Journeys Entwined Never Unravel

Birthday Boys!

2011-05-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 1! I cannot believe it's been a year already. I wish I was a little better at celebrating my kids' birthdays. I'm going to have to be better because birthdays are now BIG deal for Daylen. He gets excited to celebrate anyone's birthday. I figure, with the first few, are they really going to remember it anyway? Why go to all the hard work and set such a high standard for myself. I know, I'm lazy. So when we got our tickets to see "Wicked" in Boise for May 5, yeah, it was AMAZING by the way, I figured we could celebrate with Benson! Benson's birthday was May 3 and Brooks' was May 8, 5 days apart these cute boys are. We made a cake and opened a couple presents and called it a party!

A little hesitant at first...

...then he just went for it!

Our miniature Nathan right here.

and he's still going for it.

Lily and Kate

Daylen and Nathan

"Thank you, Thank you."

Finishing what fell from his tray, gotta get every last piece!

Yes, his birthday present was a toothbrush. He doesn't know the difference, right? :)

Ooohhh, now that's cool. So maybe he did like Benson's present better.

We love our sweet Brooks. I am having a harder time letting him grow up, I know how fast it goes and I want to keep him little! I think it will still be awhile before he is walking, which will help me think of him as a baby still. He has been my "mama's boy" and is a little more attached than my other kids have been. He is even starting to say "mama" his first word! He loves to watch his older brother and sister play, especially when they play with him. He has a great smile and some day he will have hair. :)

Tangled

2011-05-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Daylen and Kate love "Tangled," I don't blame them, I love it too. They love it so much they act out the movie when they aren't watching it. Can you guess what scene this is?

Kate is trying on her invisible crown here...

And just some recent pictures...

Pretty Toes!

2011-04-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

While I was putting Brooks to bed tonight, Daylen cracked open the door to tell me Kate wanted her toes painted. I told him she will have to wait a minute cause I'm feeding Brooks and putting him to bed. Once Brooks was down, I went to see what Daylen and Kate were doing in my bathroom. I was a little nervous because of my previous post, and Kate has busted a bottle of finger nail polish in the past. (So not fun to clean up!)

Well, thankfully no fingernail polish was on the floor, I found this instead...

I can just see it now, "Kate, mom can't paint your toes cause she's putting Brooks in bed. But don't worry, I can do it!"

Kate's Conference Contributions

2011-04-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

After Daylen's inspiring Conference post, I figure I better add one for Kate. During the afternoon session of Conference today I suddenly realized it was very quiet and Kate was no where in sight. Nice for us watching Conference, but a scary thought for whatever part of the house Kate is in. I asked Daylen to go tell Kate to come upstairs with us. When she came up I asked her where she had been and what she was doing. She answered, "playing with flour in your bathroom." What? I was not excited to find out what that meant. After Conference was over I headed downstairs to find out what my little mischevious child had gotten in to this time. I found this...

It was not flour, it was salt and my makeup brush. All over the floor and into the carpet. Really? Really Kate? Seriously what makes kids come up with some of the things they do? As Brad said last week after Daylen wrote with a permanent marker on our van window, "What are you thinking? Why would you do that?" When it comes to kids there really is no answer I guess. You just gotta chalk it up for one more thing to laugh about later. And really, with hair like this, what else can you expect?

Daylen's "notes"

2011-04-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

So it's General Conference Weekend again. Love it. Can't believe it's been 6 months already since the last one. As we sat in our family room this morning to watch it on TV (love it) Daylen had a notebook and pen, he and Kate love drawing and writing in notebooks. Brad told Daylen he needed to go get his notebook, too, and Day asked him what he was going to draw in it. So Brad told him he was going to take notes. Partway through the session Brad asked Daylen what his drawing was, Daylen informed him it was his "notes."

I was so impressed when I saw this!

He recognized the song "I know My Redeemer Lives" when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang it cause they learned it in Primary last year, he informed Brad his notes were of this song.

Musical prodigy?

Maybe?

Yeah?

Ok. But still.

March Madness

2011-03-29T15:15:00.001-07:00

March Madness took on a new meaning at our house this month. It was full of fun, family craziness! My parents and Kara came to visit for a long weekend and we got to watch Lori compete in Dancesport and do AWESOME! She took 7th place in the country polka and 5th in the triple swing, woohoo! It was fun to have them make the long drive to see us, thanks mom and dad!

The next weekend we had all of Brad's family come stay with us for a week. That means we had 32 people consisting of 12 adults and 20 kids all living under our roof for a week. Sounds absolutely insane, I know, but it was really fun! Everything went very smoothly, I assigned meal days to each family which I thought worked out awesomely, and everyone was a big help. This was the first time EVER Brad's entire family has been altogether, which means cousins were meeting each other for the first time and meeting Aunts and Uncles for the first time. I loved watching the cousins play together and get to know each other and become more comfortable. All the adults were able to go do a Temple session together, which was way cool,(big thanks to Lori for coming and watching the kids for us!) So here are a few pictures I had of our adventures...

I really should have taken another picture because pretty soon there was no room for the bowl, it was just all cups. I also need to get a picture my sis-in-law took of our front room with all the shoes lined up by the door, pretty crazy!

Playing games

Flying kites and a Sunday walk

Crafting it up with Aunt Mandy

Dusty's monster

Brooks would not open his eyes for a picture. He kept closing them anticipating the flash.

All the grandkids sang a song for Gma and Gpa's 40th Anniversary, so cute!

Swimming at the Springville pool for family night.

The Hogle Zoo

We had such a fun time, the house seems so quiet now! Thanks everyone for coming!

My heart is full...

2011-03-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

I sit in my quiet house tonight with a full and grateful heart. The only sound is coming from my running dishwasher. My 3 beautiful children are sleeping, my husband is at the church at a meeting...and so it begins. The bishopric of our ward got released today. Brad has been called as the 2nd counselor, a calling that he has had before in Spanish Fork, but we both agreed this time feels different. Before, he was joining an already functioning bishopric because of yet another creation of a ward. Also, we knew we would not be staying in Spanish Fork for too much longer so I knew it would be "temporary." This time it's a brand new bishopric, and we are not planning on moving anytime soon, if ever, so here we are for the long haul. It's humbling. I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful man as my husband who is worthy and honors his priesthood. I am excited for him. Brad loves to be involved, he loves knowing everyone and he just hasn't been able to get to know as many people as he would have liked. He now has that opportunity. He will get to work with 2 other amazing men as well. I am excited for this new bishopric, they will be wonderful together, and I think Brad will be blessed to learn from them.

I know at some point, and probably more than one time, I am going to just wish he could be home more, but I know that I will be strengthened and sustained by the Lord. Especially when bedtime rolls around and I am once again putting 3 kids down by myself, which anyone who has young children can testify is an exhausting and sometimes frustrating time of day. But if there is one thing that I remember about Brad serving before it is this...when times were tough and I didn't know how I was going to do it all by myself, I felt the Lord lift me up and make me stronger so that I COULD do it with His help. And I KNOW He will help me again. Besides the Lord's help I have a wonderul ward family, I have had so many people invite us to sit with them on Sunday so they can help out with the kids. Truthfully, Sundays and Sacrament meeting by myself with 3 kids is what I was worried about the most. And not just with the 3 kids but thinking 5 years down the road when that 3 could be 5 or 6! :) But now I am not worried at all because I know there are so many people who are willing to help us out. I don't know if they even have a clue what that means to me, but it means a LOT and adds to the fullness I feel in my heart. I know the Lord knows each of us personally and He places us where we are supposed to be in order to have the experiences we need to grow. As rough of a time as we had getting in to our house in Salem, I have seen more and more over this last year and a half the reasons why we are supposed to be here. Here is just one more...

Around the house

2011-02-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

We haven't really done a whole lot lately. The kids were all sick for a couple of weeks in January, and it's been so cold, we've just been home bodies. Maceys has had some good chicken sales, so I've been canning chicken. Other than that, we are just ready for Spring! I'm just posting some pictures we've taken recently so grandparents can see, and whomever else would like to. :)

Kate, on more than one occasion lately, has just put herself down for a nap when she's tired. I've gone looking for her and found this...

This is my coat from when I was a little girl. My mom saved it for me!

Brooks' is getting a little personality. He started making this funny face the other day while I was feeding him. He also will shake his head "no" if he doesn't like what I'm feeding him. He thinks he's quite funny.

The end.

My Brookster

2011-01-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

We had Brooks' pictures taken a few months ago when we were in Texas. Rachel's friend took them and I love. He fell asleep at the end of the session and we got some cute sleeping pictures. I love his big eyes and long eyelashes! He is such a sweet boy, can't imagine our family without him.

In honor of being in Texas :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-29T20:28:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Christmas this year at Mandy and Ty's house with Randy, Holly and their family. I absolutely LOVE being with family on Christmas! Especially when we live so spread out, it makes the season a little extra special just being together, even if it's just a few days. What did we do?

We played games

Daylen and Ivan could be found "playing" the Wii

Can't get together with all those kids without a little Wrestling

Christmas Eve included some singing of Christmas Carols, talking about the symbols of Christmas, then opening 1 gift, bet you can't guess what that was...

and reading a Christmas story in new PJs

I had to take a before and after shot of the Christmas tree...

because I have never seen so many presents under 1 tree before!

Christmas morning...the kids looking oh so excited!

What does Kate do first thing in the morning? Why eat candy of course!

We had a wonderful Christmas, hope you all did too!

