Happy 5th Birthday Brandon!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Brandon! B was so lucky to have so many of his friends come to Jumpin' Jacks to celebrate is 5th birthday. I must say it was to best party for me as well the kids had a great time and  the staff took care of everything. Brandon is turning into the sweetest little boy. Here are some of his special characteristics. 

• He always wants to make his brother laugh
• He tells funny jokes
• He wants to know everything about everything and learns quickly
• He asks a million questions
• He invents things that already exist
• He is easy to please and has a happy demeanor
• He LOVES superheros and aspires to be Batman one day
• He always shares even if he doesn't really want to
• He draws wonderful pictures
• He remembers EVERYTHING
• He makes friends easily and every friend has a special place in his heart
• He is my best helper and translator with Aaron
• Brandon really is the sweetest, kindest, smartest kid in the whole world!  

                                               

He chose Scooby Doo cupcakes

Aaron finally got brave enough to go on the slides- this was not our first time to Jumpin Jacks

Brandon and his buddy Jayden

Silly Faces

The giant slide

Hooray for presents!

All or the little ladies. Brandon has a little crush on the one in the pink pants.

All the dudes

More presents

Presents from Grandma Monkey

Brandon and his Spider Man shooter. You can guess how much fun that was for me to clean up but he loved it.

Brandon and his friend Andrew. No they did not have any quarters but they really thought they were playing.

Everyone excited to see what the next gift was

                                         
The best 25 cents ever!

Aaron singing I Am A Child of God

We were on our way to Rio Tinto Stadium when Aaron decided to sing a little song for us. How can this not make me want to be a better mommy?

Arches National Park

Adventure is out there

The best ride in the park

Climbing the mountain with Grandma Monkey

Notice the rock in the background... we renamed it Preggo Rock

I just love this one

Dad carrying Aaron and the dumaputer

Haha so funny... Aaron loved these silly phones

Aaron in his favorite spot making rock cupcakes

Our sweet Brandon

Aaron just a few steps behind... the computer was slowing him down

Our little family

Working on his junior ranger book

Do you wonder why their grandma calls them monkeys?

Here comes trouble

We were SOOOO lucky to get Chris's mom to come down and go to the park with us. It was a perfect day- warm in the sun cool in the shade. We had a lot of fun going on hikes, admiring the beautiful scenery, and being together. The boys had fun doing the junior ranger program and earned another special badge. Boys are just meant to be outside! I am always amazed at how much fun a stick and some rocks can be. Aaron has become extra funny now that he can talk pretty clearly. As I said it was cool in the shade. On a few hikes we got down in between two tall rock walls and the temperature really dropped. Aaron refused to wear his sweater and so we were walking along and we hear his little voice say, "I cold someone turn on the heater." Another one of Aaron's not so funnies came thanks to his dad. He got this little computer for the car on our way to Oklahoma for Christmas and it has become his car toy now. When we got out of the car he would not leave it. Chris and I knew we would end up carrying the thing so Chris took it and said, " Aaron leave your dumb computer in the car." Oops. Aaron started sobbing, my dumaputer, my dumaputer. To this day it is still the dumb computer or dumaputer, and yes he did decide he would leave it on a rock about half way up and Chris did end up carting the dumaputer. Brandon really liked the tiny holes in the ground. Luckily we warned him right before he shoved his stick in one. Who knows what would have popped out- we may have been running from snakes. As you can see I am quite pregnant. We were walking out of the visitors center and a lady must have thought I could not hear her. She made some comment about how I reminded her of what it felt like when she was pregnant with her twins. Thank you dear soul I know I am huge!!! Ha ha things to make us laugh I guess. I am really grateful we live so close to so many beautiful places and for the wonderful family I have to make these memories with.    

WORST Day of Fun eVeR!!!

