Birthday Boy in the House!

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I am a mom to a 4 year old! Seriously. Wasn't it just the other day that I brought him home from the hospital?!?! Our family is certainly blessed to have him in our home. He is the perfect little guy to be a leader and example to his siblings--being firstborn might not be easy, but Ethan is the man for the job! We love our little Ethan to pieces and love to watch him grow and learn and develop his personality!

Because he's 4 we figured it was time to have a birthday party for him with his little friends. I don't want to be the mom that has a party every year for their children, but I think every other year is perfect. Starting with 4 I figure I'll hit every "major year." 8 years old, baptism; 12 years old, Priesthood; 16 years old, dating; 18 years old, graduation. You get my point. Anyway, so we rented out Art Sports (a huge trampoline, obstacle course place) and invited his little Sunbeam friends. They had a blast! It was so adorable watching him run around with his little friends having a good time. Months prior to his birthday he had asked me to make him a gum-ball cake. I have no idea where he got the idea, but a gum-ball cake he got. I decided to kind of do a gumball theme. Because they only let you use the party room for 30 minutes I decided it would be best to feed the kiddos dinner (pizza and grapes and blueberries for the little ones, and chicken salad croissants for the adults), and let them take dessert (gum-ball cupcakes) home. Ethan also had fun picking out little favors to put in favor bags for his friends. Here are some pictures from his big day!!!


Ethan and Ivy

Ethan and his buddy Sam

E and Isaac

E and Hannah

E and Amanda

I tried to get a picture of the birthday boy with each one of his little friends, but that was easier said than done! I could hardly get the little monkeys to stop long enough for a picture!

Opening presents! Everyone was so sweet to pick out such fun gifts for him.

Cute water bottle labels


My first attempt at a gum-ball cake! And the gum-ball cupcakes-to-go. That took FOR.EVER! :)

A close up of the cake

Sweet Ethan chose Taco Bell for his birthday dinner. A few of the workers came over and sang happy birthday to him and passed out free cinnamon twists! So nice!

Family shot



Opening fun cards from Teigan

He was SOOOO excited to get money from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Savage! He said he wanted to go to the store to spend his moneys. I asked him if he'd like to save it instead. He replied, "I'll save it until I get to the store." TOO FUNNY!

Sky bought him a bike helmet and Ethan loved it so much he decided to wear it for the rest of the night.

I don't know if it was out of fear of Teigan feeling left out or my serious obsessive compulsive nature to buy matching things for my boys but Ethan and Teigan both opened up new baseball hats. They loved them!

Me and the wonderful mama who taught me how to be a mama!


We had such a fun day celebrating our little guy who just isn't so little anymore! He is so smart and so talented and SOOO athletic that I really look forward to raising him to be a handsome young man! I can't wait to watch him excel in school, cheer him on at his sporting events, help him get ready for his first date, serve a mission, get married and have babes of his own! Hopefully in that order. :) WE LOVE YOU ETHAN BEAR!

Ethan Skyler, 4 years old. Seriously? I know I'm biased but........He is TOO STINKIN CUTE!!!

Water Fun at Villa Sport

A few weeks ago we took the boys to the indoor water park at Villa Sport. Ethan loved it from the minute we walked in. Teigan, on the other hand, took a while to warm up to the idea of swimming around on his own and going down the water slide. But once he was comfortable there was no turning back! They both had the time of their lives and Teigan was out before we even left the parking lot!

Skyler and I took some books and magazines to read while my in-laws played in the water with their son, Brandon and my boys.

Ethan super excited after the water slide.

Teigan not so sure

Teigan the fish!

The awesome water park!

Family Pics

My husband was a trooper this year taking 3 sets of family pictures! We did his family back in August. Our little family at the beginning of November. And the Savage side at the end of November. Whew! And I'm already planning our outfits for next year! Call me crazy. :)

Sky's entire family.



These pictures were taken by the fabulous Mandy Yates.


Nicole Valentine is awesome and took our little family's pictures.

LOVE LOVE this picture!


I seriously HEART this picture of my boys!!!


We used Mandy again for the Savage shoot too.

The whole fam bam

Daddy and his girls :)

All 6 of us!


I seriously love to take family pictures. I think it's so important to document your growing and changing family on a yearly basis! Sometimes I wonder if this would have been a deal breaker had my husband known about that before he married me. :) I know he secretly loves it too, though! He just needs to embrace it. He has the next 40 years to get used to it I guess.

