The Applegates

34 weeks and counting

2012-01-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

We had another doctors appointment yesterday (yes they just seem to keep coming and coming) but I am now 34 weeks and counting. My DR also checked me and I am "fingertip" (if I am not a full 1 cm yet...why bother calling it anything???) and 50% thinned out. This is a good sign. It means that I am well on my way to being ready to have this little girl when the time comes.

I am so close to having her nursery done as well. I am just waiting on her wood letters to arrive, hanging her butterflies, and then getting her rose balls done. Once those things are said and done I will be sharing pictures with everyone.

I am also ready to have this little girl so I can start the process of trying to get back in shape. I am not complaining by any means though. I LOVE being pregnant. I have yet to have a difficult or bothersome pregnancy (not to brag). I will miss feeling her move and her little kicks, but I am SO ready to go for a nice long walk/run.

Weather here in Utah (as with everywhere else) has been crazy so far. We have seriously had like NO snow and VERY mild temperatures. This excites me because once she is born I want to take her out walking as soon as my body is feeling up for it! Don't want the bitter freezing cold temps holding us all indoors.

Life is still going amazing well. Chris has started his new job, got his "new" (well new to us) truck for work, and everything else is moving at a steady pace.

May you all have a wonderful week!!

Quote

2012-01-04T10:42:00.001-08:00

Being that it is the new year I have had a few quotes that have been running through my head. I saw one today that I couldn't help but add to my own blog, and felt the need to post it here as well. It pretty much sums up exactly why this year is going to be the best year yet.....through prayer & hard work.

"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." — Gordon B. Hinckley

Hopefully this quote will touch you the way it has touched me.

2012

2012-01-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

It always surprises me how before I know it a new year is here. I can't believe that it is already 2012. Some say it is the last year of our existence ......but who knows about that one. All I know is that no matter what happens, we are going to make this year the best one yet! I am so super excited for the changes that are coming with this new year. There will be quite a few of them.

Just a preview of what our year holds......... a new baby girl (making our crazy house even crazier), I turn the BIG 30 and new job(s).

I wont go into much detail right now about the job situation, but we are looking at the possibility of making a HUGE change with Chris' employment and I have a feeling things will be amazing with it.

The countdown for this little girl coming has begun. It hasn't felt like a super long pregnancy, but I am very excited for her to come so I can meet her. I am now 33 weeks along. I delivered Boston at 37 weeks and 1 day. Counting......that would put me at basically 4 weeks from tomorrow. Amazing! I am ready! Her room is practically done, but we still have some decorating to do.

Brayden is chomping at the bit to have his birthday come now too. He is so funny. He told me the other day "Mom I don't want my birthday April 4th anymore. I want it now so can we change my birthday to January 4th?" Silly boy. If only we could change our birthday. I may never actually make it to 30 if we do that.

Boston is as sweet and silly as ever. Such a lover and such a sweet boy. I am totally in love with that kid. He is going through a little cold right now. Poor boy. He was excited that he was able to miss school today and actually go to daycare in his jammies. I swear that kid would wear nothing but jammies 24/7 if you would let him.

We spent a very quite New Years at home. The boys were in bed by 10 PM and we went to bed about 12:05. Once we shared a kiss for new years.....it was lights out. Getting older can really get boring sometimes I guess :) But I wouldn't want my life any other way.

Hope everyone is doing well and is happy and healthy.

Christmas is almost here

2011-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

The end of the year is rapidly approaching again. So much has happened this year. It is amazing how fast it seems time flies these days. We are all so busy with our everyday lives, that we forget to stop and smell the roses around us.

This year I decided to not do our regular Christmas card and family letter. As most of you know, I am about 7.5 months pregnant with baby #3. We are getting our family pictures taken in January, and after this little girl is born, so I didn't exactly want to take pictures now to put in the cards. Next year I will pick up again where we left off though.

This past year has seen many changes, yet somehow things seem to remain relatively the same.

Chris has taken the POST (Police Office Standards Test) and passed. He did an amazing job. Now it is the start of what I think will be a long process of trying to get hired on with a City police department. As of right now, we are not super picky about where he is looking, but we are keeping it to the Salt Lake valley. If he doesn't find something by this coming summer then he may extend his applications to other areas.

As for me, I am busy growing a baby. I am still working for the law firm, and for the childrens clothing store. I am taking some time off of school until this baby is born. I have one....yes thats right....only ONE class left until I am done with my nursing pre-reqs. I will be waiting until next fall to do that class though. I started it this year, but with being pregnant and working and other life thing....it just didn't turn out how I wanted it.

Brayden is half way through his 1st grade year. He has a love/hate relationship with school. He loves being there with his friends, and learning. He hates having to wake up and get ready for school 5 days a week. He stopped racing BMX but we are hoping that once summer comes again he will get back into it.

Boston started preschool and is really enjoying it. He is learning his colors and is just starting on his letters. It is so amazing to hear him say things or answer questions that I didn't think he even knew the answer too.

Callie is growing and kicking and becoming a very active baby. We have almost got her room all set up and ready, but I still have lots of decorating to do. We are very much looking forward to meeting her in February.

May each and every one of you have a blessed Christmas and a amazing new year!

Disappeared for a while

2011-09-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

So life has taken many turns and changes since I last posted. I can't believe that I got so busy as to let everything on this blog go.

Some current changes to our little life:

1) We are currently pregnant with baby #3, a little girl. She is due approximately February 16th or 20th.

2) We have a new puppy, Pepper. She is a 7 month old black lab.

3) Brayden has started 1st grade and is loving it. He loves his teachers. For 1st grade they start splitting them up so they are not in the same class with the same teacher all day long. He has his main homeroom teacher, who is also his reading teacher, and then a separate teacher for math.

4) Boston has started 3 year old preschool. He was a little scared the first few days but has really grown to love going to school. There are days when he is not scheduled to go, but he wants to go to school.

5) I am currently in class again. I know this isn't something new, but I am taking my FINAL pre-requisite class to get into the nursing program. This has been a LONG TIME COMING! I am so happy to be SO SO SO close the being done with the pre-reqs.

Life has been SO super busy around our house. I can't even begin to describe to someone what my days are like. Yes, I work a full time day job, but that isn't the only thing I do during the day. I am also secretary of Brayden's school PTA. That has caused me some running around during the days lately. I am also on Brayden's School Community Council. This is a group of people consisting of teachers, parents and the schools principle who meet monthly to discuss the schools budgets. I have yet to go to our first meeting (because I missed the training and our 1st actual meeting) but that will be taking some time as well.

In addition to those above things, I have my own schooling to do, which takes up quite a bit of my time as well. Then add in working 1 night shift a week at my "part-time" job (still at The Children's Place), being activities day leader (along with a good friend of mine....this is something in our church), and trying to maintain a household.....I really don't know how I am still standing. I have an amazing husband who supports me and helps me out as much as humanly possible. Nights when I am home are filled with Brayden's homework, my own homework, spending quality time with the boys, as well as quality time with my hubby.....all in addition to being pregnant! 3 dogs, 1 cat & a guinea pig round out our hectic life.

Hopefully going forward I will be a lot better at maintaining this blog for everyone to read :)

Life is always moving

2011-02-23T09:11:00.001-08:00

Well I just thought I would post a quick update on what is going on here in Utah.

Well first we are all going CRAZY for spring and summer to get here. I love the winter & the snow, but it is now the end of February.......and little warmth would be wonderful!

We are halfway though school!! Brayden is a more than halfway done with Kindergarten, and I am about halfway through this current semester. I am taking Chemistry this semester and it is driving my nuts! My professor is the most unorganized person, and he doesn't really know how to teach the class very well. He is super smart, and knows his stuff, but he doesn't come to class to teach a specific topic. He just comes to class and starts talking about whatever comes to his mind. I am happy though that most people in the class are as confused as I am. At least everything we do, homework and tests are take home.

I have been asked to take a position on Brayden's school PTA Board. I accepted a position as PTA Secretary. I am pretty excited about it! We will see how much work it turns out to be though. On top of being Primary Secretary, Working & School it might be a challenge.

Boston is basically fully potty trained now. He is in underwear all day, but he does still wear a diaper at night to sleep. It has been nice, but it is also a challenge when we are out and about always having to worry about being close to a bathroom. I wouldn't change it though. It is MUCH cheaper now! He will also be starting preschool this August. I can't believe how fast time goes. It seems like he should still be my little baby, and now he is going to be a preschooler.

Chris has been up and down with work. Winter is always harder at his company because they work outside, so it depends on the weather a lot. He didn't work to much last week, but hopefully he will be working everyday this week. They still treat him really well though, and with the winter coming to a close, it will pick up.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful time these days. February is almost over & I am super excited for March! I love St. Patrick's Day! Can't wait for those silly Leprachauns to come play tricks at our house!!

I love Sundays

2011-02-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

Today was such a wonderful Sunday. It snowed most of the day today but I couldn't really complain that much about it. There is just something about the earth being covered in a fresh, clean layer of white that makes me so happy. I will be the first to say though that I am VERY ready for the coming of summer. I am ready for camping, BBQs, planting my garden, riding our bikes and getting a suntan!

Sundays make me happy because they seem like such a relaxing and enjoyable day. It is the "calm before the storm" of the coming week. As you all know in my hectic life, I need those days to recharge and refresh. I also enjoy spending part of my day at church. Many of you know I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (you can visit www.lds.org for any question you may have). I can't begin to express how much I believe that everything we have in our life is due to our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this life that I am given, even though there are times when I get beat down and angry with my situations.

I hope each and every one of you were able to enjoy your Sunday. That you got to spend time with family and are ready to meet the coming week head on & with a smile on your face.

God bless!

Valentines Day

2011-02-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a fun and exciting Valentine's Day. This year I tried to make Valentine's Day last for almost 2 whole weeks. Instead of the "12 Days of Christmas", I did a "12 Days of Romance" for Chris. It was a whole lot of fun, and challenging sometimes as well. It took some help from others but here is what I did:

1 - 1 red heart shaped balloon that said "I Love You"
2 - A gift card to the movie theatre for 2 tickets
3 - 3 bottles of Chris' lotion
4 - A 4 pack of Monster energy drinks
5 - A bottle of 5 hour energy
6 - The song I walked down the isle to was Tim McGraw's "It's Your Love". It was song #6 on his gratest hits CD. I had the song in his radio with a note telling him to put on song #6. Then after he listened to the song he could get the CD case from under his seat.
7 - 7 things of chocolate
8 - A heart shaped contained with 8 Ferrero Rocher balls (YUM YUM)
9 - 9 heart shaped tree car air freshners
10 - A box with 10 heart shaped chocolate cakes
11 - 11 hearts each with a reason why I love my wonderful husband
12 - Valentines Day! This started out with a scavenger hunt throughout the house. The last clue sent us over to Dave & Cynthia's house. There I had a dozen roses & a Millsap (Utah Jazz player) shirt. There was a total of 12 heart shaped clues to the scavenger hunt & the dozen roses were both for day 12.

We made a nice dinner of cheese fondue & steaks. It was delish!

Chris & the boys got me a handheld cordless dirt devil vacuum (for those quick pick ups in the van), a very cute rug for the front door & knee pads for volleyball. Love my gifts! The boys got candy and a few gifts from Cynthia & Chris's Grandma Bea.

Overall it was a wonderful day. I could have been a little more organized with the dinner planning and gifts for the boys.....but next year I will do better. I also think next year we will ask for either "cupid" or the "Love Bugs" to come to the house :)

New Blog

2011-01-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

To those that ready this blog......this is our family blog. This is just going to be just about our family stuff, and personal stuff that is only for our family and friends. I have created an additional blog that is for the worldwide web though. It is a mommy blog that will focus more on life as a mom, and things that I do in the roles that I play (mom, wife, employee, student, etc.).

Please pop over and read anytime you want. It is still in the very STARTING stages so it is not nearly as nice as most blogs out there. That is going to take some time. I am not a computer genius, and I want to make sure everything I write about has some meaning to me. I mean, it took me 2-3 weeks just to figure out the name for it :)

http://journeytosupermomstatus.blogspot.com

Please feel free to read it, follow it and leave comments on it. Also, any suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciate!

~ Crystal

New Years

2011-01-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

So it is the start of a new year. We spent our new years eve at home with our kids, and my sister-in-laws kids. All the kids were in bed by 10:30 so Chris and I spent the rest of the night hanging out and watching Inception. (Which by the way was a very good movie, but confusing). Waking up on new years day was a struggle because we got in bed at about 2:30 AM but all 4 kids woke up at 7:00 AM ish.

I had so many resolutions going into the new year & so far I have been sticking to them pretty well. I will be honest and say the last few days I have not been eating as healthy as I should be, and have not been working out, but I am ok with it. It is only a few days, and won't hurt my progress.

I can feel that this year is going to be an amazing one. I am just sure of it. I have felt that since the 1st day of the new year. This year I feel like I can meet any challenges we will be given head on.

