Little Mommy

Chandra loves her baby dolls and stuffed animals.  One of her favorite things to do is kiss them goodnight, put them to bed, and snuggle them with blankets...over and over and over.  I think she's adorable.

Happy Birthday Brian!

 For Brian's birthday this year we had two full days of celebrating.  His favorite breakfast of homemade Egg McMuffins, geo-caching, camping, more geo-caching, going out to lunch, his favorite chocolate cake, and then a date with me to see "Man of Steel."

Bracken and Tyson found part of an old stump and played with it for hours.  They sawed on it with sticks and pretended it was a boat and a race car.  They're pretty creative.

Bracken would periodically disappear into the tent for a few minutes to snuggle with his blanket "Star Light Blue."

Using sticks to peel all the old bark off this fallen tree.  It's so funny how dirt, sticks, and trees are so entertaining for little kids. :)

Tyson comes to visit

Tyson got to come stay with us while my mom went to Mexico with my brother for his high school humanitarian project.  We love having him come to play. Bracken and Chandra love playing with him.  We went to the resevoir, playground, library,went geo-caching, played outside a ton, then went camping at the end of the week.  They made me laugh all week, Bracken and Tyson are such goof balls together. 

Fun with Friends

How we love these friends!  Isn't it great when some of your best friends live two doors down? Even better when the Mom's are best friends too.  We love being friends with the Leavitt's.  The kids play dress up (prince and princesses, knight in shining armor, ballerina, soldier or whatever their imagination decided on that day), play in the toy kitchens, with dirt, bugs, and water...water...water.  Even when it was cold outside they'd turn on the hose out back and play together.  I love these kids!

Trip to Idaho Falls

We were able to go to Idaho Falls to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Gunderson for a few days.  The kids playing with all the special toys (many of them are the same toys I played with as a little girl). We enjoyed spending time with family, going to my cousin Conner's baptism, and as always eating lots of yummy food. We love Grandpa and Grandma!

Grandpa and Grandma shared lots of ice cream sandwiches and silver mint bars with us over the week.

Family Hike to the "C"

Brian had the day off work so we took the kids hiking up to the "C" on the side of Cedar Mountain. I think we were a little over confident when we set out.  It was an 8 1/2 mile hike. We dealt with diaper explosions, wind, rain, slips and falls, and tired kids, but we made it!   We carried Chandra almost the entire way up and down, and carried Bracken for at least two miles. We got up largely due to Brian's and my determination and buffness, and got down happily because of a prayer and Bracken choosing to be brave and cheer up.

Right as we headed back down the mountain, it started to rain and the wind picked up.  Bracken started to cry saying he was too tired and so cold. We carried him for a ways, but it wasn't very safe going downhill, plus he's getting big!  We decided to say a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help it not rain on us, and for us to be warm and happy.  Within five minutes the sun came back out, Chandra was asleep in my arms, and Bracken was giggling as he "skiied" down the mountain, running, slipping, and being held up by a tight grip on Brian's hand.  We ended our hike pretty tired, but like Bracken said, "It was hard, but I did it, and now I feel triumphant!" A great family adventure.