Baby Brax

My baby Brax is 5 today!
I'm not sure how that happened.
I'm glad it did.
Braxton has brought me more joy than I ever thought could exist.
When I showed him the cupcakes I made today for his party he goes,
"Wow mom, those are awesome. I didn't know you could do stuff like that."
When he was given a package of m&m's today at church he asked,
"Mom, can I share these with Adelle?"
He is sweet and kind and growing up to be a gentleman.
Happy Birthday Braxton!

You Make Me Smile

Jeff makes me smile.
He's driving to the hardware store with two of our little ones.
My phone rings.
I answer.
I hear this song.
He's holding his phone up to the radio.
He makes me smile.
I love him.
May be a new favorite song.

3 little pumpkins

3 Little Pumpkins woke up from a nap
1st one said, "I get to go birthday shopping with Bama"
2nd one said, "My come too!"
3rd one said, "I get to stay home and have mom all to myself."

And so we did. Emmett and I. Hanging out. Reading books. Cuddling. Catching Rays. Taking Pictures with Pumpkins. Eating Delicious Chocolate Covered Blueberries and Acai.

We're Home

Last Monday around 5:00am we loaded up the sleepy kids in their jammies and hit the road! There was no looking back. We had a long drive ahead of us. About an hour after we left we saw the sun rising. Braxton comments from the back seat, "It's really beautiful here. Is this Utah?"
Little did he know we had a ways more to go!
Here we are at Wild Horse Monument in Washington just past Vantage. This was the first time they were able to get out and stretch.
It was so windy but we were so glad to get out and get our wiggles out!
This picture really undermines this hike but let's just say we got our wiggles out and then some. It was so steep but maybe my perception was skewed from carrying Emmett and wearing flip-flops!
The kids made it all the way up and then Adelle practically drug me down holding onto my hand!
I don't know what was easier....hauling Emmett up or getting drug down by Adelle.
It worked! The fresh air wore them out! These sleeping beauties were such good travelers. Everyone of them completely exceeded my expectations and were so good in the car! We could get used to this road trip thing!!
Monday afternoon we arrived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It was so beautiful there. The kids loved the beach. This is a lake but it was huge and we felt like we were at home at the ocean.
We found a chestnut tree and I taught the kids how to crack open the chestnuts. This brought back good memories from the house I lived in when I was little. We had 3 huge chestnut trees in front and in the fall we would always step on the chestnuts.
Monday and Tuesday nights we were hosted by Uncle Andrew and Auntie Rachel. It was so fun to be at their home and hang out. We got in late Monday night so Tuesday we just took it easy. Rachel made us a delicious dinner and we were able to go to bed at like 8:00pm Tuesday night. That is vacation! We love these two special people!
I think Auntie Rachel may have read this book to Adelle like 4 times in a row. Adelle got to help Rachel make dinner too!
The boys had fun playing outside for hours. Throwing leaves onto Braxton, wrestling, playing football....
It was the perfect place for us to stay and re-vamp for the next day of more driving!
Wednesday we drove to Utah and of course we had to make our stop at Cafe Rio' for lunch. It was a favorite of ours when we lived there and we'd been craving it since we started planning our trip!
I love this picture of Adelle. You can tell she'd been in the car for a while and was being a little silly. It was 70 degrees and warm and we picnicked on the lawn outside the restaurant.
Before we met up with Jeff's family we made a quick stop to say hi to our friends the Martinson's at their new place. It was so fun to see old friends and the kids loved playing with all their toys.
Allia sent us on our way with fresh oranges that we peeled as soon as we got back in the car and they were delicious! We love these special friends as well!
