Valentine's Day!

Yay! For Valentine's Day! Who doesn't enjoy the day you get to celebrate love and romance with your Eternal Valentine!? Darren actually has all the romance, I just bring the goofy/ silliness to the marriage. =D This year we have been trying to save up $5,000 for moving costs, closing costs for our Omaha home, Creighton down deposits and other big expenses, so Darren told me, that we wouldn't be doing anything for Valentine's Day. I know that holidays aren't about the presents, just about spending time with the people you love, so it was no big deal to me, but I did think I was clever because I came up with the idea of the 12 Days of Valentine's!!! Yup, I thought of it all by myself, and I thought I was soooo clever, until I realized people all over the internet have been doing it for years. So much for my "original" idea! lol.

I had a blast coming up with and making cutsie cards that correlated with a treat/ small gift for the 12 days leading up to the big V-Day! I got him small things like, a pack of gum, Rolo's, Big Hunks, lots of candy with fun names I could use and then there was the biggie, a Jamba Juice gift card! The first day Darren was thrown back! lol. He was so confused, then I told him I was doing the 12 Days of Valentine's, and he got a BIG grin on his face. He came home later that day with a bag of Strawberry and Chocolate Swirled Fudge!!! Oh my goodness, it was heaven! Darren had decided he wanted to participate too! lol. He also got me a box of chocolates from our local chocolate shop called Florence's!

A few days before Valentine's, I was upstairs cleaning up and Kaiden comes running in with a famous, little blue box! My heart jumped, and I opened it up! If you have ever seen the 80's movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, then you're probably familiar with the scene where Roger is jumping on a bed and is writing his wife a love letter. Roger starts it with "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!!! 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand!" Anyways I like to recite that to Darren quite often! Haha. So the necklace he picked out was quite PERFECT and I knew exactly why he got it! He is such a romantic and I love him for it!

And while we're on the topic of "love and romance" I bet alot of you didn't know that Darren and I knew we were going to marry each other during the first time we talked! In fact, I even wrote it down that night! lol. Of course I thought I was crazy, but I knew 100% we were going to live happily ever after! And Darren admited he had the same impression that night! It still makes me feel giddy when I think about it! We are a match made in heaven!!!!

Okay, back to our wonderful 2012 Valentine's Day! My parents always got us Valentine's pajamas, a small gift, and candy for Valentine's Day, I love how my mom tried to make each holiday special for us! This year I decided Kaiden was finally old enough to appreciate it! So "Cupid" came! Cupid got Kaiden a dinosaur movie called We're Back! and a travel fishing game, you know the ones where the fish open and close their mouths and you have to catch them all! lol.

And for fun, I used blue chalk to color the tips of his faux hawk blue! He was so excited he sat REALLY still the whole time! Don't worry, it washed out!) And Cupid got Jaxton some popsicle molds, for frozen smoothies and the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." This boy is small but he can EAT, so it was no surprise Cupid got him food related presents! lol. Jaxton can seriously eat a whole piece of pizza plus some in one setting and eats more than Kaiden does in a day! He stays fit by climbing up the stairs EVERY chance he gets! He is FAST!

The boys got ADORABLE matching Creighton hoodies from their Romriell Grandparents! Kaiden of course LOVES his because it is blue! I will add a picture later. I need to wash his because he has been requesting to wear and sleep in it for a few days! lol. This boy LOVES blue! And the hoodies fit so cute on our boys!

When my mom was here, she took the boys on a little shopping spree for her Valentine's Day gift! Jaxton got some teal and some dinosaur onesies and a pair of jeans and Kaiden got a few shirts!

And Grampa Michael got the boys some money which we used to help pay Cupid's delivery fee! lol.

