Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it is December 19th already! I swear we just had everyone over for Thanksgiving last week. As always things have been nuts around our house (or at least it feels that way for me.) I had a blast having everyone over here for Thanksgiving. It was my first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner and thanks to everyone's help, it turned out awesome and it wasn't stressful. We had just over 30 people and we partied from lunch till late at night. We couldn't stop there though so we had everyone back over again for leftover pie and a spaghetti dinner the next night. It is just too much fun getting together to leave it to just one day! :)

Our December started off with a bang as we had something every day that first week in December. We have done things just a little differently around our house this year. We were a little slow on getting all of our decorations out and didn't put up our Christmas tree until tonight. I didn't want to stress the whole month about having to keep Mason out of everything. We have had other decorations up for a few weeks but not the tree. We decorated it tonight with every ornament except the bulbs. (They resemble a ball too closely and I didn't want them thrown and shattered.) It was a fun time. I TOTALLY let go of control and the kids decorated the whole thing while I handed them ornaments. Nobody fought, argued or cried. It is definitely no "Festival of Trees" but it is to our kids. I guess the backwards ornaments and branches with 5 ornaments to a limb just give it it's own style and pizazz. I am trying hard to make sure that we have HAPPY holidays and not "perfect" holidays so I have had to back off a bit. I do miss having that creative feeling and satisfaction when I step back to see how beautiful things are transformed for the holidays but I figure in a few years from now I will get that chance to do some more of it again.

I am surprised at how much I have liked not having our tree up during the whole month. It has given us something to continue to look forward to doing and I think our kids haven't had the "gimmies" as much during this holiday. They are SOOOO excited for Christmas but rarely talk about what they want to receive. It has been more about what are we doing for others or fun activities we get to participate in. Landen has been the cutest this year. He can hardly stand it till Christmas gets here. He has been putting a sticker on his little calendar chart each day and at least 10 times a day he checks to see if another day has come and he missed putting a sticker on. He mixes up his numbers too so he will ask, "Is it the nine one day today?" instead of asking if it is the 19th today. He does know that Christmas Day is on the two-five and he is constantly telling us how many more days till it is two-five.

I am excited that we get to make treats tomorrow! Bryce will be done with his "Biggest Loser" competition that he is doing with the boys on his side of the family. They do their final weigh-in tomorrow morning and I can make caramel, English toffee, fudge, chex mix, etc... I hope the kids and I have fun doing it together. We will definitely enjoy eating it! Bryce's "diet" has been good for us and actually helped me lose the weight that has been bothering me for a while at my stomach. I didn't exercise at all but we have cut out a lot of sugar, snacking after dinner and a few other things. Hopefully we can continue to keep a few healthy lifestyle changes that will just keep us in good health.

I wish that I had pictures to post but I am still without a good camera. I have taken a few photos with Abbey's camera that I will have to add sometime-- maybe. Until then... I will just have to keep these good times in my memory bank and let them keep getting better and better as time goes by! :)

Happy Halloween 2011

We have officially completed our marathon weekend of Halloween! It started Thursday with Landen's preschool party, Friday's family Halloween party at Karen's house, Saturday was full of parties for Abbey and we finished it all of with a grand finale for today. It started with the cute costume parade at the elementary school, then off to take care of a funeral luncheon for a sweet little old man in our neighborhood, dashed off to trick-or-treat at Lisa's office, visited Hannah Ormond and Joe, trick-or-treated the neighborhood (in absolutely fantastic weather!!!), dashed off to Uncle John's & Aunt Christina's, Grandma & Grandpa Bezzant's, the spook alley at "Grandma Walker's" and we finished off with a stop to Karen's. What a night! I am SO exausted!!! We had a blast and the kids came home with an enormous haul of candy! They can't stop talking about all of the fun they had. This was the first year I didn't make them sit down and eat a real dinner. They ate so much candy that they had no appetite. It was actually nice to not fight them to eat--just this once! This was also the first time that I let Braxton and Abbey run off through the neighborhood all by themselves. They did almost the entire thing before it got dark. They literally RAN from house to house enjoying the "big kid"freedom and the chocolate greed running through their veins. This holiday rivals Christmas in the eyes of my kids.

I wished we could have stopped and visited everyone we wanted. There just wasn't enough time and once I sat down in the car tonight- my energy hit a brick wall. It was game over for me! I think my high heeled boots that I have had ALL day didn't help that.

