Accomplishments!!

So wow!! We got some family pictures taken from an amazing young girl (by young I mean early 20's...younger than me...). I think she did awesome!! I love how original they are. We had a good time with her and all her secret little spots!!

Mr. Handsome Middle School Man

All their personalities come out in this picture. Dawson is laid back. Braedon is very sure of himself and what he can do. Taelor is a big cheese, smiling to try and get away with anything!!

This picture sums up 4 years of hard work. I whould have put this one at the end but wasn't thinking. They won their 8th grade football championship game!! It was amazing and emotional!! I was a proud mama!!

O HOW I LOVE THIS PIC!!!! I love the way the sun is shining through!!

Me and my bald man!! His head is shaved because he bet a certain group of football players that if they won he would shave his head. Obviously they won.

My little girly!

This is a fun one!

Take care of that sister of yours boys!!

Before the BIG game

After the BIG game!! CHAMPIONS!!

Yes #1 is right!!

That is a beautiful thing. Just goes to show what hard work and confidence can do!!

2 weeks of excitment

On October 8th Taelor got baptized. She was a happy little girl. Thanks you to eveyrone who came to support her!! She was able to have just her own baptism so it was very personalized towards her. It was a very spiritual thing. I am very proud of her!!

Her proud big brothers!

My Aunt, Uncle and cousin came up from Utah for it!!

Today Braedon's football team played a tough game. They played the team who knocked us out of the playoffs last year. It was a hard game but our boys came out on top!! Now we get to go to Holt Arena to play next week for the 8th grade city championship. It will be tough but we just need to stay positive and play how they know they can!! However it comes out, it has been a fun 4 years together!!

Proud Grandma!!

He is pushing me down trying to be taller than me.....little stink!! I am still taller by about an inch for the record!!

Family Fun Time

Summer goes by fast when you have lots going on.... Between lots of day outside at our own pool to going to Ross Park and Lava a couple of times we are sporting some pretty sweet tan lines!!

We had a Family Reunion in Park City the beginning of August. We went to the Olympic Park and did the zip line and alpine slide. Dawson was afraid at first but decided to give it a shot and what do you know.... HE LOVED IT!!

Shane and Dawson taking the ride up the hill.

Braedon going down with one of our cousins Evan. It was so much fun to see everyone and hang out for a couple of days!! I wish my camera battery had not died so I had more pictures but that is just my luck!! There were about 70 of us at one motel and causing all kinds of chaos!! It was a blast!

Then my dad came for a visit from Wisconsin for a couple of days. We went swimming with him too (mostly because he is part fish like my kids!!) Then we went to Riot Zone one day and golfed and raced in go karts til we were all sick to our stomach!!

She is a crazy passenger.....heaven help us when she drives!!

Braedon has the passing move down pat.... if his sports thing doesn't work out he can always become a race car driver.

Shane and my dad bumped and bumped and crashed others every single time!!! Even when the attendant would say NO BUMPING!! He must have thought they were talking to someone else. They had a blast!!

Dawson and Taelor raced each other on the little track. They were the only ones on it and battled like crazy!! It was cute!!

My dad with all of us

Then it was football time!!! Last year for Braedon to play as a Chubbuck Ram. It is kind of bitter sweet. He has had a lot of fun the past 3 years and lets hope we have a great season to end on.

I love this picture!! A little pat on my back. ;0)

LET"S GO RAMS!!! MAKE IT A SEASON TO REMEMBER!!!

Busy Busy Busy

It has been a while since I have written on this here blog of mine!! Where to begin!! We have played lots of baseball!!! First in June Braedon's city baseball team got 2nd place in the championships. They had a good time!! ( I didn't mean to load this picture, my mother in law told him to smile cheesy, I thought it was the other one that was normal....oops, but when it is so little it is hard to see!! Braedon will kill me if he ever sees this!!YIKES!!)

Then Taelor played her last year of tigerball. We were the Stingrays this year and they were such a cute bunch of kids!!! I am really kind of sad that I won't be coaching her teams anymore. We had a great time, thanks to my two best helper coaches!! I love you girls!!!

Then we went to Boise for a tournament for Braedon and we have some family there. So while Braedon was resting we went to my Aunt and Uncles house for a while. They live in the most amazing little part of Boise!! These are my cute little cousins George and Henry!!

On our way home we stopped by Shoshone Falls. It is always nice to go there. It brings back so many childhood memories of growing up there and going there with so many members of my extended family!!

This was another mistaken picture. I again thought it was another one and I couldn't figure out how to delete it and load the other one so this is what I get!! Such a cute group of kiddos!!! Taelor is on the right end. She too will miss these kids.....especially a few named boys!!

Than it was home for a few days and off to Park City or Jordanelle State Park to be accurate. It was beautiful there. We camped with family and Braedon played more baseball. Good memories and good times!!

While we were there Taelor was waiting for Shane's sister to take her on a jet ski ride and a wave came up and squished her toe between the jet ski and a concrete pilar in the water. It blew out the side of her big toe. She was bleeding and screaming!! We got boaters stopping because she was screaming so loud. One of which had some nurses on it so they got her all cleaned up and bandaged up. Poor kid!!!

Then we get home from Utah and Taelor had a sore on the side of her leg since Boise that wasn't getting any better so we took her to a family doctor friend of ours. He said there was definitely something in there that would probably come out eventually or we could cut it out. I told him to cut it out so we knew what it was. So he made a little incision and and this is what was in her leg. She never even knew it was in there and it never hurt her. CRAZY!!!

There she is the brave little girl!!

Finally home for a few days and after two long years he got his braces off!!! One kid down and two more to go!!!

The sun will come up.....

This is not the best picture but it will work....... I ran across some quotes on another blog the other day and saved them all because I thought they were interesting. As I have thought about what these said I thought I could relate a picture to each one. So here is what my brain came up with..... Yes this is what I love!!! So that is what I do!! Hear me Roar!! I AM MOTHER!!

This was taken many days ago, probably 4 years to be exact and it is still my most favorite picture of this little girl!!

There are times when she finds it hard to be happy with who she is because she thinks she is to tall or too big. She has a hard time seeing the potential she holds!! I see a beautiful young girl who loves her family and friends and has the biggest heart. I also see someone who was sent to be my daughter and best little girl friend!!!

This too was taken a long time ago. This picture makes me think of when he would run around and giggle to his hearts content.

Dawson is rather hard on himself at times and that is very hard to see as a parent. He has great potential to do anything but he lets peoples opinions influence what he thinks. Not in bad ways, but in ways that would hold him back from doing what he loves and accomplishing them. He is a great young man who needs to see what I see which is someone who can accomplish anything he sets out to do no matter what anyone else says!!

This was from Braedon's first year in boys baseball. He looked so big then to me but now looks like just a little guy!!

Braedon has no troubles doing what he loves.....which is baseball, basketball and football. The problem is he runs out of motivation. He is very much a kid who needs to see what is at the end of the tunnel before he will go through. He wants to know what is in this for him, even if it is just a little something. He needs to realize there are lots of hills and bumps but you can't loose focus on the end goal which is to NOT give up. I have seen glimpses of it, so I know it is in there somewhere but trying to get him to see it is the hard part. So I guess he will just have to try and remember to keep trying!!!

Being a mom is the hardest and most rewarding thing there is in the world. There are days when I think I want to throw in the towel and walk away. Other days I can't imagine my life without them. All I know for sure is that no matter how frustrating a day can be they go to sleep at the end of it and there is a new beginning tomorrow when the sun comes up. Ready for a new chance to teach them, love them, laugh with them or become a better parent!!!