The Johnson Bunch

Family Pics

2010-01-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

I printed these on Christmas cards but for half the friends and family I forgot they were in my purse to mail. It was just a crazy season. So I thought for some of you that didn't get our card you could see us. I think we look pretty cute. I printed all of them in larger sizes and they were all pixelated and looked weird.... I need my friend Kat to help me and tell me why. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year! Here's to 2010!

Wrestling Pictures

2009-11-25T12:48:00.001-08:00

Here's the wrestling pictures of the boys I promised.

Mat Mama is Back

2009-11-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday was our first wrestling tournament. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready to going back to being a Mat Mama. Mat Mama is like Soccer Mom but we're a little meaner and encourage our kids to unmercifully take another kid down to the mat and grind his face into it. Ok, maybe not that bad but pretty close.

I'll post pictures tomorrow hopefully sometime of the boys. They haven't competed since April and neither one of them skipped a beat it seemed. Cole walked away with a 1st place medal and lots of parents and spectators crowding around to watch his matches. One couple, I overheard talking about how good Coley was. The Dad said, I wonder how long he's been wrestling. And the Mom responded with, the way he wrestles, probably since he could walk. I smiled because it's not that far back, but pretty close.

Kaden was ambitious this week and wrestled in two different weights. His regular weight and then wrestled in one class ablove him in the Middle School 5-6th graders. All a year to 2 years older than him. In his regular weight he did really well and took 4th. In the upper weight class he struggled and didn't place but I was really proud that he went out and wrestled really hard. His heart doesn't seem quite into this year and he made a passing comment to me that he wished he could play baseball year round. I don't know, maybe once he gets a couple more tournaments under his belt this season he'll be excited again.

I hate this time of year when we start wrestling. It's a grueling schedule for all of us. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday practices until 7 or 7:30 at night and usually a tournament every Saturday. And on top of that it's a long season until April. Wrestling does switch styles in about February to Freestyle, which is my favorite and it breaks up the season a bit. I don't look forward to the cringing as I watch one of my boys have their faces ground into a mat or the mat burns. I don't look forward to the tears when they come off the mat after a loss. I don't look forward to the late nights and the tantrums because their nights go so quickly BUT.... I am such a proud Mom when I get to see one of them jump in the air after a tough win. I love to watch the Ref raise their hand indicating a win. I love to watch my boys have great sportsmanship when they shake the hand of their competitor and their coaches. I feel so good when I hear people talking about my boys and how great they are. I just swell with pride because these are MY boys and with all the sacrifices and all the bad things that come along with this sport, it's all worth it when I see how much my boys have grown and how competing has made them pretty special and responsible kids.

So ya, I'm a Mat Mama again. Watch out!!!

First Halloween in Our House

2009-11-03T17:26:00.000-08:00

So we were able to move into the house the night before Halloween! It was fun spending Halloween Day with the kids getting them ready and putting things away in the house. Here's a few pictures of my kids in their costumes. Kaden is a zombie, Cole is a nerd and Bella is Little Red Riding Hood.

Johnson Bunch Updates

2009-10-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

I've not been the best blogger lately but I'm going to make a bigger effort to keep all my friends and familes updated on our life.

Our House: We just got word yesterday that we'll be able to move into the house next week!!! We're super excited about it and I'm so happy we'll be in before the holidays. So next Thursday and Friday I'm going to take a couple of much needed days to off to move into our new house. I hate moving but this time I don't mind it so much.

Cole Birthday: Cole had his 9th birthday at the beginning of the month. I have just been very behind and remiss in my posts and haven't shared any of the news. We went bowling for his birthday which has become a tradition for the last few years and had so much fun. Every time Cole went up to bowl his face would flash up on the score screen with a Happy Birthday! around it and he got the traditional bowling pin with all our signatures on it. He seemed to have a lot of fun and loved all his presents. As his Mom, however, it makes me a little sad when I see each year pass and he grows bigger and bigger and doesn't need his Mom as much anymore. I'm excited to see him grow and do all the great things he does but it's hard to let go. Enough of that sad sappy stuff!!!!

Swine Flu: So Kenzie and Daddy have the swine flu so we all had to take precautions to try to stay away and not get it. The boys have been at their Dads all week and Kenzie and Daddy have been jailed upstairs. So far Bella hasn't shown any signs of it getting her but unfortunately I started not feeling super great last night and Tommy hasn't either. So we're loading up on vitamins and lots of water and crossing our fingers that neither of us gets it.