Such fun times! Thank you to everyone to put on such fun things. Karen threw an awesome party full of fabulous food, great pumpkin carving and a fantastic fishing pond!

I am now off to bed. I promise myself that I will do quick and easy posts so that I will actually post something so enjoy the one picture I uploaded from my phone for Halloween. :) It is of the kids with our good friend, Hannah Ormond. *Abbey is a black cat. *Braxton is a ninja (but he didn't like to wear the mask) *Landen was batman--as he slowly lost pieces of his costume all night. *Mason was a lion. Cute stuff and we didn't have to do makeup!! Yipee!!!

Hugs!

Hugs! Hugs! And MORE HUGS! Mason can't get enough hugs from me when I put him down for his nap or to bed for the night. He lays down, we get his two favorite blankets (one from each grandma) and then instantly his arms go straight up in the air with the sounds," Husss" coming out as he is begging for hugs. You can't just give him one or two hugs. Each time you hug and kiss him he instantly asks for more. His big smile and gorgeous blue eyes are a heartbreaker so of course I give him more and more hugs and kisses. WHY NOT?! When I finally don't think my back can handle bending over the railing and into the crib anymore- I promise Mason more hugs when he wakes up. He is good with that and out the door I go trying not to look back at the cute little guy laying there in the crib. Good times!

Football Finale

Braxton played his last football game of the season last night. It was a nail biter! They were tied and had to go into overtime. They ended up losing the game but had a great time and had lots of other winning games. Brax is a fast little guy. He pulled lots of flags, had some good blocks and scored several touchdowns! I think that next year he will be the giant on the field with the 1st and 2nd graders since he was almost always one of the taller kids this year. Braxton also had fun having his cousin, Porter, on the same team with him. Good times for sure! Mason, Landen and Abbey also loved all the treats that Aunt Karen provided each game. Mason doesn't stop digging in her purse knowing that SOMEWHERE there is another piece of gum, swedish fish or fruit roll ups. A big THANKS to his coach, Victor Johnson, for the endless hours of practice and patience! He was fabulous.

I am so disappointed that I have ruined my good camera and didn't get any good snapshots. I tried with Abbey's camera but it just isn't the same to not be able to zoom a ton, take quick shots and deal with the dusk lighting. Thanks Abbey for letting me use your camera though! You are always very sweet to share. I guess I should be glad we bought the team picture--too bad we are missing 1/2 his team in it though. Oh well- what do you do?

Strategies

My life is full of them. I am constantly trying to figure out the best and fastest way to get things to work in my favor. Some of my strategies from this morning-

*First and my most important one--keep a positive energy going. The more I show appreciation or compliment on what a good job the kids are doing on something- the more likely they are to continue to keep up working and generally faster and more self-motivated than they were before. They love to "surprise" me and have stuff done that I wouldn't have expected to be finished yet. Surprise away!!! :)

*To avoid a meltdown from Landen and a mess from Mason- all three of us brush our teeth at the same exact time and we all do it in my bathroom. I have moved their toothbrushes and toothpaste right into my cabinet to save me the hassle of fetching them each morning.

*I also have to set the timer on my phone for 2 minutes so that Landen doesn't day dream all morning while brushing and when the timer goes off it automatically signals to him that it is time for me to brush his teeth (we call it finishing his teeth.) This usually avoids another meltdown.

*Putting clean laundry away is tricky. Abbey and Braxton are self-motivated on this one now but Landen isn't. He can't race the older kids cause they smoke him every time and meltdowns ensue.. SO.... he races me. I get to put away my laundry, Bryce's laundry and Mason's laundry while Landen does his. This usually works out quite well. If for some reason I had to already get mine done we have alternative #2- counting. Landen LOVES it when I say, "On your mark, get set, GO!" and then I start counting to whatever number he has chosen. He thinks he is SO tricky cause he will start putting away whatever pile he has chosen as I start to say, "On your mark..." **We can only choose one pile at a time to put away--like pants, or underwear--or it is just too much for him to process and handle. Then we choose another pile and start the whole process over again. Some days I feel so annoyed to do the whole song and dance and think that he should just get his stuff put away but I have to stuff those thoughts back down into some black whole and just be grateful that we have a strategy that usually ends with smiles and the job well done!

