WAY TO GO BRAYDEN!

Brayden is the center boy standing up
Brayden had his clogging competition this weekend, and his all-boys team took 1st place!

They clogged to the song, "Every Girls Crazy About A Sharp Dressed Man." The audience went wild when these handsome boys shook their hips and swung their ties.

Brayden has taken clogging for four years now, and loves to do it, especially when it comes to this time of year and it's more performances than just practice time.

FRIENDS, FAMILY & FOOD - it can't get any better than that!

Our family had the opportunity to spend the weekend with our good friends, the Bradleys, at their Uncles cabin at Bear Lake during general conference weekend.
It was such a relaxing weekend of enjoying great company, inspiring messages, and lots of food and fun. Brayden spent all the time he wanted playing his game boy without having a time limit on it. Emilie became the source of jealousy between two boys (Jarin & Jaxson), who adored her, (Jaxson was always keeping her close, and Jarin was always trying to tell him, "My Emilie.")
Jarin and his best buddy Jaxson played, and argued, and played some more. Both of them had moments where they had just had enough, and fell asleep where ever their cute little heads landed! Bradley's youngest son, Tyson just hung out being good natured, as usual.
Ira and I (with Larry & Amber) had moments of laughter, sleepiness, great conversations, more laughter, and pure exhaustion. Thank you Bradleys for sharing your weekend with us!

Some people come into our lives, and quietly go...
Others stay awhile, and leave footprints on our hearts...
And we are never the same...

Food...glorious food! Larry, Amber & Ira preparing gyoza- yummy!

Jarin enjoying the finished product

Brayden playing his game boy
Jaxson & Jarin collapsing into sleep wherever they landed.

Both boys, when seeing their friend asleep, asked, "Is he dead?" It was funny they would

both ask the same question, and we don't have any idea where either of them picked

that up from.

Tyson can sleep anywhere!

Emilie & Jarin
Jarin had a "Perma-Grin" the entire time of swimming
Jarin & Jaxson

Brayden

Take TIME To Smell The Flowers!

I am sitting here trying to record all of our old home movies from VHS to DVD, and what better place to start than with our wedding video? I watch us walking out of the temple looking really young, and really in love, and maybe a bit awkward. Since that day 14 1/2 years ago, we feel and look much older, we are much more comfortable as best friends, and we love each other more every day. I see my nieces and nephews surrounding us outside the temple, and many of them are married with children of their own now. Grandparents and others are no longer with us on earth.

It just got me to thinking that life flies by so fast! Sometimes I find myself wishing it would go just a little faster so I wouldn't have all the commotion of a house full of children, and all the struggles that go along with that. However, as I watch this video (now I'm at the point of Brayden as an infant), I realize just how precious every moment is. I hope that this will be a reminder for me to enjoy the commotion, because in the not so far off future, I'm sure it will seem TOO quiet, and I'll be wishing I could bring some of that commotion back!

The Verdicts In!

The answer to my last question of "Am I Crazy?" now has an answer.

YES!!!

Look at the change of facial expression from my last posting, things aren't going so great. Putting this off until after the baby is born is sounding better by the minute!

Am I Crazy??

Potty training...something we parents look forward to (no more diapers), yet dread from the moment we find out we're expecting! That day has arrived at our house. Hence, the sink is full of dirty dishes, and the floors full of yesterdays toys, and laundry piled up ready to be washed (right now he is taking a brief nap, instead of cleaning - I chose to blog!). Today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next day etc., mine and Jarins day consists if us sitting together and watching "Elmo Potty Time," and then he runs to the toilet, where we sit for a very long time with the water running, and reading books, and drinking juice. After at least an hour with no success, we finally pull up the big boy underwear, and then IT happens - somewhere other than on the toilet (within 5 minutes of leaving the toilet), then the whole process begins again. This is the earliest I have attempted this with any of my kids (out of laziness on my part), but I really wanted this to be done before the new baby comes. Which brings up another point...suppose this actually works right now - there is a possibility of him regressing once the baby is born. So what am I doing this NOW for, and not waiting until things are settled down at our house? I HAVE NO IDEA!! That's where I ask the question, "Am I crazy??"