I have hopes this year for us in many aspects. I hope that something happens with Chris and his job where he is able to either become a partner in Gutter Helmet or start something of his own.

I am also hoping that this year will be the final year I am school taking PRE-REQS for the nursing program. At the rate it is going I will have Chemistry completed this current semester (spring) and then in the fall I will complete Physiology. Then it will be simply waiting to start the nursing program (which currently the wait list is 2.5 years).

Hope you all had a wonderful new years & this year will bring wonderful things in you life.

Christmas

2011-01-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

What an amazing Christmas we had. The boys had so much fun with all the activities and things we did. Both of them were SO excited this year for Santa to come.

Every year we go with Kirk & Suzanne and do a kids Christmas party (this year held at Paul & Tracy's house). Every year Santa comes and brings each kid a gift. It was so funny to watch this kids eyes light up when Santa walked through the door. It reminded me of when I was a child, growing up and waiting and watching for Santa.

At first Boston did NOT want to go sit on Santa's lap. So Santa had Brayden come up first, and then Boston saw that it was ok, so he went to Santa.

I just love this picture. Boston is just looking at his brother with so many questions in his head. Like he is making sure it is ok to be sitting with Santa since Brayden is there with him.

Brayden's school put on a short Christmas Program this year. Needless to say, it could of/should of been a LOT more organized than it was. It was cute though. Brayden got up with his class and sang 2 Christmas songs. Then their part was over and we left while Brayden went to his class party.

He said he was embarrassed to be wearing that big bow on his shirt :) Cute boy!

My Dad & Mary came down to spend Christmas with us this year. It was so nice to have them here to visit. I know the kids really enjoyed having Grandpa and Grandma around.

One night Chris & I took them to see the lights at Temple Square. It was my first time going down there as well. It was beautiful. All the lights were amazing to look at (considering Christmas lights are one of my most favorite things to look at). It was a pretty cold night, and there were a LOT of people walking around, but I think going and looking at the lights will be a yearly tradition from here on out. Hopefully next year the boys will actually want to go. This year they didn't, and asked Dave & Cynthia if they could stay with them instead. Little stinks!

Chris, Mary & Dad

I don't care what religion you follow or believe in. I don't think you can look at that picture and tell me it does not look beautiful and amazing.

Every Christmas Eve (when we are in Utah) we spend the evening with Kirk & Suzanne. They cooked an amazing prime rib for dinner. It was SO yummy!! Then the boys got to open their presents from them. They had so much fun.

Both boys got "matching" brother jammies. Here is Boston in his Little Brother jammies

Here is Brayden with his Big Brother jammies

I am a die hard Utah Ute's fan. Well it just so happens to be Kirk & Suzanne are too. So......of course I LOVE LOVE LOVE these Utah sweatshirts. Both boys got one.

After we got home it was a BATTLE to get the boys to fall asleep. Not only did they fill themselves on sugar at Kirk & Suzanne's, but they were SO excited for Santa to come they could contain themselves. I was so annoyed, but I loved it at the same time. It just made me remember what it was like being that young, and having so much anxiety that Santa was coming and bringing me presents!

Well the boys went to bed super late, and decided to get up SUPER early (6:00 AM). They couldn't wait to open all their presents! What kid can?

Boston with his gun from Santa

Brayden got a skateboard from Santa. Now we need warm weather for him to practice and learn how to ride it.

The boys with their "big" presents (they were the biggest sized ones....lol)

It wouldn't be Christmas if the boys didn't get some camo stuff. Both boys got this hoodie from their Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Hemmingson.

Boston with his trains from Mom and Dad

My surprise for the day was for my wonderful husband. He has talked about how the old school (90's) Nintendo 64 was his favorite gaming system, and that James Bond's Golden Eye was his most favorite game. With the help of Bob, I was able to get it for him for a really cheap price off of eBay. Needless to say, it has been played quite a bit since we got it. But I honestly can't wait for my present for him next year, I am already planning and working on it :) I have said it hundreds of times, Christmas is my most favorite holiday ever!

After we got done eating my delish Christmas dinner (my first attempt at making a homemade Honey Baked Ham....which I did amazing at) we went up to Park City to go sledding. The boys had a BLAST and it was such a nice way to end Christmas day, and the last day my Dad & Mary were in town.

Boston sitting in the tube waiting to go down.

The sledding runs

Brayden went down the biggest runs he could. He is so much my little daredevil child. He makes me nervous on a constant basis.

Overall we had an amazing and wonderful Christmas time. I hope you all had as good of a Christmas as we did. Now we have a whole year to wait before it comes again.

Our trip to Washington

2010-12-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

This past week we were able to go up to Washington to visit family and spend Thanksgiving there. We thought cost wise it would be cheaper to drive so we were spontaneous and packed the kids up in the truck and headed out. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing our kids did in the car. Not once in all the times we spent hours in the car did they whine, fight or complain.

Boston sleeping in the car

Brayden keeping himself entertained with dressing up in Daddy's stuff

We left Saturday (the 20th) at about 2:30 PM. We only had to stop 3 times during the whole trip and those were for gas/restroom breaks. We arrived in Ellensburg about 12:30/1:00 AM (WA time). We walked in and it was a total surprise to my mom. The boys then decided it was a good time to wake up and wanted to play for a while. We finally settled in for bed around 2:30 AM, just to wake up by 6:30. Needless to say, we were a little tired on Sunday.

Playing while watching cartoons

Grandma showing Brayden how to play pinball on the computer

Chris & Mike watching hunting

Boston trying to catch snow in his mouth

Uncle Mike took the boys horseback riding

Boston's 1st time riding a horse. He loved it and wanted to ride the horses everyday. Unfortunately it was snowy and cold so this was the only time he got to ride.

Monday we woke up and headed over Snoqualmie Pass to Issaquah. Wow was that a nightmare. We went about 35 miles the whole way up and over the pass. For those in Washington, you know what that is like.

Our drive

The snow in Issaquah made it a nightmare to drive so we spent the whole time basically at the house. For all those who say it only rains in Washington, here is the picture of the snow (which honestly doesn't happen often) and the SUN! Yes it was sunny, but COLD!

Brayden wanted to sled but Grandpa didn't have a sled, so he improvised. He came up with the "redneck" sled which was sitting on a shovel and holding the handle up. It was a pretty funny thing to watch.

While we were there I was able to bake some cardamom bread with Brayden. He loved helping me out kneeding, and boy did it turn out yummy!

Tuesday Grandpa, Grandma & Daddy took Brayden up the hill to some family friends to go sledding on their hill (in an actual sled..LOL). Brayden LOVED it even though we didn't have any snow clothes. We had left them all at Grandmas because we never thought there would actually be snow in Issaquah. Oh well, they made due.

I love this picture of my dad & Brayden sledding together. They both just look like they are having SO much fun!

Wednesday it was time to pack up and head back to Ellensburg to spend the rest of the visit. Because of the nasty weather & roads we encountered this nice accident that we got to sit in.

Grandma had frosted cookies waiting for each of the boys when they got back. Boston decided he just wanted the frosting, not the actual cookie.

Brayden and Uncle Mike relaxing

Boston watching Toy Story 3 with Grandma

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving but we had an amazing time eating yummy food with family. We got to visit with G. Grandma & G. Grandpa Hemmingson & Chrisy & Jose and their 2 kids, in addition to our immediate family.

The next day we pulled out all the Christmas decorations and started decorating. Grandma's tree is a little heavy on the bottom, but the boys could only reach up so far.

Grandma

Uncle Cody

It was finally time to pack up and go home. We decided that we wanted to spend as much time in Washington as we could, so we tried to do the drive home in 1 day. Well......it didn't exactly work out like we planned. Not only were we stopping about every 2 hours for the bathroom, but we got stuck in Pendleton, OR getting windshield wiper fluid and food. Then when we reached the OR/ID boarder is when the calls started coming. The freeway from ID into UT was closed due to a massive storm and bad driving conditions. We went as far as we could but ended up stopping and spending the night in Twin Falls, ID. We woke up in the morning to an expect "possible" opening of the freeway at noon. That wouldn't have worked because we were all beyond ready to be home. We decided to take a detour up through Pocatello, ID and then down into Utah. It worked, and there was only a few places where the driving was touch and go. We got back home 1 day later than planned, and to at least 2 feet of snow everywhere.

There is a van in that snow pile. I promies!

We got back to a cleaned home (thanks to my MIL) and a shoveled driveway (thanks to Cynthia again & some amazing neighbors who helped throughout the week we were gone).

We had such an amazing time & loved being able to spend it with family. It is a memory we will all cherish for many years to come.

My Thankful Life

2010-11-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

This month, being Thanksgiving obviously, I started a "Thankful Jar" in our house. Each night at dinner we each have a scrap of paper & put something on it that we are thankful for. Then we put them into the jar & on Thanksgiving we will re-read what we all wrote. I love that we are doing this, even though Brayden & Chris are getting annoyed with it, LOL! I have a sign in my house that reads "Blessings Brighten When You Count Them". This is so true. I don't think you can ever really not have many things to be thankful for. So for those of you who read this, here are some things I am Thankful/Grateful for, or things that make me happy.

1. God. Because without him, nothing in this life is possible
2. My wonderful and amazing husband. He is my best friend and my life's companion
3. Our wonderful and amazing children. Yes they can get on my last nerve sometimes but they bring so much joy & laughter into our home. I couldn't imagine life without them in it.
4. My wonderful and amazing parents. (All 4 of them) They have all shaped me into the woman that I am today & they have been there for me in all of my life's struggles.
5. My in-laws. (All 4 of them) They have accepted me and loved me as their own daughter since day one. I know that I can turn to each and everyone one of them if I had a problem. They also helped shape and raise the wonderful man that I married, though at times I hear that was a MAJOR challenge.
6. Football. Yeah I know this is silly but I LOVE LOVE LOVE football. It makes me SO happy to listen to it, and watch the games. Seahawks (Professional) & University of Utah Utes (College) are my teams!
7. Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. It is my go-to winter drink and my obsession. Seriously how can someone not enjoy heaven in a cup.
8. My wonderful and amazing friends. They has stuck by my side through thick and thin. They have seen me at my worst & all deserve the best!
9. Paid off cars. I am so thankful we are in a position that our vehicles are paid off. No we are not financially in the best positions, but we are able to drive our vehicles without having to worry about a payment.
10. Jobs. We both are so very lucky to have jobs that are secure & a steady income. So many out there are struggling with job loss right now. I have 2 amazing jobs (Andy's office & The Children's Place) that I love to go to. I can honestly say I enjoy going to work every day.
11. Education. Granted I wish I had been a little smarted when I was younger & stuck in college, but I didn't. I wanted to play and party. Now it has caught up to me & it is a struggle trying to go to college & working full time & raising a family, but I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to go to school, and better myself for our future.
12. Utah. I love Utah. The State that I live in is such a beautiful place to be. I have all 4 seasons (though Fall & Spring seem to be a tad bit short). I get the hot summers & the snowy winters. I also can drive 45 minutes and be in totally different landscapes, from mountains, to deserts. A little further drive & I can be in Southern Utah and experience the beautiful red rocks!
13. Washington. It will always be my "home". How can you not think that Washington is not the most beautiful place to be? I actually LOVED the rain as well.

Those are just some things I am thankful for. I can't wait for Thanksgiving when we can re-read a whole months worth of blessings in our life! May you all take a moment to sit and think about the blessings you have.

BMX Indoor Season

2010-11-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Brayden started racing the indoor season. During the indoor season they have races Friday night, Saturday afternoon & Sunday mornings. They race out at the South Jordan Equestrian Park. They race 2 weekends a month during the season, except for December when they only race for 1 weekend. Brayden did great. He won 1st place both Friday night & Saturday afternoon (he didn't race on Sunday). Only 2 more wins & he moves from Novice to Intermediate.

Look at how much farther he is out in front. You can't even see the other riders behind him!

Crossing the finish line

Way to go buddy! You are so amazing!

Brayden lost his tooth

2010-11-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

On Friday, November 5th Brayden lost his 1st tooth. Technically it was his second, but that "1st" was pulled by a dentist so that one didn't really count as his "1st". He was such a trooper. He wanted it out so bad that when I asked him to pull it out he was all for it. He just laid on the bed & let me pull it out. No crying, whining or anything!

After we pulled the tooth out he wanted to keep it so we put a note for the tooth fairy to leave his tooth for him. Sadly, he took it over to show his friends parents & lost it in the bark outside the house. Oh well, he has plenty of teeth to lose.

Random

2010-11-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would just post some random pictures I have taken the past week. The other night we had the most beautiful sunset! It was SO bright orange. Chris called while he was driving home from work just to make sure I got some pictures of it. Pictures really don't do it all the justice it deserves, but you get the idea. God created such a beautiful place for us to live in. How can you not see something like this and not think about him & everything he has done/is doing for us.

Chris went duck hunting last weekend, and he shot his 1st green head. He was so excited to come home and show the boys, and cook it up for dinner. The boys loved seeing it. Boston is such a hunter, just like his daddy. He loves to sit and watch hunting!