Sledding Adventures

2010-12-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

We had some fun sledding adventures at the sand dunes outside of Rexburg, Idaho. We spent Christmas with Mandy, Tyrel and their family, and Randy, Holly and their family and had a blast with everyone. Christmas Eve afternoon was spent playing in the snow. Randy and his family found a steep dune to "jump" off and sled down. Daylen had fun climbing up and sliding down on his bum. He's overall a pretty cautious kid, but when it come to sledding this kid has no fear it seems. He LOVES is while Kate, my crazy daredevil, is quite the opposite when it comes to sledding and snow. I got some nice footage, but unfortunately I have not been able to upload it successfully. I'll keep trying and post it later if I can.

Daddy and Daylen

Taylor, Randy, and Holly pulling Cayden and Jordyn

Mandy, Ivan, and Derek

Daylen and Kate tuckered out and being carried by an even more tuckered out daddy back to the van.

Brooks and I kept each other nice and warm.

Happy Sad

2010-12-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

We ended up taking a quick and unexpected trip to Washington over Thanksgiving to attend my Grandpa Gilbert's funeral. Traveling on snowy roads is never fun, but it was well worth it. I am just glad we decided to stay an extra day and come back Monday instead of Sunday. The rest of my Utah family had horrible driving experiences between snowy roads, backtracking, and having to take the LONG way around due to road closures. We, on the other hand, had decent and open roads.

I love getting together with family, and I can't help but wonder if this was the last time so many of us will be together in one place at the same time. With both grandma and grandpa gone now, and so many of us, it's impossible to make schedules work. It was fun seeing as many people there as I did. The funeral was pretty special, I loved hearing evidence of grandpa's love for his family and the gospel over and over. It is true. He loved his family and was a proud father of 10 kids. A family that has now grown to 46 grandchildren, 108 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren. Pretty amazing posterity.

The 10 kids

Spouses included

Some of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Although it may not have been the funnest reason to get together, it was great to spend a few days with my family nonetheless. Daylen and Kate loving their time with their cousins.

Brooks and Austin got to know each other a little better. Rachel came back to Utah with us for a couple of days before flying back to Texas.

If you're going to lay on the floor while grandkids are around grandpa, you better expect to get jumped and crawled on.

Austin is going to be the leader of this little pack I think.

Since Kate's little brother doesn't have any hair to comb she had to take advantage of Benson's little bit.

Of course whenever we go to Washington we get to take some time to visit with Brad's grandma, our last living grandparent now between the 2 of us. The kids always have fun playing with her toy selection and entertaining us all.

I love this sweet picture I got as we were saying our goodbyes. I just wish we could visit more often!

Grandpa Gilbert

2010-11-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

This picture is the last picture we will ever take with my Grandpa Gilbert. It was taken at his 92nd birthday party earlier this year. He was my last living grandparent and now he has passed on to join grandma and all his loved ones who have passed on before him. His passing is a mixture of sorrow and joy for me. I will miss him dearly, but I can't help but be happy for him and my grandma. It has been years since they have been able to interact with each other in a meaningful way, my grandma had Alzheimers for years. But now I can imagine them catching up and grandma introducing grandpa to all her new friends she's made these past 20 months. These thoughts make me happy. They have lived their mortals lives and are now on to bigger and better things.

Around the house...

2010-11-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

The other night I was feeding Brooks while Daylen and Kate took a bath. Kate got herself out of the bath, grabbed her towel, turned on the fire, and took a seat.

This last weekend Daylen wanted to make a tent and go camping in the family room. Brad was a good sport and camped out with them, the kids slept great, Brad didn't.

Yesterday Kate entertained Brooks by reading him her books she got at the library. It was pretty darn cute.

Caribbean Cruise!

2010-11-19T08:18:00.001-08:00

Brad and I just got back from the most incredible, relaxing vacation a mom could ask for. A Western Caribbean Cruise! Thankfully we were on a Princess cruiseline and not Carnival or we could have been stranded in the middle of the ocean for 21 hours with no power! We found out the end of September that we were invited to attend the 2010 Executive Summit for Namifiers on a cruise November 6-13. Not much time to plan, but thankfully we have wonderfully supportive friends and family. My sister, Lori, watched the kids the first weekend, she then took them to my fabulous friend, Annica, who kept them until Wednesday when Grandma Goodwin was able to come and stay until we got back late Saturday night. I could not have enjoyed this cruise as much as I did without them. Having peace of mind about my kids let me enjoy the here and now without worrying.

There were 2 formal nights, these pictures were taken the first night.

Our first stop was the Cayman Islands. Here is a "little" friend we met who had wondered quite far from the beach.

I have never seen a crab this big!

Another friend we saw.

Behind us here is our home away from home for the week. Isn't the water beautiful?

This was the best beach we went to, the sand was soft, the water clear and blue and warm!

We met Cary Long on the beach that first day. He was the comedian for the first half of the week on our ship, and basically got our own private show on the beach that day. Super nice, funny guy, he's worked with Robin Williams and Jerry Seinfeld, and is really good friends with Brian Regan. Whenever we saw him the rest of the week he would always come and talk to our group.

Our second stop was Roatan, Honduras where we experienced the zipline throught the jungle. So cool! We were zipping from treetop to treetop through the jungle, the scenery was amazing and the ziplines so fun! There were a total of 11 ziplines the longest being 900 ft long. Loved it!

We just had harnesses that they clipped and unclipped from each line. Our friends Tyler and Heather did it with us.

The beach at Roatan was alright, the water was warm so it was fun to swim in it.

The third stop was Cozumel, Mexico. This was the most touristy place we went. The downside was that you had to take a cab to any of the beaches and most you had to pay to even get on the beach. There were 2 free ones, however, so we picked one of these called, "Paradise Beach." I wouldn't have called it "Paradise" but we did get to do something here I've been wanting to try for a long time...

PARASAILING!

It was so fun and I'm glad I can finally say I've done it. The water was MUCH more beautiful from 350 ft above than it was right along the beach. Out farther where the reefs and sandbars were the water was a beautiful turquois with cool designs.

Isn't it purty?

The beach from up high. They had floaty toys in the water you play on, but you had to pay for it. You had to pay for everything here which was kinda lame in my book.

The best part was actually once we were done, they killed the boat and asked if we wanted to jump in and swim. Uh ya! Doesn't it look like we are in a swimming pool? The water out there was AMAZING. It was so fun to just swim...by ourselves...out in the ocean.

Leaving the beach we saw a couple of Makah birds. So pretty!

Just a pretty garden.

Throughout the ship on formal nights, and actually all throughout the week, they have professional photographers taking your pictures that you can buy later. Well, we actually decided to get one of our pictures cause we liked it and we realized we don't have any professional pictures of just the 2 of us. So here it is. My hair looked better from the side than from the front that night.

Here are the girls minus Becky, she had left to put little Andrea to bed.

Me, Heather, Nichole, Jenny

and the guys...

Bryan, Chris, Tyler, Brad (minus Nick)

Our final stop was Princess Cayes, Bahamas. It's basically a private beach for Princess cruise lines. It was so nice not having to pay just to sit in a beach chair, they had a barbaque buffet line for lunch, and it was a beautiful day. Chris and Nichole had gotten snorkel gear for the day and when they were done they shared it with the rest of us. So I tried snorkeling and Brad really actually did it. It was my first time and every time I went under water I started hyperventilating. I tried to make myself relax and remain calm but after 5 or 6 tries I gave us. But Brad saw lots of cool "Dori" fish and more.

Enjoying the last of the sun and hot weather before returning to cold, Utah. It was really quite strange laying out on the beach, soaking up the rays and thinking, "hmm...what should we do for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks?"

We really did have a fabulous time. It was fun, relaxing, entertaining, I don't think I ever felt hungry, you could eat 24 hours a day if you wanted. It was fun to get to know our work friends better, and to see a part of the world I had never seen before. I totally would recommend a cruise!

Shelves!

2010-11-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

I am one VERY HAPPY woman.

Amidst Brad's busy, busy schedule right now, he made time to build me some fabulous shelves in our cold storage room. I LOVE THEM! I am so excited to have them, I sometimes just go downstairs and look at them. :) Ok, so it's usually when I have to get something or put something away, but I take an extra second to just take the sight in. *sigh* I know, I'm weird. But, seriously, it is so nice to have a place to put our food storage, to actually SEE our food storage.

Did I mention I am one VERY VERY HAPPY woman?

Field Trip

2010-10-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Daylen had his first preschool field trip. Kate, Brooks, and I tagged along for some fun. It was COLD since Winter decided to show its face all of the sudden yesterday, but the kids still had fun. We went to the Red Barn pumkin patch in Santaquin. We rode the tractor hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, looked at all the pumpkins, the kids all played in the cute maze they had set up out of apple boxes, took some pictures, and headed back!

Daylen's cute preschool class!

Shout out to the Spanish Fork Library!

2010-10-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I just felt like telling you all how much I LOVE the Spanish Fork library. The children's section is AWESOME. I love that my kids love to go to the library, of course I'm sure the biggest reason is the super fun computer games they love to play.

Our library routine consists of first going down the elevator, (way cool for kids, and adults in my opinion) as soon as the door opens, booking it to the computer to play a couple of games, (as long as they are open) while the kids play a game I peruse the books checking to see if any of our favorites are there first, (ever read the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Williams? Definitely our favorites) after games we look for more books depending on time, sometimes we pick up literacy backpacks, like we did today, (so cute for the kids) then we go check out. Check out not only consists of checking our books out, but the kids get to pick a stamp for each hand, love it! After this has been accomplished we head back to the elevator (otherwise known as the "alligator" before Daylen could actually say "elevator") then we check out the DVD section upstairs. They have all kinds of movies, including new releases, and getting movies at the library is even better than Red Box, it's free and we get to keep it for a whole week. If we find any movies we are interested in we check those out and head on our merry way!

