Love, Mom

Utah Fun-- Classic Skate, Cotton Candy, Bowling

2012-01-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
With the cold weather, we had to get creative to get the kids' energy out. We started at Classic Skate. Who knew it was so much more than just a skating rink? The place was super packed and stunk of b.o. and foot (seriously enough to make you gag), but the kids had a blast. Zach couldn't get enough of riding the scooter around in circles.

Brady loved the bounce house, especially because there was one just for little kids

Zach was a maniac on the skating rink

Uncle Chris and Aunt Jenny gave Uncle Clint and Aunt Kelli a cotton candy maker for Christmas. You put any hard candy in it and it makes cotton candy. We decided though that the only good flavor of cotton candy is... cotton candy. Boring, right? Everything else just tasted nasty (good thing the kids didn't care at all!)

We went bowling one morning but my camera died right when we got there. I had to make do with my phone. The kids had fun, I don't think any of them had ever been. I liked the ramp it made it more fun for the kids (with the ramp and the bumper, they did better than some of the adults!)

Still more to come...

Love,
Mom

More Utah-- Ensign Peak

2012-01-30T21:00:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

I am running out of time to catch up before Brady's birthday. It wouldn't be a vacation with the Hansens without some frigid hiking! We decided to hike up Ensign Peak which was a perfect hike for the kids. Even Brady hiked most of it and was VERY proud of himself, declaring "HIKING!" the whole way. If it weren't for that darn inversion it would have been a pretty day too!

hiking!

Cadence wasn't feeling well so she hitched a ride. Gotta love Uncle Clint's Russia hat (sparkly jewels on the side and all)

Zach and Summer

Aunt Kelli was so nice to sport her BYU letter jacket so I could wear her coat!

Uncle Bret is so cool

Ali and Cadence

Papa and Grandma Janice!

Brady only got a short ride, then he was back to hiking

Love,
mom

Utah Part 1-- Grandma Christmas

2012-01-15T21:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Hoping to catch up on all of my Christmas posting before we hit Brady's birthday!

We got in to Utah late on Christmas. The next morning we had a big breakfast and the kids got spoiled again by Grandma Janice and Papa Ross (well, let's be honest, by Grandma).

Cadence got a plasma car like Brady

Uncle Clint got this track to bring a little testosterone into the house (and get ready for baby boy). Our boys loved it.

Summer got more princess dress ups. A girl can never have enough!

Grandma Janice got a little camera

Brady got books and immediately had Papa Ross reading them.

Brady got a bunch of little animals which he loves to line up. They remind me of Uncle Bret because he had all the same animals when he was little!

Zach and Grandma Janice with the Batman submarine

Uncle Bret got ski gear (and scared all the kids)

We missed Aunt Jenny, Claire and Christian!

Love,
mom

Christmas!

2012-01-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Christmas was a good one. Zach was asleep on our floor and I loved peeking at him as he woke up and snuck over to the window to look outside. I'm not sure what he was checking for, reindeer? a sleigh? But it was morning and he was SO excited. Last year we kept him at bay long enough for me to go downstairs, start breakfast, give Brady a bottle. But this year he was DYING. I managed to throw part of breakfast in the oven and get the video camera ready while he kept yelling "now!? now!?" Brady wasn't quite sure what was going on but the excitement was contagious so he got pretty riled up too.

The boys got a pretty good haul thanks to grandma and dad (who went a little overboard, I will NOT take credit for that this year!). We opened gifts, had a yummy breakfast of monkeybread and egg casserole and the boys played happily while I rushed around getting ready for our trip! Brady took an early nap and we were able to leave for church almost 100% ready for our flight. We had a beautiful sacrament service, I think there is nothing better than Christmas on Sunday. I got to sing in the choir so poor Dad had quite the job on his hands and didn't really make it through the whole meeting. Brady was pretty upset that I was on the stage and not with him. But I loved singing the Christmas songs, it was a special day.

As soon as we got home from Church we grabbed some snacks, finished packing and cleaning, said goodbye to most of the new Christmas toys and headed to the airport! The boys were great on the flight and I really appreciated getting to Utah in 1.5 hours over 12!

The loot

Zhu zhu pets. Brady is obsessed.

The big one-- a batcave from Grandma Janice and Papa Ross

Another good one from Grandma and Papa. The plasma scooter was a hit! Brady calls it "MY bike!"

A new car ramp. Another hit.

Goofy Zach

Church outfits. No family pics this year, no one to take them!

Superboys on the airplane. They were so excited and so cute.

I can't believe it's all over. It was a great Christmas.

Love,
Mom

Christmas Eve

2012-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

I have really enjoyed that the past 3 Christmases we've been home in our own house with our own little family. But, I'll admit that the one night I get really lonely and wish we had family around is Christmas Eve. I just feel like Christmas Eve needs more people but it always seems like people have family around or have their own traditions. Last year we were all alone but we managed. This year the Murrays were super generous and invited us over. Which, considering the fact that they have 8 week old twins, was super nice of them to host Christmas Eve. We had a really fun and low key night. Zach was over the moon to find out he'd be with Tessa and Luke, two of his preschool buddies (we missed the Rogers who were home with sick kiddos).

First on the agenda, send kids and dads to the garage to construct candy sleds (think pinewood derby with candy)

Everyone was serious about this task. I wasn't out there much but I wonder how many times the kids tried to eat the candy.

After dinner the races began. The "track" was butcher paper on the stairs. The dads were a teensy bit competitive about this. The kids just thought it was cool.

We did several heats. I don't remember who won but I know it wasn't Zach.

Post races- back to the garage for cookie decorating which was great because we were worried what we were going to leave out for Santa.

The kids were all pretty serious about this task as well...

And proud of the results

It was a fun night and just what we needed to get ready for Christmas morning!

Love,
Mom

Mini Golf

2012-01-05T16:56:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

The past few years we have gone mini golfing on Christmas Eve. This year though we decided to do it a few days early so we could go with some friends. The boys had fun although it was a little chaotic with four boys who all wanted to participate and do their own thing (ahem, Brady).

Paxton getting a little lesson from his dad

Brady just liked taking the balls out of the hole. Whether his or not.

The light was bad so a lot of my pictures didn't really turn out well. Pax taking a swing.

I think Zach is destined to be a golfer

The volcano is always the hit. We always have to do the same course to make sure we get the volcano

The kids love doing games inside after golfing

Love,
Mom

Santa Train

2012-01-04T22:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
It just wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to the Santa Train! Zach was so excited but also a little nervous because he didn't have super clear requests like he did last year. We stepped it up and invited a few more families this year and it was fun to have a bunch of buddies but also a little chaotic, I'm realizing that as we all keep having more kids we're getting outnumbered!

On the way, very excited

Two goofballs waiting for their other buddies to arrive

Too old and too cool to sit with mom and dad, the boys insisted on sitting in the very front of the train. It made me a little sad.

Noah, Will, Zach. Kate sat with them for about 2 seconds and decided they were a little too wild for her taste.

Dad looks creepy in this, not sure why. But we were happy to at least have someone who still wanted to sit with us!

Parker, Annie, Kate. Cuties.

Lily and Brady had similar sentiments about Santa. I just love how Noah is laughing in this.

Despite being promised candy canes and all other sorts of things, Brady still flipped when we put him on Santa's lap. Oh well, maybe next year.

We were happy there was a little kid bounce house to keep Brady safe from the crazy boys.

Loving the bounce house until he bounced into someone's knee

Seven of the nine kids we had

Not pictured-- after this adventure we kept the fun going with a dinner at Lucille's bbq. Pretty insane to take a group with this many kids to a sit down restaurant but all things considered they did pretty well. We had fun!

Love,
Mom

Preschool Christmas Party

2012-01-03T22:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
The preschool Christmas party definitely topped all the preschool parties so far this year (since we pretty much had one every month!). Zach was SO in to all the Christmas music and just really belted out all the songs, even leading the entire group to an extra verse of Jingle Bells (pretty sure he would have kept going had he not been stopped). I was so, so sad that I didn't grab the video camera on my way out the door that day. I was proud of my boy and his performance.

When they came out they all said "Welcome to our Christmas Program. We are elves and we are helpers" it was so cute. I loved the elf hats.

Zach and Ryan. They must have sat a little too close because they both spent that night with the stomach flu.

Love,
Mom

Boat Parade

2012-01-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
We continued the holiday fun with the Newport Beach Boat Parade. Last year everything was so smooth I was pretty sure the chance of a repeat was slim to none. We still had a fun night but didn't double check the time and showed up at the beach an hour early after rushing to get there. But the kids had fun playing and it provided for some more photo ops.

Hanging out waiting for the boats to start

A little canoodling

could they be any cuter?

The boys loved the pirate ship

We actually got a good family photo!? What? I guess I could have cropped Will's head out of it, oops.

Love,
mom

Gymnastics Christmas Party

2011-12-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

The boys take a little gymnastics class and they have a Christmas party every year. It is just a big crazy gymnastics class with Santa making an appearance at the end. Both of the boys were excited but both had a little bit of a hard time with Santa. We were glad this was only the warm up Santa visit.

First they got to play around and Brady had a blast, no pictures of Z because he was off with his own group

Brady was NOT very excited about Santa. But he did like the candy cane he got from him. Now he will tell anyone who will listen "Santa, candy cane"

Zach got really shy with Santa and wouldn't talk. Afterward he was sad but was glad he'd get a do-over later that week.

We were excited for a kick off to Christmas!

Love,
mom

Thanksgiving Part 2

2011-12-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Back to Thanksgiving....

We spent Thanksgiving day at Papa Frank and Grandma Geri's. It was a nice low key afternoon with lots of yummy food.

There was some serious bananagram playing going on

And puzzle doing

And later back at Uncle Clint's lots of rock band playing

And we even got to video chat with Papa Ross and Grandma Janice

The day after Thanksgiving we went up the canyon to go sledding. For a couple of kids from California it doesn't get much better. The kids were in absolute heaven. It was so fun.

Brady was a little bit of a fashion victim since he only has girl cousins to borrow snow clothes from! But he didn't care.

