A Busy & Fun Day

What a fun day we had! Friday morning we got up and quickly got ready to go to the zoo. We met up with my college roommate and her little Elise and had a great time. It's fun that we both have season passes so we could relax and enjoy the morning instead of trying to see every animal and take hundreds of pictures. Brayden loved the animals, but he also enjoyed running down all the hills, looking for sticks, climbing on rocks, etc. Brooklyn did really well also. She mainly hung out in the stroller watching all the many people and kids everywhere. Here are the few pictures I did take.
Brayden and Elise: After the zoo the kids napped all afternoon. After Josh got home from work we quickly headed out to the Bees game. We stopped at Sonic for dinner then made it to the stadium during the 5th inning. Since we weren't sure if the kids would make it the whole game, we had decided it would be better to get to the game late than have to leave early. We met up with Ryan and Trianna Tucker, and also her cousin Amelia and his brother Chuck.

We sat on the grass, which ended up being perfect. Brayden had a lot of fun running around and bouncing his basketball. Brooklyn was able to crawl all over and stay busy.
After the game we all went down onto the field for the fireworks. Brayden was entertaining everyone as he ran around playing with his ball. Both the kids were mesmerized by the fireworks. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing in our direction so we got ash all over us. At one point it was hard to keep our eyes open to see the fireworks. Here's Brayden trying to keep his eyes open. The kids hung in there and we finally returned home and all crashed.

5th Anniversary!

I can't believe that we celebrated our 5th anniversary this week (27th). I ended up writing a bunch of random memories on little pieces of paper and putting them in little baseballs that I hid for Josh at home, in his car, and at his work. It was a little cheezy, but Josh enjoyed reminicing. In the morning I got the kids ready and we went to surprise Josh at his work. His boss let us in and Brayden was very excited and ran to his desk. It was really cute. We played in the kids room there then went to lunch. After lunch we played a little longer then headed home for naps. After Josh got home we hung out with the kids for a bit. I bought him a Fathead of the Jazz logo and had it in the living room when he got home. He was shocked and very excited. I made Josh promise not to get me anything b/c we are buying me a piano soon, but he got me a PlayStation game anyway. I don't play the PlayStation, but the game is a Friends trivia game and since I have seen all the episodes hundreds of times, he thought it would be fun.

Josh's sister came over at 8 and watched the kids so we could go to dinner and a movie. We went to Jordan Commons and ate dinner while we watched Angels and Demons. We liked the movie a lot, but loved the book more. We got home pretty late and just relaxed until we went to bed. Thanks Josh for an awesome day!

The only pics I took during the day were of the kids at Josh's work. They love playing in their kids room.

Up to Date!

I think I am finally caught up! Hopefully now I can keep it this way.

Birthday at the Temple

Since we had the BBQ last night, we didn't do mcuh out of the ordinary for my birthday. We slept in, went to church, then Josh and the kids took naps. While everyone was asleep I sat on the patio swing in deep thought and read some general conference talks I had missed. I still can't believe that I'm 28. Anyway, Josh's uncle works for the church and invited us all to a special open house of the Oquirrah Mountain Temple. I invited my parents to come and we had a wonderful evening. It was neat to go through the temple without all the crowds and also with Josh's uncle who told us many things about the construction of the temple that you normally don't ever hear about. So it was a really neat experience. Afterwards we went to Josh's brother's house and had dinner and root beer floats. Thanks for all the texts and phone calls wishing me a happy birthday. I had a wonderful day!Of course Brayden had to play in the water.