Bella: She is hitting her terrible twos a little early..... and they aren't really terrible. She's more head strong and independant rather than tantrum throwing kind of thing. Here's a picture of her with her Grandpa's socks on that she pulled from the laundry basket and insisted on wearing around the house all night. We also got her Halloween costume this last week (Little Red Riding Hood) and she tried it on and would not take it off. She also fell down the stairs and got an 'Owie' because she insisted on going down the stairs front first.

House So Close I Can Taste It!!!!

2009-10-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I went this morning to the house and did our final walkthrough on the house. How freaking exciting is that? I think walking through today just felt like a combination of too good to be true and a little scary but I can't wait. HOORAY!!!!

House Pictures

2009-09-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the first pictures of our new house. We're hoping to be in by the middle of October maybe beginning of November.

Here's the entrance of our house. (it'll be nice to park in a garage!)

This is the kitchen. Sorry about the glare but there's no blinds yet and so it was super sunny. The cabinets are all a dark wood and the appliances are all black and the floor is the big tiles. I can't wait to start cooking in there.

This is a view of our deck going into the backyard. Yes if you notice we have no neighbors for a long while. Bad news is that with all those fields there's lots and lots of grasshoppers (Hoppers as Bella calls them) and I am absolutely terrified of them. Something that I'm going to have to get over pretty quickly.

We have a cool archway that goes from our family room into the kitchen that I think is pretty cool. And a picture of our dining room right of the kitchen.

And finally here's the unfinished basement that we're planning on at least finishing the bathroom and one of the bedrooms as soon as possible. But we might just stain the concrete for now and make it a big rec room until we can finish the whole thing.

There's No Place Like Home

2009-08-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I met with Patterson Construction a few weeks ago and with Tommy just going to school we didn't really think it'd be possible for us to get into a house. Surprise! Surprise, we're hopefully going to be into our house by November 1st. We put down earnest money and picked out the house so we're crossing our fingers that everything goes as planned.... which it never does.

Our lease in our apartment that I hate so much I can't even begin to explain is out on the 31st so we're going to save money and pay down debt while the house and financing is finished and move in with Mom and Daddy temporarily. Which should be interesting for all of us. I'm pretty sure Mom and Daddy are nuts for asking us to stay with them but it'll be nice to have a little nest egg before we move into the house.

The kids started school on Monday. Kade and Cole are going to a charter school this year. We just weren't super impressed with their old school last year and the education they received. So far so good this year, they are super organized and a lot more parent involvement which I think is good. Uniforms for both of them which is a plus I think. The boys weren't too keen on the uniforms but they've adjusted to it and now don't mind it at all.

Tommy is doing super great on his Masters degree. Straight A student so far which totally doesn't surprise me. He's going to look for a teaching position at one of the local schools close to our new house. So we're hoping he'll get paid and also get a bunch of his observation hours done at the same time.

A Night with the Bees

2009-07-31T17:26:00.001-07:00

There's nothing better than a 80 degree summer night and going to the baseball stadium to watch a game. It was such a perfect night and we had so much fun spreading out a blanket on the grass. There was quite a pile of sunflower seeds in front of us by the time we left but it was so nice to spend some time together. Below is a picture of the kids at the game. That was as much as we could get Bella to hold still to take the picture.

July 4th Celebration

2009-07-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun 4th celebration at my Aunt Roberta and Uncle Matt's house. We BBQ'd hamburgers and hotdogs and had homemade ice cream (my favorite part) and then they broke out the water slide, water guns and the water balloons. And then we ended the whole night with fireworks. Tommy and I only had Bella this year for the 4th and she was just tuckered out so we didn't watch much of the fireworks and drove home with a very tired little girl.

Here's our Bella playing on the water slide.

I took this picture of Natalia as she was jumping through the water and

thought it was pretty funny.

Here's the girls getting ready to play in the water.

From the left that's Bella, Natalia and Bailey (a friends daughter).

Week of Milestones

2009-07-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

We had a few milestones last week. Starting with Tommy hitting the big 40! We had a small BBQ at Mom's house and had cake too. Here's Tommy blowing out his candles!

