Greensides Family

Introducing...

2011-07-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about our newest addition...Lexi! She was born July 5th at 3:50 pm. I am going to write about the labor and delivery just so I have a record of it, so feel free to skip all the fun details :)

We arrived at the hospital at around 7:15, got checked in and finally got things started a little after 8:00. Things went great...we were a little bored because we had planned on watching Netflix on our laptop, but the internet connection at the hospital was so slow it was really annoying to watch! Luckily, Jason's sister dropped off her DVDs to us so we had something to watch!

Things were going great...I got an epidural when I was dilated to a 3, almost a 4, and that was great...except for the fact that the baby's heart rate dropped quite a bit along with my blood pressure. My blood pressure is always pretty low, but the nurse came in and said she's seen cancer patients that are about to die with higher blood pressure than mine...it was like 70/54, but I felt great so they weren't worried about it and they got the baby's heart rate back up quickly and everything was great!

About an hour and a half later I was dilated to a 5 and was a little disappointed because I felt like it was taking forever! I was hoping to have her by 2:30, but I didn't :( About a half hour after I was told I was a 5, I felt a lot of pressure and sure enough I was a 10 and ready to push! The nurse paged the doctor and it took him what felt like FOREVER to get there! Jason says it was like 5-7 minutes, but it felt like 15 and his office is literally just down the hall...come to find out, he was helping a nurse push a bed down the hall...seriously! After two pushes Lexi entered the world weighing 7 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long. The first thing the doctor said was, "She's really long!" and she does seem really long!

She cried once, then was so exhausted she didn't cry much after that! Jason told me when they gave her her shot after her bath in the nursery, she did the same thing, cried once and that was it! When Jason was in the nursery with her, giving her a bath, he finally chose a name. If you don't know, we hadn't decided on a name yet...it was between Lexi and Bree...I liked Bree and Jason liked Lexi. I didn't hate Lexi, just liked Bree a little bit more! But I told Jason a couple weeks before we literally drew a name our of a hat and decided that's what it would be...it was Lexi, I was totally fine with that. Then a couple days later Jason said he wasn't too sure, so I told him he had to choose and that I didn't care. Well, when Jason brought her back from the nursery, the name tag on her bed said Bree...I was a little surprised. Well, the next day Jason decided he didn't really like Bree after he saw it written out, so I told him he had to decide by the time we checked out of the hospital the next morning. He came that morning and decided it was Lexi...I was just happy we finally decided :)

Here are a ton of pictures of our sweet, precious little girl! She's an awesome baby! Hopefully she'll survive life with three older siblings always "helping" mom!

If most of this post didn't make a lot of sense, it's because I'm tired :)

What we've been up to...the last six months!

2011-06-16T20:55:00.000-07:00


Building forts out of toilet paper and toy bins...what else is there to do in January!

It's been a while since I've posted anything...I can't seem to find motivation to much more than keeping my kids alive, my house clean, and growing a baby coming in four weeks! Here is what we've been up to the last six months...in a nutshell!

Brynn started dance in February and loves it! I think she look adorable!

We visited the aquarium for a preschool field trip in February. The kids liked it...well Jaxon and Jordan thought it was great...Brynn was scared of everything, even the penguins...crazy girl!

Visited the dentist in February. The kids did great...it was Jordan's first visit and he loved it. It was Brynn's fourth or fifth visit and I still had to hold her down so they could do their job...stinker! No cavities for any of the kids...although Brynn has two extra teeth that will have to be pulled in a couple of years...not an easy procedure either...they have to put her out, cut her gums, and pull the teeth...sounds like fun, huh?

We went to Discovery Gateway and the kids had a great time...Jordan loved everything...the balls, the water, the pretend store and garden...pretty much everything!

Jaxon loved the balls and the store...he spent most of his time at the pretend store.

Brynn was scared of the horse at first, but she warmed up after a while and didn't want to get off!

What Will 2011 Bring?

2011-01-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

It's always fun at the beginning of a new year to think what is going to happen throughout the year. Here are a few things I can think of right off the top of my head...

Jaxon will start Kindergarten this year...technically, he could have started last year, but I held him back since his birthday is in July, so he would be the oldest and not the youngest in his grade...hopefully it was the right decision :) I think he will LOVE Kindergarten and he will do great!
Jordan will be (or better) be potty trained this year! I hate potty training...HATE it...but I am so excited for him to be potty trained...I am shooting for starting around May, if he's ready...cross you fingers!
Brynn will start her second year of preschool and she can't wait! She loves school and asks everyday if it's a school day. She's a quick learner...knows all of her alphabet and letter sounds and can count to 20 and recognize numbers up to 10...she's cute!
Jason and I are going on a Disney Cruise (yes that's right, we are leaving the kids home to go on a Disney Cruise...nice parents, right?) in October. Our first trip sans kids since we went on our last cruise in January 2007...needless to say we are super excited!
Jaxon will turn 6 in July, Brynn will turn 4 in April and Jordan will turn 3 in November...how did my kids get so old?!
Jason and I will celebrate our 9th anniversary in March...seriously, we've been married 9 years...it seems like just yesterday...really it does!
We will become a family of 6 in July...that's right...the newest member of the Greensides family is coming in July and we couldn't be happier! It will make July a crazy busy month with three birthdays, but it will be great! We find out the gender in two weeks and I will be happy with either!

I'm sure I left out many fun things that are going to happen this year,l but it sounds like a fun, exciting, and busy year doesn't it? Hopefully we can make it! Bring on 2011!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-06T19:05:00.001-08:00

Christmas this year was super fun...my kids were really into it and that made it really fun! It was a little bit different this year though...my parents usually come up and we do a big Christmas Eve dinner at our house then they are there in the morning to watch the kids open presents. Well, because of the time my dad took off to go to Disneyland, he wasn't able to get enough time off to come up for Christmas :( We were bummed, but understood, so we were going to do something with my sister and her family, but they were all sick...and we didn't want to get sick...not my idea of fun! So, we spent Christmas Eve with Jason's family...which was fun too. We went and saw Tangled (super cute!) then went to Jason's parents house and ate dinner, played games, the kids opened one gift each, then headed home and waited for Santa!

Christmas morning was fun and exciting...Jason and I were both very tired because we had wrapped the night before, then Jordan was up until 2 because he wasn't feeling well...but at least the kids slept in until around 7:30...that was nice. The kids had a great time opening their presents and discovering they must have been on the nice list!

We spent all morning breaking toys out of the impossible to open boxes and putting the toys together. Then at around 1, we headed over to Jason's parents house to continue our Christmas celebration with dinner, presents and visiting. It was super fun!

We missed having my parents over for Christmas, but still had a great Christmas overall...enjoy the pictures!

Decorating cookies for Santa

Opening one present on Christmas Eve...the cousins got pajamas, but my kids have SO many pajamas, I decided to get them a little toy instead...they were a hit!

Breaking into the stockings...this year we put the tree downstairs, but the stockings were still upstairs...it was actually kind of fun that way!

This year we had the kids take turn opening presents...it actually worked quite well, they were all very patient, much to my surprise!

Brynn loves her My Little Pony house!

I am not sure how Santa knew Jaxon wanted Wheezy that he saw at Disneyland...he must be one smart man!

Waiting to open their presents from Grandma & Grandpa...Jordan was taking a nap...he wasn't feeling very well :(

All the grand kids got Pillow Pets...they were so excited! Brynn got a ladybug, Jaxon got a lion and Jordan got a penguin.

They look pretty happy with their new presents huh?

Disneyland...again!

2011-01-06T18:42:00.000-08:00

Warning...lots of rambling and lots of pictures...I warned you!

We went to Disneyland for the second time this year...we had gone in late January/early February and had a great time. My parents decided for Christmas they would take us and my sister and her family to Disneyland...we thought it was a fantastic idea! We decided to make it a little longer trip and go three days earlier and we're really glad we did!

We got there on December 15th and had a great time...the weather was decent...a little chilly, but nice. The kids were so excited to finally be at Disneyland after talking about it for weeks! We took it easy and just went on whatever rides the kids wanted to go on. We stayed until about 9 that evening and the kids were exhausted (and so were we!). As we were walking back to our car it started to rain...a sign of what awaited us for the rest of the trip!

The next day we headed back and had a great day doing pretty much whatever we want...I think we are a lot different than most people that go to Disneyland...we usually go for 4-6 days...it's nice because we don't feel like we have to rush to make sure we get on all the rides we want to...we just take it easy and enjoy instead of rushing all the time...I wouldn't do it any other way :) Anyway...again we had good weather and a ton of fun and stayed until around 9 again.

The next day when we left for Disneyland it was raining...and it didn't stop for the next four days...seriously...ok it stopped for like 2 hours the last day we were there, but that was it! We went on a few rides then spent a good amount of time inside Innoventions in Tomorrowland. It was nice because it was inside and Jason and Jaxon really liked it because they had xbox's to play! We seriously spent three hours there hoping for the rain to let up...well it didn't. We went on a few more rides then called it a day at around 4...so not like us!

The 18th was the day everyone else was going to arrive at Disneyland...so we headed to Disneyland...in the rain again. This time we were smart enough to get some of those lovely ponchos...best investment of the trip! The kids looked so cute...Jordan looked like ET when we walked in his poncho...so cute! We spent of lot of time inside the Animation Studios in California Adventure...which actually turned out perfectly because that's where the characters are when it's raining outside! We were excited to when my parents and my sister and her family arrived and we braved to rain to go on whatever rides we could.

The next two days were fun, but at the same time kind of miserable...we were sick of the rain and it just got worse and more windy which made the rain almost unbearable. But we braved it and had fun anyway! Jaxon's favorite rides were Big Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain. Brynn HATED Pirates and loved Small World and meeting the princesses. Jordan liked pretty much everything...he's easy to please...sometimes!

Thanks mom and dad for such a great trip...even if it was very soggy...it was lots of fun being with my family...all of them! For the record...California hadn't seen that much rain in 10 years...just our luck! On the drive home, it rained the ENTIRE time...there was about 15 miles in Cedar City where it wasn't raining, but that was it...crazy!

We saw the Weinermobile in the parking lot of our hotel and had to get a picture!

Neither Jordan nor Brynn were too sure about standing next to Goofy.

I'm pretty sure Brynn is trying to run away in this picture because she didn't want to be by Mickey...which is odd because she loved Minnie!

Jaxon was none too please that he had to take a picture with Minnie...she is a girl after all! When did this start?

He's super excited to go on Big Thunder Mountain!

Cotton candy...I hate the stuff, but the kids love it!

Maps...my kids were crazy about the maps for Disneyland and California Adventure...seriously, I was hoping we could get away with getting those as souvenirs instead of the ridiculously priced toys in Disneyland, but no such luck!

Brynn driving in Autopia..doesn't she look cute in her hat? Thanks mom for the hat and gloves.

Look how happy everyone is...this is before the rain started.

Then the rain came...

I don't know why this picture turned out so bad...oh well! Jaxon again, was not happy to have to take a picture with a girl. Jordan was taking a nap in the stroller at this point...this is while we were seeking refuge in the Animation Studio.

Jaxon had no problem posing with Woody though...Brynn on the other hand wanted nothing to do with him!

She did however, love Minnie!

She wasn't so sure about Pluto though...hence the reason I am in the picture!

This is what Jordan did while Jaxon and Brynn met the characters.

Goofy..again, Brynn didn't want anything to do with him, but Jaxon did!

Brynn's no so sure of Donald either...I guess she really only likes Minnie and Jesse.

What we wore basically nonstop for three days while at Disneyland. If you ever go to Disneyland and buy ponchos...just a little tip...if they get ripped or damaged at all...they will replace them for free. I think we went through two per kid...Disney is great about that kind of stuff.

The stroller even had it's own poncho too!

Jordan and Grandpa...on the second day, we finally convinced the rest of the group to give in and buy ponchos and quit carrying around the umbrellas...I think they were very glad they listened to us!

All I have to say is thank goodness for hats...otherwise there's no telling what my hair would've looked like!

Handsome boys!

All tuckered out! Yes, this is a double stroller, but we can turn it into a triple one pretty easily :)

Jaxon in his daddy's hat...very handsome!

Brynn loved seeing the princesses...she was in heaven talking to them!

Jordan turns 2!

2011-01-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

Jordan turned 2 on November 20th...we had a lot of fun for his birthday! We had a birthday party with some of his cousins a few days before his birthday. He had fun playing with his cousins and decorating cookies and eating cake...I think that was his favorite part!

On his actual birthday, we just celebrated as a family. He opened presents first thing in the morning (yes I wrapped his presents in Christmas wrapping paper because I planned very poorly and didn't have any other wrapping paper in the house...bad mom, I know, but at least I made it so the white side was facing out!) He got a few cool toys...more stuff to clutter our house...story of my life!

Then we headed to Jungle Jim's to celebrate even more! The kids thought it was pretty cool...well everyone but Brynn...she hated the rides...it could have something to do with the fact that we put her on the fastest one first and she hated it, so she didn't want to go on any other rides. After a while we convinced her it wasn't so bad and she liked the swings and the merry-go-round. Jaxon and Jordan liked all the rides and they liked riding them together...very cute! I think he had a pretty good birthday!

Jordan is for sure all boy! It's funny...I always heard of the terrible two's and never understood what people were talking about because with Jaxon & Brynn, three was much worse than three. However, now I know what everyone was talking about! Up until a few weeks before his birthday...Jordan was the most mellow, easy going kid I knew. He didn't let much bother him and he was just all around sweet...then he turned two...seriously, it's like someone flipped a switched and I got a different kid! Don't get me wrong...he's still really cute and I love him to death, but he's the most stubborn, strong-willed child I know! Seriously...he would rather throw a fit, cry, and scream for an hour than do something he doesn't want to do...it's really frustrating...here's to hoping three is better than two :) He is very cute and adorable and can be the cutest kid you've ever seen...and he tends to trick people into thinking he's super sweet, but if you're around him enough...his real personality will shine through!

