Pinewood Derby

This week was Braxton's 1st Pinewood Derby.  He was so excited and had lots of fun putting his car together with his dad.  His car came in either 1st or 2nd place in all of the races and he ended up getting 2nd place over all along with the 'sleekest design' award.  He had lots of fun and is already planning next year's car.  Way to go Braxton, we are so proud of you!

1st and 2nd place winners: Kobe Robinson and Braxton

'Sleekest Design'

Spring Break

Troy and I actually had a whole day off together during spring break, so we loaded up the car and the kids and headed to spend the day at Pipe Springs in Fredonia, AZ.  The last time I went there was for an Easter trip with my family when I was 7, I remember bit and pieces about the place and the last few times I've driven by I have wanted to take the kids there.  We went on a tour through the fort and learned all about how the pioneers would protect and provide for themselves while at the fort.  The 1st telegraph in the area also began at Pipe Springs.  We went on a short hike that was very steep and rocky, Tanner kept saying "Mom, I just love this trail!" The kids had fun finding all the pictures on their Junior Ranger paper, and Kason could have stayed all day and watched the ducks in the pond dive upside down looking for food.  We had to keep a tight hold on him, or he would've ended up in the pond with them!  We ate our lunch out on the picnic tables and then headed over to Kanab and to the sand dunes.
At first, we were the only ones out on the dunes, and the kids loved it! Except for when they wind would blow hard and blast us with sand.  We climbed up onto one of the tallest dunes and Tanner ran all the way up....Braxton decided it would be fun to run all the way down....I wish I had been recording him....he ran all the way and then biffed it so hard at the bottom and probably slid a good ten feet, face down in the sand! That right there was worth the drive over, and my very first bee sting I got as we were leaving! His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose and every other crevase was full of sand, we laughed so hard and Tanner asked him if he would do it again!
It took Kason a bit to decide just what he thought about the sand, but he loved it and probably consumed a small handful everytime he'd pick up a little snack he had dropped. 
We were tired, full of sand and little sunburned when we got home, but we had such a fun day and can't wait to go back and play again!

Had to have a picture of the sand packed booger on his face!

Practicing our walking skills...won't be long before he takes right off!

I have to document my very first bee sting.  I don't know if it was an African sand bee or just what, but it got about twice this size and when the redness, itching, and hard bump left  a week later, it left behind a nice little bruise!

Your are invited to our 'Upside down, Backwards party!'

It's been a few years since our last backwards party so I decided it was time for another.  We all turned our shirts backwards, walked to the table backwards, ate with the table upside down, and had our ice cream first! Even Kason's clothes were backwards and his highchair was down as low as it could go. We had a fun time, and  Tanner wanted to have a backwards party every time we sat down to eat for the next several days, and would just turn his shirt around in hopes I'd proclaim it to be another backwards party! I guess we better have them a little more often!

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET

This was our first Blue and Gold Banquet...having grown up in a family of all girls, I'm completely clueless when it comes to Scouts! Troy laughed really hard at me once when I asked if at a 'Round Table' meeting, they really sat at a round table? So ok, I have A LOT to learn!
Anyway, thanks to my amazing, queen of scouting neighbor, Caylena, I'm getting the jist of it! The banquet was really fun and and Braxton was so excited about it.  Troy and Braxton made an awesome cake and the best part was it was ready to go by the time I got home from work, and I didn't even have to lay a finger on it!!! The cakes were judged and Braxton's got the 'Spirit of Scouting' award.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY KASON!

Spike the dinosaur

Opending presents

Happy Birthday Kason! I can't believe you are one already, this year has totally flown by and it seems like we just brought you home on a cold windy day!  You have grown and changed so much and have brought so much joy and fun into our family and home. 
We celebrated your birthday yesterday since Sunday seems to be the best to get our families together.  Gma's  and Gmpa's Smith and Webb came, Aunt Caroline, Uncle Brent, and all the McFadden kids, Nick, Paige, and Josh, and our new neighbors the Farley's all came over for pizza, cake, and ice cream.  All the kids took a few swings at the pinata and Carson finally broke it, he even helped you take a few swings at it too.
Mom made a very cute green dinasour cake and you picked at it pretty uneventfully, you didn't even really get it all over!  Tanner and Camrie helped open your presents, you got some cute clothes, money, and fun toys!  After the party you were so tired out that you fell right to sleep and seemed to just want your bed and didn't protest much when we put you to bed at 7:30. 
Everyone sure loved on you today at the daycare, you even share a birthday with Ms. Mindy.  Pretty soon they will move you from the Roly Poly class to the Caterpillars.  You LOVE your teachers right now and they will miss you!
Here's some of the fun things you have been doing:
~ you are now wearing 9 month shirts.... pants are only 6 months....
~ you are eating more and more table food
~ only 2 shopping bags full of frozen breast milk bags left to use up
~ we stopped nursing 3 weeks ago, you have done great - Mom is still feeling the effects.....
~ you can open the baby gate on the stairs if it's not latched just right
~ you wave bye, bye
~ you blew kisses  for the first time last week
~says momma, and dadad, ball,
~you chew on your crib rails like a horse does a fence, we thought about getting you a salt lick for your birthday!
~love to push your high chairs and the kitchen chairs all around
~you like to point at the pictures when we read stories (you like 'There's a Wocket in My Pocket')

Happy Birthday Kasonater, WE LOVE YOU!!!

My most favorite people. Ever.

This is a usual scene at our house....love them all!

Happy New Year!

Playing Uno-Moo

Making some noise!

Playing Golf on the Wii

New Year's presents from Santa

This year we celebrated New Years Eve by going out for pizza at the Pizza Factory, then to Artic Circle for ice cream cones and a yummy candy cane milkshake for mom.  We saw some pretty fireworks on our way home in our neighborhood, Tanner and Camrie were ok to just see them from the car - they are not fans of noisy fireworks!  We played a little Wii and then some fun board games, ate treats, then did some noisy poppers with confetti (Camrie didn't like them of course!) and put the kids to bed about 11:30.  We Troy and I watched the ball drop from Times Square and hit the sack.  In the morning we discovered Santa had dropped by again this year to leave some fun New Year's presents and treats.  Santa went a little crazy this year, and brought Braxton and Tanner the Mario Kart Wii game, and 2 wheel controllers, Camrie got a little baby doll that goes in the tub, and Kason got a little singing basketball hoop, and left he also treats for mom and dad.  The kids were excited and before we realized it, it was 8:35 and church now starts at 9:00, so we only made it for Primary.  Later on Braxton came home from a week stay at his Dad's and we were glad to have him home.  Even tho it was Sunday, it was time for the tree and decorations to go so I took advantage of nap time and took the tree down.  My word for 2012 is ORGANIZE! What's yours????
 HAPPY NEW YEAR!