The next day we hit a big milestone as a couple and had our 1st Anniversary. Some days it seems like we've been married forever and some days it seems like yesterday. We spent the day together and saw a movie and went to an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM! All in all it was a nice day to spend together and I'm glad every day that we were married. I'd do it all over again.

The Wow Wow Blanket

2009-07-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Wow Wow Wubbzy is a cartoon on TV that Bella has become completely addicted to. She loves Wubbzy! Every night she watches it before she goes to sleep or she'll decide that she wants to watch it and she'll come to Daddy or I and say "Wow, Wow! Wow Wow!" and do her little 18 month old dance until we turn on Wow Wow.

The other day I went to the store to grab a few groceries and I usually stop by the fabric department and check the clearance fabric or if there's anything new and cute in to make blankets out of. Well on this particular day there it was a Wow Wow Wubbzy print! I had to buy it and be the best Mom ever! And boy was I. As soon as she saw the material she was carrying around the material and singing "Wow Wow, Wow Wow." I had to hurry and make into a blanket in one day because she had such a fit when I took it away from her. So I hurried and tied and sewed it the same day and she sat on the couch next to me as I did it and she just watched intently as I sewed it up for her. Every once in a while she'd point at it and say "Wow Wow" and laugh and clap her hands.

So here is her with her Wow Wow blanket that she now can't live without.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T20:16:00.001-07:00

We had a great Father's Day. We had BBQ ribs (mom's specialty) and funeral potatos and watermelon and salad.... we were stuffed needless to say! We were lucky to have Tommy's Dad with us today to celebrate with my Dad. It was such a pleasant day and the weather cooperated.

Happy 10th Birthday!!!

2009-06-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

Kaden had his 10th birthday this last week. It was pretty low key because it was on a weeknight and the weather has been so rainy that our pool party idea didn't exactly pan out. We hope we can do it another day this coming week with all of us.

We're all waiting for him to blow out all of his candles on the awesome Chocolate on Chocolate birthday cake that Tommy made him.

He blew them all out! It's those new 10 year old lungs I think.

Take Me out to the Ball Park

2009-06-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

The boys have been in high pitch baseball fever since April. We have had a game twice a week at least and practice about the same. Their last games are on July 4th weekend and I think we're all ready for a nice break from all things sports.

DOUBLE BAD BLOGGER

2009-04-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, so in my last entry I said I was going to be better. Obviously not real great since it was in MARCH that I entered it. Life kind of caught up with our family about that time so it's been complete chaos in our hourse for a month. So here's a quick update.

Shay: I was promoted and transferred to the Sandy office. It's a great opportunity and right now I'm spending a lot of time at the office trying to get things off the ground and working but the nice thing is that I'm 10 minutes from home so even though I'm working more, I'm home quicker, so it balances out.

Tommy: Right now is being a stay at home Dad and playing as much golf as possible. He'll be playing this weekend in the Fox Hollow Tournament. Hooray! And it looks like he'll plan on going back to school in the Fall. I think he's leaning toward Sports Psychology but I think before he decides he'll be meeting with an advisor at the U and looking at things a bit more. Whatever he decides to do I'm excited for him.

Braxton: Doing really well. He's working on his movies with his cousins and posting them on youtube and he just loves it. He was just assigned the student Director position for the play at school and he's really excited to be doing it.

Kaden: He just finished up wrestling and I think he was glad to be done because now he can focus more on baseball, which I think he seems to love a bit more. He's playing outfield and I'll tell ya, he's the best outfielder on their team. They had a game last night and Kaden caught a great ball in center field that got them an out. And he's been getting one or two of them each game. He's quite the power hitter as well.

Cole: Like Kaden, he's just finished up wrestling and I think he's glad to be done although he told his Dad and I that he really wanted to got to state wrestling but I think we may forgo it this year. The boys competed at a tournament in Reno a few weeks ago that was a regional competition. Cole took 4th in his bracket which had 36 kids in it. Cole is playing 1st base and short stop in baseball. And he's made some great plays as well. he did a great stop last night as short and threw it to 2nd for an out. He really wants to pitch but he needs to get some seniority until that happens.

Emma: Emma is doing super great. She seems to have grown up a lot since her birthday when she turned the Big 6. She always is drawing everyone nice pictures and cards to make us feel better or just to say I love you.