First hill of the day and right after this pic they totally wiped out. Brady got a fat lip but recovered quickly.

Dad was a better sledding partner

Everyone loved going with Uncle Bret, he is so cool

Ali would just cover her face the whole time and hope for the best. I'm pretty sure this one resulted in injury as well. We decided after that Zach who is much bigger had to go in front so that in case of a crash he wouldn't land on top of someone smaller than him.

I'll admit to being a little nervous!

Brady had the best gig. He loved being pulled up the hill as much as he loved going down.

My favorite picture, look at his face! Pure joy.

I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of Summer or Ali's faces! They both hid their faces every time they went down.

Our last night we went to temple square to see the lights. It was really crowded and cold but still beautiful.

No one wanted their pictures taken, sigh. We tried!

And one more just for fun...

It was so much fun and I can't believe we're going back for Christmas!

Love,
Mom

Happy 5th Birthday

2011-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
How have five years passed? How has it been so long and yet gone so fast? This year we had to remember your birthday a little early because Dad was going to be out of town on your actual birthday. We went to the cemetery on Saturday with the boys. I had to laugh a little at the crazy scene we were. Thankfully there was no one else around because they probably would have been a little put off since your brothers seem to think it was a park and not a cemetery. But I was happy to have them to chase around and to see how much our lives have changed in five years time.

Zach tried hard this year to understand. It's hard to understand that he has sisters but that they are in heaven and not here. He asked some real, serious questions and I could tell it was on his mind because he asked me again the next day what his sisters names were and if you would come back to life like Jesus. I told him, yes that you, too would be resurrected but not for a while. I told him we'd all be together again some day. I look forward to that day when we are all together.

I wonder often what it would be like to have you here. You would be so big and ready to start kindergarten next year. That seems so strange. I do feel those pangs of sadness sometimes when no one wants to watch Disney princess movies with me or sing songs from musicals. I know there are things I'm missing out on not having you here. But I just have to remember that somehow in all of this there is a plan and a purpose, whether I understand it or not. I am so thankful for the reminder you are to me of the promise of eternal families. You keep me grounded and in check. You help me to appreciate so much more immensely the atonement that was made for us, for our family to be able to be whole again.

Loving you and missing you always.

Love,
Mom

Thanksgiving in Utah! (Part 1)

2011-12-04T22:32:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
It has been a while since we were in Utah for the holidays. So this year we decided to join the entire O'Farrell clan and most of the Hansens and head to Utah for some good times (and good food).

We stayed with Uncle Clint but Mom and Dad got a little alone time while Aunt Amy watched Zach and Brady. We went up to Park City for two nights and had fun just getting a little break from the kids. It was much needed since we haven't had a night alone since Italy and that was almost 3 years ago!

First up was the O'Farrell family Christmas party. Dad made lasagna for everyone (yum!) and we did a cousins gift exchange. We had so much fun, I think Zach and Brady disappeared into the basement as soon as we got there and we barely saw them after that!

Brady is good at giving "lubs"

Zach opened this basketball and then ran around the room cheering "BYU! BYU!" we are surprised Aunt Stacy could bring herself to buy it!

Zach loves hanging out with his older cousins.

Park City
We took the kids out to Grantsville to spend some time at Aunt Amy's. I think both Dad and I were nervous that they would be scared or sad or have a hard time. That was definitely not what happened. They ran upstairs with Decker and could barely break themselves free to say goodbye. Considering the fact that at least once a day now Brady will tell me "Amy House" I think they had a good time.

We didn't really take any pictures except of our impressive room. We got a deal on line at a nice hotel and then there was a coupon for a room upgrade. I couldn't believe when they told us they could put us in a "cottage". It was one of the nicest hotel rooms I'd ever stayed in, complete with 3 fireplaces and our own jacuzzi! We had fun just hanging out in Park City, shopping, eating, movies. It was so nice to reconnect.

The balcony and view from our fancy hotel room

Turkey Trot

Aunt Stacy's neighborhood put on a turkey trot. It was great! A 10k for the grownups, a 5k for some of the older kids and a "kiddie k" for the kids. Zach has been asking for months to do a race so he was SO excited for this race. He talked about it all week, told me he needed to eat healthy for his race and was talking trash to all of the kids about how he was going to beat them!

the littles just hung out and tried to stay warm, it was pretty early

C seriously rocked the kiddie k. Zach was actually really mad that she beat him (she beat him bad!)

Zach was so cute. I ran with him but his racing style needs some work. Basically he would sprint so fast I could barely keep up with him and then burn out and walk/cry then he'd start again. He told me at one point that he had no air. The best part was when he started talking trash to a little girl that he passed and then about 2 min later she passed him back. It was pretty funny to watch. We'll have to work on endurance training I guess. It was so fun to run a race with him and I can't wait until we can do it again.

More to come!

Love,
Mom

Preschool Thanksgiving Party

2011-12-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Finally catching up to Thanksgiving and happy to do it before the onslaught of Christmas activities begin.
Zach's preschool class did a cute little Thanksgiving program and had a "feast." It was fun and we love hearing Zach sing all the songs he learns in preschool.

Brady loves coming to preschool, he gets to feel so big

He was so excited to see that Dad came!

The good/bad/funny thing about being in an in home preschool is that they don't worry too much about being politically correct. The "little Indian" song was adorable but might not fly in public school these days.

Politically correct or not it was the cutest--
"I'm a little Indian on the go,
Here is my arrow, here is my bow
When I go hunting hear me shout
BEARS AND BUFFALO YOU BETTER WATCH OUT!"

The "feast"

Love,
Mom

Halloween (finally!)

2011-12-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Ok, we are getting closer to catching up here! On Halloween evening we stayed in our little neighborhood and had a ton of fun trick-or-treating with Lexi. Brady was a crack up, he got really in to the idea of trick-or-treating but he wouldn't leave anyone's doorstep. So, as adorable as he is, he'd just stand there and people would keep giving him candy. I think he ended up with twice as much as Zach.

Someone "booed" us earlier in the week and we saved the fun foaming drink they left for Halloween. The kids thought it was cool!

Brady the turtle, Lexi the horse and Zach the cowboy. We missed Isabel this year, the first year of Zach's life that he hasn't trick-or-treated with her!

the blue pumpkins are what is left at Wal Mart a few days before Halloween. Maybe next year I'll be on the ball enough to get orange ones.

The loot. Also known as "nandy." We had lots of tantrums about "nandy" all week.

Zach scored

Love,
Mom

Halloween Party (number 1,276?)

2011-12-01T20:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

On Halloween morning one of Zach's preschool buddies had a little party it was cute and fun to have something to do while we anticipated the excitement of trick-or-treating.

The kids, Brady loves it when he thinks he's part of the big kid crowd.

They played some fun games

The best idea-- a big bowl full of dry beans with "treasures" buried in them. Brady spent at least 20 min digging. I am going to have to duplicate this at home some time.

A little lunch

Love,
Mom

Ward Party and Pumpkin Carving

2011-12-01T20:38:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Maybe my problem is that we just did TOO much this Halloween! Our ward finally had an activity (first one of the year!) which we were so happy about. We also had some friends over to carve pumpkins and cut out sugar cookies.

Some of Zach's buddies. I'm not even 100% sure who the kid in yellow is!

Brady the turtle. It's nice that even though our boys are off season Brady is so small he fits into Zach's things from when he was almost a full year younger. Zach wore this costume when he was barely one.

Zach finally dared to help with the pumpkin carving. It didn't last long though.

Brady LOVES helping with cookies.

Love,
Mom

Irvine Regional Pumpkin Patch

2011-12-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
We love going to Irving Regional park to ride the train at Halloween. It's the same park where we ride the Santa Train. This year we headed over with a few friends. It's always better with buddies.

the boys on the train

Brady and Annie waiting for the moms

Pretty girls. With all of these girls Brady's age he'll really have his pick!

The bounce house is the best part. Especially when the nice girl doesn't set the timer.

Love,
mom

Preschool Halloween Party

2011-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Oh man, here I am, so far behind again. Papa Ross wanted to know if I'd posted pictures from Thanksgiving yet and I said I hadn't even gotten to Halloween! Let's see if I can catch up here a bit.

Zach was SO excited for his preschool Halloween party. He told me, several times, "Mom everybody can't WAIT to see me in my costume!" Yes, I'm sure his classmates were at home dying to know what Zach would show up in. One thing that kid never lacks is self confidence.

The party was adorable, the kids sang some cute songs and wore their costumes and had a little lunch. It was fun to see him interact with his teachers and his buddies in that setting.

Getting ready for the show, I was trying to video tape and take pictures so I'm a little short on pictures

lunch

I loved the little table where they ate, I was surprised at how well they all sat in their chairs and actually ate their food, much better than at home!

Best buds, the Big Bad Wolf and Cowboy-- Zach insisted on being a cowboy this year because that's what Will was last year, I wonder if he'll want to be the Big Bad Wolf next year? (I don't think Brady could pull off Little Red Ridinghood as well as Annie though)

Love,
Mom

Pumpkin City

2011-11-12T21:27:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

I think Pumpkin City is the most exciting part of the Halloween season. It is really just an over priced carnival set up in a mall parking lot but somehow it seems so much more exciting than that. This year Dad was out of town at a training and I had to brave it alone. Luckily, Nate and Nicole and a whole wad of cash assured that the kids didn't miss Dad too much.

Seriously, how cute is this kid?

Brady was SO excited when he realized he actually got to go on the rides with Zach, he loves thinking he is a big boy.

on the train

these two crazies in the front of the train ringing the bell

Brady, driving carefully!

Nate was nice enough to stand in line with the big boys for the big slide, he suggested I ask if Brady could go down with me but I had no desire to go down that thing!

The boys love the boats, they were cracking up the whole time, and Brady was laughing just because Zach and Will were laughing so hard.

Zach loved the obstacle course but I had to post this picture because I couldn't believe how old he looks!

Love,
mom

Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

The day before Zach's birthday he had his first preschool field trip. We headed to Tanaka Farms for the pumpkin patch. It was the same place we just went for the watermelon tour but this time for pumpkins.

