Camping

Well, here we go on our camping adventures! Matthew has been asking forever to go camping. He gets so sad when his dad leaves without him each month to go camping with the scouts. So after much debate and a husband who ended up getting home rather late on Friday afternoon, we ended up at Lake Mead only 20 minutes from our house (it was close we almost ended up in our backyard...seriously!)

The boys had a great time. I think my favorite moment was Saturday morning Matthew had a cup of hot chocolate and he went and sat down in our camping chair with a foot stool. He got all cozy and said to himself, "I love camping!" At this point I think that it was about 6am (Brayden woke us all up at 5ish) and we had been there less than 12 hours. I guess it doesn't take much to please a 5 year-old.


It was a quick trip since we were awoken at 5 am. We had breakfast, cleaned up, took a drive, went on a little hike all before 9:30am. So we decided that we needed to get some things done at home we so we took off a little after 9:30!

This is Matthew at 10 am! I guess camping just really wears you out!

It was a quick trip just over 12 hours of camping but the boys had a great time and are asking when we get to go again! Next time I think we will plan to stay a couple of nights at least and get Brayden a warmer sleeping bag so he will sleep in past 5am!

Grandparents come to visit

Nate's parents came to visit the week before Easter and we had a great time with them! The boys love their grandparents and we hope they come again!

We went out to the Ethel Chocolate Factory and Cactus garden. I can't believe that living here for almost 3 years this was our first visit! It was fun and we will be doing this again :)





We also made a visit out to Valley of Fire State Park. My kids love being able to climb all over everything and the dirt of course the dirt! (I am not sure where Matthew picked up the peace sign and I didn't even realize that he had done it until I loaded the pictures on my computer!)





Matthew, Halle (their cousin) and Brayden. Nate's sister Heather moved to Vegas a few months ago and this is the first time we have lived near family in 5 years! And we love it!

Fam pic!

I have to say lately Matthew and Brayden have been getting along so well! They play together and entertain each other. It is fun to watch!

I know I know, "one day you will look back on this and laugh" Just not today, sigh I will be sweeping and vacuuming up sugar for a week...or maybe longer!

Our Last Disney Trip

Well, our passes to Disneyland are officially expired now. It is a bittersweet feeling! We love Disneyland but it will be nice to go visit other places that are cheaper! We made our last trip the first weekend in March. Our boys have no idea that it is going to be a long time before we go back so they will have just have to enjoy the picture that we took!

From our first visit Nate has always felt the need to point out all of the BYU gear that we see. So we always have a little contest BYU vs ASU(ok it is mostly me but I am always up for a bet). And I always lose terribly! Hey I can't help it that Mormons dress up all of their kids in matching BYU gear, I never had a chance! The only time we ever even came close was in October when Arizona schools were on fall break. So the last day that we were there I realized that after the many many times we had been there and had our contest I had never once wore my school colors **shame** I know! So here is me supporting my school! And to all of you non-BYUers please wear your school colors while at Disneyland, help support the cause..hee hee!

Almost a good family pic, just a little dark..

Matthew is finally not scared of characters!

Matthew also decided that he wasn't too scared to go up and be part of the Star Wars show!


I have to admit this guy is scary but Matthew didn't flinch at all! And he still carries his certificate around saying that he completed his Jedi Training!

We celebrated Brayden's 3rd birthday while we were there! I can't believe how big he is! What happened to my baby?

Brotherly love :)

So close! Too bad Preston was asleep!

Brayden was too funny with these glasses, he wouldn't take them off for anything!

Yea! After one whole year of going to Disneyland, finally, a great family picture!

Goodbye Disneyland see you in a few years or more! Hello camping in our backyard...much less expensive!

People keep asking me if Matthew and Brayden like their new brother...

They love him! Sometimes a little too much :)

Matthew took this pic himself

Sometimes Preston cuts his head and face with his own fingernails, I just can't keep them short enough! Matthew, being the nice brother that he is got him this band aid and put it on when I wasn't looking. This kid definitely gets enough attention and stimulation from his big brothers.

Sleep

Well, with a new little baby in our house we have all been a bit tired!





I found Brayden asleep just like this! I promise I did not pose him at all!

Even little Preston seems tuckered out!

Rainy days

Over the past couple of weeks we have gotten more rain than we got in all of 2009. With that being said it still isn't much compared to the rest of the world! So one day instead of hurrying the kids inside we stayed out to jump in puddles and played in the rain!

When jumping in puddles it is very important to get a good running head start!

So our puddles aren't very good but we do live at the top of a hill. There were much better puddles around but these are right outside our house.

Here comes Brayden!

Brayden was funny, he would come running and then when he got close to the puddle he would slow down and then step into the water!

One night after baths Matthew told me that he was really cold so I told him to run and get his blanket and wrap it around him. But he was upset that it wouldn't stay on so I helped wrap it around him. Of course Brayden can never be left out of anything that is going on at our house so he ran to get his blanket too! They walked around the house like this for the rest of the night! Silly boys!