This is another reason I love the library...as soon as we walked through the door today, Kate and Daylen plopped down on the floor, inspecting what cool treasures they could find in their literacy backpacks. Daylen picked one purposefully that had a puzzle in it, the kid LOVES puzzles. So of course Kate is getting in to puzzles now, so she ran and got her favorite one, Curious George and put it together as well. I loved just watching them do their thing, "read" their books and play with puzzles while I was doing my thing.

Brooks can be so contemplative and serious. He frequently examines his hands for lengthy periods of time, you think this could mean he may actually have somewhat of an attention span?

He also has a great smile when he's in the mood to share it with us. It's becoming somewhat more frequent. I've never had to work so hard to get my child to smile, Daylen and Kate smiled anytime anyone just looked at them! We still love him to pieces though, can't complain too much about this one!

God Bless Texas!

2010-10-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

If you read Rachel's blog, you can skip most of this, it'll be a repeat. Rachel is faster at getting her blog updated than I am. Last weekend Brad, Brooks, and I headed to Texas for the very first time. Brad had some meetings in Dallas for work so Brooks and I tagged along so we could visit Rachel, Tyler, and Austin in Ft. Worth. I wasn't sure what to expect of Texas, and I loved it! You hear of Southern hospitality, and it's a real thing. The people there are so friendly, especially if you have a cute baby, and we had 2 when we went out!

Our first stop of the day was Historic Ft. Worth, the Stockyards. They do a cattle drive twice a day and we wanted to be there in time for the first drive and barely missed it, we could see a few of the cattle from the car, who are apparently quite famous. Rachel blamed our missing it on the 2 babies, I blame it on our late night game of "The Farming Game". The Stockyards were fun to look around all the same.

This was a huge belt, we just couldn't resist a picture.

Here we are in front of the White Elephant Saloon. This is where they filmed some of "Walker, Texas Ranger", my dad is a HUGE fan. This is for you dad!

Our next stop was the Water Gardens in downtown Ft. Worth. This is part of the "Stage" I thought its set up was perfect for a jumping picture, don't you think?

The guys thought so too.

Everywhere we went people asked us if these 2 were twins. Don't know where they got that idea. :) No, they are 3 months apart and Brooks is as bald as can be, while Austin's hair is growing in quite nicely. I don't think it's very fair Rachel's first is a red head, and I'm beginning to wonder if I will ever get one myself!

This little boy is such a cute, smiley boy! I love this face!

Rachel and our cute boys!

While in Texas I was lucky enough to get to visit with one of my best friends, and college roomate Sydne. She lives in Dallas now while her husband is going to dental school, she just a baby 5 weeks ago and he is a cutie!

Look at that cute face! Don't you think I need a red head, we fit well together.

My wonderful sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Mandy and Tyrel, watched Daylen and Kate for us while we were gone. We missed them so much! We got home Wednesday, and I left Thursday morning to drive to St. Anthony (Rexburg area) to pick them up, came back Friday. Needless to say it sure feels good to be home. We brought the kids a little bit of Texas back with us.

Trip to Declo

2010-10-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

What? Never heard of Declo, Idaho? I can't imagine why not seeing as there is a whopping population of 338. It's right by Burley and this is where Brad's brother, Randy, lives with his family. We went over Conference weekend to visit and watch some of the boys play in their football and soccer games. Saturday we went from game to game. Football game at 8:00 am, soccer game at 10:00 am, another football game at 12:30 pm. My nephews are the stars of their perspective teams, seriously, it was so fun to watch them.

Here is Dustin playing soccer, it's a nice shot of his back huh? Go 27!

Brett and Tanner play on the same team, can't tell where they are in the picture, but they are the orange. Ya Declo!

Brett, Garret, and Tanner.

Randy coaches Garret's team and Brett and Tanner get to help play defense when they are short in numbers. So we got to watch all 3 play. Garret has money hands, this kid has a talent when it comes to sports. We'll see who wins out when he gets to be college age, BSU or BYU? I'm sure you can guess what my vote is.

We had blast spending time with Randy and Holly, Mandy and Ivan were able to come as well. After the games Mandy, Lori, (my sister, she hitched a ride with us as well) and I went to check out DI and we actually scored big. I have never had so much fun shopping at DI. I LOVE a good deal! My favorite was my American Eagle jacket for $6. Love it!

Canning Weekend

2010-10-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Still playing catch up...

Back in September I decided to take a trip to my sister's (Jamie) house in Caldwell, Idaho and do some canning since she has amazing resources. So I loaded up the 3 kids, kissed Brad goodbye, and while Brad worked I canned! It was such a fun trip, my mom and youngest sister, Kara, met us there and we made a canning party out of it. The kids did GREAT in the car both ways. The only tricky part was stopping once at a rest stop for a potty break and to feed Brooks, but thankfully I was able to manage it pretty well.

The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and thankfully Kara was willing to come and be the favorite aunt by helping take care of our 7 children. We wouldn't have been able to get done as much as we did without her or the SPEED of my mom. I am so grateful for a very knowledgeable mother and older sister to teach me!

These cute boys are only 5 days apart although Benson is MUCH bigger.

Need I say more? This picture sums up Jamie. I can't believe how much this girl does.

This picture doesn't even show everything we canned which was sweet 'n sour sauce, peaches, pears, pear sauce, steak, and pork.

The peaches weren't all ready so I took home what we didn't do and canned 5 more batches at home. I've been canning on my own for a 3 or 4 years now and I've decided it's much more fun to do it with my mom and sister!

Brooks and Kara playing.

Nathan, Kara, Daylen, and Lily taking funny pictures for Kara's phone.

Grandma and Brooks

Grandma with 7 of her 8 grandchildren.

Summer 2010

2010-10-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Since I have been terrible about updating our blog this summer you get one big picture overload. Between visiting family and family visiting us, playing with friends, and just living life, summer FLEW by! I have decided that life with 3 kids is just busy anyway and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here is a very brief overview of some of our activities this summer and random pictures.

Miss Kate continues to keep us on our toes. She is our crazy, funny, way too independent, bundle of joy.

Little Brookster is the sweetest baby you will ever find. I just love him to pieces! He makes having 3 kids seem much easier than I thought it would be.

Daylen is our smart, funny, BYU fan who keeps us laughing with his infectious smile and facial expressions.

Kate loves to dress herself and change her clothes often. The following pictures were all taken in 1 day. I missed her first outfit of the day however.

Backwards, insideout, it's all good!

Love her cheesy smile btw, don't know where she got that from. :)

Exploring around Spanish Fork Canyon and found red rock! How long have we lived in this area now and never knew we had red rock so close!

We decided to take Tyrel, Mandy, Ivan, Garret, and Brett exploring with us.

Kate also loves dancing, (as does Daylen, I'll have to post some video of their moves), here she is sporting one of the cute tutu's Aunt Mandy made for her.

Why are cribs so fun after we outgrow them?

I took the kids to the Hogle Zoo one day with some friends. The kids had fun, and this little guy did amazingly well. (Ok so I guess it's not that amazing he would do so well.)

Eating popcicles on the porch was an every day, multiple times a day, activity at our house.

Swimming at the ward party. Love those blue eyes!

Hiking the Grotto up Payson Canyon with friends.

We are still here loving life and doing well. Maybe with Fall and Winter coming on I'll be better about updating.

Daylen's first day of Preschool!

2010-09-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

Daylen went to his first day of preschool today! I can't believe he's old enough for that already. He was so excited to go, he kept telling me he was going to practice his letters, do puzzles, and play with toys. He had a great time, but informed me he didn't practice his letters today. When I asked what he did today he said, "I sat crisscross applesauce, we read 'Take a Mouse to School' and 'Kissing Hand' with the racoon, and ate a snack with yellow frosting and graham crackers." He did so well, just went on in by himself and didn't look back.

Daylen has taken up winking lately, he is such a character, he cracks me up! He likes to pose for pictures now.

Birthday Boy!

2010-08-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind in my posts...Daylen turned 4 August 7! We were in Washington for Brad's 10 year high school reunion/Grandpa Gilbert's 92nd birthday party/helping my parents paint their house. It was a quick trip, but it's always fun to visit with family. We celebrated Daylen's and Kara's brithdays after a long day of painting by enjoying some Reeses Peanut Butter Pie and opening presents.

Dance Dance Revolution!

Daylen has been asking for a "Lady Bug Pillow Pet" ever since April when he saw a commercial on TV. Needless to say, he was pretty excited to finally get one for his birthday. Brad took a class at BYU on Scandinavian media and did you know that it is illegal to advertise during the day anything geared toward kids? I'm really wishing we had these kind of laws here in the States cause Daylen is very impressionable lately and anything he see it's, "mom can I get ______ for my birthday?"

He sleeps with it every night! It's a pillow and it's a pet!

Kara turned 17! I can't believe my little sister is 17!

Grandpa Gilbert is celebrating his 92nd birthday this month! Doesn't he look great! We had some yummy grub at Uncle Jim's house and enjoyed visiting with family.

Improvements

2010-08-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

My crafty sister-in-law, Mandy, taught me a super cute, easy way to decorate using fabric on walls. While visiting this last weekend, she helped me get started putting these cute flowers and hearts on Kate's bedroom wall. So much easier than paint! We made a pattern for the flowers and hearts and cut out the material. Then all you do is get the fabric wet and place it on the wall wherever you want it, and brush liquid starch over the fabric to make it stick. It's easy to put up, easy to take down when you want a change of scenery, and no big paint mess! Love it, thanks for your help, Mandy!!

Daylen's Spot

2010-07-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is Daylen's "Spot."

Ever since we moved into our house Daylen has claimed the crack between the middle and left cushions. He likes to snuggle down in it and get comfortable.

So when Kate fell asleep on Daylen's "spot," instead of picking a different place to sit, like maybe the other crack between the middle and right cushions, or the rocking chair, instead he pushed her aside and snuggled in behind.