So we have had a lot of family time since Chris got hurt and has not been able to work. Chris is not the kind of guy who can just sit around so we often find ourselves going on little outings of fun. Most are a success and we are glad we took the time, however this day did not quite measure up. I first must tell you that Chris was up all night planning what he wanted to do to make an extra special day for the boys. As soon as he decided on the toy train show we were ready for anything. Had it been a great day our kids may have come home with a whole new train mountain! We were also excited at the idea that Thomas the Train was going to be there and knew this would be a hit for our kids. Reality- This picture by the sign was the best part (before we walked in the door). Everything was either to high for kids or roped off. If you have kids you know ropes do not stop a determined two year old. It is possible that a few old men went home with broken treasures. We waited in line for nearly two hours to ride on what you can see is not really what we imagined Thomas to be- Aaron fighting and screaming the entire time. The best part was a giant pit of tracks where about 300 kids were playing. I should mention that about twenty-four hours later both of my kids had fever and throw-up. Chris and I walked out laughing so hard- it really could not have been worse. We wanted to warn happy people who were skipping and running inside with the anticipation and excitement we once had. What can I say some days are just a dud! Next year when the toy train show rolls around I think we will stay home and take turns hitting each other in the face.

Aaron's New Bed

Aaron is so funny.  I went in to make sure the boys were tucked in and this is what I found. Once again I am grateful we bought Aaron his own big boy bed. Looks like a Costco box would have done just fine. Little guys looks pretty cozy huh? 

Boys new bunk beds

So I decided it was time to get Aaron out of his crib and into a big boy bed. Chris and I built the bed, Chris in a cast and me trying to get around my own belly. We ordered Aaron a super nice memory foam mattress and brand new sheets and pillows and Aaron was so excited. Night one- "Mom, Dad, I need a drink." Go to bed Aaron. "Ok." Two minutes later- "Mom, Dad, I need a kiss." Go to bed Aaron. "Ok." Then he brings out his pillow, then he comes back to get his pillow. Then he peed his pants, finally "Mom, Dad, I bodering Brandon." and poor Brandon screams "Yes he is." All you can do is laugh huh? Well four nights have gone by and no one has slept on his mattress yet. Chris and I are tempted to go in there tonight just so the thing was not a total waste of time/money. Both of the boys sleep on the top bunk on the tiny twin mattress. At least we know they love each other.

Brandon's first talk

Brandon gave his first talk at church today. He did a great job and we were so proud of him. He was so lucky that his Grandma Monkey (Hess) came all the way from Ogden to hear him speak. 

Briana feeds a Sting Ray!

Happy Halloween

Better late than never I guess. I have been terrible at taking pics and posting them since I got prego but here are a few from Halloween. I don't know why but every year I think the face that our kids make the first time they stick their little hands into the pumpkin, is so funny. This year B was super excited to make a transformers pumpkin and thanks to his dad it happened. Aaron kept puling out the tiniest strands of pumpkin and saying "gookie." We were enjoying every minute of it! Halloween night was wonderful as well. Our little superheroes could not have been more excited. I thought it was especially funny how excited Aaron was- surly he couldn't remember Halloween's past. He ran up and down the streets all night. At one point both of our kids got a fright. A guy was sitting on his porch ready to scare people and I warned B. He took off his mask when he saw our little kids which I thought was nice. Unfortunately B got turned around and went back by the guy as a bunch of teenagers were walking up. He was teared up by the time I got back to him. Through his panting me muttered, "I think he is a real monster." Haha I had to laugh, poor little guy. Another house over and a little more candy helped him move on though. Aaron was not quite as dramatic. One house had there whole porch closed in with black trash bags and had decorated it with spider webs and all sorts of nasty things. Aaron kept looking around eyes wide open and finally said, "mom it's spooooooky." We laughed at him as well. What a fun night of treats and a few tricks!

Trick or Treat

On our way to trick or treat- we were laughing at Aaron he was so excited.

Boys in the apple maze

Annual Pumpkin Patch

Hooray, even though Chris has a terribly busy schedule right now we found an afternoon to go to the pumpkin patch. Last year we went to late and we couldn't see which was a bummer, but this year was perfect. We drove out to Santaquin and visited the Big Red Barn. The hayride took us out to the patch and apple barrel maze. Brandon and Aaron loved the little maze. Chris had to go in a get Aaron out after we had been there for an hour. Every time they hit a dead end Aaron would laugh so hard. Lucky, no one had to be rescued- we found the end. Brandon was cracking me up. He went through every row looking for the perfect pumpkin. Before we went he told me was going to pick a tiny pumpkin this year but when we got there he just couldn't resist. I told him he could have anyone he could carry- blah, whatever, you know I ended up carrying that enormous thing. Aaron was happy with his little pumpkin though. He would not set the thing down- funny little treasure. Hopefully we will get to carve them for family night. Check back to see our killer carving skills!