The Past Couple Months!

I have a lot of catching up to do, so instead of doing a bunch of different posts I am going to try to make one REALLY LONG post! Here is what we have been doing this fall!

Braedon's first day of preschool! He looks a little nervous...but I can assure you he loves it now! What a big boy!


Hot Tamales! In October I ran the Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas. Thinking back on it, it was a lot of fun!
Most of the team packing up and getting ready to head to Vegas!


Van 1 - Just before we started the race!


Can you see me? Here I am running (actual proof!).


HALLOWEEN!!!
This year I decided to make the boys costumes. I am proud to say that I did them all on my own!
Here is Braedon showing off the back of his cape! (do you notice Daxton on the side making sure he is in the same pose as Braedon...silly boy!)


Batman and Robin! Aren't they sooooo stinkin' cute!


Braedon singing a song at his preschool Halloween program/party!


The spooky eyeballs I made for the Young Women's Halloween party! YUMMY!


Braedon carving a pumpkin! (No worries, he didn't really carve it by himself, I just let him hold the knife while I took a pic then I quickly got it back!)


The finished pumpkin's! Derek did all of them except the one on the top right...that was mine and Braedon's!


And finally...this could possibly be the number one reason why I decided to do this catch up post!
My Christmas project!
I am extremely proud of my creation! I LOVE it!


It is a countdown to Christmas. It says Santa Claus is Coming to Town! As the days come in December we put a magnet on the board and make a Christmas tree by the time it is the 25th!


This is the finished product!

You are O-Fish-ally Invited Under the Sea!

That's right...I'm finally posting about Daxton's first birthday party!!! We were lucky enough to have his party on his birthday since it was on a Saturday this year!
So...here is Daxton waking up to see his birthday cake that we stayed up late to finish!


As you walked into our backyard it looked like you were walking into the ocean! Derek had this awesome idea of putting a tarp up and then hanging fish and other sea creatures all over! It was really cool!


Here is my sweet Daxton at the fishing pond!


Sticking his face right into the cake!


This little boy loves to make a mess!


Now, I know that Daxton is already 15 months old and I am just posting about his birthday...but that doesn't mean I don't love him, it just means he keeps me really busy! This little guy is not the kind to sit around and entertain himself. He is attatched to me! (although, he really isn't what keeps me from posting!)
If you can't tell Daxton is a little Derek! Not only in his looks but also his personality. He loves to joke and tease and he is always trying to get a reaction out of Braedon! We love him sooooo much!

I just have one more thing to write and then I promise I will be done...
About a month ago Braedon and I were working on a big (for him) puzzle. We had been watching PBS kids and it was taking a break and a BYU devotional came on. I was listening to it while we were doing to puzzle. The speaker said something about taking his family to Temple Square. Well, apparently Braedon was listening as well. This is how our conversation went.
Me: (noticing a smirk and a little confusion on Braedon's face) what is wrong?
Braedon: that guy said temple square
Me: yes, he went there with his family
Braedon: the temple isn't a square, it is a triangle.
I thought it was sooooo funny! I guess we haven't really talked about or gone to Temple Square that much with Braedon, we better get on that!

Summer Fun!

I was going to do a bunch of posts on our different activities of the summer but I am getting way to behind. So here is a bunch of pictures from our summer fun!

In July, Derek's sister Jodi came and gave Daxton his first haircut!






We went and celebrated Christmas in July at the Thanksgiving Point gardens! Here is Braedon getting ready for the reindeer races!


Having fun while getting wet in the melted snowball fight!




Daxton's first ice cream cone! It was actually given to Aubrey, but the second it was in her hands he took it right out and started eating it on his own! Thanks Aubrey!


The Rocket Launcher! This is Derek's pride and joy. We love launching rockets!


Braedon's first tie! It was a hand me down from a neighbor that was moving. He thought that he was the coolest boy alive!


This is Braedon's get up when I take the boys running with me in the mornings! So funny!


Here are the boys saying goodbye to summer! We went on a little bike ride one Sunday evening and when we got home they were crashed!


Well, we had a busy yet very fun summer! I have one more post to do about Daxton's first birthday and then I will be finished with summer! Hopefully I can keep staying caught up!

Family Vacation to Washington

I know, I'm posting this a little late! At the end of June we went up to Washington to celebrate Derek's grandpa's 93rd birthday. Here is a little photo recap.

After a long drive on the first day to Kennewick, we decided to go a little further and visit my cousin Channing and her family in Vancouver, WA.