4th of July

2010-07-20T13:58:00.001-07:00

Rhett and Kristen and their family came and spent some time with us over the 4th of July weekend. It was fun to see them and fun for the kids to play together. Our kids follow the same pattern for gender and age as their youngest almost 3. Daylen and Jacob, Brinley and Kate, and they are expecting a boy in October. Here is kate straightening Brinley's hair, what a good sport.

Playing with sparklers and watching our fireworks show!

Jacob with his sparkler.

Enjoying the show!

We have grass!

2010-07-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

So when we moved in to our house last August it looked like this...grass completely dead. We tried to revive it as best we could, but there were just too many completely gone spots and the weeds began to take over.

After Brad cut the grass out with a sod cutter, he and I got rid of it (as in it is now dumped in our side and back yard for a later project). We added nice compost, rototilled, raked, leveled, deweeded flower beds...and then it looked like this...

We had some great help from our ward to lay the sod on a hot, July evening.

Brad worked very hard in this whole process, he's been amazing!

Daylen wanted to help.

So Kate wanted to help, too.

Magically we have automatic lawn! Which came by hard labor.

visit from grandma!

2010-07-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

My fabulous mother came and spent last week with us while my youngest siser, Kara, was at EFY. I love it when my mom visits, she is the best. She made Kate a quilt and pillowcase for her bed, helped me wash my windows, we went to the park, saw Toy Story 3, Brad and I went on a date :) we had lunch with my aunts and cousin, went to the BYU Bookstore, and we started potty training Kate. Plus it's just fun to just have her here. She brought my niece and nephew with her, Lily and Nathan, so Daylen and Kate had fun playing with their cousins all week as well.

Kate has starting "fixing" our hair now with a fork or spoon or spatula, whatever is closest at the moment.

Nathan and Daylen liked to wear their matching superman pjs despite the hot, summer weather.

This little guy is so fun to have around, I love his smiles!

Family Reunion Time

2010-07-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time in Washington a couple of weeks ago and now I have the pictures to prove it. We got to spend time with both of our families, attended the Milton-Freewater ward reunion, my 10 year high school reunion, celebrated our 6 year anniversary, Kate's birthday, blessed Brooks at my parents home, played homerun derby, rode 4-wheelers, shot guns, went hiking, fishing, made a bird house, held a family talent show, enjoyed dutch oven cooking, played games, and enjoyed just being with family!

On Hold...

2010-06-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

We just spent a fun week in Washington with both Brad's and my family, unfortunately I left my SD card in my parents computer so I don't have any of my fun pictures to prove it yet. So until I get that back here are a couple of other pictures. Rachel and Austin came with us on our trip and 2 days after we got back they left us and Utah for good to move to Texas! Tyler is starting grad school in the fall at TCU and we are going to miss them so much!!! I had to get a picture of the kids before they left.

On a happier note, Brooks is smiling more and is enjoying his brother and sister it looks like!

wait, whose birthday is it?

2010-06-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

My little Miss Kater turned 2 this week! Daylen wanted to celebrate it more than Kate. He has been talking about his birthday since Brad's birthday in March. Poor kid still has to wait until August, however, he didn't mind sharing in Kate's festivities. Here is a quick shot we took before church on Sunday. Man I love these kids!

Kate opening her first present...

a new Sunday dress and squeaky shoes...ever heard of them? I always know where Kate is and she loves them...a little TOO much! (They squeak with every step.)

Daylen insisted that he had a birthday present, too, and he HAD to open it. Smart dad then proceeded to put Daylen's church clothes in Kate's gift bag and let him open them. He was super excited even if it wasn't anything new...just opening a present made him happy!

While Kate was napping, Brad put together her second birthday present...a table and stools from IKEA. We went to put them in her room at the end of her nap, she was thrilled as you can tell from the look on her face.

Despite the face, she really does love the table, as does Daylen. There has been a lot more drawing at our house this last week.

Brownies and ice cream came later, Rachel, Tyler, and Austin joined us for this fun. We are going to have cake when we go home to Washington this next week, both my family and Brad's family will be there, we are so excited to see everyone!

Once again Daylen had to have a candle in his brownie, too. This kid is birthday crazy!

I still can't believe Kate is 2! She is the cutest little stinker ever! She may be destructive and careless and a little too independent, but her personality keeps us entertained. Three phrases we hear a LOT at our house right now out of her lips are, "All myself!" (Do it all by myself) "Look at me!" as she does some trick or sticks her finger up her nose, and "Ah man!" when something doesn't go quite right. She is hilarious, and super sweet when she wants to be and I just can't imagine life without her! We love you Kate!

Happenings...

2010-06-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

When Mandy and Ivan came to stay with us last month Daylen LOVED riding Ivan's little 2-wheeler bike. So a couple of weeks ago Brad found this bike at a yard sale for $2! The training wheels cost more the bike itself. Daylen calls it his "cool bike" and the neighbor kids have all picked it up from him and call it "Daylen's cool bike" as well. Now he can keep up a little better with the other kids and ride these hills a little easier.

(This picture is supposed to be with the barbaque below.)

Just a fun picture.

What's Memorial Day without a barbaque? We of course had to enjoy the beautiful weather we are finally having and invited Tyler, Rachel, and Austin over to enjoy some home barbaqued hamburgers, yum! We also made use of our deck finally and ate outside, I think it's about time for some deck furnature...

Kate and Daylen blew bubbles for us, Kate needs to work on her blowing technique as you can see, but this picture cracks me up, the crazy hair really adds to the effect.

Austin enjoyed being outside and entertained us with his contagious huge smile!

Kate mothering Brooks which she does as much as possible. Anytime she hears him start crying she comes running to help. "Oh no cry Brooks" or "no cry baby" are common phrases heard from her lips.

Miss Helpful Kate

2010-05-23T20:52:00.001-07:00

Kate loves to help her little brother out, put his binky in his mouth, make sure his blanket is covering him. We took a little video of her tonight holding Brooks and "helping" him suck on his binky in her oh so helpful way. The video is mostly for grandparents to enjoy since they haven't met their newest grandson yet, but you're welcome to watch it as well.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

2010-05-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

We took Brooks on his first family outing to the BYU Baseball game on Saturday. I think he enjoyed it...he didn't even realize he had left the house, he slept the whole time. He was all snug in his sling, no point in opening his eyes. We met Rachel, Tyler, and Austin there and enjoyed an exciting game, BYU coming back from behind to beat San Diego State, Go Cougars! Daylen especially enjoyed the popcorn...after the game we decided to make a night of it and go eat dinner at the Olive Garden, yum! We don't ever take our kids out to eat unless we are out of town, they did great!

Brooks Casey Gasaway

2010-05-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Brooks Casey Gasaway

Born May 8, 2010

6 lbs 13 oz

19 in

We are so happy to announce the birth of our little guy, I am especially relieved he finally decided to show us his sweet face and that his daddy was here to witness it. I was very worried that he may decide to come while Brad was in China, but luckily he made it back in time. Although absolutely nothing about his labor and delivery went as I had planned, we are glad he is here and well. Had things gone as I planned them, my water would have broken, (as it did with the first 2) we would have gone to the hospital, and Brooks would have shown up about 2 hours later. Sounds like a good plan huh? I was convinced after my first 2 experiences that this is exactly how it would go. What really happened was I went to the hospital not even being in labor, but to check out bleeding that had just begun. After being monintored for a few hours, going back and forth as to whether or not they would send us home, I started contracting more, dialating a bit more, so Brad and I walked the hospital "track" for an hour to get more contractions coming. It worked, just not as quickly as I would have liked. My doctor ended up breaking my water to get the process going faster. After a painful hour and half or so I got the epidural (I debated whether or not to go natural this time, but now I'm glad I didn't). Once I was dialated to an 8 baby's heart rate started dropping with each contraction and soon it wasn't coming back up at all. The nurse checked me again, thinking it would be time to push, but no I was still at an 8. Another nurse came in, they called my doctor up, gave me oxygen, I tried switching sides to see if baby would like that, it didn't help. My doctor came in and "helped" me get to a 10 so I could push (thankful I had my epidural at that point). My doctor told me the baby needed to come out now, so I needed to push him out fast, or he would have to do a C-Section. Boy was I motivated to push! As soon as I started pushing, baby's heart rate went up thankfully. Unlike most babies, he liked the pushing, so I was able to push him out pretty fast to find there was a knot in his cord that must have been tightening with each contraction. He was finally here and healthy and I was so glad to have that part behind me! He has been such a sweet baby so far, we love him so much and are so thankful to have him with us now!

So tiny! Coming home from the hospital!

Rachel came and stayed with me for a few days since my mom wasn't able to come at all. It was so nice having someone else there to help out with the kids and dishes and cleaning, and just to have some companionship. Her little Austin doesn't look so little anymore compared to Brooks.

I still think it's a little crazy to see my 3 kids together!

Fun Times

2010-04-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

I am being so spoiled right now by my sis-in-law, Mandy. I know she doesn't think she is spoiling me, but really she is. She and Ivan are staying with us while Brad is in China to keep us company and to help me out so I can rest as much as possible so this baby doesn't come until his daddy gets home. So far it's working, lets just hope we can last until Tuesday. I'm almost afraid that my resting will cause this baby to come late and I don't think I will be able to handle that. Daylen and Kate have loved being able to play with their cousin every day and I'm afraid I'm getting a little too used to not having to clean up after every meal.

Aunt Mandy has lots of fun crafts and games for the kids to do.

And who knows where and what these kiddos find to play.

Mandy made Kate the cutest little tutu. I think her older brother's superman pjs really add to the outfit.

Family Fun and Easter

2010-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry Rach, I really didn't mean to leave Austin out. Here are a couple of pictures of my cute new nephew!

