October 2009

Boy have we been busy! But for some reason we didn't take a lot of pictures...oops! But, we did take some Everyone is still doing fabulous and we are having fun.

Brayden had his first field trip and I got to go with him! All the kindergarten classes went to Schnepf Farms for their Halloween festival and it was so much fun! There were fun kiddie rides, pig races, and we got to pick a pumpkin at the end. There were also enough parent chaperones that we each got 2 kids and then split up to have some fun! I had Brayden and his friend "A" and it was great. I hope I always get to do the fieldtrips with the boys!

The weekend of the 24th Gilbert had a Halloween party at Freestone park. There were fun games and bouncy slides, as well as a few characters. It was a lot of fun and something that we will definitely make a tradition!

We also got to have 2 Halloween's this year. On the 30th our ward had a Trunk-or-Treat so the boys got to dress up and we even did a trunk. There was a great turnout and the boys got a ton of candy! We even won first prize for best trunk! Woohoo!! The boys costumes looked awesome too and they were so in love with them - that's the best part! We had a mad scientist, Zorro, and a cute little scarecrow.

Then, on Halloween night, we went to the Queen Creek Trunk-or-Treat. That was a lot of fun too! In addition to the trunks there were a bunch of kids games they got to play for more candy. Unfortunately Tarell wasn't with us for Halloween night but he had his own fun. And, we ended up with WAY TOO MUCH CANDY!! I think next year we may find an alternative to keeping the candy.

**Stay tuned for birthday pics for Brayden and Landon!

Here we grow again...

After swearing it wouldn't happen again...

We got a dog!!!

And she is super cute! The boys love her and have been having sooooo much fun playing with her. It took a couple hours but we settled on a name and she loves it and has answered to it from the start. So...meet Maizy!

YAY!!!!

Landon is now potty-trained! YAY!!! It seemed to happen overnight, after working with him for months. We are so proud of him - and he is proud of himself. He hasn't had any accidents, even at night. Amazing!! He even go to pick out his own underwear. He now has a great selection of Cars, Spiderman, and Elmo underwear. So cute!!

Seattle vacation

We went to Seattle the end of July for a much needed family vacation. It was so much fun to see family and check out some great places. Here are some pictures we took:

Hanging out by the waterfront

The boys were all so excited to see the guys that throw the fish - when it came down to it they were a little hesitant. Landon wouldn't go anywhere near the "disgusting fish" as he put it.

I really miss all the fresh flowers in buckets at Pike Place - they are so beautiful and cheap!! This picture doesn't do them justice at all!!

We even got to go out on grandpa's boat. We went in waves so unfortunately there aren't any pictures of Brayden and Tarell, but isn't Landon cute driving the boat?? These are a tad little blurry but too cute! They were being so silly!

The boys loved the Space Needle! We were so high up!

Of course we had to get a picture with all the grandkids - aren't they a handsome bunch? Maybe next time they will sit still - right!! If anyone got a good picture I would love to have it!

We also went to cousin Tom's wedding - I wish we had some pictures of that. The boys all looked so handsome and Tom and Rebecca looked beautiful! And Aunt Anita - we didn't get a picture of you either! We are horrible! We miss you all and wish we could see you more often!

We had such a great time! Thanks to everyone who made it possible for us! We love our family!

HE DID IT!!!!

We had Brayden tested for early entrance into Kindergarten....and.....HE MADE IT!!!! He is definitely ready, in every sense, and is ecstatic! His birthday falls 4 months short of the cut-off so it's not like he's a full year early but the fact that he will be 4 for almost half of his kindergarten year is a big deal. I'm so proud of him! He will be the youngest kid in all of the kindergarten classes and he even beat out some 5 year olds for a spot. I knew you could do it big boy...I love you!!!

Has it really been 2 months???

