Getting Christmas Up!

This year was a blast with putting up Christmas! Brody wanted to be involved and help with everything. And we all know that this made it a little more difficult to get things done in any kind of timely manner. But he had so much fun, how could we pass up all the smiles and laughter we saw and heard? He even helped with putting up the lights he didn't know what to do with that and finally handed the lights back to Mike. We had our Christmas music going and we all sang and danced and had so much fun!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My internship is Complete....

So I am finally FINISHED with my large internship or my final one. It was a great experience. I enjoyed the different projects I worked on. I did a lot of office work due to the fact that being pregnant prevented me from doing a lot of the physical work. But I really did get to see a lot of the behind the scenes things that went on. Two major projects I worked on were a wheelchair rugby clinic and a wheelchair basketball tournament that we called the "Turkey Shoot". I had a blast. I and the other interns were able to get things all prepared from the beginning to the end. It's a lot of work but well worth it.

Here are some pictures of the rugby clinic. It was great for these guys, they had one of the Paralympics USA team members there to run the clinic. They not only learned a lot, but I did also. I learned how to run score, timers, and some of the penalty calls. It kept me on my toes. If you would like more information visit http://www.quadrugby.com/.

With the Turkey Shoot we were able to get 14 nationally ranked teams from across the US come and participate. This was a unique ordeal. Many of the teams admitted that it had been a long time since they have played other teams that were of the same levels as them. I also had the opportunity to work hands on and face to face with all that needed transportation which was, oh yah, was everyone. That was a crazy ordeal, trying to figure out everything to make it run smooth. I also learned the time, scores and some of the penalties that are called also. It was a crazy and fast week but it went great.

I learned a lot and am happy it's over now too.

Our Fun Crazy Halloween

Well this year we did not know what to do for our costumes. We had to do something very inexpensive to make this work.  We also did not know what to do to decorate our trunk for the trunk-or-treat.  We wanted to keep some kind of theme so we did.  We won the best trunk award last year and everyone was expecting us to out due what we did last year.  That was a little difficult to do.  So really we just ended up with this… This might be a little crazy but we had a blast and everybody loved it. 

It was to light out side to really see that everything was lit as if it were Christmas Morning.  We even handed out candy canes!  No prizes were won this year only because they didn’t hand them out.  But I am sure we would have won!!!! 

Family Visits!!!

So a little while ago, meaning sometime in October, Kaelynn and her family came out to Utah from Alaska. So mom and dad decided to come out also. It was fun to see Kaelynn and her fam., and also to see the parents. We had fun going to the zoo and really just hanging out. Here are some pictures from our adventures.
Yes, Brody is the same size as Isabelle! He is a giant...

This big elephant made funny noises all I wanted to do was run away.

I want out of the stroller so I can walk with cousin Isabelle.

My 2 AMAZING men!!!

I started this post a little while ago, and never got it finished, so here it goes.





Well these last few weeks have been crazy! I have really learned to allow people to help me. Which is really hard for me to do. But I made it through it with the best help from my amazing guys!!! Well a few weeks ago (August 18th) I ended up in the emergency room with severe pains in my side. Well I found out that I was in a need of an appendectomy. This was a huge surprise for me being 14 weeks pregnant. It was a scare with everyone telling me that this could be bad for the baby. But I knew it would all work out. I just needed all of those at the hospital to believe that all was going to be OK. Everything just worked out, I knew I was being blessed. But I pretty much ended up being on bed rest for the next 3-4weeks. This was not easy with a one year old and a husband that was working 40hours/week. Mike took over everything and was good coming home fixing dinner, taking care of Brody and doing all the house hold things. He is the BEST husband ever!!!!





Brody really understood and took everything with stride that I couldn't do the usual things that we loved to do. We had to teach him to do a lot of things all on his own. We put him in a toddler bed so he could climb in and out all on his own. We made a make-shift table and chair to eat at when Mike was not at home. He showed this very gentle side of who he is. He would come up to me and just put his head in my lap and just hug me.





I just love my 2 AMAZING men!!! They are the Best ever.

UPDATE

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated anything. Elena is doing her large internship now. I am still in school and working full-time. Brody is growing like a weed. We find out the sex of the baby next Thursday. Life is busy, busy, busy! We will post more later. We love you all!!

Catching up!!!

There is a lot to catch up on! So Here it goes... Hope you enjoy!!!

School

Schools out for summer!!!  Well kind of.  We have two weeks in between our summer semester and fall semester.  Well, it is two weeks of freedom.  Just what we need.  Ok really we need lots more time, but we don’t get it.  Two weeks will have to do. 

My internship was approved and I will be working with the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, Adaptive Recreation department.  This is where I did my small internship at and I just loved it.  So I wanted to finish up there.  I will be finished in December with my bachelors of science in Parks, Recreation and Tourism with the emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation.  I am so glad I will be done!!!

Mike has figured out that going to UVU is really helping him out.  He is able to take many of BYU independent study classes that transfer to UVU.  This helps him to not have to drive down to Orem as often as he thought he would have to.   He is really liking his teachers at UVU also.  And really liking the fact that they are more family friendly.  He has more options for evening and Saturday classes that help him out.  He will be finished in May of 2010, and we are so excited.

A growing Brody

Brody is getting so big!!!  Now that he is a year old he just keeps surprising us every day.   He is now walking and loving it.  Well maybe I should say he is almost to a run most of the time.  He has a new found freedom that he is not letting go of.  He has to walk out of the house and to the car when ever we go somewhere.  He will take our hands when ever he wants to go and do something.  I do have to admit that at times him being able to walk is great.  But at the same time it is a little crazy.

