No I'm not a slave driver....

She totally wanted to do this and before she started the dishes she vacuumed the living room AND the couches. Yes I'm hiring her out, her fee's are probably low, but depending on where you live there will be a delivery charge =0) ( and yes she is wearing goggles on her head, why? I have no idea!)

And a few weeks ago I went to our wards Super Saturday...I finally finished one of the projects....Yes only 31 days till Christmas, I need to start shopping!!
and as soon as I drill the other one together I'll post that picture...

The Magical World of Disney!!

Wow! I've had no energy to blog, not that it really takes any but I just haven't really wanted to, I've been kinda behind on the reading to but I think I'm caught up now on the fun things that have been happening in all your lives. Now to try to catch up on what's been happening around here...

In October we went on a much needed vacation and this one of course we HAD to take the kids along with this one...
Yes we drove all 921 miles to Disneyland!! it was such a long drive but we drove most of it at night so the kids slept most of the way, that made it MUCH better and when they were awake the DVD player was on.

As soon as we got there of course the first thing Chloe wanted to do was to go see the Princesses

A few weeks before we went to Disney Chloe kept asking me if everyone that will be there are the real ones or other people just dressed up in costumes...What was I supposed to say?! so I said Of course they're the real ones!! (I couldn't ruin it she's only 4!) But when she got there as she stood in line she told me all the things she wanted to tell or ask the princesses, but once we got in side after about an hour of waiting I think she was a little star struck and didn't ask anything she just stared and handed them her little autograph book! it was so cute, when she got to Princess Jasmine, she asked Chloe if she liked butterflies, Chloe said yes, and then Jasmine said "oh well sometime you should come to my castle and see all my butterflies, there are lots there" Chloe was very quiet through the whole thing but as soon as we got out she said "WE HAVE TO GO TO JASMINE'S CASTLE SOMETIME!!" I told her it was very far way and I don't think we'd be able to make it anytime soon but maybe someday ;) it was so fun!

After that she wanted to go to Pixie Hollow, but that line was about an hour wait to, so we went on some rides and kept checking back for shorter lines. The lines for the rides were not bad at all, about 10-15 minutes! I think the longest line was the Peter Pan ride, that one was about an hour.

I think Small World was the kids' favorite there was never a line for this one so after all the scary rides we'd go on this one to make up for it,(I eventually recorded he whole ride so they could watch it at home =) ) and yes we took both our children in the Haunted House, (how mean are we?) but they found some of the kid rides scary mostly ones that had doors that swung open with something flashing or something big and scary right as they opened. They really liked the Monsters Inc. ride at California Adventure, that one was pretty cool, I could tell right at first though they both were waiting for something scary to happen. =) They also **LOVED** Turtle Talk with Crush! that was awesome!!! He came out and actually talked to the kids, they got to ask him questions and even played hide and seek with them!

Here are a few of the characters we saw...

Peter pan, with the White Rabbit running up behind.

This lady was a worker at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique but she was out giving people wishes with her wand and Chloe thought she was the Fairy Godmother. I sure hope Chloe's wish came true
I know not to many pictures had Brayden in them but I do have a good reason...most of them looked like this...

this one was while we were waiting for the Muppets 3d movie to start. Good thing that one was indoor so he could run around alittle bit while we waited. He was always so happy to get out of his stroller and once he was he would not stay still, we almost lost him while we were standing in line for the Nemo Submarine, Vince had to jump the fence to grab Brayden before he got to far! But here is one of him driving Donalds house boat that isn't blurry, to bad he isn't looking at the camera.

We had so much fun and wanted to stay, Chloe actually asked if we could move there, Vince said "work is in Rexburg so that's where we have to live" Chloe's reply was the best she said "well dad if moved down here, I could work decorating peoples rooms with glittler and sparkles" How sweet is that?! she's only 4 and thought about taking a job in california to support us! she's such a sweetie! I wish we could move down there, it's was about 80 degrees the whole time! PERFECT!!!!
we spent 2 days in Disneyland and then drove to San Diego to see Vince's Aunt, she has got the hook up for the San Diego Zoo so we got to go there free and see the animals with a private tour guide =) she was great she knew about all the animals and thier names, they were so cute! I'll have to have another post just for the zoo!