It was fun to see Zach interact with his classmates and with his teacher. I sure wish I could be a fly on the wall in that preschool class some time.

I think Brady may have had the best time, he loved thinking he was one of the big boys. And look at Zach and Will, those two are hilarious with how much they love each other.

tractor ride!

petting zoo, and no there isn't food on his mouth, those are stitches on his lip, I guess I should write a post about that too

most of the kids from class, there were a few that were missing

they made it to the center of the corn maze

this time they got to pick vegetables which was cool

they also got to pick a pumpkin

Love,
Mom

A few last birthday pics

2011-11-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Just a few more I don't want to forget. The 4th birthday was a fun one.

birthday morning, a big box of clothes which was actually better received than I thought!

Candy Land! A new favorite and I like it because it is slightly less dramatic than Chutes and Ladders.

The "big" present, a remote control truck

books from Grandma Janice and Papa Ross

this is a funny face, more books from Grandma and Papa

I can't believe Zach is 4! It went by way too fast.

Love,
Mom

The Birthday Party

2011-11-06T20:54:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

This year Zach was very excited to have a birthday party. Every time we went to a birthday party this year he would tell me all about what he did and did not want for his 4th birthday. Since we didn't really do a party for his 2nd or 3rd birthdays, I figured it was time to go for it. The problem we had was that he wanted to invite every person he'd ever met. I tried to get him to narrow it down to 5 friends so we could do something little and fun but he was not having it. So I decided, what the heck, invite anyone you want and we'll keep it simple with pizza at the park.

I just had to laugh when every single one of the 20+ kids he invited RSVP'd that they could come. And then add the forecast for that week-- temps into the 100's. And the day of his party would be the hottest of all, in fact, I think maybe the hottest of the entire year. We changed locations to a park with a little more shade and while the moms roasted, the kids didn't care.

Zach wanted a "race car party" which somehow evolved into a "ferrari" party but the good news is I could tell him any car was a Ferrari and he bought it. We had all the kids bring their bikes and scooters so they could "race". Then we got a little trophy for each kid. It was a hit, throw in a few pizzas and everyone was happy.

notice all the red, flushed faces! It was sooo hot!

best buds

thank goodness Ralphs had a race car cake, he was thrilled (it tasted gross but no one cared)

Brady, trying to get some action and Annie resisting. I really hope this is on their wedding video some day ;)

the little trophies

So the best part of the party was that Zach learned how to ride a 2 wheeler bike with no training wheels AT his party. How cool is that? He had been really close but hadn't quite got it before but one of his friends had this little bike there and he asked me to help him ride it and about 2 min. later he was cruising all over the place. I, of course, ran behind him like a freak taking pictures and videos with my phone since Aaron was missing it. It was pretty cool that he learned at his party.

It was a fun 4th birthday!

Love,
mom

Zachary's 4th Birthday!

2011-10-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Zachary,

I can't believe it has been 4 years since you entered our lives and brought new hope and joy into our lives. The past four years have flown and we are so blessed to be your parents. Although we may be a little biased, we think you are the smartest, funniest, sweetest boy around. You constantly surprise us with your incredible memory (you don't forget anything!) and how quickly you learn anything you put your mind to.

You make us laugh every day, you make friends wherever you go and it seems that all the kids you know love to be around you. You love preschool, gymnastics and being with your "buddies." You are so active, always moving riding your bike, scooter, whatever you can find. You love to sing and have really enjoyed being in primary and learning the primary songs, especially "Praise to the Man". You are quick to apologize when you do something wrong and I have to say that even when I am mad, hearing you say "I'm so so sorry mom" usually makes everything ok. You do try us with your strong will but we know that your head strong determination will take you far some day. You are the first to remind us to pray and not to say such bad words as "stupid".

You love your little brother and are very protective of him. Although you also like to annoy him you are learning more to play with him. You love to be silly in the bath together and to jump on mom or dad together. Your imaginative play is one of my favorite things in the whole world to watch. You come up with elaborate scenes, usually races for your cars. You hate it when your brother messes them up.

You LOVE to read the Book of Mormon story book as well as almost any other book. You love informational books from the library on race cars, monster trucks, dinosaurs and anything else you are interested in at the time. You have memorized all of our shorter board books so much that you can "read" them word for word to Brady when he requests.

We love you Zachary!

Love,
Mom and Dad

First Day of School

2011-10-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

This year, Zach started "real" preschool. I'm not so sure how real it is, but it is one step above the mom taught co-op that we did last year (and is costing me a lot more money!). He was SO excited to go to preschool with all of his buddies and mom was really excited to get to spend some one on one time with Brady two days a week.

So excited!

Noah and Zach

the moms had a little meeting after the first day and the kids did a little performance. Zach was so in to it, it was really cute.

Poor Brady still cries every time we drop Zach off at preschool but I'm trying to convince him it is fun to run errands with mom!

Love,
mom

Watermelon Tour

2011-10-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
To wrap up the summer we went to Tanaka farms on a watermelon tour. It was H-O-T, and I mean sweat dripping down my back hot. But it was still fun. We got to ride in the tractor and try all different kinds of veggies and fruits. The most exciting thing to me, a watermelon hater since birth, was that I discovered I loved the yellow watermelon!

We went on a tractor ride

tried some carrots

green beans

corn on the cob (so good, raw, tasted like candy!)

and best of all... yellow watermelon!

we got to pick our own watermelons (even though the fields were looking a little dead)

my favorite, Addie, Brady, Zach

Love,
Mom

OC Fair

2011-08-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Back to "normal" blogging. The summer is speeding by. I never get to take pictures of our every day activities because with two crazy runners on my hands there is just no way to take pictures at the same time.

Last year we skipped the fair but this year we knew it was time to head back. A bunch of Zach's buddies and their dads got tickets to the demolition derby so the moms and babies decided we'd join them for a few rides and some food and then let the boys have their fun. Turns out the fair just isn't the best place for an 18 month old. Poor Brady was stuck in his stroller watching Zach go on rides that he was too little to go on. We didn't last long but it was just about the right amount of fair time for me anyway. And I got to try some deep fried kool aid. It was actually pretty good.

Happy in the stroller for a few minutes!

Waiting in line, feeling unsure (doesn't he look like such a big boy?)

Zach giving himself a fist pump for conquering the big slide

Brady got a turn, I'm still not sure if he even liked it!

These two were such goof balls. They love each other so much it is adorable.

He had been asking me for like two days before if he could go on the bumper cars. I was glad he was tall enough. Round one though he couldn't really figure out how to get it to move. We were standing on the side yelling, "Push the red thing with your foot!" he didn't move far but didn't seem to care much.

Love these 3, getting ready to ride the roller coaster. I was glad that they were big enough to ride alone. Two years ago Nicole and I (I was pregnant) had to ride WITH them and this ride was NOT made for adult size bodies.

I love their faces!

We took Brady and Lily over to the petting zoo, thinking that was where we could safely let them out of their strollers. Brady was not too excited.

He did eventually try petting a pig but he was never super in to it

Round 3 (or 4 or 5?) he had it all figured out. I don't even want to know how much money we spent on bumper cars that night.

The demo derby was with motor homes. And FYI, every one of his cars now is a motor home. As is our minivan.

I love the intensity. He told me his motor home won.

The boys being silly

They got to stand around the trophy and take pics. I love that Zach is so genuinely happy.

I love that Zach and Aaron got in some good father/son time. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. He will keep randomly telling me "mom I had fun at the fair!"

Love,
Mom

SF part 2

2011-08-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

After our day of being tourists we got a babysitter and went out for the evening sans kids. We had some FABULOUS pizza, even if we did have to wait 3 hours for it and some yummy ice cream. Unfortunately Aaron was feeling really sick and didn't get to enjoy the evening much.

This picture is terrible, I have the worst roots! But it is the only proof of our date night, we stopped at the painted ladies, the "Full House" park for a photo op.

The next day we headed out to Muir Woods which is just outside the city and is a real redwood forest. It was really cool! The kids liked running around.

They were so tall!

Henry and Zach

Climbing in the hollow log

This tree was so big we could have stood inside

Brady insisted on walking instead of being in the stroller. He also still thinks that since I crouch down to take his picture, he should also crouch down. He does that and says "Cheese!"

And the best lesson of the day: this is what happens when you don't listen to your parents, you fall off the path into stinging nettle!

After Muir Woods we decided to hit the road. After some debate we decided to take the 1 down the coast home. I'm glad we did, since I'm not sure that we'd have another opportunity to do it ever and it was very beautiful. I did, however, get pretty sick from all the winding roads and although we thought we were safe since the kids had slept most of the way, when we stopped for the night in San Luis Obispo Zach threw up ALL over the hotel room bed. It wasn't exactly the most fun night.

Beautiful views from the 1

Other SF memories that were not photo documented:
1. Pie shakes. no joke. They take a HUGE slice of pie, shove it into a blender with ice cream and viola, a very delicious and calorie laden shake.
2. Running. Liz and I went on some AWESOME runs through Golden Gate park, down to the coast, etc. It was so beautiful and I loved getting a running tour of the city.

San Francisco part 1

2011-08-02T22:23:00.001-07:00

After Tahoe we headed over to San Francisco to visit Liz and her fam. I had never been to San Francisco before so it was so fun to explore and to have such a great tour guide (who understands how 3 year olds work!)

We were NOT prepared for the weather in San Fran! It was freezing and so cloudy and windy by the bridge. I don't think we ever saw the whole thing, we saw the top and the bottom but never the middle.

Golden Gate Bridge

The highlight of the trip for Zach was definitely the Seward slides. They were these big concrete slides built into the hillside just right in the middle of a neighborhood. There was a bunch of cardboard laying around from other people which helped you go really fast. Zach spent the first 10 min crying that he didn't want to go down and then next 30 min telling us it was the best thing he'd ever done. We had to drag him away.

Brady got in on the fun (and I ruined my shoes trying to make us go slow!)

Hank was a pro

Zach and Hank liked racing

I really wanted a pic by O'Farrell street but Aaron refused to park so we pulled over and took a fast picture. I don't think you can really see it!