*The grocery store. Strategy- go during preschool (only have Mason). Go on days I drive for preschool so that we are already in the car and can easily head over to the store. If going to walmart- park on the pharmacy side - we have to avoid the produce section at all cost till the end of the shopping trip. Try to have my list in order along with coupons I want to use. The faster I get through the store the happier Mason and I both are. Hand items to Mason and let him throw them into the basket of the cart. Be careful to not let him linger with the items or he will rip them open and try to eat whatever it is, shampoo and all. Avoid the treat isle all together--best for both of us! And finally we pick up our produce and make sure bananas, grapes or apples are put into the cart last and hopefully in a spot he can't see them. If he does see it, Mason holds on to a bunch of bananas and we head straight to the check out. Mason is a ticking time bomb cause there is only so long he can stand to see fruit and not be eating it. He did quite well today at the store but there have been a few times I haven't followed my game plan very well and for the sake of me and the other 100 shoppers around us, we purchase a banana at the beginning of our trip and he eats it as we all shop in peace.

One last strategy and I am speaking for Bryce on this one-- make ME think it is MY idea and I am happy to do it--no matter what it is! :) He has me figured out so well! No wonder he goes on so many dirt bike rides! ;)

October 24, 2011

Here I am again- ready to apologize for falling off the face of journaling. I have too much of good life to type about to waste my time on that though. Life is what it is and keeping a "cutsie" journal isn't one of them for me. It has been so long though that I wanted to jot down a few things so as I don't forget them.

First off-- 3 out of my 4 kids have had birthdays since my last entry! I will work on seperate posts to highlight their individualness and fantastic qualities but I didn't want them to think that they were forgotten. Happy Birthday Landen, Abbey and Braxton!!!

I never imagined that having 4 kids would be this busy. The summer went by in a flash--yet I lived every day of it. It was a fun but very hard summer. We had a great time doing swim lessons, playing baseball, dirtbiking a bit with Bryce, camping, swimming, celebrating my wedding anniversary, birthdays, holidays, trips to Idaho and just playing with friends and family. It was never a dull moment around this house. Not until the week before school started did I hear anyone say, "Mom! I'm bored!" How could they have been?! We were running 24/7 it seemed.

I try to think why life is so crazy for me and then I take a look at some "normalities" of my life:

*With the kids being out of school for the summer it must have thrown Landen for a major upset. We had bathroom accidents almost daily (and many times it was multiple times a day), fits every morning cause he wasn't the first one done making his bed, fits every time we went somewhere cause he wasn't the first one to the car, screaming fits if he was the last one out of the car and had to close the door and random fits for any other reason under the sun. Man, can that kid throw fits?!!! (I am just glad it has toned down SO much since school started. I was beginning to wonder if Landen was going to spend the rest of his life in "time-out".) I tried hard to help him understand that we aren't "racing" to do everything but that didn't seem to do any good. He is definitely my emotional child--on both ends of the spectrum!

*Mason is a "go-er." He doesn't talk- he just does it himself. If he wants food- he opens the pantry or the fridge. If he wants a drink- he slides the stools around and finds a cup that somebody has left on the counter and drinks out of it. Needless to say- this usually leaves a mess with it all. Just this morning he emptied out the box of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal and had 3 seperate piles on the counter (and a huge mess on the floor of the ones that had escaped) just to fish out the raisins from the box. If only he would just talk and say he wanted rasisins-- I have a 3lb bag sitting on the shelf above that is just waiting to be eaten!

*Mason is a "sneaky go-er." He is so quiet about most things that he does that you don't realize he is doing stuff until it is done. Like- unrolling the toilet paper off the roll, emptying the wipes container, one wipe at a time, exploring Braxton and Landen's junk drawers, unwrapping gum that he has fished out of Bryce's laptop bag, using the toilet plunger as a walking stick, rearranging the bathroom cabinet supplies and hauling extra shampoo, toothpaste, lotion--which is his FAVORITE all over the house. I know it sounds like we don't watch this kid, but we do! He can open child locks, open doors, climb on the stools to get to the kitchen counter and much much more. He is one smart cookie! I had him buckled up in his high chair the other day having a snack and there was something across the room that he wanted so he started throwing is body forwards and backwards to get his chair rocking and low and behold, he moved his whole high chair (that doesn't have wheels) across the room till he reached what he wanted. WHAT?! This kids is barely 18 months old! Maybe I have forgotten what kids do-- but holy heck! Then he just looks up at me with these big blue eyes and gives me the cutest smile with a look of innocence that says, "What-- I wanted ____ and I couldn't reach it." But of course, he doesn't say a word.

