WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

THANK YOU - GRACIAS

Just wanted to make sure and thank the stamp club girls for coming out to g-ville for stamp club this month. It was so great to have friends at my house and bake and entertain. I have missed it so. And espcially thanks to Shannon and Vanessa for the wonderful belated birthday gifts! You can't beat stamp essentials, candles and homemade cards! My FAVS!!! You guys are awesome! Love ya!

P.S. Jody - you can forget my paper anytime!! I love the new stamp set!!

JARVIE

My friend is moving to St. George. WAahhhHHHH!!! I'm so sad!!! I'll never see her again, okay, so maybe 4 or 5 times, but still... not every week. :( And because she said she looks at my blog nearly every day, here is a post to you Jarvs.

5 reasons I love and will miss Jarvie

1. She is an awesome softball player - I have been playing softball with Jarvie for about five years, although it seems like I have known her longer. I love that she always comes to a game with a desire to perform her best and WIN WIN WIN! She will play just about any position she is asked to and does great at them all. She's super fast on the bases and has a good pop-up slide.

2. She gives me "tough love"- When I'm not trying hard, or just being a slacker, she's not afraid to say "Dude, what's up? Your like 0 for 100 or something. Are ya thinking about getting a hit sometime today?" and "Dude, why have a blog if your never going to update it!" And we can still be great friends :)

3. She's a fun drunk - What happens in St. George at the women's halloween tourney, stays in St. George!

4. She loves my kids - It drives me crazy to watch my kids climb all over her and jump up in her lap and maul her to death, but she takes it all in stride and is super sweet to them. Even when they interupt us when we are trying to talk and give her wildflowers they found when we are camping.

5. There are so many things I feel like we have in common - Our husbands play on the same softball team and have for years. She loves to camp and be outdoors. She doesn't mind being dirty and wearing a hat for days in the mountains. She is strong and can remodel, pack and clean a house nearly single handedly. Of course she loves softball and supports her hubbies love of the cubs. She plans her pregnancy around the softball season. She rarely cries. She has to have a clean house. I could go on and on......

So Jarvie, I just want you to know how much I will miss you and in more ways than one.

FINALLY-- A NEW POST!!!!

Never fear--- I am finally posting something new. I know some of you have given up on me and for that I am sorry. Playing softball/baseball/t-ball on multiple leagues five nights a week is proving to be quite hard. But this weekend we finally had a relaxing, nothing on the calender, "what should we do" type weekend. WWWOOO HOOO!!!! So how did we choose to spend it? You know it-- at the ball park. We went to a Bees game on Saturday and the new Narnia-Prince Caspian movie on Monday. And guess what baseball fans... we caught our first home run ball ever!!! Oh yes, it was hit out to the general admission area in right center field where I had strategically placed our blanket. Brayden actually almost caught it out of the air, another guy knocked it down, and Brandon made quick grab before some big teenage boys could take him out!! It was SWEEEETTTT!!! We tried to get it signed after the game by the player that hit it, but unless your willing to wait in the parking lot for a couple more hours after the game for him to come out to his car, there is no way. So we settled for the bumble bee's signature. The kids were happy anyway.

Can you believe another year of school is behind us? Me neither. How sad, my babies are growing up. Maddie had a fun year and did wonderful in all her subjects. She is starting to show a little bit more of her social side, as I had a couple of chances to watch her interact on the playground. Brayden did well, but he is usually a straight A's student, so this year when he struggled a little bit trying to find a balance between school work and recess/sports Brandon and I had to give him a couple of "talks". He just doesn't understand that it's not pass/fail anymore. A C grade shows either your level of understanding or your focus and diligence in class. He is absolutely capable of getting straight A's, he just doesn't do his work in class. Ugh! only 9 more year of this. :) I love being a mom.

I don't have any sweet pictures of Brayden and Maddie playing ball yet, because either A: I forget to bring the camera. B: I am score keeping or C: I am coaching. I will be sure to get some soon and let you see how cutey cute they look playing ball.

Maddie Girl

Maddie had her first school program. And it was the first time that I have missed one of my kids school functions :(

They did a bunch of dances including the chicken dance, which the parents and spectators were encouraged to stand up and participate in. Brandon swears that he did the chicken dance, but I have a hard time believing that! I wish I had proof :) But you know if I would have been there, he never would have participated, so I guess there was one good thing that came from me missing.

