Biggest Blog Slacker

Ok so I am the biggest communication slacker of all time! A quick summary of the rest of our 2010 - busy summer as usual with parades, fireworks, camping and a trip to Bear Lake. Brayden started kindergarten, Baylor started preschool, my brother David got engaged, Brayden also started piano lessons and won the reflections contest at his school with a photo he took. Fun Halloween, slow Thanksgiving (thankfully), Brayden had a piano recital with his memorized song, and we had a great Christmas! Oh yeah, and we added a new family member - a year old rat terrier named Sparky! He is by far the most affectionate dog we have ever known. Here are a few highlight pics to recap the year.

My three little beach bums at Bear Lake.

First day of preschool for my shy guy.

First day of kindergarten for my sweet "B".

The three crayonateers - blue, orange, and green!

The winning photo!

Baylor with his new best friend.

Our Tenth Anniversary!

For our 10th Anniversary Ben and I decided to revisit the Northwest - from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA and a bunch of places in between. Thanks to my Uncle Bruce we were able to stay right on the beach in Long Beach, Washington. It was beautiful, but as most of you know about me I couldn't sit still for long so we spent our time at the Portland Temple, hiking the waterfalls on the historic highway near Cascade Locks, OR, visiting the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery, visiting and learning about Mount Saint Helens, catching a history lesson in Astoria at their Maritime Museum, and driving the three hours to the Seattle Temple, the wharf, Pike's Place Market, and a trip to Port Orchard to visit our good friends Katie and Josh for dinner. We also spent our last morning on the beach collecting crab shells and other treasures. Our only regret? Not spending enough time where we stayed.....though we found a great ice cream shop there and the national kite museum (they have a national kite festival there in the summer). It was a great trip though and some much needed time for just the two of us. We had a blast and can't wait to go back someday and show our kids all the fun things we saw.

Our first stop after our flight.



One of the many waterfalls we were able to hike and see.

A glimpse of the great volcano that changed many lives in 1980.

It was the 30th anniversary of it's eruption!

Outside the Maritime Museum in Astoria, OR.

The one thing we didn't do 10 years ago - crossed it off the list for this trip.

One of our favorite places to hang out in Seattle.

Mom, I Lost a Tooth!

On the 15th of May Brayden successfully pulled out his very first loose tooth! Ben and I were a little surprised two weeks earlier when he told us he had a loose tooth, but after looking it up on a medical website we learned that it is very normal to lose a tooth between ages 5-8, plus his new tooth was already coming in and pushing the baby one right out. Brayden played with his loose tooth a bit, but was generally nervous about the idea of actually losing or pulling it out. However, after the front root of his baby tooth was visible for three days straight I told Ben we better try to get it out. One of our neighbors had given us the idea of him pulling it himself so we thought we would try it. We tied dental floss around it and gave it to Brayden and told him to pull. To my surprise he pulled it right out! He actually pulled much harder than Ben or I would have. He was so excited for the toothfairy to come, but he really wanted to keep his tooth too. So after calling all of his grandma's and his cousin Daniel he asked if we could write a note to the toothfairy asking her to keep the tooth, so we did just that. That night much to his delight the toothfairy came and left him a few quarters and a note that he could keep his tooth to show to all of his friends, and then when he was done he could leave it again and she would finish his reward. His only disappointment was that she hadn't brought him a new toothbrush like she gave Wyatt on Super Why. He carried around his tooth and her note for over a week until he accidentally lost the tooth on the sidewalk somewhere. However, he lost his second tooth on Memorial Day, and happily the toothfairy left him a note saying not to worry she had found his first tooth outside. And happily she remembered the last quarter, a shiny gold dollar coin for his second one and a NEW toothbrush! He was thrilled! What a great toothfairy! :)

Race for the Cure

As promised I am trying to catch us up....so the next big event for us was the Mother's Day weekend Race for the Cure. We ran this race for the first time when Brayden was just a baby, but since losing my dear Aunt Allison to breast cancer two years ago we try to always save the date and run in honor of her. This year we got to push Carson in the 5K race with us while Grandma Talbot hung out at the finish line with Brayden and Baylor. It was a perfect morning, and with a little encouragement from my brother David in the middle of the race we were able to beat our last time by two minutes! It is always an emotional race for me, and as I near the end I seem to always break down and cry, but I do hope that someday they find a cure for all those many who suffer from this awful disease. Here's to you Aunt Allison for your very long battle with such a great attitude! We miss you and love you still.

At the start gate with the thousands of others who ran this day.

At the finish line after a great race with my sweetie!

