The Brown's

Mason's 1st Birthday

2011-03-23T10:54:00.001-07:00

The wonderful cake my mom made. Thanks mom!

I still can't believe that it's been a year since Mason was born. It has been an exciting and fun year! He had such a fun birthday party. He loves Mickey Mouse so I thought it would be cute to do a Baby Mickey party. My mom made the cutest cake and cupcakes, she is sooo talented! We were able to have our immediate family come and celebrate with us. Mason just loves having his little cousins around so it was fun to watch him inter-act with everyone. We had pizza, breadsticks and salad for dinner and then we opened presents. He got some great stuff: 2 dogs, movies, money, leap frog barn, ABC bus, an ABC gospel book, a beautiful painting of Christ to go in his room, clothes and pj's, and a little red sportscar. Thanks everyone for the gifts.

Mason does not like to touch food if it gets him sticky or his hands dirty (imagine where he got that from?) so I had convinced myself that he wouldn't dig into his piece of cake. Boy was I wrong, he loved playing in it, eating it and throwing it all over the kitchen. He realized that everyone was laughing at him so he started laughing each time he would eat the cake and start to throw it, it was the cutest thing. He was quite a little ham for everyone. He had such an exciting time at the party that he slept all through the night and took a four hour nap the next day. Good stuff!

At his doctor's check-up he is now in the 50% for his weight and off the chart for his height. Dr Fennell said he will be tall and lean, just like his daddy.

Mason is such a cute little boy. He is funny and sweet and full of energy. He is running all over the place, he is completely eating table foods now, he is off formula and he keeps us busy and entertained! We love him so much and feel so lucky to be his parents. We can't wait to see how the next year goes. Happy Birthday sweet boy!

We are still alive....

2011-03-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

Mason loves donuts, especially this GIANT one!

Playing in daddy's snow gear bag

This was the first time he fell asleep eating, so cute~

Playing with cousin Audri

Audri's darling birthday cake that grandma made

My birthday

Aunt Aimee's birthday

I haven't blogged for a while, we've been having some serious issues with our computer and it would take about 5 minutes to upload one picture, needless to say I wasn't patient enough to do that. We have had a busy few months. I celebrated my birthday in January. All my siblings except Cristy were here with me, which was the best way for me to celebrate. We all went to Texas Roadhouse and thanks to my wonderful husband I had to ride the bull.

In February we celebrated my little niece Audri's first birthday and Aimee's birthday. It was fun to have everyone come up again for that. Even better is that Dusty and Mandie moved up north to Saratoga Springs. We are excited to be closer to them and hope that we will get together often now that we are all living up north (minus Cristy.... ps, if you are reading this- maybe you should move back from Boston so you can hang out with us again!)

Mason has had a rough couple of months. He had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. It was so sad, he had sores in the back of his throat and wouldn't even swallow his own saliva. He was running high fevers and wouldn't eat for about 4 days. Now he is cutting one of his incissors and so he's a little cranky with the runny nose, drooling and not sleeping. I'll be so glad when he gets all his teeth in and we don't have to keep doing this!

Mason and I were able to go down to my mom's for a few days. I was able to run down to St George one day and see some friends there. I wished the weather would have been a little nicer, I am really getting tired of winter and can't wait for Spring and Summer. I actually left Mason with my mom- which was the first time I've left him for longer than 5 or 6 hours. Surprisingly, we both survived! I don't know that Mason really cared as much as I did, but it was probably good for both of us. Next week is his birthday, we can't wait!

10 Months Old

2011-01-18T20:11:00.001-08:00

Mason loves his mommy!

He loves his daddy too!

Taking a ride on Aunt Aimee's luggage

Going sledding for the first time

Cousin's Kamri and Whitley

Yes, he's licking the snow. He loved it!

He loves his new binki (thanks to cousin Audri)

He get's the whole thing in his mouth. It's both scary and hilarious!

Helping daddy level the new washer and dryer

The crazy things Brandon does to entertain Mason

I seriously can't believe how fast this year is going by. Mason is 10 months old now and is so much fun. He is wild and energetic and can't sit still for a second, but we are loving watching him explore everything. Uncle Ryan, Grandpa Brown, Kamri and Whitley invited us to go sledding last weekend with them. We weren't sure how Mason would like it, but we thought it would be a fun little outing. He loved playing in the snow and crawling all over the place. He kept putting his face in the snow and sticking his tongue out to get a quick taste. Brandon took him down the hill a few times and then I decided to give it a shot. He would usually cry when we would sit down, but at the end of the ride he had decided that he loved it. We had a great time and can't wait to take him again.

He weighs 20 pounds now and is 30 inches long and is advanced in almost everything for his age. He is so close to walking. He will take 4 or 5 steps by himself and then looks at us like "what am I doing?" and then he gently sits himself back down. I'm sure it won't be very much longer before he has it all figured out. Part of me wants to stop the whole process since I know I will never be able to keep up with him once he is walking.

He is still the worst sleeper! Some nights we are up 5 or 6 times and usually for at least an hour stretch. He never sleeps past 6:30 and wakes up excited and ready to go for the day. I am reading a book that Reagan recommended and hoping that this lady knows what she is talking about so I can get him trained to sleep through the night.... wish me luck, I'm exhausted!!!

He loves being wherever Brandon and I are. Somedays I feel like it would be easier to strap him onto my leg and save us both the hassle of him crying anytime I take a step away from him, I've been assured by everyone to enjoy it because before too long he will be too big to want to spend time with me. (I try to remind myself of that when I get a little impatient since I can't get anything done during the days)

He is quickly getting over the whole baby food stage. He would much rather eat what is on our plates. He loves ice cream, my fruit smoothies (gotta love weight watchers), sweet potatoes, bread, pasta, and all of the sudden peas.

Our house has totally been taken over with all of his toys. Somedays I sit there and look at everything and laugh to myself that I'm actually okay that my house looks the way it does. Not that it's dirty, but there is one whole wall in our family room that has toys stretched acrossed it. He loves playing with them, and acts like they are new to him each time he sees them. He get's so excited and waves his arms up and down when he plays. He LOVES cars, he will push them all over the house and has already figured out how to make the sounds like they are driving.

He is so cute and has the funniest little personality. We love him so much and are grateful each day for the blessing he is in our lives!

Christmas

2011-01-18T19:24:00.001-08:00

Not quite sure about Santa Clause

Exhausted at the end of the day

We had such a fun Christmas this year with Mason. Although, he wasn't old enough to really get what was going on it was much funner than Brandon and I just sitting there looking at each other. It was our turn to be with Brandon's family this year. Each year we have a family Christmas party with the Seamon's family. Santa Clause comes and gives all the kids an early present. Mason sat on Santa's lap a lot longer than I thought he would, he gave him a good stare down and then realized that he didn't want to be on his lap anymore. He was a good sport. We had a good time seeing everyone!
Christmas Eve day we went up to grandma and grandpa Brown's and spent a few hours there, opened all the presents they got for Mason and had lunch. For Christmas Eve we had Brent, Cindy and Brody over for dinner. Christmas morning Mason was excited to have all the new toys at our house. We got him this racecar track that spins the cars around and flips them out. He loves it and can get it to start by himself, but after he starts it he just wants to try to get in there to stop it. I'm sure Fisher Price tested the toys with actual babies and keep thinking that it won't break....