He still loves music and is now dancing when ever he hears something that he likes.  He will even dance in his car seat when something he likes comes on the radio.  I love that he appreciates music.  

Something that was started out in Colorado is him doing the knuckle bump.  This is the cutest thing ever.  If you look at him and hold out your fist he gets the biggest grin and comes running up with his fist already made and bumps your fist.  He is so darling. 

There is probably so much more that he does I just can’t think of it right now.  I just love that he is a healthy happy 1year old. 

Our Colorado trip!

Well can you believe this was the first time that we as a family have visited Colorado and it was not in the winter and it did not snow?  We had a blast!!! It was so nice and cool and it rained every afternoon.  We just loved it. 

This trip also was great because Alyssa, Jared and family came up from Arizona.  This was a treat for Brody, see he has never seen Alyssa and her family.  Between Janette’s girls and Alyssa’s girls, Brody had it made.  He just loved having all of his cousins taking care of him and loving him. He was truly spoiled.  He was a handful when we got back home.

We were able to find very cheap plane tickets to Denver and this was Brody’s first flight.  We were a little afraid that he might scream the whole flight.  But luckily he did not he slept the whole way there and most of the way back.  Such a good boy. 

While in CO it was just casual.  We did not want to get overly exhausted it was our vacation and we wanted to have fun and not over book ourselves.  We did have a fun trip to the zoo.  We can’t miss that.

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In these pictures there are some awesome views from where the zoo sits on the mountain down into Colorado Spring.  There is one of downtown and one of the Broadmoor Hotel.

We also had fun going to the Flying W Ranch.  This is a working ranch that they have made into a country town with general stores, old schools, and more.  They also had Native Americans showing us different dances here is one of the top hoop dancers in the nation.  And you get a real chuck wagon meal.  With real live cowboy entertainment.  The atmosphere is great.  Just fun family times.

We also had fun going to the Rock Ledge Ranch.  It was fun to see how People lived and worked in past times.  

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Well the girls got to help chop wood with the homesteaders. The girls also go to help make fresh lemonade  We got to see how the family lived from one time in their lives to the next.  It was lots of fun for all.

Finally, Alyssa’s oldest girls had fun teaching Mike and their other cousins how to “skin the cat”                                  

It was just fun times being together!  Wish all of my siblings could have been there. 

The 4th

We had a great time getting together with my Uncle Mel and his family. We had a great BBQ and then went to Murray park to watch the fireworks. This was Brody's first fireworks and we were not sure how he would react. He HATES loud noises so we thought he would freak out about them. Well he did not, he actually slept right through them. He did wake up during the last couple of minutes of the fireworks and he was just fine with them. I guess we as parents worry too much about our little guy and don't want him to be afraid.

So funny thing as we were watching the fireworks, I realized that pretty much no one was making a noise. It was so quit, there was an occasional ooh and aah. But they were very soft. I thought it was very strange from what I am used to. There was not even any music. The fireworks on the 4th really need the 1812 overture to make it all seem real. With the cannons shaking the ground beneath you. Now that is the best. And there were no drunks making fools of themselves mud wrestling or thinking they are superman and flying off coolers and landing on their faces. It was really weird.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We had an enjoyable time going and walking through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We went to the first session at 8am on July 3rd. This was a great time to go. There were not a lot of people there at this time being as early as it was, so we actually got to really look at everything. And we were not pushed through. Brody loved being on his daddy's back and just looking at everything, there were times that he just started talking and smiling. He got very excited about the Celestial room and even squealed.

Because it was not very busy we enjoyed taking pictures outside of the temple. We enjoyed taking our time and feeling the spirit that was there. After the temple we found a park to let Brody get out his energy and just play.

Spit in motion!!!

The air we breathe. View from the temple

Such a cute family.

Family Photos

Well now that Brody is a year we figured that it really was about time that we had family pictures done. Yes we know it is a little late. Better late than never, right? We had some taken by a friend in our ward and also some taken by my cousin Serena. We had lots that turned out nicely. We had fun, and we realized just how big Brody is getting. So here are some we liked.
Mike looks so serious.


Brody is so adventureous.


Mom and dad love me, they love me not, they love me!!!


This other photographer kept getting in our pictures.


This was just fun.



He is so darn cute.

Rainy days!

It has been pretty rainy these past few days. So we all have been a little tired of being house bound. One day we had the sliding glass door open just a little to let the lovely smell of the rain in and to also let some fresh air in. Brody was playing so nicely and then all of a sudden he started singing and laughing. So I found him like this...

He left plenty of hand prints for me to clean up.

He was just enjoying watching the rain come down. He was happy there.

Our Little Play Area...

We have this little play area in our apartment complex that is fun to go and play at when there are not a lot of kids running around and playing on it also. The bigger kids do not play nice with the little ones so we don't get to go much now that school is out for the summer. Brody just ends up hurt and unhappy. And I end up being the one stopping all the arguments. Not what I call fun. So one day there was no one there so Mike and I decided it would be fun to take Brody he had loads of fun. Once he got over the feeling of the wood chips he was fine and was crawling all over the place. He really liked being able to climb the stairs and make it to the top all by himself. He really thought he was the king of the world.

Brody loves to smile for the camera.

I really like this one!!!

First time crawling on the wood chips.

At the end of the slide, he was happy he was off.

Climbing up the stairs.

Looking down the slide.

He was ready to go!!!

Trying to climb the wall.

Brody's Birthday Party!

Here is the long awaited birthday pictures from Brody's 1st Birthday. Brody had a blast!!! We invited family and one of Brody's friends. One of Brody's gifts was a baby pool, so we thought it would be fun to fill it up and let the little ones get in and get wet. They had a blast. Brody just loves the water. He also had a blast opening his presents!!! His face is priceless in most of the pictures!