*Relief Society- this has been the 2nd hardest calling in my life. (The 1st time I was Primary President was the hardest--I think; for lots of different reasons.) There is always something to be done and I enjoy doing so much of it. I think that the hardest part is trying to fit in all of the things I need and want to get done into my already crazy life. The activities are probably my hardest part to deal with. As a good friend put it, "It is like you have to plan a big party for people who are too busy to come to it." I struggle with trying to figure out what activities would be best for the ladies in our ward and will they meet their needs. I am so grateful when people volunteer or if anyone ever wants to create a little activity of their own. With my life being so crazy busy it is hard to think that other people might be looking for things to do- but I know that they are out there cause I used to be in that spot. And I also know that even being so busy, I enjoy time out with the ladies every once in a while.

*Of course there is the usual cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, yard work, etc... that needs to get done. Rides to piano lessons, football practice, trips to the grocery store, school projects, last minute birthday presents help to fill in any empty cracks of time that might be wasted on relaxation. I have to say though- I love having laundry to fold at night cause I get to sit down and watch a little t.v. without feeling guilty about it. That only happens 2 nights a week but to watch a show and fold all of the laundry in the same hour- LOVE IT!

Speaking of which-- I need to get back to work. My energy is sapped from having the stomach flu yesterday and I needed to take a break so I justified getting on the computer to journal for a minute while Mason is taking a nap. It is "early out" day today for Abbey and Brax so they will be walking in the door any moment. Time for homework, football practice, dinner, FHE, baths, more laundry, dishes, etc...

I am not complaining-- just documenting the current state of life. It won't always be like this-- and in many ways that makes me sad. So for now-- I have a smile and a forever long "to-do" list that I am off to get "to-doing!" :)

An update on life....

Life is good! I can't really complain. It is even better that the house is quite, all of the kids are asleep and with the lights not on... I can't see all of the housework that it awaiting me! :)

I am totally worn out today. We have had a fun day of swimming at the PG pool for Strawberry Days and watching Braxton play baseball. It was our turn for treats and I made round sugar cookies and frosted them like baseballs. They were cute. I am proud of myself for only eating 2! (yes- that is good for me!) Mason was getting REALLY restless at the end of the game so I let him have one of the extra cookies. He was head to toe frosting! And so was the stroller. After a dinner of spaghetti tonight-- I wondered why I was doing this to myself. Not planning the best dinners as far as cleanliness.

Bryce is again missing out. He is currently in Texas and will be heading to LA tomorrow. He has had to travel quite a bit the past few weeks so we miss him. He works super long hours when he travels and comes home wiped out. I am glad that he is still loving his job and always has lots to tell me. I just try my best to keep it all straight so I can ask meaningful questions.

Baseball consumes our evenings. Braxton has games on Monday and Wednesday nights. Landen has games on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I love cheering my boys on! Some days are a bit more hectic to get there than others. Landen can't seem to focus enough to get his stuff ready (shoes on, mitt in his hand and buckled in the car). He finds lots of other things to do along the way. My agenda minded personality wants to blow a gasket every time. And sometimes it does. I am trying hard on that though. His random thumbs up, winks, hugs and raised eyebrows from across the counter during dinner at me make me laugh and melt. He should probably try winking at me a little more during his fits....

Abbey is loving gymnastics again this summer. It makes me want to consider her doing it year round. She is amazingly flexible and is cart wheeling all over the place!

More Mason just cut 3 teeth this past week! A top molar on each side and a bottom tooth next to his two little middle teeth. He hasn't been the happiest camper. Not bad, but not the happiest.

We survived our first week of summer. It was almost constant bickering, power struggles, life isn't fair complaints and so on from the kids. I was ready to go NUTS! It always takes about a week for them to figure out how to get along all day long. Today was much better so I hope that we are on the road to peace and friendship around here... or I am on the road to the looney bin!

I am still going running in the mornings. With Bryce being out of town it hasn't worked out for me to go every day but I am getting out at least 3 - 4 times per week. I am now up to 2 1/2 miles with still some good hills in that distance. I could probably go further but I still want to stick to my 30 minute workout time and I need enough energy to keep up with the kids all day. I am seeing some improvement on my stomach and I know that my legs are a bit more toned up. I am frustrated though because a lot of my stomach roll issue is skin and I don't know what I can do about that, except surgery to remove it. And that isn't happening any time soon... or ever in my penny-pinching future.