It's a Festivus Miracle

Seriously. Who is surprised to see a new post from Black land? You know when you put something off and continue to put it off until you just get so far behind it just doesn't seem worth while to do it anymore? That's kind of how I felt as of late. We're back in Colorado with both sets of grandparents who get to see the boys all day long--and I sort of figured they're the only ones who read the blog anyway........so it just wasn't a priority I guess. Plus, my camera stopped working sometime in August and we finally replaced it! So for those of you who happen to stalk my blog I'm back in business. :) Anyway, I was starting to feel guilty keeping your eyes from two of the most handsome toddlers around.

We love being in Colorado now! This was my first season snowboarding--thanks to an awesome husband who taught me how I actually really enjoy it! Ethan went up with us a few weeks ago for his very first day in ski school! He absolutely loved it and did really, really well!






Ethan was pretty upset when it was time to leave.....even after almost 6 hours of skiing! But we promised him he could go back to ski school soon and got him in the car--he didn't make it out of the parking lot awake!

Both boys really looked forward to Christmas this year. They were excited for Santa to come and asked almost every day to make cookies for him.



On Christmas Eve one of Santa's little helpers left new pj's and some magical reindeer food on the front steps. Ethan and Teigan looked like sweet little Christmas elves! The boys spread the magical reindeer food (oats and colored sugar) on the front lawn so Santa's reindeer could find our house and eat some food. They loved that!

They're showing off little flashlights Skyler bought for them....and E decided to wear the headband I use to keep my hair back when I wash my face. At least it matched his jammies :)

Teigan kept trying to pull the candycane out from the belt on his pajamas--so funny!

We had a great Christmas in Colorado!

Teigan: First One Out and the First One Back In

I've been so bad about blogging. Everyday I tell myself that today is the day. But, alas, I always seem to find better things to do. Like clean up one pound of Epsom salt that Ethan artistically poured all over the bathroom floor. Or put every single book that WAS on the boys' bookshelf back where it belongs. Or sweep up the entire box of Cheez-it crackers Teigan spilled outside on the deck to keep the disgusting flies away. And in between there's lots of hugs and kisses, story-telling, diaper changes, meals and snacks to be fed, tickles, more hugs and kisses, laundry, dinosaur fighting, and so on. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!

You know when you feed the kids dinner, then put them in the bathtub and think you've made it to the home stretch because bed-time is near? And you think to yourself, what am I going to do for the next few hours? and you sort of feel giddy about it? Like the thought of popping popcorn and watching the ridiculous-gotta-watch drama of the bachelorette? Do you know that feeling? Well, some nights things just don't go as planned.

Take this example from a few weeks ago. The boys were in the tub and right after bath time is story-time and bedtime...and oh was I ready for bedtime. Their bedtime that is. I pulled Teigan out of the tub and put his jammies on. I went to the laundry room to grab Ethan's jams out of the dryer (I always throw their pj's in for a few minutes resulting in nice warm pajamas and snug little boys) when I hear Ethan say, "Uh oh mom, Teigan." I knew what I was going to find, and thankfully my camera was at the top of the stairs right outside the bathroom.

Exhibit A: I love that Teig's face is saying, "Uh should I not have done this?"(notice the lip bite) And Ethan is glad that for once it's Teigan causing problems!

Then he looks at Grandma for advice....

Hangs his head in shame

Tries to win me over with this adorable, toothy smile :)

And when I laugh, he laughs!


So, like I said, that night took slightly longer to get the boys down--but this memory was worth it!



On a completely different note, turns out my brother Scott is the fastest 200 m runner in the entire city of Colorado Springs. Third fastest in the 100 m dash, and his 4X100 team also took first. Boo-ya!
Scott is on the far left.

Ethan must have gotten his speed from Uncle Scott cause that boy is FAAAAAST! Or did he get it from his mama? Seems to me like my name is still hanging in the gym at Pine Creek along with the other girls on the 4x1 team with the record of fastest time or something. Just saying. :) Scott's got nothin on me. Well, except for a Varsity future in basically every sport. He's my ticket to fame. I'll be known as the sister of Scott Savage, NFL superstar. Or MLB superstar. Or NBA superstar. Ok, I might be slightly exaggerating. Emphasis on slightly.

After Scott's track meet, Ethan told me, "Mom I want to be as super fast as Uncle Scott so I can take gum out of your purse and run super fast and you can't catch me."

That's exactly what I was hoping he'd use his speed for. What more could a mother ask for? :)

Oh, and one more thing. See this handsome guy in robes on the jumbo-tron? Yeah, that's my dad.

Dr. Savage to you. Dear ol dad went ahead and got his doctorate degree. In 2 years no less. While working full time. Savages can do those kinds of things, you know. My brother Steve is about to begin his 3rd year in dental school and my dad said the only thing he wanted was to be Dr. Savage before my brother. Savages are also slightly competitive. Emphasis on slightly. Ha ha--mission accomplished! :)