So I realized that it's been nearly 2 months since I blogged last..WHAT?!?! Why does time go by so quickly?? If someone could figure out a way to slow it down please let me know. :-)

We haven't really been up to much since last time...Mark works and is still loving his job and continues to do great. Erin LOVES her job too and is constantly learning new stuff. Tarell and Brayden are out of school for the summer and they love that! And last, Landon continues to grow and progress - he talks more and more everyday and we can actually understand him now...yippee!! We have fun and stay busy. Here are some pictures:

Mark's parents from Seattle came to visit and we had so much fun with them.

The boys went on the annual Father's and Son's campout and had a blast. They played, got dirty, got soaking wet, were cold, and they loved every second of it! Look closely - you can see grandad "roasting" Landon's socks. The boys got quite a kick out of that but they had to dry the soaking wet socks somehow.

The boys caught a new "pet" - this is Bryden asking if we can please keep him. IT was a moth that they named Charlie. Unfortunately Charlie went the way of some of our previous pets. Goodbye Charlie! I think we are done with pets forever!

Last, Mark had to have an emergency appendectomy about a month ago. He had been sick for a few days but refused to go to the Dr. (Ugh..men!!) Then, one morning he was home with Landon and Brayden (I was at work) and he felt really sick so he texted me to say he was calling 911. Seriously, 911?? Can it be THAT bad?? I thought he was joking so I called him and told him to wait and I would come home to take him to the Dr. Well, apparently he couldn't wait because when I got home Mark was gone and Brayden and Landon were being watched by 5 firemen. They boys thought it was great and "so cool!!" but I was mortified!! My house was a disaster and the boys were only half dressed - it was awful! So, I thanked the guys and took Landon to daycare and then met Mark at the hospital. As it turned out he need his appendix out! So, about 2 hours after arriving in the ER Mark was in surgery, after which he felt much better! We are all glad that he is ok and all better now.

For now, we are looking forward to our first vacation in FOREVER!! We are going to Seattle the middle of July and we are all just so excited! We have tons of fun things planned, plus we get to hang out with family! Yeah!!

I think that's about all for now. I'll try to be better at updating this thing more often.

Brayden's future plans...

I know I haven't blogged for awhile - I keep meaning too, promise. I even have pictures...someday I'll get to it.

But for now I had to share Brayden's latest thoughts. We were driving in the car the other day and had a conversation about the possibility of taking a roadtrip. We were all discussing where we could go; Tarell wanted Disneyland, Landon wanted to go to the park, and the only place Brayden wanted to go was to college. I asked him what we would do at college. Very matter-of-factly he stated that we could go to college so he could tell them that he wants to be a SWAT doctor and he wants them to be ready for him. (for about a year now he's been talking almost constantly about being a SWAT doctor when he grows up - too cute!)

I had to laugh - I love that he's making his plans already. Not even in kindergarten but he's thinking about college and his future. For about the next hour all he talked about was going to college - and he wanted to make sure I would go with him. I love my boys!!!

Oh, BTW, I didn't think SWAT doctors were even real but I looked it up and they are! I love it!!

World Cup?

Maybe not the World Cup but to our 4 year old it feels like it. Yep, Brayden is now playing soccer again...and he is quite the player! He has really improved and just loves it!

And what does Landon do during soccer practice?? Plays on daddy of course! Next year he can play too and he can't wait!

Polar Ice

A new Polar Ice skating rink opened close to our house and the boys have been begging to go there. So, I looked into it (can you imagine me on ice skates? Not me!!) and found that they offer some great kids programs. My favorite program is a 4 week intro course to ice hockey. The best part - it's FREE!! Even the equiptment is free to borrow. Awesome! Of course we signed up for it and have been 2 times now.

The first week the boys did great but spent more time on their little behinds than on their feet so I thought for sure they would hate it. But, they got off the ice and talked about how much fun it was for days after. Yeah!! There are 2 weeks left and they love going. Landon even loves watching his big brothers play. Maybe next year he can do it too!