I did try the duck. I don't like wild game, and this was NO different. I must say that 1 bite for me was just about 1 to many. Oh well. Brayden loved eating it. He loves eating just about anything Chris brings home.

You can just see how happy Chris is in this picture. He is the most amazing and wonderful husband. I couldn't have been blessed with a better family. They are my life and I love them more than anything.

Halloween

2010-11-03T14:47:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun Halloween. Both boys dressed up as Ninjas and they loved it. This was the first year that Boston understood that trick-or-treating meant candy.

First we went to Dave's sisters house in Daybreak for a Chili dinner. We went out trick-or-treating in the POURING (and I mean POURING) rain. We were all SOAKED!!! But the kids didn't seem to notice, or mind, at all. They had a blast and it was so nice up there because all the houses are SO close together.

Brayden, Brecken, Sommer & Makayla (in the wagon being pulled by Rhett)

Daddy taking Boston door to door

Boston, Cassie (Dave's niece), Sommer & Brayden getting candy

We then headed over to Paul & Paris' house. Now they had it set up for trick-or-treating. They had their rhino set up to a trailer with hay bales and blankets (and of course covered). All the kids would pile on, jump off at a house, and then climb back on under blankets to ride to the next stop! After trick-or-treating we just hung out, watched the U game on the TV, ate some more and let the kids play.

The Applegate side minus Braxton(Us, Kirk, Candace, Sommer, Makayla & Suzanne)

The family!

My wonderful husband (obviously was a beer keg) and I (a witch)

Seriously.......this bag was FULL to the top! I don't think a 5 year old need that much candy!!

Witches Night Out

2010-10-25T10:07:00.001-07:00

This weekend I got to go with Candace, Cynthia & Sue to Gardner Village's Witches Night Out. It was a lot of fun, but oh boy there were a LOT of people there. It was crazy. It was THOUSANDS of women all dressed up like witches enjoying a night shopping around Gardner Village & hanging out. We decided that we are going to make this a yearly tradition, with each year trying to add on to our costumes.

Cynthia, Candace & myself getting ready

Sue getting ready

Applying the glitter spray. Loved this picture because you can just see the cloud of glitter!

Ready to go....

Trying to take a picture of the mob of people.

I made a new friend.

Then Candace & me decided to try and get frisky with her ;)

The night is coming to an end.....but I am one happy witch!

My mother in law getting a little frisky with me!

I gotta return the favor :)

Getting ready to head home.

The cool eyelashes!

All in all it was a good night out. We didn't shop because it was a crazy mad house and it would have been to hard to actually try and buy something, but we did get to listen to good music, visit, dress up and have a night out.

Random

2010-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Life keeps moving. We are, as usual, busy.

Woke up this morning (October 25) to the first snow of the winter season. This makes me SO excited for Christmas. I can't even begin to tell you. Christmas is my most FAVORITE holiday!! Bring it on!!! (Though I would like to make a request that on the January 1st can we please have our LAST snow of the winter season? I mean, the holidays are over so we don't really need it anymore right?!?!)

Fall/Winter in Utah. So beautiful!

Playing on the paino. The boys love it.

Brayden plunking away. He will be starting lessons soon.

My "new" hair. Added a little more brown to the blond, and cut semi-bangs. I pin the bangs up everyday because they bug me.....LOL.....so they were kinda a waste. Oh well.

The boys have gotten into the habit of sleeping together. Even if we put them in their own separate beds, they wind up in the same bed together. Most of the time they end up in Braydens twin bed, but sometimes they end up in Boston's toddler bed (crib size). So cute but it is time they get their bunk beds I think.

Cornbelly's

2010-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Every year during Halloween time we go down to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point (Lehi, Utah). It is so much fun for the kids, and adults too. We went down there this year with Dave & Cynthia, Candace, Allan & her girls, Sue (Sommer's fraternal grandma) and her son Hunter & grandson Brayden.

The weather was AMAZING this year. Last year we were huddled under tents trying to avoid the rain and stay warm because it was freezing. This year we kept going and sitting under the tents to try and cool off in the shade. Sure has been such a nice fall this year.

Going down the slide with Brayden & Boston

Brayden riding the cow train (wasn't as good this year as it was last year)

Boston on the jumping pillows. I think this was the kids favorite thing to do.

(L-R) Sommer, Makayla, Boston, Brayden

I rode the bull. I think I did pretty darn good but oh boy.....my legs were KILLING me for 2 days afterwards!

Chris & Boston (who just wanted to go to sleep) taking a different "train" ride.

Brayden (with his eyes closed.....yes you read that right....closed) after he got his face painted

Brayden & Brayden (Sue's grandson)

In the corn maze. Chris said he looked like Children of the Corn.

Tuckered out....and creepy looking while asleep on the way home.

Love this place!

My new baby

2010-10-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is my new baby!! It is a well worn piano (probably 20+ years old) but I love it!!! In a few days someone is coming out to tune it up and fix a few keys, but it sounds amazing! My boys were "playing" it this morning and I couldn't help but just smile.

Some may think I am a strict mom, but all my children will be required to take 2 years of piano lessons. After 2 years they are free to choose whatever instrument they want, but they WILL learn how to play an instrument. I think I am gonna go back to taking lessons again for a little while as well though. So we will see how it all goes.

I can't wait to hear them playing and practicing on the piano in the evenings. Bliss :)

It's decorating time

2010-10-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween time here around our house. Brayden has been going off the wall wanting to start decorating for Halloween. Here is the start of our decorating. I have a bunch of Halloween crafts that I want to try this year, but we were just to excited to get stuff set out to wait on the crafts! On of my most favorite decorations. It is a Halloween advent type house. I planned to have 31 Halloween books this month, and put a title of a book in each slot. Then for reading time at night we would just pull a title out of the door & read that book. Well I am a little behind....but I am hoping to get to the library tomorrow and get the books :)

One of Brayden's favorite decorations. If anything hits the door or moves it the skeltons eyes light up & it makes screaming noises.

I just had to take this picture. This was Saturday, October 2nd and my boys were outside in their swimming trunks playing in the hose. It made me laugh! You would think we lived in Florida or southern California or somewhere. Oh well.....I am not one to complain about sunny warm weather....no matter how long we have it. (Though I would complain if it was hot still for Christmas......I am a firm believe that we have to have a white Christmas!)

Ugh

2010-10-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

So growing older has been interesting. The last 2 weeks I have spent Thursday nights playing volleyball with ladies from my church. How is it that I can play for a little over an hour and be SO sore for the next couple of days. I mean....seriously? I am not that old by any means, but yet I do something that doesn't feel like a LOT of exercise at the time & walk away with hurting arms & legs.

I will have to say the I REALLY enjoy playing volleyball with the girls though. It is so nice to get out and do something active (that is not just walking/jogging).

Over the last week I have been thinging a lot about my life & things I want to accomplish. Time is passing so quickly & I always feel like there is never quite enough time during the day to complete the things I want to do. So..... I have started my (ongoing) bucket list. Hopefully I can work up to completing it all in this lifetime.

We got the house decorated with our Halloween decorations last weekend. Brayden is so excited for Halloween but doesn't understand why we cant decorate the house like a haunted house. LOL He is so silly. I keep telling him that we will try & add new decorations & work up to it every year, he just has to be patient.

I can't believe it is the 1st of October & it has been HOT around here. The news says that this is probably the last weekend of warm weather. I am super excited to fall & sweaters & hot chocolate but I am sad to see summer go. I will be waiting for the first camping trip of next summer & the smell of the campfire. Until then......I am going to make the most of this winter. I am gonna have to talk my husband into finally teaching me how to snowboard. I plan on spending lots of time building snowmen & sledding with our kids. Taking a few fall hikes & looking at the colorful leaves.

This weekend is sure gonna be busy around our house. Tonight I think we might actually get to relax and hang out as a family. Saturday we have to wake up and get our family pictures taken (which I am completely EXCITED about doing). Then I have tickets to attend the LDS General Conference at the Conference Center here in Salt Lake City. I went to the LDS Relief Society General Conference & it was such an amazing experience. President Thomas S. Monson spoke and it was such an uplifting & motivating talk. In all honesty he could have spoke for hours & would have held my attention the whole time. He is a VERY captivating speaker & I am so proud he is the Prophet of our church.

Saturday night we get to spend the evening with some good friends of our BBQ. It is hard that with the business of life we dont get to see everyone of our friends like we wish we could, so we have to make do with little moments here & there. I am sure I will post pictures later in another post about our time with them.

Sunday night I am excited we get to enjoy dinner with one of Chris' cousin * his wife, who live out of State. It is amazing that in the 8.5 years we have been together I have never met this cousin Todd. Chris talks so highly of his cousin so it will be nice to finally meet him & enjoy dinner together.

Hope you all have a wonderful & uplifting weekend.

Brayden's State Championships

2010-09-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

The Utah State BMX Championships happened 2 weeks ago. Brayden had been racing for 9 weeks before the State Championship. He has been doing so amazing in his races. His very 1st race he crashed so he didn't place but every race since then he has been take a spot in the top 3. 1 - 3rd place, 6 - 2nd place & 1 - 1st place.

There has really only been about 1 boy who is just as good as Brayden (who is the only one who can really beat him) and he has been racing for 2.5 years, and he is almost 9 months older than Brayden is.

Brayden has taken to this spot like it is in his blood, and after the State Championships, I think it really is. Brayden took FIRST place. That's right......FIRST PLACE in the State Championship Finals. His darn trophy is bigger than he is. He is such a natural on a bike, and is totally in love with riding.

Brayden keeps begging to ride motorcycles....but he has been told he needs to race BMX for 2 years before we will move him to motorcycles. I think we have a pro racer on our hands.

He is such an amazing boy. He is the kind of boy who, when he sets his mind to something, will push himself until he reaches his goal. He is so determined & you can see it when he rides. I thank him for being an example to everyone that no matter what the challenge, even if we are just learning, we can do whatever we put our minds & hearts to.

Life at this point....

2010-09-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how life is always changing, always moving forward at a faster and faster pace then the year before. So much has happened lately that I will try and catch up. (Sorry I have fallen a little behind on our family blog lately).

Sadly, summer is coming to a close. I am very excited to pull out the Halloween decorations, and get the house all decorated, but I am having a hard time saying goodbye to summer & the warm weather. I was gonna pull out the decorations and decorate over this past weekend, but it has been in the upper 80's here in Salt Lake, so I am not giving in the the fall feeling just quite yet.

At the end of August Brayden started Kindergarten. It is amazing how fast they grow up. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that he was entering Preschool. Now before my eyes he is a big independent Kindergartner.

Walking to school on the 1st day

His class

1st day has officially ended.

Boston has been continuing to grow like a weed as well. He is now a full blown toddler who is talking up a storm, singing song with Barney & getting into as much mischief as a little boy should. He is totally in love with life & has a constant smile that would brighten the gloomiest day. Boston is definitely following in his brothers footsteps with his love of bikes & motorcycles. He loves going to the track and watching his brother race BMX.

We finally decided it was time for our little baby to move up from his trike to a "big boy" bike with training wheels. It makes me so excited to see my baby riding his bike around & seeing the little boy he is growing into.

As some of you know, and some of you may not know, we were pregnant with a 3rd baby last month. Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended up being ectopic (in the tubes) so we were not able to carry on with the pregnancy. We were very blessed and found it early on in the pregnancy so we were able to treat it with medication & cause no damage. We shouldn't have any problems getting pregnant in the future, but because of the medication, we were told we need to wait a minimum of 3 months before we try again.

We are not sure when we will try again.....but we will.

I am back in school again, taking just 1 class this semester as well. So far the class has been great. It is pretty funny to walk into a math class where your professor is younger then you are. Sure makes you think that maybe if given a chance to start over.......you might do things a little differently.

Even with all the changes, life is continually an adventure & we sure are enjoying the ride.

Brayden is racing BMX

2010-07-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Brayden just started racing BMX at a track called RAD Canyon. He loves it! He is begging to race motocross but we said he had to stay with BMX for 1 year before we let him move to motorcycles. He has only been practicing so far, but he will have his first race this coming Thursday. We are so excited for him, and he has been doing so good!

July 4th

2010-07-26T19:44:00.001-07:00

I love the 4th of July. Not only is it right after my birthday, but it is also super summer time! It is just the beginning, and not the end of summer. Plus I love watching fireworks. It is so amazing to me how people can make all the different colors & shapes of professional firework shows.

This 4th of July we had a BBQ at our house for our friends & family. Everyone brought some fireworks & we provided the food (well most of it anyways). I can't wait to do it again next year!

Boston, Brayden & Riley looking at the start of our firework table

Brayden & Mason (his best friend) playing one-on-one

Yes I made star shaped ice cubes in red, white & blue

Dessert........yum!

