Brandon and Jen Bear

Christmas 2011

2012-01-28T20:59:00.001-07:00

This picture says it all!
I think the best present we got last year was: Jennifer! I am still shocked and amazed at how we got her. Both my children are miracles and I love them both very much.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T16:40:00.000-06:00

Brandon is a Motercross boy and Jen is a tiger!

Best Week Ever!

2011-10-18T11:32:00.004-06:00

We are proud to announce the adoption and sealing of Jennifer Kay Rich!

Jen played it cool through the whole proceedings by drinking her bottle and acting uninterested. Brandon could hardly contain the joy of FINALLY having a little sister. Rich and I of course were a little nervous (who wouldn't be)! And my parents were there cheering us on.

My parents, us and the Judge.

The Rich's and the Judge.

On Saturday we went to the Temple to be sealed for Time and Eternity. Jen was trying to take a nap when the workers brought her to us so she was a little groggy. Instead of handing her to her mom (which is what she wanted) she had to just hold my hand! Not interested! I want my Mom!

After it was over and we were looking in the mirrors. I was holding Jen, Rich was holding Brandon and Jen had her hand on Rich's arm (so sweet)! At that point she was very interested in what was going on! All the people, the chandelier and her family.

On Sunday her daddy gave her a blessing at church and we had a luncheon after at our house. It went wonderful!

I love my eternal family.

Brandon soccer 2011

2011-10-08T12:24:00.002-06:00

Parade and Zoo

2011-07-28T12:10:00.002-06:00

Last week Brandon and I walked in the children parade. We had a lot of fun but it sure was hot.

After the parade we went to the zoo. We found a lot of dinosours. Brandon and Jen had a lot of fun.

It's picture time!

2011-05-12T13:51:00.000-06:00

My two beautiful babies :)

A big Yawn from Jen....it's so hard to pose for pictures.

While Jen was crying Brandon had his pics taken. Isn't he all grown up...sigh

Our little family :)

brandons b-day

2011-04-21T19:29:00.003-06:00

I am really slow in posting this but Brandon turned 7 in February. He had his cousins sleep over and ate cake and popcorn all night. They watched movies and talked all night lol. We love you Brandon happy birthday!

2011-04-13T09:58:00.003-06:00

We got a surprise this past weekend :) I was asked if we could foster a little girl for a couple of days and Friday morning we were asked if we wanted her forever and ever? YES!!!!!! We want her! What a silly question lol. She's two months old and cute as a button. Here are some pictures.

Disney's California 2010

2011-01-15T14:53:00.002-07:00

Brandon just loves the movie "Cars" so we couldn't resist these pictures.

I wanted a picture with Jessie and Brandon did not.

New Toys for 2011?

My boys!

I think we were in a ladybug ride.

We ran into Jack and Sally from Nightmare before Christmas.

Universal studios

2011-01-03T21:11:00.008-07:00

Christmas morning we told Brandon that we were going to Disneyland and Universal studios. He fell over - lol. Here are pics from Universal Studios. We were so cold we ended up buying jackets and scarfs for us to wear. burr! Rich and I loved the park....Brandon not so much.

This first pic is the back lot tour we went on. hmmm seems like a dino or ape got to it first.

Here are some famous cars.

Desperate Housewives

War of the worlds
Psycho - their house

Psycho - a lovely hotel that...well I wouldn't want to stay there.

The Grinch

Monsters

the Grinch

and his little dog.

a dino

the globe thingy out front.

Our ride.... Brandon did not like this ride (Rich and I loved it). We were taking a tour of the back lot and this dinosour and King Kong attacked us.We wore 3-D glasses and were knocked around in the tour bus. Poor Rich even got spit on. lol

1st grade class singing

2010-11-25T12:00:00.003-07:00

Brandon's class sang at Barnes and Noble a couple of days ago. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Ben 10

2010-11-14T20:45:00.001-07:00

This is what Ben 10 looked like when he wasn't "10". lol

Ward Pary.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin!

Mmmmm a cake walk!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

Mine is Ben 10. Happy Haunting!

2010-10-02T13:04:00.003-06:00

Brandon has started soccer this year and he loves it! Here are a couple of pics of him. He really likes being the goalie. He always has a huge grin on his face while he is playing because he is having so much fun.

