My Random Thoughts 7/25/08

1. Why are my kids so annoying?
2. Why am I embarrassed to go out in public with out make up on? I think I miss out on some fun and great opportunities because of that? What gives me this thought is...I didn't have any make up on one day and my friend called to remind me that a Soldier from our ward, who was wounded in Iraq, was coming home and he would be there in just a few minutes. While I appreciated her reminder call, I thought, I can't go I don't have on any make up. Well. I decided to put a hat on and go anyways...and I'm so glad I did (I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about how awesome it was). We got to stand in front of this Soldiers house which was lined by about 20 American flags and watch him and his family get escorted by a fire truck and many police cars to their home. It was an awesome experience and a great way to explain what a TRUE HERO is to Bran. I really need to get over this no make up fear, I don't want to miss out on any opportunities over something so stupid.
3. Why does getting up and going running in the morning sound like such a good idea at 6 pm at night, but not 6 am in the morning! Will I ever train my body to get up and exercise in the morning?
4. Are using cloth diapers Mon-Thur really saving me any money...because I still gag like crazy ever time I open that diaper pail! Brandon's not a fan, so I don't use them on the weekends...that way he can have diaper duty!
5. A lot of people have been asking me about my eyebrows since I've got them tattooed...well, so far I'm glad I did it. No, it didn't hurt. I still have to color them in with my eyebrow pencil. I hope I won't have to after I get my touch up in August. I'll blog about them more after my next touch up and show more before and after pics.
6. Really, I only have 5 thoughts...I guess there's not a lot going on in that brain of mine! I blame that on the kids!
7. One more thought...Am I the only one who can NEVER get those darn letters right at the end of a blog post the first time! I hate those stupid letters! But, I have to wonder, are my eyes going bad or am I just getting old? Anyway...here I go to verify AGAIN!

Spoiled Rotten! 7/25/08

Bran, Bran, Bran you sure are one spoiled little boy! The day after Bran's b-day, we went to Logan. Well, Grandma and Grandpa Buttars wanted to celebrate Bran's b-day, so they got him a Cars cake and lots of gifts. Not only that, but he got gifts from his aunts and uncles too. Bran you sure are one lucky little boy!

Bran was sooooo excited for his cake.

These are some of Bran's new favorate things...His new picnic table, shark pj's and play dough.

Once we got back to Spanish Fork, it was Fiesta Days (a full week of Pioneer Day celebrations). On the 24th we went to the Big Parade, which hats off to Sp. Fork it's a great parade. I didn't take any pics but we had a good time (minus Brandon, because he had to work, bummer). But we got to hang out with our friends and Bran got to watch the parade with Alivia!!!
Once Brandon got home we decided to go see the fireworks...which are even better than the parade...I tell you what, Sp. Fork knows how to party! We decided to drive to a spot were we could get a good view and watch the fireworks from our car. Before the show began we thought we would take some family pics. ENJOY!
Finally, one good use for our Element! I like to drive it, but it is so not convenient with kids in car seats. However, it was super comfy to watch the fireworks in.
Brandon and I used to be the bomb at taking our own pics! When we put our wedding video together we realized we didn't have any pictures of us together, so we went around taking pics of ourselves together, we got pretty good at it too! Well, I think we lost what we used to have, we kept trying to get a cute picture of us but we had to settle on this goofy one!

Our Family...I hope to get a better family picture soon!

Just a few more pics...because I obviously love pictures!

Hey Bran, your brothers not the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

Aaahhhh....can you feel the love!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAN BRAN

Oooohhhh, Who lives in Pineapple under the Sea? Bran did today! He turned 3 and had such a fun SpongeBob Squarepants Party.
In preparation for his party Brandon and I stayed up late decorating our living room to give Bran that WOW factor when he woke up. And boy did we achieve that WOW...he walked in and said "is this even our house!" It was so fun to watch his excitement as he checked out all the decorations and then opened his presents. And his presents were everything Spongebob...from Spongebob shoes to Spongebob books and video games to Spongebob sippy cups and spoons and forks.