Oh- one more thing! We are going somewhere for our anniversary!!! This next week we will be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary! Usually we celebrate by going somewhere for dinner (in mid-July). With Strawberry Days, Father's Day, Landen's birthday, etc... our anniversary always gets pushed aside. This year with Bryce being gone so much-- I needed some time and a good break! We get to go to away for the weekend and my sister, Karen, is taking the kids! WAHOO!! Bryce has asked me a few times what I want to do... and of all things that he can't believe I am saying... is SIT! I LOVE to go, go, go but I am tired, tired, tired! I just want to do NOTHING! I am sure that won't last super long but I can't wait for a completely relaxing weekend with my favorite person. Homestead... here we come! In a few weeks. :)

Braxton playing coach-pitch baseball

Braxton has now moved up to coach-pitch baseball. He is a great player and a real "go getter!" He seems to be loving it and his favorite part is wearing cleats. He wants to wear them all day, every day. He doesn't understand why I get upset when he wears them to run around on the wood floors in the house. Hmmm....

I wished that I would have gotten a better shot of his big hit! He has a great coach, Victor Johnson, who is helping to teach them a lot about the game and some strategy to it.

Braxton got to have a chance at being catcher today. He did pretty darn good.

He is dashing off to 1st base!


Of course Braxton has to slide into every base, especially home plate. I am just glad he wore a pair of ripped jeans for the game. It might be worth getting a pair of baseball pants for this kid or everything is going to be grass stained and torn to shreds.

Landen playing t-ball

Landen's 1st year playing t-ball! He seems to be having a great time! He is on a team with several of his friends and he has a fantastic coach who is SO patient with the kids!

Landen turned his hat sideways cause "he can't see to get the ball if it is on straight!" This is serious business!

Landen is in the middle of this hussle for the ball. Everyone wants to be the guy to get it! So much so that while Landen was a runner on 1st base he had a little misunderstanding of what he was supposed to be doing. He intently watched his teammate hit the ball and instead of running to 2nd base he ran after the ball, wrestled the other team's player to the ground and it took a grown man to peel him off of the kid and to peel the ball out of Landen's hand. He was SOOO excited that he got the ball!!! ...Then he had to run to 2nd base. I was on the ground rolling! (and was no help to the situation) Luckily in all if it-- nobody was hurt.

Landen- keeping his eye on the ball.

A big swing and he is off!

T-Ball at home

After a fun Saturday playing in the little kiddie pool with neighbor friends, Landen and Mason played a little bit of t-ball. Landen was so sweet to help Mason and the two of them were getting along fabulously!!!

Thanks to my great friend, Stephanie, for taking these fantastic shots! I took some pictures but they didn't turn out nearly as good as hers.

I love Landen's tongue sticking out in concentration! It was fun to see them laughing and having a great time together. I hope it will continue on later in life!

My little men in their ties

I think that taking this picture made us a minute or two late for church... but what was I to do? They were all wearing the ties that I made them on the same day! :)

Pretty handsome aren't they!!! For sure keepers.

May Madness 2011

This post will be in reverse order again starting with the end of the month first! :) I am one proud mom!!! Both Abbey and Braxton won the Academic Excellence Award!!! Only two per class were awarded and they both earned it! As they explained in the awards assembly-- this is for the best of the best! Way to go Abbey and Braxton! I am grinning from ear to ear. What a way to end 3rd Grade for Abbey and Kindergarten for Brax.




























Here is Bryce's brother, Trent, on his sweet new bike! We had a great time having him come down to pick it up. Our garage isn't the same without it sitting there.

Trent had to take it for a quick spin up the street. Immediately afterwards he and Bryce packed up the bikes and headed out to Eagle Mountain for a little bit better ride. They just couldn't wait to test that baby out! Then they headed down to Green River the next morning with Tim, Dustin and Bryce's buddy, Brook Monroe. They all had a BLAST! I didn't get up at 4 am to take any of those pictures. :)

Here are some new ties that I made for the boys. Mason's orange one was up in his room and since he was sleeping I didn't go get it. It wasn't worth interrupting a nap for a photo. I was just going to make a tie for Mason but the other boys wanted to match him and it was easy to throw together a few more. Now Mason's ties go a bit beyond his mid chest. He was starting to look pretty funny having such a short tie with his big gut! Now I just need to take a picture with the 3 boys wearing them.

