Just like a lot of families out there, one of our Christmas Eve traditions is to open one present. We were excited to have Everson open his new car track since we knew he would like it. Todd will admit this, he was excited to play with the new track too. I love having boys, they have all the cool toys!
Santa came to visit us this year before Christmas for a special visit. It is really too bad neither of the boys enjoyed it until Santa took his hat, hair and beard off to reveal it was Deda. Hopefully one of these years the boys will be excited to see Deda Santa with smiles on their faces instead of frowns. We loved our special visit! Thanks again Santa and your helper (Mema).
I was surprised Everson got close enough to grab the candy cane. It is an improvement from last year, when he wouldn't get within 10 feet of Santa.
This is right before Everson's lip started to turn out and the crying began.
Everyone was smiles when they were the ones wearing Santa's hat.
Merry early Christmas! Our family gift exchange party was so much fun. Sadly there was no snow on the ground for all of us to go sledding like last year, but we still had a great time. It is always great to be together as one big family and just hang out and eat of course. Thanks to Greg and Tracy for letting us invade your house and everyone for helping with the yummy good. Bill, Kendra, Will, Kayla, Burke and Keegan were all missed very much! One of these years we hope to get everyone in attendance.
Gift exchange time!
Mema and Deda with grandkids.
The entire bunch!
The other day we were at the Dollar Tree paying for our stuff when Everson started trying on sunglasses from the rack right next to the check out line. After I got done paying and we were getting ready to leave, he would not put the sunglasses back and told us he wanted them. We of course explained to him that he has two pairs of sunglasses at home and he doesn't need another pair. He insisted. Much to our surprise, the old lady next in line to check out thought Everson was so cute and offered to buy the glasses for him. She pulled a dollar out of her purse and handed it to Everson and let him cut in front of her in line. Everson said thank you and even gave her a big hug! What do you know, there are nice people out there still!
Everson is in love with Dora the Explorer. Whenever he gets to watch TV he always asks to watch Dora. Everson has picked up quite a few spanish words from watching Dora like; con permiso (excuse me), abre (open), rapido (fast), de nada (you're welcome), and a few others. If I am in his way at some point during the day he was say con permiso instead of excuse me. Luckily I have also picked up some spanish watching Dora so I understand what he is saying. Canon has also grown to love Dora, but I think he just likes to watch TV with his bigger brother and could really care less what is on. They could sit there for hours if we let them.
We had a few friends over tonight for kettle corn and hot chocolate. Yum! As the evening was winding down there were two discoveries made. See pictures below.
Four out of the five guy's had iphones and they started chatting about their favorite games or as they called them "Apps."
I know Halloween is long gone, but I had to post some cute videos of the boys!
We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium Halloween morning. Everson loves the aquarium and so do I. One of the new things there was a tank of sharks and rays you could pet. Canon tried petting a ray but his arm were a little too short and the water a little too deep. Everson was a little nervous at first to try and pet a shark, but he did end up petting one that was sleeping.
Before going trick or treating we had to do a practice run to make sure Everson knew what to do. Lola and Grandpa's house was just the house to practice at!
Everson and Canon trick or treating at the first two houses of the night.
We are on the ball when it comes to getting our Christmas decorations out. Our lights are up outside and we pulled out tree we bought the day after Christmas last year out of it's box. Everson put the first ornament on the tree. I absolutely LOVE his face in the second picture!
Some of you know that Canon has loved to dance for quite some time. If you did not know this please click on the link http://tjcooper.blogspot.com/2009/07/canon-dancing.html He has still stuck with the same solid dance move of shaking his head, but we believe he has gotten better at it and he does not tumble over anymore. He is our Rock Star!
I love the very end of this video where he grabs his head like he has rocked way too hard and feels the aftermath!
For those of you who have never heard our little Canon make a peep since he is usually the strong silent type, here is proof that he can be a little chatter box.
Canon has not really tried to walk longer than a couple steps since the first day he took his 20 steps. Today, Carin, Kyrie and Amanda came over. I think Canon was feeling a little left out when he was the only kid that couldn't walk, so he decided to give it another shot. Kyrie was there at the end to clap for him. What a nice cousin!
Kettle corn is a favorite thing to eat after dinner. It is easy to make and soooo delicious! One week I think I made a batch every night. Yes, it is that tasty! Everson does not like it so he gets his own dessert. Canon on the other hand...well, you be the judge!
Almost every night Todd builds a fort/tower out of mega blocks for Everson's animals then he hides the animals in and on the building. They turn off all the lights in the living room and use a flashlight to find the animals. Todd will ask Everson to find a certain animal and Everson will take his flashlight and search for it in the fort. Everson loves to use his own flashlight. It is so cute to see them both lying on their stomachs being so quiet just staring into the mega block creation. I thought I would document this cute little ritual of theirs one night!
Looking at Everson through the fort.
Looking at Daddy through the fort.
Canon took his first real steps today! The most steps in a row today was 20, which we did not get on video.
This is usually how Todd's eats his breakfast. With either one or both boys sitting beside or on him begging like a little bird for their next bite.
Our sweet Everson has a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) when it comes to his things.
Same thing with his animals. They all have to be standing up in his barn all facing towards Everson. No laying down allowed. 
When playing with cars he puts them either in a neat pile, all cars usually facing the same direction or in two tighty lines.
If any of you know anyone with OCD you probably know that when things get messed up and aren't the way they want they tend to get a little bit bothered. This is in fact true for Everson. Once Canon takes one crawl towards his pile of cars or barn of animals or letters on the fridge he immediately starts to yell, "NO CANON DON'T MESS UP MY CARS." This is someting we have been working on. When Canon gets to the pile of cars and starts to mess them up, Everson frantcially will start picking them up and placing them back in a nice neat pile, while continuing to tell Canon to stop messing up his cars. Everson has been getting better at letting Canon mess up his perfections since we explain to him that we (myself or Todd) will help him put his toys back into the once perfect piles/rows.
Everson can get Canon to laugh so hard with random things he does. Luckily we were able to get pictures of one of these random acts one night and video of it another day!
It is hit or miss when it comes to shopping at the Goodwill. This time we hit the jackpot. We found this lovely Seasme Street couch that we knew the boys would love. Only $7 for the cute thing that will amount to hours of fun!
How can you not LOVE this guy with a face like that.
Our two year old already knows how to use a computer. Todd taught Everson how to turn on the laptop, click on the user icon and then on the show he wants to watch. Now when we tell him that he can't watch one of his shows he goes over to the computer and starts to turn it on. Canon loves trying to help Everson, but ends up making things a little more difficult.