Scales and Tails

2010-09-17T22:25:00.000-06:00

I love this picture of Brandon and his cousins a year ago. lol

Montana 2010

2010-08-01T20:58:00.006-06:00

This is the beautiful Shinning Mountain Ranch in Montana. We were able to spend a the weekend enjoying the beautiful ranch. This is the lodge.

Me horseback riding.

Rich getting a drink while driving (on his horse). lol

Our cabin (the honeymoon cabin).

Downstairs.

Upstairs.

Inside the lodge.

The livingroom. WOW! Check out that fireplace (it's as tall as me).

Chewy their dog. He wanted to play fetch and didn't care that I didn't. Cute dog, we had a lot of fun Chewy and I.

Fishing on our last day.

4th of July

2010-07-19T21:07:00.009-06:00

For the July 4th this year we decided to go to May Family Ranch near Challis, Idaho. Since we went a day early we checked out the parade in Clayton. This is Brandon and Jayden...Brandon loves his cousins!

A float in the parade. The kids had a blast. I have never seen them move so fast to get the candy being thrown out to them.

Rich, Kayla, Jayden and Brandon enjoying the parade.

After the parade we went to the little BBQ that they have. Here Brandon is in the money pit. He came home richer than me!

Cute smiles :) They had this little train that took the kids around the town (pop. 26). They loved it.

Connor enjoying his train ride.

Kayla in the back!

Lezlie's car got a flat tire while we were driving to Bayhorse Lake. Rich helped Steve fix the flat while we took two of the four kids on a walk. As they were walking they kept collecting rocks. Why? I don't know. I guess I did when I was little too! Anyway here they are balancing their rocks on their heads.

Bayhorse Lake.

Playing horseshoes with the cousins.

Going down the water slide.

Panning for gold!

Awwww! Jayden loves Brandon too!

Brandon's first fish, he caught it all by himself. The next day he caught three more. I am so proud of him - my little fisherman.

Getting ready for the river rafting.

Today they were just playing in the boat.

More panning for gold. It wasn't really gold it was fools gold.

Getting ready to fish!

One of my favorites!

The Pickle Place for lunch then home. Lots of watering and cleaning. Tons of laundry and then back to work! We had a lot of fun and Brandon wants to go back but this time stay in a cabin like Connor and Jayden lol. We will see.

Timpanogos Cave

2010-06-11T15:55:00.003-06:00

Wow! What a hike! It seems like we climbed forever. This is fairly close to the beginning of the hike, as you can see it was very cold! burrr!
Needing a short break with water and twizzlers :)

What a cute grin!

Both my boys posing!

Oh no! a dinosour! huh? Is that a rock? Good! Now I just have to figure out how to get under it to move on...

I think he/she could smell the twizzlers on Brandons hand! Cute little guy huh!

Snow Canyon, Utah

2010-05-29T18:41:00.001-06:00

Cute picture huh! We went to St George last weekend....instead of typing it again please go here.

easter and puma

2010-04-23T21:08:00.002-06:00

Easter Morning. Hunting for all the eggs. :)

This is Puma. She likes climbing into Brandon's backpack.

Puma again helping me with my laundry.

Adoption

2010-03-21T16:14:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone, Just a reminder to everyone out there that we are looking for another child to adopt. We are going thru LDS Family Services 801-969-4181 ask for Amber Lingard. Check out our website at itsaboutlove.org and type in our names (Rich and MaryJo). We also have an adoption blog at moundsofjoy.blogspot.com. If you know of anyone that has an unplanned pregnancy have them check us out. Thanks for your help. :)

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone.

2010-03-15T15:48:00.003-06:00

Bithday Party

2010-02-20T09:59:00.002-07:00

First the kids chowed down on pizza and juice.Then they played some games. Brandon then opened up his presents.

Picture of all the kids :)

Hope you had a fun pary!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T11:30:00.006-07:00

Brandon is a Shepherd in the nativity this year. Cousins are Mary and Joseph with angles and another shepherd.

So Excited!

All the monkeys :)

Christmas morning.

Playing with star wars toys.

Point of Hope

2009-12-15T15:04:00.002-07:00

On Sunday we had dinner with 15 other families who have either lost a loved one or he/she was injured during the war. Deron and Amy Williams (from the Utah Jazz - Go Jazz!) hosted this event at Flemings Steak House (YUMMY). Can I say WOW! I am very impressed and am a big fan of the Williams. A santa hat for all the children!

Star Wars !!:) !! He LOVED it!!! Thank you!

