A few days to ourselves

My mother-in-law offered to take our kids for a few days in July! How sweet is that!?! I had a million ideas run through my head on what I would do when I was by myself and I thought for sure I would take a nap each day... that one didn't happen... it is amazing how much LESS energy/sleep I need when I don't have kids to keep up with (both physically and mentally!)

Bryce and I tried to take full advantage of every moment that we had. We borrowed my dad's street bike and headed up the Provo Canyon for a drive. We ended up at Park City for a little shopping and some dinner. WHAT A BLAST! I LOVE motorcycles and the canyon was gorgeous! My rear end was not appreciating the ride as much as I did though!

Thursday morning we started off bright and early up AF canyon on Kellen's (my brother-in-law) dirtbike for a litle bit of single track. (Bryce was driving and I am on the back.) I have never been on those trails before. After the first half hour and praying to Heavenly Father that he help me live through this experience of creek crossings, steep uphills with HUGE jagged rocks and wicked skinny trails we came to some nice grassy fields and beautiful scenery. That must have made me forget the first part cause I was crazy enough to go back again w/ Bryce on Saturday. More about that in a minute. We ended up having a great time. I did come home and soak in the tub for a while cause my body didn't appreciate getting bumped around so much and again my rear end didn't like the tuff seat on the motorbike. A little bit of lunch with my sister, Karen, and my mom made things a lot better. Then we headed off to get our toes painted! This was a first time for my mom (and a still a special treat for me since I am such a cheapskate). We had lots of fun talking and laughing as I tried not to squirm out of my chair from being so ticklish every time they would touch my feet! The night ended with Blackberry sponsoring dinner and a movie in Salt Lake with Bryce (and about 30 people from T-Mobile!) I love free movies! :)

With all of our running around we spent a relaxing Friday watching a movie on the couch (in the morning!!!), grilling up some steaks for lunch and heading down to Fairview, UT to watch Deric (Karen's husband) drive in the demolition derby! That was a BLAST!!! They had fireworks set to music for the 24th of July celebration and it was a picture perfect night. One like you see in the movies.

Deric is the #8 car. He just hit the gray car and knocked it up on 2 wheels for a bit. What entertainment!!! :)

Saturday morning I was wiped out and somehow agreed to go with Bryce one more time on the dirtbike up AF canyon. He took me on the East Ridge Trail (should be named trail of death!) to show me all of the cool things that he has had a chance to see. I was tired, scare to death and we now both agree that it wasn't the best place to take me. I don't like to see my life flash before my eyes every few seconds or to wish that I would just die so my rear end wouldn't hurt any more! It is an experience that I can say that I had and won't ever have to do it again. I can't believe that he likes to ride on those kinds of trails... and he thinks it is fun!!!

We made it home and headed up to Idaho to go get the kiddos. They were having so much fun at grandma's house that they didn't want to leave but vacation was over (for all of us). It was a hard reality on Monday morning when they had to do chores and I didn't have a quiet moment in the house!

THANK YOU to Trish for a wonderful time to myself and for having so much fun with the kids!!! I can't tell you how nice that was!

Happy Birthday Abbey!

Abbey had an idea for her birthday cake in her mind and she was kind enough to draw me a picture and post it on the fridge for me to fret about for weeks! It turned out to be a lot of fun making it with her (minus our struggle with the black frosting for the bees and such that you probably can't even see). Besides the #7 all of the decorations are made out of candy!

I loved this picture! Somebody is teasing her and she is finally getting old enough to take it a little bit! :)

When Abbey first started blowing out her candles her hair fell right into the flame and singed a good chunk! This is a few attempts after the first initial blow and a little bit of help from Landen.

Abbey was loaded up with presents and she LOVED each and every one! This year I took pictures of each individual family that came and that was too many pics to post. I wished I would have done one huge group shot cause I love to document all of the fabulous family that we have that are so supportive!


As tradition in our house we take the kids out for a birthday lunch and of course they pick CHUCK-E-CHEESE!!! They had such a fun time! Karen's kids came and met up with us and that kept the lunch party alive for a few more hours!


