Bullock Family

It's 2011 and time for an update!

2011-02-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

I wasn't really sure where to start when I decided to finally put some pictures on here. So I went to October & November of 2010 and picked out some of my favorites...

Jared is growing like crazy! He is 9 1/2 months and is 31 inches long, which makes him 99% for height. He is so smiley and lots of fun right now. I just wish he would stay asleep at night. Unfortunately, he doesn't want anything to do with a pacifier.

My little Laura got glasses back in October I guess it was. Sometimes I forget because she usually just wears them at school. I thought she and my mom looked so cute in their glasses as they sat there reading together. I also decided David is too big to still be wearing footy jammies. Looks a little funny, but he loves them.

Laura and her cousin Many at there dance recital in November. They had a great time and had a fun year doing dance together. I'm glad they'll have this fun memory.

I think this is the only picture I have of all my boys with my dad. It's not very often that everyone is in a good mood and ready for a picture when grandpa is over, so I couldn't let the opportunity pass.

A couple months ago Mike decided it was time to get David out there on his bike and really learn how to ride it. I was so proud of him. He was so excited and proud of himself too.

Oh how I love these cute boys!

The frown! So sad, but so cute!Costumes for Halloween were kind of thrown together at the last minute this year. Thanks to aunt Kate, Laura had this cute Little Red Riding Hood costume to wear.

Grandma Nancy & Grandpa came over and all I could get was Laura, David and Jared to be in the picture.

Well, somewhere are pictures from our trip to Sea World and the beach. That's where we went for October break. Maybe I'll find them and then I can move on to Christmas and maybe even get to 2011!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2010-11-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

Jacob turned 2 the end of September, so this is a little late. Two of his cousins have the same birthday. Rosie and Rhonda both had their babies on Sept. 25th last year. It was funny because neither of them were due until October.

Jacob got a Barney book that played songs and he LOVED it! We had fun singing the Barney theme song over and over. Two is an interesting age, because he brings me SO much joy and is SO much fun, he is also a 2 year old and can bring me MUCH frustration! I love these boys and I know they are going to grow up so quickly, so I really try to cherish the time I have with them while they're little.

David

2010-10-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

1st Day of Preschool

Now that we are well into the school year, I should talk about what David is doing. He is doing one more year of preschool this year. His teacher is Miss Renay and he is loving it. Laura had her too, so they like to talk about it together.

David is an absolute sweetheart! I have called him my little sweetheart ever since he was a little toddler. Every night before bed I would always say goodnight sweetheart and if I forgot to say it, he would say "hee heart". Anyway, he just loves and adores little Jared. He's always willing to help with the baby.

This picture makes me laugh, because he is constantly sneaking into every picture I try to take of Jared.

First Day of School

2010-09-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

First day of 1st grade!

Now that we're a few weeks into school Laura is doing really well. It took a few weeks for her to adjust to ALL DAY first grade instead of half day kindergarten. There was alot of complaining about it being so long and so hot and missing mom. I don't blame her for feeling that way because it really is a big change from what the summer was. She is definitely alot more positive when she talks about school now. She really is growing up so fast. Where does the time go?

Oh my goodness, I have 4 kids and it's crazy!

I think one of my favorite things to do is to get all the kids on the couch and see if I can get them all to look and smile at the same time

Time for an update

2010-08-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Jared was about 2 weeks old in these pictures. I clearly haven't gotten around to updating my blog since he is now 3 months. Anyway, I love these pictures! This really great lady in my ward took them. Thanks Debe

Welcome Baby Jared!

2010-05-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

Jared Gardner Bullock

Born: Thursday April 29th

Weighed: 8lbs 5oz

A few days old

1 week old

Happy Birthday David!

2010-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

David turned 4 on December 9th! I can't believe the big boy that he is growing up to be. I'm not suprised though, we know he got his great-grandpa Gardner's genes. He will always be my little sweet heart though.

There is quite a crew when all the cousins get together. This really isn't even all of them. They have a great time together.

The hightlight was his new bike!

Halloween Fun!