After we opened our presents we went over to Brent and Cindy's for breakfast, it was yummy and fun to hang out with everyone. Mason loves being with his cousins and so he was in heaven playing with Kamri and Whitley all day.

Between all his grandparents he was spoiled rotten! We were amazed at all the stuff he got and we love and appreciate the generosity. We can't wait til next year when he will be older and know a little more about what is going on.

Our little Santa Claus

2010-12-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

He loves to pull the decorations off... TROUBLE!

Making Frosty & Santa out of bread dough with the kids

He actually got himself stuck in here....

My sister Cristy made me feel guilty for not sending out Christmas cards with a picture of Mason on it, so I decided today that I would just take a few snapshots of him by our tree. He wasn't impressed with the Santa hat, but he was a pretty good sport and I think they turned out cute.
We got our Christmas trees put up last week and I put out what decorations I had that wouldn't break. For the first few days he didn't even go near the big tree, I was so excited to think that I could keep the bottom fully decorated but that was wishful thinking. Now he won't leave the decorations alone, I took some of them off the very bottom, but I'll admit I'm a little vain and don't want to have an ugly looking tree. Check back after Christmas and that might change!
We were able to go down to my mom's house for Thanksgiving this year. Mason and I spent about 10 days down there. We had some of my nieces and nephews staying there for a few days so I decided to be creative with them one afternoon and we made a turkey, santa claus and snowman with my mom's yummy bread dough. We had learned to make the santa at young women's one night and so I got on Rhode's website and found some other cute ideas. It kept their interest for about 10 minutes and the rest of the time they just played with the dough.
We had 76 people at my mom's for dinner. I was running around like a crazy woman and didn't even think about taking pictures of everyone there. It was a lot of fun to see all my mom's family.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-16T08:10:00.001-08:00

Mason the Lion

Kamri, Mason and Whitley

Helping clean out the pumpkin (he tried to eat the seeds)

Pumpkin carving

Brandon and Ryan

Mason with grandma & grandpa Campbell

Mason with grandma & grandpa Orton

Brandon's masterpiece (it's a flying witch)

Mason and Kamri

This was the sunset that night

Cindy invited us over for a yummy dinner and pumpkin carving for Halloween. We had a great night- thanks Cindy! Grandpa and Uncle Brody had grown pumpkins this year in their garden so it was fun to carve them. Mason just loves being with people and watching what everyone is doing. He was a trooper this year and didn't mind having his costume on. (we probably put him in it 20 times... it was just so cute) I bought some face paint to paint his little nose and some whiskers, but I never did put it on him- mainly because he doesn't hold still for a second and also because I didn't want him to get it on his costume.

We had taken him to our wards Trunk or Treat that week and since he is so young, we decided to just take him up to Brandon's grandparents house and to his mom's house and then we headed home early to greet the trick or treater's. I love Halloween and can't wait til next year when Mason is a little bit older and will actually know what's going on and be able to eat the candy.

8 months old

2010-11-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Mason LOVES ice cream!

Playing on the computer

Little Mozart

Attacked with lotion by cousin Irelyn

I love a sleeping baby

I seriously can't believe how fast time is going by. Mason is crawling ALL over the place. He pulls himself up to everything and would prefer to walk if he could just figure it out. I'm worried what's going to happen when he does start walking, we both already fall into bed exhausted each day, Mason from playing so hard and me from chasing him around all day!

Ashlee brought the girls up last weekend so we could dye each other's hair. While we were in the kitchen, the kids were in the family room watching a movie. I went over to check on them and could see white stuff all over Mason. At first I thought he had spit up and got it all over himself somehow. Upon further investigation I realized that it was baby lotion. His cousin Irelyn loves playing with lotion and had somehow managed to put lotion all over Mason's head, face and shirt. She was pretty proud of herself and Mason just loves being around other kids so much that he didn't mind a bit.

Mason is not a good sleeper. We are up 2-3 times a night and sometimes for 2 hours straight before he decides to go back to sleep. During the day I'm lucky if he takes a 20 minute nap in the morning and afternoon. I'm working on getting the courage up to letting him cry it out, hopefully after we get back from grandma's house for Thanksgiving. Needless to say, he never falls asleep on his own, he has to be held and rocked. So when I layed him on the floor to watch a movie and came back in to see him sleeping, it pretty much melted my heart!

Fall Photos

2010-10-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Halloween Party

2010-10-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

"Sonny and Cher"

"Cher's" painted toe nails

Our good friends George and Holly Thomas

Bishop Turner & Heather a.k.a Dracula & Dracula's Wife

"The Warren Jeff's Clan"

We were invited to a Halloween Party last week at the Burrell's house. We had such a fun time, I don't remember when I laughed so dang hard. Most of the people at the party were from our ward and it was fun to see a different side of people at the party. There were some great costumes, but our favorites were the Thomas' Roller Derby Girls. Seeing George in that costume was hilarious!!!
Brandon and I decided to go as Sonny and Cher. My parents wore these costumes a few years ago and we thought it would be funny. We both love Halloween and enjoyed dressing up. We can't wait for the party next year and are already thinking of what to go as next year....

Random things

2010-10-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Watching Baby Einstien

The big boy in his high chair

Playing peek-a-boo (his favorite)

"Helping" mommy decorate for Halloween

Mason is 7 months old now and boy is he a MOVER... He is crawling all over the house, he pulls himself up on the couch, chairs, his walker, mom and dad, pretty much anything he can. He can't quite figure out what to do once he stands and it usually ends in him falling over and crying, but he gets right back up and tries it again.
His favorite game to play right now is Peek-a-boo. Brandon will take him down the hall and then hang him out from the wall so you can only see Mason floating there, it's pretty cute and Mason thinks he is pretty funny. Oh the little things that entertain him!
He loves watching the Baby Einstien videos, but will only watch the "Baby MacDonald" video all the way through. Lately we can just lay him on a blanket and he won't move until it's over. He is kind of a tv junkie lately since it's getting too cold to go outside. It's going to be a long winter!
We took our first trip to the doctor that wasn't a scheduled visit. All last week he was crankier than normal. He was running a little fever and pulling on his ears so I thought it was just his teeth. On Thursday I noticed a little rash when I was changing his diaper. By Friday morning it was all over his stomach, back and starting on his face. They were red and starting to look like little blisters- so I decided to just take him in. Luckily it wasn't the chicken pox! The doctor said he probably just had a virus and the rash was the last symptom to appear after his fever broke. Luckily he is feeling much better this week and just has little scabs that are almost gone. It's not very fun to have sick babies!

6 Months Old

2010-10-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Playing in the hamper with daddy

Doctor's appointment

After his shots:(

I seriously can't believe that Mason is 6 months old already. Time has really gone by fast. He is getting so big, so active and so fun. I can't believe how fast he learns new things. I'm just waiting for him to stand up and start running...

He is so close to crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees but just can't quite figure out how to get everything to move together. He can however scoot/rambo crawl and can get himself almost anywhere in the house that he wants to go. It's so crazy how fast he can move. This morning he was in the family room while I was making him a bottle and before I got back he had gone down the hall and was watching Aunt Aimee get ready in the bathroom. He has also learned to sit up, although he is a little wobbly he enjoys checking out his world from a different position.