Bella: What can I say? She's definately a handful. She makes a laugh and her brothers and sister just adore her. She misses them a lot when they're not around and it's just Dad and Mom. We're apparently not quite as fun. But she's starting to say more and more and she's developing quite a personality. She's very independant and she expects things right now, and since her brothers and sister all cater to her she pretty much gets everything now.

That's about it. I've posted some easter pictures as well. The kids had waaaay too much fun dying easter eggs. Even my Tommy got into it. Bella ended up a green Shrek baby but she thought the whole thing was pretty cool.

Bad Blogger

2009-03-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have been the worst blogger ever lately. It's been a super busy month and a half since I've blogged last so I'll update everyone on what's going on with the Johnson Bunch.

Wrestling: The boys are still in full swing of wrestling right now. They are now into the portion of the season that they switch to Freestyle and Roman Greco. Both are doing super good and keeping their reputations. We moved Cole up in weight class so that he could get more of challenge for himself so he's wrestling kids between 1 to 5 pounds heavier than himself and so he's mostly taking 2nd places but I'm super proud of him because it's made him want to work harder and win. Kaden I think is ready for wrestling to be over but he's still competing hard and taking a lot of 3rd places. They'll be wrestling in Pleasant Grove on Friday and Saturday so I'll let everyone know how they do.

Emma: Had her 6th birthday on Valentines Day last month. We were lucky enough to have all the kids on the morning of her birthday. She got lots of presents and she seemed to enjoy her birthday a lot.

Arizona: Bella and I were able to go to Arizona for a very short trip to see Ty, Holly and the kids and Kenzie. Mom was down there at the same time so we had so much fun though. Natalia is growing so big it's kind of sad not to be able to be there to see her more. She was my little sidekick all weekend and it was hard to leave her behind, especially when she says that she's going home with me. Gavin was sick when we were down there with a double ear infection but he still put on this cute little smile that reminded me so much of his Dad. Bella had so much fun playing with Natalia and had her first experience with a dog (Champ) and she didn't know quite what to think of him at first but thought it was pretty cool after awhile. Below is a picture of her after her and Natalia had some chocolate popsicles outside. I laughed so hard.

More to come later.....

We Own the Beehive Brawl

2009-01-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

The boys competed in the Beehive Brawl this last weekend in Richfield. There were over 700 wrestlers there from all over the West. Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, California and even as far as Florida! Kaden wrestled in the 10 and under age at the 64 pound group and took 3rd place! His most exciting match was his last one that would have placed him at third. He was down 9-0 going into the 3rd period and his coaches told him he'd have to pin to win. He totally took it to heart and came out mad and determined to win and pinned his guy in about 45 seconds! We were all screaming so loud. I was so proud of him.

Cole took first. He pinned all of his matches but for once it did take him a little longer than normal. His first pin took him until the 3rd round! Very unusual for Cole to take so long. But he worked his magic and took first again. I had several people come up and tell me how great he is.

Very proud of my guys. They work so hard every week to compete and give up so much to go to practices and tournaments.

Kaden showing off his 3rd Place medal. He looks so dang cute!

Cole with his First place medal and Plaque.

Sisters

2009-01-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

Bella got this little pink horsey bike for Christmas and she hasn't quite got it figured out. So Emma put her on the bike and pushed her all over the house. They were just giggling and giggling and having a great time. I grabbed my camera and snatched this photo of them.

Happy 1st Birthday Bella

2008-12-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

I've been a bad blogger and I thought I had lost my camera (gulp!) but then I found it in my new sewing bag that Daddy gave me from our Christmas name draw (hooray!)Anyway, here's my little baby that's now ONE! I can't believe it!

We had a little family birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Boltzs' complete with a very cute Disney Princess birthday cake. She really didn't get the whole present thing and Emma pretty much opened all her presents for her. And in 1 year old fashion, she liked the pretty paper and the boxes more than the gifts. :) But watching her with her birthday cake made it worth the whole thing. She picked at the cake at first that we put on her tray and then she put one finger in it and looked at us to see if were going to stop her and when we didn't red light it she totally went for it. There was smashed birthday cake everywhere but she squealed with delight every time the cake went up and Splatted.