I am also excited cause I made a total of 6 ties so far and have material for several more and only paid $10 for my stuff!

Grandma Christensen's 90th Birthday Party!

I took a picture of just Bryce's siblings and parents. This was at the very end of the party and I didn't want anyone to shoot me for trying to get all of the spouses and kids gathered up for a picture. Half of the kids probably would have been crying anyway. L-R (Barry, Bryce, Brooke, Dustin, Trish, Trent, Tim & Celeste w/ Grandma Irene Christensen in the front on the chair)

I had to laugh at this shot. She is reacting to something funny and I love her body language when you talk to her. She gets right into whatever you are saying.

Isn't she SO sweet! It was great to see so many people come out to wish her a happy birthday. She is a wonderful woman! She will randomly send us a letter in the mail and always include stickers for the kids. She is a teeny tiny lady. In fact, Abbey is just a few inches shy of being the same height.

Here is Grandma Chris (as Bryce calls her) with her kids. L-R: June, Van, Grandma, Tim & Bud.

While we were up in Idaho we took a day to prune 2 apple trees in Bryce's parent's yard. They were planted in memory of twin babies that Trish lost in mid pregnancy. It had been a few years since they had been pruned and what we cut off was at least as tall as what was actually left standing. It was a lot of work but I love to do this kind of stuff!

Here is Bryce tying up a few limbs to haul off. Since they were to big and heavy we used tie downs to hook them to the truck and drug them back to the burn pile.

The before shot.

After a fun day of being outside at their Grandma Christensen's house, cousins Brayden and Mason are getting washed up in the tub. Mason is about 5 months older than Brayden. Two cuties!

We always have such a good time in Idaho! It is fun to see and hang out with everyone.

Landen's Preschool Graduation! Here is Landen with my cousin's little boy, Aiden. We had fun carpooling together this year. I was hoping to get a shot with Landen and his other little buddy, Jake Hurd but we didn't ever see Jake at the openhouse and he was out of town for the end of the year party. :(

Here is Landen with Miss Heidi. She is the BEST preschool teacher EVER! We love her to death and I am happy that Landen gets to come back next year. Miss Heidi needs to keep teaching till all of my kids are done with preschool. She is so sweet, patient, creative and loves the kids so much!

Heidi mentioned how Landen was always happy at school and did every activity that was going on. They never had to ask him twice to do anything. He just loved preschool! A few fun things from this year:

Landen: "If I were President, I would do my chores."

Landen: "I love peanut butter sandwiches."

When I grow up, I want to be... "a dishwasher."

I like fall because... "I like to go trick-or-treating at Lisa's work."

Landen: "I am thankful for my bike."

I must do my motherly duty now and help Landen fulfill his dreams of being a dishwasher and doing his chores as President! Maybe if I make him president of his room he will do his chores now!? --In his credit- he is getting better about doing them if we can keep Braxton and Landen seperated during chore time.

A few other things to note:

May has been a great month with lots of good things to talk about! We started off the month taking the kids to the Carl Bloch Exhibit at BYU. His paintings of Christ are AMAZING!!! I was glad that we took the kids so that they could see and feel how special it all was but I also wished that we could have spent more time there just looking and thinking. I waited too long to order tickets and could only get times in the middle of the day and there aren't many babysitters around so we just checked Abbey out of school and went! I am glad that we didn't miss out on it all.

Mother's Day was awesome! The day before, we spent a sunny day outside doing yard work and Bryce cleaned my car inside and out! For me-- that is true love!!! He knows how much it bugs me to have a dirty car and he spent 2 hours cleaning it. Such a sweetie! Of course the kids gave me cute little things and Abbey made me muffins for breakfast. They were delicious! We had all of my family (except for Dave and his family that are in AZ) over for dinner. It was raining so we all had to be cramped inside. It felt like good old times to be together and that was nice. Dinner was easy since everyone pitched in and for ONCE I didn't stress out the whole day about it! Being with family was the best.