He is 28 inches long (95%) and almost 18 pounds (50%)- so I think he's going to be tall and thin like his daddy. He is loving eating baby foods, but he doesn't like the texture of anything solid that we have tried to give him. He LOVES ice cream!!! I know we shouldn't be giving him any, but I figured a little taste here and there won't hurt him. He gets so excited when he gets a taste, his whole body shakes and he makes the cutest little noises letting me know that he wants more.

He is finally sleeping better at nights. For about 3 months he was waking up almost every hour, but he is now just waking up 1-2 times per night. YEA!! I'm finally feeling like a human being again and not a walking zombie...

He has the cutest little smile and laugh. He absolutely loves Brandon! His whole face lights up when he comes home from work. I sometimes feel bad that I don't get the same reaction from him when I come into the room, but then I realize that he see's my face all day long and it's not really that exciting. Brandon is so cute and silly with him and can get him to laugh all the time. I'm so grateful that he has such a good daddy! We love him so much. I can't imagine our lives without him now.

2010-10-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Just some random pictures of Mason. Brandon has been busy wiring a house for our friends and needed to work a couple of long days so instead of hanging out at the house alone Mason and I were able to go down to Panguitch for my dad's birthday last week with Aimee, Ashlee, Madi and Irelyn. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of the party, but we had a good time. Mason loves to be entertained by his cousins and I just love being at my mom's house. It doesn't hurt that grandma wants to take Mason when he wakes up in the night and let me get some good sleep.... thanks mom!

Happy Birthday Brandon

2010-08-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

Kamri and Whitley at the arcade

Madi, Mason and Irelyn

Kamri and Mason having a staring contest

I'm a little late posting this but still wanted to. Brandon's birthday was on the
7th. We started out the day by having his family over to the house for a breakfast. Brandon did most of the cooking at scout camp and learned a few new tricks for breakfast foods on the camp chef, so he wanted to try it out on us. It was yummy! We just hung out at the house the rest of the day and then that night I took him to the Olive Garden for dinner. (thanks to Aunt Aimee for babysitting) Then on Sunday we went over to his mom's house for his birthday dinner. Cindy always fixes your favorite meal when it's your birthday. She is such a great cook and as always we had a great time over there.

We also had Brandon's family reunion at Cherry Hill last week. His mom's family gets together every Christmas and then a day during the summer. We chose not to swim at Cherry Hill since Mason is a little small for the slides, so we just hung out in the arcade. I don't think he really loved his car ride with Kermit, but mommy enjoyed taking pictures of him.

My sister Ashlee went to Portland for a wedding and so we took Madi and Irelyn for a few days. I was kind of nervous to have 3 kids under 3 years old, but it went really good. The girls were cute with Mason and I think he enjoyed having the company. (mommy can be kind of boring) I love the picture of the three of them in my bed... so cute!

4 Months Old

2010-08-05T13:22:00.001-07:00

I love the look on his face....

Silly daddy putting his pants on his head

Eating his sweet potatoes

I can't believe Mason is 4 1/2 months already. Time is really flying by fast and I am just trying to take in everyday and love every minute of it.
Mason is such a fun little baby. He is starting to show us his personality. He has the sweetest smile and giggle, even though we really have to work to get him to giggle- it melts my heart everytime!
He weighs 16 pounds and is 26 inches long. He's in the 70% for weight and 75% for heigth. We got the go ahead from his doctor on Tuesday to start cereal and baby foods. The first feeding didn't go very good. I thought he was swallowing the food and I was so impressed that he caught on so quickly, then all of the sudden he started spitting and I'm pretty sure he hadn't swallowed one bite, he was just storing it all in his cheeks. Luckily the afternoon feeding went better and he LOVES sweet potatoes. It's so fun to watch him figure out all these new things.

He is rolling over from his back to his belly, but then can't figure out how to get flipped back over. So somedays I feel like all I do is flip him over to his back so he will stop freaking out. I'm hoping he will get the hang of it soon!

He is not sleeping as good as he was. I'm sure I jinxed myself by bragging about having a 2 month old that slept through the night. Now I'm lucky if he only wakes up 3 or 4 times during the night. I am starting to get really tired and hope that he will get back to a good schedule very soon. He has also started teething (yuck) and I'm hoping that this is part of his bad sleeping habits. I feel so bad for him, he gums everything he can get his hands on, his little nose runs and he is a little bit cranky. I thought he was too young to start getting teeth, but the doctor said it can start at 3 months. Hopefully the tooth will break through, or go back down and leave him alone for a little while.

Brandon and I love him so much and feel so lucky to have him. Brandon is the best daddy, he is silly and funny and does anything he can to get a smile out of Mason. He makes up songs for him and loves being able to spend time with him. I am so grateful to have such a good husband!

Scout Camp = trip to grandma's house

2010-08-04T15:52:00.001-07:00

Brandon ready for camp

Mason and Jett

Reagan, Jett, Mason and Me

Mason with Jill

Hanging out with grandma

I love when he sleeps... so cute!

Brandon had to go to scout camp the second week in July. They went up to the Uintah's and backpacked for 3 days and then just camped normally for 3 days. They had a great time and we are glad Brandon enjoyed the week, but boy did Mason and I miss him!

I decided to go back to my mom's house and stay for the week. We had a great time and Mason just loves his grandma, plus it was so nice to have her help. Mason got the flu on Friday and was so sick. I could not believe how much he was throwing up, it was actually really scarey for me so I was glad my mom was there for his first sickness. She pretty much just rocked him all day long. It took two or three days for him to get back to normal. It was a long 3 days!

Mason and I headed down to St George to stay overnight and catch up with my friends down there. I was able to go to lunch with Reagan, Kami, Tawni and Cher and all of our kids. There were more kids than adults so it was a little hectic, but so fun to see all of them.

We stayed over at Reagans that night. Reagan has been such a great friend to me over the years and I love her so much! It was fun to catch up with her and to spend time together with our little boys. She and Josh are expecting another little boy in January and I'm so excited for them. Thanks Reag for letting us stay with you.

While we were there we went to Jill's house so she could meet Mason for the first time. Jill is the one who set Brandon and I up and we just love her so much. We don't get to see her very often and so it was fun to introduce her to Mason and spend time at her house (which is also where Brandon proposed).

We had a fun trip to St George, but I was sure glad to get back to Panguitch and out of that ridiculous heat! I can't believe I lived down there for 10 years.

4th of July

2010-07-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Maya, Jake and Mason

At the parade

Maya riding in the parade

Jake riding a sheep in the rodeo

Mason and I were still in Panguitch for the 4th of July- without Brandon. Brandon and I have not spent a 4th of July together since we met, maybe next year! We started off the day at the parade, then we had some lunch and just hung out that afternoon. My mom ended up getting the flu and was really sick, so we didn't go to the normal activities. That night we went to the little kid's rodeo to watch Jake, Cody, Kenli and Dawson ride a sheep. What a funny thing it is to watch them ride those. They all did a great job, but Dawson took home the grand prize. His dad, who is my cousin Bucky told him that he was not to let go of the sheep until he heard the buzzer. He was a great listener, even though he got rolled over and trampled on by the sheep, he still hung on and ended up winning. That night we watched the fireworks from my mom's house to finish off the day.

Sunday morning I had to bring Cristy back to Salt Lake to catch her flight home. I had such a good time spending the week with her. We hate having them live out in Boston, but are glad that we get to see them every once in a while. That night Brandon and I were invited over to our friend's George and Holly's house for their neighborhood fireworks party that they host every year. We had a wonderful time and Mason slept through the fireworks- both nights, so that was nice not having to worry about them scaring him or being too loud.

