Big Announcement, & May soon to come!

It is official! We are finally approved to start the Adoption process! We are done with our paperwork, and now it is just finding a child that Bryson & Chad can be older brother's too! We CAN'T WAIT! Here is the link to our profile

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/27379829/ourMessage.jsf

In the meantime, we have had a crazy week, and can't wait to tell you all more about it!

April 2012

There is so many fun things to do in April! The boys have especially enjoyed being outside, now that the weather is finally getting great! It seems like daily the boys are wanting to go outside to ride bikes and "Help" mommy in the dirt, pulling weeds and preparing the yard for our garden!

 Daddy is working hard every day to build the new Olympus high school! We enjoy going up every few weeks or so to eat lunch with him. The boys loved seeing him in his safety glasses & work hat! They want to be just like dad!

Easter has finally come and gone. Bryson had a really fun Preschool activity day with lots of fun treats and crafts! Luckily we have primary too to give him a little more religious perspective. When we tried to teach the kids about Jesus and the resurrection in Family Home Evening, all they could talk about was how Jesus died, and kept repeating it OVER and OVER again. They seemed to get it a little more after church!

One of Mandy's favorite traditions growing up was dying Easter eggs. They boys enjoyed it and loved picking different colors to dye their eggs! 

The neighborhood had a really fun egg hunt on Saturday morning! The boys got lots of great treats!

Then on Sunday, the Easter bunny came, leaving a track of eggs that led to a basket for the boys! They got a new outfit, Lady & the Tramp, a Kite, some watercolors ... Adam was wondering what Easter Bunny came THIS year! He never enjoyed this many toys growing up! Mandy just smiled, and was thrilled the boys loved it all!

Bryson and Chad loved that there was just enough of a breeze to fly their new Car's II kites that afternoon!

The great Easter Day ended with an egg hunt with Grandma & Poppie at Aunt Marney's house!

A fun tradition in Utah is the Thanksgiving Point Tulip festival. It was spur of the moment, however the kids had a great time!

One of the best things about April was daddy finishing his finals and finally home on break for a few weeks. Every night in the last few weeks of April, we have sat outside and enjoyed being together as a family!

March 2012

March started off with Studio 5 ... a bit stressful to get everything up and ready for the show, but I was really excited how fun it turned out!

The day I did Studio 5 was super stressful, and I was hoping to relax when I got home. Bryson decided that while mommy was stressed out, he might as well make it one crazy day. He decided to Pee on Chad. YES you read right. He wizzed right on him! Chad started screaming and when I asked him what was wrong he said, "Bryson Peed on me! And he peed on my blanket too!"

Meanwhile, Bryson was in trouble ... and although I was trying not to laugh when I sent him to his room, he now understands that we don't pee on each other!!

A few of the neighborhood boys wanted to do Itty Bitty sports at American Fork Rec Center, so we decided to let Bryson give it a try. We went every Tuesday and Thursday and played Soccer and Football. He loved it! Chad wasn't old enough yet to sign up, and was so sad he couldn't play too! 

We decided to wait and to Tee-Ball in the Fall!

This winter we didn't get too much snow, so the one day we finally got some, Bryson and Chad were convinced we had to build a snowman. By definition this means, taking 1/2 hour to get all our snow cloths on, and then when we finally get out there, the boys lasting 10 minutes and wanting to go inside. Bryson actually made it until we finished our snowman. Chad enjoyed the finishing touches from the Living Room window. I am so sad we didn't get Chad in the picture, because he was SO excited for our snowman!

Although we don't do a whole lot for St. Patricks Day, we decided a few activities would be lots of fun!

Bryson in his Leprechaun attire from School. 

Mommy decided Lucky Charms and "green" milk would be fun for breakfast. Since I don't buy much sugared cereal, I though it would be fun. However, Bryson only ate 1/2 the bowl and didn't want more, and Chad cried because I told him he had to at least try one bite. It was worth a try, right?

We thought since the boys did such a great job at the Cabin playing Just Dance 3, we would have them perform it on St. Patricks Day at our Ward Variety show! It was definitely everyone's favorite. Don't you love Adam's yellow shorts?

