh and are still trying to figure out just who these naughty elves are! But we are warning everyone in the neighborhood to be nice to us, or they will be next!! Merry Christmas!

Almost a year since I posted :(

So I am super lame, but also super busy! I haven't posted in a year and so I have no idea where to begin. The entire blogger website looks foreign to me :) It may take me a little while but I will catch up and finally update my profile picture since Zoe is like seven months old in that picture! I won't start tonight because I am supposed to be doing other things right now but thought I would put this out there so I feel like I have some accountability!

Okay I'm Pathetic

So I haven't posted anything since beginning of May! I know I am Pathetic! But I have redeemed myself and posted about the entire summer all tonight (see following posts!) I now need to catch up on Sept. and Oct.  And take new pictures of Ryder and Zoe!

But the major news is that we moved!! We had been living at Kevin's parents house while they were on their mission in Chile! It was a great experience and we appreciated it very much. But when it was time to move we were very lucky to find a new house to move to! We moved into south Gilbert and are loving it! We have been here since June!

So we have been busy trying to put a house together! Going on vacations up north, playing softball, swimming, and hanging out with family! Life is always crazy in the Fischbeck household, but we feel truly blessed and are enjoying life!

We Moved, what a crazy summer

Here is our house when we first bought it! I had said, "Man this house is practically move in ready" but then of course we destroyed it with what we thought would be a couple easy projects! Before we moved in Kevin installed central vac, security, and ran tons of wire! Then we had Dan build an entertainment center (which turned out amazing!) and storage racks in the garage. I painted Kitchen, family room, Zoe's room and Ryder's Room (Ryder's was a huge pain because it had wallpaper!) Then we decided to tile! After our tile guy left mid job-Jason and Kristy and my Dad came to the resucue to help Kevin complete it!

Here are some of the after pictures! I still need to take ones of the kids bedrooms, the loft, master bedroom, front and backyard! I love how the tile turned out and the painting! My favorite room in the house is probably this red one becuse it is the kids toy room! It is right off the kitchen and family room, so I can see them but there is a half wall that help hide all the chaos! Thanks Mom and Dad for helping get everything hung and unboxed and also with the painting!

Here are some fun pictures from the summer! We had tons of fun! Playing at Mimi and Papa's beach! Baking sweet treats! Running around in diapers! Playing in the rain storms (love monsoon season!) Enjoying our new house!

Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays

Zoe turned "2" this year!! I can't believe my baby girl is two! We went up to the cabin on her birthday so we opened some present before and some later that night! We had cake and ice cream at the cabin with cousins, but I forgot to take pictures-I know "worst mom" award right here! But we stopped at McDonalds in Payson for birthday lunch and for her to play on the jungle gym! She loved it! Probably her most favorite thing of the day! She would take a bite and then run away and got down the slide and then repeat it!

Two years has gone by so fast and Zoe brings so much joy into our lives! She is such an outgoing little girl and just loves life! (I mean who would love life when your two!) She is a great big sister to Ryder and is always wanting to do whatever I am doing! She loves shopping, and always says when we are in the car, "Just one more store, that's it!" We love Zoe and are just so grateful Heavenly Father sent her to us!

Then it was Kevin's birthday and we all went to lunch to celebrate! Kevin picked, I forget the name, but a place where they cook the food right in front of you, with the big flames and everything! Zoe and Ryder loved it, but Zoe for weeks after kept saying "Fire, Hot, No touch"  It was fun to celebrate Kevin's birthday! I am so lucky to have him as my hubby and his is the best Daddy to our kids!

Then came my birthday! Last year in my 20's-Yikes! Kevin took me out to dinner and a movie! I had a great birthday!

Then we celebrated Ryder's birthday! (all our birthdays are within two months of each other!) Ryder turned 1 yrs old! How fast time flies! He had a little bit harder first year than Zoe. Ryder had some breathing issues and sickness that landed him in the hospital twice- he is such a fighter! He struggled to sleep through the night and take naps for pretty much the whole first year until we moved to our new house! Since we moved here, he sleeps through the night, naps better, breaths better and overall is happier!
He is a Mama's Boy- which I Love! He loves to snuggle. If I am laying down on the floor he just walks right up to me and lays down on top of me!

I don't know what we did to deserve these sweet little kids. And don't get me wrong, life is crazy and sometimes really hard with two little ones only 14 months apart, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Weclome Home Grandpa and Grandma Fischbeck

Grandma and Grandpa Fischbeck finished their Mission in Chile and returned Home!! I was a little nervous that Zoe wouldn't remember who they were and of course had never met them yet, but Zoe and Ryder picked up right where they left off! It was so fun to go the airport and meet them with our balloons and signs! It was quite the crowd (well over 40 family members) to greet them! Grandma and Grandpa had a crazy, adventurous, and amazing mission, but we are so excited to have them home!!

Zoe is such a fun, sweet and beautiful girl! She talks very well for only being 2 yrs. old and loves to play, dance, and dress up! Here are some cute pictures of her! Starting from Left to Right, top to bottom-Zoe loves lotion bottles, eating cookie dough and helping in the kitchen!, where dance clothes and hats, or shower caps as slippers and my tassi headwraps as skirts! She loves playing with tons of barbies (thanks grandma Jackson for letting us borrow) and being just plain cute!

She is obessed with Toy Story- especially Woody and Jesse! She loves watching Caliou, Super Why, Tangled, and Despicable Me! She is super smart and remembers everything she hears! She loves singing songs and playing with playdough!

Ryder is just my super hugger! He gives the best hugs because he squeezes his arms around my neck! He really is a snuggle bug! He loves his pacifier and older sister! When he wakes up from his nap before Zoe, he always tries to run, open her door and wake her up! He loves to wander around church, or down the street!
In these pictures he looks like quite the messy eater, which he was, but he is actually getting to be really good at using his fork/spoon! He just learned to fold his arms for the prayer and it is so adorable, but I can never get a picture :(

He just loves to play-pretty much with anything, but especially with things that Zoe doesn't want him too! He is such a cute little rascal!