A week at Grandma's house

2010-07-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

3 months old

finally figured out the Bumbo chair

Hiking at Bryce Canyon

Toy Story 3 in 3D

Mason with Aunt Cristy

Being cool

Me with my sisters

Mother/Daughter picture

Sleeping with daddy

Going to the balloon festival

My oldest sister Cristy who lives in Boston flew her kids Maya and Jake out for their annual trip to spend the summer with my mom and the rest of us. Since I hadn't seen Cristy for 2 years I decided to go down to Panguitch and spend the week with her and the rest of my family. The first weekend all my family came home for the balloon festival that they hold each year. We had a great time and it was fun to see a lot of old friends that we hadn't seen in years. I don't know why we all forgot to get our camera's out and take pictures (maybe next year)
During the week we took all the kids to Bryce to go on a little hike and have a picnic, we went swimming and to the park and on Thursday we went to Cedar to take the kids to Toy Story 3... Loved it! Mason actually sit through most of the movie and just stared at the screen, minus a 20 minute nap he took during the first part.

It was fun to have everyone together especially since it doesn't happen very often. Mason loves his Aunt Cristy and I was glad they got to spend some time together and get to know each other. My mom is always such a gracious host and takes such good care of all of us while we are home. She is a wonderful mom and grandma and we had a wonderful week!

Mason's Blessing Day

2010-06-07T19:21:00.001-07:00

We had Mason blessed on Sunday June 6th. It was a very special day and we were lucky to have so many wonderful family members and friends come to spend the day with us. Brandon gave Mason the most beautiful blessing. There were two other little babies blessed, so our church was packed and a little noisy, so I didn't actually hear the blessing. Brandon came home and tried to remember exactly what he said, he typed it up and read it to me. Mason is so lucky to have such a wonderful dad who honor's his priesthood responsibilites and who is so spiritual and in tune with our Heavenly Father. Mason was such a little angel. I was so worried that he was not going to be good during the blessing because he was a little cranky having that suit and tie on, but he didn't make a peep. We are so blessed to have Mason in our family. We love him very much!

After sacrament was over with we all headed over to the park to have a little luncheon. It was fun to see everyone, we enjoyed visiting and eating yummy food and letting all the little kids burn off some energy playing. Thanks to everyone who traveled up to be with us, we love you and appreciate your love and support!

Random things

2010-06-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Playing at the park with Max and Graci

Bath time with cousin Audri

Aunt Ashlee giving Mason his first hair cut

We have had a pretty busy time the last few weeks. Mason and I were able to go down to my mom's house for Memorial Day. It was our first time away from Brandon, which was really hard. It made me realize how much he does for us and what a great daddy he is to Mason. We did have a great time and we were able to spend a lot of time with my little neices and nephew Max. They were all staying at my mom's that weekend and so Aimee and I mainly went down to help take care of them. We had between 18 and 23 people staying at my mom's house on Saturday and Sunday night which made it a little crazy, but we always have a great time together.

Aimee and I were getting ready to go home Monday morning and Max and Graci decided they wanted to come home with us. Since we were blessing Mason on Sunday and Dusty and Mandie were going to be coming up on Thursday we decided it would be fun to have them, so they stayed with us all last week. It was fun to have them and gave me a good idea of what it would be like to have more kids.

We took Mason to his 2 month check up on Tuesday. He weighs 12 pounds 13 ounces and is 25 inches long. He is above average in both categories. He gained 4 pounds in a month, but Dr Fennell thinks the majority of it is from him growing length-wise. He had to get his first set of immunization shots, which were torture for his mommy. He screamed like I've never heard him do before and I got pretty teary-eyed! He was pretty fussy that night and a little the next day, but it didn't take long to get back to his normal sweet self. We love him so much and are so grateful that he is growing and that he is healthy and strong. He is still such a great baby and is giving his mom a break and has started to sleep between 7 & 8 hours at night. YEA!!!!

Pictures

2010-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

We finally got Mason's pictures done this week. One of Brandon's co-workers wife's Hollie does photography and wanted to do them for us. Her pricing is so cheap and we are thrilled with how they turned out. These are just a few of them that she posted on her facebook page. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the CD of the rest of them. Mason was such a good sport and lasted and hour and a half during the shoot before he let us know that he had had enough fun. I'll post more when I get them. Thanks Hollie for getting such great pictures of our precious little guy!

Mason's 1 month birthday party

2010-05-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

I decided that we needed to have a little cupcake for Mason's 1 month old birthday. Brandon and Aimee thought I was crazy and wouldn't participate and sing with me, so I just made them take the pictures of us. I threatened Brandon that we would do it every month to celebrate that he's a month older, but I don't think Mason was too impressed with it either so we'll wait until he actually turns one. Oh well, at least I had fun doing it!

Things are going much better with Mason gaining weight and being healthy. At his 6 week appointment he weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces, so that was a pound and a half gain in two weeks. We were thrilled and the doctor couldn't believe he gained that much. So now we don't have to take him to the doctor every week and can go with the normal schedule of his 2 month check-up where the immunization shots start. (can't wait for that torture)

The pictures of Mason in the socks crack me up. Brandon and I were folding laundry and so we layed him on the bed, Brandon started piling the socks on top of him and Mason really seemed to enjoy it and so I had to run grab the camera.

I have had to go back to work this week for just one week, which is a bit crazy if you ask me. I spent all day Monday just getting my computer and all the systems I need set back up and my passwords all figured out. It's all for insurance purposes, so I would much rather work for 5 days then have to pay everything out of pocket from having Mason. Luckily Aimee is here and my mom was able to come up on Monday to help babysit while I'm gone. That has made it much easier to leave him knowing he is being well taken care of by people that love him almost as much as I do.
I keep thinking that I don't know what we did with our lives and time before we had Mason, our whole world revolves around him now and we are just enjoying having him in our home!

Update

2010-04-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is what happened at Mason's last Doctor appointment

Right before the "biohazard" explosion

Mason with his grandma and grandpa

4 generation pictures

Mason is now 5 weeks old. It's so crazy how fast time goes by. I absolutely love being a mom and had no idea how time consuming and what hard work it was, but it is so worth it.
So the first two pictures are of an incident that happened at the last doctor's appointment. Right before the doctor came in Mason started grunting like he needed to use the bathroom, well sure enough he did. So I was changing him as I was getting an update from Dr Fennell. I had him all cleaned off and went to lift his legs to put the new diaper underneath him and he apparently wasn't finished and the poop shot out of him and went all over my shirt, his blanket and the doctor's table..... it was the craziest thing I've ever seen and the messiest! The doctor gave me that biohazard bag that we had to put the stuff in so that we could carry it off the premises. What an experience!

We made our first road trip with Mason to St George for my little niece Audri's baby blessing. It was quite an experience and only took us 6 1/2 hours to get to St George on Friday. The blessing was really nice and we were able to take 4 generation pictures with my granny Orton which was neat. Sorry the pictures aren't better, I'm hoping my mom has better ones. It was also my niece Irelyn's birthday so we had a party for her that day and were able to see a lot of my family in St George. I sure love and miss everyone down there and wish I would have had more time to see some of my wonderful friends, but our schedules were packed.