My family came to visit the week before Easter since it was their Spring break, unfortunately there wasn't much of "Spring" in the forecast. Jamie hopped in the suburban with her kids as they were driving through Cauldwell to join in on the fun. We had a fun filled week, Daylen and Kate loved playing with their cousins, Daylen and Nathen I think especially had fun despite the 2 1/2 year age difference. We all got worn out as you can see from grandpa and Kate.

Wednesday we went to Temple Square while my mom went to a training meeting with the General Relief Society Presidency. While she was in her meeting the rest of us took a tour of Temple Square, in the freezing cold and snow. After mom's meeting we all took a tour of the Conference Center. Fun day, but we all came down with colds after that, not so fun.

The kids had fun coloring easter eggs.

Since it looked like this outside, we had out easter egg hunt inside.

Luckily the kids didn't care where the hunt was held, they just had fun looking for eggs.

Can you tell no none really got ready this day?

Jamie and I had to take a pregnant picture together seeing as we are due a day apart. Our belly shapes are VERY different as you can see. We are 34 1/2 weeks in this picture.

The kids having fun with balloons.

Daylen and Kate had double fun as their cousin, Ivan, came to visit as well. Mandy and Tyrel stopped by for a short visit on their way back to Rexburg after living in Arizona while Tyrel did his student teaching. The snow was a rude awakening from their nice, warm weather! We, of course, had to have another easter egg hunt with Ivan.

Playing Kate's favorite game, "Ashes" as she calls it.

Thanks for the fun week, we love our family!

Trip to Moab

2010-03-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to Moab last weekend and spent some time with Brad's brother, Rhett, and his family. Rhett was running the 1/2 marathon and wanted Brad to join him. He was planning on it, but due to lack of training, as in none, he decided to run the 5 mile race instead. Good choice. It still amazes me that he can just go run 5 miles after not having run for 9 months. It took me a couple of months to work up to that much and I was still dying! Anyways, we got to stay in a really nice condo Rhett and Kristen had rented, share some fun times with them, something we don't get to do very often. Daylen and Kate had a blast playing with their cousins.

Brad after his race. He ran it in 38 minutes. Unfortunately, we missed seeing him cross the finish line. :(

The gang waiting for Rhett to finish.

The younger kids watching their "cool" older cousins, Ellie and Savanna, play hand games.

Savanna, Ellie, and Daylen,

Rhett finishing strong in 1 hour 38 minutes.

Bittersweet

2010-03-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

It has been bittersweet for me since Saturday night.

I had to say goodbye to my most favoritist car I have ever owned.

As hard as I tried to fit 3 carseats in the back of this beauty,

it just wouldn't work.

So I've been trying to get used to the idea that I

would eventually have to let it go. But I really wasn't

prepared when the time finally came.

I cried.

Later that night after we got home I told Brad

it felt like we lost a member of the family.

This car has been so fun to drive, so smooth, so reliable.

I LOVE THIS CAR!!

We have a new member of the family now.

I hope I can learn to love this MINIVAN, yes minivan,

as much as I loved my Honda Accord.

It's a Toyota Sienna, it's nice, but

I'm afraid I hold some psychological resentment

against it because I had to get rid of my Honda for it.

Not that it's the van's fault, but it's still true.

I love the charcoal gray color,

there, something positive to end on.

Happy Birthday to Brad!

2010-03-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

TODAY is Brad's BIRTHDAY!

We feel so lucky to have him, he is the best husband and father

a family could ask for!

Getting a little help from Daylen and Kate opening his present...which he already knew what it was thanks to Daylen. We went to eat lunch with Brad at work yesterday after shopping for his present. The first words out of Daylen's mouth were, "Dad! We bought you a baseball glove!" Thanks Daylen.
He was happy about it anyways.

We hope your day is special.
It was 10 years ago today that I toilet papered your room to ask you to my Sadie Hawkins dance. I barely even knew you, I think we had met once before. Friends and your siblings can be very persuasive. I'm glad I was bold and listened. I know you were tired from your track meet and just wanted to stay home, but I'm glad you listened to your dad and let Mandy take you away so I could come leave a surprise. I'm glad you said, "yes." I had fun that night, I think you did as well, despite your super tight cowboy jeans! That night started a long friendship that led to eventually dating after your mission and so far almost 6 years of happiness in marriage, 2 kids with 1 on the way, and many adventures! I love you Happy Birthday!

Austin Glen Hair is here!

2010-02-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

My sister, Rachel, had her baby this week. We are excited to welcome little Austin into the family. He is super cute and a good little baby so far. He was 7lbs 1 oz and 20" long. My mom seems to have a knack and picking the best time to fly in before even knowing when her grandkids are coming. She missed the actual birth by about 20 minutes, bummer, but she got here in time to make the most out of her stay to help Rachel. Austin brings the number of grandkids up to 6 with 2 more on the way!

Crazy kiddos

2010-01-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

Just a fun picture of our crazy kiddos before church last week.

Daylen and Kate had some fun running around and playing together tonight. This video is mostly for grandparents and familiy who don't get to see these monkeys as often as they'd like.

Our Little Musician

2010-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

Kate loves to sing and I love to listen to her sing. What do think? Future American Idol...maybe?

Did I mention Kate likes to be helpful?

2010-01-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

So I wrote in an earlier post how Kate likes to help out where she can. The other morning after she finished eating her breakfast she proceeded to then clean the table in front of her with her blanket. The table looked so nice and clean, such a good little girl.

Oh, but wait...

If the table is nice and clean, what does that mean the floor looks like?

Thanks for being so helpful Kate!

celebrations!

2010-01-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas this year full of LOTS of family. The best way to go in my opinion. Our celebrations started about the middle of the month with Brad's family getting together for a wedding. The day after the last of Brad's family left my family showed up to spend Christmas with us (except Jamie and Bryson who were in Mesquite.)

If you live nearby and have never seen the floating Christmas trees on the Salem pond, I totally recommend it for next year. Pretty cool and it's free for your enjoyment.

Daylen and Kate sporting their new Christmas PJs. I know Daylen's don't look like Christmas, but he LOVES his new Superman pajamas, especially the cape.

Christmas morning was a hit. I love the look on Kate's face when she saw the phone that came as part of the kitchen set. This girl loves phones.

Daylen's favorite part was opening presents. He barely had one finished when he was asking for another present to open.

Another phone for Kate from Rachel and Tyler.

Daylen got a new sled from Rachel and Tyler so we decided to take the kids sledding and try it out. From the look on Kate's face you'd think she was saying, "I'm ready, bring it on!" Being my little dare devil I thought she would love sledding, while Daylen, the more cautious, I wasn't sure what he would think.

Kate's face here pretty much describes what she thought..."are you really making me do this?" She wasn't too thrilled with the whole sledding concept and ended up falling asleep in Brad's arms.

Daylen, on the other hand, LOVED it. He went down and up, over and over. Of course, he had it pretty easy when daddy would pull him back UP the hill cause he couldn't quite walk up by himself without falling over and getting stuck.

He even liked going on his back head first.

Jamie and Bryson came and spent a few days with us after Christmas on their way home so we had the whole family together. It was so fun to spend time with everyone here. Daylen and Nathan played so well despite the 2 1/2 year difference. Here are the grandkids with grandma and grandpa.

I think Kate forgot who her mom was with grandma here. She wouldn't have anything to do with me, she followed grandma around and only wanted grandma to hold her. Grandma put her down for naps, put her to bed at night, read her books, gave her treats...luckily she remembered who mom was after grandma left to go home. We had so much fun with all our family, it was a relaxing Christmas, and especially nice not to have to travel anywhere. Thanks family, we love you!

One Big Happy Family!

2010-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

He did it! Brad's older brother, Randy, got married! After losing his wife over a year and a half ago in a car accident, leaving him with his 4 boys, he remarried this last month to a wonderful woman named Holly. Holly is also a widow with 4 kids! She is wonderful and we are so excited to have her and her kids join our family. They are now one big happy family, 6 boys and 2 girls! They were married in Logan so Brad's family all congregated in Utah for the big event. It was fun to get to spend time together.

We picked up Brad's parents from the airport the week before the wedding and headed to Rexburg to spend time with Mandy and Tyrel, then everyone came to our house just before and after the wedding. We had fun times playing games, playing the wii, and just hanging out.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

We are doing an electronic Christmas letter this year...enjoy!

Merry Christmas!
Jana and I have clung to a new favorite quote by Thomas S. Monson, “The future is as bright as your faith.”
This past year has been one of growth, laughter, challenge, and work … all good things, as long as our ambitions are anchored in the right place.
As expected, our children have occupied center stage in life. Daylen, our 3-year old son, has wowed us with his learning and curiosity and energy levels. He has fully embraced his role as a big brother, showing us many moments of brilliance and kindness towards our youngest, Kate. If only that was the case all the time … but so it goes.
Our 18-month-old, Kate, has completely captivated us with her growing personality. A typical day for her usually includes trailing Daylen, taking 1.5 naps, some random singing, making a mess, and then helping Jana clean it up.
Along with the busyness of raising children, Jana has taken great interest in building and utilizing our 1-year food supply. Also, as time permitted, she was able to enjoy several “must-read” books from an ever-growing list (one of her favorite pastimes).
I have felt more grateful than ever this year for good employment and for the challenge and opportunity to stay busy and stay involved.
In May, Jana and I took a more serious look at the down real estate market and put an offer on a home in Salem, UT (about 20 minutes from my work). After three months of weathering the bureaucracy of today’s lending, we moved into a home we love and will enjoy for years to come. One month later, we happily discovered that Jana is pregnant with our 3rd child, with a due date of May 11th, 2010.
It is humbling to ponder the blessings from our loving Heavenly Father, and especially to ponder His greatest gift, even Jesus Christ. We express our heartfelt love and best wishes to you and your families, and we hope this Christmas season graces you with an increased measure of peace and joy for the new year.
Sincerely,
Brad, Jana, Daylen and Kate Gasaway

Helpful Kate

2009-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is just a cute picture of the kids hugging each other before we headed over to my aunt's house in Springville for a SUPER YUMMY Thanksgiving dinner! I love it when they give each other hugs or walk around the house holding hands.