This was his "BIG" gift...a Spongebob pillow.
After a morning of fun, it was time for his party. We had the Bean family and the Crafts over for a BBQ and some fun in the sandbox and pool.

Alivia, Logan, & Bran...finding TREASURES in the sandbox...really, I hid little treasures in there.

Bran had so much fun riding the 4- wheeler with Alivia...he's already learning that older women are a good thing (she is 4)! She can steer the 4-wheeler and well, Bran still can't! It was so funny, Alivia and her brother, Logan, were riding together and Bran wanted to ride, so they both got off. When Bran got on, he sat on the very back of the seat and just stared at Alivia. It was so cute how he wanted her to drive him around. Another thing that was so cute was when Alivia was leaving Bran just automatically went up to her and gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek....really, it was soooooo cute! He just loves that girl. But she was quick to say they were just friends!

They also caught fish and rubbery duckies in the swimming pool with their butterfly nets. Sorry Bran I thought they were fishing nets...besides, when did you get smarter than me!

Here's Bran with his Spongebob cake....he was so excited about his cake. It was cute this morning I had Brandon call and make sure the cake was ready to pick up and it was, so Brandon left. After he left Bran kept saying "Daddy's going to get my cake, That's so nice of him, That's so nice of him."

Here are Janeece and Jen and the kids....the men, well, they are on the computer! Go figure!

Trey Bug waiting for his cake and ice cream!

Bran...not even five minutes after his party! I guess he really did party till he dropped...those crazy 3 year olds!


A few days before Bran's B-day we let him open the presents Grandma/pa Ketterman sent him. He was so excited when he opened his Cars pj's and SpongeBob pj's. You did good Mom...he loved all his gifts!

Look at that face....pure happiness!

This picture is funny because after Bran opened his presents we put some dance music on...while I was messing with the CD player to find the best dance song, I said, "Bran, I hope you have your dancin' shoes on, because we are going to dance!" Well, he ran so fast downstairs and came back upstairs with his monster slippers and said, "Help me put my dance shoes on, Mom." Bran, you are just too funny. I love you.


Bran and Trey also had their 3 year and 6 month doctor appt. this week....here are their stats:
Trey 6 months-height 28.5" 97% weight 18 lbs 9 oz 84%
Bran 6 months-height 28.5" 97% weight 17 lbs 3 oz 50% (it's just fun to compare)

Bran 3 years-height 39" 83% weight 31 lbs 42%
Congrats Bran...you reached the over 3 feet tall club!

Work and Play 7/13/08

Yay! We finally got all the tree branches out of our yard (we had a ton, because we did some MAJOR pruning of our apple tree that was totally out of control). I called the YM Pres. to see if any young men would like to earn a little extra cash to help us, but none of the YM were available, so the YM Pres, Bro. Sorensen, came with his truck to help us. It's weird, but both Brandon and I have a really hard time accepting help from others, so it was a good and humbling experience for us and makes us both want to do more service and just be better people in our community and ward.
Well, after we got all the branches sent to the dump we had lots of little sticks to pick up and our yard to mow...so it was a really busy morning. But after our work was done I got to have a fun girls day out with my friend Julie. Brandon, once again, was so nice to let me go for the day while he spent some good quality time with the boys (after i was only gone for about 2 hours, I got call from him seeing when I was going be home...so I'm sure it was some FUN quality time)! But my quality time with Julie was sure fun. We went to Park City and rode the Coaster, which was a blast...I would highly recommend it to anyone. Then we ate at Baja Catina...which I would also highly recommend! After a good lunch, we went to the outlets, I mean really, can you go to Park City and not hit up the outlets. We didn't really buy too much but we had a good time. After getting back to Salt Lake we, of course, had to stop by "The District" and go to Target! It was a much needed get a way for me...I tell you what...Stay home moms have it tough and we deserve a day away every once in awhile.

Bran's Worst Nightmare!

AAAAAAAA! RUN! It's the TEDDY BEAR POLICE!