2009-12-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

Halloween was so much fun this year. My mother-in-law Nancy and I had so much fun putting Laura and David's costumes together. Ever since David was a baby, Laura has loved the movie Mary Poppins. As a little 2 year old she would sing and dance around as she watched it. It was so much fun to watch her because Mary Poppins was one of my favorite movies to watch when I was growing up. As they have gotten older David has really enjoyed watching it too. So when they were trying to decide what to be for Halloween, I threw out the idea of Mary Poppins & Bert (as the chimney sweep). They were so excited. So all through Ocotber we were constantly quoting lines from the movie and singing the songs. We all had so much fun.

Jacob's face lights up every time we sit down to read a Winnie the Pooh book, so I thought that was the perfect costume for him. Looks like Winnie the Pooh had too much honey that night.

This year we went to the pumpkin patch at night, which was much cooler. The kids had a great time as always.

One of David's favorite things is tractors, so he really loves getting to sit on a REAL one. I love how excited he gets

And of course it doesn't seem like Halloween until you've made a jack-o-lantern.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2009-09-29T08:01:00.001-07:00

My baby turned 1 on Sept. 25! What a year it's been. This age is so fun to watch his little personality grow. Especially watching him become more independent. I love to watch him play trucks and trains on the floor with Laura and David. He'll push a car along in each hand while he crawls around and makes a motor sound with his mouth. So funny. It's all the little things that make motherhood such a joy.

My sweet baby boy.

Mommy made a homemade carrot cake. Super yummy!

He looks like he's not so sure of it. He got into it eventually.

I think all the siblings and cousins have more fun opening presents at a 1 year olds party, because the 1 year old doesn't know what's going on and that everyone else is taking off to go play with their new toys.

1st Day of Preschool!

2009-09-05T22:51:00.001-07:00

Well it's official, both of the kids have now started the school year. David was so anxious for preschool to start. His first day was Monday and he was so excited all morning. When we got there he was so eager to get inside. I'm sure it was because of all the toys he remembered seeing there last week. It was kind of sad to drop him off, I'm used to him always being with me. Hopefully I'll adjust. He just grew up so fast! He's my little sweethart.

1st Day of Kindergarten!

2009-08-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Laura's first day of Kindergarten! She has been waiting for this day for so long. She had been counting down the days for the last week, looking at the calendar everyday. She said she had a good day and liked everything about it, so that's a relief. She did say it seemed a little long. I guess it's a good thing she's only in 1/2 day! Anyway, today when I pulled up to drop her off, she asked if she could just go by herself. She's already ready to cut me off from the classroom drop off! So I said, how about tomorrow you can, mostly because I still wanted to be involved and walk her to class. What can I say, she's my first. It's fun to see her grow and become more independent. She seemed so confident and sure of herself yesterday. I think that helped me not to feel too sad or worried about her. I hope it continues and she has a great year.

Preschool Graduation

2009-07-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

The one field trip I was able to go on with Laura's preschool class was to the fire station. Laura's teacher said I could bring David along. I think Daid was more excited about going than Laura was.

You can tell David (on the far right) is a little youger than the rest of the kids.

David was so excited when they got to spray the hose and get inside the fire truck. I'm really glad he got to go.

When I told David he was going to come with me to Laura's preschool gradutaion, he got all excited and went to grab his backpack. I think all he heard was that he was going to school. So when we got there he walked right up to the front with the rest of the class, as though he was in the program. Miss Renay said he was fine to sit up there with the class, so he just sat up there the whole time, singing when he knew the songs. It was so cute.

One of the parts in the program was where they acted out the book, Caps for Sale. Laura knows that book really well, so she had fun being one of the monkeys.

Laura had a really fun year with Miss Renay. I know she loves her and will miss her.

Happy Anniversary Mike!

2009-04-18T08:24:00.001-07:00

Me and Mike celebrated our 7th anniversary on April 13th. Seven years really doesn't seem like that many years, but when I think back at everything that's happened, all the fun times, great memories (especially from our 3 week super trip) and 3 wonderful children, our wedding day does seem like it was so long ago. I'm so glad we've gotten to share it all together.