Jordan and Jaxon riding the Merry-go-round...we didn't get any pictures of Brynn because she wouldn't get on any of the rides until about 1/2 hour before we left!


This could be the lamest ride at Jungle Jim's, but the kids liked it :)

Present time! Sorry the pictures are so crappy...our camera broke and all we have is our phones...Jason's works great, mine not so good...oh well!

That cake was huge! Jason insisted on getting one from Costco because he had had one before and thought it was amazing...he was very disappointed that this one was not nearly as good.

We have a tradition in our family where we decorate the bedroom door of the birthday boy/girl...they always like it and think it is super fun!

We love you Jordan and are so glad you are part of our family!

I did it!

2010-11-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

I did it...I ran a 1/2 marathon. In case you don't know, that's 13.1 miles...of running! The best part was it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! I ran the Halloween Half Marathon through Provo Canyon...it was the prettiest run I have ever run...absolutely beautiful!

I was lucky enough to have some friends running the race also, which made it even more fun! Thanks ladies for making it so fun.

I woke up bright and early...I don't even remember what time I woke up because it was so early...I think it was 5:00 and of course, I didn't sleep well the night before because I was nervous about the race, nervous and about not waking up on time, etc.

We parked at University Mall and then got bussed up to Sundance and waited for the race to start...it didn't start until 9:00, but we wanted to get there early to be sure we had enough time to take plenty of potty breaks, eat some food, chat, and have fun! I am so glad we got up there so early and weren't stuck waiting 45 minutes for a bus at University Mall!

When the race finally started...it was about 10-15 minutes after 9:00, but that's ok...I was totally stoked! The first about 5 miles was all downhill...like seriously downhill! I don't know why, but when I run downhill, I tend to hold back a bit and don't run as fast as I know I can. I did that a bit this time too, especially because I didn't want to start off too fast, then be dead by mile 10...I wish I would have pushed myself harder though because I totally could have gotten a better time!

I felt great the whole run...it wasn't hard...it wasn't miserable, it was fun! The weather was perfect...it was fun watching people I passed and people who passed me that were dressed up in Halloween costumes and think, "How in the world do they run in that!"

There were SO many times while I was running that I wished I could stop and take a picture, it was SO beautiful! But alas...I wanted a good time, so I didn't!

Jason was a trooper and got the kids ready and drove down the see me finish the race. Jaxon thought it was so cool that I was in a race...actually my second race, but he liked this one because he could see me finish...my other he couldn't because it was in St. George. Anyway...Jaxon asked Jason if I won the race...Jason told Jaxon everyone who finishes wins...I like that theory!

These were the best pictures Jason could get at the finish line...I can't blame him...I can only imagine what a nightmare it was trying to keep track of three kids and the insanely busy finish! I am the one in the pink shirt and black pants.

Right after the race...nice picture, right? I look terrible, but hey...I just ran 13.1 miles...what do you expect? We didn't stick around too long at the finish because I was kind of crazy busy and we didn't want to lose the kids! We hung around long enough for me to get my medal, eat some fruit and drink some water...then we were off to start the fun Halloween festivities...which by the way, included a quick trip to WalMart, eating lunch at McDonald's (jealous huh?), finally showering...I was pretty nasty, trick-or-treating at SoDa Row (a little retail place here in Daybreak), eating dinner, then heading out in the freezing cold to trick or treat.

I was really pleased with my time. I was hoping for anything less than 2 hours and my time was 1:53:07. I was very pleased with that, although I know I could have done better if I had just let go on the hill, but oh well...I learned for next year, right?

In case you were wondering...My feet escaped with minimal damage...I got two blisters that weren't too bad...not fun, but not bad. That day I wasn't too sore, but the next two days I was SO sore...oh my goodness was I sore! I guess that's what a mostly downhill 1/2 marathon will do to your quads...trust me, it hurt, but it was so worth it! I would do it again in a heartbeat!

By the way...if you are thinking about doing something

like this and think you can't...you can! I wasn't a runner before this and I would hear people talk about how running is totally mental and I thought they were crazy. Well...it's SO true! It's totally mental! Your body can do it, it's your brain that tells you to stop and that you can't do it anymore...I promise...try it..you can do it!

Trick-or-Treating

2010-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Trick-or-treating this year was awesome...aside from the freezing cold wind and rain, but beside that it was great. Want to know why it was so great? Well I'll tell you...it was the first year we didn't have to carry a child, or a child didn't have to ride in the stroller. We took the stroller along just in case one of the kids pooped out and needed a ride, but no one wanted to use it until Brynn got too cold and wanted to be covered up. It was pure heaven!

They had so much fun! They all ran from house to house and knew exactly what to do. Jordan was a trooper...he didn't want to get in the stroller toward the end, but we made him because it was so cold! It was so much fun to watch them having so much fun!

I should mention...I did get a picture of them all together in their costumes before we left, but it is on Jason's phone, so these are the best I can do :)

For the record...Jaxon was Buzz Lightyear, Brynn was a princess,

and Jordan was Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch)...not to be confused with Eyore...everybody thought he was Eyore...eventually I got tired of correcting everybody and just told them said, "Yes, he's Eyore."

Carving Pumpkins

2010-11-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin carving...I have to admit...not one of my favorite traditions, but I do it for the kids :) Jaxon asked everyday for about two weeks when we were going to carve pumpkins...when it was finally time, he was so excited!

I love Brynn's face in this picture...she actually didn't mind the "guts" too much and did a great job cleaning out her pumpkin.

Jaxon loved his pumpkin and insisted on having a two-sided jack-o-lantern. I had to carve a face on one side and a ghost on the other...he was happy with the finished product.

Jason carved our traditional Mickey pumpkin...nothing too fancy this year...we kept it pretty simple!

Jordan had fun coloring on his pumpkin for the first little while. Eventually he had fun trying to scoop out the guts. Then he was very specific how he wanted his carved. He told me what shapes he wanted the eyes and nose and I took it upon myself to decide what kind of mouth to do. He thought the whole process was pretty cool!

Love the concentration on his face...so cute!

Jaxon's pumpkin was the toughest pumpkin to carve...literally...it was so hard to get the knife in and out of it!

The finished products...Brynn was being a butt and being grumpy for pictures...isn't she sweet!

Witches at Gardner Village

2010-11-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

Jason was out of town for about 5 days (which felt like 5 years in case you wanted to know!) so to kill some time, I decided to take the kids to Gardner Village to see the witches. The kids thought it was pretty cool and especially liked the witch riding the bike in the sky...they still talk about it.

I will admit...it was a little crazy trying to keep all three of them together, happy, and alive while we were there, but I did it...well, they were happy most of the time :)

And this picture pretty sums up every picture I try to take of my kids together...I can never get one with all of them looking...but oh well!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

Another fun trip to the pumpkin patch! We look forward to this every year and had just as much fun this year as we have the past couple of years.

We let each kid pick out their own pumpkins...the rule was they had to be able to carry it themselves and put it in the wheelbarrow. Brynn picked one she could barely carry.

Jaxon's had "freckles" on it...which translated means bumps.

And Jordan's was just his size!

The kids had fun playing on the tractors, but I will spare you from looking at all the other pictures I took and just finish up with this one of our family...not the best, but it's pretty hard to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time :)

Love it!

2010-09-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

I loved this talk when I heard it at the General Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday, but I listened to it again tonight and loved it even more...if you get a chance, take a listen...you will love it too!

click here!

Red Rock Relay!

2010-09-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

So, back in March or April, my friend Amelia was putting together a team for the Red Rock Relay and asked if I wanted to do it. I couldn't do it for a couple of reasons...then she asked me about a month ago and it turned out that all my reasons for not being able to do it earlier had resolved themselves and I could totally do it and I was super excited!

So, I trained for a month. I started out running 5-6 miles a night for about 5-6 days a week. At first I struggled to finish 5 miles and was running a little over a 10 minute mile. I was kind of disappointed, but figured I still had a month. I kept at it and by the end of a month of training i was at about a 9:30 mile...not super fast, but it was a pretty good improvement! I also was able to run 8-8.5 mile long runs on three Saturdays and I could totally do it and keep up my 9:30 mile! I was super excited about it.

Anyway...onto the actual race...We left Thursday afternoon and headed to Cedar City for a pre-race spaghetti dinner and headed up to Brian Head to a beautiful cabin where we spent the night. We had fun hanging out, sitting in the hot tub (which had SO many chemicals in it was concerned if I would be able to breathe the next day!), and chatting. That night I slept maybe like 4 hours...I guess I was anxious about the next day.

We woke up Friday and headed to the starting line as a team and sent our first runner off. My van was the second van, so we had a few hours to kill before we had to go to the first van exchange, so we headed back to the cabin, did a little yoga (thanks Heather!), chatted a bit more, ate breakfast and decorated the van, well Excursion, but we called it the van.

At the first van exchange, we waited for the other van to come in then we were off. I thought my first run was all downhill...6.5 miles. Well turns out, it was about a mile uphill, then the rest was downhill. It was a really beautiful run through a gorgeous canyon. Half way through I told myself to just enjoy the experience and the beauty around me...I did that for a while, then got my mind back on my run! I had one kill (which means I passed one person)...we won't mention how many times I got killed...ok it was three times, but it was by super, super fast people! I don't know what my time was because I totally forgot to push start on my timer before I started running...I was SO mad!

After my run, two other runners ran then we headed to our next van exchange at SUU. We passed on the bracelet, then headed to Cafe Rio to have some much needed dinner...and I'll tell you, that dinner tasted fantastic! We headed to Wal-Mart where we picked up some needed, and not so needed, things then headed to our next van exchange at New Castle. I pulled out my sleeping bag and tried to get a few minutes of sleep...didn't work at all! So, I was going on 4 hours or sleep at this point, but I was ready to run!

My next run was at about 2:00 a.m. in the middle of nowhere...I don't really know where it was...honestly...I guess I passed a monument about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, but it was so dark, I didn't see it. This was my best run though...I loved it! I ran 5.4 miles in 33 minutes...that's about a 6:30 minute mile! It was AMAZING! I had five kills on this leg and it felt fantastic! I think I should start running in the dark from now on...it was really nice to not see what was ahead of me...be it a hill or flat land...it was just great!

Our next van exchange was at Veyo, where we welcomed out last runner into our van and headed to my parents' house in Washington for a couple hours of sleep. I felt so bad because they weren't expecting us until later, but it was 5:00 am and I had to call them to wake them up to unlock the door...I felt SO bad, but it was SO nice to get about 1 1/2 hours of sleep. My parents were so sweet...they had food ready for us to eat, beds ready to sleep in, showers ready to use, flushing toilets (much better than the port-a-potties we had been using for the past 24 hours!) it was SO fantastic! After our little naps, we headed to the next van exchange at the Washington Rec Center.

We sent out our first runner off and were off to run in the blazing sun! My last leg was Hurricane (I think!). This leg was 5.5 miles and I knew my first two miles was going to be uphill, but after running for about 3/4 of a mile, uphill, on a very busy road, it turned into a trail run for 1.25 miles. It was actually pretty cool, but not at all what I was expecting, plus it was so stinking hot! It was about 12:30 and the sun was taking it out of me! After I got finished with the big hill, I just had a couple rolling hills that weren't too bad, but again, it was HOT! I can honestly tell you I was never so happy to see the exchange as I was after this leg! It felt great to be finished and it felt great to accomplish something so great and worthwhile!

We continued to shadow the remaining two runners...making sure they had plenty of water. We had a ton of fun with our last runner...blasting music from the Excursion to motivate her to the get to the finish line and she was a machine...she did an amazing job! It was crazy! We crossed the finish line as a team (well most of a team), took a few pictures, then headed to a pizza place for a much deserved dinner! After dinner, we headed back to my parents house and FINALLY got a good nights sleep...it felt so great! Thanks again to my absolutely amazing parents...not everyone can handle having 9 girls in their house and do it so kindly! You guys are amazing!

Sunday we headed home and I have to say it was so nice to be home with my sweet family! My sweet husband and kids made sure the house was spotless when I got home, which was SO nice...I have the best family ever!

To sum it up...here is what the back of my t-shirt says...

2 days
186 miles
8k feet
I am a running machine!

Such a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat! If you ever get a chance to do it...DO IT!

I think I have become a little addicted to running...who would have ever thought?!? Anyone up for the Halloween Half Marathon on October 30th?

Things I've Learned Recently...

2010-09-13T19:10:00.003-07:00

Okay, so I have been meaning to post this for about a month now, but I just NEVER have time! Seriously, it's crazy...especially while training for the Red Rock Relay (more about that in another post)...I would run every night after the kids went to bed and by the time I got back, didn't really want to do much. Now that's over, and Jason is out of town, I thought I might actually update my blog!

I was thinking a while ago about the things I have learned recently and a lot came to mind, so I thought I would share...hopefully I can remember them!