The boys sitting and watching the start of the fireworks (the smoke bombs)

Boston with his sparkler

Taylorsville Dayz

2010-07-26T19:08:00.001-07:00

Every year for July 4th, Taylorsville City does Taylorsville Dayz. For a few days they have carnival rides and then they do a parade. This year I took the boys with some good friends of ours (the Palmer boys). Brayden wanted to go on just about any and every ride I would let him on. He sure does have quite a bit of guts for a 5 year old.

London, Boston & Brayden on the kids roller coaster

London & Brayden on the bigger kids roller coaster

Boston watching the Ferris Wheel while we were standing in line

Brayden, Logan & London on the Ferris Wheel

Me & Boston on the Ferris Wheel

Brayden LOVED this ride. It took them in a huge circle. London didn't like it the first time around, but wanted to go again.

Boston & Liam on the Monster Trucks.

Then came the parade.......We walked from Dave & Cynthia's house down to the parade spot (which was a long walk pushing 3 kids in our double stroller). The kids really enjoyed it but it was pretty hot & we didn't really have any shade.

Camping at Jordanelle

2010-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we decided it was time to take the family camping. 1st camping trip of the year and it was SOOOOO nice even though it was only for 1 night. We usually go camping up in the mountains surrounded by trees and forest but since it was the beginning of the season we went to an actual camp site. Along with us came our very good friends the Archuleta's.

Boys in the tent (set on a concrete pad). Not the most comfortable place....but hey....its camping!

Our little campsite

Boston watching Daddy & Brother play in the water

Seriously how big is he getting!!!

Boston thought it was cool sitting in the "middle" of the water

Isley

Keaton

Brayden & Keaton

I hope you all get to at least get out and enjoy nature once this summer :)

Father's Day

2010-06-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day. We really enjoyed our Father's Day. We got to spend the whole day together as a family. I made my husband a breakfast of french toast, bacon, cantalope and coffee & OJ. Then we went up to the field behind our house and flew the kite while the dogs ran around and played. Then my wonderful husband washed MY van! It was just a nice and relaxing day. For dinner I made my family spaghetti, garlic bread and cottage cheese with peaches.

I am so very blessed to have the husband I have, and the fathers I have as well. You are all amazing men and I look up to each and everyone of you.

My Dad with my boys

My step-dad

Kirk (Chris's dad) with Boston

Dave (Chris's step-dad)

The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!
~Author Unknown

My baby turned 2

2010-06-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Boston is 2 already. It is amazing how fast time flies! We celebrated Boston's birthday on Sunday, May 23rd at the West Jordan Wild West Park. Lots of family and friends were there and enjoyed the day with us (fighting the wind and oncoming cold weather). Boston had a blast!

Thank you all for coming and spending time with us!

Boston before his party

Brothers

He did NOT like being sung to.

On Boston's actual birthday (May 24th) he opened up present from us & his brother. He got mostly clothes from Mom & Dad (boring I know). He got a star wars light saber which his brother picked out for him. We now have 3 in the house. 1 for each of the boys!

Opening his "big present".

My Mother's Day gifts

2010-05-21T11:43:00.001-07:00

My amazing presents for Mother's Day!

Balloon Wreath

2010-05-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is a wreath I made out of 144 balloons (idea from howdoesshe.com). I love it!! This is a start of a new tradition where this will be up on the door the week of anyone's birthday!

The Zoo

2010-05-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we to the kids up to the zoo with Candace & her girls. We had lots of fun enjoying the beautiful weather and spending a fun afternoon with the kids. Boston LOVED looking at all the animals. We could have spent the entire day there and he would have been completely happy. Brayden enjoyed it, but he was a little bit of a stinker in the beginning.

Boston & Sommer looking at a monkey

Riding the merry-go-round

Boston on the gator at the playground

Boston in the tunnel

Brayden is getting SO big. He climbed the entire thing by hanging on the rope (all by himself)!

Mother's Day

2010-05-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing Mother's Day around our house. Chris & Brayden had left Friday night for the turkey hunt. They got home Sunday afternoon (empty handed). It was so nice to be able to spend a whole weekend with just mommy & Boston. We had a lot of fun playing together. The weather was so nice as well, so we got to spend a lot of time outdoors too.

For lunch on Mother's Day I walked up to my good friend's (Katie N.) mothers house, who lives in the same neighborhood as I do. I was able to have a delish lunch with them and spend some time chit chatting. I finally walked home and spend some time with my wonderful husband and Brayden.

I got the cutest (handmade) beaded necklace and bracelet from Brayden. He made it himself at daycare. Brayden also picked out some cute flowers for me. Boston got me the next book in one of my favorite series, the Sookie Stackhouse (or True Blood) series.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and spending time together.

I love being a mom to my wonderful and amazing boys. I am so blessed to have them in my life!

Growing......

2010-04-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am just amazed at how fast my kids are growing up. Totally in love with them!!

Brayden has now learned how to tie his shoes all by himself

Here they are together getting ready to go swimming

Boston LOVES to read. Here he is on his brothers bed "reading" a book.

Brayden turns 5!!!

2010-04-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

I cant believe how fast time flies. It seems like only a year ago Brayden was just born. Now he is FIVE!!

We had such a fun birthday party for him. He is REALLY into Star Wars the Clone Wars so we had a Star Wars themed birthday party for him. Thank you to everyone who was able to come, and those who weren't, you were missed!!

Brayden's cake of course was Star Wars.

I asked my husband to decorate the railings with streamers, and he went all out. He did an AMAZING job! It looked great.

Brayden getting sung to.

Brayden's birthday party was on his daddy's birthday so we brought out a birthday cake for Chris and he got sung to as well.

Daddy and his boys

Aunt Candace bought Brayden this for his birthday. It was a white bellied dwarf frog. Brayden enjoyed it for 1 day, and then realized it wasn't the type of animal you could really play with. So.....the frog (whom Brayden named Godzilla) was brought back.

In his place......we acquired Godzilla, the guinea pig (yes Brayden wanted to keep the same name). He is such an adorable little addition to our family. Brayden adores him.

Easter

2010-04-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

This year Easter was so much fun! Both boys were able to hunt for eggs and really enjoy the day. Brayden's birthday landed on Easter day this year, so we had his party on Saturday the 3rd. Then on Easter we just saved the presents from us for him to open.

Brayden with the Easter Bunny at his preschool egg hunt

Happy Easter!!

The Friday before Easter we went to Dave & Cynthia's house to eat dinner and decorat eggs & cupcakes. The kids really enjoyed it. Boston LOVED that he was allowed to have some sugar.

He is my husband being silly with the camera

Brayden decorating his cupcake

Chris helping Boston eat his decorated cupcake

My cute niece Makayla with her dyed Easter egg.

Sunday morning we woke up and did a egg hunt and their baskets.

The boys with the egg collecting bags.

Chris thinks I went a LITTLE overboard on the baskets. Ya think?!

After we hunted eggs at our house, we went over to Dave & Cynthia's for breakfast and another egg hunt for the kids.

Brayden collected the most eggs. He he is in his safari vest hunting for them

Boston only cared about 3 eggs. After that, he dropped one, realized it was filled with candy, and then sat down to eat his loot!

Overall it was a wonderful and fun filled day spent with family. The kids still don't know the full meaning of Easter. That's something we will have to work on for next year. Until then, we hope you all enjoyed your day.

St. Patricks Day

2010-03-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day was so much fun. When we woke up we saw that the Leprechauns had come to our house and played tricks on us. They hung streamers from the boys room window, their fan and also covering their door. They also had balloons around on the floor.

Next they had left a trail of chocolate gold coins around the house. We followed the trail and it lead to a new shirt, beaded necklace & a book for each of the boys!

Boston's treasure

Brayden's treasure

The boys in their new shirts. You can see on Brayden's arm were the Leprechauns kissed him.

They also turned our milk green.....

and peed in our toilet!!!

For breakfast I decided to make the boys rainbows (strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapples, kiwis & black plums with whip cream for the clouds. Neither boy wanted to try the kiwis!!

For lunch we had green macaroni & cheese with grapes. Then for dinner I made corned beef, cabbage and rainbow cupcakes.

I had so much fun!! Now in a couple weeks is Brayden's birthday, and Easter (on the same day)!!!!

I love being a mommy and the holidays so much! So many fun things to do :)

New things and family updates

2010-03-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well our life sure does go through a lot of changes.

Chris is now back working with his previous company, Gutter Helmet. We are super excited for him to be back there. He previously had worked with them for 5-6 years & they did treat us well. They did offer him a great incentive to come back, a regularly salary!! So now we dont have to worry about no work being there during the winter.

I am busy as always with the many things I juggle. Some may know, others may not, I accepted a new calling in my church as Primary Secretary. With this I basically keep the Primary Presidency in line :) and make sure things are kept organized and running smoothly.

I also have accepted a West Valley City Co-Moderator position with my online mommies group. My duties include planning and hosting events in our area. It has been a great place for me to meet new mommies & get the kids out meeting new people.

In addition to these 2 things, I am still working full time at the criminal defense attorneys office. I have an amazing boss there who is great to me. I also work a 2nd very part time position at The Children's Place at the mall close to me, Fashion Place Mall. I love the people I work with there, and it has been so fun working there.

I am also going to school 4 days a week. I am only taking on class, Anatomy, but it has kicked my butt!!

Bella gave birth to another little or puppies 8 weeks ago. Sadly, yesterday we sold her to a loving family who will be able to take good care of her. We just dont feel we can spend the time with her that she needs with us both working, and the other animals, and the kids. We have been able to sell 2 of the 3 puppies. It was a good thing because when we arrived home from Strawberry Reservoir we had a very AWFUL surprise. Our amazing friends, Bobby & Danielle, helped us with our dogs, but there was one animal missing.

This little beast gave us an awful mess. I had accidentally locked her in our bedroom while we were gone. Unfortunately, she used our bed as her restroom. All our bedding was tossed & I spent 3 days SCRUBBING & DISINFECTING our mattress. I was able to get our mattress totally clean! Well I had to go down and purchase all new bedding. I love it though.

The next thing we did was get on one of my favorite websites (ksl.com) and get couches for our front room. My amazing husband spent ALL DAY on Monday moving our computer desk & all its belongings They are used, but we really like them! I need to go through and decorate it now. It is looking REALLY bare! My avid hunter of a husband wants to hang more deer antlers and stuff in there. Uhhhh I am thinking NOT.

Lastly, we are getting rid of my COOL Durango. The new vehicle...... my "mormon assault vehicle" a MINIVAN!!!! Brayden was so funny. He looked inside it and said ""mom your other car is more awesome." LOL. Well he sure is honest.

I am actually REALLY excited to have a van. All the room!!!

Weekend at Strawberry Reservoir

2010-03-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went up to Kirk & Suzanne's cabin at Strawberry Reservoir. Saturday (the 6th) would have been Candace & Anthony's wedding. Because of everything, Kirk & Suzanne thought it would be best for us to get out of the valley. We went up Saturday night & came back Sunday afternoon. It was so fun! The kids got to get out and play in the snow, and ride snowmobiles. It was sure COLD though!! It felt like -20 degrees (it wasn't really that cold though). I spent some time just relaxing and hanging out with the kids. I cant wait till summer and spend some time up there!

Boston all bundled up

Brayden loved being outside! He didn't even notice the cold.

Our niece Sommer.

Our other niece Makayla.

Chris outside playing with the kids

Wow Brayden is growing up so fast!

My and the adorable hubby getting ready to go out for a ride on the snowmobiles.

My adorable Boston!

Things are falling into place

2010-02-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update that it looks like things are going to be falling into place. I am so excited about what the future holds for us and our little family!!!

Also, my amazing mom gave me her sewing machine and my also amazing friend Danielle showed me how to set it up. Now I just need to practice and learn how to sew....LOL!! Anyone want to teach me?!?!?

Updates & Thankful Thursday

2010-02-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

I have been falling pretty behind lately with keeping everyone up to date through our blog. Life around here has been very hectic and busy.

Within the last 1.5 months Chris was laid off from his job and has spent a bit of time in Washington working for my dad. I have also started back to school taking a Human Anatomy class. I am in school Mon, Wed & Friday from 1:00 - 1:50 PM and then also on Thursday from 8:00 PM to 9:50 PM. I can definitely say this class is a CHALLENGE.

On top of being a "single" mom to our 2 kids while Chris is away, as well as going to school, I am also working a part time position at The Children's Place. They have been amazing and have worked with me while Chris was away. I go back to work there after about a months leave on Saturday. I am actually REALLY REALLY enjoying going back there. I miss the girls I work with, and the atmosphere.

In addition to everything else our female Chihuahua had a little of puppies (2 boys & 1 girl). We also moved Candace & her girls out after Anthony passed away, I accepting a new calling in Church as Primary Secretary, and I also accepting a position on my moms group (Saltlakecitymommies.com) as a West Valley City Co-Moderator. As you can see it has been a wild ride.