It's been a while since my last post, it's been so nice and we've been having so much fun I haven't really wanted to blog, but now wish I would have cause I don't really know where to start. So I'll jsut start rambling about some things that I have pictures of. (I did forget my camera half the time)
My sister-in-law and family came to visit us on their way to a family reunion, we had so much fun spending a couple days with them, I just wish I had taken pictures of the kids together, they had so much fun, and not much sleep, we would put them to bed and hear them talking and giggling upstairs for awhile before they would actually fall asleep. This is the only picture I took and I know it's of Brayden but I had to take it we went to eat dinner at Wingers and we got a free asphalt pie and Brayden LOVED the whip cream!
On the 3rd Chloe started swimming lessons, and since there is NOTHING here in the rexburg, we drive to Idaho falls everyday oh well, it's actually kinda cool to bring your kids to the exact same place you had lessons as a kid. Chloe is doing so much better than I thought she would, as much as she hates getting her face wet, she'll blow bubbles, jump into the deep end, and yes, put her face in and go under water!! she only has a few days left and I know she'll miss it. she's loved it. This picture I took on thier "safety day" they all wore life jackets and learned about emergencies. (I'm hoping on the last day she'll jump off the diving board)


I've been wanting to go the Farmers Market for while and I finally went, and I'm so glad I did, I got some really yummy stuff! and Chloe got her face painted along with 2 other of her friends who were there. She was so patient while I shopped around first and when she got to the booth she had a hard time picking out what she wanted, but ended up with the purple butterfly. She loved it It was really funny cause she'd ask me every few minutes if her "makeup" was still on and looked good. When it got really late, she kept crying about everything and I'd get her to stop by saying "your gonna smear your makeup" and she'd instantly start binking her eye's really fast and stop. although she had a few smears at the end of the day it still looked pretty good. and since she ♥ it so much I let her sleep in it and keep it on all day saturday she cried while I washed it off in the tub, she was so upset I think I'll have to go buy some face paints and practice. :)
And our little monkey started walking!!...this video is one of the first steps, he is so proud of himself :) he's gotten alot better now and will go alot farther.

what we've been up to

Wow! It's been so long since my last post I've been thinking alot lately about posting but don't even know where to start! I just finished moving all my pictures from my camera onto my computer so I'll just post some pics so you can see what we've been up to.

Having picnics outside with friends(on the warm days)

Swimming...again on the warm days (where did they go?)
Isn't this baby pool so cute? I got it for like 10 buck at Walmart! and I love the shade that it makes for Brayden!! he loved it he sat in there for quite a while!

Riding horses at Grandpa's And at the Circus

The circus was really actually pretty cool for a circus in Rexburg Idaho :) it was better than I expected. They had tigers and lions jumping through fire rings, bears and of course elephants! They also had the cool stunt people...this guy in the video was pretty cool,(it was the best video I had out of all of them) I was getting dizzy watching him. Also they had these 2 guys doing acrobatics on these silk ropes and one guys rope ripped while he was on the top!! I barely missed it I just saw him laying down, the light go off and everybody running over there and then the paramedics came and he left in the ambulance. They also had 3 guys on motor bikes in a circular cage going around in circles and overtop eachother it was really cool.

We also took a trip to Shoshone Falls. has anybody even heard of these?(they are towards Boise) They are really cool waterfalls, we were told that alot of the water is used for irrigating so the waterfalls weren't even at their best! I guess all the rocks are usually covered with water. There were also some Indian Ice Caves that we wante to go see, but we didn't bring jackets for that, so we'll have to do another trip up there sometime.

Chloe got a butterfly tree house for her birthday. You send in a coupon and you get 5 baby caterpillars in the mail (but only 4 made it) we watched them spin their cocoons and then one morning we woke up and they were flying around, she loved it, we kept them inside for a couple days and then released them.

This picture I took on our way home from the falls, Chloe fell asleep and leaned over on Brayden and when he woke up he kept laughing at her and poking her in the face, it was really funny, and she didnt even wake up through it. :)

Our Olympian Chloe...

Chloe has been in Gymnastics since the end of January. On the 11th of this month she participated in the Spring Olympics!!! it was so cute!! They started out with all the different teams walking into the gym to music and a poster with their team name on it, Chloe's team was called "The Olympians" then they went around to all the different equipment to show off their stuff. Chloe did so good, but since everybody was standing around her watching and cheering her on, I could tell she was a little bit nervous so she looked really stiff on the balance beams which she loves!! but she did awesome an everything!! At the end they had their team stand on the #1 block and they got medals and a treat!





She's been loving this beautiful weather! As soon as she wakes up she's asking to go outside and look for friends, if nobody's out she'll start knocking on doors (sorry neighbors). These past few days we've been having picnics outside and running in the sprinklers!!

(the inflatable water slide)

And at the young age of 3 she's already been spoken for...sorry boys. Dylan, her current "boyfriend" has announced many times (in church) that he is going to marry Chloe. While Vince was home teaching their family a few months ago, Dylan asks..."Vince, can I marry Chloe?" Vince said "we'll have to see about that" he didn't like that answer, it had to be a yes! Also the other day they were at a birthday party, they were waiting in line at the giant inflatable slide and he had his arm around her, after the party he walked her up to our door, grabbed her hand and kissed it!! then they hugged!! I couldn't believe it! it was so cute, but hopefully something that wont go any farther then that!!