Summer is much more enjoyable after losing 20 lbs. I started trying to lose weight last October and have lost about 20 lbs total. Previously summertime was not a lot of fun for me...it was super hot and miserable! I was shocked at how big of a difference 20 lbs of extra weight makes.
Along the same lines as the above...no matter how much weight I lose, I don't think I will ever feel totally confident and secure about my body. I wish I could get over it, but what's a girl to do?
This one has taken me a LONG time to learn...I've had to let go of caring what people think of me. I think this was one of the hardest things for me to understand. People will think what they will about me, so be it. I am myself and that's what you can expect from me, I am not fake or insincere at all...what you see is what you get. I had to let go of caring if I got invited to every single thing my friends were doing...it's not the end of the world it I don't get invited to every single girls night out, sure I'd love to go, but it's not that big of a deal. Like I said, I feel like this was a big step for me and it has made my life so much simpler.
I am not a trendy person. I have tried to be trendy fashion wise, but I just can't do it! I feel ridiculous when I do try something trendy on. That and I can never justify spending that much money on something that will probably be viewed as hideous in about a year...I just look at it as saving money! I am for sure a jeans and t-shirt type of girl...it works for me!
I will never stop worrying about my kids. Worrying if I am a good enough mom. Worrying how a choice I make for them today with effect their lives in the future...good and bad. Worrying that my kids don't have enough friends around (even though I know they do). Worrying that I am reading, playing, teaching, singing with my kids enough. I don't think it will ever end!
I am getting older. I know what's totally obvious, but it's taking some getting used to! I have been so used to always being the youngest in a group and that's happening less and less now. What's up with that?!?
I have a lot of fantastic people in my life! Of course, my husband and kids, my parents, in-laws, etc. But I also have great friends all around me...it is such a blessing to be able to call up any number of people if I ever need help with anything...I feel SO blessed!

Okay...I am not very good and putting my thoughts/feelings into words, but these are just a few things that have been on my mind for a while and I'm sure there are many more I totally forgot, but oh well!

2010-09-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

I am slowly going crazy...

2010-08-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

When I was little there was a song that consisted of those words sung over and over again. I have felt this past week that I am going crazy due to being stuck at home all day, every day since Jaxon got his tonsils out on Tuesday. I am not the kind of person to stay home everyday...it drives me crazy. We have a schedule we follow...out the door going to the gym by 8:30, after the gym, head to the splash pool for an hour, come home, have lunch, put kids down for a nap, get some cleaning done, take a little time for me...and on with the rest of the day. I cannot wait to get back to that schedule tomorrow...as long as Jaxon is feeling up to it. I guess I am just a person that thrives on structure...so be it I suppose!

Surgery

2010-07-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Jaxon got his tonsils and adenoids taken out on the 27th. We have needed to do this for a long time and finally got around to actually doing it. Jaxon gets strep about once every 3 months and we were all tired of it...I really hope this will be the end of strep for a long time!

Jaxon was actually excited about the surgery...it could have been because Jason and I told him that he could have all the popsicles and ice cream he wanted for about five days. He was pretty much counting down the days until his surgery. We tried to explain to him that it would also hurt...a lot, but I think he chose not to hear that part!

The surgery went really well...the doctor said he rates tonsils on a scale from 1-4...1 being the worst...Jaxon's were a 3. I guess there were lots of pockets of yellow gunk in the tonsils that explain all the strep...glad we got them out!

He's actually been doing pretty well...as long as we keep the pain meds in him. The first night, we blew up the air mattress and put it on our bedroom floor so we would be able to hear him when he woke up...which was like 20 times that first night (at least it felt that way!). Jaxon had a hard time falling asleep, so Jason laid down with him and he stayed there for most of the night...it was sweet! It was a rough few nights, but he's finally getting better now...I hope we can all get some more sleep now!

A few of the side effects I didn't expect...his voice is REALLY nasaly (pretty sure I just make that word up) and whiny and it's kind of driving us crazy! I know his throat hurts and I feel really bad for him, but it's seriously almost more I can take...hopefully it will be back to normal soon! The other is the horrible breath! The nurse actually warned me about it at the hospital, but I didn't think much about it until today. It hasn't been bad until today and boy is it bad! We brush regularly and give him gum to chew, but there's no helping this breath. Let's cross our fingers it gets better soon...really soon!

I am so glad everything went so well and hope this is the end of strep throat for a while...a long while!

Camping Trip...

2010-07-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

Our first ever "real" camping trip...real as in pulling off the side of the road, packing our "stuff" into camp, no toilets, no table, etc.

It was actually a success, for the most part! We went with our friends the Hmpherey's and had a great time hanging out with them. The kids loved throwing stuff in the fire, exploring the great outdoors and just getting dirty!

We spent most of the day Saturday fishing at Mirror Lake. Jason was sure he would catch his limit in a couple of hours and have plenty of fish for dinner. Well, after about four hours of fishing and nothing to show for it and some pretty bored/fidgety kids, we decided to head back to camp for nap time for the kids. That was a good idea in theory! We put Jordan and Brynn in the tent for their nap. After a few minutes of them not sleeping, I went in to check on them...our dear Jordan had climbed out of his pack and play and was jumping on Brynn...ugh! Needless to say, the kids didn't take a nap in the tent that day, but luckily Jason and Joseph needed a few fishing things from Kamas, so they took the kids in the car with them and they all took a good nap...yay!

Bedtime the second night however was not so good! I was hoping Jordan would forget how to climb out of his pack and play...no such luck! After about 10 minutes of Jordan climbing out of the pack and play and proceeding to jump on Brynn and Jaxon which resulted in crying and screaming, we decided to put Jordan in the car strapped in his car seat and hope he fell asleep quickly. Luckily it worked! He was asleep in about 5 minutes without a tear...it worked!

All in all, it was a great trip and we might even do it again sometime soon...like next weekend!

Jaxon at 5

2010-07-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

I decided since Jaxon turned 5, it might be a good idea for me to jot down a few things about him at this age so I can remember what he was like when my brain starts going...oh wait, I feel like that is already happening. Anyway...here it goes...

Jaxon is definitely a first child. My friend and I were talking about it one day and you can tell who the first children are in a family...they are the ones who always want to please, never want to go against what they think they should do or what is right. They are always concerned that what they are doing is the right thing and they are doing it correctly. I don't know if this is true for all first children, but it sure is for my first child!
People always think he is older than he is...people usually guess that he is 6. He's just tall for his age I guess.
He is old enough and academically ready to go to kindergarten in the fall, but after much debate, worry, and mind changing, we've decided to hold him back a year so he is the oldest in his class and not the youngest. I hope and pray this is the right decision, but I think it will be best for him when he gets older.
Jaxon has already decided who his is going to marry...his best friend Lily. They talk about it all the time and have even decided how old they are going to be...if I remember correctly it's 22 or 23. So cute!
He can read quite well, although I have to force him to sit down with me to read and he would much rather look at the pictures the whole time instead of actually read the words...stinker!
He is taking swim lesson right now and is doing really well. I am very impressed and happy that he is getting more comfortable in the water.
He would watch movies all day long if I let him. I hate this, and limit his movie viewing as much as I can
Jaxon isn't quite able to ride a bike without training wheels, but he's almost there...just a few more practice sessions with dad and he should be good!
He is really into superheros and will play for hours on end with his superheros and superhero toys that he has
He loves having friends over and would love it if a friend could come over all day everyday.
Jaxon is a very polite and well mannered little man, not perfect, but for the most part very good!
He loves his sister and brother...even though she tortures him all.of.the.time! Today was a tough day with Brynn and Jaxon could tell, so he was so good and did everything I asked him to the first time...what a great boy!
He loves to help Jason do anything...garden, fix anything that needs fixing, cooking, as long as he gets to spend time with dad!

He is a joy to our family and we are so blessed to have him in our family! Love you buddy!

Cherry Hill

2010-07-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

We went to Cherry Hill last week with our friends the Humphery's. It was our first attempt at camping with all of our children. I say camping, but it wasn't really camping, it was more like sleeping in a tent. You can't have fires and there are about a million people all around you, so you feel like you have to be pretty quite (like if my child was crying I felt like I had to make him stop right away as to not bother anybody), totally different experience than camping in the mountains!

We got up there Thursday night, set everything up, let the kids play, put them to bed way too late, then played card games. Friday morning we woke up and spent the entire day at the water park. The kids loved it! Jaxon loved everything about it, especially the dragon slide and playing with his best friend Lily. Brynn liked playing in Pirates Cove and was unsure about everything else. She went down the dragon slide with Cami and hated it. Me, being the nice mom, made her go again! She liked it a bit better the second time and still talks about how she went down the dragon in Cami's lap and covered her eyes. Jordan loved playing in Pirates Cove and hanging out in the lazy river. He actually fell asleep on Jason's lap in the lazy river and took about a 20 minute nap...it was cute!

Jaxon had requested s'mores for his birthday which was Thursday, the day we got up there. Since you can't have fires, we had bought this little kit so we could do it without an actual fire pit. He liked it and it made him happy, so it was fun!

After the fun filled day of playing in the water, I thought for sure the kids would go to sleep without any problems, boy was I wrong. Jason and Joseph went to the batting cages and Cami and I attempted to put the kids to bed. Let me just say it was not my finest moment as a mother! Brynn, my sweet adorable Brynn, was awful! She is usually the best at going to bed at home, but she was a big stinker! Eventually they all went to sleep and Cami and I got to go miniature golfing then we all played some card games.

We had a great time and have planned our next "real" camping trip for next weekend. I say "real" because it will be up in the mountains where we can have a fire and not worry about our crying kids waking up other people, oh and let's not forget the joys of no bathrooms! Hopefully it goes well...wish us luck!

Happy 5th Birthday Jaxon!

2010-07-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Jaxon turned 5 only July 8th and we had a great time celebrating! The actual day of his birthday, he woke up to a very decorated room! Our tradition for birthdays is to decorate the birthday person's door. My birthday was the day before and Jason decorated the office doors for me and all Jaxon could talk about was what his door was going to look like on his birthday. I had a meeting the night before and when I got home Jason had not only decorated Jaxon's door, but his whole room...it was pretty cool!

On Jaxon's birthday, I walked downstairs to grab some cereal from the storage room and saw Jaxon just standing in his room looking at all the decorations...I think he was a little overwhelmed, but he loved it!

I made pancakes and waffles for breakfast (Jaxon's request), then Jaxon asked if he could open his presents. I texted Jason to ask him if it was ok if we did it without him and he had the great idea to set up Skype so he could see him open his presents through the computer. It worked perfectly! Jaxon was happy he didn't have to wait to open his presents and Jason still got to see it.

He loved all his presents and played with them until it was time to head to swim lessons then onto playgroup. My mom came up from St. George for a visit and Jaxon was super excited to go shopping with her for his birthday present. They went and came home with a toy I knew Jaxon would like for about a day then never play with after that. We set it up and it didn't work quite right, so after a lot of convincing, Jaxon allowed me to take him back to Target to get a new toy. with some nudging from me, he chose a game and a fun toy that he still plays with daily!

At around 4:30 we headed out for a fun filled weekend at Cherry Hill with our good friends the Humpherey's. More on that in another post (I know you can hardly wait!)

After our fun at Cherry Hill, we came home Saturday morning and Jaxon had his friend birthday party at Black Diamond Gymnastics in Daybreak. I had won a birthday party package last year and was so excited to use it!

Nine of Jaxon's cute friends came to his party and they had a great time. They ran through an obstacle course, played in the foam pit (most of the time!) and played an impossible game with foam blocks!

After they were sufficiently worn out it was time for presents. Jaxon loved all of his presents and he was sure to give most of his friends a hug after he opened their presents. I say most, because some didn't want hugs :) Jaxon's not a huge cake/cupcake person, so he requested doughnuts and chocolate milk instead. I thought it was a great idea and the kids seemed to like it also.

I think Jaxon had a great birthday and I was so glad to have a birthday party someplace other than my house! It was so nice to not have to worry about anything except making sure we were there on time with the doughnuts and chocolate milk! I think it's the way to go!

The pictures aren't great because I forgot my camera (I know, bad mom!) and only had my phone.

Overheard...

2010-06-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

I am sitting in the basement and Jaxon and his friend are playing in the other room playing Candyland. I just heard Jaxon tell his friend, "If you lose, you can't sit there like that with your arms folded and that grumpy look on your face. You just have to be happy you are playing the game."

Wow...I wish he would take some of his own advice at times!

I am pretty sure...

2010-05-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

That I am the only person in the world that doesn't really like watching movies. I don't know what it is, but I find it so hard to sit and do nothing but watch a movie or even tv for that matter. I have to be doing something else too...like something on the computer (scrapbooking) or something with my hands. Am I the only person like this because I sure feel like it!

I love my vehicle!

2010-05-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

We have a huge vehicle...a Ford Excursion. I didn't like it when we first got it because I thought it was way too big. We've had it for about two years now and I like it fine now, and I started to like it ever more after tonight.

Jason's parents need to borrow our Excursion this weekend to pull a trailer up to Bear Lake, so that means we have Jason's dad's Nissan Murano. It's a nice car and I like it well enough, but tonight we drove to Costco in it and I was about to pull my hair out! In our Excursion, none of my kids are sitting close enough together to be able to touch each other (the beauty of an SUV that sits 8!). Well, in the Murano, they are all sitting very close to each other and can touch each other as they wish...not a good thing! We had to hear Brynn and Jaxon complain multiple times about getting hit, pinched, spit on, etc.

In our Excursion, Jaxon and Brynn are in the very back seat...far away from us, so the sound isn't quite as intense as it is when they are super close to us like they are in the Murano. I swore I was going to go deaf...seriously, it was like they were trying to pierce my eardrums!

So, that's what I am thankful for today...a car big enough that none of my kids can touch each other. It may be as big as a tank, but I like it!

Grr....

2010-05-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

So, for the past three weeks I have been working out two hours a day...an hour in the morning and doing P90X for an hour at night and guess what...I have gained about 2 pounds. It is so frustrating! I know what everyone will say...it's because you're gaining muscle and muscle weighs more than fat, but I don't care...it still make me mad! That's it...just had to get that off my chest!

Brynn at Three...

2010-04-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to write a few things about Brynn, so I remember them a few years down the road!

Brynn is such a sweet little girl...most of the time! She looks so sweet most all of the time, but sometimes she can be a little stinker, but she sure is cute!

Brynn loves to sing...all the time! She knows a lot of primary songs that she likes to sing over and over again. The music person in nursery said Brynn is the only person in her nursery class that sings and she sings loud! I love to hear that sweet little voice sing as loud as she can!