Within the next couple of weeks Chris will be home and finished working in Washington. Then will be the challenge of trying to find a position here for him. I am hoping as things start to settle down again I will be able to post more often so everyone can see what is going on.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

1) I am SO very thankful for my wonderful husband who is willing to sacrifice and go to Washington to work right now. I know it is very hard on him being away from the boys that much, but he does it to help keep us afloat right now.

2) My daycare provider who loves and takes care of my children during the day while we are at work. She has been an amazing friend to me, as well as a great and loving person for my kids.

3) The Church. The members have been amazing and have been there with words of encouragement during these struggling times. They have helped up and supported us when we have needed it. I am so very blessed to be a member of the LDS church.

4) My family. All of my family are amazing and wonderful people. Whether they live here in Utah, or they are elsewhere, I love them all dearly and am so happy when I get to spend time with them.

5) I am grateful that I am able to have a roof over my head, a vehicle to drive, food to eat and clothes to wear. These are basic things, and sometimes I am frustrated that we pay so much for the house and car, but I am grate that we are able to have them.

Valentines Day

2010-02-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Valentine's Day. We woke up with the boys and just hung out in our jammies for a little while. Brayden decided he wanted pancakes for breakfast so I made them pink, heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast I had a heart clue hidden under Brayden's place mat. That was the start of our Valentine's Day Treasure Hunt. It was so much fun. I cut out hearts and wrote clues on them for 10 different places to go. The final place for the boys to go was up to their bedroom where I had small little Valentine's Day treasure baskets sitting on their beds. It was just small little presents, but they had a lot of fun running around trying to find clues.

Eating Breakfast

Boston is so funny. When you take a picture of him he says "eeese"

My heart pancakes on them (with some butter on the side).

Yum Yum!

Later on that evening we went over to Dave & Cynthia's house and had dinner, and then the kids decorated cookies. They had a blast, but they were WIRED on sugar when it was over. I wasn't able to get any pictures on our camera because our batteries kept dying. If I can get some from them, I will put them up.

I am so greatful for my wonderful husband and my 2 amazing boys. Things in life are hard right now, but I am so blessed to have them in my life. They help me keep my head up and plowing on when I feel like nothing is working out. Hopefully, life will start to get better soon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and loving Valentine's Day. I know we did.

Anthony Aaron Poli

2010-02-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Anthony. You will be so missed. You were so loved by all. We will always love you and you will always be on our minds. Please watch down on us from heaven.

If tears could build a stairway and memories were a lane,
We would walk all the way to Heaven, to bring you home again
No farewell words were spoken, no time to say good-bye
You were gone before we knew it, and only God knows why
Our hearts ache in sadness, and secret tears will flow
What is meant to lose you, no one will ever know

My fitness journey

2010-01-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

So I am restarting my fitness journey blog to start living healthier, and being happier with life.

http://crystalsfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/

Please check it out!

2010 & some other stuff

2010-01-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how fast time is flying by. My boys are growing up so fast before my eyes. I swear every morning when I wake up they have grown a month or so. So far this year has already been a challenge. As I posted earlier, in December out upstairs bathroom flooded and had to be remodeled. Well then a week or so ago Chris came home and noticed a puddle in our kitchen. Turns out a semi-new dishwasher (about 2 years old) got a crack in it and has been leaking under our kitchen floors for sometime. Well my wonderful husband managed to rip up the flooring, dry everything out, then piece it all back together again. Now our kitchen is back to normal, other than we no longer have a dishwasher and have to hand wash everything. I really dont mind that much though.

About 4 days after that we went down into our basement storage room and saw this:

That would be our water heater rusting out and leaking all over the floor. We had few people come and give us estimates to fix it and were basically told that we had 1 MAYBE 2 days before the bottom completely rusted through and we would have a completely flooded basement. So once again my husband (with the help of Dave, Anthony and my dad over the phone) went out and got a water heater, then replaced it himself. It is so nice to be married to a handyman :)

A picture of Brayden with his dog

Brayden and Boston

Snuggling up in one of their Christmas Jammies

New Years was fun. We took our 2 little nieces over to a friends house and hung out until about 11:30. Then we packed up the sleepy bunch and headed home. We got home with enough time to put each kid into bed, get in our comfy clothes and turn on the TV with 2 minutes to spare until the countdown. We shared a kiss at midnight, and then headed off to bed ourselves. It may seem like a "boring" New Years for some, but for me it was just wonderful!

Here I am with our kids, our nieces and our friends daughter.

Sommer taking a picture of Chris taking a picture of her.

How big are they getting. Here they are eating breakfast one morning at the counter.

Brayden and his best friend before preschool the other day.

Boston LOVES wearing his darn snow boots.

Boston decided he wanted to wear his bowl on his head.

Our friends Mike & Tracie took us and the boys to monster trucks on Friday night. (They are such amazing friends). Here are some pictures from that.

Brayden is getting so big

2009-12-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today we took Brayden to his very first movie in a theater. We went and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks "The Squeakquel". He did amazing and he had so much fun. It is incredible how fast time flies when you are having fun (and even when things are not so fun) :)

I am so in love with my boy (cant call him a baby or a toddler any more)! Being a mommy to my 2 boys is the most amazing thing in this world!

Brayden I love you so much.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

We hope each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. We had an amazing time this year. We were unable to go to Washington this year but friends and family that we did not get to see were in our thoughts all day today.

We went last weekend to get the kids' pictures taken with Santa Clause. Here is Brayden, Boston and Sommer waving at Santa while they waited in line.

As you can see, Boston DID NOT want to be with Santa.

Seriously!!!!! Granted it is for 4 kids and not just my own but there was a TON of presents under the tree. This is before all the presents from Santa got there as well. They were overflowing up against the wall and on top of the desk!

The boys in their Christmas jammies

Grandpa & Grandma Applegate with all the grandkids on Christmas Eve

Santa brought Brayden a real BMX bike so he can now officially start racing BMX. (Yes he did get an official BMX helmet as well)

Boston is OBSESSED with shoes. He wants to put them on from the second he wakes up until the minute he goes to bed. Here is he hold his new church shoes from Grandma and Grandpa Norman.

Boston and his inflatable ball pit.

Brayden and his double barrel shot gun.

Brayden's 1st "computer". He got a star wars "laptop" from Aunt Candace & Uncle Anthony

Brayden riding his new bike!

It was such an amazing day. Just getting a chance to spend the whole day with family. Now comes the part of trying to get the house cleaned up and all the decorations put away. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and I am once again sad that it is coming to an end. Now we have a whole year to look forward to it coming again.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Thats life

2009-12-10T20:15:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we had the very exciting experience of having out upstairs bathroom flood. It was such a blessing in disguise! I have been wanting to remodel the ugly bathroom since we moved in, and now we finally had a chance to.

BEFORE:

The water damage crew cut out some of out carpet padding and left us with these HUGE fans (4 of them in the house) for TWO WHOLE DAYS!!! They were SO loud and we had to have the heat up to 76-78 degrees. Good thing it was winter.

DURING:

AFTER:

I have tile!!!!!! Chris did such an amazing job! It looks beautiful!

It's the holidays!!

2009-12-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. I cooked the turkey and we had Dave & Cynthia over for dinner. It was a very relaxing day until I had to leave for work at The Children's Place for "Black Friday". I have never shopped a "Black Friday", or worked on one. I was there from 8 PM Thursday night until 4:00 AM on Friday morning. It was CRAZY how many people wanted to come and stand in line to buy just a few items and only save a few bucks. Oh well, to each his own. Friday morning after I woke up we drove up to North Pole Pines in Farr West, Utah to cut down our Christmas Tree (a tradition we do each year on the day after Thanksgiving). The boys had a ton of fun walking around trying to find "our" tree.

Once we found our tree Chris set to work cutting it down.

Boston is very interested in Chris cutting down the tree.

Brayden helped cut off the little twigs at the bottom so we could drag it out.

After we got the tree home we got it set up and ready to decorate. Boston ended up going to bed so he didn't really participate but Brayden had a lot of fun putting stuff on the tree. We gave him the candy canes to put on and he decided to put a whole bunch in one little area, as you can see. We drank candycane hot chocolate, listened to Christmas music and got the house all festive.

It was so much fun spending time with the family and getting the holiday decorations out. Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love all the joy and happiness the surrounds people during the holidays. I love the smells, flavors and sights. May you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Halloween Time

2009-11-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun this Halloween. Friday Brayden had a preschool Halloween party. They did a Halloween Parade and song after class for all the parents. It was so cute.

Friday for dinner I made "Ghosts in the Graveyard" (since Halloween night we always eat chili and potato soup at Brett & Julies - which by the way Brett makes the best chili I have ever tasted!!! It is seriously my FAVORITE!!!). It was fun and turned out pretty cute. (It is just Shepards Pie with the base potatoes colored green with food coloring).

Brayden and Boston had so much fun on Halloween. Brayden picked out both his and Boston's costumes. Brayden wanted to be spiderman but since he had already been that, we told him he couldn't do it. He decided then he would be black spiderman (Venom) and Boston would be the "good" spiderman. It was adorable.

All the cousins. Brayden, Makayla, Boston and Sommer.

Getting ready to trick-or-treat at Brett & Julie's house. Halloween is one of their most favorite holidays and the put a lot of time and effort into decorating their house. It shows because every year their house looks amazing. We love going up there and visiting them and eating (once again the BEST) chili and potato soup.

Boston's ready!

He didn't want to tuck his mask in to the body suit because he would lift it up in between houses.

Boston LOVED trick or treating. He had NO fear of going up to people's houses and getting candy out of their bowls. I think me depriving him of any candy and most sugary things all year long had something to do with that. It was cute. He would go up to houses and try and stuff the candy in his mouth before the turned around to walk away.

Aunt Becca let me us her pirate costume for the evening. Brett & Julie's neighbor decorated his house all up and this was one of the decorations. I fit right in!

After we left Brett & Julie's house we went to one of Kirk & Suzanne's friends houses and spent some time with them. We got to take the boys with a couple of the kids from there to a few houses to trick-or-treat as well. Kirk was dressed up as a priest & Suzanne dressed up as a pregnant nun. It was pretty damn funny!

We had such an amazing night. It is so much fun to spend time with family (and get candy to eat)! I love being able to take my kids out trick-or-treating and see the joy in their faces as they run from house to house.

Fall & Winter

2009-10-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am just in such a wonderful mood today. I have so many things to be thankful for today and the chill in the area is bring about a happiness of the holiday season to come.

I love Utah. I love the changes in weather, and I LOVE to color of fall (though sometimes it just jumps right to winter) in the mountains. It is so beautiful to me to look up at the hills and see all the colors.

I love my family. I love having an amazing husband who is willing to work hard and sacrifice for the good of our family. He works a not always wonderful job in order to help provide for us and support us. I love our 2 wonderful and amazing children. They bring so much joy and love into our home. It is amazing to watch them grow and change into big boys. I love the thought that someday our family will grow some more. I don't know when anything will happen, but I love knowing that someday it will. We all have our moments of frustration, and anger, but the root of our family is the love we all share.

I love the chill in the air. I am so sad to see summer go. I love feeling the sun and heat on my skin during summer, but I also love the chill that comes with fall/winter. I love how beautiful it is to wake up to freshly fallen snow. The world being white and clean. I love snuggling up with hot chocolate under a blanket and reading a book or watching a movie with my family. I love sledding and making snow angels. I love the joy and love that fills every moment of the holiday season. People's hearts open up to others during the holidays like no other time of year.

I love work. I know that sounds weird, but I have to be grateful that I have the opportunity to get up every morning and go to work There are people out there who do not have a job currently, and I feel totally blessed to have not only 1, but 2 of them.

Times are tough. Everyone has their rough patches. I am just grateful for the wonderful things I do have in my life. The experience I have had, and the memories yet to make.

First Snow of 2009

2009-10-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to the 1st snow of the year! It was just a light dusting but it has snowed off and on for most of the day (not sticking really though). The boys just had to go outside and play in it for a little while. Seeing the snow makes me think of all the joys and smells and fun of the holidays! I am so excited for the holidays this year. I am excited to Boston to get Christmas a little bit more. I am excited for the food and family on Thanksgiving. I am excited for the beautiful white snow (though not excited for it on our roads). I am excited to go cut down our Christmas tree and sleep under it that first night it is up. So many things to be excited for.

Sadly we are not going to be making it to Washington this year (it is our year up there) for Christmas though. So we wont be up there for Christmas for 2 more years, but we are hoping to be able to at least visit sometime during the summer next year.

What a weekend

2009-10-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was so much fun! We woke up on Saturday and went to Brayden's soccer game. He did AMAZING. He had such good control of the ball.

After Brayden's game we headed to Cookie Cutter to get Boston his 1st haircut. It was very hard on me (lol). I know it was time, and he really needed it, but I wasn't 100% ready to let his baby hair go. Oh well, he still looks absolutely adorable. I hadn't really realized how LONG his "mullet" was until we were sitting at the salon. He did amazing. He didn't cry at all and actually acted like he enjoyed it. (I have been luck and have had BOTH my boys do amazing well getting their hair cut. No tears here yet!)