A light saber too? Awsome! Thanks Deron & Amy Williams.

Puma and Normie

2009-11-25T18:01:00.002-07:00

Would you please be my friend - I'm so cute! Look at me, don't you want to play?

Taluma

2009-11-12T16:10:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday, our sweet dog Taluma died. She went peacefully. We had this wonderful dog for 12 years. When Brandon was a baby all he had to do was look at her and he would start laughing. I loved how Taluma and Normie would play (Indy 500) We love you and miss you Taluma.

Batman!

2009-11-04T20:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Holloween to all those gouls and ghosts! This young caped crusader had tons of fun "trunk or treating" in our area and then trick or treating at Uncle Bob's house. I just love this picture!

Clowning around...

2009-10-03T15:20:00.002-06:00

The circus was here last week, we took Brandon. It had really changed, since last year when we saw it. This year it was all about magic (notice Brandon's hat). All the normal animals were there: horses, zebras, dogs, clowns, elephants, tigers plus the high wire act....ect. We had a lot of fun and can't wait until next year.

This is a magic trick, a man is in the area the magician is pushing the fire through. ouch!!!!!

No, I didn't film this upside down - they are!

sleeping......

2009-09-19T18:36:00.002-06:00

This was taken about two or three weeks ago...lol. Rich was reading to Brandon, then it got very quiet....

He's asking if BRANDON is asleep!!!! lol

Kindergarten

2009-08-27T15:51:00.004-06:00

So my baby started kindergarten...sigh! Didn't I just bring him home from CA? He was excited but a little nervous to go on the first day but now seems fine with everything. Here are some kindergarten pictures:

Smile.
being goofy

"you can't take my picture if you can't see my face."

What a handsome little boy (my new favorite picture).

Lunch after the big day (no more pictures mom).

Braaaaaandonnnnn, turn and look at mommy :)

zoo, firworks and water

2009-08-05T20:58:00.007-06:00

Since I've moved back to Utah, I haven't been very good at blogging but here are some pictures of when we went to the zoo, the 24th and played in some water.

The zoo

The wolf

A snake slide.

An egg.

My garden

Yeah, the grass doesn't look so good, the sun really fried it.
THE 24th of JULY

Cool fireworks, Daddy!

playing with friends...

I can go really fast...
Yeah, the sprinkler just came on.

Riding his bike

Playing in the water...

swimming

2009-07-13T10:27:00.005-06:00

If you haven't noticed Brandon loves to swim. Here are some little videos of him with his teacher. Remember some of the swimming is in 12 feet deep water and he's only 5 years old.

This is Brandon bobing (one b or two?) in 12 foot deep water.

Diving into the water.

One more dive. Isn't he cute!!!!!

Happy July 4th!!!

2009-07-07T16:56:00.005-06:00

This year we went to a children's flower garden. Brandon had a lot of fun at Noah's Ark.

Here he is "floating" in the water (it's not very deep).

Looking at some duck statues among the flowers....
Here is a little play station were Brandon played with some blocks.

Now it's finally getting dark and Brandon can't wait to light the fireworks.

Not sure about this fireworks thing.Fun, fun, fun. Here are some videos of Brandon with Noah's ark and fireworks.....

Zoo

2009-06-23T21:44:00.004-06:00

We walked in with four monkeys and walked out with.....four very tired monkeys :) Posing for pictures. I forgot my camera so Lezlie copied her pictures for me. Thanks Sis!

There's some sheep in the cage behind the kids.

Merry-go-round.

Okay, take one here mommy!

SMILES!!!!!

Brandon graduates

2009-06-12T21:06:00.002-06:00

So my baby graduated from pre-school a couple of weeks ago (I'm a slow blogger). It has been a fun year for him. He is looking foreward (kind of) to the fall when he starts kindergarten.

Dirt on my shirt

2009-05-25T21:22:00.003-06:00

What do little boys love? My little boy loved this pile of dirt that was dumped in our yard for our garden. It took two days to level it out because someone had to play with his dump trucks and had a fit everytime we tried to move it around. Brandon decided to do what mommy does and take some pictures... in some of the shots I didn't have a head or it was blurry but he got me in the end.

I should have taken an after picture...all well. I will take another one when my corn and potatoes are growing.

Tulips and more tulips

2009-05-02T16:35:00.003-06:00

I went to see some beautiful tulips on Friday with my parents, sister and son. We had fun wondering among the flowers and feeding the fish.