Remember how in my last post I said how Kate loves to be helpful? Here is one way she helps out. Unloading the silverware from the dishwasher is Daylen's job. As soon I say "Daylen, it's time to do your job." Kate comes running to unload some silverware, Daylen on the other hand...

As you can see she can reach the drawer to throw them in, but she can't put them in the right spot.

All finished with a nicely disorganized silverware drawer. So I guess it would be more accurate to say Daylen's job is putting the silverware in the right spots after Kate has unloaded them from the dishwasher.

Random Acts...

2009-11-25T14:45:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile...sorry mom. Here are some pictures of the kids. Not much has been happening lately so here are some random acts of life in our home.

Daylen and Kate were running around the living room wrapped in their blankets one night before bed.

Our little cookie monster...she has a sweet tooth like her daddy.

Kate loves to be helpful. Daylen asked me to button his jammies for him so Kate immediately took the task upon herself to help him out.

Daylen came to me one day with his blanket draped over his head like this and said, "Look mom, I'm Mary!"

The other morning Brad went in to get Kate out of bed and found a little ballerina instead. Notice the crazy hair, I finally got Kate some ponytails of her own, she still just has a little tiny one on the top of her head. Some day she'll have hair...**sigh**

Hope you enjoyed a gimpse in to the every day life of our family.

Lately...

2009-11-25T14:35:00.000-08:00

Daylen likes to make faces for the camera.

Daylen has been so funny lately. Not always so much the things he says, but how he says them and his facial expressions while saying them. This kid has such an expressive face, I love it! Like this morning when I came into the kitchen and Daylen saw me for the first time and says all excitedly, "Hi mom! How are you this morning?" Or when Brad comes home from work and we sit down to eat dinner and Daylen asks, "So how was your day today?" or "What did you do at work today? Did you eat lunch?" He has been talking nonstop lately, too, he's a little motor mouth.

Coming May 11, 2010

2009-10-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

New Project

2009-10-26T18:55:00.001-07:00

Brad found this log bed on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago. I went to look at it and it was in pretty good condition, it was the lighter log color and it had a few pen marks and scratches, but other than that it looked nice. So we decided to get it. We got the bed, the mattress and box springs, and the bedding (not what you see here) all for $75! I wanted to get a before picture, but thought about it too late so you just get the after. We went to Home Depot and got a deep mahogany minwax stain which requires little prep work. Brad went to work sanding it down, applied 2 coats of the stain, and this is what we got!

We're really happy with the way it turned out, now we want to stain our dresser and night stand to match it. (And we really need a bed skirt, my mom made our quilt and we have been using it since we've been married.)

Dance Competition

2009-10-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

My little sister, Lori, had her first dance competition at BYU! She competed the waltz against all the other 184 students, and did pretty good! They got a couple of call backs. We went to watch and cheer her on, it brought back so many fun memories of my dancing days at BYU. I was in her same shoes as a freshmen, competing the waltz in my very first dance competition and my partner and I won 2nd place! I realized how old I am getting though, I didn't know anyone there, not even the teachers! Just the heads of departments. It was a fun night, way to go Lori!

BYE BYE SUMMER

2009-10-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's sad for me to think summer is really over.

But when I see this outside my window...

there's no denying the truth.
Winter is coming.

I wish my camera could have captured

the colors better. The mountains are

absolutely BEAUTIFUL right now.

The yellows and reds with the white snow,

these pictures just don't do them justice.

You'll just have to take my word for it

BEAUTIFUL!

HURRAY!!

2009-09-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

(I couldn't get him to look at the camera, he wanted to look at himself.)

Guess who is potty trained!!

DAYLEN! Give him a hip hip hurray!

I kept saying I would potty train Daylen after we moved.

Well, we moved so I was out of excuses.

The hardest part was convincing him to wear underwear.

For the first 2 weeks he would pee almost every time

in the toilet,but he refused to poop.

He wanted his diaper for that.

I finally convinced him we were out of diapers

so if he wanted to go play at the park he

had to put underwear on.

That did it.

This was Labor Day, and he's been in

underwear ever since.

He had a couple of poop accidents,

but I blame that on the diarrhea.

He has never wet the bed, never had a wet accident.

It's been 1 week and now he even goes

by himself without even telling me!

He's been awesome.

Yeah for having only 1 in diapers!

Little Miss Kater keeps us laughing.

She loves to eat and has resorted to licking her plate clean.

She also drinks everything out of her bowl because its

just easier than using a fork or spoon!

Come Again?

2009-09-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Actually I think my exact words when the

bishop gave me my new calling were

WHAT? REALLY?

Are you SURE?

Curious yet?

WARD CHIOR DIRECTOR!

Huh?? Me?? Ward Choir Director?

Yes, I love music.

Yes, I have music in my background.

Yes, I have sung in choir.

Yes, I was in band all growing up.

Yes, I play the piano, though not well.

BUT, choir director? REALLY?

Yes apparently.

Never in a million years would I have expected this.

Here goes nothing.

Aloha Run

2009-09-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yeah! We finally have the internet again! We just got connected last night, I feel like I've been cut off from the world, but I am back. Now that I am back I can post pictures from my very first 5K run! It was the Aloha run in Mapleton a week and a half ago. Namifiers sponsered it, so I actually didn't even think about doing it until the night before. Rachel and I decided to do it together, the only time I can run with her is when she is pregnant, that way I can't slow her down. Brad ran it pushing the kids in the jogging stroller and still killed us. I hadn't run in about a month so I was a little nervous, but we jogged the whole time and felt good! It was just a small race so I never found out what my time was which I am bummed about. We didn't even think about wearing a watch, but we think we did it somewhere between 40-45 minutes. It was a fun experience!

I put Miss Kater's hair in her very first ponytail the other day. 15 months old and barely has enough for somewhat of a decent hairdo. It sticks straight up, but I thought she looked cute!

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

We are slowly getting unpacked.

We have accumulated quite a bit of "stuff"

over the past 3 1/2 years.

We really hope the dead grass comes back.

Family Room

Kitchen

Entry Room/Front Room

Master Bath

We love our new home, I am just so anxious to get all boxes out of my sight!

Can it Really be TRUE??

2009-08-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

We don't have to eat all our meals on the kitchen floor anymore?

Or live in a house with no toys? (Although soccer is much easier with no furniture!)

Remember how 2 weeks ago I posted how excited we were to have closed on our brand new house? Yeah. Well, 2 weeks later we finally get to move in to that house which has been so generously holding all of our stuff just waiting for us! We have survived an absolutely crazy, nightmare of 2 weeks, living in our house with just our bed (thankfully), computer, and piano. Paper plates, bowls, and cups have been our friends, creative juices have flowed to help us come up with dinners, with the help of friends and family, and lots of getting out of the house activities. We have overcome it all and actually will get to live in it now! (Good thing since my family is coming to bring Lori to school TODAY!) I will post pictures as soon as I can!

P.S. I do not plan on moving again for a VERY LONG TIME IF EVER.

P.P.S. If you plan on moving soon take my advise and use a financial institution, DO NOT USE A MORGTAGE BROKER!

$2 Tuesday!

2009-08-19T07:48:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving Point has $2 Tuesdays for the month of August so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and go check out the Dinosaur Museum. Unfortunately, half of the Salt Lake Valley had the same great idea. The line wrapped around 3 sides of the building! It's a big building. Luckily the line moved pretty fast, it only took us about 45-50 minutes to make it to the door. We went with our friends Becky, Ben, and Julia so the time in line seemed to go fast. The kids had fun playing with the dinosaurs, puzzles, running up and down the ramps, and digging for bones in the sand. It was impossible to get many pictures of their faces, they were just too busy for pictures, definately worth the $2 for a fun morning. Thanks for going with us Becky, Ben, and Julia!

Weekend Getaway

2009-08-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Ever need to just get away? Forget all your problems and just have fun and spend time with the ones you love? This last weekend was one of those weekends. We decided Thursday night to just take off and have fun! So Friday after Brad got off work we headed to Rexburg to stay with Mandy, Tyrel, and Ivan (Brad's sister and family), then head on to Yellowstone and take advantage of their free admission weekend! We had a blast, it was just what the doctor ordered. My sister, Rachel, came along with us since her hubby just left for India to study up in the Himalayas for 2 1/2 weeks. Have I mentioned she's expecting her first baby? Due the end of January and we are all VERY EXCITED! I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was about 2 so this was all a new experience for me. We saw the mud pots, geysers, Old Faithful, the Upper Falls, Artist's Point, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, lots of Buffalo, Elk, and beautiful scenery!

We got to Old Fatihful at the perfect time. It was supposed to blow in the next 20 minutes or so, I was very impressed with the height of the blow!

We camped with the kids for the first time here. Kate enjoyed pushing her stroller around and getting dirty.

Daylen and Ivan enjoyed playing in the back of Brad's truck. They just randomly started singing "I love you" from Barney and giving each other hugs. These boys are so cute together!

After Uncle Tyrel's fun bedtime story we put the kids in bed and called it a night.

The kids did great, Daylen slept the whole night, Kate woke up a couple of times but I just snuggled with her on my tummy and she went right back to sleep. We didn't bring a pack 'n play for her so I'm glad it went as well as it did. I've decided next time I'm bringing some kind of mattress for me though, my hips just can't take the hard ground anymore.

Here we are at the Upper Falls. They look cool from here at the top, but don't seem quite as tall as they do from far away.