Our BIG gift to Kaiden though, was going to Leo's in Idaho Falls! The past year we have been looking for a place similar to Chuck E. Cheeses to take Kaiden to and we could never find one. Well we were boppin' around Idaho Falls one day and I saw a sign"Pizza. Games. Play Land!" I told Darren to turn around. We walked in and looked around a bit. This place was HUGE! The play area was so big and there was so much to do! We ordered pizza and 50 tokens for the games. Kids under 3 are free in the play area so that was nice! Kaiden had a great time, we ended up staying there for 2 hours! Darren and I took turns playing with Kaiden and watching Jaxton. Kaiden turned in the tickets he won for an orange ball which he gave to his brother, a few suckers and one of those toys that pop up into the air and completeley catch you off guard even though you're expecting it every time! lol Since it was so last minute, I didn't have my camera on me! But I'm hoping we can go back before we leave! It was quite over priced, but I believe most things like that are. At least kaiden had fun and enjoyed himself! Which in turn makes us pretty happy!

On Valentine's evening we bribed Dallen over with some of Grandma Gae's sugar cookies, but I fumbled the ball. They are sooo finicky! I used my Kitchenaide mixer and a different kind of butter and they were duds. ='( Hey, it's a live and learn process with these cookies! Darren ordered pizza so I wouldn't have to cook, then we got the kids to bed and we all settled down and watched a movie. It was a fun and relaxing evening!

We hope everyone had as FABULOUS of a day as we did!!!

Playing in the Snow!

Last year, Kaiden decided 2 things about snow, 1: It's cold and 2: It tastes delicious! This kid would lick the snow off of the bottom of our shoes! Haha. This year, we bribe him into his car seat with a bite of snow! This winter has been beyond amazing! I found myself excited about the cold stuff, like I used to before we moved to lil ole Rexburg! I guess if you get it every day, you start to get annoyed with it. But since it's only snowed a handful of times, I've started to look forward to it! Plus this winter had been unusually warm, which is another plus!! Anyways the other day it was snowing GOOD, there were some neighbor kids out playing in it while it was coming down and it looked like they were having a blast! It didn't take much for Kaiden to convince me to take him outside to play. After all, we did buy Kaiden a super nice winter coat and some light up, Toy Story Snow Boots he's hardly even worn this year! ;D

And so we went out to play in it, with a blue kazoo of ourse, because who has ever really had fun playing in the snow without one!?! lol! Kaiden loved it and at first tried to stuff as much snow in his mouth as he could. Then he just wanted to stomp around in the stuff and hear the crunching noises.

And then he found a Football!! So, he be-bopped around with that football for awhile. lol.

And then I had the idea of going home to get his wagon! He was soooo excited!

And of course I HAD to teach this boy how to catch a snowflake on his tongue, which kept him entertained for all of 1 minute! lol.

I'm glad we played in it because even though it snowed about 6 inches that day, it was gone by the next! We had a great time playing in the snow, but we are beyond excited and looking forward to Spring! Kaiden has been asking about the Zoo and the Water Park ALL winter! I'm just happy that Omaha has some fun things to do with kids that are indoors! It will make winter so much more fun next year!!!!! =D

Wrestlin' With the Daddy!

The boys were rough housing the other day and they were just so cute I had to take pictures. Kaiden loves boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu, pretty much fighting of any and all kinds! lol. He tries to play those games with me but I usually tell him to wait until daddy gets home, cause I'm not into that rough housng stuff. Haha. And when Jaxton sees Darren and Kaiden playing, then he wants to join in to, even if he has no clue what he's doing. He just knows there is fun to be had!

These wrestling matches usually include tickle fights as well! lol.

And an occasional raspberry! Haha!

And after a few rounds, the boys settled down with their daddy!

Aren't these boys just the CUTEST!?

I could kick myself for getting a blurry pic on this one! Jaxton loves his daddy!

Grandma and Bowling!

Last weekend Grandma came to visit!! We love having her here! It was just a short weekend trip but my boys love visitors especially if it's their grandparents!

The boys and I all got haircuts too! This was Jaxton's first cut with a razor! He didn't like it much! Poor kid!

I love my new blonde, short hair! The shortest it's ever been and I LOVE it! What can I say!? I am truley a blonde! I always think going darker will be a fun change, and it is for awhile, but with spring approaching blonde will be so much fun! We had a great time with my mom here, I loved and appreciated all her help! We are so excited to go visit her in SLC next weekend!