I can't remember the name of this street, it's famous for being really windy (not windy wind-y as in it winds all the way down, how do you spell that?)

We also went down the steepest street but the pictures weren't very impressive so you'll just have to trust me on that one.

We went down to the Ferry Building where we had delicious cheese, bread and milk from the creamery. It was fun but Zach was not in a mood for pictures.

We took the street car down to Fisherman's Wharf where the sea lions had apparently left for the summer! There were a few hanging out but I don't think we got them in the picture.

Riding the street car (they were cheaper and less crowded than the trolley cars and our kids still thought they were cool)

Emerald Falls

2011-07-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

On our last day in Tahoe we decided to do some more hiking. We went to Emerald Falls and then on to another lake. This was by far the hardest hike and the first one the boys had a really hard time on. They were super tired and the hike was rough for Zach. At one point Brady was screaming in the backpack and I'm hiking up boulders carrying a crying Zach. It was sort of a mess. But we all survived and it was really pretty. Plus we ate at the Burger Lounge again after which was totally worth the hiking.

The falls

Grandma Geri and Papa Frank

The best part was this bridge that went right over the falls, so cool!

This kid was grumpy at the top. Everyone went in the lake (at least their feet) except him.

This one was SUPER tired. Of course he fell asleep about 2 min before we got back to the car

checking out the falls

The next morning we left Tahoe and were on to San Francisco!

4th of July

2011-07-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of July we were a little leery of heading too far from the cabin because we had heard that Tahoe got super crowded and the traffic got bad. So we did Adam and Tracy's games at the park by our cabin and had lunch there. It ended up being one of the most fun days! Then the big kids did a bike ride while the little kids napped and that night we went back to the same park and got an awesome view of the fireworks. The Tahoe fireworks are the biggest this side of the Mississippi, they were awesome. We hit no traffic and had such a fun day.

Uncle Gregor brought his tee and Zach LOVED hitting off of it. I want to get one now because I hate throwing the ball to him (since I can't throw a ball!)

Maybe by the time they're 10 and 8 I'll be able to get a picture of both of them smiling. But no such luck these days.

We played a bunch of water games like pass the wet sponge over your head

And then Brady played in the buckets of water

A water balloon toss and more water balloon volleyball

Zach was into his throws

Then we had a watermelon eating contest

and decided to let Brady have a try

which was adorable

Zach went for it

and Brady followed suit

finished!

digging in

Uncle Adam took Zach around the park on the trailer bike which he LOVED and still talks about

Fireworks at the park, we ditched Brady with the ones who stayed behind at the cabin since he was asleep

the group on the hillside

the finale, seriously amazing!

Painting shirts

2011-07-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

For Grandma Geri and Papa Frank's activity they had t-shirts for the kids to paint. It was a hit, everyone from the 3 year olds to the 14 year olds loved it.

Zach and Cam

Brady didn't paint but had lots of fun running around outside

They also got to paint these little wooden dogs which were another hit

Everyone got in on the fun

The finished products!

Beach Day

2011-07-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

We spent one day at the beach on the lake. I liked it because I didn't do much besides sit in my chair and enjoy the amazing views. The "sand" was more like gravel and it did take a toll on our feet. I even took a dip in the frigid lake. It felt good once things warmed up in the afternoon. Our kids were filthy but had such a good time.

Brady really bonded with Grandma Geri. Partly because of her GIANT bag of m&m's but mostly just because she was so cute with him.

Despite the fact that the sand was sort of like gravel over dirt, the kids still had a blast playing in it

The highlight of the day-- water balloon volleyball. There was some craziness and some diving and some people at it. It was fun. So fun we had to repeat it later in the week.

Games

2011-07-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Someone (Aunt Stacy maybe?) had the great idea to have each family be in charge of an activity. This turned out to be a GREAT idea and a good time filler. With all of us in one house it was good to have something going on. Some people did day time activities that sort of shaped how the day was spent and some of us did evening activities which was good to have things to do in the after dinner down time.

We stole Nelson's idea from the last Hansen reunion and did Minute to Win it games. We pretty much just copied their ideas. However, we forgot to take into account the O'Farrell competitive genes. Definitely not as present in the Hansen family the O'Farrells got a little crazy with the games. We had a few casualties.

First Game: keep the balloons in the air
First casualty: pregnant Aunt Jill eats it (no pictures of that)

Game 2: keep the alka seltzer in your mouth. The O'Farrells were crazy with this one! Sick!
Second Casualty: Ashton vomits (no pictures of that either, you're welcome)

Game 3: suck the m&m's up with a straw and make a smiley face
no casualties (phew)

Game 4: cotton balls stuck to nose into cup (do these games have names?)
we were done with casualties once we moved inside

Game 5: cookie face (get the oreo cookie from your forehead to your mouth)
casualty: my thighs (I think I ate 10)

I didn't take pics of aunt Amy's family games probably because I was too busy being beat to death by Autumn in hot potato. It seriously got violent. Those O'Farrells are a crazy bunch! But it's totally contagious.

More to come...

Lake Tahoe, Con't.

2011-07-12T14:15:00.001-07:00

2 lakes, so pretty!

Day 1 continued...
After binging on what was probably close to a 5,000 calorie lunch at the Burger Lounge (can you say CHEESE fries, yum!) we decided maybe we needed to do another hike. We headed up to Cascade Falls which proved to be a slightly more difficult hike but the kids still did really well.

No real naps and still a trooper!

Aubrey was ADORABLE with Zach. She was his "hiking buddy" and was so cute, I wanted to take her home with me to be his buddy every day!

Throwing rocks into the river/waterfall (up close we were sort of too close to see the actual waterfall, hence, no pictures)

copying the big kids by gathering rocks and throwing them although in this picture he looks sort of ready to give someone the bird, ha.

Lake Tahoe-- O'Farrell Reunion

2011-07-07T16:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
This ended up being an epic vacation. We just got home and I know if I don't get on it soon it will be until Christmas before I finish blogging about it.

We took off with the O'Farrells to Lake Tahoe this year. I was super excited because in my 19+ years as a California resident, I have never been farther north than Santa Barbara! So I was excited to see new parts of my state.

We rented a big cabin and all stayed together. That definitely has pros and cons. Pros-- togetherness, more adult time after the kids are in bed. Cons-- lots of togetherness! And noise. We definitely didn't get much sleep but that was ok.

I can't even fit our first day into one post. This is just our first hike. We hiked to a lake and I can't remember it's name now but it was really pretty and the kids did really well.

The highlight of this hike was definitely the snow (especially for the CA kids). The kids had a huge snowball fight and we had to rip them away to finish the hike.

All but the three youngest cousins

We were too cheap to rent a boat but we let all the kids sit in one, it's almost as good, right?

to be continued...

St. George Getaway

2011-07-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

I'd been working more than I wanted so as soon as my tutoring took a break for the month of June we headed out of town for a quick getaway before we started our "real" vacations. I love St. George vacations because they are so laid back and we don't do much besides hang out at the pool. We met Uncle Andrew and family and had a relaxing long weekend.

We started off with a delicious breakfast, Brady loved chocolate chip pancakes

Because it wasn't super hot yet we did some "hiking" (letting kids climb on rocks). I was just glad it wasn't 25 degrees like it was when we were there in January!

We spent LOTS of time at the pool. Zach was a fish, he did such a good job! I had to watch him of course but I didn't have to be IN the water with him (which was great!)

This guy was a little more demanding but we tried to get to the pool when he was napping and one of us would stay back with him (I didn't complain about doing that either!)

He wasn't feeling great but he was still pretty happy

Snacks by the pool

He had to wear goggles just like brother!

These two are 11 days apart. They aren't always sure of each other but it's fun when they do interact.

Cousin time

By the time we left Brady was pretty sick. He screamed for over an hour in the car and when we stopped for dinner I made the executive decision that it was time for him to face forward in his carseat. He's a little guy and barely meets the weight requirement so I was holding out. But he was SO happy to face forward and SO happy to finally be able to see the movies he'd only be able to hear before now. It was over all a good move.

Love,
Mom

Laguna Hills Half

2011-06-22T16:37:00.001-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Another Memorial Day, another Laguna Hills Half Marathon! I'm liking our little tradition of running this one with all the girls. We had a first timer, a baby come back, a few PR's, and an injury overcome. It was a good race for everyone!

This race made me happy. I beat my personal best by 10 full minutes! I ran this race in 2 hours and 15 seconds. I was very pleased with that and VERY thankful to Sara who stuck with me the whole time and who really pushed me the last few miles when I wanted to slow down and forget my goal. I really realized how far I'd come. The first half I ever ran took me 2 hours and 45 min. So I have come a long, long way. I'm so grateful for the girls I run with and how much they have pushed me to do things I didn't think I could do!

me and Sara

me, Barbara, Sara, Laura

Zach did NOT want to be in a picture

This kid, never gets to escape the stroller!

Love,
mom

Brady Update

2011-06-20T20:47:00.001-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
I think it's been too long since we had a general Brady update. At his 15 month appt (he's now 16 months) he had finally reached the 20 pound mark. A whopping 7th percentile for weight but holding strong in the 70th percentile for height. We'll take it. Doc said to feed him lots of healthy fats. Problem is he just doesn't like to eat much of anything. I'd say on a general day he usually eats a good breakfast and then only a few bites of lunch and/or dinner. He's not a big milk drinker either. But, they aren't worried about him so I won't be either!

Brady has been a combination of so much fun and love and SO much trouble lately. He knows what he wants and he will either find a way to get it or scream like he's about to die. I'm shocked at the things he'll think up in order to climb higher and farther and to reach things I didn't think he could!

Brady LOVES to be chased and thinks it is SO funny when he can make someone (usually me or Zach) mad about something. He does the cutest squeal and runs away but is constantly looking back to make sure you are chasing him.

He is getting a few more words and can say-- mom, dad, Bella, Zach, ball, cheese, hot, more (mo), that and truck.

He LOVES following Zach around and doing anything Zach does. It kills him that he can't ride the razor scooter and he is constantly trying to. I know he just watches brother whiz around on it and wants to do it so bad!