We were only there for one full day so we kept our activities close to home! We had a picnic at a park and then let the kids play!
Here is Channing and the two babies. Daxton and Davey are only a couple months apart!


This park didn't have the normal swings/slide combo. It had very unconventional playground fun! This one was the favorite. Derek would make it spin really fast and give the kids rides on it! It was all fun and games until Braedon flew off it!


After a fun couple of days with Channing's family, we headed back to Kennewick to play with more family that had arrived for Grandpa's party. We went to a water park by the Columbia river with Derek's brother Randy. Thankfully he was able to show Braedon how to have a good time!



Daxton had fun too, of course!


And here is the man of the hour! Happy Birthday Great Grandpa! We love you!


Now, according to the fact that there is no more pictures to share you would think our trip was over...NOT TRUE!
As we were traveling home from Washington, my parents were getting a uhaul trailer and driving up to Boise to meet us. Once in Boise we picked up our piano that my Great Aunt so kindly gave to us! We love it! (one day I will actually take a picture of it so everyone can see!)

Side note: I know I have slacked, but I have lots more pictures from the summer to post so stay tuned! And I promise it will be sooner than later!

Welcome Home Uncle Blake!!!

Yesterday Blake came home from the Brussels, Belgium/ Netherlands mission! We were so excited to see him! My parents left two weeks ago to go and pick him up, so he was pretty relaxed and normal yesterday!

Here they are coming down to see all the anxious people waiting for them!


It took forever for them to come. People from their flight kept telling us they were coming...but twenty minutes later, still no sign! Well come to find out, they saw someone they knew, then Blake had to put these on!


Here is the cute missionary!


The siblings!


A family that hosted my parents and Blake bought wooden shoes for each of the grandkids! Daxton wasn't too excited about having hard shoes put on his feet!


We are so happy to have Blake home! We are so proud of him for serving a mission and being a great example to our boys!

Yellowstone!

This last week we decided to take a little family vacation to Yellowstone! It was quite the experience! We had a lot of fun, but traveling with two little boys wasn't as easy as we expected!

When we first got into West Yellowstone (where we stayed in a hotel) we went to a bear and wolf habitat. It was very interesting and we were able to see live bears and wolves. This statue is at the front outside, everytime we went past it Braedon wanted his picture taken by it!

We saw A LOT of Buffalo! They would walk right up to your car! It was pretty cool!

Derek and Daxton walking to see Old Faithful.


While we were waiting to see Old Faithful go off Braedon was complaining about waiting and a nice lady from Florida let him borrow her bears to watch Old Faithful with! When it was about to go off he pulled off their sunglasses to make sure they could see it!


Here is Daxton waiting for Old Faithful!


Here is Old Faithful!


Braedon and me at the lookout for the lower falls in the canyon area!


We did get to see two bears out in the wild! We were so excited! I didn't get any pictures of them because I was taking care of a little baby who didn't think it was so cool that we were seeing bears! But, Derek did get video of one of them, so if you want to see it come on over!

Easter, Spring Break, and 2 Birthdays!!!

We have had a busy week! But luckily (for the most part) we were healthy and happy for all of it! I have lots and lots of pictures to post so I won't bore you with details since pictures really are the most important part!

Here is Daxton playing with his phone that he got from the easter bunny!


This is Braedon looking for eggs hidden by the Easter Bunny...he is actualy looking in the egg, he didn't care about the finding part as much as he did the eating part!


Here is a picture of the boys in there Easter outfits. I wanted to take the picture before church so they would cooperate but I didn't have enough time. Oh well, they are still cute, right?




We had Easter dinner at my house! After dinner we had an egg hunt! Here are the kids (& Britton) with their bags! (before the hunt)


(after the hunt)


Spring Break! The first day of spring break was beautiful! We decided to go to the zoo!
Braedon riding on a kangaroo!


Daxton hanging out in the stroller!


The rest of the week was cold and rainy and snowy so we didn't do much else. But that was okay because the only thing Derek wanted for his birthday was snow on the ground and that is what we got! His birthday was very uneventful this year so I didn't take any pics!

But by saturday we were lucky...it warmed right back up and Braedon got to have his sports birthday party! It was awesome! By far the best party we have ever done! We had a concession stand, the kids got to play all kinds of sports...and it lasted 3hours!
Here is the awesome cake and cupcakes...Derek did it all!




Braedon and all of his presents!




Here is my handsome 3yr. old! This picture was taken yesterday on his official birthday!