Brandon with pink tulips

Lots of tulips

pondering where to go next
hiding behind some flowers

My parents

pretty

the water falls.

Easter

2009-04-22T09:00:00.001-06:00

skating lessons

2009-04-11T14:58:00.002-06:00

Skating lessons are over but here are some videos of Brandon skating. He is now taking swimming class. He was sick for two of his classes so he is a little behind the other kids.

Playing with the dino's

2009-04-03T15:55:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to the dinosaur museum. Brandon absolutly loved it!

This area is build your own dinosaur. They can choose a different head, tail, legs and add some spikes if they want.

The shark is the megladon. A huge shark that Rich loves. The other picture is of Brandon walking with the dinosaurs lol.

The kids got to dig in the sand for fossils. Brandon thought this museum beat the one in D.C.

This is Brandon playing in the water at the museum.

Utah and New Mexico

2009-03-12T21:06:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to New Mexico to see Rich's mom and sister. Along the way we stopped in Moab and looked at the arches.
The Welcome Center

The welcome center

Sheep Rock

A hole in the rock.

Racing - burr it was cold.

Delicate Arch.

Roller skating in New Mexico.

Brandon, Rich, Klarene and Grandma Rich.

Three crazy boys!

2009-03-06T20:45:00.004-07:00

I am a little slow in working on my blog (since I am back in Utah). Here are Brandon and Jayden goofing off at my house.

Brandon taking Jayden for a drive.Brandon is driving Connor. Jayden is way in the back driving the fire truck (and Aunt Lezlie is doing a little dance in the road).

I took this of Brandon and Jayden a couple of weeks ago.

Birthday boy!

2009-02-17T14:00:00.002-07:00

A couple of days ago Brandon turned 5 years old. He had so much fun on his birthday he will remember it for a long time.

These are a little out of order, but I wanted a picture of Brandon showing how much he enjoyed his birthday. The next one is opening presents - clothes lol!

This is the BIG gift he got from his mommy and daddy. I know, I know! I said I would never buy one for any of my children but.....anyway he loves it!!!!!!
This is from Grandpa and Grandma. He can't wait for spring time so he can go play in the dirt!

His birthday cake - WAL-E (and Eva).

short update.

2009-02-12T22:17:00.004-07:00

There's not much going on here...Can't wait for spring so I can work on my backyard. For those who know me - they know that I love to garden! I will have to post pictures on befores and afters.

Brandon is doing so well with his ice skating class. He graduated from his first class and now is in the second class. If he works on his swizzles then I think he will pass and go into the next class. Rich is still driving truck - looking to go back to school... Normie is making it hard for me to type. Luma is driving me crazy by tracking mud inside....

I have a crazy cat - Normie

2009-02-03T15:06:00.003-07:00

I took these a couple of days ago of my cat. He thinks he should join me in the bathroom. I opened the door and he walked in and I walked out (leaving it open a crack). This is his response. Then I heard him jump up on something, so I opened the door and took this one.

I don't have any pictures of this, but last night I had pulled the covers down on my bed and then stepped away for a minute. When I came back in my room I could see some kitty ears hidding behind my covers. I ducked down and he sprange up and did his little hiss, hiss, spit, spit and bounced all over my bed. LOL!

This and That

2009-01-29T20:46:00.004-07:00

It's been almost a week and a half since I posted last, hard to believe. We are adjusted to our new home and new ward. I got a calling a Visit Teaching Coordinator. Looking foreward to that. This is one job that I haven't had before so it will be different. I guess that means I had better get my visit teaching done every month. lol!
Rich is busy working, Brandon is taking ice skating lessons (he passed the last class) and is loving it. Brandon is also in pre-school. He loves to go now that he knows the teachers and other kids. He does tell me often that he wants to go back to our house in Maryland! He told me a couple of days ago that he was going to marry Kaitlyn (friend from Maryland) but wanted to dance with Chelsea (from school), but he talks about Marin (girl from church) all the time. Boys!!!! He's only four years old (for a couple more weeks).
My Dad has been helping (doing all the work) me build shelves down stairs for our cold storage. It will be so nice to have a space for all our extra food. The next step in a wall/door around the furnice (that's Rich's project).
Sorry no pictures today, I'm to tired to even look for any. I have been working on all the adoption paperwork...
On Saturday (Rich's birthday) we are going to the open house for the Draper Temple. I am excited about that!