Love you Mike. This was a day or two after our wedding up in Sedona. It is so beautiful up there. This was at the top of one of our hikes. You can't really tell from the picture, but I remember thinking we were going to get blown away because it was so windy up there. We had such good time that we decided to go back the next year for our 1st anniversary.

Happy Birthday Laura!

2009-04-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Laura's Birthday was March 24th and she turned the big 5! We had a party for her with all the family and cousins the Saturday before. We've had an Easter Egg hunt the last couple of years, which was alot of fun for the kids. We did it again this year even though Easter wasn't as close to her birthday this time. She told me she had alot of fun which I was happy to hear.

Laura had alot of fun with her presents.

Aunt Melanie, Emily and Jane were so nice to bring a present they knew that David would really enjoy. It's hard when your 3 and see your sibling get a bunch of new toys all on the same day, so he was excited for all the tools.

Laura had a great time playing with everyone. She is such a happy girl.

Jacob turned 6 months old the day after Laura's birthday. He sure keeps me busy all day. I'm really good at juggling him around from one thing to another. He doesn't really like to stay doing one thing for very long. Which, as any mom knows, makes it hard to get anything done. He is a happy little guy though and I love his sweet smile.

Uncle Dave was trying to steel Laura's thunder by bringing his new chuckwala, however you spell it.

We took Laura out to dinner on her actual birthday with grandma Bradshaw. We don't go out very often with all the kids, so it was fun to see them excited to go to a restaurant. We had a very nice evening. I'm glad Laura had fun birthday.

Daddy's little girl.

2009-02-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

So, I guess it's pretty obvious that updating my blog hasn't been #1 on my priority list. I think I've pretty much been in survival mode these last few months. Me and Mike have been taking turns having strep throat, cold's and allergies while the kids have been dealing with having to do breathing treatments and having ear infections. I really thought that our family was pretty healthy overall, but after this last month I'm beginning to wonder. Even as I sit here and type, I can hardly breathe out my nose, so I wonder what I'm going to het this time! I'm a little baffled by this because I usually never get sick. I guess I should just accept the fact that this is how the winter months are going to be. ANYWAY...

about the picture...This is me and my sister Rhonda after we finished running the Turkey Trot 10k on Thanksgiving. I must say that I had no plans of running a a 10k just 2 months earlier right after I had Jacob. I actually did not have this plan until about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving when I was talking to Rhonda on the phone. She told me how she had just ran in a 10k the day before in Las Vegas (where she is living right now). I was very suprised because I had no idea she had been training for a race. Well it turns out she hadn't been training and had only gone out for a few runs before the race. She knew she wasn't even close to being in her best shape possible, but she did it anyway. Then that's when she said she was planning on running in the Turkey Trot when she came here for Thanksgivng and was totally convinced that I should run it with her. I shot that idea down right away. Now Rhonda was an awsome mid-distance runner in track and cross country in high school. I however, was a sprinter in track and had never even ran more than a mile at a time in my life. I always thought that I was never meant to be a distance runner. So I tried to give her every excuse I could, mostly how I was in the worst shape ever and hadn't moved faster than a catepillar in over a year. Well somehow after I got off the phone, those thoughts of doubt I was having turned into wanting to take on this challenge. I felt really curious to know how well I would do running 6 miles with only 2 weeks to train. I'll leave out alot of the details and just get to the race. I was so sure that I would'nt be able to keep up with her the whole time and that at some point she would take off without me and that I would end up walking half the time. Well to my suprise, we stayed together the whole race and we only stopped to walk at the 5 mile mark for about 2 minutes. I even ended up finishing about 15 minutes faster than I thought I would. I was so proud of myself! I learned a big lesson here, that is that I think alot of times we set limits for ourselves and don't even think we're capable of certain things. I'm just glad that I pushed myself to step out of my comfort zone (along with some pressure from Rhonda )and now have a great memory of me and my sister.

October

2008-12-16T20:04:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a little late with all the October fun considering Christmas is next week. Oh well, better late than never. I guess I've been focusing more on this transition time with baby #3. There have been alot of fun and happy times these last few months, however we have had our share of challenges and frustrations. Most importantly, little Jacob is doing great. He'll be 3 months old on Christmas day. The kids always have fun at the pumpkin patch.
This year instead of carving a pumpkin we just let the kids paint their own pumpkin. I think it was just as much fun for them, maybe even more.