He also loves his binkie and blankie and is determined to have both with him all the time. He's a little Linus with that blanket always trailing behind him.

Has to be just like brother! Drink with a straw at his favorite place-- In-N-Out

Snuggling with blankie

Always climbing!

Into mischief!

Love,
Mom

Swimming Lessons

2011-06-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Zach has been taking swimming lessons for a while at Swim Venture. He has been making good progress this year but we decided we needed to take it a notch up from our once a week lessons and do more of a "blitz". So we signed him up for 2 weeks with Ms. Barbara with a couple of his buddies. He LOVED being with his buddies and still asks all the time when he can go back. He made good progress at his lessons and is quite the little fish these days! He loves swimming and is pretty independent at this point, diving for rings and swimming across the pool!

Waiting for his buddy, Jack

I had to resort to desperate measures with this one-- fruit loops!

Noah and Zach

Little fish

on the "new" steps with Noah

Love,
mom

Uncle Bret's Visit

2011-06-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
After BYU got out for the summer Uncle Bret had some time to kill. He had about a month until his river guide gig started in Jackson and spending it all in Wisconsin just didn't sound super fun. So he decided to come out here for a little visit. Some day we'll have a spot for him other than the living room floor but we decided that compared to Mexico our accommodations were not too bad!

Bret really got thrown in to things as I had to work quite a bit and as soon as he got here (literally hours from when we picked him up!) he got the job of Uncle Bret-- babysitter. He even changed his very first diaper. He put it on backwards, but we set him straight and we're confident Aunt Jenny will give him plenty more practice in the coming year!

I didn't take many pictures but we did spend a day at the zoo which was fun. Zach loved having Uncle Bret around and I appreciated the extra hands and free babysitting although I'm not sure he'll be rushing back any time soon.

the boys were excited for the zoo

Watching the orangutans

Zach was a little unsure of being that close to the lion, it was pretty cool that he was sleeping so close to the glass!

Brady was in to practicing his "jumping." He never really leaves the ground but it's pretty cute.

unsure of the petting zoo

We hope Uncle Bret will come back soon.

Love,
mom

Easter Sunday

2011-06-02T20:52:00.001-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
OK, how many posts did it take for us to get to Easter itself? The boys looked adorable and of course I got no cute pictures. The Easter Bunny came and thankfully kept things low key although there was still too much candy consumed.

The Easter Bunny brought airplanes which Zach has been asking for for a long time!

Brady got some airplanes too

A book to practice letters and numbers, great idea for church except that he wrote on his Easter outfit with the marker before church even started

I don't even want to think about how many jelly beans he ate before breakfast!

my favorite pic of Brady

or maybe it's this one

What most of my pics looked like

it was overcast but apparently pretty bright still!

one with dad--still squinting!

and mom got in on the fun

Love,
Mom

More Easter

2011-06-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
I will catch up here one of these days, hopefully before all the summer fun and vacations start!

On Sat. evening we dyed eggs. Zach was more in to it this year but we still managed to make a mess. I didn't even attempt including Brady, poor kid, we waited until he was in bed.

Love,
mom

Easter Continued...

2011-05-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Of course we couldn't let Easter go by without visiting the cemetery. We went on Sat. It is always interesting with your brothers. They don't get it really but Zach is starting to be more curious and try to understand. I know it will be a long time until he can understand that he has sisters in heaven but I'm happy he'll grow up knowing that. We talked a lot this year about Jesus and the resurrection and it was really neat to see him beginning to understand. Then when we were there I told them that just like Jesus, you would be resurrected one day and we would all get to be together as a family. I look forward to that day. I love you and you know that Easter has become one of my favorite days since we lost you.

Love,
Mom

This was so cute, we were about to leave and Zach asked if we would take a picture just of him. He even posed himself like that.

Easter Fun

2011-05-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
This Easter seemed to just sneak up on us (even though it was late)! We were able to squeeze in some fun though. We had a fun little preschool easter egg hunt (no pictures) and we also were able to go a huge free egg hunt put on by one of the local churches. I had seen the "eggstraveganza" before and wondered who would be crazy enough to go to that but when I found out every single thing there was free-- bounce houses, food, egg hunts, face painting, etc. I decided we would brave the crowds. It was great! The kids had a blast and it was free, can't beat that!

We also had a little hunt at the park with some friends. So the kids got MORE candy than they could handle and we had fun.

Loving the bounce houses and yes that is "s" as in many. I think there were five or more bounce houses!

This kid missed his nap and the egg hunt for his age group. But he was a trooper. He hung out in the stroller and was happy! He's always good on the go.

Zach and Will checking out their loot. I am pretty sure I have some variation of this picture for the past three Easters.

They had to really fight the crowd but these boys got more than their share of eggs I'm sure

Thanks Compass Bible Church!

On Sat. we had our own little egg hunt with some friends from the ward...

The kids were anxious

Brady got in on the action this time

He was a little unsure of what to do (poor younger child, with Zach can you believe I actually PRACTICED with him before his first egg hunt!?)

We know Zach has had PLENTY of practice!

More Easter pictures to come...

Love,
Mom

First Hair Cut!

2011-05-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Well, poor little Brady made it quite a bit longer than Zach before needing his first real hair cut. He did have a little shave of the mullet when he was a tiny baby but his hair has just had a hard time filling in! I am really just kind of counting down until he's old enough that I can feel justified shaving it off like Zach, somehow though I feel like he has to be a little bit older (or bigger) first.

Before-- excited to be in the rocket ship

During-- get this thing off of me!

After-- handsome and enjoying his first sucker (which he made a HUGE mess with!)

We love our little Brady!

Love,
Mom

Wild Animal Park

2011-05-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Zach had "spring break" from preschool and I decided we should do something fun. We were lucky enough to round up some friends to go with us to the Wild Animal Park which apparently has changed it's name to the Zoo Safari Park (what!?). We had a blast with all the boys and I was surprised at how many comments with got with our huge strollers and our brigade of boys.

Thank goodness I had thrown in Zach's swim suit just in case because he peed his pants within 20 min of us getting there. I felt bad because he said he tried to find me (we were at the playground) but I had wandered away to find one of Brady's missing shoes

All of our boys and our giant strollers

They loved the tram

Zach is still reminding me how we saw the big elephant pee and poo, apparently it was the highlight of the day

It was fun to be with our buddies!

Love,
Mom

Play time and More Snow!

2011-04-30T22:11:00.001-07:00

We spent a lot of time in Utah playing outside. I did start to feel the boys are slightly deprived without a yard or a cul de sac but I decided the beach makes up for it.

Uncle Clint and Bret were playing lacrosse in the street and Zach said "mom, I want to play that net ball game"

Uncle Bret pulled all the kids around the yard on the sled which they thought was great

The kids tried to give Uncle Bret a turn but couldn't get him to budge. It was pretty cute to watch them try though.

leaping off the big rock

Brady wanted in on the action

Brady and Uncle Bret

It snowed more on Sunday morning and since we can't seem to escape 1pm church even when we leave town, Uncle Clint took the kids outside for a fun morning in the snow. Zach was so excited to build a miniature snowman and Brady was just as excited to knock it down.

I know they weren't really talking but I love that it looks like they are in a deep conversation

working on their snow man and snow turtle

Brady was unsure of the snow, he didn't know if he could walk in it

building the mini snow man, notice Zach eating snow again

And that sums up our Utah trip!

Love,
Mom

The Shower

2011-04-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

And the reason we were in Utah in the first place... Aunt Jenny's Baby Shower!

It was so fun and we had a good turn out. It was a little stressful planning a shower from a different state but it turned out really well. Alisa was SO generous to let us use her house which took a lot of the stress off me.

I am so bummed I forgot to take a picture of the table when all the food was on it! It was super cute. I was proud of my rosette tissue ball, my only attempt at all to be crafty. I also missed a picture of the cute sign that said It's A Girl! You will just have to trust me that it was cute.

Jenny scored some cute stuff

Tiffany (who in my mind will always be like 5!) and Grandma Wiggins

The Packs-- Houston friends who live in Utah now so it was really fun to see them

Christian's mom made this beautiful quilt, the back is checkered minky, I've never even seen that! It is amazing and I'm going to have to beg her to make me a quilt for my next baby. She also took the fabric from the table runner and helped Jenny make a nursing cover! So cool!

This kid was supposed to be napping, but once he figured out there was a party going on he wanted no part of napping.

Jenny and Aunt Kelli

2011-04-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Utah continued...

Brady liked having a partner in crime, however, Cadence wasn't so sure about Brady, he was a little pushy (older brother influence?) and tended to just push her right over.

How sweet is that face?

Auntie Brooke was a bad influence on Cadence

We have too many cousins to all fit in the bath together any more! So we had little cousin bath time.

It snowed one day and Zach was so excited. But when he got outside all he did was eat the snow!

Still eating it! The purple jacket was courtesy of Summer and Ali. He was sad after his nap when the snow was all gone.

"Spring" trip to Utah

2011-04-02T21:02:00.001-07:00

Utah... in parts

Dear Kate and Riley,
Some day, yes some day, I think we'll get to go on a trip that is not in the state of Utah. But, not yet. This "spring" (I put that in quotes because it was HARDLY spring where we went) I decided that the boys and I would ditch Dad for a few days, let him put in some real tax season hours guilt free and head to Uncle Clint and Aunt Kelli's for a week of cousin time.

We actually started out at Uncle Andrew's where we were limited to a short visit because they were leaving town. Aunt Stacy was so nice to let us crash at her house and feed us all the day she was trying to get ready to leave on a trip. I'm sure she was overwhelmed but we were grateful to get a chance to see some of the O'Farrells on our mostly Hansen trip.

We loved visiting with cousins and the highlight was getting to throw Aunt Jenny a baby shower. We are so excited for our newest cousin, but we sure wish someone besides us would start having some boys!

I braved my first solo flight with 2 kids. We had one very successful and relatively easy flight out and one nightmarish and embarrassing flight back. Oh well, we're 50/50 I guess.

