1st Time for Braeden

Braeden got to do something so cool earlier this month. His cousin's birthday and baptism was the 10th and 11th in California and his sweet Aunt Stacy wanted Braeden there so she flew him to California. Last time we were there, Braeden was so sad to leave, he loves visiting his cousin Austin. I told Braeden that he was going to fly on an airplane ALL BY HIMSELF and he was VERY EXCITED!!! He had some concerns, but he got over them and couldn't wait!! The whole day before his flight, he couldn't stop talking about it. Well, Mark got off work and we were heading to the airport and things seemed OK. I was talking to him about being good and listening to Stacy and as soon as we got to the parking garage, Braeden froze and wouldn't get out of the car. If we opened the door on one side, he would go to the other side. But we told him we needed to at least go inside and talk to the people in the airport. Mark grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go of it. Mark talked to him the whole time and comforted him. We got to the gate, bought him some food, and then they called the pre-boarders. I could have sworn we got there in plenty of time, but everything took so long to do when we got there and we hardly had anytime to sit with him or even take pictures. I am kind of bummed about that. But as soon as we told him it was time to get on, he grabbed his bag and said, "Bye Mom and Dad!'' No questions asked, he went right on the plane and sat there and watched movies on his ipod. He got there OK and Stacy picked him up and he LOVED FLYING IN A PLANE ALONE!! Thanks Stacy!!

Well, I got to thinking and really wanted to go to Cali too. My other sister in law was driving there for the weekend the next day, so I got everything together and drove up with her. Braeden is a home body and I knew he would get homesick, so I'm glad I went. He was excited to see me and it was a really fun weekend. Mark stayed back because he needed to work. I left Caleb at home and my new sister in law watched him while Mark worked. I took Elli with me and we had fun!

Austin had a really fun birthday party at Mountasia. Goofy golfing, bumper boats, rock climbing and race carts. The kids had fun!!

Elli eating the cake and ice cream!

On Saturday, Austin got baptized. It is so fun for my kids to watch their cousins get baptized. It gets them excited to be baptized. I love it!

Braeden is quite the Baptism Singer. He has sang in 3 baptisms recently (once with Elli) and in sacrament with me a couple months back. He finally told me, "Mom, I'm not singing anymore at baptisms, just with you." But then Stacy asked if we would sing "A Child's Prayer" at Austin's baptism and Braeden did agree to do it. (He does need some bribing though) So my mother in law took this lovely picture of Braeden and I singing. It's not a very cute picture of me, but it works. I love when Braeden sings, it's the cutest thing for me.

Grandma Dianna with Haley and Elli.

Elli wanted to hold baby Sarah the whole time. And she got her turn and just sat there rubbing her arm and playing with her ear. Elli loves babies. Logan and Bryce love their little sister too (obviously) because they couldn't leave her alone either.

Braeden enjoyed playing with Austin's toys he got for his birthday. He loves anything Lego, Bionicle, etc.

We had so much fun. Thanks Camille for letting us tag along and Stacy for letting Braeden fly. We had a great time!

Snaggle-Tooth

Braeden has lost his 2 front teeth. On June 20th, this is what his tooth looked like. It dangled quite a bit. It looked very awkward for a couple days.

On June 21st, he looked like this. And the Tooth Fairy was notified and she visited.

(He wanted to make a funny face with his tooth because he thought it was funny. I think he looks like he's wearing one of the mouth pieces you buy for Halloween costumes.)

And this is what it looked like June 27th. He's toothless up front and soooo dang cute!! He has tiny lisp. He does pretty well pronouncing his words. But now his tooth is starting to grow back in and I'm kind of bummed because they'll probably be 2 big chicklets like they most always are. I remember Braeden thinking of ways he could get this tooth out. He and his cousin Cade both lost a tooth on the same day. Luckily the Tooth Fairy found both of them!

Bishop's Swim Parté

Our bishop had his annual swim party last month and it was a lot of fun. Braeden was counting down the days until this big event. We rode our bikes there and played on the big blow up waterslide. Braeden kept doing flips off at the top. Crazy kid...

Look at her smile. She almost always has a smile on her face.

Those freckles are DANG CUTE!!

These goggles make me laugh every time.

Throwing a fit because we took him out of the pool. Awww, we feel bad Chubs, we really do!!

We couldn't find Braeden for a little bit and when we did, he was getting as many icees as he could before they were gone AND talking to this girl.

Mark and Braeden were going through these tubes for the fun of it and I got the perfect shot of him going right through one.

That's WICKED

I FINALLY saw Wicked!! I have recently heard about it and when we bought our tickets (exactly one year ago,) I thought it should be fun, but I hoped it was good. And YES, I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with Wicked. It is my FAVORITE Broadway show so far. It surpasses Les Miserable, Phantom, Mama Mia. And that's pretty much all I have seen. Mark couldn't believe me that it was better than Les Mis, but it was for me. Don't get me wrong, I love all those shows, but Wicked was so different, funny, touching and overall FANTASTIC. I went with my 3 sisters and Mom. We ate dinner before and spent 3 hours watching it. Now I want to take Mark to see it. He wants to see it just to see what the hype is and to prove me wrong that it's not better than Les Mis. But we'll see. Anyway, that's my take on it!! Have you seen it and what did you think???

(Yes, my eyes are big in this picture, I have been told that, but whacha gonna do??)

PS, Toss Toss!

The rest of 4th of July...

On the day of the 4th, we didn't do much. Mark took the kids swimming and then we went to Mark's brother's house for BBQ and more swimming. The kids had a blast with their cousins. We didn't end up going anywhere to watch fireworks. We did our own version of them and our kids were fine with that.

Caleb loved those sparklers. Braeden and Elli would not get close to them. That's why I have no pictures of them. But Caleb showed them up and even tried holding them.

On the way home, the kids were exhausted. Elli LOVES holding Caleb's hand in the car. He sometimes likes to hold hers. We left our cousins' house just in time to see 5 different firework shows.

Braeden swam so much that day without his goggles and his eyes were killing him. He wouldn't open his eyes. He did this until he fell asleep.

Both Elli and Braeden fell asleep, but Caleb was wide awake the way home.

4th of July Part 1

We were lucky to have Mark home Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the 4th. We took advantage and went to the movies and San Tan Mall to play. Since Caleb is IMPOSSIBLE to take to the movies, I stayed with him and walked around the mall. Mark and the other 2 kids saw Ice Age and they loved it. Then we put our swim suits on played in the little water thing they have there.

Caleb was so funny. He was in heaven being able to be independent and play with water. He was so adorable there.

Cute Chubs just walking around and being sooo big!

Randomness

Our little girl fell asleep like this.

Twister at Grandmas with most of our cousins.

Caleb being cute & happy. (Cute story about that..... Everytime Braeden and Elli say their prayers, they pray for everyone and when it comes to Caleb, they pray he will be cute & happy.)

I wrote a little note to Mark on the mirror with an dry erase marker one night and when Mark woke up, he wrote me something back. Well, Elli was said that her daddy didn't write her anything, so I told her she needed to write him a note. So she is writing him a note on the mirror. She woke up in the morning soooo excited because her daddy wrote her back.

I love when Caleb sits on the rocking chair. Oh, those chubby legs, too cute!! He usually smiles like crazy, but I couldn't get a picture with one.

Braeden & Elli's favorite thing to do is hold onto the door when I pull into the driveway. They have been doing this for a couple years now. They love doing it.