Thursday was wedding Day!! The purpose of our trip was to get to be in the Temple with Erin and Brad as they were married for time and all eternity and it was absolutely perfect. I didn't have my camera at the Temple but I got some pictures at the reception.
Alex is the little boy up in the picture with Braxton and Adelle. He is Brad's son and he and Braxton are the same age. They were buds from the start and happy to be new cousins!
Erin looked gorgous and Adelle was really into getting her picture taken with her. In this one Adelle and cousin Riley got to sit with Erin.
There's the whole gang! Jeff, his brother Andrew, Sister Erin, Brad, Brother Lane, Brother Ryan, Sister Gabriel and then Brad and Erin's children Whitney, Alex and Nicole.
We were also lucky to be able to see Jeff's Grandparents who live in Arizona. We got a generation picture with Emmett, Braxton, Jeff, Jeff's dad Joel, and Grandma and Grandpa.
Friday was goodbye to family day. While in Orem, UT we stayed at Jeff's cousin Dave and his wife Erin's. Here is Braxton and their son Luke. They got to be best buds to the point that Braxton cried when we told him we needed to go!
We hope they will come visit us and we can spoil them!
Jeff's mom and dad got to have all their grandkids in the same spot at the same time!! They got some extra kisses in before we headed out. We were sad our trip was short and busy but so glad to be there and able to see everyone!!
Friday night we met up with old friends that I worked with at Ruby River right after Jeff and I were married aka before kids! We had a blast with them....and I got my fill of Ruby food!
We were the first ones there and so for the first time in their lives my kids got to get candy out of the candy machine. They were stoked!! They deserved it!!
This is Rick who I worked with at Ruby. He is getting his Masters in child psychology and absolutely loved our kids. It was so fun to see them interact together. He and Braxton played tic-tac-toe over and over and over!
Emmett is asleep under the table in his car-seat. By the time we got our food it was almost 9:00pm but the kids were troopers. They love a party, that's for sure. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of all of us at dinner! Bummer! We had so much fun eating and reminiscing and catching up with Brooke, Candace, Jen and Rick. I miss those friends!!
Friday night we got to stay in Salt Lake, UT with my above mentioned friend Jen. She and I met working at Ruby River and became the best of friends. After dinner at Ruby we went back to her place, put the tired kids to bed and hung out with the gang.
Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful warm day, again! Jen and Rich have their own chickens and we got to get the eggs right from the cage and Jen cooked them up for breakfast. Yum!
The kids had a blast watching the chickens and looking for eggs.
This is Jen and Adelle and I in Jen's amazing kitchen. This girl's husband is an architect and their home is amazing. We were so comfortable staying there with them!
See what I mean!! You walk in the front door to their very own rock wall. It was awesome until I tried to climb it (in my flip flops of course) and completely embarrassed myself.
Gage taught Braxton how to play rock-band and Braxton of course was thrilled. Here he is paying special attention to the screen waiting for his cue.
Before the drive home we stopped at Wheeler Farm to continue wearing out the children. Braxton sported his cowboy hat that Auntie Rachel let him have.
So here I am walking along and all of a sudden something is poking my foot. I flip over my flip-flop to find it completely covered in thorns.
Jeff looked at it and goes, "welcome to Utah!" Thorns were everywhere!!
My hottie husband in his new cowboy boots. He and Andrew made a trade. Jeff brought Andrew his steel toe work boots and Andrew gave Jeff these cowboy boots.
Saturday night we got a hotel in Boise, ID. The kids loved jumping on the bed and watching t.v. We rested well and then finished the drive Sunday.
Our vacation was wonderful. It was so good to see so many family members and friends.