Have a good weekend,
MJ

free book

2009-01-19T15:26:00.004-07:00

Do you want to sit down with a good LDS book? Well here's your chance. Jennie Hansen is having a drawing on her blog. It's open to anyone, all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog.

For a chance to win a copy of High Country go to this link and leave a comment.

A terrible car accident left Laura fatherless, injured, and at a loss for many memories of her life before the accident. But when she and her cousin Bruce are going through their Aunt Alice's papers after her death, Bruce finds a cerificate that will change Laura's life forever: a marriage certificate. With her name on it! The doctors told her she wouldn't be able to remember a lot of things, but how could she forget getting married?

Laura is shocked even further when she finds out she is heir to a fortune and her father's ranch, High Country. As she discovers the secrets about her past that Aunt Alice had kept so well hidden from her, Laura is determined to get back what is rightfully hers. But trying to regain the beautiful house and land from a stubborn cowboy, Paul "Mac" Burgoyne, who claims to be her husband, is more than she bargained for.

In this gripping novel, best-selling author Jennie Hansen presents a fresh set of realistic, entertaining characters who learn the importance of forgiveness, faith, and love in the face of discord and misunderstanding. Once you start reading High Country, you won't want to put it down.

Skating lessons

2009-01-14T10:49:00.004-07:00

Last weeks I signed Brandon up for ice skating lesson's. He wants to be a "hockey kid". The pictures are kind of dark which is why I take the little movies too. Here the kids are going around the ice rink and to keep them entertained. The teachers said that they are penguins and polar bears are chasing them. She gathers them together in a "cave" and talks to them for a minute. His teacher told me that he is the fastest and the best penguin ever.
She had them practice sliding on their tummys while they were penguins and Brandon loved that. She told me that she is going to work on showing Brandon how to stop with the skates rather than falling down all the time. He goes really fast and then doesn't know how to stop so he just falls.

Hopping on the ice.

hopping and then falling....

skating around the rink (polar bears chasing them).

January 2009 oh and Christmas

2009-01-02T14:24:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone, we had a wonderful Christmas this year. Here are a few pictures to share....
Brandon and Alena as Joseph and Mary.

Here are the "little" kids...Brandon - Joseph, Alena - Mary, Kayla - Angel, Connor and Spencer are shephards, Calton - a kitty and Jayden - ummmm is Jayden.

Here is the annual Christmas in you jammies photo. Some of the kids wore their jammies (You go Chris!) and others didn't.

Chrismtas morning. A SPIDERMAN BIKE!!!! AWESOME!!!!!

And of course the Star Wars game he has been asking Santa for :)

Have a great weekend!!!

Christmas program Part 2

2008-12-24T13:31:00.005-07:00

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman.
Once there was a snowman - tall, tall, tall.
In the sun he melted, melted, melted.
In the sun he melted - small, small, small.

Up on the house top click, click, click.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer (reindeer).

This is Brandon singing Rudolph the red nose reindeer.

Jingle Bells

Visit with Santa.

From my family to yours Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Pre-school program Part 1

2008-12-21T09:47:00.005-07:00

Brandon had his Christmas program a couple of days ago. Lets just say I am a very proud Mama! This is the class singing "Once there was a snowman, snowman."

Here they are being asked what is there favorite part of Christmas. The sound was a little off when I looked at the yesterday. Hopefully it will be better today.

Here they are singing "Up on the housetop".

This is the Place....

2008-12-17T18:42:00.005-07:00

Brandon and I tagged along with my sisters family to This is the Place State Park. We had a lot of fighting...uh I mean fun. Brrrr, it was cold but everything was beautiful.

Brandon and Kayla on the train.

A ship in the night.... This was on the train too.

Here the kids are putting together a reindeer brown bag that has some treats in it. The next one is Brandon putting together a caboose . Connor and Kayla put the engine and the caboose together too. The next one is Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen

... I'm not sure which one.

And here are the kids with Santa. I couldn't get ride of the red eye.... anyway we had fun.

Christmas pictures & an Eagle

2008-12-13T17:18:00.002-07:00

Here are some more pictures of Brandon and our tree.

Hurry Mom!

"Wait, Mom. Take one of me doing push ups."

Okay, here my nephew Chris was awarded his Eagle and at his presentation they had this real Eagle. I got to see him up close so I have one really good picture.

Chris and the Eagle

Up close and personal.

random pictures...

2008-12-10T10:50:00.008-07:00

These are some crazy pictures of my little boy doing funny things.