I also got a chance to visit with Michelle (not long enough) and felt sad and old when we ran into a friend of hers and she introduced me as "my old college friend" and we realized it had been 13 years since we had first met in the dorms! Strange because I don't feel much older and only slightly more mature.

Andrew and Stacy's: days 1-2

Sklyer had this super cool basketball hoop in the basement. Zach wanted nothing more than to follow Skyler around and play basketball with him. All the kids fought over who got to be Jimmer! It was hilarious and slightly annoying.

The kids had a blast. They even slept under that basketball hoop! And Zach hasn't stopped talking about it.

Love,
Mom

Our First ER Visit

2011-04-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Well, I knew that with two boys it was only a matter of time until we had our first ER visit. However, I thought it would be a Buzz-inspired leap off the coffee table or a McQueen-inspired race that would send us there. Not the neighbor's dog.

Zach got an unfortunate (and definitely un-warranted he wasn't teasing the dog at all or even looking at it) bite on the face from our neighbor (and friend's) big dog. It was a fatal mistake for the dog, unfortunately, as this wasn't his first strike. Zach was a very brave boy, really I was so impressed with how brave he was because I know he was very scared. I have to say, I was also pretty impressed with how calm and put together I was (although I had a minor melt down after it was all over and he was in bed!). It really wasn't that bad all things considered. We were lucky that it wasn't closer to the eye. Three little stitches and he was in ship shape. Getting to play games on my phone and the sticker drawer they let him raid after led to the comment as we were walking out of the ER, "Mom, that place was so fun!" which made everyone laugh and the doctor call after us "Come back any time!" uh, no thanks!

I took him for ice cream for dinner since we had missed it and he told me a few more times what a fun night he had. One thing about Zach, he is the most positive, optimistic kid you'll ever meet. He's so enthusiastic about life and he really thinks everything is so cool. So really, he even found a positive spin on getting bit in the face. He was excited to show all his preschool buddies his stitches. Really, I'd say getting them removed a few days later was more traumatic.

Love,
Mom

Brady Turns 1!

2011-03-02T22:23:00.001-08:00

Dear Brady,
Oh, Brady, Brader-ator, the Brad-ster, Boogie, Buggy, Snuggle Puppy. I can't even begin to say how you've changed our lives. You are the baby who made me fall in love with the newborn stage (and actually believe I can do it again--someday). You are the one that Zach RUNS to greet in the morning-- "no mom, don't open the door, let ME open the door. GOOD MORNING BUGGY!" You are such a light and joy in this family. You make us laugh every day. You are so easy going and it is so fun to watch you learn and grow. You have also taught me to cherish every single second because it goes by WAY too fast. You are such an important part of our family and this year went by in a blink.

Brady at One--
19.3 lbs-- holding strong at the 10th percentile (5 lbs less than Zach at the same age!)
30-something inches (ok I wasn't listening at his appt!) 55th percentile (not too shabby for how skinny he is!)

Not walking at one year, still crawling but walking as of this post (just a few weeks after his birthday)
First word-- Bella (the dog's name!)
Best friend-- Zachary and Bella (the dog)
Favorite foods--- broccoli, anything Zach is eating
Teeth--8
Favorite toys-- hammer from the toy tools, magnetic fishing game, doctor kit toys, mom's phone
Favorite things-- blankies, binky
Other fun things about Brady-- he LOVES brushing his hair, any time we're in the bathroom he'll point and yell until I give him a brush and then he'll brush his hair. Its too cute. He is mostly happy. He's still not the best sleeper. He loves the bath. He HATES having his diaper changed or getting dressed. He can throw a heck of a tantrum for a one year old (we think he had a pretty good example in the house!)

We love you Brady!

Love,
Mom

the ever present hammer

getting in to trouble

enjoying a little birthday pizza

Zach was so excited about the birthday hats

he was a little unsure about pizza

but he had no problem getting in to the cupcake

he really went to town on the cupcake! I think he felt like he was getting away with something naughty.

Opening presents (or more like Zach opening presents FOR him). I was kind of surprised he kept that hat on!

a giant "Chuck" truck (which Zach seems to think is his now)

St George-- more hiking

2011-03-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, everyone left except Papa Ross, Grandma Janice and us. It was nice to spend some one one time with them since the kids don't get to do that much. We decided to go for another hike since it was so "warm"-- about 30.

This hike was in a different canyon, it was pretty and there was a river which was partially frozen and really cool.

Grandma Janice was really sick most of this trick but she finally started to feel better the last day

It was warmer, I think I only had 4 layers on instead of 5

Grandma was brave skating across the ice.
I want to add that my fear DID come true to some extent and Papa Ross ended up with a foot in the freezing cold water when he broke through the ice. I was just glad it was him and not Zach!

The pictures don't really do it justice, it was so pretty

There was a little waterfall (and yes it scared me to death that he was standing on this rock in the middle of the river!)

Zach loved hiking through the "cave"

And that was our trip to St. George! We were SO happy to return to CA, even if it was raining.

Love,
Mom

St. George-- Snow Canyon

2011-02-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

St. George Hiking day...

We patiently waited for the day the weather was supposed to get above 30. These CA kids just couldn't handle much less. Unfortunately it was still only 24 when we headed out that day. We headed to Snow Canyon and went for some hikes. I will admit I was NOT excited about this hike. Its one thing to deal with me freezing but to deal with two freezing kids on top of being miserable myself did NOT sound like a treat. We just don't own a lot of warm clothing! But, of course, Papa Ross made sure we all had a blast and quickly forgot about our freezing noses and fingers.

The first hike was up on the red rocks where there were a bunch of little frozen ponds and lots of ice to break and throw that thankfully distracted Zach who was in full-blown meltdown mode within minutes of getting out of the car since it was so freezing!

Brady was bundled up and in the front pack (which kept mom warm too!) he was happy as a clam!

We sort of look homeless. I think I had like six layers on. I had on at least four pairs of pants. I had to borrow clothes from Clint and Papa Ross.

"ice skating" with Papa Ross. I'm not going to pretend that I wasn't totally paranoid that the ice was going to break and my kid would fall in the freezing water. It wasn't deep but seriously for a 3 year old it wouldn't take much, right!? Especially when Uncle Chris managed to make a huge crack in some of the ice.

ice-- so fun to eat, throw, break and it got him to finally wear some gloves or "globes"

keeping warm

The second hike we did was in some sand dunes. It reminded me of being in Yuma minus the freezing weather. The kids loved it. Its funny how they wanted to just sit and play in the sand even though it was weird red sand and freezing cold.

Zach and Summer running down the hill

The big boys decided to race

They were slowing down by the second hill

They were crawling on their way back

The last little hike we did was in a little slot canyon. It was cool and just the right length for the kids.

Papa Ross with Zach, Ali, Summer and holding Cadance who managed to escape all of my pictures from this trip! I promise Grandma Janice was there too but she also seemed to escape from pictures a lot

Aunt Jenny, Uncle Chris and baby Axelgard about half way through baking

The whole trip was about Uncle Bret coming home and this was the only picture I got with him! I'm bad at this!

More St. George

2011-02-26T21:09:00.000-08:00

St. George Continues...

One of the days in St. George we headed to the Washington Rec center. It was weird to go there in the freezing cold since the last time we were there it was 105 outside. The water was NOT super warm but the kids still managed to have a blast. Brady loved that the water and the "beach" area where he could crawl around in the water. Zach loved doing the slide, especially the big slide and his fun uncles and dad who would take him down the slide over, and over, and over.

water baby!

I am in love with this picture, love this happy boy!

Cousins hanging out. Summer, Zach, Ali

Crawling

The rec center has a rock wall. Zach is really in to the rock wall at a local park so we had been talking about going on the rock wall in St. George for weeks. He was so excited. But there was one part we forgot to tell him about. The harness. When the guys put that thing on him he sort of got nervous but when they tightened the rope and it pulled him up a little he lost it. Add that to the whole Hansen clan standing around watching and he couldn't get out of there fast enough. Oh well, well try again next time!

St. George-- Christmas #2 and New Year's!

2011-02-22T20:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
After we got back from Uncle Adam's we had a few days before we took off to meet up with the Hansens in St. George. Uncle Bret returned from his mission on Dec. 27th and we were all excited for our meet up. I refused to drive all the way to Salt Lake again (we've done that drive one too many times this year) so we decided to meet halfway-ish in St. George. I told everyone it would be great because St. George would be so much warmer than Salt Lake. Little did we know we'd be in for record breaking cold and snow! But in true Papa Ross fashion, we didn't let that stop us from hiking and other outdoor fun.

I'm going to have to break St. George into a few posts. These are from the first two days.

My favorite part of the trip-- Papa Ross reading Dr. Seuss to the kids. Really felt like it should be me on that bed, brought back so many memories for me!

Since Bret and Grandma and Papa had missed Christmas morning, we had our own little Christmas which of course the kids loved. Zach was starting to get a little greedy!

Brady got some hand made booties from Mexico. Too cute.

Zach got some train tunnels and the kids had so much fun playing with them. They are still the biggest hit in our house.

Love,
Mom

Christmas!

2011-02-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
So it may be February and that only by a bit, but I'm determined to catch up. After the desk top bit the dust just like the lap top, we decided it was time to give in and get a new computer. We went for a Mac and I'm hoping that with a new, fast, fancy computer I can FINALLY get caught up on blogging!

Christmas was so much fun! I loved having just our little family last year but adding Brady to the mix made it even more fun. Surprisingly, although I don't think I slept at all, the boys slept great and even slept in a bit. Zach was beyond excited. Opening presents with him was the greatest. He was SO excited about every gift and exclaimed "Oh, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I LOVE it!" about every single thing, even when he opened the pink razors from my stocking. He wanted to open ALL the presents which for now was fine since Brady wasn't too interested and Dad and I didn't mind. He was very pleased to get his 3 requested items as well as way too much other stuff.

After we opened presents we went to breakfasts at the Hunts which was super yummy and fun and then we headed down to San Diego to Uncle Adam's house where the fun (and eating) continued. I am already looking forward to next Christmas when Aunt Tracy will make bread pudding again!