What a MULLET :)

Ok.....how cute is he now!

No he just looks like a little man instead of a baby.

After Boston's hair cut. We headed down to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point with the Archuletta's. We have gone there almost every year since Brayden was born. They have quite a bit of things to do and we really enjoy taking the kids there for during Halloween time.

Brayden on the bouncy pillow

Me and Boston on the cow train

Brayden got his face painted with a "spiderman w

After Thanksgiving Point Dave & Cynthia came over and we (along with Candace, Anthony and their girls) carved pumpkins. We didn't have any designs or pumpkin carving stuff so we did it the "old fashioned way". Boston DID NOT like the inside of the pumpkin at all.

Brayden LOVES getting down and dirty in the pumpkin guts.

Even though he hated the inside of the pumpkin. Boston still ended up with a seed on his head.

My gosh he is so big!

Boston's pumpkin (carved by daddy)

Brayden's Pumpkin (Carved by Daddy too)

My pumpkin

Boston and Sommer crawled in Cowboy & Bella's bed. Just thought I would also post this!

Visiting the Fire Station

2009-09-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I have the pleasure of joining Brayden and his preschool class on their field trip to the Taylorsville Fire Station. We had a lot of fun. They talked to the kids about the importance of being having fire drills and all about fire safety. Brayden (and I) got to ride in the fire truck around the parking lot. Then they gave each kid a chance to spray the fire hose. It was quite fun day.

Here they are showing the kids their fire suits. The fireman then crawled around on the floor and up to each kid to show them that they may look scary at first, but they really are not scary. They said a lot of kids get scared when they come in all dressed up.

Brayden's whole class with the 3 fireman.

Brayden inside the firetruck while we were pulling out to circle the parking lot.

How adorable is he in his fire jacket and helmet getting ready to shoot the hose!

Overall it was a blast. Brayden was POOPED out at the end of the day. He was actually asleep when I picked him up from daycare. Learning is SUCH hard work!

God Plan v. My Plan

2009-09-22T09:30:00.001-07:00

Well life is again an always evolving and changing thing. I am a planner. I always have plans thought out in detail of how things are going to go. Slowly I am learning that life doesn't always follow the path that I chose for it.

Our plan was to move into my sister-in-laws basement for 2 years or abouts until we were debt free, and then we would look into getting a house that would be a permanent residence until the kids were done with school. Also in those 2 years I would go to school and finish my pre-requisites for the RN program and the working towards getting my RN.

Well plans have changed. There was a problem with the house they were going to get. As of now, our house is on the market (no offers yet though) with no where to go if we were to get one. Our plan is up in the air, and it is a very hard thing for me to do. I like to be in control and organized with "the plan".

I think this is a time to step back, and let the plan fall into place. Here is a GREAT quote from Mother Theresa that I am going to work on adopting as my moto for times such as these:

It is His work. I am like a little pencil in God's hand. That is all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used.
-Mother Theresa

So, in this very moment, and I going to try and let go. I am not going to plan anything. I am just going to let god decide where I go from her. I am putting all my trust in him and giving this moment over to him. I am sure he knows better than I do about what he is doing.

My crock-pot adventures

2009-09-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

So I have been inspired to start making most of my meals using my crock-pot. Reason......I just DONT have time in the evenings when I get home to make a good and healthy meal for my family, and spend time with them and get them to bed on time.

The older they get....the more hectic my life gets.

It doesn't help that Brayden now has soccer practice going on, Chris has been working every night until the wee hours of the morning getting the house in "pretty condition" and the house is on the market now so it is nights spent of cleaning up and making sure it is "show worthy" by the off chance that someone wants to come through it.

So, in light of everything that is going on in my life right now, I have decided that one BIG way to cut down on the hectic nights is to use my crock-pot on a VERY REGULAR basis. So my challenge to myself is.........4 (or sometimes 5) nights a week, for 4 consecutive weeks I will cook dinner in my crock-pot. The challenge will be making something that is good, healthy, and not always the same things (pot roast....yum yum) every night.

I have decided I will start this next week and see how it goes. I am using one of my FAVORITE crock-pot blogs (http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/) as my inspiration and recipe helper.

Soccer

2009-09-16T15:38:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday was Brayden's 1st soccer game. He was adorable and played like he loved it. It was nice he was able to get out and run around and burn some energy. It was such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and kids were adorable!

Though the team they played won (like 15 - 0), he still had a blast and didn't even notice. Brayden was the only one on his team to (kinda) score a goal, but unfortunately it was in the wrong side. LOL He is #6. Same number as when he played T-Ball. Their team is the Yellowjackets. It was very very cute to watch them run after the ball. They dont really get the game at this age, but Brayden sure played with heart. His Grandpa and Grandma Applegate and Aunt Hailey came to watch him play as well.

Chris is the assistant coach but the official coach was out of town for their first game. It was cute to seem them all looking up to "Coach Chris"!

Practicing kicking before the game

Chris working with them before a play

Brayden getting the ball

Go get um'

Look at him. He was like a monster on the playing field!

Brayden's 1st day of preschool

2009-09-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today was Brayden's 1st day of Preschool. He is in their 4th Year Program at the same preschool he went to last year. He is getting so big it is amazing. My little man is growing up. We took his last night to get him a new outfit for his first day and he picked out his clothes all by himself (I really did only help him a LITTLE with the shirt). He is such an amazing little boy and so adorable.

Mason was SO excited to start school too. They are so cute together. Best Friends!

In class

After I left I snuck back around the corner to take a picture of them in class.

Family Photos

2009-09-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had some professional pictures taken of our family, Candace & Anthony's family and Dave & Cynthia. I LOVE how our pictures turned out. They are so beautiful. I have a friend in my moms group (Beckah Greenwood) do them and they are amazing. If anyone wants her contact information, let me know.

Night fishing

2009-09-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Let me start out by saying I dont fish. I dont care to fish. I dont ENJOY fishing. I decided the other weekend that I would spend time with my wonderful hubby and do something he enjoys (fishing). Dave & Cynthia watched the boys for use on a Saturday night and Chris and I went down to Utah lake to go night fishing. The bugs were AWFUL!!! There were so many bugs I didn't even feel like I wanted to breath in for fear I would choke on them. I was a trooper and sucked it up though. We had a citronella candle lit and we fished. Till 1 am we fished.

Here I am trying every possible thing to keep the bugs away from me. Yes I remained like this most of the night.

I did really well. I caught 3 fish and they were all pretty decent size.

My husband caught one (hahahaha) and you can see it wasn't even worth the time to reel it in.

Husband 1
Me 3

I win!

This past weekend

2009-08-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know of the very fun and amazing last couple of days we had.

Friday:

First off....its a Friday so its already a good day. We got to spend time Friday night together as a family and hang out. Brayden's best friend Mason came over and spent the night. Brayden loves when Mason sleeps over so he had a very fun time.

Saturday:

Woke up and cooked all the kids a pancake and egg breakfast. Then we took Brayden to his 1st soccer get together. He got to meet his coach (Chris is the assitant coach) and get his uniform. His team is called the Yellowjackets. They picked out the team name because their jersey is a SERIOUS neon yellow color. Lol. He is number 6. Same number he was in t-ball. I cant wait to watch him play.
Later on we went to the Kearns Rec Center for Sommer's (our neice) 2nd birthday party. It was lots of fun taking the boys swimming and down the slides and such. All fun and games until we got kicked out of one the the kids pools for a "floater". (Someone pooped in the pool....YUCK) After that, we were DONE swimming.

Saturday night around 11:30 I was in bed (Chris was in the basement) when I thought I heard someone lighting off fireworks. Within minutes I heard tons of police sirens and our room filled up with lights. I thought for a minute they were coming from above our house on 3200 West. As I was trying to fall back asleep I started hearing TONS of dogs barking. I got up and looked out the window and there was about 30 cop cars at the end of the street. I got dressed, got Chris and we went outside to check out what was going. It was CRAZY. Almost everyone on our street was outside their house and the end of the stree (by the field) was FILLED with cops and cop cars.

Here is the story from ksl.com

TAYLORSVILLE -- A Taylorsville officer shot a man Saturday night. That man is now in the hospital in critical condition, and the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office is investigating.

What started as a domestic violence call ended with two Taylorsville officers firing at 36-year-old Robert Holliday. Prior to the shooting, officers responded to a domestic call near 3200 West 5800 South. When they arrived around 11 p.m., Holliday wasn't there, but they continued investigating anyway. Minutes later, Holliday came back home, saw police and ran.

The officers caught up with Holliday around 3340 W. 5900 South, where he pulled out what officers thought was a handgun.

Taylorsville Police Detective Shannon Bennett said, "Out of fear for their own safety, their own lives, they shot at the suspect. They hit and injured him."

Neighbors were certainly surprised by the shots.

Dillon Fryer said, "I woke up to shots fired. It kind of sounded like fire crackers."

That would have been a reasonable assumption given the quiet neighborhood. After all, that's why Fryer moved to the area from Rose Park. But Saturday night around 11:45, it wasn't quiet at all.

Another neighbor, Nathan Bahr, said, "I thought I heard, ‘Drop the gun, get on the ground.' Then after that I heard another volley of shots, and then we called 911.

Fryer added, "Then the next thing I know, there's about 20 cop cars sitting out in front of the house, lights flashing."

Holliday was transported to Intermountain Medical Center in critical condition.

There are still indicators of where the shooting took place--blood stains on the sidewalk, a bullet hole on the truck's mirror and a few fragments on the ground.

Police will not elaborate on where Holliday was hit or by how many shots.

They also haven't said if they found a weapon on him, and if so, whether or not he fired back.

Taylorsville Police says Holliday is a familiar face. "We've had several dealings with him. He's got a history of dealing with the police. It's unfortunate we had to deal with him in this sort of circumstance," Bennett said.

We discovered through court records that Holliday was convicted of DUI and failure to respond to police commands back in 2006.

The District Attorneys office will take the investigation from here. In the meantime, the two officers will be placed on administrative leave."

Needless to say, it was pretty interesting and crazy.

Sunday:

I woke up and went to the Oquhir Temple dedication. It was very good to listen to the speakers and see it fir the first time.

After church we got ready and went and had family pictures done at Wheeler Farm. It was so much fun and I cant wait to see them.

After pictures we went up to Rockport to go fishing as a family. I was the ONLY one who caught a fish. I was so proud. Chris through it back before Cynthia could get a picture with it. Oh well. At least I know I got a fish. We fished for about an hour and a half or so before storm cloud moved in. We started packing up and the sky just opened up and it POURED down on us. It was a mad dash to get all the kids (Brayden, Boston, Sommer and Makayla) pack up and up to the cars as well as all the fishing equiptment. It was a very wet ride home, but fun memories were made.

After we got home from fishing (about 9:00 or so) Chris and I started get things put away and packed up. I got the boys out of their wet clothes and into their pjs and then I went to get dressed. For those of you who know me really well I am a stickler for my schedule and getting the kids to bed at a decent time, especially Boston. Well I decided to let Brayden and Boston (who was amazingly not asleep yet) play while I got changed and got stuff ready to go to bed. Well Brayden and Boston went down into the basement (into the toy room) and after a couple minutes Chris and I heard the most amazing thing. Brayden and Boston were laughing hystarically together and playing. It was so adorable to listen to them playing TOGETHER. I snuck down the stairs & just watched them playing together and laughing together. It was such a touching moment for me. Chris came down and we ended up sitting in the toy room with the boys for another 5 minute or so just playing.

Just some fun memories from the weekend I thought I would share with you.

The Hunt

2009-08-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the opener of the deer hunt. We went up to Tabiona for the weekend with Bobby & Danielle and Candace & Anthony (and Anthony's parents). It was our first camping trip of the year and it was SO nice to get out of the valley. It was definitely an interesting weekend as well. Kirk & Suzanne let us use their truck and 5th wheel which came in handy.

On the ride up there Brayden had to use the bathroom REALLY bad. To the point of almost peeing in his pants. We were in a very steap and thin road doing a double tow (5th wheel and then a 4-wheeler on a trailer) so there was no way to stop so he could potty. So, being a 1st for me, got to help him pee into a plastic bottle while he was standing up on a VERY bumpy road. I was very lucky that we managed to make it all in the bottle, and not all over me or the truck.

Friday night a very nasty rain/hail and lightening storm came in. We are VERY lucky we were in a trailer instead of our tent that leaks really bad when there is any amount of rain. The first night the kids didn't sleep really well. Both kids woke up a couple of times in the night, and Chris and I kept switching where we were sleeping. They both slept really well during their naps on Saturday though.

Saturday monring Chris, Bobby & Anthony left very early to go out hunting. My hubby got his very first ever deer using a bow. He shot a nice little 2 point. Unfortunately Bobby & Anthony didn't get anything over the weekend. That just means another camping trip :)

Brayden roasting his marshmallow. He is so excited!

Chris and his deer

Boston riding one of his most favorite toys. His 4-wheeler from Grandma and Grandpa Applegate.