The last few weeks Brynn and Jaxon have started to be best buds. They have always gotten along pretty well, but the last few weeks it seems to be that they have been getting along better and it is so much fun to see them playing together and having fun and being good! She also loves Jordan, but she loves to bug him too!

She LOVES her babies! She is always carrying a baby, feeding it, burping it, putting it to sleep, etc. She just loves her babies! She loves to look at real babies too and loves to try to help whenever she can...which sometimes isn't as much help as she thinks...but she sure tries!

She is getting better at speaking...I worried for a while because she wasn't speaking very well when she turned two, but she has gotten a lot better and I am so proud of her!

She's been potty trained now since the first of January and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! It is SO nice to have only one child in diapers...it has been a while since I have had only one in diapers!

She is still a thumb sucker...although we have been telling her that since she is now three that she is such a big girl that she doesn't need to suck her thumb anymore...we will see how that works! I went and checked on her after she fell asleep and she wasn't sucking her thumb, so maybe we're gaining ground!

Well...that's all my sleepy brain can think about right now, but Brynn is a sweet, beautiful, spirited child who we are so very blessed to have in our lives! We love you Brynners!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brynn!

2010-04-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Brynn! She turned three yesterday and reveled in the attention all day long! She woke up to her door being decorated (a little tradition we have), then she got to choose her breakfast (pancakes), then the best part...she opened her presents! She was in heaven with her new My Little Pony, her new baby, and a princess tea party set, and princess phone...we wanted to keep it simple this year...she already has way too many toys!

We had fun doing yardwork most of the afternoon, then when dinner time came around...we let Brynn choose where she wanted to go and she chose Old McDonalds...Brynn's name for McDonalds. The kids had a great time playing and eating. We got ice cream for dessert and she was in heaven!

After dinner we decided to go buy a trampoline. Let me clarify...this isn't for Brynn's birthday...we have been wanting to get one for a while, so we finally just bit the bullet and did it! We let the kids stay up until we finished putting it up...WAY past their bedtimes...but they had a great time jumping on it! I think it will be so nice to have that trampoline throughout the spring and summer...it seems to wear the kids out quickly :)

I think Brynn had a great birthday...I hope so anyway!

Okay...

2010-04-25T20:51:00.001-07:00

So I hate the layout of blogger right now...I can't get the pictures and my text to line up with each other and it is driving me crazy! So sorry if the text doesn't go with the pictures...I dried!

Brynn's Birhtday Party

2010-04-25T20:19:00.001-07:00

Brynn turned 3 yesterday! I can't believe she is already three..where does the time go?

For some reason, I decided to do friend birthday parties when my kids turned three...what was I thinking?!?

On Friday I decided to have a birthday party for Brynn with her cute playgroup friends. I had planned a bunch of fun things, but sadly, most of them didn't turn out quite as I had expected, so the party didn't go quite as expected either! Luckily the kids are only three, so they couldn't really care less as long as they get some cupcakes and a treat bag as they leave :)

Brynn all dressed up in her pretty princess dress! The crown lasted for about two minutes, but it was cute while it was on!

Brynn had to give everyone a hug after she opened their presents.

The one boy in Brynn's playgroup...he was her prince for the day! Such a handsome little man he is! We made wands for one of the activities and I decided he probably wouldn't enjoy it that much, so I bought this sword for him instead...he seemed to enjoy it

My first activity I had planned didn't work out too well, so I had the kids just dance around to princess music instead...they seemed to enjoy it...for five minutes at least :)

Look at that sweet smile...she was in heaven with all of the attention she was getting!

Some days..

2010-04-23T12:32:00.001-07:00

You know how you have some days that are great...even just good? You know, you are patient, calm and loving with your children, you get a lot accomplished, you feel like you can do anything. I love those days...yesterday was one of those days. Today...definitely NOT one of those days. Sorry kiddos...I really do love you, I will try to be better when you wake up from your naps :)

2010-04-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

I know I have been posting a lot of things that Jaxon has been saying, but he says some of the cutest things and I want to remember them.

A couple of Sunday's ago, we were sitting around waiting to go to church and Jaxon looked at me and told me he loved me. I told him I loved him more and he looked at me and said, "I love you a dillion to the priesthood power!"

Just a little background...when we were in Disneyland in February Jaxon had asked Jason what the biggest number was and Jason looked it up on his phone and it ended up being some weird number that ended in "ion" so now whenever Jaxon wants to compare something to a really big number he picks the word "dillion"...not sure where he got it from, but I think it's cute!

I can't pick up a house!

2010-04-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a conversation I had with Jaxon this afternoon:

Jaxon: I can't buckle my seat belt!
Me: Keep trying...you can do anything.
Jaxon: Mom...I can't do anything! I can't pick up a house can I? I can't do anything!

So much for being a supportive, you can do anything mom...I tried though!

Melts my heart....

2010-04-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Today Jaxon has already (it's only 9:30) three times randomly said, "Mom...I love you!" It just makes me smile and I love it...especially when I am pretty sure after he says mom that he is going to ask for something or complain about something! I love my sweet little boy!

8 Years Ago...

2010-03-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

I married the best man ever! I can't believe it's been 8 years...it doesn't seem like it has been that long (if you ask Jason he might disagree!) I feel so blessed to have such a great man in my life and I really appreciate all he does for our family...he really is amazing! I love you Jason...thanks for being so good to me, here's to MANY more years!

Who Wins the Bad Mom Award...

2010-03-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

That would be me! This morning right after breakfast, the kids were heading downstairs to play while I was cleaning up our breakfast mess. I want to remind you...Jordan is now 16 months old...he can maneuver the stairs just fine and has been doing so since he was like 9 or 10 months old, so I don't feel the need to always watch him go down the stairs. Well, this morning I was standing by the sink doing dishes and at first I hear a panicked intake of breath from Jordan, then a big thump followed by a nice loud cry...I run as fast as I can down the stairs and I find Jordan at the bottom of the stairs with this beauty on his forehead! As he was falling down the 14 stairs to our basement (no landing), he hit his forehead on the edge of the runners/sideboards (not sure what they are called) of the stairs.

I tried to figure out how he would fall down the stairs, then I remembered a couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, we were in the basement and I hadn't seen Jordan for a while...I asked Jason if he saw him and Jason looked up the stairs and there was Jordan practicing walking down the stairs...normally he slides down the stairs on his belly, but he was literally practicing walking down the stairs. I told him he needed to turn around and go down or he would get hurt. Every time I saw him trying to walk down the stairs I would tell him the same thing and he would listen. My best guess is that he was trying to be a big boy and walk down the stairs all by himself!

I'm not sure how many times today I had to remind him how he fell down the stairs earlier and he needed to turn around and go down...stubborn boy! Then, to top it all off...right before his nap, he and Brynn were playing and he bonked his head on a sharp corner of our end table...tough kid though...didn't cry too much and was fine for the rest of the day!

So yeah...I take the bad mom award today...we'll see what tomorrow brings...crossing my fingers for no repeat performances!

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T22:07:00.001-07:00

Let me start off by saying I am not a huge fan of St. Patrick's Day...I don't really have anything against it, but I just don't really get it. So, I was quite proud of myself this year for actually doing something fun for this useless holiday!

The day before St. Patrick's Day, Jaxon had school and they celebrated it a day early since they didn't have school on the actual day. Well, apparently those pesky leprechauns messed up his classroom and I had to hear about it for about 45 minutes after he got home from school. At first it was cute to hear him talk about it, but then I was about ready to pull off my ears (I know I am a mean mom!). He asked me if I thought the leprechauns would mess up our house like they did his school...I don't know, you'll have to see I said! So, that night, Jason and I messed up the living/dining rooms/kitchen area...chairs on the table, and turned over on the floor, cushions off the couches, the couch overturned...nothing too dramatic because I knew I would be the one to clean it all up! Of course I didn't take pictures of it...oh well!

St. Patrick's Day morning, Brynn and Jordan woke up first. I knew Brynn wouldn't be able to handle the chaos for long, so I had to wake up Jaxon so he could see what the naughty leprechauns did to our house! He thought it was so silly and I heard about leprechauns all through breakfast, while we were getting ready, and during our whole drive to the gym...he's a little obsessed! I was super festive and make green pancakes for breakfast...wahoo!

Well at the park after the gym, my friend Kate and I decided it would be fun to get together after dinner and have St. Patrick's Day desserts...no not Irish desserts, just desserts with enough green food coloring in them to alarm me just a little bit when I changed Jordan's diaper this morning! So, I made (well Jaxon helped too) green chocolate chip cookies and green caramel popcorn (Jason did that one!) and our friends brought green Sprite floats...it was super fun! Jason thought my cookies were awful, but it was just because they were green because every other person who tasted them thought they were great!

So, to sum it all up, I'm still not a huge fan of St. Patrick's Day, but it is quite fun to see my cute kids have so much fun with the silly things we do!

Jaxon's Mustache

2010-03-18T21:55:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, we went to Jordan's 15 month well check appointment. Brynn was playing at a friend's house, so it was just the three of us. I had been telling Jaxon all day that we were going to take Jordan to the doctor later that day, his appointment wasn't until 4:30...well he was super excited because whenever he goes to the doctor's office, he gets a token and get to a piece of junk little toy that he plays with for about ten minutes and then looses interest in. Well, the last time he got a little army guy with a parachute and he loved it, but the parachute got all tangled in some toy car wheels so he was really looking forward to getting a new one.

We get finished with the appointment and he goes to get his token from the receptionist and he carefully weighs his options of what he could pick. Well, guess what he picks...that's right a fake mustache! Who would have guessed he would be interested in a fake mustache?!? On a side note, he wanted to make sure Brynn got a toy too since she wasn't with us, what a thoughtful brother...Jordan was the only one who didn't get anything from the doctors office, but shots!

We left and picked Brynn up then headed to Carl's Jr. for dinner...Jason was out of town and I hadn't had time to make dinner. A funny side note...when I Brynn saw the mustache she giggled and I told her it was a little bit silly, meaning the mustache looked a little bit silly, well that's what she called the mustache whenever she saw it, a little bit silly! So anyway...I go to get Jaxon out of the car and this is what I see! I laughed so hard! He loved his mustache and would not take it off until bedtime that night! Everybody in Carl's Jr. got quite a laugh out of it and Jaxon was super serious when people would ask what it is...he would simply tell them it was his mustache, like they were dumb for not knowing!

The next day he wore it around the house some more...but like every other dumb toy we get from the doctor's office, he lost interest in about a day and a half! He sure does make me smile!

Disneyland!

2010-02-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Can I just say I LOVE DISNEYLAND! We have been home two weeks now and I still miss it. Jaxon talks about Disneyland at least two or three times a day and he saves any little bit of money he finds and puts it in his Disneyland fund. He has informed me, the next time he goes to Disneyland he wants to go for 100 days! I told him he is going to have to save up A LOT of money to be able to stay at Disneyland for 100 days, but he's convinced he can do it...I wish I could do it!

So, our trip to Disneyland was wonderful! We stopped at my parents' house in St. George on Friday then headed to Anaheim on Saturday...as soon as we got there...we headed straight to Disneyland! We spent six wonderful days there (will part of one day spent at the beach) and totally could have easily spent 3 or 4 more days there. I know not everyone likes Disneyland this much, but we sure do!

Our kids had such a great time! Jaxon and Brynn are pretty good ages to enjoy Disneyland...Jordan had fun, but didn't really know what was going on. Jaxon went on every single ride he was able to. His favorites were Tower or Terror, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Mullholand Madness, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story Mania, and Pirates of the Caribbean. He was really upset that he wasn't big enough to go on Indiana Jones, California Screamin' and the Maliboomer. The first time Jason took him on Tower of Terror I was worried he would hate it, but he came out and asked if I would go with him! He loved seeing all the characters. He even colored a special picture for Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye and gave it to Jessie when he saw her...it was so cute!

Brynn had fun too. She liked all the rides she went on too, but didn't have much of an opinion of what she wanted to go on...she was just along for the ride. It took her a little while to warm up to all the characters, but after the second or third day, she was okay with them. Her favorite part was meeting the princesses. They have a "princess walk" where you go in and meet three princesses. We went through that two days in a row and she was in heaven! She loved it! It was pretty cool because the second time we went through, the same Belle was there and she remembered Brynn from the day before and called her by her name. It was pretty cool! Brynn had a great time on her third trip to Disneyland!

Jordan had a great time too! He loved going on the rides and actually really like the rides that had small drops that he could go on...like Pirates and the Ferris Wheel in CA Adventure...you can get the "cages" that move or that don't move...we chose one that moved and I didn't enjoy it much, but Jordan sure thought it was great! I think he has a wonderful first trip to Disneyland!

We were lucky enough to be able to go with some friends or ours, so the first two days it was just us, then we met them there. It was lots of fun to go with some other super fun people!

We had a great time and are looking forward for our next trip...or maybe a Disney Cruise next year :)

Beach Fun!

2010-02-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

While we were in California, we decided to drive about 20 minutes and head to Seal Beach. I am SO glad we did...the kids had a blast! It was the first time they had gone to the beach and couldn't get enough of it! Brynn was enthralled with the birds and couldn't stop talking about them. Jaxon was on a mission to find as many shells as he could. And Jordan just loved it all!

I hadn't really planned on us getting too wet, since it was pretty chilly and we got to the beach at around 9...not the best time for swimming. Well, the kids had other plans...well I guess I should say mostly Jordan had other plans. The others didn't get too terribly wet, but Jordan was soaked! He had such a great time playing in the sand and the water. He was so stinkin' cute! I couldn't get enough of him! there was a bit of a hill leading from the beach to the actual water...Jordan would get down on his belly, like he was going down the stairs to get down the hill...so cute!

We had a great time at the beach and hopefully we can go back another time when we can actually go swimming!