Mason is doing well. We have been struggling getting his weight up, but finally at his 4 week check up he was 7 pounds 2 ounces and surpassed his birthweight... YEA! What a stressful time it's been to get him to put on weight, hopefully he is getting bigger each day and at the next appointment we will be able to finally relax and just enjoy having him with us. He is still such a good baby and just eats, sleeps and pees (a ton!)

Mason's first week

2010-03-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Trying to wake him up to eat, he is so sleepy!

After his first doctor's appt. look how long his feet are

Irelyn, grandma and Madi

Mason getting his grandma to sleep

Mason with his one of his namesakes Rick & wife Connie (Brandon's boss)

Madi & Hunter

He loves getting his hair washed

We have just been loving being parents. Mason is such a good baby, we just keep thinking that we can't really be this lucky and that he's going to start being fussy and difficult. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
We took him to his first doctor's appointment, he only weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces, so he lost a little over a pound. The doctor said not to worry too much, if he doesn't put some weight back on by this weeks appointment then we will worry. He was a little bit jaundiced so we just lay him in the sun and have to feed him every 2 hours to get things going through his system. Hopefully this will help him with gaining weight too. I feel awful waking him up so often to eat, he looks at me and I'm sure he's thinking "mom, leave me alone and let me sleep!"
My mom is leaving us today, which makes me really nervous. I hope that I will be able to be a good mom to him without having her here every second for help and advice. She keeps re-assuring me that everything will be fine. Luckily he has taken to nursing extremely well and that was my biggest concern. So hopefully this week I will start to feel better and we will be good.
Brandon has been the best little daddy! He has been such a great help to me this week, I feel like he and my mom have been my personal slaves and I appreciate all their help! Brandon is so sweet and concerned about all the little things, noises and cries that come from Mason. He was very freaked out about the umbilical cord and we were all relieved when that fell off on Thursday.
He is 11 days old today and when we layed him in the sun this morning in the sitting room we heard him crying so we went in to check on him and he had rolled from his side onto his stomach, I can't believe as tiny as he is that he is so strong already.
We are incredibly in love with him and just trying to soak in all the fun things that happen everyday!!!

Mason Richard Brown

2010-03-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

Born Wednesday March 17th, 6 lbs. 7 oz. 18.5 inches

Mason and his cousin Audri

He's finally here and it's more amazing than I could have ever thought. Mason Richard Brown decided to make his grand entrance a few weeks early and on St Patrick's Day, March 17th. He's named after my grandpa and Brandon's boss.
I woke up at about 2 am and just felt different, I walked around the house for 45 minutes with what I thought were contractions before my mom woke up and saw the light on. She timed the contractions and convinced me we better go to the hospital. I called a delivery nurse and she told me it wasn't labor and to just go take a bath, drink water and take a tylenol and it would go away- so I tried that and they got worse, so we drove to the hospital. We got there at 4:30 and they checked me and I was at a 4+ so they admitted us, at 7 they started the pitocin and the epidural came at 8:00 (I never did feel much pain before that but the nurse, who was Brandon's aunt Yvette and absolutely wonderful, convinced me to get it early)
My doctor was supposed to come at 8 or so and break my water but she got called into a c-section so she didn't come until about 10:15 I was dialated to a 5+, she thought I would have the baby around 3:00 which made me want to cry! 10 minutes later the nurse came in to check me and I was at a 10. They called the doctor back and we had to wait for her for to come for about 20 minutes. I think the nurse thought she was going to have to deliver him. Mason came after about 2 pushes and was born at 11:00. He weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful and we are just having the best time with him. He is a very sweet and content little baby. He hardly ever cries and when he does it's a sweet soft cry. Brandon and I are so in love with him and just trying to enjoy every single minute. My mom is up staying with us and has been a lifesaver, she is teaching us how to do all the little things that are a bit scary for us.....

Update

2010-02-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

Finishing touches in the nursery.....

Madi trying to hide from the camera

Irelyn with grandma's glasses

35 week belly shot with my beautiful mom

Well, I'm getting close and we are almost totally ready for this little guy to join us. My sister Ashlee made the letters with Mason's name to go above the crib. We finally found a shelf that I have been searching for for months at Ikea, and now I just have to start washing clothes and blankets in the next week and we are all set. I'm going through the lovely nesting stage where everything in the house had to be cleaned out and organized and scrubbed. If you know me well you know my house is pretty clean all the time, but apparently in my crazy mind, it wasn't clean enough for the baby. (I'm sure he'll be grateful that all the closets have been cleaned out)
This weekend my sister Aimee, my parents and my sister Ashlee and her little girls came up to stay with us. Aimee has officially moved out of St George and is going to stay with us for a few weeks and then go to my sister's in Boston for a few weeks and then come back and figure out what to do from there. I'm excited to have her here with us!

Baby Shower

2010-02-04T17:15:00.001-08:00

My sisters and wonderful friends in St George that I miss so much! PS. Mandie had her baby yesterday (Thursday) I'm glad the baby waited through the shower....

Nice belly shot

My wonderful friend Reagan

This weekend I went to Southern Utah with Ashlee and her little girls for two baby showers. The first one was on Friday night in Panguitch and the other one was in St George on Saturday. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends!!! My mom and Ashlee worked so hard to put both of them together and we had a great time. Thanks to you both!!! On Saturday Reagan was such a sweetheart and let us hold the shower at her house. I was so excited to see her little guy Jett again, I hadn't seen him since the day after he was born and he is a little doll. Thanks to everyone who came and supported me, I got some wonderful gifts and really appreciate everyone! If I could figure out my new video camera I could post more pictures, but I had to steal these from Reagan- I'll work on getting more posted.

Nursery

2010-01-18T18:08:00.001-08:00

We have spent the last week getting the nursery ready for the baby. We only changed our minds about 3 different times on how we wanted it to look.... I was looking on HGTV and found this painting job that Brandon and I both loved it. Little did we know how big of a pain it would be to tape and paint the design. But after we finally got it finished, we really were happy with the way it turned out. We've only got a few more finishing touches to add in there, but I can't tell you how much better I feel to have the necessities done. Brandon spent hours turning the window seat into one with a lid so that it could be more storage and also a fun place for the kids to play in when they get older. He even put carpet and padding in the bottom of it. I also threw a belly picture in there even though it's not the most flattering. Only 10 1/2 weeks to go!!!

It's a girl.... oh wait, it's a boy!!!

2010-01-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

I have no excuses as to why it's taken me so long to post something. I actually couldn't remember my user name and password to get in here it's been so long. I have no pictures, but will give you a quick update. (thanks to my sister-in-law Mandie reminding me)
So we had went to the doctor in October and she told us we were having a girl, she was 90% sure but luckily warned us not to paint the nursery just yet. We had picked out a name and a few other small things, but nothing big. Then we went for the target ultrasound a few days before Thanksgiving and the ultrasound lady kindly told us that it was not a little girl, we were having a boy..... I will be honest that I had a hard time accepting that change for a few days, I had a good little cry in the car after the appointment and had to let it sink in slowly. Brandon was THRILLED with the change from the start and now so am I. We have had a really hard time coming up with boy names and hopefully will have it figured out 100% before he gets here.
I am feeling great and only have about 11 weeks to go. We are just starting on the nursery and will post pictures when we get it finished.

We are having a baby!!!!

2009-09-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I'm a huge slacker with this blog..... but I have a good excuse! I have been so terribly sick for the past 8 weeks. As of now I am 14 weeks along, so just getting out of the first trimester and hoping that the sickness will not follow me into the second trimester!