As far as Memorial Day went-- it sucked. I was dying to get out of the house and go do something. It was raining that morning so we didn't go to the Memorial program at the cemetary. As we were getting our stuff done that morning Braxton crashed on his pogo stick in the garage. He hit a puddle of water and it made his pogo stick slip out from under him and his face smacked right into the concrete floor. No hands breaking is fall or anything. It knocked the wind out of him, instantly gave him horrible bloody nose and fat lips. He was pretty beat up. I held him for a while and he just cried and cried. The poor kid. I was worried about a cuncussion but he was good on those signs. He felt yucky all day and wasn't even up for a treat from the store till later that night. Besides sneaking down to the PG Cemetary to put out flowers on Grandma Bezzant's grave- we didn't go anywhere. I was bummed. More than bummed. I felt trapped but what do you do. I was so hoping for a change of pace before the regular week began and Bryce was back out of town, but no luck. The random rain all day didn't really help either. We survived and I am really glad that Braxton is ok. His lips are finally not so swollen and it doesn't kill him to brush his teeth. He is one tuff kid! I have a feeling that there will plenty more injuries in his future since he is such a goer.

Life- Living it and loving it! ... most of the time

This will be a marathon of posts since I haven't kept up on life very well. Actually- I have been so busy keeping up with life that documenting it has definitely taken a back burner. :)


I wasn't thinking when I uploaded my pictures so they are actually backwards-- the bottom is the beginning of April and the top is towards the end.


At the annual Bezzant Family wienie roast. My dad actually ate that big piece of scorched marshmellow that one of the grandkids so lovingly cooked to perfection for him!


My mom and dad sporting their matching John Deere hoodies. Now-- will we see them wearing matching sweaters that my mom picks out???? :)



My brother, Joe's birthday! He loves these nanaimo bars that he had on his mission in Canada so I had to whip him up a batch for his big day. I reminded him that this shows how much I love him cause I don't spend 3+ hours on a dessert for just anyone! Seriously- Joe is a cool brother. He is ALWAYS quick with a joke and a teasing comment. We could say that he lives up to his calling as a brother to the maximum... even now that he is another year older! He has been a good sport to take the kids to a few Utah Flash basketball games-- which they LOVE!!



My other brother, Dave also had a b-day in April! Unfortunately for us, he lives in Arizona so he spent his birthday in warmth and sunshine so I don't have any pictures to post just yet. They will be up for Strawberry Days and I did promise him that I would make his favorite strawberry shortcake when he comes. Dave is generous, hardworking and seems to look on the bright side of things.

Easter Sunday 2011!

Last year Mason was just a few days old and I don't think I even took his picture so this year I had to make sure to get one of him alone. He loved hauling the easter basket all over the house and was even happier when he realized he had a few treats inside the eggs that he kept shaking! A new thing from the Easter Bunny this year was a solid large chocolate bunny! I don't think Landen's made it through the day-- he enjoyed each morsel so as it wouldn't go bad! :) Abbey got a double dutch jump rope, Braxton and Landen got Bey Bladers that they are VERY into and Mason got a beach towel. Everyone was very excited and happy for their stash.

More of the Annual Weinie Roast & Easter Egg Hunt! Abbey with her sweet cousin, Hannah.

My dad giving the kids a ride on the trailer around the orchard. Of course my mom is checking to make sure everyone is safe and happy. Mason lasted about 2' before he started crying. Everyone else had a blast and wanted more!

Landen with a cheek full of roasted marshmallow!

Landen searching for Easter Eggs! He was so excited about it I couldn't get him to stop talking for a second to snap a smile! :)

Can you see the egg in the middle to upper right hand part of the tree? Landen can and he is determined to shake that baby out of the tree! He got it down too!

Braxton w/ his best buddy & cousin, Porter! What a tag team!

Mason found one! He had a great time with that purple egg and didn't really care to find too many more! The rocks all over the ground that kept tripping him didn't help the situation either.

Yep- Mason is checking on his prized purple egg! He put that same egg in and out of his basket at least 30 times!

He has a concerned look on his face. Or maybe he is scowling at the rest of the kids to stay away from HIS egg!

The girls w/ Mason. Me, my sister, Kristie, my mom holding my niece, Mindy, my sister, Karen and my sister, Lisa, holding Mason.

Is it a baby bird? Nope- just Mason getting spoiled by Aunt Lisa with roasted marshmallows!