Last Night, we had a family work party at Fat Cats! We played a game of bowling, played a round of mini golf, played a game of Balladium (Kaiden's fave!) and ate some Pizza! It was lots of fun!

Do you remember me telling you about Kaiden's "girlfriend" Autumn? Well her dad Josh works for us, so Kaiden had a friend to play with last night! In fact I think Autumn won at bowling, ya we're all pretty bad! lol.

Kaiden LOVED the game Balladium, it's set in a black light room and you put these soft balls in the cannons and shoot them at each other! Jaxton didn't like it because the cannons were pretty loud, but Kaiden and Autumn were just laughing and running everywhere! It was Matt, Josh and Dallen vs. Darren! Haha! Chelsea, Josh's wife, and I were in the corner holding our babes and watching the chaos. lol.

I really liked playing the game of mini golf! I tried to tell Dallen I was pretty good at the game, he didn't really believe me until I hit a hole in one after he had taken 12 or so hits to get the same shot!

BUT my very favorite part of the whole night was when we were getting ready to leave. The whole time they had loud upbeat music playing and as we were leaving the song Fireflies by Owl City came on, Autumn and Kaiden were about 20 ft away from each other, and as soon as the song came on, they rushed over to each other and slow danced! It was soooo crazy, like they knew just what to do! I rushed to get my camera but by the time I got back, they had finished their dance and Kaiden grabbed her hand and tried to take her back to the Balladium room! lol. When we tried to get Kaiden into his car seat he broke down, and was asking to dance some more! He is just the sweetest! He has been having a really good past 2 weeks! Yesterday he woke up and asked to do the dishes! lol. He really likes helping me around the house. He's also been really sweet to his brother. Helping him with bottles, binkies and the occassional diaper change with my help! lol. We just LOVE our boys!!!! It has been one great week!!!!!

Kaiden found our old camera and went to town the other day! He had a blast and it kept him busy for a good hour! He was soooo cute! I looked through his pictures and cracked up at the random things he chose to photograph. Like the floor or his potty or a book! lol

This is Jaxton's very favorite place to be! It's his own personal jungle gym! He is standing up on everything, and LOVES to walk with our help!

Mommy Son Date: Making Crepes!

I JUST LOVE MY BOY! And I love our fun mini dates at home, but it will be fun when he gets older and we can go out and do more things! Anywho, Jaxton has been super sick this past week, and thus super sleepy! So Kaiden and I have had more alone time than usual!

This afternoon I got a craving for crepes and decided to make a fun mommy son date out of it!! Kaiden especially LOVES helping me bake in the kitchen and he had a lot of fun mixing all of the ingredients! I even taught him how to crack eggs! Oh, YES he can! lol. My son is a baking prodigy! After our crepes were made, I set up some mini bowls on the table full of fun mix ins like sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, powdered sugar, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream!

First he added the sprinkles!

Then he added the mini chocolate chips!

And the rest of the good stuff! (whipped cream, powdered sugar and chocolate syrup!)

Then he devoured it! "Like a monster" he said! lol. He literally shoved it all in his face and made growling noises! It all happened so fast, I was surprised I was able to take a picture of it!

And as all good monsters do after a good bite, he licked his chops! hehe!

Kaiden had a BLAST! Little did I know the party would end after Kaiden licked the sprinkles bowl clean! Haha. He was like "All Done!" and jumped out of his chair. A few minutes later he came back to finish off the mini chocolate chips! Haha! I may have passed my sweet tooth on to this kid? OOPS!

SPRINKLE HIGH FIVE!! lol.

Romriell Family Update!

It seems like FOREVER since I've posted on our family blog! So I figured I'd better fill everyone in on what's been happeing this month!

Here are a few quick notes about the boys! Kaiden first!

~Kaiden has a very favorite color, BLUE! Whatever CAN be blue SHOULD be blue! Food, toys, clothes, underwear, towel, etc! And he loves pointing out everything blue!