This year Laura was Princess Jasmine and David was Scooby Doo. He was actually only Scooby Doo for about 5 minutes. When it was time to head out the door for trick-or-treating he was ready to take it off. He was so cute, he would say "snooby doo".

Laura at preschool.

We can't forget Jacob! He decided to sleep most of the night.

Welcome Baby Jacob!

2008-10-11T14:16:00.001-07:00

We're so excited that little Jacob is finally here! Jacob was born Sept. 25 at 2:15pm. He weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He's a healthy little boy and doing great. We feel very blessed.

He's about 10 days old in all of these

woops, turned a little sideways

I think he's looking more and more like Mike everyday.

Laura absolutely adores Jacob. She wants to hold him and give him kisses all day long. It's so cute.

There will be lot's more pictures to come...

Back to school!

2008-09-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

I know most everyone has already been back in school for a month, but Laura had to wait until Sept. for preschool to start. It seemed like an eternity for her, especially since she knew everyone else was back in school. She was very excited when the first day finally arrived.

At the beginning of the summer we had a big repair done on Mike's truck and thought everything was going to be fine. I think it was only a week or two later that something else really big came up which was going to cost even more to repair. So we decided we didn't want to put anymore money into repairing this truck since it seems to be one thing after another. So we were down to one car while Mike was deciding what to do about this truck. Luckily Mike's parents just so happened to have this lovely 1978 Lincoln available for Mike to drive. So the first morning Mike went out to get in the car and drive to work, he found a piece of paper on the windshield that said, "I always knew you were a pimp". He looked up just in time to see our neighbor walking back inside his house. We're always joking around with them. We all had a good laugh.

I only have a little over 2 weeks to go! However, I don't think I'm going to make it all the way to my due date (Sept. 27). When I went to the doctor on Friday he said I could go into labor any time! I wasnt' quite ready for him to say "anytime". I guess he'll come when he's ready. I am definitely excited, but at the same time a little nervous about baby #3. I've heard some mom's say their 3rd was the hardest or the biggest adjustment. I'm hoping for an angel baby!

End of summer update

2008-08-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, swim lessons have come and gone and the kids both did great! Laura took lessons last year, but this was David's first summer. He was a little hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for him to really love it. Even though there were many hot and sweaty days for me sitting and watching, I really enjoyed watching them every day. It was fun to see them get better and better every week. I was so proud them!

A few Saturday's ago we went up to Payson for the day with my brother Dave and his family. There's a great place up there we like to go with a playground and big open grassy area where the kids love to just run and play. First we went and got some lunch then took it to the park for a little picnic and then let the kids run around and play for a while. Me and Jilynn enjoyed watching Mike, Dave and the kids get alot of exercise having races and kicking the ball around.

Laura and her cousin Robyn.

We even found some ducks and geese to feed across the street.

David didn't want to leave. He was quite fascinated by the big geese.

I finally got some pictures taken of Laura and her hampster (Snowball). Laura really loves her hampster. She gets so excited every time we take her out to play. It's fun to see Laura be so excited about taking care of her little pet.

Me and Mike are so excited! David is oficially a "big boy." He's potty trained AND sleeping in a toddler bed. David was so excited to go buy his big boy bed and help daddy put it together. We weren't sure if he was going to want to sleep in it that first night, so we gave him a choice and he picked the toddler bed. He hasn't talked about the crib since! The part I'm loving is that he's taking naps in it too. I hope he'll keep that up once the new baby comes. We're getting closer. I'm 36 weeks now, so about 4 weeks to go!

My First Memory Lane Ever!

2008-07-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm stealing this from several of my good friends. (Now I realize that I am not the most frequent blogger, so I may not get any responses for quite some time, but that's ok I'll be patient).

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Summer Fun!