I need to take a mental note to take more pictures! We are busy taking video and never take enough pictures, especially since this was Brady's first Christmas!

Brady got a bunch of "Chuck" trucks

Zachary's "big" one, Tidmouth Sheds (where the Thomas trains live)

Brady loved Dad's golf club and thought it was for him

Hiro the train, another important request

The duplo legos were probably the biggest surprise hit, both of the boys LOVE them!

If I can figure out how, I'll try to post the video from Christmas morning, it was much more exciting.

Love,
Mom

Christmas Eve

2011-02-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
(if you think I'm close to caught up, you're wrong!)
We decided to make it a little Christmas Eve tradition to head to Boomers for some mini golf. It was a pretty nice day and we had a lot of fun. Zach was very determined to golf all by himself (which sometimes took a LONG time!) he did, however usually lose patience eventually and just throw it in the hole. He is also very good at cheering everyone else along, yelling things like, "GO MOM!" or "WHOO HOO DAD!" Brady, as always, was a sport and just hung out in his stroller.

Since we had our fancy dinner out the night before, we just stayed in and had tacos. Later, we read some Christmas books, got dressed in matching pj's, opened one present (a puzzle) and after Brady went to bed we decorated a giant gingerbread man for Santa.

Zach was so excited that when Aaron went upstairs about an hour after we had put him to bed, he was just standing there in his room. Aaron reminded him that he had to go to bed in order for Santa to come and he finally did!

Mini Golf at Boomers

Christmas Pj's in front of the tree

I couldn't leave this one out because its what MOST of the pictures I try to take of the two of them look like-- poor Brady in a choke hold.

You also may notice that our tree had zero ornaments left within Brady reach and an obscene amount of ornaments on the top since they all eventually got moved.

I was really glad that we took these pictures since both boys wet through their diapers and onto these jammies during the night and we had to change them for Christmas morning! I was so bummed!

Zach was very insistent that we make our gingerbread man look just like the one on the box

Love,
mom

Santa Train

2011-01-26T21:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Another fun tradition leading up to Christmas is the Santa Train. The rain almost derailed our plans, it just wouldn't let up! Zach reminded me almost daily that he needed to ride the train so he could tell Santa that he wanted Cranky the Crane, Tidmouth Sheds and Hiro of the Railways (all Thomas the Train items). I loved that he very specifically wanted those three things and he was consistent through the whole season. He was a little nervous to see Santa and I'm sure that Santa didn't understand a word he said but I could tell he was relieved to have gotten a chance to actually voice his wishes.

I thought Brady might still be too young to be scared of Santa, but I was wrong. He took one look at him and started crying so I didn't force the issue. I am guessing we'll have at least one other bad Santa year before he starts to "get" it like Zach does.

After the train, we took the kids to Benihana's. Growing up we always went to a "nice" restaurant for Christmas eve and even though it wasn't quite Christmas eve we decided this might be the closest we could get to a "nice" restaurant and not be embarrassed by our kids. Zach really liked it and still talks about the restaurant where the guy threw knives (I don't think any knives were actually THROWN but that's how he remembers it!).

Brady, Annie, Zach and Will (and Nate doing daddy duty)
on the train ready to go!

SO anxious to see Santa!

They wanted to sit together and I was surprised at how serious they were, these boys had business to take care of!

Brady-- who the heck is this!?

Get me away from this crazy! (even Zach was over it at this point)

After the train they did the bounce house and played some games where everyone wins a prize. They got to choose a very obnoxious blow up toy and they both immediately gave their toys silly names and then started riding them! They were laughing so hard, these two think they are hilarious.

Benihana's

This kid was a trooper, missed his nap, up past bed time and just hung out during dinner!

Love,
Mom

Boat Parade 2010

2011-01-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

In December we headed out to Newport for the Boat Parade. I didn't really want to go since last year we sat in traffic forever, walked about 3 miles (I was 8 months pregnant) and got there in time to see a grand total of zero boats. This year, though, the Carlsons had a plan. We parked at Newport High school and took a shuttle bus to the Balboa Bay Club. We sat in ZERO traffic, walked about 20 steps, sat on chairs set out on the beach, sipped glorious hot chocolate and had a prime seat to see EVERY boat (and we were just in time, got there about 5 min before the boats started passing). It was SO much fun! And who knew that to the boys, the shuttle bus was going to be the most exciting part of the evening! Zach talked about that shuttle bus for at least a week after.

All 4 kids on the bus, I have about 20 shots of this and this is the closest I got to all of them looking!

Best buds. Nicole said that if one of us moves we better keep in touch so that some day our kids don't look back on pictures and say "Mom why is this random kid in every picture with me?"

Brady all bundled up, he looks a little scared!

The coat was too big the hat too small but when you live here, you take what you get, we don't buy winter clothes!

Chillin' on the bus

Sleepy boy

Love,
Mom

Holiday Fun-- Preschool party

2011-01-18T19:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
I will catch, up I will!
I don't want to forget Thanksgiving. It did happen and I did NOT take any pictures! Poor Brady what a shabby job I've done of covering his firsts. We went down to Uncle Adam's house, had a wonderful fun, relaxing weekend and ate way too much good food.

Then we kicked off our Christmas fun with a little preschool party. The kids sang "Christmas Bells" which was really cute and did a little book exchange.

Love,

Mom

Happy late 4th Birthday

2010-12-13T21:57:00.001-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Your birthday did not pass unnoticed but it has been so crazy busy around here I did not have time to blog about it.

I wanted to involve Zach as much as I could this year. Zach is at a hard age where we want him to understand and know about you but the concept that he has sisters that he doesn't know but who live with Heavenly Father is a pretty hard concept for a 3 year old. He also is a little crazy at the cemetery wanting to take things off headstones and be a little wild. But I still think its important that he grows up knowing about you and I know that some day he'll come to understand better. We went together to pick out balloons, pink for you and blue for Zach and Brady. Dad picked up some flowers and met us up at the cemetery where I realized the camera battery was dead and Zach got a little too crazy. It was a short but sweet visit.

I couldn't help but be struck by contrast of what I expected my life would be like-- pink, barbies and bows with what it is like now-- trucks, dirt and cars. I love your brothers of course but it just made me laugh to stand there with my two boys, sometimes I think Heavenly Father has a sense of humor to send me these crazies. I am grateful for all of you and the things you have and are teaching me.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I know you watch down over us and keep your brothers safe (and laugh with us). I always feel your presence in our home around your birthday and during the holidays. You are missed and remembered. We love you.

Love,

Mom

Halloween

2010-11-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

As much as I just want to skip ahead to Christmas, I am determined I won't skip things like Bray's first Halloween! Even though with my laptop dead it takes HOURS for each blog post, I am determined to catch up so this kid will have a record of his first year.

For Halloween we had a party with preschool at our place, celebrated on Sat at the church first followed by some fun with the neighbors on Sun. Every time that we have pulled into the parking lot since the trunk or treat Zach says "Oh, its not Halloween here any more." I'm wondering how many Sundays in a row he's going to be disappointed! *I wrote that long time ago and the good news is he doesn't ask that any more!

Preschool costume parade

Zach and is preschool buddies

Zach and his buddy Ryan at the ward Trunk-or-Treat

Brady the bat

2nd year in a row as a pirate. Zach insisted and I had no problem not buying a new costume!

Don't touch my stash!

Out with the neighbors on Halloween

After trick-or-treating to a couple neighbors, we came back to our house and made marshmallow candy corns to put in our hot chocolate! It was such a fun little project.

Love,
Mom

(now let's see if we can catch up to Christmas!)

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Still feeling behind but I'm hoping not much will happen between Halloween and Thanksgiving and I'll get a little break in here!

We like to head to the pumpkin patch by our house every year but until this year we've been able to get by with just walking around and looking at stuff. Not so this year, Zach wanted to do EVERYTHING. Thanks to some coupons we found we were able to do it for cheap but let me tell you, that place is making a killing on all the sucker parents like us!

We met up with a bunch of people from our ward but of course all Zach cared about was running around with his buddy, Will.

He talked about the big slide for like a week after

They were being SO goofy and having so much fun on this ride, laughing so hard and yelling at the guy every time they went past him.

He loved driving the tractor but was not the best driver, he kept running in to stuff!

More Halloween to come!

Love,
Mom

My Birthday

2010-11-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

This year, when I turned 29 AGAIN (wow, that just keeps happening!) I decided to just take the day into my own hands. Aunt Jenny and Uncle Chris were here and I stole Jenny along with a few of my girlfriends and headed up to LA to see "Phantom of the Opera". We had a nice, quiet, childless dinner, saw a great musical (Raul was to die for) and then partied it up after with dessert at the W hotel. It was so much fun and definitely made me feel younger than my 29 again self. Dad was a trooper to get stuck with the kids pretty much all weekend but I really appreciated it!

Love,
Mom

Zachary Updates!

2010-10-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
In continuing with the catch up theme we have a lot of Zachary updates!

Zach--

Started preschool

Turned 3!

Zachary is SO much fun right now and can be a handful. He talks. Oh, does he ever talk. He is very articulate and he really just never stops talking, singing, or just making noise of some kind. He LOVES his baby brother, he loves his buddies, he loves preschool, the gym and gymnastics. He does NOT love being forced to sit still for any amount of time, being asked to be quiet, or being told he can't do something.

He loves "Cars" and "Thomas the Train" and I LOVE to listen to him play pretend with them. He is into acting out elaborate scenarios with them and I love when he repeats with his cars things I've said to him.

He repeats EVERYTHING I say to him so I'm learning to be more careful! My favorites in the past little while are--
while getting him dressed one day-- "Mom, I don't have TIME for this!"
to Brady-- "You're killin' me!"
to me-- "I"m so mad at you right now Mom. Don't talk to me like that"
me-- "Like what?"
"like you're mad"
to Dad-- "No way, Jose!"

We love our Zachary, he makes us laugh every single day.

Love,
Mom

Disneyland and Sea World

2010-10-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

Still catching up...
Our Disneyland passes were unblocked so we have been able to go back a few times, but not many pictures!