(Chloe and Dylan)

She's been such a good big sister to Brayden making sure that he only eats what is age appropriate, and double checking with me if it's ok to give him something off her plate. The other day in the car, Brayden had pulled a receipt out of the diaper bag and started to eat it, Chloe took it away and told me that Brayden couldn't eat paper yet...yet?? when can he eat it?? she's so funny. She's always giving him hugs and kisses and making him laugh, he loves he so much and is always interested in the things that she is doing.

She'll be turning 4 on Sunday...crazy! I can't believe she's getting so big!!

All about Mr. Brayden

Poor little Brayden has had a cough for about a week, Thursday night I noticed his cough was starting to sound like he was getting Bronchitis again!! Friday it was still bad and while he was sitting on my lap quietly, I noticed he was wheezing! I remembered when he had Bronchitis in December the doctor told us if we noticed any wheezing we were to bring him back ASAP!! I guess if it goes untreated he can get pneumonia! not good. So since it was Friday at like 4:00pm and our doctor is in IF I took him to Community Care, (I'm so glad I got the doctor there that I like) He looked him over really good and listened to him and said he was pretty wheezy and said we had to do breathing treatments. I thought that I was gonna have to go to the hospital or somewhere everyday to do this, but then he asked "have you ever used a nebulizer?" I was like I've heard the word before but didn't know what if was for. So I was sent home with a nebulizer and some instructions on how to use it and to do it every 4 hours. I thought it was gonna be some tourture thing for him and he'd scream through the whole thing, but he actually is very good through it and now knows what to do when he sees it, he'll grab the tubes and shove them in his mouth...what a smart little boy!!

The nebulizer

The first treatment

On top of all that he also has an ear infection and he's teething! but he is still the happiest baby on the planet!!
He's been scooting all over the place, he gets around pretty fast and is getting into everything pulling everything he can get his chunky hands onto over! he can't quite pull himself up all the way yet, he makes it to his knees and can't figure out what to do next! He's quite the adventurous baby, going all over the house exploring his new world. (Chloe never left the living room unless I carried her somewhere else) I think I'll have my hands full with this little guy. Hopefully he won't figure out how to walk and even worse, run any time soon!! ;)

**stay tuned for a post about our little Olympian!! hopefully I can get the video camera to cooperate.

Before I was a Mom..

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small

could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

t he heartache,
the wonderment

or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom .

Brayden is loving his big sister more and more everyday, he is constantly watching everything she does and laughs so hard. He gets so happy when she climbs in the car next to him after preschool and he'll get a huge smile on his face when she says hi to him. He'll scoot over to her when she's playing on the floor to see what she's doing. One night he was up late and just stared up the stairs, every couple minutes he would yell just one little yell, wait and listen and then do it again like he was trying to wake up Chloe to play...silly boy! I'm so glad she is being such a good big sister to him, and she helps out a ton! I just hope they love each other just as much when they get older.

Here is a video I took one morning of Chloe playing with a kids meal toy while Brayden sat in his highchair after breakfast. The toy if you can't tell is this swirly stick with 3 little frizbies(sp?) that would fly off and spin around when she pushed them up. He loved it.

birthday party and disney on ice

we had a fun weekend finally, it was nice to have a change. Saturday Chloe's friend had a birthday party, which she can't stop talking about, it was a Scooby Doo theme, and a ghost stole the birthday cake so the kids had to go around to find the clues that led them to the cake, she loved it, (thanks Jen!) Chloe has been talking about what kind of birthday party she is going to have next month, it was always a princess party, but it has now changed to a scooby-doo party, she has it planned and everything, with Vince being the ghost, and me telling everybody the cake it gone :) maybe we can change her mind within the month so the kids here can enjoy a different party.

On Sunday we drove to Utah to catch the last show of Disney On Ice! The trip down was a bit crazy, I will now pack an extra pair of clothes for Chloe from now on, in case she gets car sick again, not fun!! We had to stop in Ogden to buy new clothes. Once we got there she had a blast!! Brayden even sat and watched, I was wondering how he was going to be through the whole thing.

Chloe waiting for the show to start

The stage, it had a little elevator thing that had to characters go up and down, she thought that was pretty cool.

THE SHOWS
The little Mermaid

Chloe loved the big Ursula

The Lion King

Lilo and Stitch
Peter Pan
(chasing his shadow)flying to NeverLand

the pirates

the lost boys at thier tree house

Captain Hook getting eaten by the crocodile