Back: Abbey, Hannah Shelley, Porter Shelley

Front: Braxton & Landen Got to love the chuck-e-cheese cups!

Missing: Mikayla-- I guess she is too old for a chuck-e-cheese cup but she was fantastic at earning lots of tickets!


A few things about Abbey:

*Very sweet and considerate of other people

*Big helper to all

*Loves to please

*LOVES to do art projects, pretend to be a mom and/or a teacher

*Always wants to be the boss... she must have gotten that from her dad! ;) jk

*She loves to save EVERYTHING -- that one FOR SURE she got from her dad cause I can't stand clutter!

*She is a fabulous sister to her two younger brothers

*She always has a piece of gum in her mouth!

*Is great at saving money... she started her own savings account a few years ago and gets so excited to see when interest is added in from the bank!

*Not a dare devil

*Loves to ride on Bryce's motorcycle but doesn't want to drive her own (just like her mom!)

*Social butterfly (when she is comfortable with her setting) and is quiet as a mouse when she isn't.

*Fantastic baker! She is learning quickly how to make some delicious desserts!

*LOVES to do lemonade stands and would do one every day if I was up to it!

*Started piano this summer and is doing really well

*Started to do her own hair this summer... I am trying to let go of control! It is hard!!! She is doing really well at her ponytails!

We love you Abbey and feel so lucky to have you in our family! You are so sweet and I hope that you keep that kindness with you always!

Love,

Mom

A few fun summer pictures...

During a rain storm this summer I caught Abbey outside having some fun. I love summer rainstorms when you can be outside playing and not freeze to death!

4th of July: Abbey, Landen & Braxton in front of our house

Braxton... a little distracted by something to the side of me :) He is a firecracker for sure though!

This was about as close as I got for Landen laying down in the grass and looking at me. With his lean muscle mass he could have held that position for hours but the ants in his pants distract him!

My sweet Abbey- by far the easiest one to take pictures of! Too bad it was so hot and sunny!



4th of July afternoon-- we had just had a water balloon fight and they were enjoying some popsicles on the driveway while Bryce made a few of his own fireworks! He didn't like the pictures I took of him so I didn't post any.

We ended the evening with a fabulous BBQ at Lisa's house (my sister) and watched the city fireworks in PG. It was a really fun holiday!

T-Ball ... What a FUN season!

Braxton played t-ball for the first time this year and LOVED it! He had such an amazing coach that was incredibly patient with all of the kids! Here are a few pics from one of the games:


I love the medal and the award winning smile for earning it! He was so excited!!!

The most amazing coach (Brent) handing Braxton his medal. Braxton wanted to know though if they could still get a treat too. If he would have had to pick between the medal or a treat... it would have been a hard decision!

Braxton running with all of his might for 3rd base.

This is going to be a home run hit!

No ground ball is going to get past this kid! He is set and ready for some action!

I love baseball and it was so much fun helping and watching Braxton's little team! Some times your gut would hurt so bad from laughing as they would do circles in the outfield to try and figure out the bases. It was a fantastic season and I can't wait till next year!

Potty Training... The Early Stages

Landen has started to want to "go potty" in the toilet. We have not yet successfully had that happen yet. I was about to fall over laughing tonight though when he wanted to go potty in the toilet just before he got in the tub. He is standing there buck naked on the step stool in front of the toilet looking down into the water. He stood there for a few minutes with nothing happening so I asked him to try and squeeze some pee out. He promptly bends his knees slightly, puts a hand on the outside of each thigh, grits his teeth and squeezes his thighs together as hard as he could! Nothing happened. He was trying with all of his might and no matter how hard he squished those thighs, no pee came out. He finally gave up and got in the tub. I wanted to take a picture so bad but it didn't seem too appropriate.

Prayers

I was folding laundry when Abbey and Braxton came in fighting. We starting talking about being nice because they are brother and sister. Abbey brought up that she is his ONLY sister and probably will always be the ONLY sister. And then the conversation went a little something like this:

Braxton (to me): I want you to get pregant with a girl.