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Love and Wisdom

Emmett made a new friend in Great Grandma Mary's full length mirror

Sometimes I get caught up in myself. My busy schedule. My busy kids. My busy calling at church. My desire for a date with my husband.My thousand things to do. My, my, my....
Then sometimes I stop, and when I give myself enough time I recognize that my life is everything in the world I would ever want. Everything I do is exactly what I would want to be doing. My life is very busy but my joy is so full. This is the season in my life that I am in and I am growing.
There are others in different seasons who I am loving and being loved by. Two of which are my grandmothers. They are both mothers of 5 children. They have both been and lived through my season. They are both widowed now and they are both wonderfully wise and gracious women. Better yet they both live near. Yesterday my family was again blessed by their love and wisdom.
Great Grandma Mary is my dad's mom. She just turned 81. She has the most beautiful flower beds I've ever seen and she always has. She loves to work in the yard and to cook. Two of my favorite things to do as well. She is also really busy (maybe I inherited that too?) I have wonderful memories of eating dinner at Grandma Mary's my favorite of which has always been fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. When Jeff and I were dating I remember inviting him to Grandma's house for dinner and telling him it would be the best meal he'd ever tasted.
Grandma Mary's birthday was last month and the kids and I had stopped by her house 3 times in about 3 weeks and she wasn't home any of the times. So we scheduled a date for yesterday. Easy for us, all we had to do was show up and be served.
Grandma's house always has gold fish crackers for the kids. Adelle is usually the first to remember and ask for her little dish. She has toys and stools that the kids love to sit, stand, play with. Emmett loved the full length mirror in the hall. Grandma made us lunch of huge, grilled, gooey, cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets and fries for the kids and pie and tapioca for dessert. She always insists, "eat up you guys," and we do. Yum! Then before leaving I was able to whip out my skirt that had a tear and within about 30 seconds she had sewn and reinforced the seam. Good as new. Grandma Mary loves it when we come over. She loves visiting with us and hearing all about our lives. She loves the children and how fast they are growing. We love to be at Great Grandma Mary's.
Gramy is my mom's mom. She is 72. She is an amazing woman with so many life experiences. She got married really young and her husband, my Papa, was a truck driver and was gone a lot of the time. I've heard stories about her surviving winters in Montana and having to go under her house to unfreeze pipes with a blow dryer. She also loves to garden and this past spring she was the one to bring over cases of seeds that she had purchased for my little family to have our own garden.
Gramy remembers everything. She knows every birthday, anniversary,...of all of her loved ones and always recognizes when it is someones special day. I wish I would have inherited that trait but I did not. I think Braxton may have:) My Gramy also loves to cook and is a wonderful homemaker and mother which I hope I have inherited. She loves children and teaching them. I remember when Braxton was a baby. He was a bit fussy and one time Gramy kindly asked me if I ever tried reading to him to get him to sleep. I had, and it had been frustrating and I told her that it didn't work. I may have said something like, "nothing works except laying down with him." Shortly after that she stopped by one afternoon and was reading to Braxton. I looked over and he was sound asleep in her arms. Gramy had the special touch.
Yesterday after Jeff had gotten home and we were getting ready to eat dinner there was a knock at the door and it was Gramy. Bearing goodies. She had her arms full of apples, apple-cider and caramels for our family. This is the most recent of many gifts we have been recieving from her. All out of pure love and all such a blessing to our family.
One night a few months ago, shortly after Jeff had been laid off, I was gone at a church activity and Jeff was home with the kids. Things were really tough then and Gramy stopped by with her arms full of groceries enough to bring my husband to tears with her gracious prompting. We all love it when Gramy stops by. She always has warm open arms and I can feel the love she has for all of us.
I love both of these women so much. They inspire me and help me to not just think of myself all the time. I think of their lives now, living without their dearly beloveds and I feel sorry and lonely for them. I can't imagine what life would be like by myself. For me, they do so much. For them, I am able to take time out of my day and visit with them and share my precious little ones with them.

1,2,3

1
Child #1 has been correcting and directing me. While I'm eating my mom's delicious fresh peach pie for breakfast on Monday.
"Wow mom! So you get to have dessert for breakfast??!!"
Later that day driving him home from preschool
"Mom, are we on the freeway?" No, why? "Because you are driving really fast."
I love being parented by my 4 year old (really not being sarcastic). He tries so hard to be so obedient and to help others choose the right:)

2
Child #2 has been surprising me and humbling my parenting skills. On Monday when we got home from getting Brax from Preschool.
Adelle, where is your hair pretty?
"Oh, I just took it out and threw it out the window."
I love listening to Adelle tell me the truth without any hesitation or remorse. I also love watching Braxton witness her truths in awe.

3
Child #3 has been clapping and waving and army crawling!
I love watching my baby learn and grow.