Preschool Graduation

In an effort to catch up my blog I am going to try to post one a day or so to get us up to date. So, since last time was our vacation at the first of April I thought I would jump to the end of April and Preschool Graduation for Brayden. This last year Brayden has been attending Tiny Footsteps Preschool with Miss Heather or Mrs. Traeden as us parents called her. He loved every minute of it from the calendar time to field trips. He loved all the history and math and science he got to learn, and he really got into the reading. It was fantastic! I loved it too since I only had two kids for three hours three days a week. Sadly preschool got cut a little short as his teacher got a surprise and was due with a baby the first week of May. However, we wouldn't have traded the experience for the world. Brayden loved all of his friends at school, but became especially good friends with a boy named Zach. These two cute boys were so excited for graduation that they insisted on having a suit to wear. We finally talked Brayden into just a shirt and tie this time. He and Zach are still good friends, and we love to play with him when we can. I have missed having preschool and only hope I can keep up with his needs as he gets ready to head to kindergarten in the fall. Here are a few pics of graduation:

The happy grad!

Brayden and his best friend Zach.

Brayden with Miss Heather.

Ahhh....Southern California

Well, it has been over two months, but we have certainly been busy. So, I will post a couple of different things one at a time so you can see what we have been up to.

April was a very busy month, and to start it off we went on a little family vacation to San Diego! Brayden had spring break for a week, and Ben was going to be gone for the rest of the month so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get away and spend some time as a family. On a side note, my brother, David, was sent home early from Afghanistan due to his vehicle hitting an IED. Originally we thought he would still be a Camp Pendelton when we were taking this trip, as luck would have it - he came home the afternoon we were leaving. We were happy to see him though, and were able to spend a few hours with him before we hit the road. (Yes, he is all intact and slowly getting back to normal. ;) ) However, I did feel bad because we took my mom with us on vacation and left him here alone - I don't think his girlfriend minded though. ;)

So, our vacation: We left at bedtime on Friday night and drove straight through to Ontario, CA. It was long, but the boys slept pretty well all the way. Carson struggled a bit, but after Las Vegas, he was out until we stopped for breakfast in Ontario. We spent the first day at the San Diego Zoo (thank you Aunt Ruthann for the passes) and saw about half before the boys were done. Then we headed to our lovely time share in Indio, CA (near Palm Springs). It was beautiful! (Thank you Uncle Bruce for hooking us up!) We were so tired then that after a quick trip to the grocery store and some dinner we all crashed. The next morning the boys woke up to a surprise - the Easter bunny had found and remembered them even in California! They were thrilled, and looked all around for hidden eggs. Then we headed for the coast. We drove down the coast looking for a place to stop, and ended up at Huntington Beach State Park. It was great! The boys loved the real ocean! We built sand castles, played in the waves, and tried to grab sea shells off the shore before the waves could wash them away. Carson thought it was a giant swimming pool! He was soaked head to toe within 20 minutes! He loved it! The next day we spent at Sea World. As promised we sat in the soak zone for Shamu. Luckily we didn't get wet, and then out of the blue came the downpour of rain with 5 minutes left in the show. Needless to say we were soaked! Even gradma who refused to sit with us was soaked. We waited out the storm in a gift shop, and then continued our adventure to see the "important" sea life our boys wanted to see. It was fun and very memorable. We did however wear our boys completely out, and once we changed their clothes and got them comfy in the car they were out from 6:00 PM clear until 7:00 AM the next morning! They were tired! The next day we got ready to go, but not before a quick trip to the swimming pools. Then we headed for St. George, UT our stopping place for the night. After breakfast the next morning at the Abbey Inn in St. George we decided to take the scenic route and stopped in Zion's National Park (a place we will have to definitely go back to soon) and headed home that way. It was beautiful!

Overall, I would say the trip was a huge success! We kept it pretty low-key, our boys loved it, and we would go back and do it all again! Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

The view from our balcony!

Baylor's favorite exhibit/zone at the zoo.

Sandcastles anyone?

Waiting out the rain. We ended up with umbrellas.

Do we love Shamu or what!?

Coming out of the mile long tunnel. It was great!

My Boozer Boys

It is, of course, the middle of basketball season and what would the winter be without us attending at least one Jazz game. This year we were able to get free tickets when we attended the Larry H. Miller Christmas sing-a-long. We figured they would be in the nosebleed zone, but were pleasantly surprised that they were lower bowl tickets! Even better for us they were the last row, and after a little persuasion of the kind couple by us, we ended up on the end near the exit. It was great! We were close enough to really see the players faces, under the overhang so it wasn't too loud, and amazingly with just some popcorn and a drink, and a little walking break during the third quarter all of our boys actually made it through the entire game! Brayden actually really got into the game after the half. He loved cheering and clapping along with everyone else. Baylor mostly enjoyed the popcorn and playing around, but he did cheer a bit. Carson never really got into the game, but he was a good sport....here are a few pictures of our Jazz Game night! Enjoy - we sure did!

Ben, his boys, and the popcorn - an essential at a 3 hour event with 3 little boys!

The way the fourth quarter went for Carson - what a trooper!

Baylor's preferred way of getting a drink - look ma no hands!

Carson's preferred entertainment - Books!

My boys all ready to go in matching "Boozer" jerseys. Thank you after Christmas sales!