Here are the falls again from the Artist's Point and they look huge from here. Isn't that a georgous site! I can see why they call this the Artist's Point. Breathtaking.

This guy was standing right on the side of the road, not moving, just staring traffic down.

We rounded a corner and there were about 200 buffalo along both sides of the road. We got held up a few times by these guys walking down the road, right along side traffic or slowly leading the long train of cars down the middle of the lane. They think they own the place. :) After 2 days we only saw a fraction of Yellowstone, I think we would need a week to see everything there is to see there. Beautiful, super cool place to visit, highly recommend it if you haven't yet. Just beware, I didn't realized Yellowstone was a volcano about 50,000 years overdue for erruption, it could blow at ANY TIME. Really, you should go.

Alaska-Part 3

2009-08-11T13:01:00.001-07:00

To finish off our fabulous trip to Alaska here a couple of georgous pictures of the Alaskan scenery.

Wednesday morning we decided to do a session at the Anchorage Temple, and low and behold in this small world, I saw someone I knew there! One of my best friends and roomates from college is from Palmer which is about 45 min north of Anchorage, anyways, her mom was working in the Temple that day! She helped us in the dressing room, AND helped me out later in our session! It was so fun to see her!

That afternoon we headed to Kinkaid Park for a round of frisbee golf. It was the most beautiful course I have ever played, not that I've played a whole lot of different courses, but is was so peaceful. There were a LOT of trees which was challenge, but you just felt like you were in your own little world. The park is over 100 acres, it has mountain biking trails, large open areas, lots of trees...we saw a big bull moose here the last time came, but not this time. No moose sitings as of yet on this trip.

This is throw number 2 on this hole for Brad.

And throw number 3 on the same hole. Like I said, the trees were a challenge.

Michael, Daren, and Landon.

Dave taking a turn.

Our frisbee golfing crew.

Thursday we went to Whittiar, a super small town, which includes exacltly 1 apartment building, and is only accessible through a 2 1/2 mile tunnel. Daylen LOVED the tunnel drive and talked about it the rest of the day, luckily we got to go through it again on the way back. We were hoping to hike up Whittiars Pass and see the great views from up there, but rain and fog foiled that idea. So instead we walked around a bit, went in a few shops, bought some yummy donuts, and met up with Heather and the boys at Portage Glacier to take that cruise.

Here we are in front of Portage Glacier, did you know that glaciers are blue? That's how you can tell if it is really a glacier or just snow. Blue with lots of crevasses, really cool looking.

On the way home we stopped at Potters Marsh to see some wildlife. We saw a couple of bald eagles and lots of fish. No moose. No bears.

Friday we headed north to Eklutna Lake and did some kayaking. My first time kayaking and it was really fun, kinda cold, but fun.

Saturday morning we decided to hike the infamous Flat Top mountain. It was our last chance since we were all leaving later that day. On the way to pick up Brad's brother, Chad, what did we FINALLY see? A MOOSE!! A mama and her 2 babies just walking down the street. So of course we had to pull over and watch them for a minute and take some pictures. They were literally RIGHT THERE. It always is like this, the very end of our trip we finally see a moose in the wild.

My batteries died after just a couple of pictures. Here we are at what is called the "saddle." After this point your just a hop, skip, and a jump from the top. Except that last jump you are pretty much just climbing up rocks, no trail. My mom made it to the top! And on our way down we passed Chad finishing the last part for the 2nd time helping his mom up to the top. So Karen made it all the way as well! Our moms are awesome!

We went to the zoo that afternoon to see our bears, then it was time to eat dinner and pack and be on our way. We love our visits to Alaska, we just wish we could make more often than every 3 years. We loved having both our families there (well, part of both of our families) and hope to make it back soon!

TODAY

2009-08-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY closed on our NEW HOUSE!

We are so sad to leave our amazing ward and fabulous neighbors,

but we are so excited about this next chapter

in the lives of the Brad Gasaway Family!

We are moving to Salem,

not far away,

we love the area.

Alaska-Part 2

2009-08-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

We finally got to relax a bit on Sunday. Church wasn't until 1:00PM so we got to sleep in a bit. Brad's dad took my dad, Brad, and sister Lori to a place called Shipcreek where you can watch the Salmon run. There are a LOT of fish, I saw it last time we went, it's pretty cool, there is a waterfall the salmon actually jump/swim up.

Grandma Gasaway with the kids.

Grandma Goodwin with the kids.

After dinner we headed over to Flat Top, a famous mountain in Anchorage for it's flat top, imagine that. We just went to the look out spot where you can see the whole area. The actual hike came later in the week. It was super windy. You can tell better in the picture of my parents and sisters below.

Monday we did a few things around Anchorage like the Chocolate Factory (YUM), there is a huge chocolate waterfall inside. I just realized I don't have any of the pictures, my sister took a bunch of cute ones of Kate loving the mansized stuffed teddy bears they have. We also went to the Ulu factory, where all the famous Ulu knives are made, I brought one home to use with my cooking. We took the little trolley ride around downtown which Daylen thought was pretty cool.

Tuesday we hiked to the Russian River falls, and also to the river to watch some real Alaskan Fishing. (We didn't actually do any fishing ourselves this time, which I am ok with.) Kate had a nice ride, and Daylen ended up on my back for most of the 6 mile hike. I definitely got a good work out that day. A few of us also wore backpacks carrying guns seeing as we were in bear country. A part of me really wanted to see a bear in the wild this time, but at the same time I was glad we didn't actually have to USE the guns. The hike was beautiful, as were the falls.

Our moms!

Daylen "fishing" in the Russian River!

After the Falls we headed on to Seward to the Sea-Life Center. The kids really enjoyed it, Kate got very excited looking at all the fish, she kept pointing and "talking" at them. Unfortunately, it was POURING rain in seward and very foggy so we couldn't really enjoy the scenery there or see the boats. Lots of day cruises and fishing boats go out of Seward. They were having a flood watch while we were there. We were just glad it was a nice day earlier for our hike.

Trip to Alaska! Part 1

2009-08-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the airport, ready to go visit Grandma and Grandpa in Alaska for 9 days! We had such a fun time, even if it did rain most of the time, it was a nice break from the heat. We actually had to drink hot chocolate to warm up. We were able to convince my dad to come, so both grandmas and grandpas were there as well as Lori and Kara. Alaska has got to be the most beautiful state I have ever been to, and yes I have been to Hawaii. I love the green mountains, the water, glaciers, the wildife...there is no place like Alaska.

Daylen was so excited to ride in the airplane. When they called us to board we told him it was time to get on the plane and he gave a big "Yeah!! We are getting on the airplane!" As you can see they enjoyed looking out the window. We flew to Denver first, then to Anchorage, a little counter productive in my mind, but it was cheaper. It just made for a long 5 hours, but we made it!

Saturday was our first full day and Dave and Karen have neighbor who is way into gold mining, so he took us to Crow Creek Mine for a day of mining. This is serious stuff, he has a dredger that sucks the dirt and small rocks and gold from the bank, then we would pan for gold from that stuff. Here is my dad in his waders shoveling dirt to put through the sloosh (sp?), we didn't find as much that way.

I love Karen's outfit here, keeping warm while panning!

Brad and his brother, Chad, who lives in Anchorage as well, are running the dredger here. It was some seriously hard work. It took moving lots of rocks out of the way and plugging along. We found quite a bit of "flakes" between all of us, and even a small nugget. We were hoping to find enough to pay for the trip, but that didn't happen.

Some of us took off after lunch to hike to the hand tram. There is a picture farther down of it, basically its a little cart you use to pull yourself across the river way far below. Heather, Chad's wife, acted as tour guide. We did this hike the last time we were Alaska, but I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with Daylen then. This time was MUCH easier! Just a ways passed the tram is this bridge and fast, rushing river. It is a very beautiful area.

Lori, Kara, and I. It was pretty cold, fashion took a backseat. The flannel shirt I was wearing over my sweatshirt really did add a lot of warmth.

My mom and Kate. Georgous isn't it?

Here is the handtram, you can't really tell from the picture, but when you are halfway across, it is WAY down there!

This was just day 1, we jam packed out days full and took over 200 pictures so there will be more to come. I just need to pick and choose my favorites. It's going to be hard!

Cousins Party!

2009-07-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

We had a fun lunch party at the park last week

to celebrate birthdays and babies. I love getting together with my family.

We need to do this more often!

4th of July celebrations

2009-07-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

Now that July is over halfway over, I'm finally getting to our 4th celebrations. We had a great weekend with 3 of Brad's siblings and their families, and my sister, Lori, also came to visit for the week as well. We started off with some Snowbird fun, the Alpine slide, panning for jewels, and swimming...

We of course cannot get together without a little homerun derby action. Brad is still the running champion, he was on fire thanks to Randy's great pitching as usual. We are determined to have a pitching machine next time Randy!

Followed by some fun and cooling off with water balloons in the back yard.

"Fill my balloon up please!"

Daylen had his first experience with fireworks and he did not care for them too much. He got scared so he and Ivan hung out inside.

Here's the crew after the fireworks were over.

We had a great time together, even if it was in close quarters. I don't think we had any extra floor space, but it was well worth it! We love our families!

Anyone want to clean their carpets today?

2009-07-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I know this is last minute but I have a rug doctor sitting at my house that is due back tomorrow morning at 8:00 if anyone wants to use it before then!

Brad's first time ever...

2009-06-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

on a horse!

It was pretty entertaining seeing him mount his first horse ever. Sorry I laughed Brad, but you did look pretty funny! Some friends in the ward go up Payson canyon a couple of times a year for a week of camping, riding horses, and relaxing. It is beautiful up there! They invited us to come up one night for dinner and a ride, so we went last night and had so much fun! Thank you Burninghams!