An impromtu BBQ with a neighbor and LOTS of kids! It was a last minute idea with scrounged up food from the house but we all had a great time! It was the perfect way to spend the evening. Now- I just need to plan ahead so that I have have ALL the neighbors over! :)

How did Bryce start off the month of April??? On the RIGHT foot! Literally!!! Bryce broke his left foot dirtbiking! He went out with a few friends down to Green River, UT one Saturday and ate it pretty good on his bike. He was going really fast through a whoop section and back end of his bike started getting out of control and bucked him about 15' in the air to which he came down and landed on his bike and broke his foot. Bryce wears all sorts of protective gear-- including big tough motorbike boots. He had to ride out several miles w/ his broken foot to get to the truck and then drive another 3 hours home! When he called me to tell me he was on his way he said," I think I hurt my foot." I didn't think anything of it-- a few scrapes and bruises are common and since he didn't give me any details at the time about his wreck-- I went about my night of feeding, bathing and taking care of the kids. He rolled in about 9:30 pm and I was busy in the office working on relief society stuff. I was trying to calm down after a really hard day with the kids. I was also probably having a bit of a pity party for myself. I felt overwork, underpaid and underappreciated at the moment. I was trying to figure out how I was going to strategically "let Bryce have it" to be a bit more aware of helping out around the house and spending more time with me. I was EXHAUSTED! (It didn't help that it had been rainy and cold ALL day, we were stuck inside with hyperactive boys that kept pushing each other's buttons while Mason quietly undid anything he saw was put away nicely!) Anyway- I hear the boys come home and then Bryce comes hopping in the house and down to the office. I said hi but kept working and didn't turn around. He started to tell me that his foot really hurt and that he couldn't walk on it. I turned around to give him a curtesy look and tell him to take some advil when I saw his foot! It was at least 3 times the size of his other foot and already getting black and blue! So much for my speech on "letting him have it!" How can you lecture somebody that is in this condition??? My sister, Lisa, ran up to the house to sit with our sleeping kids and off to the insta care we went. I have to admit- I wanted to cry all the way there. I thought I had reached my limit on people needing me and here is Bryce now needing so much help and is absolutely no help at all now! Heavenly Father was mindful of me and helped me work it all out. Bryce's foot has healed quite quickly and I had to learn to keep taking it one step at a time. So many people were great to keep checking on me and that helped my sanity alot!

This picture doesn't even come close to doing justice on Bryce's foot. I should have taken more pictures the following day when it was completely black on the bottom and even more swollen. He sprained his ankle as well so that added an extra bit of fun for him to deal with! Luckily for Bryce they just let him use a special boot instead of a full cast (as long as he was careful.) From the picture above-- you can see how careful he is! :) Even now that it has been 6 weeks-- his foot still gets all swollen at night and he is limping around but is done with the crutches!



This isn't the best picture but I had to document how excited I was at getting my cherry trees all pruned up! It was an all day project but I did it! This isn't my first time doing it but with all that I have felt overwhelmed about-- I had to make sure that was included in.


Four handsome fellows just about to head out to General Priesthood meeting for General Conference! Lisa's husband -Kellen, my brother- Joe, my hunk of burning love- Bryce and his brother- Dustin. Thanks for being good sports for a quick photo-- They didn't really want to participate. :)

A few other things to note from April-- I have kept up on planting my garden and I am so excited about it!

I started running each morning before the kids wake up. I go just over 2 miles but haven't been able to run the whole way until TODAY!!! I was SO excited today! I had a minor setback at the beginning when my back started spasming when I would run but that seems to be ok now.

Bryce still traveled quite a bit. He learned how to make it through giant airports on crutches and could leave everyone else in the dust. He would just show up to the boarding gate a sweaty mess! (I bet his seat buddy was happy about that.) He did have a close call though when he went to pass a guy who was walking really slowly down the terminal, accidently put one of his crutches down on the guys luggage strap which pulled the bag out of the guy's hand and made Bryce's crutch go flying through the air. Luckily he caught himself before he face planted in in the middle of the airport and the guy couldn't seem to get mad a cripple. :)

I got a new Relief Society calling! I am now the 1st counselor and am over the activities. JUST when I finally felt like I had a handle on things being the 2nd counselor! This made April CRAZY! Our secretary was taking some time off with her new baby so I was filling in as much as I could there, we lost our 1st counselor so she could be the YW president so I was trying to help there and then it became my job! After a few weeks they called a new 2nd counselor so I tried to help get her going on my old job while learning the in and outs of my new job! Whew! I am glad May hasn't been so crazy.

That will have to be for another post though.

Oh- one more thing! The perfect note to end on... Bryce and I have been going on more dates lately!!! We have been trying to go on a date each week. Generally nothing big but it is SO nice to get away for a few hours together! We have been to dinner, the temple, shopping, an art exhibit and I can't wait for more! It hasn't worked out as well in May so far but we are getting back on track this week!