Mom: It is up to Heavenly Father if he sends us a girl or not. (I am not pregnant by the way)

Braxton: I know the name of the girl that he will send us, Addie.

Mom: If you want something from Heavenly Father then you need to pray to him and ask him for it. And don't you think it would be confusing to have an Abbey and an Addie in our family?

Braxton: Heavenly Father will send us an Addie cause Parker got one (his friend from preschool... his mom had a little girl the same time I had Landen and they named her Addie). Can I go in the garden and pray?

Mom: Why do you need to go in the garden?

Braxton: Cause that is where Jesus went to pray when he needed to talk to Heavenly Father.

Mom: (How could I say no to that????) Ok Braxton. You can go in the garden and pray.

He ran out the front door and Abbey started bossing him about something to do with the prayer. I missed out on the rest of their conversation cause the door closed. Not even a minute later he came back inside full of confidence and announced to me that Heavenly Father will send us a girl! ...and her name will be Addie.

I thought that was so sweet! It is amazing what he understands, is listening to and how much faith he has in Heavenly Father! I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. :)

I had to stop doing laundry right that moment and come write that down since I for sure want to remember this little experience!

Happy Birthday Landen!

Landen doesn't like cake so we had to make a pan of brownies. He didn't want me to take his picture and each time he would look up and see me with the camera, he would cover his ears. We just laughed cause I have a few pictures with him giving me crusty looks with his hands over his ears. Not sure how that was helping him not be photographed... :)

Saturday morning, opening presents from us! He is "keeping it real" with his pirate pj's.

Landen decided to have a birthday at one of the busiest times of the summer! Between Strawberry Days (lasting a week), Father's Day, our wedding anniversary and his birthday... we have a few celebrations going on in one week. I worry that he will feel shafted or overlooked with everything else going on but he hasn't seemed to mind yet.

We celebrated Landen's birthday a day early and combined his party with a Strawberry Day's BBQ. He opened his presents from us on Saturday morning and continued the festivities again after the parade was over. He had LOTS of cousins over and it was hard to get a good picture of him since everyone else was so excited for all of his presents! We gave him a bike helmet, a camp chair and a tire swing. He didn't appreciate the tire swing at all when it was vertical so Bryce changed it to sit horizontally and now all three kids can have fun at the same time.

Landen is holding on for dear life and isn't sure why the kids think that this is so much fun.

Finally a bike helmet of his own! He can stop wearing the pink "mushroom head" helmet that he has become so attached to! Of course Bryce helped him decorate his helmet with motorbike stickers as well.

Landen loves balls and ESPECIALLY loves to throw them! WATCH OUT!

Thought that this was a cute pic with his serious face. :)

THANK YOU so much to everyone who came to his party! I just feel so grateful to be surrounded by so many people who love us so much and my kids are always so spoiled by them and their generosity! Landen loved ALL of his presents and is glad to have some more things that are "HIS."

A few things about Landen now that he is two:

*He LOVES t-ball! He drags all of the stuff out of the garage and begs you to play with him constantly!

*He can ride a 3-wheeled scooter REALLY well and a 2-wheeled one pretty darn good for a 2 year old! He has quite the athletic ability!

*He is strong willed and strong minded! It is Landen's way or a screaming fit... the neighbors must think we beat him constantly for all of the screaming they must hear!

*He has adorable blonde curly hair!

*He wakes up in a good mood about 50 % of the time... we always pray for the good 50 %.

*He loves to say prayers but you can't understand a word he says since he burys his head into his arms and mumbles most of the words anyway. But he is very excited when it is all done and he said it!

*He says "DANG IT!" when he messes up on something... loud and clear!

*He loves to hide...especially when he needs his diaper changed, it is time to get dressed, get his hair combed, etc.. He has 2 favorite hiding spots... in the corner by his crib and in his closet.

*His smile, hugs and slobbery kisses just melt my heart.

We LOVE YOU Landen!!! Happy Birthday!

Love,

your mom.