It makes me kind of sad to see my little girl growing up so fast and I can't believe how quickly the year has flown by.

Icky Ick Blahs.

2008-12-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

So I have the Icky Ick Blahs. My head is stuffed, my nose is a runny mess, my throat is scratchy and I feel like one of those medicine commercials like the one with the lady with the regular body of a woman and the head of the teddy bear about 100x's too big.

Not really the best time of year to have the Icky Ick Blahs, especially when you have 12 projects for Christmas sitting at home. And I have to confess something. My Christmas tree is not decorated. I know, I know my mother is completely ashamed of me since I come from a long line of put-your-tree-up-the-day-after-Thanksgivingers. I still have a scarecrow hanginng on our door from Thanksgiving. My patio is barren of anything Christmas related. It's really sad and pathetic really.

In addition, I'm not being the best blogger ever so everyone is going to have to understand that I have the dreaded Icky Ick Blahs and wait it out.

Boys Play Basketball....Men Wrestle

2008-12-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Salt Lake Slam was today at the Salt Palace. Kaden didn't place today but he worked so hard and wrestled some really tough guys and he never once gave up. I was so proud of him. Coley is making quite the name for himself and he took first place. His last match was a definate nail biter and I almost had a heart attack when Cole was almost pinned but they went out of bounds and I've never seen Cole so mad! He rallied back to pin his last opponent in the 3rd round. (his longest pin of the day). All in all a pretty good day. So proud of my boys!

Cole put Bella up on the trophy stand and helped her pose. I wish I could say that she enjoyed the day but towards the end she was so tired she just cried and cried.

Here's Cole and his first place trophy. He had 5 pins 1 decision by points. We all overheard people talking about Cole Zorn....he's getting quite the reputation.

New Dress

2008-11-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

My friend Katsa gave Bella this cute little dress which is freaking adorable. I just wish they made it in my size....and that it was appropriate for a 30 year old woman to wear.

We Will, We Will Rock You!!!

2008-11-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure if I was ready for our wrestling season to begin but watching the boys compete Saturday made it a little easier. This was the first tournament for Folkstyle which will run until about the end of January. I asked the boys before they started if they were nervous to start again and both said no and they didn't seem nervous at all. They went out there as usual and kicked some tail and reminded everyone not to mess with my boys.

Kaden showing off his Bronze Medal (he really is happy, he's just looking tough for the camera). And Coley with his Gold Medal.

Juice Please!

2008-11-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

Bella loves her juice. Here's some shots that Tommy took of Bella walking around with her juice bottle.

Autumn Leaves and Bella

2008-11-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

My sister Kenzie took these shots of Bella in the backyard when she was here. Bella really enjoyed the colorful leaves all over the lawn. We weren't quick enough but she would gather up a handful of them and throw them. It was pretty funny. She's getting so big, so fast. It's hard to think of my baby as not being a baby anymore.

Little Inspirations

2008-11-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

As adults, we're supposed to be good examples and inspiration for our kids. Right? This week my boys have so inspired me and were such a good example for me this week. Every single day this week, Coley has got everyones scriptures out and put them out for all of us to read together at night. He even made a chart of our reading order! I know a lot of it is because he is so excited about just being baptized and getting his own personalized scriptures but it just made me feel so good that he was so excited and determined to make sure that we all read together this week. How many times have I said to myself "oh, it's too late tonight" or that "we have so much to do" or that "they don't understand it anyway"? Well, in this instance i will gladly admit that I was so wrong (yes Tyson you can write this down because I don't say those words often :)). I know that they don't understand every single verse that we read together but it has been such a blessing to sit with the boys each night and open our scriptures. We read about Nephi and his bow breaking and Cole said to me "Mom, this is one of my favorite stories. Remember when you read this to us from the Hero's books?". I realized then, that they do actually listen and they do actually understand.

The scriptures have always been a source of inspiration for me but when I hear them read by my 8 year and 9 year old sons with such earnestness, it makes me realize how important that this activity is for us to do no matter how late, how much we have going on or how much they understand.

Cole Baptism

2008-11-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, we had a baptism this week too. Coley was baptized on Saturday as well and he did so awesome. It's weird to have to sons that are old enough to be baptized. It was really great to have all of my family there to support Cole and have all the grandkids there to watch and learn as well. As Cole was brought up from under the water our little Natalia in her 3 year old innocence exclaimed "Alright!". We all laughed and the Bishop even commented that yes it was a really exciting event for us all to say "Alright!".