Brandon cracks me up. I thought he might like my cowboy hat that I bought 5/6 years ago at a rodeo and he wont take the thing off. He runs around with his bat (gun) and shoots all the bad people (me, the dog and the cat). He will even put on his jammies (the ones with feet) and claims he is a super cowboy (it's now a cape...I need to find his cape...) This is him in the office with me, and his hat was down low. I had to knock his hat up to see his face. He had it over his eyes and was giggling. silly boy.

Well what can I say about this picture.... Brandon found my swim suit and thought it would be funny to wear it. The funny part is that it's on backwards! I told him that it was on backwards, he didn't think so.

This one is Brandon's room. The theme is Cars.

this one cracks me up. He sings "abcdefpurspurgarelpursur umm"

Brandon doing a cart wheel. I could never do one of these. sigh

Festival of trees

2008-12-08T13:26:00.009-07:00

I love the Festival of Trees. All money from the festival goes to Primary Childrens Hospital, to help those families who can't afford to pay the hospital bill. Both Brandon and his cousin Connor have both been treated by the doctors at Primary Childrens hospital. For those of you who are unfamilier with the FOT. This is how it works...

1. Someone decorates and then donates a decorated tree (larg tree, small tree, wreath, gingerbread house, etc).

2. Someone buys the tree and all the trimming.

3. All the money from the trees are givin to Primary Childrens Hospital.

This includes the cost of getting in to see the trees and the money from all the goodies they sell.

Here's some pictures my sister took (I forgot my camera).

update :)

2008-12-02T15:44:00.003-07:00

Well, I finally downloaded all my pictures for the last 2 1/2 months on my computer. I don't think I posted these pictures. This is Brandon and our dog playing in the snow.

She is waiting for Brandon to throw a snowball.

keep on swimming, uh I mean walking, keep on walking.

Playing in the snow.

snowball

Our House

2008-11-18T21:58:00.002-07:00

A week ago we bought a house. I had a cold or the flu or something so I haven't blogged about it. But now I feel much better. The pictures are tiny but you get the picture (ha ha).

Our House

Our Kitchen

Our Dinning Room
Our Living Room

Brandon's Room

and of course our room.

I have painted Brandon's room and will take a picture of it when it's all done. We move in on Friday. Yeah!!!!! I went to the store and bought tons of food, put up the blinds (well Dad and Rich did) and sealed the tile floors.... whew!

Boo at the Zoo

2008-11-06T13:08:00.002-07:00

So last week our Zoo has a safe treak or treating party at the Zoo. Here are our Star Wars kids.
Connor - Luke or Anakin , Brandon - Darth Mader (Vader), Jayden - Yoda and Kayla - Padme.

Meow!

Yummy!

Jayden helping his Daddy push the wagon with ALL the older kids and candy.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-01T09:39:00.004-06:00

Okay, so these aren't Halloween pictures. They are pictures of Brandon and his friends Aaron and Ian. Tara, Mechelle and I (with our kids) went to Gardner Village a week ago and to ride horses, pet all the animals (in the petting zoo) and play on the grass. Boy did we have fun.

Riding the horse.
Petting the goat with Ian.

Look how soft the sheep is.

How cute!

two against one. fun, fun, fun.

20 years ago...

2008-10-24T15:03:00.004-06:00

Becca just tagged me. :O so now I need to do a blog on what I was doing twenty years ago...

20 years ago 1988
Twenty years ago.. I had just graduated from high school and was starting my first semester of college. I think I started working at the college Feb 1989 in the Media Center.

My school just had our 20 year reunion. I didn't go because I was in the middle of moving back to Utah.

10 years ago 1998
Ten years ago I had been married for five years and was working at Salt Lake Community College in the Media Center.

5 years ago 2003
After working in the Media Center I went to work for Distance Education from 1999-2002. In 2001 my husband joined the National Guard and then in 2002 re-entered the Army. We moved from Salt Lake to Fort Lewis, Washington. February 2003 my husband was sent to Iraq and four and a half years ago we adopted our sweet angel – Brandon.

1 year ago 2007
Let’s see…A year ago we were living at Andrews AirForce Base. In Nov 2004 Rich was sent to Korea and then 9 months into his tour he was sent to Iraq. March of 2006 he was injured and sent to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC (I was living in West Jordan, Ut). We (Brandon and I) moved to Maryland to be with him after 18 months. So a year ago we were living in Maryland, I had just been given the job as 2nd councilor in my ward Relief Society, Rich was recuperating and Brandon was a busy three year old.

