Time Out

I finally made it to Time Our For Women!  I have wanted to go for years.  It was worth the wait.  A group from the ward, plus a few other friends from here and there drove up to St. George and made it an overnight get away.  We enjoyed each others company, yummy food, a little shopping and getting our spiritual buckets filled.  If I can impliment even one of the many wonderful things that inspired me this weekend, my life will be blessed.  I came home ready to be a better mom, wife and daughter of God.

I even got to spend the Friday night session with my mom who happened to also be in town for her birthday.  I am so sad I forgot to get our picture together.

Halloween 2011

Pumpkin carving.  They did a really good job! 

Braxton's approach this Halloween was to trick-or-treat hard enough and fast enough to make up for last year.  Since Halloween fell on Sunday last year, the kids didn't go trick-or-treating so he wanted to make up for that loss of candy.  I think he actually did.  This was his first year to go off with a couple of his friends.

Sledding

Okay, Whit!  This one's for you.....

We went on our annual President's Day sledding trip a few days early this year since Braxton and Dad had an airsoft war to attend on President's Day.  It was a PERFECT day for sledding.  Not too hot, not too cold and lots of beautiful snow....and surprisingly very few people.  This was the first year we have ever paid to go in to the actually "sledding hill" on Mt. Charleston.  It was worth it.  The slope was just right.

Braxton didn't spend a whole lot of time sledding.  He kept getting frustrated that the sled wouldn't go the direction he intended it too. So he busied himself doing other things.

Unfortunately, Kobee sled even less than Braxton.  He was just beginning to get a little bug, and his energy level fell really fast.  Poor kid.  He mostly just laid around in the snow saying he was tired.

Dylan, on the other hand, got our money's worth out of that hill.  Initially he had to have either mom or dad go down with him, but then mom kinda made him go down once by himself by letting go of the sled before she climbed in and that was all it took.  He sled down the hill NONE STOP.  I couldn't resist taking picture after picture because he just kept flying past, laughing and loving life.

Mom took several turns too, once Dylan set off on his own.

And dad had the same problem Braxton had.  He couldn't control the direction of his sled very well and whiffed it a few times.  The last one landed his face in the snow. :)

McKoy hesitantly enjoyed a few short rides down with mom and dad.  He wasn't terribly sure of the snow yet. He could hardly move with all the snow clothes and it made his face look super chubby!

High-Fives from the Prophet!!

So our little family vacation started of with a BANG! We met up with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to have dinner at Little America in downtown Salt Lake. As we were waiting for our food to come, who should happen to walk by our table but President Monson!!

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He stopped and spoke briefly with the table across the isle from us and then turned around and came over to our table to say hi. Braxton and Kobee got up to meet him (Dylan was too scared) and they both received a high-five from the prophet! He spoke with each of them briefly. He was impressed with Kobee's hair-do. He asked Braxton how old he was and when his birthday is. After Braxton told him his birthday is October 7th, President Monson turned around to Sister Monson and asked, "What is on October 7th...something is on October 7th? Oh, that's the day we got married!"

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Luckily Grandma and Aunt Britt grabbed their cameras and got a couple of photos before the excitement was all over. (Notice one of his bodyguards peeking over the wall to make sure we don't do anything questionable.)

Meeting the prophet of the Lord will definitely be the highlight of this vacation. :)

Cute Little Squirt

This pic has to be one of my very favorites so far.  I could just take a bit out of him!



Delicious Toes

McKoy has been putting his toes in his mouth the last few days....usually when he is getting his diaper changed.  I don't remember any of the other boys eating their toes.  Probably because they were so chubby they couldn't reach them up to their mouths.  But this little small fry sure can. So cute!

Marshmellow Pyramid

Over the weekend, the boys got the mini marshmellows and toothpicks out to create with.  They made several little creations and then Braxton decided he wanted to make a giant structure.  He set himself to work making this pyramid.

It took him an entire Saturday.  He would have to take breaks because his back would start hurting from hunching over it.  We calculated that it has over 1,000 toothpicks!!  Nice job bud!
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Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day dad.  We all love you so much!  Thanks for all you do to take such good care of our family.

Insanity!

James and I were challenged by another couple in our ward to try the workout program Insanity.  We were apprehensive but wanted to lose some weight so we went for it. There were three couples that started together.  The challengers, Emily and Casey Thornton, lasted a day or two!  We made it three and a half weeks.  Chuggs made it together about as far as we did, but then Jared quit too.  Geneva was the only awesome one to make it all the way through to the end.  The program is INSANE.

James and I did our workouts together in the evenings after the boys were in bed.  One Friday night they came down curious about what we were doing.  They asked if they could do it with us.  To our surprise Braxton and Kobee did the entire workout.  It was funny to watch them try and figure out the coordination to do some of the moves.  Although we were kinda on top of each other, it was a great time working out as a family. :)

Brandy's Birthday

On my birthday, a bunch of friends and I went to dinner to say good-bye to one of our dear friends who is moving away, Danae Cuff. She has been the best neighbor and we are going to miss their family a lot.  We went to Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Fashion Show Mall. Yuuuummy!!  I had an Alfredo pasta with mushrooms.  It was so delicious.

*Notice Heather making an appearance in BOTH pics!

Later, my friends asked our waiter to bring a treat out for my birthday.  They all started singing as soon as he came out. When they were finished, he asked if he could have a turn.  Then in sang happy birthday to me in the most amazing operatic voice. It was the highlight of the evening.

Little McKoy was a long for the evening since he is still nursing and won't take a bottle.

After dinner, we drove over to Luv's for ice cream.  Another friend, Ashley Gunson, said it was a popular hot spot.  Oddly, it is located in a ghetto part of the strip.  We didn't stay long.  It sure was a fun evening though and a great way to spend my birthday!

Police Station

The bear scouts got to go on a tour of the North Las Vegas Police Station.  A few of the highlights were being put in real handcuffs, pushing the siren in the cop cars, and having a CSI dust their fingerprints.  We missed seeing the SWAT team deploy on a call by about 5 minutes.

Memorial Day Swimming

Our kind friends, the Hathaways, offered for us to use their pool over Memorial Day since they were going to be out of town.  We couldn't pass up the generous offer.  It isn't just any ol' pool either.  It comes complete with a diving board, waterfall and slide.  AWESOME!

Of course, Kobee and Braxton went non-stop the entire four hours we were there. They barely came out long enough for a quick snack and drink.

 

Dylan, on the other hand, could only be dragged in kicking and screaming.  Mean ol' mom made him go down the slide a couple of times to try and convince him how fun it is.  As you can see, he couldn't be convinced.

He preferred the safety of the splash deck and the trampoline.

McKoy had his first swim.  Such a cute little small fry.

We had a really fun afternoon.

New Family Photo