Halloween

2008-11-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

So we had a pretty fun Halloween. Kind of crazy with everything going on but it still was fun. Kaden and Cole went as punk rockers and pretty much put together their costumes themselves and Bella and I went as black kitty's. I have to say that I think my Bella looks awesome as a kitty. She tuckered out pretty quick on Halloween and didn't get this whole thing but she was pretty adorable.

Goodbye

2008-10-31T10:01:00.001-07:00

It's been a rough week for our family as Grandma passed away earlier this week. We had the funeral yesterday afternoon and I was glad to see that it was such a beautiful fall day. Grandma would have loved that. The flowers were so beautiful too. Thank you to everyone that were so thoughtful and sent them. There were tons of pink and purple flowers which were Grandma's favorite colors. It was so hard to see Grandpa there alone but I know he's happy that she's in a better place now. They've been married 65 years!!! I don't know many couples that can say that.

All the grandkids and great grandkids sat around yesterday and talked and talked about all our memories of Grandma. There were so many and it was unbelievable about how many things we reminded each other of. A few of my most favorite things that I remember about Grandma are her red sweater that she always kept a tissue in the pocket and sometimes a pink mint or two. I will always remember her cooking. Grandma could cook! And you never went hungry at her house. Although there were some strange combinations of foods like bologna sandwiches with butter (which I still make every once in a while). Her chicken noodle soup, her pies, cinnamon rolls and of course her famous cabbage burgers that as soon as we got the call that fresh cabbage burgers were out of the oven we all would rush over to the house to get some and a few more to freeze for later. Grandma never once forgot a birthday or an anniversary and she always made sure we had a card and a present. She was always so thoughtful in that way.

It was really great to look around and see what Grandma and Grandpa started. 12 Grandchildren and 15 Great Grandchildren! All who loved her so much and will miss her with all our hearts. I love you Grandma!!!

Crazy Corn Maze

2008-10-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I decided to be brave and take all 5 kids to the Crazy Corn Maze tonight. I have to admit I was a little worried but I shouldn't have been because they were all great and stuck together and worked as a team to get us out of the corn maze. I've never been to a corn maze and it was so fun! They gave us these questions that we answered a long the way and then we turned it in and won a prize at the end. We wandered through the maze and the kids were laughing and answering all the Halloween questions at each of the stops. Even Bella was a great sport and just gurgled and talked at her brothers and sister. It was a very crisp and cool night and we definately had some cold fingers and noses when we were done. By the time we left the kids were having so much fun they didn't want to leave. Emma gave us a little pouty look and was sad that we HAD to go home and eat pizza.

No Guts, No Glory!

2008-10-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have to say that this is one of my favorite things about Halloween. I love getting all the pumpkin carving stuff out and helping the boys carve their pumpkins into something spooky and Halloweeny. Of course this year, my boys have so grown up that other than helping them get all the pumpkin guts out, which Cole was nice enough to point out was "really, really disgusting and it's a Mom job", they pretty much did everything else themselves. Kaden carved himself a spider pumpkin and Cole carved a skull pumpkin with spiderwebs. Emma and Braxton carved their pumpkins with Tommy a few nights ago while I was at the store so I didn't get any pictures. But they did an awesome job too. Emma did the best Vampire Cat that I've ever seen. She kept asking me, "Shay do you like my Cat? Isn't it scary?". It made me laugh. Braxton did a coffin pumpkin with bats. He ended up improvising a little but you'd never know. It looked totally professional. So our patio has a family of pumpkins on it, I'll have to take a picture of them when Tommy and I finish ours.

COOKIE MONSTER ALERT!

2008-10-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

Tommy Snapped these photos of Bella while she was eating her cookies. As you can see she was thoroughly enjoying the cookies and had them all over her face, her bottle, her hands....pretty much any clean surface that was available.

Football

2008-10-11T19:02:00.001-07:00

Because of roster problem Braxton was forced to play Defense and Offense all year. His favorite part was playing defensive end. He had a couple really good plays this year. He misses playing the games but not the practices so much.