Yesterday
Going back some more.. about a month ago we moved back to Utah.
I took my dog to the Vet. She had surgery on her right front paw. We thought that it might be cancer but it wasn’t. She is being naughty and keeps licking it.

Today
Trying to buy a house and get a job.

Tomorrow
Go to “build and Grow” at Lowes.
Go to the Zoo.
Go to our wards Trunk or Treat.

Lowes

2008-10-21T14:54:00.002-06:00

So a couple of weeks ago my sister called me and told me the Lowes has this program called Build and Grow for children. They make an item everyother Saturday that's free. They get a certificate showing it's done with a patch that can go on the apron that they give the children. They also gave him some goggles to wear to protect his eyes. So far he has made a firetruck and a skeleton. I couldn't resist taking pictures of him working on his project. Cute huh!

I'm back...

2008-10-17T15:51:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I finally figured out how to download my pictures onto my moms computer. I think I will only show a few today and add some more tomorrow or Monday. This is our trip from Maryland to Utah. Not really exciting but I thought it funny that my cat decided to sleep in Brandon's car seat.Here he is looking out the window...
Looking at me.....
Stopped for lunch...
Stop taking my picture, I'm trying to sleep.

Birthday party

2008-09-29T13:05:00.002-06:00

We had a birthday party for the aug and sept birthdays at my sisters house. I forgot to take any pictures until my nephews tried to get in this little car. David got out before I could take any pictures but I did get Chris. I still don't have the internet on my computer, I'm going to see if I can put my pictures on my moms computer....

Home in Utah

2008-09-24T14:22:00.003-06:00

So we finally made it to Utah. It was a LONG drive (4 1/2 days) but we made it. My computer isn't hooked up to the internet yet so I stole some of my moms pictures to put on my blog (thanks Mom!)

Grandpa, Brandon and MJ at the Surrat House. Mary Surrat and her son may or may not have helped in the death of Pres Ab Lincoln. She was the first woman to be put to death...

Grandma and Brandon in front of the tavern.
Brandon at Mount Vernon. The statues are of George, Martha and their two grandchildren.
This is the new Petagon Memorial that just opened to the public on 9-11-08. Each bench represents someone who died. The benches facing the pentagon died at the pentagon and the benches facing the sky were on the air plane... Each bench has a little pool underneath.
I will try to post my pictures in the next few days.

moving

2008-09-16T12:18:00.002-06:00

Okay people,

Tomorrow the movers are coming to pack everything up so I wont be able to blog for at least another week. I have so much to do that I don't have time to download the pictures from this weekend onto the computer. Besides I already packed the cords away....I will talk to you later.

Follow this Blog!

2008-09-12T07:56:00.003-06:00

I have added a new feature called "Follow this Blog". Look over on the right side of my blog for more info. Let me know who is checking out my blog. You can leave a comment on my blog by typing in your e-mail address and a password. You don't have to have a blog yourself to comment.
My parents will be flying in tonight and spending the next week with us. Brandon is so excited about them coming, it's been almost a year since he saw them last. Can you believe it only one more week and we will be moving back to Utah (if not for good then at least for a visit). Well it's almost 10am and I need to feed us both breakfast. :)

6 flags

2008-09-08T11:27:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday we went to Six Flags with the Wilson's. Our friends are so sweet - they let us use their "friends pass" so it was free for us :) Most of the kids rides were closed because they didn't have enough people to work all the rides (Man that would have been so UNACCEPTABLE at Lagoon). So the kids rode on a couple of rides out of say 10-15 (Height restrictions lol) Anyway Brandon had fun on the rides and then we played in the water.

Brandon in the truck (train ride)
Elise and Kaitlyn ahead of us.
Mommy and Brandon.
Brandon is holding on to his sunglasses (Lightning McQueen you know!)

Love this video.

Norman just LOVES it when we get back from swimming and Brandon dumps his swim suit on the floor. lol

DC at night

2008-09-01T12:01:00.006-06:00

Since we are leaving I thought we should do a DC by night. It's harder to get really good pictures (Austin!!!!) in the dark :)

This is Brandon eating his french fries at Walter Reed before the tour.