AAAWWW-SOME

This has been very typical of Jarin since Ira and I got home from our trip. He has clung to us like we are leaving again. It makes it very difficult to get very far, but we "patiently" let him deal with these insecurities however he needs to. It has been getting a lot better the last few days.

Who knew we would traumatize the poor kid in such a way! He must be sensing the changes that our family will be going through in the near future, and feeling like he is going to be replaced. Speaking of which, he doesn't seem to get it that we will be having a new baby join the family. How do I explain it to a 2 1/2 year old so he's not in total shock when July comes around?? Any ideas?

Our kids with their Easter baskets. It doesn't matter how old they get, Easter is a fun - new beginning (from the dreaded winter) for kids of all ages. Jarin was great fun this year. He kept thinking that Santa Claus brought him a basket with candy. Every new adventure for him (getting his basket, and looking for eggs, finding candy in some plastic eggs etc.), he would say...AAAWWWSOME, and laugh in this made up kind of grunt he's been doing. It's so much fun to watch them experience life with so much enthusiasm - we can all learn a little optimism from our children (at least I know I can!). Hopefully I can learn it from them before they pick up on my adult pessimism!

Monkey say...Monkey do!

These two are quite the characters when they get together. This is Jarin and his friend Jaxson. They love to play together...but not TOO often. They are like brothers, they are best friends and can be worst enemies (if they spend too much time together). Yet when they are apart, they always talk about each other. They either guide each other to making good choices, or guide each other to making bad choices - but either way, they are in it together!
Where would we all be without great friends?

ALOHA!!!

outside our 1st condo

We just got back from the trip of my dreams. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, and we finally did it! We decided with a baby on the way, it better be now or not for several years. We thought that we were being so smart to book it at just the right time during my pregnancy so that the morning sickness would be gone, and the uncomfortableness (is that a word), wouldn't have set in yet. As luck would have it, two weeks before our departure, I got the full fledge influenza. Believe it or not, I was actually a little relieved, because I knew it was going around, and we still had 2 weeks before our trip - plenty of time to get it over with, and run through the whole family, and all be better before we left - right? WRONG! I was partly right, it did go through my entire family during that time, and they were mostly all better before we left, but guess who was still flat in bed the night before our early a.m. departure? That would be ME! I laid in bed while my sweet husband packed my bags, and wonderful friends and family helped with dinners and getting my house put back together before we left. All I can say is that I had the opportunity to re-learn several lessons that I have been taught many times - and that is...
1. I will never doubt the power of priesthood blessings.
2. Prayers are always answered (maybe not exactly when I wanted it, but when I needed it).
3. It's good to be humbled once in a while. (not always easy to accept help - but humbling!)
4. I am so lucky to have such a patient and caring husband who would have carried me (and baby) on his shoulders if that's what I needed! Lucky for him ...I could walk!

Anyways, I was able to get out of bed the morning of our departure. It took a couple days of keeping things low-key, and that humid warm weather, and then I was feeling great.

With that being said, the rest of our trip was fantastic! My parents came with us, and we visited the island of Maui first where we had a condo right on the beach. As my dad constantly said, "It doesn't get any better than this!" After a couple days there, we went to the island of Oahu. Our "beach house" condo wasn't all that we expected, but it was alright. I'll just say that the Hawaiian phrase "hang loose" was very evident in the second place we stayed. On Oahu we went to the Pearl Harbor visitor center, and to the Temple and the Polynesian Culture Center, along with playing at the beach, and of course - eating fresh pineapple everyday - YUM!
We were gone for 8 wonderful days, (a couple more days wouldn't have hurt!). We did miss our children, and Jarin seems to be holding a grudge - but I'm sure he'll get over it eventually (hopefully before our baby is born - or he may never recover)!
Now that our trip is done, and I have memories that will last a lifetime - I will try really hard to be patient for the next couple years until our new baby will be old enough to leave home, and I can go on another extended date with my sweetheart, (not that I'm wishing my children to grow up too fast, but moments like these are priceless too)!

dad, mom, nicky & ira at the beach & the temple