2008-07-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

My sister Rhonda has been in town visiting the past few weeks over the 4th of July. Since she was here on her birthday which is the 3rd of July, me, my mom and sister all went out for the evening. We had a great time going to dinner, shopping and frozen yogurt.

For 4th of July evening we went out to my brothers for dinner and hanging out.

Laura actually took this picture. I thought she did a really good job.

We decided instead of fighting the crowds, we would see what kind of fireworks we could see from Dave's house. So we set up chairs on the drive way and could actually see several different firework shows. Of course none of them were very close, but I think the kids still had a fun time. It felt nice just sitting outside since it was so much cooler that night.

4th of July day we finally got the kid pool set up in the back yard and had Rhonda, Joe and their kids over.

The water felt so good that me and Rhonda decided to join the kids. It was actually nice and relaxing. Who knew that a kid pool could be so much for the mommys too.

I couldn't get over how cute Owen looked in his hat and glasses.

Mike and Joe decided they were too cool for the pool and opted for sitting in the shade. That probably would have looked a little funny if the daddy's got in too.

A few weeks ago we finally went camping with Mike's friend Mike Sherwood and his family. They just moved here to Arizona and don't have any family here, so we thought we'd show them a little bit of Arizona.

We camped up by the fish hatchery and found a good spot by the creek. The kids loved playing down there by the water. Here is Mike and his wife Tia and their daughter AnnaBell along with my Mike and kids.

The kids just wanted to sit and throw rocks forever.

I think David wanted to see just how dirty he could get. We literally saw him lay down in the dirt and roll back and forth just for the heck of it I guess.

We bought the kids their first sleeping bags for the trip which they were very excited about sleeping in. This was also David's first time to not sleep in a crib. It took him about an hour of wondering around inside the tent before he could finally relax and lay down. We thought he would never go to sleep.

About a month ago Mike rented an airator (or however you spell it) to help the lawn. David was so fascinated with it. I think it scared him at first because it was so loud. I think it was definitely louder than the lawn mower. He always loves helping daddy out in the yard.

I walked outside to bring Mike a drink and this is what I saw. It looked so funny seeing David who wanted to be out their with Mike so much, but still being a little scared of the noise and having to cover his ears

About a month ago we got our first pet. Yes, we got a hamster. This was the night we got it. I don't think the hamster is actually in this picture. We must have just gotten the cage set up here. The kids were super excited. The kids love getting her out and playing with her. That's right it's a girl and her name is Snowball. Maybe I'll actually get a picture of her one of these days.

Ok, since I heard that Krispy Kreme reopened I decided we needed to introduce the kids to the yummy krispy kreme donuts. Actually, I think it's really that I'm pregnant and I think I can eat whatever the heck I want and donuts have been sounding really good to me. So, needless to say we've made a few trips to get donuts this summer. Well maybe more than a few.

Memorial Day...

2008-06-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

At the fish hatchery

David liked the fish but...

The construction truck sitting right there was much more interesting to him.

The kids found a great tree while we were eating lunch. You can't tell from this picture, but they were probably 5 or 6 feet off the ground sitting on this branch.

Me and mom at the cabin (story below).