Brandon and I are thrilled, and we're anxious to find out the sex of the baby (hopefully on the 15th) so that we can start to buy things and get the nursery ready. We are both such big planners and so not knowing is driving us crazy.

I'm sure I have taken a picture in the last few months, but can't find any in my camera to post. I guess the bathroom, bed and couch aren't exciting enough to take pictures of.

We did go to Panguitch for the weekend for my dad's 60th birthday. All of my family except the Boston crew was there and we had a great time. Brandon and Dusty built a rocket launcher and that was the entertainment for the entire time. I promise to get better and start taking pictures again. As soon as my belly starts to show more I might even get brave and post a picture of that.

Holman Family Reunion

2009-08-03T09:21:00.001-07:00

We had my mom's family reunion in Panguitch this weekend. My mom was in charge of it and did a fantastic job. We had a carnival for the kids with games, prizes, a train ride, blow-up slides, bounce house, velcro walls, bungee cord run and lots of food and junk food for the kids. We had a wonderful time and now my parents and Maya and Jake are up here staying with us for a few days, we are looking forward to Raging Waters tomorrow......

24th of July

2009-08-03T09:11:00.001-07:00

Brandon the Cowboy

Jake & Brandon playing Hillbilly Golf

Madi, Maya, Irelyn & Brandon eating ice cream

Grandma and Madi at the parade

Granny Orton in the parade

We had a fun 24th this year. We went to the parade in the morning and then had all of my Aunt Jills family come over for a bbq. We played a lot of hillbilly golf, as it's now a family favorite. Nothing too wild and crazy ever goes on in Panguitch, but it's always nice and relaxing and I enjoy going down.

Orton Family Reunion

2009-07-15T18:54:00.001-07:00

Last week was our annual Orton reunion at Otter Creek. If you know me well, you know I don't really care for the outdoors, and now that Brandon is in scouts and has purchased a ton of camping gear, he insisted that we stay in a tent and not in the usual trailer. Let me just say that 4 days is WAY too long!!! For the most part we had a great time, the weather was nice in the morning and the evenings but for some reason the wind would blow ridiculously hard from about 1-5 everyday. That made it a little hard to entertain ourselves and all the grandkids when we couldn't be in the water. Granny Orton who is 86 made it up on Saturday and decided that since she had never been out in a boat or driven a 4 wheeler that she better try it this year. I feel awful I didn't get a picture of her on the 4 wheeler driving it or while she actually drove the boat, hopefully someone else got it and I can copy it. Next year she insists that she wants to be pulled on the tube.... I might just have to go again to see that!
A huge thanks to Brandon for all his help. He planned the menu, assigned everyone cooking and cleaning duties, yet somehow he ended up helping with every meal. He is so good to me and my family and we are super lucky that he chose to be a part of our "Crazy Orton Clan"

Max, Madi and Irelyn riding/chasing bikes

The party barge

Ashlee and Alicia after tipping over the canoe.... funny stuff!

Ashlee and Granny getting off the boat

Aimee and me

This last picture is due to the Park Ranger coming over and warning our camp twice that the kids had to have helmets on to ride the 4 wheelers, to be funny Aimee and I put on the kids helmets to ride over to the little store to grab ice.

more pics

2009-07-15T18:47:00.001-07:00

Taking Granny down to the doc to jump on the boat

Hunter fishing

Max hangin out in the lake

Brandon trying to throw us off the tube

Maya and Aunt Tor hanging on for dear life

Last Pictures

2009-07-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Brandon, me and Max in the canoe

Irelyn sharing her dinner with Spike

Down at the lake

Brandon our wonderful Scoutmaster!(sure came in handy up there)

Madi in the tent

Carnival

2009-07-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Jake and Quincy at the fish pond

Maya and Jake

Max and Quincy

Maya and Daisy

4th of July

2009-07-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Jake, our little "cowboy"

Grandkid float for the parade

I was able to go to my mom's house for the 4th of July this weekend. Maya and Jake are here for the summer from Boston and I just couldn't wait until our family reunion this week to see them. On Friday night they have a kids rodeo in Panguitch. My cousin Alicia's little boy Cody who is 5 years old is a true cowboy, so when he said he was going to ride a sheep in the rodeo Jake decided he would give it a shot also. I am so sad I didn't get good pictures of either of them riding the sheep, it was too dark in the rodeo arena and neither of them rode for more than a few seconds so I'm glad I got a picture of Jake before the rodeo.
On Saturday morning they have a little kid parade where kids decorate and ride their bike up and down main street and throw candy. Because there are too many kids we figure it's easier to just decorate a little trailer and haul them all in it at the same time. All the kids had a good time and grandma was a good sport to ride in and supervise them while they threw candy, popcicles and otter pops. Fun times in the big town of Panguitch!

The hard work is finally over!!!!

2009-06-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

So, we are finally finished with our landscaping...... boy is my body glad! We've had the grass for 3 weeks now but I wanted to wait until we got the flowers and bushes all planted until I posted some pictures. It turned out really nice and just adds so much to the house. (now we don't feel like white trash!) The section under the bay window that is empty will hopefully have a water fountain soon to finish it off. Now the fun of mowing 2 times a week and keeping the flowers and vegetable garden alive starts. I'm so grateful for Brandon and his hard work and determination to do everything ourselves. Not only did we save thousands of dollars, but we have the satisfaction of knowing we did it.

Cassidy and Becky's Wedding

2009-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Irelyn munchin on strawberries and rice krispie treats

The happy couple

This weekend was my cousin Cassidy's wedding. He and Becky were married in the Manti Temple on Friday. I was lucky enough to be able to drive down for it, the drive through Spanish Fork Canyon was beautiful! Too bad I was running behind or I would have stopped and taken a few pictures. The ceremony was beautiful, I'm so thrilled for these two. Becky is a doll and we are excited to have her join our crazy family.... The weather was not the greatest, the wind blew soooo hard all day long, which didn't make for the funnest reception which was held at Becky's parents house in their back yard. I should have taken more pictures, but the wind was making Ashlee's girls miserable so we left a little early. My mom is responsible for the beautiful cake, she's so talented and enjoys making them, I need to start taking lessons from her. It was a fun weekend and I loved being able to see the family.

Hill Billy Golf

2009-05-29T19:34:00.001-07:00

Sweet jacket!

Brandon

My brother Dusty

Brandon

Graci being a puppy while sipping water off the table

Brandon remembered a game his family used to play called hill billy golf. It's played by tossing two golf balls that are tied on each end of the rope towards the pvc pipe ladder. Then you hope that it will catch one of the pipes and wrap around to score. The goal is to score 21 points exactly with your team member. We had the whole family out there playing on Sunday afternoon, I didn't get very good pictures of everyone. FYI- my mom was quite the player, she impressed us all. And right at the end Aimee and Mandie kicked butt. What a fun game! We will probably be playing it at every family get together this summer.....

Memorial Day

2009-05-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

My mom and her brothers and sisters

At my grandparent's graves (sorry your mom cut your head off Renn!)

The road leading into the cemetery, love all the flags

Brandon, Dusty and my dad

The crazy clouds

We had a wonderful time in Panguitch last weekend for Memorial Day. It's tradition in my mom's family to meet at the cemetery and then have everyone over to her house for a barbeque. Despite the rainy weather, we were able to get all the flowers on the grave and take pictures of everyone around them. It was fun to see a lot of my mom's family, I miss seeing them all the time!