Big Girl Bed & Packing

2010-01-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

We moved Brynn into her big girl bed last night and she's been doing awesome! I figured since she's potty trained now...I guess I better put her in a big bed so she can get out if she needs to so she can go potty. We had the bed in the garage for a while disassembled, waiting for a night Jason had free to set it up. Whenever we would go into the garage to get in the car, Brynn would sit on the edge of the bed and say, "Brynn's bed."

The night we set up the bed, the kids had fun playing on it and thought it was pretty cool. We kept the crib in her room, to use as a threat if she got out of the bed. Well, bedtime came around and I laid Brynn in her bed and she looked at me and said, "Brynn's bed outside," and pointed to her crib like she wanted to sleep in it. I explained to her that she's a big girl now so she gets to sleep in a big girl bed. She accepted that and went laid down and went to sleep. I expected a night full of her getting out of bed and crying and whining, but...she did SO well! She didn't come out at all, nor did she fall out of the bed. Today at nap time she even stayed in her bed and took an awesome nap! She can be such a sweet girl!

I just thought I would throw these pictures up because they are so darn cute! I have been packing today to get ready to go to Disneyland tomorrow...well actually St. George tomorrow and Disneyland Saturday...Jordan thought it was so much fun to sit in the suitcase with his blanket...as long as he was entertained, I couldn't have cared less what he did! Such a sweet boy!

Naughty Girl!

2010-01-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

We have been potty training Brynn for the past week...I HATE potty training! Anyway...tonight I was cleaning up after dinner and Jason and Jaxon were playing a card game on our bed and Brynn said she needed to go potty, so she took her potty into our bathroom and closed the door. Well about 10 minutes later Jason asked me if it was a bath night and I asked why. I walked into the bathroom to find this. She had taken Jason's gel and did her hair so pretty with it! She thought it was pretty fun. On the bright side...she did go potty!

Sledding Fun!

2010-01-06T21:02:00.001-08:00

We are so lucky to have a fun park with an awesome sledding hill just steps from our front door! Jason took Jaxon and Jordan on Christmas morning and they had a great time. So the day after Christmas we decided to go as a family.

I was worried about how Brynn would do because she HATES the snow. It took her about two times going down the hill then she didn't want to stop! Jaxon was a crazy man and didn't want to go home...he would go down all by himself with absolutely no fear! Jordan loves the cold weather and snow (crazy boy!) and he loved sledding too! Although, after a little while he was done with sledding and just wanted to play in the snow!

This year we made sure to buy sled early! Last year we waited until the day after Christmas to try to find sleds and there were none to be found...anywhere! So we bought them this year before Thanksgiving...and I'm sure glad we did because we had a ton of fun!

Holiday Recap

2010-01-06T20:07:00.001-08:00

FYI...I don't know what happened to my nice blog layout...I can't get my pictures to position correctly...I thought it was Internet Explorer, so I tried FireFox...but no luck, sorry for the crazy layout!

So, I have been terrible about keeping my blog updated, but here's a quick holiday recap...enjoy!

The week before Christmas we had a fun little get together at our house with some of my friends from high school. It was so much fun to see these girls and their families again...it always seems like way too long between visits!

We had a nice turkey dinner, played some fun games, had a little white elephant gift exchange, then we pulled out the chocolate fountain. The kids loved the chocolate fountain and ate so much I was sure they were all going to be very sick!

We had a great time and I'm so glad we were able to get together...thanks girls!

The day after that fun party with friends, we had our ward Christmas party. I was asked to help with the food for the party, so that meant that Jason had the unfortunate job of trying to keep the kids entertained until Santa got there...mind you the party started at 6 and Santa didn't get there until around 7:45. When Santa finally arrived, we had to stand in line for a while and the kids were done...considering their bedtimes are at 7:30...I was impressed they made it that far!
My friend had these cute reindeer headbands that entertained the kids for a little while...not long enough though!

When we finally made it up to see Santa...Brynn wanted nothing to do with him, nor did Brynn. On top of the grumpy kids I was forcing to sit on Santa's lap...I was trying to hurry super fast so the people behind us could have a chance and the result is this awesome picture that Jason snapped while I was trying to get everyone to look at the camera...awesome, right?

Christmas Eve we had our traditional evening with my parents and sister's family. It was so fun! The kids had a great time playing, we ate great food (prime rib), had fun with the chocolate fountain again all with great people!

My mom always makes all the grand kids (7 of them) blankets and pajamas. The kids always get to open them on Christmas Eve (plus other presents!).

My kids loved their jammies, blankets, and toys. Thanks mom!

We had a great Christmas Eve and were so excited to see what Santa had in store for us the next morning!

Sure enough Santa pulled through and spoiled the kids way too much! It was really fun this year because Jaxon was really into it and was super excited to see what Santa brought. He really liked his Leapster (and hasn't stopped playing it since!).

Brynn loved her baby and her chapstick...but I must say a couple of the favorite things she got from the cousin gift exchange we did with Jason's family. She got lip gloss (that she kept putting on the whole time she had it while we were there, like 4 hours!) and a Dora water bottle. She always wants to drink out of a sippy cup, but we don't let her anymore...so she loves this!

Jordan was just happy to be able to eat candy at 8:00 in the morning! He got some fun books and other fun stuff. He got bored halfway through and had to go find Jaxon's toothbrush to play with (he love toothbrushes!).

We spent the afternoon with Jason's family at his parent's house. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera and didn't take any pictures...I have been horrible at taking pictures lately :(

We had a great Christmas and are so thankful for all the we have been blessed with! We were blessed to be able to spend time with wonderful family and friends! Thanks to all!

Temple Square

2009-12-08T20:30:00.001-08:00

We decided to head downtown to see the lights on Temple Square last Friday. We stopped by Jason's work to pick him up and check out his new remodled office (it looks amazing!) and then our plans were to head to the mall, grab a bite to eat, look at the lights, and head home.

Well, we got downtown and realized the mall is no longer there (can you tell we are not downtown people? We go there like twice a year). So, that kid of messed up our plans...we headed to Trolley Square thinking there would be somewhere to eat there...well there wans't anything our kids would want to eat or that didn't have a long wait, but we did find Santa! Jaxon sat on his lap, as did Jordan, as long as Jason was right next to him. Brynn on the other hand wanted absolutely nothing to do with him...wouldn't get within ten feet of him! But for the past two days all she has been talking about is Santa and how she wants to sit on his lap...crazy girl!

We finally decided to eat at Noodles & Co. It had been forever since we had eaten there and it was yummy! The we grabbed some hot chocolate at 7-11 and headed to Temple Square. We looked at the lights which were beautiful, walked around the visitors center and had fun. It was freezing though! The kids had lots of layers and lots of blankets!

We had a lot of fun and hope to continue it as a family tradition...well not the part about planning to eat somewhere that no longer exists :)

Decorating for Christmas!

2009-12-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

We finally decorated for Christmas last week...we were out of town right after Thanksgiving and had busy nights, so we finally got it done!

My kids had a great time finding all the fun Christmas stuff and I had a great time finding places to put all the stuff! Jordan had a great time playing with the bell ornaments and Jaxon was really worried about the star getting on the top of the tree. Brynn...well she helped decorate the tree a bit.

I love it when the kids help decorate the tree...all ornaments clumped together, but at least they had fun! I was worried that the ornaments on the tree wouldn't last for more than two minutes with Jordan, but he's actually been really good about it!

I love Christmas!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to head down to St. George for Thanksgiving. We left the Monday before Thanksgiving and didn't come back until Sunday...it was a nice little vacation. My sister and her family came down the morning of Thanksgiving and we had fun hanging out with them and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins!

I didn't take too many pictures...don't know why, just didn't! But I did take some pictures when we went fishing at a little pond by my parent's house. The kids had a great time feeding the ducks...well the ducks didn't actually eat anything we fed them...darn ducks...Brynn wasn't too happy about that!

Jaxon caught a fish and was so proud of himself! Brynn wanted nothing to do with the fish...would get within about two feet of it and scream that it was icky, but she didn't stop talking about the "big fish" all night long! However, Jordan had no problems playing with the fish...he had a great time holding it and playing with it and getting fish "slime" all over him!

We had a great time hanging out with family, Black Friday shopping (the first time getting up early and going...not sure I'll do it again!), reading Hunger Games (great book!), eating (so much for the diet, right?) and just hanging out!

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great week of fun!

Better Late Than Never...

2009-12-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well, Jordan's 1st birthday was on November 20th and I am just getting around to posting something about it...what a great mom I am, right?

We had a small party with Jason's family on the 18th because we didn't think we were going to be home on his actual birthday, but it turns out we were...oh well!

He had a great time opening presents, well actually he was kind of grumpy that night...but he still had fun. Jaxon and Brynn had a great time playing with cousins too!

The best part of the night for Jordan was the cake. I had big plans to make a really yummy, fun cake, but I had surgery on my ear two days before the party, and had to have a bandage on my ear, so I sent Jason to the store to get some stuff for the cake. He came home and told me he had made an executive decision and bought a cake...works for me! It was a lot less work!

On his actual birthday, we had a little party here at home with just our family. Well...Jason was really sick that night, so he was on the couch while Jordan opened his presents. He was atcually much more interested in sitting and standing on his presnts than actually opening them. But with a little help from Jaxon and Brynn, he got them all opened eventually. I'm pretty sure Jaxon and Brynn played with his presents a ton more than Jordan did...I guess that's what happens with you have older sibilings :)

I still can't believe my baby boy is one! Where does the time go? He is such a happy, sweet, fun little boy to have around our house! Here are a few things about him:

He is already walking and has been since he was about 11 months old (my other kids didn't walk this early!)

He can say quite a few words: mom, day, uh-oh, bye, hi, ball, boo, more, night-night, love ya (there are more I just can't think of them right now!)

He loves to read books...all the time!

He loves to give kisses...big slobbery kisses!

He loves to play with Jaxon and Brynn (as long as she's not trying to sit on him!)

He loves to play with the pots and pans while I am cooking dinner...at first I hated it, but now as long as it keeps him entertained, I don't care!

I love this little boy so much and am so blessed to have him in our family!

Old Navy Jeans for Boys...

2009-12-01T12:50:00.001-08:00

I need to know if anybody else hates little boy jeans from Old Navy? Seriously...I got Jordan and Jaxon four or five pair each because I got them pretty cheap and figured they should be pretty durable, right? Well, after Jordan wore his a grand total of two times, they had holes in the knee. Granted, he was still crawling a bit at the time and we have a lot of tile in our house, so I blamed it on that and banned him from wearing pants in the house until he was exclusively walking (he now only has one pair of Old Navy jeans with no holes). Mind you, I pulled out some jeans Jaxon had when he was a baby from Target and they have held up great with Jordan wearing them just as much as he wore the Old Navy ones.

Well, today I am getting Jaxon's shoes on for school and what do I see...a HOLE in his Old Navy jeans! I know boys are hard on pants, but really...it's not like Jaxon has been crawling around on the floor and dragging his knee on the floor...I just don't get it! I drives my crazy!

Now I am going to have to fork our some more money to get some decent pairs of jeans for these boys who I don't think are extremely hard on clothing, but apparently they are on Old Navy jeans, or maybe Old Navy jeans just suck!

I will never...

2009-11-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

When I didn't have kids, or even when I only had one child, there were many things I swore I would NEVER do, some of these included:

I would never let my child walk around the house in only a diaper and a shirt...how hard is it to put pants on them, really?

I would never let my child wear those ugly Crocs.

I would never let my child wear flip flops/crocs when it was cold outside.

I would never let my child walk around with a snotty nose.

I would never wipe my child's snotty nose with his or her shirt.

I would never let my child go anywhere without his or her hair being done.

I would never ignore my child as he or she stood there and said "mom" twenty times at the store...really if you just say what, they'll be quite!

Let me just tell you something...

Tonight we headed to the store and Jaxon insisted on wearing his ugly crocs (yes he has crocs, they are so easy!), it was kind of chilly outside...I didn't want to hear his incesent whining so guess what he wore to the store?

Jordan is no longer allowed to wear his jeans in the house. Why you ask. I discovered while doing laundry yesterday that three of his pair of jeans have holes in the knees because we have so much tile in our house and he crawls around on it all day. So, until he is exclusively walking, he will be wearing only a diaper and a shirt around the house. (I will put pants on him if we go out!)

I get sick of doing Brynn's hair. I have to do it in the morning...I have to fix it when we get to the gym because she's rubbed her head on the back of her carseat...I have to do it after her nap if we are going anywhere...I have to do it after her bath so it's not crazy in the morning. So, if you see me in the store and her hair isn't done...it's because I was sick of doing it!

I can't count the times when I've wiped my kids snotty noses on their shirts...sometimes it's the only thing available, so what can you do, right?

I asked Jason the other day if I could change my name to something besides Mom and he said why, they'll just call you whatever you change it to. I love being a mom, but I don't necessarily like hearing "mom" 500 times a day! Sometimes you just don't want to answer!

I'm sure there are a ton of other things I swore I wouldn't do...I just can't think of them right now. So, if anybody reading this doesn't have kids and swears you won't do something...let's see what you think after you have three kids!

Trick-or-Treat

2009-11-04T20:50:00.001-08:00

Okay...I don't know what is up with the format of my posts, but I don't really want to take the time to fix it, so that's how it's going to stay...sorry! I realize also that my pictures are in the wrong order...sorry again!

Halloween was so much fun this year! Jaxon and Brynn were totally into it and they were all so darn cute! We started off by taking the customary pictures on the front porch...the kids couldn't wait to get going! Then we ventured off throughout the neighborhood!

Once Brynn realized what happened when you knocked on the door and said trick-or-treat, she was all over it! She loved it and was a real trooper...aside from being carried every now and then, she walked most of the time!