~Kaiden's favorite toys are his Ride On toys. He currently has 3! A fire truck, a 4-Wheeler that he calls his Monster Truck and a Big Wheel that he got for Christmas!

~Kaiden's favorite tv show is The Backyardigans ans Spongebob!

~Kaiden's favorite movie, this week, is Monsters vs. Aliens!

~Kaiden's favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese! And any kind of candy, cookie and sprinkles! lol

~Kaiden, and Jaxton, share a LOVE of Bath Time! I guess it doesn't hurt I try to make it as fun as possible! We use the bubble machine, toys, games and washable bath markers!

~Kaiden's favorite thing to wear, a white shirt and underwear. He is a lounger. lol

~Kaiden's favorite game is Duck, Duck Goose or I Spy Something Blue! lol

~Kaiden's favorite snack is a tie between Goldfish and Fruit Snacks!

~Kaiden's best friend is EVERYONE! Seriously, such a friendly guy! He may be shy for .2 seconds but the next thing ya know he is all over ya! He is especially fond of his Uncle Dallen coming over! He gets UBER excited when he knocks on the door!

~Kaiden has a girl friend! Okay not in a romantical sense, but Kaiden and Autumn are joined at the hip in our ward's nursery! They are always playing by themselves in a corner at church. hehe. And he asks about her ALL the time!

~Kaiden's favorite song is This Little Piggy and Popcorn Popping!

~Kaiden's favorite animal is puppies! He loves to run around acting like a puppy, with his tongue hanging out! He also loves to give puppy kisses! Haha!

~Kaiden has an OBSESSION with monsters! He literally loves EVERYTHING monsters. And you'd be surprised on how many movies have monsters/ monster looking creatures in them!

~Kaiden's favorite book is Disney's Aladdin and also a touch and feel book called Tails. Kaiden HAS TO have a book read to him at nap and bedtime. It is so cute!

~Kaiden's favorite drink is CHOCOLATE MILK! He is a chocolate milk junkie! It's ALL he wants to drink from morning until night!

~I'm not quite sure what Kaiden thinks he want to be when he grows up but he is fascinated with Fire Trucks (fireman?), Puppies (vet?), Candy (sweet treats maker?) and anything he can ride on that goes FAST (adrenaline junkie?).

I just love watching this kid grow up! He is energetic and we have a hard time keeping up with him most days, but he is A LOT of fun when you don't have chores to do and can just PLAY! He loves having my UNDIVIDED attention! We are also potty training AGAIN! He was potty trained at 19 months and at 25 months (yes 6 months potty trained) he decided he just didnt want to do it anymore. We fought about it for 2 weeks, we are both very stubborn, until Darren had had enough of cleaning up messes and we threw him back in diapers. I figured it was just a phase he would get over quickly, BUT he never snapped out of it. So I took it upon myself to push him, because I KNOW he can do it! And after a crazy week, he's potty trained again. Not 100%, maybe 80%. He still has occassional accidents and sleeps with a diaper on but way better than 0%! We're super proud of him! He is growing up sooooo fast! Kaiden loves helping! Seriously! I have to fight this kid over a mop every day! lol. I let him help with as many chores as I can, but sometimes he is doing the opposite. lol.

The other day he successfully changed his brother's diaper ALL by himself! I only helped to lift Jaxton's bum so Kaiden could slide the diaper under! I was SHOCKED to say the least! Maybe by the time we have another kid, Kaiden will be a diaper champ! LOL!

<------- Kaiden's FIRST diaper change!

Kaiden also loves art! We try to cram in some form of art or science project every day! We usually use crayons, markers, watercolor pencils and free monster coloring pages offline! I also use his help while baking, cooking, etc! It's ALL ABOUT keeping this kid busy! So I often include him with whatever I have to do around the house. =D He loves spending time with me, loves helping, loves being independent and loves being busy!

And our lil Jaxton! He is such a doll! He is not as crazy as Kaiden but he sure tries to keep up with him! He loves his big brother dearly! You can just see it in his eyes, how badly he wants to run around and play with him. Here are some fun facts about our baby boy!

~He is now 9 months old!!!!

