More pics

I forgot to say, the picture of Braden is him holding his shot so he could eat all his Halloween candy.

Trick-or-treat!!

I'm sure everyone did the same thing on Halloween and everyone thinks their kids looked the cutest, so I'll just join in with the rest of the crowd.  After some warm chile and cornbread to "warm us up" we went out into the 75 degree night to collect some great treats.  Carley even got a can of diet coke, which I loved, but we had to take it out of her bag because it was too heavy.  She was obsessed with the candy and loved every minute.  She was even calling her bag a purse.  Jensen enjoyed his costume the most, jumping around and saying ribbit.  He was also very good at saying "knock knock" at people's doors instead of actually knocking.  Pretty funny.  Tanner was a ninja, perfect for him, and didn't hurt too many with his num-chucks.  Of course they were broken by the end of the night.  Brynn was cute as a button, very polite, and loved posing in her costume.  Braden was happy to hang out with his friends and was excited to go trick-or-treating on his own, can you believe he is old enough to do that?!  Thanks to Ashley, G&G and G great, and Whitney and Gordon for helping pass out candy, helping with the kids, and having fun with us.  

My kids are so talented!!!

Is Fall here yet?

It's too hot for October to start.  We had a great first month at school.  The three older kids love their teachers and are doing great.  Braden is learning to count carbs and he gives himself his shot at school every day.  We are so proud of him.  

We are in full swing with Braden and Brynn playing club this year, and Tanner playing clinic (the little kids).  He has about three moves he does already, a mother couldn't be more proud.  Jon is coaching Brynn's team so that is a treat for her.  I am helping out with Braden's team, it's a lot of work, but fun to be there.

Last week the kids had their primary program in Sacrament meeting.  It was great to be able to work with them, and the rest of the kids.  We had some special musical numbers, and all the kids said their parts so well.

We are so grateful for our children, and I'm not ashamed to admit they do drive me insane sometimes, but for the most part it's fun.

So I guess we need to make an official announcement.  As many of you have already heard, we just found out that Braden has Type I diabetes.  No one is sure why people get it, and don't know what causes it to happen, but basically they think the process started five years ago and is now showing up.  We freaked out of course, until we sat down with the doctor and he explained everything to us.  Braden has taken it extremely well and for a ten year old, has really stepped it up.  He already is giving himself shots after only two days.  For at least six months he will have to take three shots a day of insulin, and check his blood sugar as well.  If you have any questions about diabetes or about what he is going through please don't ask, because we have no idea!  Just kidding.  Call us any time, we are doing great, just a minor lifestyle change, but we wanted to let our friends and family know.  

Summer is over!

We had such a great summer.  I'm glad it's over though, I am one tired mom.  I'm hoping to get more time to blog again, now that the kids are in bed at a decent hour.  After going to the beach,a lot, riding the train, visiting museums, swim lessons, and a lot of misc. entertaining, we're ready for school.  Now comes the soccer, dance, scouts, piano, and homework, although at least they're consistent.  Oh well I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.  We just go with what happens, and that's what makes life fun!

Brynn's Baptism Day!

Brynn was baptized June 7th.  We were so proud of her and were happy to share her excitement in the event.  We were lucky to have Jon's parents, sister Jill and her husband and baby, Mikey and Gage, and Grandma Vilate all come down from Utah.  We also had our California cousins and family there to support Brynn.  Thank you to everyone that helped with our last minute musical number, I know I can always count on my family to just pick something up and perform.  We enjoyed a great weekend and had a fun party after the baptism.  I think Brynn loved this more than her birthday!  We are so blessed!

Bath time is so much fun!!

I love the age where taking a bath just makes their day and it seems to make any grumpy, tired child happy.  Carley gets so excited if anyone even mentions the word bath and starts walking up the stairs saying "ba, ba" in her cute little language.  Jensen always wants bubbles, and every time Berkeley is here, they always stay in the tub for record times.

The end of the school year is always fun and busy.  Braden and Brynn had their annual art fair where Brynn got to square dance and they both displayed their art to be "auctioned" off.  They love this because they get half of the proceeds.  We were glad that Grandma Cathy and Aunt Jillian and Berkeley could be there.  It was crazy as we rushed off to dinner and then to Braden's pine wood derby.  I know, we better just get used to it.

We are so proud of Braden and Brynn.  Brynn had a great birthday and is 8 years old.  I can't believe it.  Braden is plugging away with Scouts and is always working on the next thing.

So I am finally on the "Twilight" bandwagon and have no time to blog.  I must read about vampires.  This will be quick.  Jon and I had a great week together in New York and Boston.  We went to NY with the Fords who used to live there.  Jon and Adam grew up together.  They knew all the great places to eat, and we loved running in central park.  I actually ran almost 6 miles, which is a lot for me, but it was so beautiful I couldn't resist.  

Video

Just to give you a little taste of the game.  Every time Beckham touches the ball the crowd goes wild.

LA Galaxy night

Last night we went to the LA Galaxy game.  My mom won the tickets at an auction and thought we would like them, hm...go figure.  We took Braden and Brynn.  We all had a great time and our expectations of Beckham were fulfilled.  He has such a pretty touch on the ball and made the game look so graceful.  He assisted both goals which were both off of crosses scored by Donnovan (one of my favorite players).  The kids got to play mini soccer and watch some tricks before the game.  They also got really hiper from the hot chocolate and cheered the whole time!  I have to admit, sometimes it's fun to just take the older kids to things.  

Carley's photo shoot

Aunt Whitney took some really cute pictures of Carley.  I figured she should have something like one year pictures and this was way more fun than going to a photo studio.  She holds still for about 1.5 seconds so I think this was the best option.  Thanks Whit.

I had to do it!

I"m sorry if this offends anyone, but for a little while I thought I would pay homage to Guitar Hero.  It has brought a lot of laughter, joy, and a few tears into our home.  

A special Easter

We had an unexpected change of plans for Easter this year.  Jon's grandpa Joe passed away, so we went to Utah to attend the services.  It was nice to be with family, and Easter was a good time to celebrate the grandpa Joe's life.  We had fun catching up with cousins, and doing all the traditional Easter activities.  

Happy Birthday to Carley!

My little one is a year old.  Carley decided to start full on walking about 1 1/2 weeks before her birthday.  She was taking steps for a couple months so it was funny to see her just all the sudden start walking all over the place.  Even though she didn't open many presents, she had a great time with her cake.  She even blew out the candle by herself, impressive if you ask me.  She started grabbing frosting as soon as she saw the cake, and then mutilated it in her high chair.  I think she sat there for about 30 minutes and pretty much finished the whole thing.  It was fun for everyone to watch.

Brianhead

Last weekend we went on the best vacation ever, thanks to my friend Missy, who organized the whole thing.  We went to Brianhead with our friends the Underwoods, and took the kids skiing for the first time.  They went to ski school the first day, so us parents had a free day and explored the mountain.  Jon and I were on snowboards and I was worried I was not going to remember how to do anything, but thanks to my sister's awesome board, I was back to normal in no time.  The second day we went with the kids.  They improved so much in just two days, although Tanner needed some help, but was pretty brave.  I actually had to go pretty fast to keep up with him.  We had a couple traumatic moments with him not being able to climb up the hill, having to go to the bathroom, and knocking me down every time we got off the chair lift.  We decided that we need to make this trip an annual tradition, but it has to be in March, (I don't think we could handle the weather any sooner).