Now I know it hasn't quite been a month yet, but I thought what the heck I'm going to update my blog anyway. So starting with Memorial day, we took a day trip up past Payson to the fish hatchery and Christopher Creek. We went with my brother Dave and his family and my mom came too. The kids had a lot of fun watching the fish and feeding them too. Afterward we went and found a nice spot for a picnic. It was such a beautiful day up there, sitting in pines by the creek, kids running around playing with their cousins. We had a great time. But before we left to come home, we drove up the road to Christopher Creek which is a place that's very sentimental to me and my family. We have a lot of memories there. Here's the story: My mom is an only child and her parents (my grandma and grandpa Walker) built a cabin in Christopher Creek when I was very small. That's one of things that my grandpa did was build houses, so he and my grandma literally built this cabin just the two of them. So me and my brother and sisters have so many great memories of going up to the cabin, especially in the summer time for weeks at a time. I know that me and my siblings all felt very close to grandma and grandpa Walker for all the time we got to spend with them at the cabin over the years and especially because the 4 of us were their only grandchildren. Eventually when my grandparents both passed away the cabin was then left to my parents. Unfortunately, by this time me and my siblings were all older teenagers and had jobs and were very much into dating and our social lives. So obviously we weren't visiting the cabin nearly as much and therefore the cabin wasn't being maintained as it needed to be. To make a long story short, my mom had to make a decision which was the hardest decision she had ever made and that was to sell the cabin. (ok I'm getting teary just typing this) Anyway, within a few years of selling the cabin me and my siblings were all married and starting families of our own and wishing so desperately that we still had the cabin (Mike said if he had come into the picture just a few years earlier, there's no way he would have let my parents sell the cabin. Of course at the time it seemed like the thing we had to do). Ok, where was I? So it's been about 10 years since we sold the cabin and me and Mike had driven through and seen the Cabin when we first got married and of course I just started crying because all the memories came rushing back (ok I'm getting teary again). However my mom hadn't been back to Christopher Creek since she left the cabin for the last time. So when we got their, we decided to park the car and walk up the road to the cabin. When we got their we noticed that whoever owned the cabin now was their, so my mom decided she wanted to go up to the door. My mom told them that her parents built the cabin and so we began visiting with this couple who were so nice and invited us in. It was the wierdest thing to be there again after all these years. They told us that they had really enjoyed the cabin, but that it was really too big for them and that they would probably be selling it in the near future. And the cool thing is that they asked for my mom's name and number and said they would let her be the first to know! Ok the thought of having the cabin back in the family is so awsome. So we'll see what happens. It was quite a day.

What's been going on?

2008-05-21T21:47:00.001-07:00

Well...Where do I start? I guess there's a lot I could talk about when I've let almost 2 months go by. I'll start with some fun news. I had my ultrasound a few weeks ago and we found out we're having another boy! We're very excited. Here are a few more random events:

Happy Anniversary Mike!

April 13th was our 6th anniversary.

Laura got a hair cut. We chopped off 8 inches this time! She had several inches cut off last year too. That's alot of hair to cut off before she even turned 4. I loved her long hair, but I have to say that I love it short too, much easier to take care of.

I was hoping to get some cute Easter pictures outside before church, but that didn't happen. I did get some pictures the following Sunday. I was just lucky to get one where they're both standing next to eachother, not moving around and smiling.

Poor David got the chicken pox. NOT FUN! We're pretty sure it was a reaction to the vaccination he had gotten the month before. His arms and legs were covered. This picture definitely doesn't show how bad it really looked. I felt so bad for the poor little guy. Glad that's over with.

We finally got a minivan! Something we've been talking about doing for a while. I have to say, I love it. I didn't know I could be so excited about a minivan. So much room, no more bending over to put the kids in, automatic doors...it's great!

Somewhere in there I got the flu too. Sorry...no pictures.

Happy Birthday Laura!

2008-04-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Laura turned 4 on March 24, but we had her party on Saturday which was the day before Easter. I thought as part of the festivities that an Easter egg hunt would be appropriate. So grandma's and grandpa's and all the cousins came and brought their baskets and had a great time. Most of the kids were of course trying to find as many eggs as they could. Well, David could care less about the number of eggs he had, he just cared about the content inside the eggs. As soon as he found an egg, he sat down and proceeded to chow down on the jelly beans. Wish I had a picture.

I had to throw this one in. As I was looking back at all of Laura's baby pictures, I had such a great time remembering her crazy hair. Crazy hair that I didn't know what to do with! This picture was on her blessing day when she was a couple months old.

Back to the birthday party.

Now if anyone has been to Costco lately you have probably seen this airplane teeter totter on display. Well, Mike has been wanting to get this for the kids ever since he first saw it, so he took the opportunity while we were gone for spring break visiting Rhonda and bought it. The kids all had a great time on it.

Now, one more thing. I know I've taken even longer to post this time than I normally do. That's pretty sad. I've still got January stuff I need to post. It's probably because I usually try to blog in the evening after the kids go to bed. And for the last couple of months I can't stay up long enough to do anything. Mike keeps finding me asleep on the couch sometimes even before 9:00! That could only mean one thing....I'm pregnant! Yes baby #3 is coming in September and we are so excited!