~He is teething but has NO teeth yet!

~Jaxton LOVES food and often competes with Jozlyn for crumbs on the floor! lol. His favorite food is probably Fruit Loops cereal!

~Jaxton's favorite toys are a fun Gumball machine he got for Christmas and a way fun Kaleidodisc toy!

~Jaxton gets a wardrobe change at least 4 times a day! Since he is crawling, teething and loves food, his clothes don't stay clean or dry for long! lol

~Jaxton can say "mama"!!! He has been saying it for about a month now!

~Jaxton's favorite game is Peek-a-Boo! OR when I throw him on a ride on toy and chase Kaiden around the house! Hahaha!

~Jaxton loves climbing on stuff. His favorite is the stairs, but he can only go up the first 2 steps! haha! I also walked in on him standing up in his crib for the first time today!

~Jaxton's favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He gets so excited when I sing it to him! lol

We just love our boys! And I feel so lucky to be able to stay at home with them all day!

How about an update on Elite Parking!? Our booting business is doing great! Darren loves being a manager, its definitley in his personality, and he has made many improvements to the company! We even hired 2 new guys! Our wonderful brother Dallen and our friend Josh! My cousin, Casey, still works for us too! Darren even planned a "work party" and took the guys out for bowling and pizza! The business is doing fabulously and the extra income will be so nice to have during Law School!

Darren is having a blast with probably the BEST internship EVER! He is working for the school and gets his own desk and looks over plans most days. Other days he goes to meetings with architects and the like. They pay and take him out to lunch all the time, so jealous, and he even gets paid for the time he eats! lol. He has gotten a quite a few compliments of how well is. He's caught wuite a few mistakes in plans and always throws out good ideas at meetings. His employers are super impressed with him! =D

And me!? I've been baking it up! And keeping super busy with the boys! I love having Dallen here because I can easily bake something and send him home with most of it to share with his roomies, so I've been baking more than usual! =D YUMM-OOOO!

How about an update on the Townhome from the previous posts!? Well, with the help of Darren's parents (ALL students require a co-signer for the loan) we were able to get the loan! We are now working with the current owners! And I'm having WAY too much fun redesigning and decorate it..... in my mind! I AM SOOOO EXCITED! Darren doesn't get excited over too much, but even he is excited!!! LOL!

Well that's if for now!

TTFN!

Happy New Year!!!

Well 2011 has been a FANTASTIC year! Seriously, looking back we have been so very blessed this past year! We are sad to see it go, but we're so excited for 2012 and all that we have planned! I can't believe Darren will be starting Law School!?!?!?! And I'll finally get to be in a CITY! lol. Not that Rexburg hasn't been good to us, we have made a lot of friends, but Darren and I are BEYOND ready to get out of here.

New Years Eve was kind of a funny evening. Dallen and his friend Matt were driving to Rexburg from Cheyenne (from Omaha) that day and we were expecting them around 10 pm. I was kind of hoping they'd be there early so i was ready by 8 pm! lol. I wanted to have a fun little New Year's Eve Party/ Welcome to Rexburg party for them! I made a delicious platter of Dipped Strawberries, Dipped Maraschino Cherries, and Cake Bites! Yumm! And one of my very favorite beverages of all time, Sparkling Cider! In the end, the boys didn't get to our house until 11:30 pm! Cutting it kinda close, but we were so happy they arrived safely. After I fed them some dinner we sat around and ate the chocolate deliciousness with the bubbly until midnight! We didn't stay up long after that, by 12:15 we were all in bed! lol. We were exhausted, what can we say!?

Hooray for the New Year! I hope it's as good if not better than last year!__

Kaiden is having a BLAST with his uncle Dallen aka new wrestling buddy! I guess just wrestling his daddy was getting kinda old. Kaiden was shy to Dallen and Matt at first but QUICKLY warmed up to the both of them. When he sees them all he wants to do is jump ALL over them! He will also cuddle down with them and sit through almost half a movie! lol. Dallen is also the world's BEST babysitter!

We love having this kid around!!! One day I'll remember to bust out my camera! lol