We were also able to spend a Sat. at Sea World with the Carlsons

Loving their popsicles. Zach apparently doesn't share his mother's sensitive teeth as he just bit right through the whole popsicle!

The boys favorite place-- the big bounce house. Zach was asking about it from the second we got there.

Love this picture! Best buddies. Not sure about the hand on the leg but seirously so cute, these two love each other.

So this is sad but the only picture I had from Disneyland of Brady was exactly the same (same outfit and everything) I swear we take the kid out of the stroller sometimes!

Shamu!

Too cool

There, see, we do take him out of the stroller!

Love,

Mom

Brady Turned 8 months

2010-10-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

In other catch up news, Brady turned 8 months (a while ago).

--He is officially crawling. First army crawl but now the full on speedy crawl all over the house
--Pulling up onto his knees but not to standing, yet (but I think its soon)

--So vocal! I love his jabbering but sometimes it is so loud!

--Happy, happy, happy

--Working hard on those teeth (which is putting sleep back into a not so great place)

--Eating puffs and "num nums" (rice crackers) but gagging on anything else that's not totally pureed, no interest in anything with a little texture to it

Zach loves, loves playing with him and the other day after playing with him for a half hour on the floor he kept hugging him over and over and said to me "I love having a baby brother". And my heart melted! He always says "wait mom, I need to just play with Brady for a couple minutes". And whenever we're in the car without Zach, Brady cries the whole time.

Love,

mom

Catch up!

2010-10-21T20:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,

I have SO much to catch up on. My laptop died thanks to a newly mobile Brady who unplugged it while in stealth mode and it decided to never start again. My desktop doesn't like blogger for some reason so I finally suckered Dad into bringing home his laptop from work so I could catch up a little!

In September--

Grandpa Great (aka Grandpa Hansen, aka Russel) passed away

We headed up to Salt Lake for the FOURTH time this year for his funeral. It was a beautiful event where my Aunt Kathy and my Dad spoke and gave wonderful talks remembering my Grandfather.

The things I'll always remember about my Grandfather--

-- his beautiful garden. I loved nothing more than to visit their back yard in the spring/summer when the flowers were blooming. To eat the pears (oh the pears), the apricots, the raspberries, the apples, I could go on. He worked so hard and carefully in that garden, he was just a worker.

--always reading, always had a book to talk about, always up on current events

-- waking up in the morning (I lived there one summer and spent many weekends there) to the sound of Grandfather playing his harmonica

--his TV commentary. Oh I don't know if any of my siblings or cousins share this memory (as I'm sure they do the others) but I thought watching TV with my Grandfather was an utterly amusing experience. He had these total no nonsense tell it as you see it comments about everything. I remember him talking about Kelly Ripa being so fat and pregnant, Oprah gaining weight, the terrible singers on American Idol. Maybe they are one of those "you had to be there" things but I loved watching tv with him. And I think i can thank my grandparents for my loves of both Amazing Race and Dr. Phil (although they watched him in his Oprah days not his own show days)

And really, my cousin, Megan who is much more eloquent than I am, said everything I wanted to on her blog so I'm copying it more so I have it here than because I think anyone else wants to read it! Just replace "my mother" for my Aunt Kathy and "my uncle Ross" for my Dad and I think you have it...

The service was wonderful and yet another reminder at how they give us each an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of life, and to bask in each other's company. I love my family. I am so thankful that we can pick up right where we left off (which happened to be only 8 weeks ago.) As the family walked into the service we were greeted with lovely harmonica music - a passion of my grandfathers'. My mother gave the eulogy and she was beautiful and eloquent. She told stories of my grandfather's hard upbringing and how he was able to shed a somewhat rough life and start a new one with my grandmother. He was a master gardener and we all obsessed over the fruits and vegetables that he would grow. He always had a book that he was reading - this obsession with reading stems from both my grandmother (who would like to come back in her next life as a librarian) and my grandfather. Following the eulogy, the grandchildren were coerced into singing - we did this ONLY because our grandmother requested it of us, and all said a silent prayer that the congregation would forgive us our singing shortcomings - I think everyone had a secret plan to just start crying so they could blame the Tone Def-ness on the tears.

My uncle Ross also spoke. He gave several wonderful stories and managed to even work a river-rafting story in complete with a nudist colony as one of the elements of the story. (It also occurred to me that he is similar to my Father-in-law when it comes to outings and NOVICES. "It's just a small _____ (insert torture of choice: hike, canoe, raft, walk, swim, biking) expedition." The next thing you know - you're scaling the side of a mountain...He quoted poetry a favorite in the Hansen family - where anything other than a degree in English - is ridiculous! He spoke of my Grandfather's favorite poem by Myrna Welch "The Touch of the Master's Hand". I'm sure that as everyone sat and listened to him, they also tried to see how much of the poem they could recall from memory - without having to turn the program over to check their lines. It's a status symbol to be able to throw down on the poems ya know. A sister in the ward sang "Goin' Home" and it was stunningly beautiful. It made me think who I could recruit for my own funeral to sing such sweet, beautiful, comforting lines to those in attendance. Funerals are like that - they make you reflect on your own. (Taylor and I have ours all planned out - I prefer Invictus for my poetry- Scatter Sunshine for my hymn - and we both would like a tasty machaca throw-down dinner to follow - in case anyone is interested.)

Thanks for letting me steal that Megan :)

I hope that you were there to greet your great Grandfather with open arms. I have visions of him gardening in a garden with no weeds and where the flowers always bloom.

Love,
Mom

7 months!

2010-09-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
So I might be a week and a half late on this one but better late than never! Brady has found a little bit of a personality and a little bit of a temper this month! He is too funny as separation anxiety has hit and he does NOT like mom out of his sight and can express it VERY loudly! Whenever I set him down or leave the room he is sure to make his displeasure known. But big brother is a good distraction and with him around I can usually still get a few things done. Zach and Brady are best buds lately, I think as Brady grows, can sit and likes toys more, reacts more, etc. Zach has shown a much greater interest in him. Sometimes to Brady's detriment as Zach thinks that Brady is ready for wrestling matches and roughhousing. "Please don't SIT on your brother" is a line I find myself using almost daily. Brady wants whatever Zach has at the moment and I don't think Zach knows what's coming as soon as this kid can move a little better.

This month Brady--
-can sit very steady, rarely falls over except when he decides he wants to reach something
-can roll to most any destination he chooses
-can scoot backwards quite a bit and lately has gotten a little forward momentum
-has really taken to eating but is kind of picky! He loves any fruit but is not a big fan of most veggies although I can get him to eat almost anything but green beans
-is on a pretty regular nap schedule (finally!)
-after a little "encouragement" which involved moving Zach temporarily into our room, is FINALLY sleeping through the night (yay!) he still wants to wake up at 5 am but we're working on moving that to at least 6 (which is why Zach is still in our room, boo)
-seems to be finally growing a little. He gained 1/2 a pound in a month and the doctors seemed satisfied, he is finally up to size 3 diapers and fitting into more 6-12 month clothes although he can still wear most 3-6 month and even some 0-3 month! He's still a little guy.
-has decided he hates the carseat, you should see him arch his back and scream when I try to put him in!
-despite his "mom" issues is overall a happy baby still and we love him SO much. I love that Zach is loving him so much lately, he never lets me go get him out of the crib without wanting to come with and he leans over the crib and yells "BRADERATOR!" and he's always concerned about where Brady is or if Brady is crying. Its so much fun.

Love,
Mom

This one morning Zach made he and Brady a "house" (all the pillows piled around) and then brought out almost all of his cars and trains to "share". He kept telling me "mom! I'm sharing with Brady!" it was so cute and Brady loved it.

Brady with everything Zach decided to share with him. Please excuse Phineas and Ferb in the background, Zach had a slight obsession this summer.

Hanging out at the pool eating goggles

Because he often bathes with Zach he now thinks that sitting is the only way to go. I seriously made Zach lay down in the bathtub until he was almost 1! I can't believe Brady already insists on sitting, its a little scary since he has a tendency to try to reach things and then fall in face first. But he doesn't seem to mind and I'm always right there.

He LOVES taking a bath with Zach. And Zach doesn't seem to mind that I'll only put in like an inch of water! I wish I had gotten this picture straight on, Zach was making him laugh so hard that day.

Camping

2010-08-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Kate and Riley,
Last weekend we had our first family camping trip! It was something we've been talking about doing for a long time but always seemed to have a good excuse (pregnant or new baby) not to. But when our neighbors decided to plan a trip we figured we couldn't pass it up. We headed up by Malibu to Point Mugu with the Taylors and the Massies. We had a lot of fun even though Brady didn't seem to be a fan of sleeping in the tent at night. But Zach loved rolling in the dirt and we found out that getting to pee in the bushes did wonders to help with potty training. We made s'mores, threw rocks in the ocean, hunted for treasure, sang and played guitar and played in the blow up pool. We can't wait to do it again!

We were lucky to borrow a big tent from the Taylors which could hold the air mattress and the pack and play, hey I'm not into roughing it too much!

Dan and Jeremy took out the kayaks but it was too cold for anyone else to attempt!

I have this picture as the background on my computer except its Zach in the same outfit. With the hoodie and the binkie they really look a lot alike. Their differences really lie in the lips and the ears.

We found out the BOB can actually serve as a triple stroller (might come in handy some day!)

The last clean picture!

Corn on the cob!

L went to town on the ribs!

Loving the fire, notice the potty in the background, we can't go anywhere without it right now!

Sunset with (as Zach has dubbed him) the Braderator

Love those blue eyes. It actually got pretty chilly at night!

S'mores!

Dad's genius contribution to the trip, take a reeses, melt it on the graham cracker and then make your s'more, it was a bite of heaven I tell you!

We had such varieties we all had to have multiple s'mores

Dan's metal detector was a hit. The kids would dig for him. They found lots of bottle caps and a few coins.

Since the ocean was super cold we made our own little oasis and it was perfect!

Zach doing his own marshmallows and "Crazy Dan" with the hatchet in the background.

Summer has flown by. I can't believe its almost over and we'll be back to more of a schedule soon. I can't decide if I'm so sad or a little relieved!

Love,
Mom