Jordan thought this trick-or-treating stuff was pretty cool too! Jason took him out of the stroller and took him to about eight houses and he thought it was great...as soon as he saw the candy, he quickly decided that he needed to get his hands on some of it, so we put him back in the stroller with a sucker and he was content the rest of the night.

Jaxon had kind of a rough year this year. He started off great...ready to get lots of candy, but about half way through we wanted to sit in the stroller and I told him no and that he needed to keep walking if he wanted more candy...well come to find out, he had a big blister on his foot! When I figured that out I let him ride in the stroller...I love the picture of Jaxon and Jordan in the stroller with Brynn standing by them...so cute!

Then we went home dumped out all the candy to see what the damage was...they got plenty! I am happy to report that I had about four peices and that is all I have had...willpower, not such an easy thing for me!

We had a great Halloween this year. It seems like it just gets more and more fun as the kids get older...I'm not sure I like them getting so big so fast, but they are so much fun!

Halloween Party

2009-11-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

We have a mommy and me playgroup that we go to on Wednesdays...well some Wednesdays...sometimes I have a hard time getting there...slacker mom that I am. Two of the moms put together this awesome party and my kids had a ton of fun. We were about 1/2 hour late (I had to go to the gym because my favorite step class is on Wed and I didn't want to miss it...selfish I know!) so we didn't get as much time to decorate our boxes with cute halloween decorations, but the kids still got to do it a little bit!

Then they had a fun story time and some fun games like ghost bowling, pin the face on the pumpkin, and musical pumpkin. My kids had a great time! Then the kids got to decorate cookies...Brynn was a total disaster by the time it was done, but she had fun! I realized I didn't get a picture of Jaxon in his costume at the party because we took it off so he didn't get frosting all over it...but he sure looked cute!

Carving Pumpkins!

2009-11-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Carving pumpkins is always so much fun with little kids...well sometimes! I was talking to a friend of mine eariler in the afternoon on the day we were planning on carving pumpkins and we were both saying how it's fun, but at the same time we were dreading it becuase it's a lot of work, but it ended up being great!

Jaxon was super excited to carve pumpkins this year and Brynn didn't really know what we were talking about when we told her about it. I thought it would be fun to let her paint her pumpkin, thinking she wouldn't really be into carving it, but I was wrong. I let her paint one pumpkin then when she was done with that, she saw what Jason and Jaxon were doing and she wanted in on some of it! So I helped her clean out a pumpkin and she picked the shapes for the eyes, ears, and mouth and when it was finished, she then decided all the guts needed to go back inside the pumpkin...such a big helper! She actually did a really good job and had lots of fun!

Jaxon was really good at carving his pumpkin. He needed a little help cleaning it out and I helped him carve some of it...okay most of it...but when the face was done he decided it needed ears so Jason made an outline of where Jaxon needed to cut and he did it and did an excellent job!

Jordan sat in his highchair and at fish crackers while everyone else was carving pumpkins and was more than happy to do so! Jason have him a chunk of pumpkins to gnaw on and he actually seemed to like it...who knew?

Pumpkin Patch 2009 Version!

2009-11-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting this...it takes me a while sometimes! We went to the pumpkin patch on the 19th for Family Home Evening...we had planned on going the week before but the weather was terrible! It was pretty darn cold this night too. We had a lot of fun playing on the tractors, wondering through the corn maze, and of course picking pumpkins!

Jaxon and Brynn had fun pushing their own little wheelbarrows...although as soon as Jaxon put a pumpkin in his he decided it was too heavy and didn't want to push it any more and Brynn tired her hardest, but had a hard time pushing it straight! I'm sure we were a sight to see!

We had planned on staying a little longer, but it was pretty darn cold, so we did the bare minimum then got out of there...I guess we're whimps!

After we were finished we headed over to Harmon's and let the kids pick a baked good treat (this is kind of a tradition we started last year with doughnuts). This time Jaxon insisted on a cinnamon roll...I would have picked something else, but it was his choice...so Brynn and Jordan got cinnamon rolls too! They kind of liked them, but I don't think they were that impressed...maybe next time they'll stick with doughnuts :)

Caught Up!

2009-10-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

I finally got caught up with Brynn! Now I only need to get started on Jaxon's...the last pictures I scrapbooked of him was July 08 and Jordan doesn't even have one started...but I'm caught up with one of them :)

2009-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

2009-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

All Done...

2009-09-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

..Well, with Brynn's 2nd year book anyway. So that takes me up through April of this year so I have five months to do then I will be caught up on Brynn...feels good to at least get this done!

Almost done...

2009-09-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Only got three done today...that's because I opted for a nap today while the other kids were napping and Jaxon was at school...well, I have to say I *tried* to take a nap, but didn't very successfully...darnit! I only have like five or six pages left to be done with Brynn's second year book...wahoo! Then I have to get caught up on her and start Jaxon and Jordan...so much to do...seriously does it end...nope!

2009-09-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

2009-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Girls Weekend in Park City

2009-09-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was so lucky to be able to have a girls' weekend up at Park City with 17 girls from my neighborhood. They did this last year too and I wanted to go so badly, but we had just moved and Jason was working on the yard, basement and many other things so I couldn't leave, so I was SO excited to be able to go this year! Thanks Jason for being so sweet and letting me go and taking such great care of the kids! I stole some of these pictures from some of the girls' blogs since I didn't take any pictures at all while we were up there...oops!

This place is beautiful! So was our room!

The first night we went to Baja Cantina for dinner...it was so fun even if the manager was grumpy because we wanted to split the checks!

Friday night we stayed up until 4:00 am talking, playing games that required little to no energy, well it was really only one game...mafia, and laughing a ton!

On Saturday we went on this fun gondola ride...this is Annelise posing :) The gondola ride was really fun...really it was fun doing anything or nothing at all!
After the gondola ride, some of us went to the outlets and shopped for a while then we all headed to the movie theater to see the dumbest moving ever! I don't even remember what exactly it was called...something like All About Steve...stupid! I tried t sleep through it, but I couldn't...yes it was THAT bad!
We then headed to the Eating Establishment to eat dinner. I didn't think it was the best food, but it didn't matter because I was with great people! That night we stayed up until about 1:30...I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep!

I had a great time and am so glad I live in such a great neighborhood with such great people! Thanks for the great weekend girls!

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

A fun weekend and a few pages

2009-09-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend in Park City with 17 amazingly wonderful ladies from my neighborhood...in between talking, laughing, shopping, going to dinner, going to a really lame movie, playing games, saying up WAY too late, and other fun, fun things, I managed to get a couple of pages done! I'll post later about my fun weekend...hopefully someone will email me some pictures...hint, hint ;)

9/11/2001

2009-09-11T16:45:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take some time to reflect on 9/11/2001. I was going to school at UVSC at the time. I had a 7:00 am English class. There was a student who came in late and said they were late because they were watching the new about a bomb on a plane or something like that. I didn't think much of it...then I went to a dumb computer class I had right after that. A couple of people were talking about the same thing...a bomb on a plane and again, I didn't think too much about it.

When that class was over, I was walking down the hall to my car and came to a stop when I saw a ton of people crowded around one of the tvs they had in the hall that was usually tuned to a news channel. Well, that was when I found out exactly what had happened...I couldn't beleive it! My first thought was this can't be happening, not here in America, things like that don't happen here.

The rest of my classes were cancelled for the day, so I headed to my apartment. I kept watching the news coverage and still couldn't believe it. My friend and I went to try to donate blood, but for some reason we couldn't, so we just sat and talked about what was going on. I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

I remember going to bed that night and desperately praying for the families of the victims and all those invovled...when I woke up in the morning I thought for sure that it had all been just a bad dream, so I turned on the radio, and sure enough, it wasn't.

I can say that I really miss the sense on unity everyone had on 9/12/2001. I remember things just felt so different than they do now...I get so sick of all the political crap that is going on right now...I don't know why we can't just go back to how it was on 9/12/2001 and remember how everyone came together...I wish that's how it could always be, but unfortunately people forget and go about their daily lives and will not worry about it unitl it happens again...please don't let it happen again!

I was at the gym today on the treadmilll and one channel was showing a live coverage from 9/11/01 and it almost brought tears to my eyes...please don't ever forget what happened that day! I love that while I am getting ready to go to Park City for a girls' weekend, my sweet husband is taking my three children to the healing field, so they will know what happened and never forget it!

Thank you to all the armed forces who keep us safe...thank you and your families for your sacrifices, I can never repay you for my safety!

I know I am just kind of rambling, I wanted this to me more well thought out, but I have to leave in five minutes to go to Park City and I wanted to get this posted before I left because it is so important to me...

Just so you know...

2009-09-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

Even though I have been getting a ton of scrapbooking done...my kids are taken care of, my house is clean and I haven't really chagned much about my daily routine...don't know where I am finding the time to do all this...but I am loving it! I am off to Park City tomorrow for a girls weekend with about 15 ladies from my neighborhood...I am SO excited. I am debating on whether to take the laptop to do more scrapbooking or not...I think I will, if I have time I'll do it, if not, it will still be waiting when I get home on Sunday!

I think I may get Brynn's book done in record time if I keep this up! I only have five more months to do for her 2nd year book! I actually like the way I'm doing it...keeping it pretty simple without too much frill...that's the way I am, I am a simple kind of girl, so I guess it's only appropriate that it should spill over into my scrapbooking!

I'm on a roll!

2009-09-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

Now I am only about a year behind for Brynn now! This is progress!

I've been busy!

2009-09-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

So, for Labor Day we headed down to St. George and had a great time...more to come on that later! I am so excited because I was able to get a lot of my scrapbooking done...yay! I had to drive down to St. George because on Wednesday Jason wasn't feeling well, but he drove home yesterday and I got SO much done while in the car and it made the time go by so fast, it was great! So, here is what I got done...I'm sure I could have gotten more done, but I had to find time for swimmning, going to the park, shopping, and all that other fun stuff :)

Look What I'm Finally Doing Again!

2009-08-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I realize it has been FOREVER since I have done any scrapbooking, but we got a new computer last night (a good one that I can do this stuff on!) and I have been restoring all of my scrapbooking stuff from the remote backup site we use...it's taking forever! I finally got this done tonight and I am excited to get back in the groove of scrapbooking again...hopefully I will have some time to...the kids tend to take up a lot of my time...imagine that! These pictures are pretty old...Brynn is barely one and now she is two and a half...I have a lot of catching up to do! Anyway...hopefully I will be posting these more frequently, I'll try my best at least!

County Fair

2009-08-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

We went to the Salt Lake County fair last weekend and let me tell you...one thing I learned is that the fair attracts ALL different kinds of people...like the lady who we sat down right next to us while eating, even though there were like 500 other spots to sit (okay, maybe not 500, but plenty other spots to sit)...Jaxon's foot touched her leg, she grumpily told him not to kick her, I proceeded to scoot Jaxon away from her and closer to me and she looked at me and very snottily said, "well he was kicking me!" Both Jason and I were very proud of ourselves for not causing a big scene because there were many not nice things that wanted to come out of my mouth that were directed at this lady...one of which was, "seriously, he's four and his foot BARELY touched you...surely you've got to be kidding me!" but I was good and didn't say one word!

We were walking around inside looking at all the booths they had set up trying to sell you stuff...I don't know why we feel it necessary to walk through them, there usually isn't anything there that we couldn't live without! We happened upon this lady painting faces though and there was no line...we though it was too good to be true, but it was real! So we asked Jaxon if he wanted to do it and of course he said yes. I was a little worried if he would actually sit still and let her work her magic, but he did awesome! He chose to have a Spider Man face and it turned out really cute!

Then we asked Brynn if she wanted to have her face painted too and she said she did, but I was even more nervous about her letting the lady paint it, so I had her sit on my lap and the lady did her magic pretty quickly and the finished product was...well I'm not sure what it was, it just looked like crazy paint on her face, but the lady called it a princess face and Brynn loved it, and I thought it was cute!

They have like a little petting zoo area that has goats, llamas, tortoises, and some other kinds of animals in there that you can pet and feed and roam with. The year before last this was a lot of fun...this year not so much! It was crazy busy inside that I was worried someone was going to swoop up my kids and take them away without my knowing, even though I was constantly watching them (just a little nightmare I have). Jaxon had a great time feeding and petting the animals. Check out this turtle...he was huge!

This is the expression Brynn had on her face the whole time we were in the petting zoo...she really didn't want much of anything to do with the animals...she would look at them, but if one came close to her, she was not happy at all!
You know...last year we went to the state fair...told myself it was fun, but I wasn't sure if I would do it again...this year we went to the county fair and I am telling myself I'm not sure if I will do it again! It was fun, but I'm not sure it was fun enough to go back. Really all we did was look at the stupid booths, looked at some animals they had caged up, ate some nasty food, looked at the rides that they charge and arm and a leg for...decided they could in fact cut off our arms and legs while riding them and chose not to ride any of them, went to the crazy petting zoo thing and left. The bright side of the fair was that the kids had fun getting their faces painted and as we were leaving, Jason got some delicious roasted corn on the cob that ALMOST made going to the fair worth it!

Petting Zoo!

2009-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

We went to the Thanksgiving Point Petting Zoo in July...we went with our good friends Annelise and Kate and their cute kids. It was a lot of fun...I like the petting zoo since it's little, my kids can run around and I'm not too worried about them, they can touch the animals, it's not expensive and we are only there for like an hour and a half...perfect for us!

One thing that Jaxon loves to do there is ride the ponies. He was so big and did it all by himself and I didn't even need to be by him at all...which is good because Brynn wouldn't let me leave her side...or let me take my hands off of her for that matter!

This was Brynn's first experience with the ponies and she wasn't too sure of it. It could have been the fact that she was one of the littlest kids riding the ponies and she got the biggest pony there was! It was fun...she warmed up to it just as the ride was ending, but I think she liked it!