Goofing around with Miss Bella

2008-10-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

Bella just got a new shirt that has orange polka dots with little black polka dot kittens on it just in time for Halloween. Here's a few pictures of her in her pre-Halloween clothes.

Cole Turns the BIG #8!

2008-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Cole turned the big 8 and had a really great birthday. For weeks he's been asking me for golf clubs so he can start golfing with Tommy. So Tommy and I thought we were really funny and put the clubs into the laundry room and told him that we just wanted him to use Tommy's clubs (laughable since Tommy is 6'6"). Cole totally believed us and was such a good sport as he opened present after present that was golf related. After he was done opening all the presents I told him to go into the laundry room to get the plastic forks for the birthday cake. He opened the door and there they were and his face was priceless! I didn't get a great picture of it but he was so surprised and he was laughing and jumping up and down.

Fuzzy Monster Shoes

2008-09-26T23:18:00.001-07:00

I had to put a picture of Emma in her fuzzy pink monster shoes. They're just so stinking cute that they make me laugh. All I really want to know is...Do those come in my size?

Mommy and Bella Moment

2008-09-26T23:14:00.001-07:00

Tommy snapped this picture of Bella and I and it's one of my most favorite pictures. My Bella is about 6 months old in this picture and we were just laughing and playing on the lawn at my Mom and Dad's house.

The Deal

2008-09-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Tommy made Braxton a deal at the beginning of the summer that he'd buy him all the books he could read. I think Tommy thought that'd be like 3 or 4 books over the course of the summer...turns out it was more like a book every other day. But how can you complain about a kid that loves to read?

Tooth Fairy

2008-09-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Em's lost one of her teeth while hanging out our house. When Tommy asked her about how much she thought the tooth fairy would bring her, her response was "I don't know, a hundred bucks". We laughed and laughed. Tooth fairy must have been a little short that night because she brought her 3 dollars.

The Faces of Bella

2008-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can tell but Tommy and I are just in LOVE with our Bella. She's going to be confused when she gets older because we have so many names for our girl. I tend to call her Princess Peanut and Bella Boo Boo. (who would have known I would have turned into such a dork?). And Tommy calls her his little Monkey. She's just turned 9 months old and is standing up and getting ready to walk. We're bracing ourselves. Just crawling she's quick, I can't imagine on two feet! She's the center of attention and her brothers love to tote her around everywhere and the boys think that she's the greatest and anything she does is just the funniest thing ever.

Baseball Boys

2008-09-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

Like we don't have enough going on in our lives but the boys joined a competitive baseball league this year. They are called the Dirtbags (ya i know) but it refers to them getting dirty and hitting the bags (the bases). They seem to be enjoying it so much. Baseball ends in October.

Our Wedding

2008-09-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2008

When I said to Tommy let's get married in 10 days I think he thought I was joking but I wasn't and we did it. For such a short period of time I think we had a beautiful wedding. Mom, Daddy, Larry, Ty and Holly and Marinda helped pull together my backyard wedding that really was exactly what I wanted.

Regardless of everything I was just excited to marry my best friend. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my sweetheart. I love you babe!!!

Wedding Rings

2008-09-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist putting in a picture of my ring. My husband is awesome. He wanted to make sure I had the ring of my dreams and he did. I love wearing it.

2008-09-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I found my wedding dress together on a random trip shopping in Layton. I had tried on dozens of dresses and couldn't find anything that I liked. It was either too much like a bridal gown or it was just a Sunday dress. I had almost given up when I tried this one on and that was it. I fell in love with it and we bought it. I know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the wedding but I'm not worried about it. :)

Us with Tommy's Dad.

Here's my handsome husband! This was taken just before the wedding ceremony. He doesn't look nervous at all. Cool as a cucumber!

2008-09-25T09:56:00.001-07:00

With Mom and Daddy. You guys are the greatest! Thank you so much for all your help.

2008-09-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my best friend Marinda who helped so much to put together my wedding in 10 days. She thought of so many little touches that made such a difference.

Pictures with our Kids

2008-09-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Other Wedding Photos

2008-09-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is our wedding 'cake'. I fell in love with the cupcake idea at the store. They turned out super cute and the kids thought it was awesome that I had cupcakes at our wedding. The frosting was delicious!!!

This is a picture of my niece Natalia who kept calling me a princess in my wedding dress. She's such a sweetheart and I miss her all the time.