Hope to get more updating done soon!

Sweet Grandma Bradshaw

2008-02-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

My sweet Grandma Bradshaw, who lived with my family for most all of my life, passed away a couple of weeks ago on January 26th. She was 92 years old. She was doing really well up until a couple of months ago when she was diagnosed with meningitis. She had a couple of times where she seemed to be doing better, but the longer she had to stay down in bed the weaker she became. At her age we knew it would be hard for her to make a full recovery. I was glad that I was able to take my kids and go up and see her a few times these last couple months. My grandma had lived with my family almost my whole life until shortly after I got married, she moved up to Prescott. She went up there to live at the Pioneer Home which is an assited living home. My grandma has a lot of fond memories of Prescott from when she lived there as a young teenager. When my grandma was only 13, she lost both of her parents within a couple months of eachother. It was then that she moved to Prescott to live with her older sister. I think she enjoyed the years that sshe pent living there and probably liked the idea of going back there to live again one day. Well, not long after grandma moved up to the Pioneer Home, she met a man named Larry who she became quite good friends with. When we would talk to her over the phone, it sounded like she was spending all of her time with him and that they loved the companionship of one another. They eventually decided that they wanted to get married! Keep in mind grandma was 88 years old (I think Larry was several years younger). I don't think any of us saw that coming, but when we went up there for the wedding, it was very clear that they were so happy together. It was so neat to see my grandma so happy, she couldn't stop smiling. She deserved all of this happiness especially after of all of the sad times she endured throughout her life. As the months went on after the wedding, we got to know Larry even better as we would go up and visit. It was so sweet to see the way that he cared for grandma. They both made eachother so happy. I feel kind of like we became Larry's family, especially because Larry had no grandchildren of his own. Grandma was always so happy when we came to visit and to see her great grandbabies brought her so much joy. There are so many wonderful things I could say about grandma. Me and my family were truely blessed to know her and be so close to her. She definitely blessed all of our lives in many ways and will be missed very much. My family will always be so grateful to Larry for making grandma's last few years such happy ones.

On their wedding day

Holiday fun with our families!

2008-01-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

A few days before Christmas my side of the family all got together to have a special family home evening. We had all the grandkids act out Luke 2 from the Bible. It was so cute and rather funny at times, especially when one of the wise men (Justin) took off with baby Jesus. So Mary (played by Mandy) took off after him fuming and yelling "Justin!" I was just happy that David who was supposed to be a wise man finally went and handed Mary some "gold" for baby Jesus.

Laura and Daisy were the shepherds. Cutest little shepherds ever with their little stuffed animal sheep.

Christmas Eve at Mike's parents house.

Laura and her cousins Hannah and Sariah singing Christmas carols for grandma.

My sister Rhonda, Joe and baby Owen visiting from Las Vegas. Joe almost has 2 years of Dental school done and then 2 to go. We're so glad when they come to visit. We miss you guys.

Laura and Danny have such a good time when they're together. Too bad we only see them a few times a year now.

My mom and my brother's little girl Isabelle. She is so sweet. She has the prettiest little brown eyes that twinkle when she smiles.

Rhonda and Owen. So many cute babies!

My sister Rosie and her one and only red-head, little Sammy and my mom. Sammy won't be the baby for very much longer. Rosie is due with baby #5 in May!

Decorating Christmas cookies with the gradkids at my mom's house.

You try and tell them to only put on a few sprinkles.

Lots of sprinkles eaten that day. But they sure had fun!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-21T21:03:00.000-08:00

We finally found some time to take a family picture last Friday, which also happened to be the first day in David's 2 years of life that he had NO nap. He was pretty much in a daze by the time we finally took pictures that evening . Laura on the other hand, was having a great time laughing at her cousin Robyn.

Busy Weekend!

2007-12-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday David!

David turned 2 on Sunday, but we had his party on Saturday. I can't believe my baby is 2!