Daylen got to ride with me and he did really well for his first time on a horse. Brett's horse in front of us stopped to poop at one point and you wouldn't believe how long a 2 1/2 year old can have a conversation about a horse pooping. Of course, it was just the same conversation over and over. The only part Daylen didn't really like was going downhill, it was a little painful for him I think.

Meet Buck, Cisco, and Josie from left to right. The Burninghams assured us Buck got his name from the fact that he is a buckskin horse and not for other reasons. They were such good horses, so fun to ride. They were perfect for Brad's first experience on a horse. The mountains and area was absolutely beautiful, and the weather was perfect. We had so much fun!

After our ride we roasted hotdogs over the fire and had a yummy dinner. Kate had a little too much fun crawling around in the dirt, filling her cup up with wood chips and dirt and whatever else she could find. She was soooo dirty by the time we had to head home, but she didn't care she had a great time!

Daylen "roasted" the same marshmellow all night. It never got close enough for the fire to actually cook it, but that's alright by me. He had more fun carrying the roasting stick around with a marshmellow on the end, than actually eating the marshmellow.

Daylen still roasting his marshmellow with Kaitlyn, our trusty babysitter.

Even Kate wanted to try roasting.

This picture doesn't quite do justice to how dirty Kate really was. She has a crazy mad look on her face in this picture, but she was really just talking really loud and playing and the camera happened to capture an odd face. Thanks again guys we had so much fun!!

I love to see the Temple...

2009-06-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

For Family Home Evening this last Monday we had a little lesson on Temples, then went to go see the Provo Temple.We have never just taken Daylen and Kate to go see it and walk around,

so we thought this would be a good time to do it.

Daylen was so excited when we told him we were going to go see the Temple, he shouted a "YEAH! We are going to the Temple!"

Then the whole way there he kept saying, "We are going to the Temple" with a huge

smile on his and he'd look out the window at the passing scenery. It was a great family night!

mmm.....

2009-06-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yummy....

I love homemade strawberry freezer jam!

Now is strawberry season,

so if you too want to enjoy this heavenly taste

ACT NOW!

I made this jam from a mixture of store bought

and home grown strawberries.

It is SUPER EASY.

We planted strawberries 2 years ago and

we had a nice big crop this year it was great!

Perfect Park Day

2009-06-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

We had a perfect day at the park this afternoon with our friends Janell, Rylan, and Asher. The weather was beautiful, we amazingly had the park all to ourselves, and the kids played so well together. I'm so glad I finally thought to bring my camera. We usually walk every morning and stop at the park while we're out to let the kids play. We missed our walk this morning, so we went this afternoon for some fun and fun it was.

Kate has a fascination with noses right now, so poor Asher played guinea pig to her exploration.

Good thing he's such a happy baby, he ALWAYS has a smile on his face.

Daylen and Rylan having fun with the park all to themselves.

Enjoying a "picnic" of sticks. It's fun to see their imagination and pretend play blossom.

Kate likes to climb on the playground like the big boys.

If it's not the swings it's up and down the slide.

I love being a stay at home mom!

Happy Birthday Kate!

2009-06-10T13:40:00.001-07:00

My baby is 1 year old! I don't know how it happened so fast, but ready or not here she is. Last Sunday was the big day, of course it was pretty much like any other Sunday. We went to church, took a nap, ate dinner...but then came the cake. We had Rachel and Tyler over and our neighbors across the street. They have 3 kids who think Daylen is just the funniest little boy and he enjoys playing with them even though they are quite a bit older than him. We enjoyed their company and glad they could help us eat the cake. Kate wasn't so sure what was going on, she didn't like the ice cream, too cold, but she sure loved her cake.

Ice cream...not so much. Seriously?

Let's try the cake...

Yeah, I think this is good.

Oh ya! I like this stuff!

Kate's new birthday toy.

We enjoyed a nice family walk after the partying.

It has been so fun seeing Kate's personality come out more over the past few months. She is such a funny little girl. There are so many things I love about her.

I love:

her big, teethy smile
her laugh
her hugs
her facial expressions
seeing her excitement every day when daddy gets home from work
watching her play and laugh with Daylen
seeing her figure new things out
how flexible she is
her love of thrills, swings, slides
how she jabbers like everyone knows exactly what she's talking about
how she'll eat anything I put in front of her, except watermelon and ice cream (weird, I know)
how independent she is (I may take that back next year)
how she'll entertain herself after her nap by turning on her mobile music
watching her dance to music
her nicknames Kater or Kater Potater, especially when Daylen calls her Kater. We sometimes wonder if he knows her real name.
how she gets excited if I even mention going to find her blanket
how she makes me feel so loved!

We love you Kate, happy 1st birthday!

Miss Independent

2009-06-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

That's what I call Kate these days. She is an independent little girl. She loves to get into everything, is quite good and climbing up and down the stairs (just can't quite get started going down by herself yet), and I have given up feeding her anything with a spoon, except oatmeal in the morning. She feeds herself everything else, even tries to use a spoon, and likes to chill and put her feet up while she does so. I can't believe she is already going to be a year old on Sunday!? What? Where did that year go? She has such a fun personality and takes after her brother with her big toothy smile. She already likes to tease Daylen, and she knows it too. I love watching her try new things and figuring out how it all works, she is a very smart little girl. But whose kid isn't right?

Naptime anyone?

2009-06-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

From reading everyone else's blogs who have toddlers it seems like we are all in that same stage of life. To nap or not to nap? Daylen has been going through stages where sometimes it works out for him to nap every day in his bed, and sometimes it just doesn't.Sometimes when he naps he still goes to bed at a decent hour, and sometimes he does not. It's those sometimes does not days that I wonder if his nap earlier was worth it. Then tomorrow comes and he's acting crankyor tired and I think, "yes the nap is worth it!" Until that night. I miss the days of7:00 bedtime. Now if he's in bed by 8:00 I think that's good. Lately it's been 8:30, sometimes9:00 and I just feel like I have no time at night for myself on those nights.I just have to have some kid free time to rejuvinate myself.

So if we can make it through the day without a nap, great. Unfortunately, some days when we try he ends up falling asleep in odd places too late in the afternoon. Such a funstage. Wouldn't you all agree? :)So tonight I think Brad and I will just go on a date and let the babysitterput him to bed. He does really well for her.

To Washington...again?

2009-05-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, we went to Washington yet again last weekend, but this time for a much happier cause. We went to see my 2 youngest sisters perform in their school musical, "Little Women". The play was awesome, I was very impressed. Lori did superb swinging in on her rope as Rodrigo, way to go girls! Walla Walla High School has always had great talent, and they put on some fabulous shows. It was a great high school to go to, though it seems so long ago. Good times, but I am so glad I'm not in high school anymore. Anyways, it was well worth the trip, plus we got to spend a few days with my family, spend Mothers' Day with my mom, and visit with Grandma Murray.

Daylen discovered Grandma Murray's wagon on our last visit so he had to take it for a walk again. Then he wanted to pull Kate in it, then he wanted to ride with Kate.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Kate, it cracks me up! She loved the bumpy wagon ride, it was practically a thrill ride for her. I think she's going to take after her mom in that department. Bring it on!

And of course, Daylen can't visit Grandma Murray without playing some baseball, he's getting pretty good at hitting the ball now. He would hit for awhile, then give Grandma Murray the bat and inform her it was her turn to hit and proceed to pitch the ball to her.

Saturday was filled with working in the yard. It was our Mothers' Day gift to mom, she wanted the hedge trimmed (what a beast!) and yard work done. It's getting harder to keep up with everything with just Lori and Kara home now and lets face it, mom and dad aren't getting any younger! :)
Daylen got to take a little turn on the lawn mower with Grandma, then I got to mow our lawn with the new- to me -lawn mower since I left home, and it was so EASY! It only takes about 1 1/2 hours now to mow our huge yard, I found it kind of relaxing to just sit and mow. It mulches the grass so there are no buckets to dump, going around all the trees was easier, it was actually kinda fun.

Bryson, my brother-in-law, and Brad had the hardest job of trimming the hedge, or hedges, I should say. One lines our backyard separating our yard from our 1 neighbor's yard, the other lines the cow pasture, which doesn't have cows in it anymore. Here's Bryson working away. Once he gets started he's hard to stop!

You can see here where the 2 hedges meet, and see how tall they are getting. Growing up we used to trim them back every year, those were dreaded days of lots of work. Unfortunately, it's been a few years now since they've been done. We went up both sides of the back hedge and I hope we've convinced my dad to just come pay someone to cut like 4-5 feet off the top.

Jamie and I got to pick up all the clippings and dump them. I know it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it! It actually went a lot faster than I remember it going as a kid. Lori and Kara conveniently had a mantinee show so they missed out on all the fun work!

The kids just played together all day, but that was tough too. Lily would go inside and sit and declare she was just so tired from all the playing and swinging, *sigh*!

All the kids love swinging on our old worn out swing set we played on as kids. The slide was getting too dangerous so Brad and Bryson took it down.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. Bryson barbaqued steak and chicken for dinner, yummy! We just enjoyed being together, something that doesn't happen as often as we all would like. We have to take full advantage and savor the time up until the very end. It's always fun to go home and visit, I just wish it wasn't to dang far away!

Oh Dear...

2009-05-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

My life just got more complicated.

I was making dinner tonight and all of the sudden I thought,

"hmm, where did Daylen and Kate go?"

I looked around, then looked up the stairs and saw this.

Thankfully she didn't fall!

pretty good for her first time.

This Girl

2009-04-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

Makes me laugh!

Brad and I did some work in our backyard this morning. Pretty soon we hear Kate pounding on the sliding glass window.

A little later Brad looks over and starts cracking up.

THIS is what he saw...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T21:27:00.000-07:00