Hike to Waterfall Canyon

2009-05-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

So, it's official.... I am out of shape!!! For our combined Young Men/ Young Women's activity we took the kids up to a hike called Waterfall Canyon in Ogden. I didn't know it was straight up hill the whole time, man was it hard. But it was incredibly worth it to see the incredible waterfall. The waterfall is so big and forceful that I couldn't capture the whole thing in my camera lens. The coolest part was that we ximed up the ingredients for ice cream and had it in tim containers with dry ice and put it in backpacks, the jarring motion of hiking up the canyon made ice cream. What a clever and fun idea it was! I'm looking forward to going back up again....

Curbing

2009-05-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a few progress pictures, it's probably more for my benefit so I can at least see that we are going to get finished soon. On Saturday morning we had the curbing guys show up, it turned out so nice. I was nervous about what design and style to pick and I'm so glad we went with our first instinct. It looks a little dark still and will lighten up as it dries. The best part of our curbing crew is that they saw me working hard to fill in all the trench work from the sprinklers and they grabbed their shovels and helped me fill them all in. What would have taken me me 2-3 hours took them 20 minutes. Thank goodness I had made a pan of peanut butter fingers and had half a pan left over, so I gladly took them out a plate of treats. I still can't get over how nice it was of them to help!

Our front steps and rock work has been giving me grief trying to decide what to do with it. I eventually want a big water feature in the spot between the house and steps, but until that happens I worried it would just fill back up with weeds after all the hard work of cleaning it out. So Brandon had the idea to put down weed guard and then go pick up some rocks and just fill it in. Fantastic idea! I don't have to try to plant flowers in such a small space and I don't have to have an unfinished look until the water feature gets put in....

So now we just have to finish leveling everything and then the sod can be laid next week after we get back from a Memorial Day trip to Panguitch..... yea!

We have sprinklers and curbing....

2009-05-17T19:26:00.001-07:00

The crew- Mom, Dusty, Dad, Brandon and me

Dusty letting me feel like I was a good helper

My mom and dad working hard

My dad and brother Dusty

What a long weekend we had, I guess when we took Thurs and Friday off to work on it it adds in the extra days. We worked 12-14 hours each day this weekend and we are exhausted!!!
On Thursday my incredible, funny, sweet, hard-working brother Dusty picked up my parents and drove up from St George to help us put in our sprinkling system. My parents didn't tell us they were coming until that morning when my friend Josh couldn't come up. Boy was I excited!!! I've been super homesick the last few weeks and I was about to drive Brandon crazy. It was really good for me to see and spend time with them. They worked so hard and fast that they were done on Friday at 4:00 and took off to go back home. (sad for me)

I know I've said this before, but I can't believe what hard work it is to do landscaping. Thanks to my dad blowing up the main valve while we were testing it illegally, we had something to laugh at all weekend long. If only we would have had a camera on him, we could have won the $100,000 on funniest home videos and then we could have paid to have the yard put int. Thank you sooooo much to all of them for helping us, we could not have done it without them. I love them and am grateful to have them in my life!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

My beautiful mother

Brandon and his step-mom Miriam

Brandon's mom Cindy

Granny Orton

Where would we be without mothers? I for one wouldn't want to know. I just wanted to take a minute and pay tribute to the wonderful mothers in my life.
First of all to my mother Jean- she truly makes this world a better place just by being in it. She is not only beautiful on the outside, she's even more beautiful on the inside. She is the most giving and generous person I know. She is my best friend and I just love and adore her so much. She is an incredible mother and grandmother and we are lucky to have her. I hope to be just like her!
Brandon was blessed with two wonderful mothers who did an amazing job raising him. They taught him wonderful work ethics, love and respect. Even better they taught him how to clean and do the dishes! I'm so lucky to have them both as my mother-in-law.
Then there's my granny orton who has been there for me my entire life. I don't have many memories of my childhood that don't have her in them. We were blessed to just live one street away from her growing up and it was so fun. She is genuine, loving, hilariously funny (sometimes crude and dirty) but those are some of my best memories of her. I didn't have a picture with my grandma Owens, she's been gone for about 8 years but I would feel ungrateful if I didn't include her in this tribute. She was so special to me and I love and miss her terribly.

I love you all and wish you a very Happy Mother's Day!

This is what happens when you do yard work....

2009-05-10T18:07:00.001-07:00

OUCH!!!!!

Nice lines from the gloves above the wrists...

Brandon needed a little help from Kamri

Trying out the bobcat

So I could pretty much just post a blog of Brandon in the tractor and that would be our lives for the next month. Who knew landscaping was so dang hard..... not me! I have a new appreciation for those who do it. We are trying to get the yard ready so that my brother Dusty and good friend Josh can come up and do our sprinklers so we worked friday night and ALL day Saturday, we only stopped because it was dark and we could no longer see. I can't wait to get finished so we can actually have a relaxing weekend. We are both exhausted and so dang stiff and sore, I almost look forward to going to work so I can rest.

As you can see I got totally fried!! I put sunscreen on my face and neck so I wouldn't get burned and didn't think to put it on my arms. I could be the poster child for why you should use sunscreen.

Visitors

2009-05-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Madi and Irelyn

Brandon, Graci and Max (Mandie in the background)

Last week we were able to have Ashlee and her two girls come up and spend the weekend with us. I needed my hair straightened, colored and cut and told Ash I would pay her to come up and do it. Plus our older two sisters were in Hawaii together and we were feeling a bit left out and so I was glad we were able to hang out. The girls were a little sick and kept throwing up everyday (they were just trying to break Brandon and I into the whole kid thing)
Despite them being sick and it raining most of the weekend, we were able to have a great time! Madi loves to ride my eliptical machine (glad someone does) and Irelyn wanted a ride, they are so dang cute and we loved having you all here.
On Sunday we went to Brandon's moms house for our Easter Dinner, since she was in the hospital on Easter. It was yummy as always and she put on a great Easter Egg hunt for Kamri and Whitley. I forgot to take my camera over there....
That night my sister-in-law Mandie was up here with Max and Graci for her cousin's mission farewell. They were able to come up and visit us for a little while. It was fun to have them, they are such cute kids and we just loved to be able to see them!!

Quick update.......

2009-04-16T20:03:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to give you an update on my mother-in-law. She was able to have surgery yesterday to remove the large stone that was totally blocking one of her kidneys. She made it through the surgery just fine and was able to come home today!! YEA! She was diagnosed with Medullary Sponge Kidney Disease, so basically all the kidney stones are stuck in her kidneys. They aren't able to remove them and if she's lucky they won't try to come out. They will just monitor her and she should be able to control them with changing her diet, cutting out soda and drinking tons of water to keep her kidneys flushed. We are so happy it wasn't more serious and that she is home and in her own bed. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!

She thinks my tractor's sexy!!!!

2009-04-14T19:16:00.001-07:00

The tractor fit quite nicely in the garage.....