He got right to work on the cake and ice cream

Friday night was our ward Chirstmas party and of course Santa was there. I asked Laura what she asked Santa for and she said a bear and a house. I knew about the bear because apparently mommy and daddy picked out a cheap-o bear last year that is now falling apart. However, I wasn't sure what she meant about the house. So I said, you mean a dollhouse and she said ,no, a new house. I'm thinking this is like on Miracle on 34th Street where Susan asks Santa for a real house. And then she says, a house like Austins. You see Austin is Laura's friend in our ward and at there house they have this awsome slide that starts half way down the staircase and goes down into the basement. Maybe one day. I hope this year she'll be happy with and art easel and Barbie Island Princess!

Mike was busy chasing David when it was our turn with Santa, so we got him by the Christmas tree instead.

This is Carrie, she was my roommate at BYU. We also went on a 2 week church history tour together. She came down to visit for the weekend from Washington. It was so good to see her again. We had so much fun together and lots of fun memories.

Sunday night was dinner at my parents with Rosie and Dave and their families. Afterwards the grandkids helped grandma and grandpa decorate their tree.

Here's my brother Dave and his baby Isabelle

Las Vegas trip #1

2007-11-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

In the last couple of months, we have been to Las Vegas twice to visit my sister Rhonda. Her husband Joe is in dental school and she just had her 3rd baby a couple months ago. They named him Owen and he is so darn cute. Her other 2 kids, Danny and Daisy are the same ages as Laura and David, so the cousins were very excited to see eachother again. Joe had a break from school while we were there, so we actually got to hang out with Rhonda AND Joe. We all had a lot of fun, it was a good trip. Vegas trip #2 will be coming soon.

Laura and her new cousin Owen.

Me and my new little nephew.

My guys!

Laura and Danny

Daisy and David

The first night that we were there, Rhonda and Joe were so nice to watch our kids so we could go out. Mike made reservations at the Mesa Grill inside Cesars Palace which is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants for all you Food Network fans out there.

Here we are at dinner.

I had to get a picture of Mike and his steak, he was so excited.

The Bellagio! The water show was great, I think we stayed and watched it a couple of times.

I kept thinking of Ocean's Eleven.

Inside the Bellagio.

Here we have the ceiling.

The rose garden was so pretty.

Then, we went to the Venitian and Mike suprised me with a gondolla ride. This clearly is not us, they just passed by on the other side.

Here we are.

I don't remember where this fountain was, but I wanted to stay right there for a while because it felt about 10 degrees cooler sitting by that water.

Halloween

2007-11-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

So David has this obsession with the cactus in our neighbors yard and is always running over to it and trying to touch it. Then he'll say harp, harp (his way of saying sharp, sharp!) So when we went outside to take a few pictures before trick or treating, David immediately booked it over to the cactus with his little shell bouncing on his back, yelling cactuth, cactuth! It was so funny.
Laura was Belle
David was a turtle (kind of ironic for him).

The kids had fun watching Mike carve our pumpkin.

The Pumpkin Patch

2007-11-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

David decided it would be easier to find his way out of the maze this way.

I made David sit in the stroller to decorate his pumpkin, because he kept running after the tractor as it would drive by.

San Francisco Peaks

2007-10-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

David wasn't very happy that we wouldn't let him run around when we got to the top.

2007-10-29T14:47:00.001-07:00

Riding the ski lift at snow bowl.

Flagstaff in July

2007-10-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

After Greer (I think it was in July), we went up to Flagstaff to vistit Mike's brother Brent and his family. We went to Walnut Canyon and saw all the Indian ruins. We went on this hike where we got to walk around all the cave dwellings, it was really neat. We also went and rode the ski lift at snow bowl. It was a little scary taking David on the ride. He was pretty good just sitting there the first half of the ride, but the closer we got to the top the more he kept squirming around! I was very relieved when we were back on the ground.

More of our fun in Greer

2007-10-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Our Summer

2007-10-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

I thought since I'm getting started with a blog that I would go back and share some of what we did this summer. In June we went and stayed in a cabin in Greer. I love being up in the White Mountains, it's so beautiful. Mike went fishing with the kids, we saw lots of deer right outside our cabin window, we went looking for elk and actually found some! We went up to Big Lake too. We just had a great time!