With Bran's birthday coming up he got a $5.00 coupon to Build A Bear...so off we went (I can't resist a coupon)! He already had a Teddy Bear from there, so we thought we could accessorize him with a cool policeman outfit. You see, Bran has a weird fascination with both Teddy Bears and Police. If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he'll tell you a policeman, because he wants to get the bad guys. However, when he is naughty we some times tease him that we are going to call the police and he gets soooo scared, he also gets scared when he hears sirens. And the Teddy Bear thing...well that's been going on forever...and some of his "teddy bear friends" are nice and some are mean and scary. So we just thought it fitting to mesh his two love/hate relationships together! And he loves it...now when he is being naughty we tell him to go to his room and talk to his Teddy Bear Policeman, and he does, then after a few seconds he comes out of his room and tells us his Teddy Bear Policeman says he's a good boy! What a silly little guy we have!

4th of July Family Fun

We started our holiday weekend on Thursday, Brandon had the day off and since his company started having 4 day work weeks he now has Fridays off too (it is AWESOME!)! So, we headed up to Logan and made a quick stop at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was pretty cool, but probably would have been more fun if Bran was a bit older and more into dinosaurs. After we got these two pictures our camera died...I must admit I was pretty disappointed at first about the camera, but after I got thinking about it, it probably made the park more enjoyable since I didn't have to yell at Bran the whole time to "smile and look at the camera" and still never get a good pic of him! However, I probably didn't learn my lesson, because next time we go, I'll make sure the camera is charged!

Yeah, that dinosaur is huge!

So, once we got to Logan it was time for the Logan City fireworks and we watched them with Grandma & Grandpa Buttars and the Godfrey clan. I think all the kids enjoyed cuddling up with Grandpa to watch the firecrackers (that's what I call them).

On the 4th...Grandpa's Birthday...We had a BBQ at Grandma/pa's house with the Poulsens and the Godfreys the food was yummy as always. After the cousins half ate their food (they were way to excited to play together) they went outside for some fun in the water.

There was the Slip N Slide

and the little swimming pool.

And of course, the Hot Tub! The kids were so freezing they were beggin to get in.
It was such a fun day and we ended it with doing our own fireworks in the driveway and a fire in Grandpa's fire pit...I'm always up for some smores!

On Saturday, Brandon and Jason went golfing, so I took the oppurtunity to hang with with Mandi at her house for a few hours. Bran had a blast following Harli around and repeating everything she said. He also had fun getting a tubby with Taeden and playing with all their tub toys.

Harli and Mayci enjoyed being a mommy to Trey Bug!

Taeden, Harli and Bran...up to no good!
Later that afternoon, Grandma & Grandpa decided to take the older cousins (how exciting that now includes Bran) to go see Walle. Brandon, Trey and I decided to tag along and we all had a good time and enjoyed the movie...but I don't think it is one we would buy.

On Sunday while everyone else was at church we packed up our car and got ready to go home, but not before Bran got some good play time with Tally and we got some good BBQ at the Poulsen's house.

Bran and Tally...those two are CRAZY! I felt bad because I went inside and left Bran out on the deck with Tally and a few minutes later we heard him crying, Tally got just alittle too rough with him and was nipping at him and scratching him...but a few minutes later he was back playing with her! He just loves that dog!

Mandi and Jason's BBQ
(as you can tell once my camera got charged, I got picture crazy...I hope you like pictures!)

Grandma Buttars and Trey

Oh, how the cousins love their Grandpa!
Bran, Harli and Payzli

Mayci and Pazyi (2 yrs old)

These two little girls are soooo cute!

Taeden and Brexton.....CRAZY SILLY BOYS!!
Ayda and her mama, Ashley...I'm so bummed I didn't get any pics of Ayda and Trey together...I'll have to do that next time.

When it was time to go home Bran just kept saying he wanted to go back to Grandma's house...he was so sad when we told him we had to go home to our house.

Our poor Bran is always crying himself to sleep (can you see the tears)...I'm just glad he fell asleep before we got to Grandma's house to pick up our cold drinks we left in the fridge. After that quick stop, we were on our way home. We had a great weekend, but it always feels good to be home.

Happy Birthday Grameripa!!!

(Brandon made that one up)

P.S. We missed you Nate and Laci and The Kingstons.