I always take a picture of my kids on this little sheep...I think it's cute!

Brynn was a little nervous of all the animlas at first...she's kind of funny about stuff like that...but she really warmed up the this miniature horse and her baby...they were so cute and Brynn kept going back to them to look at them and every now and them she was brave enough to pet them, but not too much!
When we were paying for our tickets, the lady working there told us that a colt had been born about twenty minutes earlier, so I was super excited to get outside and see the baby. It was so cute! This is the baby about a half an hour after birth...doesn't it look like his mom is giving him a little kiss?

We got to see the baby take its first steps also...I think the worker there told us that if the colt isn't up and walking within an hour and a half (I think!) then they start to worry...crazy huh! It was so fun to watch this little guy try so hard just to stand up...he was so wobbly, but he did it!

Hiking at Silver Lake

2009-08-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

In the middle of July, our fun friends the Dickman's asked us if we wanted to go hiking with them, so of course we said YES! We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Silver Lake and went on a nice hike up there. Between the two families we had three kids in backpack carriers, one baby in a front pack carrier and one four year old walking/whining! It was quite a sight!

Jaxon was whining that he didn't want to walk anymore, mind you this happened for the first time like 15 minutes into the hike...so after a while Jason, who was carrying Brynn in the backpack carrier, put Jaxon on his shoulders and carried him up the trail also. I tried to take a picture of it, but Jason didn't really want to stop, so this was the best I got, you can't ever tell he has Brynn on his back too!
Isn't it beautiful! We were almost there...but stopped to take a water break!
Going back down...it was a lot easier coming down then going up...crazy how that works!
When we finally got to the lake at the top of the trail, the kids decided it would be fun to feed the squirrels. They thought it was pretty cool to watch them and I think if the squirrels would have let the kids pet them, they would have!
This was the beautiful lake that was awaiting us after our long journey! It was well worth the hike!

OCD

2009-08-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Okay...I'm the first to admit I am a LITTLE bit OCD. I like my house in order and it stresses me out a bit (okay, more than a bit) if it is not as clean and orderly as I think it should be, call that OCD if you'd like, I like to call it having a nice clean, orderly home.

Well, my sweet little Brynn as developed some habits that make me wonder if she isn't a bit OCD. Whenever she is going to bed, be it for a nap or at bed time, there are certain things that she has to do.

1. She has to close her closet doors (this started about 4 months ago)
2. There cannot be anything on her floor, if there is something on her floor she (if I try to do it, she freaks out) has to pick it up and drop it right outside her bedroom door.
3. There cannot be anything other than her pillow and her blanket in her bed with her. Today right before nap time, she had me swaddle her baby doll and she was telling me her baby was sleepy so I asked if she wanted the baby to take a nap with her, to which she replied yes. Well, after her story and song, I put the baby in the crib then went to put Brynn in the crib...big mistake! You would have thought I was trying to kill her by the screams that we coming out of her mouth. So I asked if she wanted the baby to sleep on the floor next to the crib and put the baby on the floor...another big mistake, she wasn't happy until the baby was placed outside of her room!
4. Tess (our dog) cannot be anywhere near her room when she is getting ready to go to sleep...if she comes in, it's like the world has come to an end! She has to either be put outside or I have to shut Brynn's door so she can't come in. I have no idea where this came from since she generally really likes Tess, apparently just not in her room!
5. She cannot have a clip or anything other than an elastic in her hair. Today I put her down for her nap, then put Jordan down and then was making myself some lunch when she starts sobbing hysterically. I went in her room and she was standing in her crib holding her clip out for me to take...as soon as I took it she laid right down and went to sleep.

Seriously...where did this girl come from. She is such a cute little girl...sweet sometimes...cute always! I really hope you outgrows this behavior, I'm not sure I can handle this forever!

Happy 4th Birthday Jaxon!

2009-07-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

On July 8th, we celebrated Jaxon's 4th birthday! I can't believe my little guy is getting so old! It's a tradition to decorate the bedroom door of the person having the birthday...Jason did it for me the day before for my birthday and this is what we did to Jaxon's door. He was so excited when he came upstairs, it was cute!

As soon as he came upstairs into our bedroom, he spotted his pile of presents. Luckily, Jason hadn't left for work yet, so he got to open them first thing in the morning! Notice the pink flower and Christmas wrapping paper? When I went to wrap his presents at 11:00 the night before, I realized this was the only wrapping paper we had, so we wrapped the presents white side out, it worked pretty well, I don't think he really noticed...I hope not anyway!
That evening, we went to Jumpin' Jacks. Luckily Grandma Wallace was visiting and she volunteered to stay home with Jordan, it was nice to just have the two kids and be able to play on the slides and stuff with them, not that we don't love Jordan, but it was just easier! The kids had a great time! Brynn was a little hesitant at first, but by the end, she was climbing up the biggest slide by herself and going down by herself, it was amazing!
Here is Jaxon going down the big slide and if you look closely, Brynn is at the top getting ready to go all by herself!
Brynn had a system for getting up those steps and it was amazing...she could get up there pretty quickly...Jaxon always beat her, but it was still impressive that she could do it by herself!

This is when we first got there and she wasn't too sure about it, but she loosened up and loved it! Jaxon had a great time too and didn't want to leave, but we convinced him to leave by telling him we were going to Coldstone to get some ice cream...really who could resist that? I don't have pictures of the ice cream, but afterwards we went to an arcade next to Coldstone and the kids played around for a little while. It was fun!

I think Jaxon had a great birthday! I asked him if he would stop growing and stay little forever...he thought about it for a minute and said he couldn't because he has to keep growing so he can get big like mom and dad...darn, I was hoping maybe it would work!

Today we had a party with Jaxon's friends, 15 of them to be exact! We had planned on doing the same thing we did last year, setting up a big inflatable water slide and letting the kids wear themselves out on that for an hour, then have pizza, do presents, and do cake and ice cream, and send the kids on their way with their goody bags. Well, apparently we can't always plan on nice sunny, warm days in July!

The party started at 11, so when everyone came, we headed outside and everyone started sliding down the slide and playing in the pool. That lasted all of about a half hour until everyone started complaining they were cold, do inside ALL of us went! All I have to say it it's a good thing we have a finished basement! We tried to play duck, duck, goose and hide and seek, but they didn't last long, so we resorted to opening presents early. That, of course, was Jaxon's favorite part.

Then we headed back outside for pizza and cake and ice cream (for the simple reason that I didn't want 15 kids eating that messy food in my house!). By that time, most everyone had dried off and it wasn't quite as cold. After we ate, some kids chose to go inside and play and some decided to stay out and play on the water slide. Finally, the last 15 minutes it got nice and warm and the sun came out...of course it had to be the last 15 minutes...ugh!

Brynn really enjoyed the pizza and cupcakes and her face showed it!
Jaxon blowing out the candles on his cupcake.

Jaxon had a good time at his birthday party...he is exhasuted now and I am sure glad I have a whole year until the next birthday party...it's fun, but it's sure a lot of work!

Happy birthday Jaxon, we love you big much and are so glad you are our little man!

Fourth of July Fun

2009-07-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

This year for the 4th of July, we headed up to the cabin in Bear Lake with Jason's family...it was so nice to have a long weekend where we didn't have to do anything we didn't want to do! The first day we were there after I took a run in the morning (which ended up being 7.5 miles...why, oh why did I do that?!) , we headed down to the lake. My kids had the best time. They had a blast playing in the sand, and the water...mostly the sand (the water was cold!) They had fun playing with their cousins and just hanging out!

Jordan liked to have the waves come up and get him wet, he also liked eating the sand...again! Do you like his swim shirt? I got it and it was "supposed" to be his size, but I'm thinking it was miss labeled...or he's just got a big belly!?
Brynn really enjoyed the licorice, in fact, I'm pretty sure she never went long than about 3 minutes without some kind of food in her hand...I don't know where she puts that food, she's such a skinny thing!
Isn't he sweet? Again, do you like the swim shirt?
Jaxon had a blast playing in the sand with his cousins, I'm pretty sure he could have stayed there all day.
Jaxon had a blast playing in the sand with his cousins, I'm pretty sure he could have stayed there all day.

Jason took Jaxon fishing to a little pond by the cabin and they caught this fish! Jaxon was so excited and he even touched it...this is a big improvement over last year when he wouldn't come close to it unless it was in a Ziploc bag!

We set off some pretty lame fireworks (I have a hard time spending a lot of money on fireworks, it's literally burning your money). The kids thought they were pretty cool. This was Brynn's first year watching them, last year she was in bed, and she thought they were okay...she didn't have much of a reaction to them.

Before we did fireworks, we had a campfire and made s'mores. Well, Jason and I had s'mores, the kids chose not to (where did these kids come from?). Brynn did have a marshmellow she held in her hand for about a half hour straight until she was a sticky mess and I took it away from her, I'm pretty sure she never did actually eat a marshmellow. And Jaxon was quite irritated that he couldn't just leave his marshmellow roaster in the fire with a marshmellow on it and come back and have it perfectly roasted, so guess who go that job...that's right, me!

We had a great 4th of July and I am so thankful to live in this country and to enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy. I am thankful for the brave men and women who fight, have fought, and will fight to keep our country safe!

The Copper Mine

2009-07-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of Saturday's ago, we decided to head up to Kennecott Copper Mines. Jason has been wanting to go for a while and since we live like 10 minutes away and we had some free time, we headed up there. I have only been one other time in my life and that was when I was in seventh grade, so it's been a while! It was pretty cool. It is amazing to see what a huge operation they run and how they do it, it's pretty interesting. The kids had fun for about five minutes and then they were done, and I can't honestly say I lasted a lot longer...it was interesting, but not that interesting! Jason thought it was pretty cool and wanted to look at all they displays they had in the little building, but that didn't last too long when he saw that the kids were losing interest, and quickly!

This is just as we were leaving and Jaxon was done, he didn't want to smile for the camera!

Jordan was great...how can you not love this kid, look at that smile!
Those tires are HUGE!

Like I said, it was pretty interesting and maybe the kids will like it when they get a little bit older, but I'm good for another 15 years!

Wow...it's been a while!

2009-06-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

So, I guess it's been a while since I've updated this blog...I used to be a lot better at it...then I had three kids :) I should be cleaning my house right now since Brynn & Jordan are sleeping...but this is much more fun!

Today we went right from the gym to the lake so the kids could play in the lake and on the beach...let me just say, it's a lot of work to get all their stuff together, all my stuff together for the gym, get them in the car, get the stroller, get the toys, get everything else we could possibly need and be out the door by 8:30 and to the gym by 9:00. Then after the gym, drive to the lake, unpack all the "stuff" (including kids!) and finally get to play in the sand and water! It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too!
Jordan loved to splash in the water...I told him not to eat the sand but...
He ate the sand. Then at lunch, I was wiping under his neck and there was a ton of sand under there! He must have liked the taste!
Brynn stole this toy from someone else...not like we didn't bring any of our own! After I put her swimsuit on I thought it looked a little small...not terribly small, just a little and sure enough, it was an 18 month swimsuit...let me remind you she is almost 2 1/2...oh well!

Jason just wanted to play with his shovel and his sand toys, didn't want to get in the water too much...he was not happy when we left without playing at the park right next to the lake...he could stay at that park for hours on end...so could Brynn as long as she could swing the whole time!

On the 11th...my parents took Jaxon down to St. George with two of his cousins for a couple of days of playing with Grandma & Grandpa...he had such a good time and got spoiled like crazy. I almost didn't know what to do with myself with only two kids...it was great! I ventured down to St. George on the 14th to rescue my parents...but I think I only brought more chaos in the form of a two year old and a seven month old! We had such a good time! Our days were filled with swimming...(although there were only like two days out of the five I was there that weren't overcast and threatening rain...I felt like I was back in South Jordan!)

We played at the really cool park by my parent's house...

And took LOTS of bubble baths...
The day before we went home, Jordan got sick...102 fever and GRUMPY! He really liked the popsicle Grandma gave him though!
The Wednesday before I went to St. George we had some CRAZY weather! This is hail in our front yard...there was a lot more by the time it was finished.

I ran out to unclog the downspout...big mistake!
Crazy June weather! But the bright side is we haven't had to turn on our A/C or sprinklers...saving a lot of $$$

At the end of May or the first of June (my days all kind of run together!) Daybreak did a ladybug release party at the community garden...they let 1000s of ladybugs out to help the gardens...it's pretty cool. Last year, Jaxon wasn't too keen on the bugs and Brynn was too little to care. This year...Brynn didn't like them at all, and Jaxon loved it, and we're just lucky Jordan was awake becuase it was way past bedtime!

This is Brynn trying to make sure no more bugs are on her, she didn't like them on her at all...she liked to watch them in our garden plot, but didn't want anything else to do with them. For days, even still, she talks about bugs and points to her arm where they were...she's so darn cute!
Jaxon loved them and kept going back for more...he wanted to make sure our garden plot had plenty of ladybugs.

See that look of concern on her face?
This was as we were leaving...at this point it's about a hour and a half after bedtime and Jordan is still smiling...I love that kid!

Temple, Bikes, Water, and Haircuts!

2009-05-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

We've had a crazy busy couple of weeks, well to think of it it's been a couple of months, but we've been able to get in some fun stuff too! On May 23rd, we went to the open house for the Oqu irrh
Mountain Temple open house...they had an early open house for the residents of Daybreak and surrounding areas...it was so nice to be able to go and see the finished product. It has been so fun to drive past the temple almost every day and see the progress that was being made. It doesn't seem like that long ago when they were putting the angle Moroni on top, and now it is finished! I am so excited to have a temple in our neighborhood and feel so blessed to be able to be so close...I think of people that have to save up so much money to be able to make a trip to the temple once in their lives and how much they sacrifice and feel so blessed to have a temple I could walk to!