ODE TO...Petey, Cool Ranch Blanch, Beaver, Bleach, and all Other Nicknames Given to my One & Only

Tagging... Why not play along? Besides, I have decided to be nice and give B some showtime on my blog.

How long have you been together?

Proud to say fifteen years. Married for 12 of those.

How old is he? 34 same as me

Who eats more? I do! Can't you tell by looking at me? But he has been known to drink a gallon of Peps in a day. Sad but true.

Who said "I love you" first? B of course! It was truly sweet and I will never forget when or where it happened.

Who is taller? B - but only by 3 inches.

Who sings better? I don't know, but I think we could sing some pretty good harmony on Tim and Faith's "Angry all the Time" song. Anybody who knows B knows that he is a whiz with song titles and artists. He loves to play, "Name That Tune" with anyone who's game.

Who is smarter? HaHaHa, this has been the source of many conversations, and jeering remarks lately. One day while riding in the car together, I asked B how he ever made it through college and his answer was plain and simple "I am pretty smart you know". And so the argument was started and will continue for a lifetime.

Who does the laundry? Me!!! And occasionally B folds when I dump a couple of clean loads on the bed and he is forced to to make space for himself to sleep.

Who does the dishes? Me!!! Again with exceptions. For years B watched his grandma make the meal and his grandpa clean up after. Someday he might take after one of them.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? B --always B --and he has to sleep on his right side which, of course, is facing away from me.

Who pays the bills? B makes the money and I click the send payment button on the BillPay website. Wow, isn't that great team work. It's not easy being me.

Who mows the lawn? What lawn? We believe the earth should be left in it's natural state. YEAH RIGHT! B can't wait to sod his entire half acre and buy a riding mower. Ahhh the dreams of us cowpokes in G-ville.

Who cooks dinner? That'd be Me. A chore indeed, especially now that I work three days a week.

Who is more stubborn? B. Someone we all know and love spoiled him very badly growing up. Now he thinks he should always at all times get what he wants when he wants.

Who kissed who first? I think I kissed him first. Hell, it may still not have happened if I didn't make the first move :)

Who asked who out? I'll give B all the credit for this one. Thanks hun for the wonderful day of bunny killing :) If only I had known what the rest of my life with you would be like.

Who proposed? He did! After much persuasion by me.

Who is more sensitive? Please! Not even going to answer because it is quite obvious.

Who has more friends? B

Who are you tagging? Vanessa, Nat and Jody - Good Luck girls

WARNING!?! CONTAINS RELIGIOUS CONTENT!?!

Do I really need to put a warning label on my post? I guess not.

I am so proud of Brayden and happy for the choices he is making. We have been taking the missionary discussions for the past couple of months or so. At the first of March the missionaries told Brayden that they had fasted and prayed on his behalf and felt like the 15th of March was when he should be baptized. Brayden was shocked and little overwhelmed and got really nervous, he said he wasn't planning on getting baptized until he was 10. But it must of got him thinking because when they came to see him again on the 14th, Brayden said he wanted to do "it" on the 22nd. Right after spring break and the day before Easter. He was really happy about that date and I was a little worried about getting the word out and making all the arrangements, but it all fell into place so easily that I was truly amazed and really only chalked it up to divine intervention after it was all over and I was napping on Easter afternoon. What a great week, and weekend we had. The kids were all into helping me clean the house and get the refreshments ready. Finally, the time came to go to the stake center and Brayden was all business with his little duffel bag with clean white underwear and towels in it. I only cried a little during my talk on baptism, my mom did great playing the piano, Jen's little Austin (almost 11 years old) giving a talk on the Holy Ghost, and Shery reluctantly giving the closing prayer. My dad, my lifesaver, baptized Brayden and confirmed him. He gave Brayden an awesome confirmation prayer that made me feel like Brayden has so much potential as a member of the church. I hope I can be what he needs me to be.

Many Thanks to my family for being here for me and my kids and for stepping up and making this very memorable for all of us. And thank you to Brandon's family also for being supportive. And thank you to Brandon, for making a baby named Brayden with me :)

Elder Kristola from Finland and Elder Bieber from Canada. Brayden's mentors. He thinks they are "so cool"!

Brayden showing off his new Cubbies tie. The big boy kind that you don't clip on. Apparently it is not cool to have a clip on after the age of 5. Poor guy has been wearing them for years. A close up of his CTR baseball tie tac too.