It has been so much fun watching my two boys grow. They are the best of friends and play so well together. They even are willing to take turns pushing each other around on Chad's bike. These are the moments I hope to never forget!

Every morning, the boys love to watch cartoons together. They love Curious George, and Cat in the Hat. They even love to scratch each other's back!

Mandy had a Relief Society Meeting she need to make a cake for. She was really excited how it turned out!

The Young Women in our ward were invited to sing in the General Young Women's meeting. All of the Young Women leaders decided to go and support them and check out City Creek that just opened. 

Little did we know that our picture would be on the front page of the Deseret News!

General Conference weekend started out with lots of fun. Friday night Adam decided to do our first movie night with the boys. Blankets, Popcorn, Treats and staying up late! They started to watch Tin Tin, but the boys got scared, so Cars 2 was the next choice. 

The boys loved every minute and even stayed up until 11:00! 

It was our turn on Saturday morning to help clean the church. Bryson and Chad loved helping.

For Saturday and Sunday sessions, we had the Rhoton Kids over because Tiff and Devin were in Virginia. We set out cups of candy, and each cup had a different word on it ... "Prophet, Scriptures, etc". Every time someone giving a talk said the word, then the kids could pick a piece of candy from that bucket. THEY LOVED IT! 

We even printed out lots of fun word searches, bingo games and coloring pages for the kids. They loved it!

March was a fun month with lots of little activities. We are really excited for spring and to enjoy the outdoors in the warmth!

February 2012

A new month, and a new haircut! WHAT DO YOU THINK??

It has taken a little bit to get used to, but it has been a fun change. Not only did I cut my bangs, but I dyed my hair for the first time in 12 years! A little darker, but not too drastic.

Next was Taylor coming home from his mission! He hasn't changed a bit and it was so fun to greet him at the airport!

Valentines day weekend, Adam surprised me and took me to dinner and the movie The Vow. He had school on Valentines day, and we knew we would be celebrating Bryson's Birthday on the Saturday before, so we planned early. It was a perfect date!

Then came Bryson's Birthday! We threw a small birthday party for him, and it was just perfect! Not too stressful, but he had a great time inviting some of the new friends he has made this past year in our neighborhood and a few cousins. We made the theme to be Transportation. 

Started out with a fun games in the basement, including racing balls from one side of the room to the other, red light green light, etc. 

Next was opening gifts ... Each kid that brought a gift, opened their own gift. It was really quite funny, and luckily Bryson is so laid back, he thought it was fun!

Daddy went and got Pizza for everyone

Then there was the cake. Mommy made the cake, and for a spur of the moment, cake, I think she did a pretty good job! :) wink wink!

Last but not least was Bryson's big gift! He saw his cousin that got one of these puppies for Christmas and couldn't get it out of his head. By the smile on his face, I think you can see how thrilled he was about it!

Then for Valentines Day, we decided to start the day off with a heart pancake breakfast, and some Monkey valentines for the boys. Adam left me a sweet Valentine and a darling shirt and cardigan! (definitely points for him;). We got all cleaned up and went to Salt Lake to see daddy for a lunch at Cafe Rio.

Mandy's sister Tiffany invited us over for dinner to make heart pizza's and have heart jello!

 The boys loved it!

And we ended our wonderful Valentines day with 2 dozen beautiful roses from Adam on the front door step. I just got all teared up and realized I have the sweetest husband in the whole world!

Our friends invited us their cabin for Presidents day weekend.

 We went to the cabin with 2 other families. So it was us, the Hansen's & the Melville's. 

 We enjoyed spending time snowmobiling, eating, playing in the snow, taking naps, and playing games! It was a fantastic weekend and ended entirely too soon!

 The Boys LOVED riding the snowmobile. Mandy's Brother-in-law let us borrow it for the weekend. It was lots of fun!

Who doesn't love "Chin-a-gins!"

 Playing Just Dance 3 on the Wii was one of our favorite things to do when the kids were in bed!

February was a really fun month ... & it was so fun to spend a little time together as a family!