It is pretty amazing to stand in front of the temple and to be able to see three other temples, the
Salt Lake, the Jordan River, and the Draper...how blessed are we?!

If anyone is coming this way for the open house that starts tomorrow and runs through August, stop by and visit us...we'd love to see you! For more information on the open house and temples click here.

This picture is not a good picture at all, but it was so darn bright outside that we couldn't keep our eyes open...that's why Jaxon is covering his and Brynn is looking away and I have a goofy look on my face!

Jordan is already 6 months old! Where does the time go? He is such a sweet little boy...I love this age so much! He loves to laugh, eat his toes, eat anything that he can get to his mouth, eat "food", play with his brother and sister (most of the time), jump in his jumper...pretty much anything, he is such a good baby and pretty cute too if I may say so myself!

My mom came up from St. George on Wednesday...my kids were SO excited to see her...Brynn won't let my mom put her down when she is around, she LOVES Grandma! We decided to take the kids to the park by the lake and when we got there, we decided it would be fun to put our feet in the water...fully expecting the kids to get wet (which we weren't prepared for, no swim clothes, no towels). Well, they did get wet and had a great time doing so!

Jordan and Grandma stayed dry on the dock!
This was right after Brynn fell in...Jason was walking with her in the water and she decided she could do it by herself, and ended up falling in...she wasn't very happy at first and used Jaxon's shirt to try to wipe the water off, the she realized there was no point and just had fun!
Jaxon making sand angels...he had a great time!

Jaxon had another soccer game on Saturday...it was pretty fun. Have I mentioned that our team is the only team in our age group of all three year olds? Yeah...we play kids up to 5 years old...do you know how big those kids can be...Jaxon is tall for his age and they tower over him, but the kids do pretty good, at least they are getting better! The game before this one Jaxon decided to be goalie and he did awesome! This game he tried it again, but his heart wasn't really into it...but at least he tried! I must say, it's quite a sight seeing 6 three year olds trying to play soccer...they are so darn cute!
Last but not least...I finally decided to take Brynn to get her hair cut! I was so sick of doing her hair like 10 times a day because of naps, carseats, Brynn pulling it out, etc. So on Saturday I took her to Cookie Cutters and had them cut it...I was nervous as to how she would do, but she did pretty well. Here is her hair before...

She was getting a little anxious, so we gave her some bubbles...her favorite!

The blow dryer freaked her out the most...she didn't like it at all, but she's going to have to get used to it...
And here is the finished product...I think it looks SO cute! It's a cute little A-line bob. Hopefully it will be a lot easier to do and it will not get food in it all the time! I love this little girl!

Stuff...

2009-05-22T21:44:00.001-07:00

So, I think I know I am really bad at updating my blog regularly, but when I finally do update it, at least there's a lot of fun pictures, right? Here are some pictures from the past month...I think they are pretty fun...hope you do too!

Jaxon stopped taking naps about two months ago (well, he would still take naps if I let him, but he was a big booger at bed time, so we figured it was better to have him not take naps than to have him awake for hours after we put him to bed!) Anyway...on this particular day, I was sitting next to him feeding Jordan, and I hear him breathing heavy and I look over and sure enough he is out...well, as time went on, he kept slipping farther and farther off the couch...he neer did fall all the way off, but I thought it was pretty funny that he could sleep like this. He also slept through Brynn trying to wake him up...pulling hair, giving kisses, tickling, you name it, she tried it!
One morning, I thought it was uncommonly quite and I started looking for my little angels and I found them sitting in boxes sharing stickers with each other and don't worry...Jordan even got a sticker when they saw he didn't have one yet! What good sibilings!
There is an awesome new park in Daybreak...we call it the lake park or the climbing park. They have these awesome rope things to climb on, a fun slide and SWINGS (pretty sure they are the only swings in Daybreak). We went for the first time on a playdate and I had to drag my kids away...they loved it! If you ever want to go, give me a call, we would be happy to go! Or if you want to come visit me...we could come to this awesome park...guaranteed to be a hit!
We went to the cabin in Bear Lake about two weeks ago, just our little family...and we realized this is the first time since it was built like five or six years ago that we have ever been up there just us, we are always with family or friends! I was a lot of fun, we were able to relax and the kids had a great time playing. This picture is of Brynn on the way home. All the kids fell asleep on the way home, but I just loved the way her arm is in this picture, she looks so angelic...then she woke up!

We have been spending a lot of time outside...the weather is perfect, not too hot, not too cold. My kids love to be outside! It is nice to have a backyard to send the kids to play in, but I miss our green court too! I wish the weather would stay like this forever! By the way...Jaxon is "kissing" Jordan, not biting him!
Brynn is obbssesed with shoes lately...this night, she decided to put on Jason's shoes. Don't mind the hair, it was right before bedtime...who am I kidding, her hair generally looks like this after nap time if we aren't going anywhere! Do you love her pose for the camera?
I love this little man! He had his 6 month appointment on the 18th (can you believe he is 6 months? I can't!) I can't remember the exact numbers, but he is in the 25 percentile for weight, 75% for height and 25% for head...he's growing!
A couple of Fridays ago, we went to the awesome park by the lake (mentioned above). We were there for about an hour and Brynn spend almost every minute of that hour in the swing...she loved it! Jordan loved the swings also...Jaxon chose to climb...little monkey!
Jaxon always wants to feed Jordan, so on this Saturday morning, Jason got up with the kids and while he was making pancakes, he let Jaxon feed Jordan...he actually did quite well! He is such a good little helper...I love my kids! How lucky am I to have such an awesome family?!

Jordan's 5 Month Pictures

2009-04-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

My friend took more pictures of Jordan and I think they turned out great! Luckily he was in a pretty good mood, that always helps! I think he's pretty darn cute, but I might be a little biased!

Happy Birthday Brynners!

2009-04-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Brynn turned two on the 24th (I know I'm a little slow posting this, but things have been crazy!) We didn't do too much on her real birthday because we were having a joint party with her cousin Madison the next day. Grandma came up from St. George to celebrate with us and that was lots of fun!

Brynn is such a sweet little girl...at least that's what everyone thinks, but in reality, she is a little stinker. She loves to torment her older brother and does it whenever she gets the chance! She loves to read, play with kids at the gym and in nursery, torment her brothers, color, play with playdough, take her shoes off whenever we are in the car (very annoying!)...plus lots of other things I can't think of right now. She weighs all of 23 lbs, which is the 5%, but she is in the 70% for height, but she eats like a horse, most of the time! She's starting to talk more and more...it took her a while to get started, but she's getting the hang of it.

We love our Brynners and don't know what we would do without her! Hope you had a great day!

These pictures got posted in the wrong order, so start at the bottom and they will make a little more sense!

Brynn likes to ride on the back of the wiggle bike with Jaxon...he has figured this thing out, it's quite fun to watch. I told Jason we have the perfect house for them to be able to ride it inside and he asked if that was a good thing or a bad thing and I told him I hadn't figured that part out yet...it keeps them entertained, so I guess it's a good thing!

Jaxon's ball took a while to get to the pins, so he decided to lay down to see how many pins he knocked over!

Jordan hanging out with Dad at the bowling ally.

We decided to go bowling for Brynn and her cousin Madison's birthday. It was the first time my kids had ever gone bowling. Jaxon liked it well enough, but Brynn didn't really care for it...she did it about four times then was done with it...she just wanted to hang out with grandma the whole time!

Brynn on her wiggle bike, it's actually called a plasma car and it is a lot of fun...the kids love it!

Brynn and Madison's cake...I made the cake and I must confess, I am not that good of a cake maker, so it doesn't look fantastic, but I thought it turned out ok...it didn't help that the cake fell in the middle because I had to use a crappy pan...let me tell you, that cake had plenty of frosting in the middle of it...yuck!

Present time! I'm pretty sure Jaxon was more excited than Brynn was, he just knew he got to play with whatever toys she got!

Pizza time! We had pizza for lunch and Brynn was sitting by her cousin Madison and Madison was putting her plate in her mouth and swinging it back and forth and Brynn thought it was hilarious and then decided to do it for herself...it was pretty cute!

The tradition in our house is that we decorate each person's door for their birthday and in the morning they see their fun decorated door, so this is Brynn's door. Jason got her up Saturday morning and said she was very excited to see her door decorated...what a fun surprise!

Soccer!

2009-04-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Jaxon had his first soccer game on Saturday, which was a miserably cold day! He was excited for his first game, then he got there! Just kidding, he actually had a lot of fun, but it was so cold! All the kids were crying, shivering, and just wanted to go home! Jaxon really did have a great time, but he thought the object of the game was to run with the kids and push them over...I guess if you can't win, cheat! We were playing against a team that was quite a bit older and bigger than our team. Add the fact that our kids didn't really know what they were doing, and we lost pretty badly, but the kids had fun, well most of them! I think Jaxon's favorite part was the oranges and juice! We look forward to this Saturday's game in the rain...is it ever going to get warm?!

Easter Outfits

2009-04-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, this is the best picture I could get of my kids in their Easter outfits, we were on our way to church and I wanted to take a picture really fast, but we were running late, so this is what I got...not great, but don't they look so cute?

The Basement is Finished!

2009-04-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

The basement is finally finished! This picture is from the first night Jason pained down there...he was spraying the primer, and he had a great time doing it...not really! We are so happy to have it finished, well it's not totally finished, the bathroom isn't done yet, but we are happy to have it most of the way finished. I wish I had more pictures, but I don't right now, hopefully I will post more later, if I remember! Jaxon got moved down last night and he loves it...his room is so much bigger than is old one, he has more room to make bigger messes!

Thanks Jason for all the hard work you did to make our basement so beautiful!

Easter Fun!

2009-04-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Easter this year was kind of a bummer! Jason came home sick from work (which he never does he has to be REALLY sick) on Friday and that started our fun weekend. He felt better enough on Saturday to work on the basement and was feeling better by Saturday night. Well, Sunday morning at around 5:45 Jaxon comes in our room crying because he threw up in his bed. He threw up one more time about 15 minutes later. Then, I was getting Brynn's breakfast and she threw up, just a little bit (Do you think it could have been the fact that she was eating a sucker at 7:00 in the morning?!).

So there went all our fun Easter plans, like going to Church, and going to Jason's parents' house for an egg hunt, instead we stayed home and watched like 5 movies, pretty boring if you ask me. Don't worry though because by the end of the night, I had the same crap the other had...fun stuff! Luckily I didn't throw up and everyone is healthy now! Needless to say, I didn't get pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits (I tend to not like throw up on their nice clothes!) so I will have to do that next week!

The kids did have fun though having a little egg hunt in the house and going outside later to blow the bubbles the Easter Bunny brought them...oh the simple joys!

On the 11th, we colored Easter Eggs. The whole process was over in about 10 minutes because I couldn't handle it anymore! They kids had a fun time though and thought it was very interesting...well Brynn really wanted to drink the coloring, they stuff with vinegar in it...yum! FYI...Brynn is a total cheeser for the camera if you couldn't already tell!

On the 10th, I took Jaxon & Brynn to a flashlight egg hunt in our neighborhood. Jason was sick so he stayed home with Jordan. It was a lot of fun. The kids got impatient waiting for it to start, but once it did, they had a great time. Jaxon was a little bugged that he could only take 10 eggs, like that wasn't enough!?

Finally Uploaded Pictures From My Camera!

2009-04-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, I am terrible and uploading pictures from my camera to the computer in a timely manner, so that is the reason for these giant posts with tons of pictures, so hope you don't mind!

When we got our drywall done for the basement, the workers were taking their garbage and stuff out the window well and the kids thought it was great, they sat there and watched for a good 5 minutes. I am SO glad we hired someone to do the drywall, so nice to have it done...now bring on the paint and carpet is scheduled to be installed on the 22nd! Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Jordan and his cousin Sam who is two weeks younger than Jordan...but you couldn't tell from the picture. Jordan has his four month appointment on March 23 and he was very little (12.9 lbs which is the 5th percentile, but his height was the 75th) so with some supplementing and medicine to help me produce more milk, three weeks later he was up to 14 lbs!

Jaxon was invited to a birthday party where he was supposed to dress up as his favorite super hero, so he chose Mr. Incredible. Luckily, my mom came up a couple of weeks before the party and made this adorable cape for him, isn't it awesome?! I really should learn how to sew, but that would take a lot of time, which I don't have any of right now!

Isn't he cute? I love that little smile!

I am so excited for the basement to get done for this reason...I can get rid of the corner o' toys in my living room upstairs...I hate the toys, but love that cheesy little girl!

Brynn insists that we swaddle her baby because she sees us swaddle Jordan, the only problem is she has a royal fit when she comes unswaddled, but yet, she carries her by the head, so what can you do right?

I love this picture, I think he looks so handsome, even if he is in a pink bumbo!

At Jordan's four month appointment, the doctor wanted me to start him on food to try to get extra calories in him...so I started solids and these are the results...the food went in the mouth, and promptly came back out! Not sure how much he actually ate, but he seemed to like it. I even made my own baby food, not as hard as I thought it was going to be!

Jaxon loves to help Jason in the basement and Jason gave him these ear plugs to wear while he was down there and Jaxon thought they were pretty cool and I thought they were pretty funny!

If she had more hands, she would have carried more!

My parents came up over Conference weekend, so we had a get together with my sister and her family and decided to do a little egg hunt. It was a lot of fun and the kids thought it was great and ate all of their candy in a little less than an hour...amazing!

Does he look scared? He should because Brynn kept trying to climb in the seat with him...poor Jordan, if he can survive Brynn, he can survive anything!

So, with Jordan I will cover his eyes with his feet and play peek a boo, well, Brynn thought this would also be a fun game for her to play...isn't she cute! And yes, so does have a constant runny nose lately, so that is snot you see in all of her pictures! YUCK!