The new deck

This was our last minute before winter project. My parents are remodeling their house and had to take down their deck. Jason had the idea to bring their deck over and put it on our house. Little easier said than done. It took about 3 weeks of him working on it to get it done. We still have to clean up the wood mess underneath but it's done and painted. He did a great job with the help of his dad. It's a perfect size to fit the table and chairs and bbq and still have room to spare. I have dreams and hopes for some man made shade back there also, but it'll be spring before we can work on that. There's always something isn't there!!

Pumpkin Patch

Me with the kids. Jason was home working on the deck (details to come later).
Shavon & I.
Brax, Nati, Emma, Ashleigh, Dylan, Tyler, Easton & Kayla
Yes, this is the one Brax picked out.
Dylan and Kayla
Natalie, Ashleigh, and Easton

We went with Shavon and her kids to the pumpkin patch Monday night. It was a quick, easy, go- find-the-perfect-one night. Now Braxton is lining them all up on the front steps to "block the bad guys". I figured it was the perfect night because we had waited in line for almost 2 hours to get their H1N1 shots, which as of yesterday didn't help poor Dylan. He was diagnosed with it. He is quarantined to his room feeling like crap and we are all staying home and away from anyone. Jason came home yesterday with bottles of hand sanitizer and a huge thing of Clorox wipes. Now to catch up with cleaning everything and keep Dylan on the mend. It's ugly. My two nephews, Carter and Gavin, have had it and it lasted an entire week. For now we will think on our fun night of pumpkin hunting!!

Our 6 year old

They don't make them cuter than this.
I almost got a smooch in.
His new bike!
The vampire and the witch.
All kinds of scary creatures.
Braxton trying to break the pinata.
Super scary!

It was Braxton's 6th Birthday on Thursday. He has been looking forward to it for a couple of months. For the last 2 weeks he has been counting down the "tomorrows" - everyday he would say "only 4 more tomorrows" and he was always right on the number of days. He was so excited for his birthday. He wanted to have a Halloween party with all of his friends. He picked out his costume, a vampire, and was helping me plan what we were going to do and what decorations we needed to have. We have a very specific boy on our hands. We had to have a pinata, play musical chairs, Bingo, have a graveyard out front, and the cake had to be a ghost castle. I started making the cake and after it tipping over several times and trying so hard not to cry myself I had him decorate it. He was such a good sport about it. It was all frosted and just would not stand up (even put skewers everywhere in it). He drew all kinds of things with the food coloring on it, added some army guys and a flag and he thought it was great. I guess that's all that matters. His friends came over all dressed up and the party went great. Dylan and I were dressed up also - kind of a "pre Halloween show". They played games, ate hotdogs and chips with skull ice cubes in the punch, and opened gifts. Dylan finished the party with some scary stories. Then grandparents came over to celebrate with us. We saved the real cake for them. He got lots of money from everyone. He was so excited to get to go shopping for what he really wanted, which we thought was a new game for xbox or a Nerf gun like Dylans. Jason took him when he got home from work and guess what he bought with his money..... a new bike. Not only a new bike but one with skulls on it - shocking!! He was so excited. He has 2 bikes already but he wanted his own new bike, so... he has a new one. He's my sweet boy that makes me laugh. He hates it when I try to kiss him. He does the darndest things sometimes, the latest being drawing a butt (yup a real butt) on his B page for school. "B is for butt mom." I made him change it into a ball. He likes to play with the big kids. If I'm really careful I can catch him playing in Natalies kitchen with her. He is my angel and we are forever grateful to our angel's deliverer. Happy Birthday Braxton!! We love you so much!

Boy Scouts & Arrow of Light

It was a big night for Dylan last night. He moved on from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. We went to his last Pack Meeting where he got all of his awards including his Arrow of Light, which is the highest rank in Cub Scouts. I didn't know this until last night - I'm still learning about all of this. He was asked to bring his parents up with him so that he could get his arrow and pin the mothers pins on me. His scout master painted on his face and explained what each color meant and then gave him his arrow. He has worked so hard to get all of this done, including memorizing the motto, oath, law... it goes on and on. His scout leaders have all been so great to him and we are so appreciative. He loves scouts and is so excited to start Boy Scouts. We are so proud of him. Way to go Dylan!!

It's October & that means.....

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Yes, I am giving a little plug for BCA. It is obviously close to my heart and I want you all to do your self checks. Cheesy, I know - to hear it from me. But I love my friends and family and I want you all around for a long time so DO IT!!! If you think you're too young, your not. A 10 year old in California got breast cancer. It was detected early and she is fine now. My moms cancer was so aggressive that they didn't see it in her mammogram done 6 months earlier and they said that she wouldn't have made it to the next one. She found it and her finding it ended up saving her life. Please, please check yourselves!! And tell your moms and other friends to also!

Family Pictures 2009

We finally were able to get some family pictures taken. We have made several attempts this year, none worked until now. A friend of ours (Jason taught in LA while on his mission) moved to Lehi recently and has been taking pictures on the side. We asked him to take some and he was more than willing to. He did a great job despite Natalie's inability to smile for any of them - the little toad. These were done up Hobble Creek Canyon on Saturday. Here are some of my favorites.

Natalie and Braxton having a "sibling" moment. Good times!!

Soccer Season

Well, I made it through soccer season - YEAH!! I love watching soccer but coaching is a whole different thing. Shortly after signing Braxton up to play the city called and said that they didn't have enough coaches. I got suckered into it. My only consolation was that they are in kindergarten and there aren't many rules to follow. They had a fun season and did so good. I'm sure some of the parents thought I was not the best coach as I laughed when they tackled eachother or fought over the ball. My not so favorite aspect of the whole thing was the famous one liner by Braxton EVERY single time he was doing the tackling - "But I'm the coaches son." We have learned that we can't coach his team anymore. Good times and such cute kids!!