Birthday BBQ

My birthday was on a Sunday this year, so I was not expecting anything on Saturday, especially since we had a big BBQ last year. We had an enjoyable day and had talked about going to Leatherby's for icecream. After naps we all got ready and headed over to Josh's parent's house for dinner. When we got there I walked in, noticed it was very clean, and then saw my parents cutting watermelon. Hmmm...not normal. Most of our friends came over and we had a big BBQ. It was SO much fun to see everyone.
Brooklyn was so funny when I put her down on the grass. She did not like it touching her, so she tried her hardest to keep her legs off the grass. We were all laughing hysterically.
Here is Brooklyn and Crew in their pj's. So cute!
I knew that for my birthday I wanted to get a bike trailer to pull the kids in. So for months I have been looking for one on KSL and haven't had much luck. When Josh found out that's what I wanted, he also stopped at a few stores looking for one. We had told anyone that wanted to get me a gift that they could pitch in for the trailer b/c I wanted a nice one that also was a jogging stroller. My backup plan was to get the one at WalMart for $140. Once the kids were down for their naps, I got ready to go to WalMart to pick one up when I decided to check KSL one more time. It must've been my birthday b/c I got lucky. There was one that was only used 3 times, and most of the accessories were still in the original plastic. I called the guy up and he told me he'd hold it for me. I grabbed Brooklyn and took off. A quick 15 min drive and I met him to pick it up. It has everything that I wanted - bigger tires, jogging stroller attachments, folds down easy, comfortable seats, storage, pockets, and much more. And I only payed $60!!! I was SO excited I couldn't wait for my birthday. My dad helped me put it together during the BBQ and he took the kids for a quick ride.

Sick Boy

Brayden was really sick all week (May 11-15.) He threw up for 3 days, then had diarrhea for 2. Not fun. Luckily none of us caught what he had. He always wanted to be where I was. Here he is laying on the counter while I was making lunch.
At some point Brayden found my deoderant. I came into the room while he was trying to put it on. It was really cute.

I wasn't able to get Brayden to eat anything the first 3 days. Finally on days 4 and 5 he would eat Mac & Cheese. When he was ready to eat the leftovers from when I made it, he decided he wanted to eat it cold. So I gave it to him and went to get Brooklyn. Here is what I came back to.Since he was sick, I thought it was cute and let him play with it as long as he was eating it. I kept taking pictures, and of course this was bound to happen.

What a Project!

We've gotten 2 notices from the city that we needed to cut our lawn by May 7. They stopped by on the 5th and noticed we had started working on it, so they extended it until the 14th. I wish it was grass, but the entire yard is weeds. As soon as the inside of the house is done and put away, we will be starting on the outside. I bought an awesome lawn mower on KSL a couple of weeks ago for only $100! It did an awesome job. It took me a long time, but we finally got it done. I forgot to take pictures of it before I started cutting it, so just imagine the whole yard looking like this:
Josh and Steve spent one evening until midnight using sickles to cut down part of the weeds. I had to rake it all up then mow over it. They sickled about 1/4 of the yard.Here is the area they sickled after I raked and mowed. Almost the finished project. I didn't take pics after I was done b/c it was late at night. I mowed the edges to the fence, then a neighbor came over with a trimmer and finished it for us. Looks great, but too bad it's not grass.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always such an enjoyable Sunday. After a wonderful morning with Josh and the kids, church, and naps we headed out to visit my mom. It is great to live so close to them now. My mom is truly a blessing in my life. She is an example to me of what it takes to be a great mom. We have a relationship that I cherish and love to be able to say she is my best friend.
After visiting with my parents we headed over to the Ericson's where we had a bbq with my mother-in-law's family. It was fun to see everyone and spend time with Josh's mom. I am so grateful for the relationship we have and for the help she continues to give us. I'm also grateful that she raised such a wonderful son to take care of our family. We love you, Kay, and hope you know how special you are to our family.

I am so grateful and humbled for the opportunity I have to be a mother to two beautiful children. I love spending time with them and teaching them all that I can. There are no words to describe the love I have for Brayden and Brooklyn. I am often overwhelmed with the feelings of inadequacy, but continue to do my best for these kids. Thanks, Josh, for making my day special and for everyday making me feel loved and appreciated.

Bowling!

For Ryan Tucker's birthday, Trianna invited us all to go bowling with them. We have been SO excited to take Brayden bowling for the first time. He watches Curious George go bowling all the time and also is always asking to bowl on the Wii. Here is Brooklyn as we were getting ready to leave. Isn't she the cutest?!
Is he really big enough to carry an 8 pound ball? I love the picture as Brayden waited to see how many pins got knocked down.
Anxiously waiting for his turn again.
The girls:
The boys. Brayden was a little worn out by the end and wanted to go. Of course as soon as got in the car he wanted to bowl again.
I'm not sure what it is, but every good picture with the two kids always has both of them with their hands in their mouths.