Boston hanging out with his cousin Makayla.

The boys eating breakfast

Boston & Keaton checking out the 4-wheeler

Lola (Bobby & Danielle's dog from my mom & bob)

Isley

Slack Family Reunion

2009-08-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Every year Chris's moms family gets together for a family camping trip. This year we were unable to go camping (lack of finances due to the economy, and we waited a little to long to decide where we wanted to go so the places were booked up). Instead we spent Saturday the 8th up at Brett & Julies house. They have a HUGE backyard and set up their volleyball net and had a fire pit. We had a potluck sandwich lunch and just spent the day hanging out and spending time as a family. It was quite fun. Thanks to the Slacks for allowing us the use of their backyard :)

Brayden sometimes HATES having is his picture taken. He was not in a good mood that we took him away from his playing to take pictures.

My hubbies immediate family (Chris, Brayden, Me, Boston, Cynthia, Dave, Candace, Sommer, Anthony & Makayla)

Brett & Julie. They are such amazing people.

Brett, Bea (Chris's amazing grandma) & Cynthia

Dave & Cynthia goofing off.

Once again, thank you Brett & Julie for everything! We had an amazing time.

Adventures in the ER

2009-08-04T09:18:00.001-07:00

Saturday night we had quite an interesting evening with Brayden. One mistake of ours is that we have usually let Brayden ride his bike without a helmet. We didn't really see to much of a problem in that if he was right in front of the house. Well.......Saturday came and we (Chris and I) now have a completely different view on it. Brayden was riding his bike around the street and was going down our neighbors steep driveway (which he does all the time) and I think lost control. He ran head on into a basketball hoop at the bottom of the drive way.

We ended up taking him in and they did a bunch of tests on his and he is just fine. They said that he would be really bruised up for a while too.....and he didn't even have that. Needless to say, he no longer rides without a helmet.

The pictures dont even do it justice. Chris said it was the worst goose egg he has ever seen. Amazing!

Head 0
Basketball hoop 1

Basketball hoop won

Here he is Monday night and he looks great other than a little scratch on his forehead. Tough boy he is.

Malissa's Baby Shower

2009-07-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I did a baby shower one of my closest friends, Malissa Tisdale. It was so much fun. She is doing her nursery in a camping theme so I decided to do her baby shower with a camping theme as well. It was a pretty small gather of people, but it was still quite fun overall.

The diaper cake I made. I am SOOOO pround of myself. I told Malissa she probably got the only inch of anything creative I will ever have in my life. LOL.

I set the table up with the red and white picnic table cloth.

Table I had set up for right when you walk in the door. Set up next to the tent.

How adorable is this room!

I feel so greatful for the many years of friendship Malissa and Chris have shown me. I am glad I was able to give her something in return.

Boston is growing

2009-07-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Last week our day care provider took a couple days off. I was lucky enough to be able to stay home with the boys on Thursday and Friday (Thanks to Julie & Aubrie who took the boys on Wednesday!!! Thank You Both!!). I was sitting there watching them eat their lunch semi-together and couldn't stop thinking about what a great life I have to be able to have these two wonderful boys!

Here is a picture of Boston just starting to wake up from a nap.

Boston being his ADORABLE self!

A couple pictures of Boston starting to walk. He still doesn't do it a whole lot, but he is getting there!

Updates

2009-07-07T13:48:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a little while since I have been on and posted any family updates. We just celebrated the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time not doing anything. We spent the day hanging out together, had breakfast and just lazed around the house.

For breakfast I made #4 pancakes (for the 4th) and (what are supposed to look like, but dont really) firework pancakes.

Here is Boston enjoying his strawberries and grapes

The boys in their 4th of July t-shirts

It's amazing how fast time goes, and how big they are both getting.

Boston is just starting to learn how to walk. He is getting really good at taking 5 steps or so, but then he just gets lazy and sits down. Here he is standing up.

Brayden smiling for the camera. He LOVES to have his picture taken & always tried to cheese it up.

Boston looking on at big brothers Popsicle. He had a taste and as you can see......one taste was not enough.

The family (with Brayden cheesing it up)

We watched 3 or 4 very small fireworks before Boston went to bed so he could at least see something. He loved them and was smiling the whole time.

Bella's puppies were also born. As you can see, she had 3. 2 girls and 1 boy. They are just barely over a week old and still dont have their eyes or ears open yet. I cant believe at this moment (and for the next 7 weeks) I have SIX dogs at my house.

You can see that summer has finally arrived. Sunday Chris set up the swimming pool Grandma Hemmingson bought Brayden when she was in town, as well as the slip-n-slide. Brayden had a blast playing outside in the heat.

Going down the slip-n-slide

We also found out, after Boston got an ear infection, he is allergic to Penicillin. Its hard to tell from the picture but he broke out with a ton of red bumps all over his body. I was worried that he had chicken pox. Luckily it was just a reaction to his meds.

Chris & Cynthia up Big Cottonwood Canyon

An amazing picture I took of Brayden while we were eating lunch up Big Cottonwood Canyon with Dave & Cynthia.

Things are continually moving at a fast pace around our house. In addition to Bella having her puppies & Boston trying to walk, Brayden just finished his first 2 sessions of swimming lessons. I get a break from that for 2 weeks and then we start back again towards the end of July. I am throwing a baby shower for my close friend in a couple weeks, and I just received a calling in the Church as a member of the "Enrichment Night Planning Committee". I am very excited about it. We get together about once a month and do many activities.

Chris & I are also getting down into our Financial Peace University classes. I will also be starting back at Salt Lake Community College in August, and Brayden will be starting his 4 year old preschool program in September, as well as starting soccer.

Hope everyone is having a safe and wonderful summer. I will catch up much sooner next time around.

Brayden's final t-ball game

2009-06-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time flies. Brayden had his last t-ball game last week. He was so cute and proud when he got his trophy. I love my son so much. He is such a blessing in my life. He is an amazing boy and is so good. Totally in love!

Brayden playing 1st base

Hitting for the last time of this season off the t-stand

Running home

1st trophy

How big is he getting!?!

Brayden's 1st tooth

2009-06-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brayden went to the dentist and had his abscessed tooth pulled. They gave him a sleepy cocktail so he doesn't remember anything. It was nice to stay home with him and snuggle on the couch with him all day long. He was so excited to lose his first tooth and have the tooth fairy come. She brought a lot more than she should have ($5.00). I am going to have to make sure she knows that is not going to be the amount every time :)

Brayden before the procedure. He is SO excited to get his tooth out. LOL

After when we are home. His muscles were still very sleepy.

Poor baby.

Swimming Lessons

2009-06-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was Brayden's 1st swimming lessons class. He LOVED it. It was nice because it was only 30 minutes so it wasn't to long since I had Boston who wanted to just crawl all around the pool.

Brayden was supposed to start on Monday but the weather here has been crazy. Ran and thunderstorms every single day. His class is supposed to run Monday - Thursday, with Fridays open for make-up days (such as this Friday due to Monday's class cancellation) for 2 weeks. Then he will start his second session right away for another 2 more weeks (same schedule).

The only problem I had with the class is it is a pre-level class (so for kids who have never really been swimming and have no sense in water, or have a fear of the water), and there was only 1 instructor for 6 kids. Not the best idea when the instructor probably doesn't even have children of his own so he was getting very anxious when the kids were trying to play instead of listen.

Oh well. I hope Brayden will get some swimming skills so I dont have to be terrified to take both Brayden and Boston to the pool this summer.

Has it really been 5 years

2009-06-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

It is amazing....today is Chris and my 5 year anniversary. I am so blessed to married to such an amazing and wonderful man. Chris is my best friend and the love of my life. Every day that passes I love him more and more. Time has passed so quickly. We have had our roller coaster ups and downs, as all marriages do, but we have stood together through it all, as one. We started out with just the two of us (with 2 dogs- Bear and Cowboy) and grew to an amazing family of 4 (with 3 dogs - Bear, Cowboy and Bella and a cat - Chloe).

Life is always busy and forever changing but with my husband by my side, we will make it though anything and succeed in everything we do.

I look forward in our future and I know that it will be very different in the years to come (hopefully more children and possibly more animals) but I see us standing side by side, more in love than we are today.

I am so amazed that I married into the most wonderful family as well. Some people cant stand their in-laws, but I can honestly say I love all of my in-laws with all my heart. Both sides of his family have welcomed me with open arms from the very beginning.

My husband (along with our children who are a result of the love we have for each other) is the greatest blessing God has given to me in my life. I am so very grateful and fortunate for the life I live. Words cant come to express the joy and happiness that fills my heart to its breaking point today. LOVE is the only word that even comes close.

May everyone be blessed with the feelings I have right now.

Saying our vows

Mr. & Mrs. Applegate

We did it!!!!

"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle."
- Amy Bloom

Goals in my life

2009-05-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

Getting older has made me realize there are a lot of things I want to accomplish in my life. Some I may not get to, and I am ok with that, and some I may not get to for quite some time. In the meantime, I am going to keep a running list of "Life's Goals"

1. Visit Rome & Italy
2. Run in a marathon
3. Speak fluent Italian (I think the most beautiful language out there), Spanish and American Sign Language
4. Stay happily married to my husband for the rest of our lives
5. Enjoy every day that I am given, to the fullest extent I can, but also understand everyone can have tough days too
6. Learn to love my body each and every way I have it, whether heavier than I want it, or once I have grown old and it is not working as good as it used to
7. Work at least one job in my life when it is not about the money, but its about loving what I do
8. Go skydiving (I am not sure I would be able to do this, but I like to think I would at least give it a try)
9. Visit the Eiffel Tower
10. Renew my vows to my husband on a beach in Hawaii
11. Visit every state in the USA
12. Become totally debt free and stay that way for at least 1 year or more
13. Get to where I feel my family is totally complete
14. Do the A-Z Author challenge and the A-Z Title challenge

Thats it for now. Many more to come......

Another one of God's blessings in my life

2009-05-29T09:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I found out that I have been approved to receive a Federal Pell Grant to go back to college for the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 year. I am SO excited about it. I am trying to get a grant to be able to go to school this summer as well. Hopefully that will come though.

Amazing how many blessings we have been experiencing lately. It is such an amazing feeling to finally feel as if things in your life are starting to turn around and head in the right direction.

I LOVE this life that I am living!!

Weight Loss Blog

2009-05-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

So I have started a separate blog for everyone to go to and watch my fitness journey. I have gone up quite a few sizes and it is pretty depressing. I have been looking and past pictures, and then recent ones and I am just very unhappy with how I look and feel. This blog will keep me accountable, and hopefully push me harder than I have been to getting back in shape, and having the energy I need to be as active as I would like to be.

Please take a look http://crystalsfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Life and other things

2009-05-27T14:08:00.001-07:00

Well our lives have been SO busy lately. I am totally loving life right at the moment. Things feel like they are finally looking up and heading in the right direction.

The last couple of weeks I have had my family down visiting from Washington. It was SO nice to spend time with both my dad and Mary and then with my mom and my little sister. First my dad and Mary came down for a few days to spend some time with the boys and visit with me and Chris.

On May 16, 2009 I was officially baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). My dad and Mary were able to attend that. It was such an AMAZING experience, and I truly believe I made the best decision I could have.

While my dad and Mary were visiting, we took a afternoon and went to Murray Park to relax and feed the ducks and let the kids play.

Boston at the park

Brayden riding his bike at the park. He is such an amazing little boy. 4 years old and he is already totally riding (start to finish) with no training wheels. He was going up a big hill and rode down it over and over again.

My dad and Mary relaxing in the shade with Boston

Mary relaxing on the front lawn with Brayden and Boston

My dad and Brayden hanging out on the couch. SO CUTE!!!

Unfortunately my dad and Mary were only able to stay a couple of days, but we enjoyed every minute there were here.

A few days after my dad and Mary left, my mom and little sister came down. My little sister and I had been planning on getting matching tattoos for some time now so we finally went ahead and got one. We went to Big Deluxe on State Street and was tattooed by Deb. You cant really see in the picture but we got the saying "Always Sisters - Always Friends" tattooed on our hips in greek. (Πάντα αδελφές - πάντα φίλοι ). It looks amazing, and it has a lot of meaning behind it.

We also spent an afternoon hiking up Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. It was BEAUTIFUL and a pretty quick and easy hike.

It was so nice to spend some time with my mom and my little sister. It is sad that my family lives so far away.

Other things.......

Chris has started a new job as a window glazer. He is loving it, and it is a hourly steady paycheck, so I am hoping that things are going to start turning around and getting better for us.

I am so happy with life right now. I have started walking mornings and nights to try and get my pre-baby body back. So hopefully shortly I can report I have gotten back into shape.

Brayden got signed up for swimming lessons so he start that in June. Also in June Chris and I start Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.

It definately feel that all the peices of our lifes that have been so scattered around lately are falling into place, and I have such peace in my heart that everything is going to work out and we will be ok.

To all my friends and family. We love you and thank you for all your support!