So it's official, we are now country folk!!! Just kidding, we are just starting our landscaping and we are lucky enough to live in a fantastic ward full of farmers who kindly offered their tractor to us. What an experience, Brandon had to excavate about 8 inches of our clay dirt and then replace that with good topsoil. What a very long day we had on Saturday, and it's only just beginning. We can't wait to get it done, I'll post pictures along the way so you can see the final results.
We did get some bad news at 4:00 am on Easter Sunday, Brandon's mom was in the emergency room with 150 kidney stones. OUCH! The doctor said he's never seen anything like it. She has been in the ICU since. They need to do surgery on her but her potassium and sodium levels are so low that she wouldn't make it through surgery. So we are praying and hoping that things will go as planned and she will be able to have surgery in the morning. So no Easter celebrations for us this year, unless you count sitting in the ICU with Brandon's family. We are so grateful for the season and for our Savior and the blessings we receive daily!

Happy Birthday Irelyn!

2009-04-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

It was fun to be able to have a little birthday party for Irelyn a.k.a. Doo Doo while we were all home. She turns one on April 8th. She is such a cute and sweet baby and we love her very much. She wasn't quite sure what to think about all of us paying attention to her, she just kind of looked at us like we were crazy as we sang to her and watched her open her presents. My mom is very talented and creative and always makes the best birthday cakes. Ashlee sold her house and we thought we were going to spend the weekend moving her to Enterprise, but it didn't close on time. So my mom thought she wouldn't have time to make a real cake and so she came up with the idea of making a caterpillar cake out of the snow balls. I thought it was very clever and with Brandon and I helping her run wire through the licorice for the antlers the cake was put together in 10 minutes! The kids loved it and it didn't taste that bad either.

Weekend in Panguitch

2009-04-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Since it was General Conference weekend and we didn't have to "magnify our callings" we all decided to meet at my parents house for the weekend. Grandpa and Aunt Aimee were good sports and wanted to help the kids build a snowman, which then turned into a snowball fight between Hunter, Max and Aunt Aim.... Aunt Aim was the loser! There is an incredible bond between Brandon and Graci, for some reason she will let him rock her to sleep and hold her. Pretty unusual, since she won't even let her parents. (I think it's time to get him a baby of his own....)
Now onto the big hit of the weekend, Dusty and Mandie bought a dog from a lady up north and called us to see if we would bring it home with us. His name is Carlos Frank/ Charly Frank or Oliver. The poor little dog doesn't know what's going on and who can blame him when they can't decide on a simple thing like his name. The "Frank" was added on there by Max and Carlos was a name given by his previous owners..... we are all interested to see what he ends up being called. I know, I know, for those of you who know me really well you know I don't like animals!! It was a huge accomplishment for me to agree to bring the dog in my car and then as you can see I allowed him to crawl in between my legs and take a nap. Not to worry, I doubt it will happen again- so enjoy the picture while you can.

Fix-up projects...... it never ends!

2009-03-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

Our storage room downstairs, half-way finished.

New under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen

Birds in the dryer vent!!! We are CURSED~

Brandon and his brother Ryan at the BBQ

Notice the ply wood in the back, it was so windy the flame kept burning out

So for those of you who don't know my husband, let me tell you a little secret..... he can't sit still and just relax on the weekends. Our basement is unfinished and we have a huge space for a storage room, so Brandon decided we needed to build shelves and get ourselves organized. He also surprised me when I went to St George and bought one of those food storage rotating shelves, now we just need the food to go in it. We were lucky this week and had one of his workers at the company come and do a bunch of different electrical projects. He added a few new can lights, moved switches that were in stupid places, added plugs and my favorite is the under-cabinet lights he put in our kitchen. It looks sooo nice!
Then to top it all off as I was in the 1/2 bathroom next to our laundry room I heard some type of animal making noises and moving around in our dryer vent. I swear there is some sort of animal curse on this house. We had a bird nest fall from our eves into our entryway wall last spring and we had to cut a hole in the wall and got out 3 dead birds and 3 live birds. Then Brandon sealed it off with some foam stuff and they pecked through it and started another nest this year, so our friend George who does stucco work came over last weekend and totally sealed it up. Now we have something in our dryer vent. By the time Brandon went to take the vent off the animal was gone...... until next time!!!
Saturday night we had Brandon's brother Ryan and his family over for a BBQ, the weather was windy and yucky but the steaks and the company were great!! We love having Ryan, Nicky and their darling little girls over.

Hangin' with the fam

2009-03-07T16:59:00.001-08:00

Brandon and Kamri

Our little niece Kamri

Brandon, his brother Brody, mom Cindy and step-dad Brent

Brandon's brother Ryan got a promotion at work and so to celebrate they took us all out to lunch. They chose to go to Rodizio Grill at Trolley Square. I had not ever been to Trolley Square so it was fun to see. What an interesting place with some great little stores to browse through. Kamri is such a sweetheart, who adores her Uncle Brandon! This little girl eats more fruits and veggies than anyone I know. Her plate was piled with fruit today and she ate it all. We enjoyed seeing Brandon's family. Congratulations Ryan!

Lunch with my girls....

2009-03-07T16:28:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I was able to go down to St George for a little girl's weekend. I stopped and stayed at Ashlee's and got my hair done and then Saturday my mom and I drove to St George to stay with Aimee. We were able to meet up for lunch with Tawni, Stella, Cher, Hudson, Kami and Jax. We went to one of our favorite spots, Pancho and Lefty's and had a wonderful time. I miss them all so much and was glad I got to spend a little time with them. We had a baby shower for my cousin's wife Jamie. It was fun to be able to see some of my aunts and cousins, Dusty and Mandie and their kids and Micah and Angie and their kids.... it was chaos as usual, just how we like it!

Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-16T15:47:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day this year. Brandon has been wanting a Blue Ray player for a long time and I thought it would be fun to surprise him with one. He brought me these beautiful flowers (notice the heart shape made with the green plant....adorable) We spent the day doing a few home improvement projects in our master bathroom and then we went to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, it was yummy as always! Later that night we watched Nights in Rodanthe, not the best "romantic movie", but we both liked it. I love Brandon so much and am so lucky to have such a loving, patient,sweet and romantic husband. What a fun holiday to celebrate our love together!

My Birthday Surprise

2009-02-06T14:56:00.001-08:00

Well, it official. I am a whole year older and I actually really enjoyed my birthday this year. Brandon and my family were all working against me and they surprised me completely. I was told that we were heading to Panguitch for the weekend to celebrate my birthday. I was all packed up and ready to go at 3pm but Brandon kept stalling and by the time he got to the bank to get me it was 3:45pm. For those of you who know me, you already know that I do not like to be late and I was pretty annoyed that we were getting on the road so much later than I had planned. We still had to drive out to the house to get my car that had all the luggage in it.

The best part was that my mom, Dusty, Mandie, Aimee, Ashlee, and all their kids drove up to surprise me and they were waiting in our kitchen (which was totally decorated by Brandon) They all jumped up and yelled surprise! It was so wonderful and I couldn't have been more happy.

Here are some pictures from my "surprise party!"

Plus Brandon gave me a present that I was ThRiLLeD AbOuT ...

Now the trick is just getting Brandon to stop "playing" it all the time!

Introduction

2009-01-30T00:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am finally giving in to peer pressure. My friends and family (mostly Tawni) have been bugging me to start a blog for several months now. I keep putting it off because I don't ever remember to take pictures when we are doing something, and I feel like our lives are not that interesting. However, I have been told that the blog would be a great way to stay in touch with those who we don't get to see very often and that even if I don't think my posts are interesting, everybody else will.

And so it is happening, Brandon and I are officially joining the blogging world ...