God bless!!

Boston is 1

2009-05-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to Bosty
Happy birthday to you

It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun (and even when you are not having fun too). Sunday, May 24th Boston turned 1. It was so much fun. We had a small get together at our house of just a few friends and family. Most people were out of town due to Memorial Day so there was not many there.

Boston got a bunch of CUTE outfits for the summer, and some great toys as well. He was not really interested in opening his gifts at all though.

Luckily Big Brother Brayden and his best friend Mason were there to assist Boston with opening his presents. Boston gave up opening before the first one was even started!

After presents it was time for Boston to dig into his birthday cake.

Boston was so cute. He started out trying to eat his cake without his hands, but eventually gave up a dug right in. WHAT A MESS!!!

It was a wonderful day! I am so excited my baby is 1 years old now. Many more to go and moments to cherish along the way!

Mother's Day and other things

2009-05-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Mother's Day. It was wonderful, and the same as any other day all at the same time.

On Mother's Day I got up with Boston around 5:30 AM. Yeah EARLY!! But it was well worth it. We went for a beautiful walk around the neighborhood. It was so calming and refreshing at the same time. Then we went home and Boston ate breakfast before we woke Chris and Brayden up. Once they were up we ate breakfast and hung out around the house until Boston woke up from his AM nap. Then we packed a lunch and headed for the park. We stopped and fed the ducks for a while and then sat and at lunch and Brayden practiced his t-ball. Then we headed home to a normal day of cleaning the house and dinner and such. Then I went for a nice long brisk walk after Boston went to bed.

It was a very nice day!

Other things.....

I am SOOOOO excited. I got a call from my Dad and Mary and they will be here on Thursday of this week. I cant wait to see them. They will be staying until Monday, and then my Mom and Katie will be here on Wednesday (the 20th). I CANNOT wait to see my family.

Boston will be turing 1 on May 24th!! I cant believe how time has flown by. It is amazing watching him and Brayden get bigger every day. My children are the biggest blessings in my life and they fill my heart with joy everyday!

The weather is getting warmer too....which always lifts my mood and makes me happy. I just love sitting in the sun feeling the warmth on my skin, or the feel of a cool breaze.

Anyways....just a few things I am happy about.

Baptized

2009-05-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

I am just letting everyone know on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 7:00 PM I am being baptized in the LDS Church. I am very excited about it and am very ready! It has been a long time since I have gone to church but just recently I have started going back, and am finally ready to go all the way. Recently going to church has been an amazing thing for me and has touched my life a lot. A lot of people don't understand why I am doing it. Well.....to them I say....you don't have to understand. I am doing it because I feel like it is the right thing for me to do, and if you don't agree with my decision, then I kindly ask you keep your opinions to yourself. I don't need other peoples negative views on the subject.

Ok off my soapbox now.

I just want everyone to know that I am SO excited for this, and I truely believe that I am making a good choice for me and my family. I think many blessings will come from it.

I love you all!

The Salt Lake City Temple

"Be Not Afraid"

Brayden's T-Ball Game

2009-04-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

Brayden had his 2nd t-ball game last night against the Ray's. He did AMAZING. He is going to be just like Chris and be VERY athletic. I love having boys and being able to go watch them play sports and do fun things!!

Brayden hitting the ball (he hit it when it was thrown to him, and not off the t-stand)

Waiting on 1st base

Running to 2nd base.

Brayden's 1st field trip

2009-04-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Brayden's first ever field trip. He went with his school to Wheeler Farm. I was fortunate enough to be able to go with them and watch them. It was quite a bit of fun.

Brayden and Mason on the bus on the way to the farm

Brayden and Mason on the "hay" ride (more like a empty wagon with a bench in the middle of it). The boys had a lot of fun on this though.

Brayden and his class on the steps of the Wheeler Farm House waiting to go inside for a tour. The house was built in 1898 and it was SO amazing to go inside and look at everything. I wish there was time travel so I could go back in time and spend a couple days living in those times. Amazing people they must have been!

His class playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" while we waited for the tour of the farm to start.

During lunch Brayden wanted to sit in a tree. How big is he getting!!!

Things on my mind

2009-04-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

I just have had a lot of things on my mind that I just felt like writing about.
1. CHURCH: Lately I have really had a lot on my mind about going to church, god and things like that. We have been having the Mormon missionaries over quite a bit and I have been taking all the discussion for the LDS church. I find that a LOT of what the Mormons believe in (as I can see) is the same as all religions out there (with some varying difference). So, I have been praying regularly and attending church, but I am still trying to decide which church is truly right for me. I dont want the LDS church to influence my views because they are the "majority" church in Utah, but I also dont feel that it is fair for people who have never actually sat and STUDIED about all the different religions to pass judgments on others. If I decide to get baptized in the LDS church, I know that a lot of people will ponder "WHY". But....for this I will continue to pray and hope that Jesus will lead me to where I am supposed to be in my life.

2. OUTSIDE FAMILY: Here I just want to say how THANKFUL I am for such an AMAZING family. I love my family and I am so greatful that they all are who they are. I am so blessed to have my Grandma and Grandpa Hemmingson who took us as their own grandchildren. They are AMAZING and wonderful people and I cannot express how much they have touched and influenced my life. I am also so greatful to my parents, who in their own ways (all 4 of them) raised me to be the person I am today. I am also so blessed to have married into the in-law family that I did. They all accepted my right away and have been so wonderful to me for these past 7 years.

3. OUR FAMILY: I am so totally in love with my 2 little boys and my amazing husband. Chris has been such a rock for me and has stood with me through hard times and easy times. Our 2 little boys and so amazing and show me every day an undying love and happieness that fills my heart. I would someday (soon- but obviously only when it is possible financially) add to our family. I am excited to watch our family grow and change every day that comes by.

4. LIFE: I am just happy an content with life at the moment. There are, obviously, many struggles we are dealing with right now. We are on food stamps and are struggling to pay our bills, but we have love in our home and joy (most of the time) in our hearts. The days are getting warmer so it is really lifting my spirits as well. I just (as of yesterday) stopped taking my anti-depressants so I hope my euphoric mood lasts :)

I hope each and everyone one can look into their lives and find the small blessings and many things to be thankful for.

Brayden's T-ball

2009-04-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

So Brayden is officially playing t-ball now for the West Jordan Pony Baseball. It is SO cute. His team, the Indians, had their first game this past Saturday. Here are a couple pictures from the game.

Brayden and 2 of his teammates.

No. 6

He is going to be a GREAT outfielder. Hahaha. Eating pancakes which the rest of his team (in the background) is playing.

Brayden and Mommy

How ADORABLE!!!

Some more pictures

2009-04-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Since I can only put 5 pictures on a post, I am putting some more Easter pictures up.

Brayden with his loot from Great Grandma Irene's house (Suzanne's mom and dads)

Brayden jumping on his trampoline with his Easter eggs

Brayden trying to find a VERY hidden egg

My adorable neice Sommer

Boston and his eggs

Easter

2009-04-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter. Chris and I took the boys to church for the first time. Overall it went pretty well. Brayden got a little bored, but I will definitely take more things for him to do next time. I have been recently attending church because I feel like I need a change in my life, and something for the better. I truly feel that since I have started paying more attention to church and our Heavenly Father, I have noticed that I have been blessed with many small things.
What the easter bunny left for the boys

Boston in his easter pj's

The boys in their easter outfits at Grandma & Grandpa Norman's house

Brayden was so cute....he found an egg with a peep in it and shoved it in his mouth before anyone could say anything. LOL!

Brayden's Preschool Easter Party

2009-04-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Brayden's preschool did a cute little easter egg hunt and easter party. They had the easter bunny stop by and had eggs hidden around the yard for the kids to find. It was so cute. At the end all the kids got up and sang a bunny song to the parents. It was ADORABLE!! Here are a few pictures from their hunt.

Brayden and his best friend Mason

New Neice

2009-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Introducing our new neice........Makayla Marie Poli. Makayla was born on Monday, April 13 weighing 6 pounds 13 oz and 18 inches long. She is beautiful!!! Love her!!

Makayla with her auntie!!

More pictures

2009-04-10T10:13:00.001-07:00

The coolest missionaries! Elder Heath and Elder Dickson

Brayden on his birthday present.... his new trampoline

Boston tangled up on Braydens birthday balloons

Brayden getting ready to blow out the candles on his cake

Just a few pictures

2009-04-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

Brayden and his "4" pancake on his 4th birthday

Brayden's Power Ranger birthday cake

The poster we did for Brayden's preschool birthday party

Brayden at his 1st t-ball practice

Boston being cold at big brothers t-ball practice

Happy St. Patricks Day

2009-03-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well we have had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day so far. Last night while we were sleeping those sneaky little Leprechauns came to our house and played some tricks on us. The Leprechauns came and turned Brayden's top mattress upside down so the sheets and comforter were in the middle of the mattress and "box spring" (which is technically another mattress). They also put matching green shirts on the ceiling fan blades in their room. Then they left a few gold coins around the house leading to the fridge where they turned our milk GREEN!!! Here are a couple pictures of the boys this morning in their shirts from the Leprechauns.
Boston "beating up" his brother

Boston in his car seat. He is growing up SO fast!!

Candace's Baby Shower

2009-03-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

A few weekend ago I hosted my sister-in-law's baby shower at my house. It was so much fun!! It made me SOOOO baby hungry though for a little girl. I know, I am crazy because I have a baby still. Here are some pictures from the shower. Our new little niece is due April 20th. We cant wait until she gets here!

The diaper cake my mother-in-law and me made

Aubrey, Hailey & Boston

Playing "Pin the Pacifier on the Baby"

Life & Other Stuff

2009-03-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I would post some pictures of the boys.

Boston Crawling Brayden Painting

Boston sitting in his NEW car seat from Grandma & Grandpa Joyce. Boston was way to big for the infant carrier, but he isn't a year old yet so he cant face forwards. So cute!!

Cutting Back

2009-03-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well as everyone knows the economy is in a downward spiral right now, and I think everyone we know is feeling the effects of it. I know we sure are. One good thing this has done for us is made both of us VERY aware of the amount of debt we carry and the burden it is putting on us. So....in an effort to turn things around, and live a debt free lifestyle (learning from Dave Ramsey & The Dugger Family) we are cutting back A LOT. We sold my 4-wheeler (a little sad for me) and we have also sold the trailer (a little bit sadder for me). We are also canceling our cable, internet and home phone in an effort to redirect funds to bills to be paid off. So this is letting everyone know that our home phone will no longer be active after today. We will be keeping our cell phones on though.

I hope everyone makes it through this trying time and comes out on top!

Boston!!!

2009-03-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well Boston is taking off!! He is growing so fast it is amazing to watch him. He is always watching and learning new things every day. Well he finally learned how to...... CRAWL!!! He is so cute. He still doesn't have it down completely, and he is not rocking and rolling yet, but he is catching on fast. Pretty soon we'll be in TROUBLE!!!

Changes

2009-02-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

Crystal -

Well the company I worked for (Cosmeticare) shut down. It was a little sad but I was able to go back to work at my former company McCullough & Associates (the law firm I was with for over 3 years). I absolutely LOVE being back. Andy is great to work for, and I have so much fun there!!

Chris & Brayden went ice fishing for the first time together the other weekend and Brayden caught his FIRST FISH!!!

Chris cooked it up and Brayden LOVED eating it too!!

Boston got his 1st tooth and is working on getting his second. He is also getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth so it wont be to long here before he is crawling!!! It's amazing how fast both out kids are growing.

Boston

2009-02-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would post a couple pictures I took of Boston.

Face Painting

2009-02-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

So Cynthia (my mother-in-law) and I were shopping for supplies for Candace's (my sister-in-law) baby shower. Cynthia told Brayden that she would buy him 1 toy. Brayden decided to pick out face paint. Cameo face paint. After some shopping (with Brayden getting into the face paint making me throw the package of it away) we headed home and Brayden applied his own face paint..........

Well not having the packaging meant not having the directions. I didn't know you cant just wash face paint off with soap and water....HAHAHAHA!!! We tried for about 30 minutes and by the time we were done, Brayden was in tears! He kepts saying "Mommy, I dont want to stay like this" It was SO sad and SO funny at the same time. Luckily Aunt Juju brought over her Mary Kay face wash and Aubie washed Brayden's face for him while she was babysitting. Poor boy!

Note to self ....... always read the directions BEFORE trying something new :)

Things are forever changing

2009-01-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

Well things in life have changed again. I took a new position running the office for a company called CosmetiCare Medical Spa & Laser Center. They do things such as lipodissolve, botox, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, etc.... I really enjoy it.

Chris just started with a company called Premier Mentoring doing sales. Its a great opportunity to make good money and the company treats their employees very well!!!

Well.....good luck to us :)

Job

2009-01-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

Well as some of you know.....I was let go from my position today. REALLY crappy timing, but I am keeping my head up. I am throwing it out there for anyone who might know anything. Please keep me in mind!!