I don't remember what this is called (other than a cannon Lezlie and Austin!) It's up by Walter Reed, the bus driver thought we might be interested. It had two cannons but had spaces for about six. It also had a closed bunker. It would be a little strange having these cannons aimed at my house but that's what they are aimed at - houses across the street. This was in the same area.
Iwo Jima (look at the bottom and see that cute little boy - he's mine :) Now the pictures are a little harder to see because it's getting dark.
This is inside Union Station.
World War II Memorial. This was really cool. In one direction you had the Washington Monument and in the other the Lincoln Memorial. This is a picture taken by someone else that I found on the web. It shows the WWII and the Washington Monument.This on is hard to see. It's the Lincoln Memorial..... I went there last Nov with my parents so, I think I will show you those pictures so you have a better idea of what they look like.

This is the Korean Memorial...a picture of last Nov.

Summer Book Trek 2008

2008-08-30T16:49:00.005-06:00

So the end is here for the Summer Book Trek 2008. The books I read were:

FarWorld by Jeff Savage
Modest Proposal by Michele Bell
Fool Me Twice By Sephanie Black
Desire of our Hearts by Sariah S Wilson

I was able to read all of the books except FarWorld. I still plan on reading it...it's just not available to me right now. LDSFiction asked us a few questions - here are my answers:

1. How many fiction books by LDS authors did you read? 3

2. Did you read more than you would have read if you hadn't participated in this book trek? Yes, it's hard to get LDS books.

3. Did the reviews posted by other participants influence which titles you read? How? The reviews didn't influence me on what I was going to read.

4. Did the Whitney awards influence which titles you read? How? Nope.

5. Did the many, many virtual blog tours that happened this summer influence which titles you read? How? Yes! I looked to see what books other people were going to read and I chose some that sounded interesting to me.

6. Did you finish all the books you had planned to read? If not, why? No, I wasn't able to get a copy of FarWorld.

7. Did you discover any new authors whom you now love? Yes, I did.

8. Did you nominate any of the books you read for Whitney awards? Yes.

9. Would you be interested in another LDS themed reading challenge either this winter, or next summer? I would love to do another challenge.

Tilghman Island

2008-08-26T09:27:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we went to Tilghman Island with Operation Second Chance. We had a BBQ party at this beautiful house right on the pier. Our friends the Wilson's came across from their house on someone's boat (the same people who own the beautiful house we went to after the guys went fishing a couple of weeks ago). Even though it was straight across the bay from Chesepeak Beach we had to drive over the Bay Bridge to get there. It took about 3 hours from our house. I tried to get a couple of pictures of the Bay Bridge but I was using Rich's camera and it doesn't like me. Here are some pictures that I did manage to get.Brandon playing.
I think he was doing a cartwheel.
We had gone swimming in a neighbors pool when Brandon's "girlfriend" arrived.

Here they are playing on the hammock.
The news had reported that the jellyfish were really bad this year. Something about overfishing... anyway there are more jellyfish in the water than everbefore so it is very dangerous to be in the bay (we never went in). This is off of the pier. When you stand on the pier you can see at least two jellyfish in the water at all times. This one was scooped up to show us how long the tentacles were. The first one we saw was purple (it was very pretty).

The sunset.
More sunset. All in all we had a wonderful time and we can't thank Cindy from Operation Second Chance for all that she has done for us during the two years we have been here. Thank you Cindy from the bottom of our heart.

2008-08-22T12:47:00.003-06:00

Hey all,

Well it's official - were out of the Army! We clear housing on Sept 19th and head for Utah! My parents are coming up to see some sights before we leave and will be taking someone home with them on the plane. Rich and I (animals too) will drive and drive (and drive) all the way home. Rich is looking into a future job with the forestry so we don't have any idea where we will end up unless he decides to go to U of Montana to go to school.

Brandon

2008-08-18T14:42:00.002-06:00

I can't belive how big Brandon has gotten. It just seems like yesterday that he was placed in my arms. I guess he just seems big because next year at this time he will be starting kindergarten (sigh). Anyway here is a picture of me holding Brandon for the very first time. The last picture is of Disneyworld....

Far World by J Scott Savage

2008-08-14T08:19:00.006-06:00

If anyone is interested in winning a copy of this wonderful book go to SherMeree's blog and leave a comment.

For all of you out ther who love LDS Fiction but just don't know what to read check out these web sites:

http://ldsfiction2.blogspot.com/ - review of lds books
http://www.sixldswriters.blogspot.com/ six lds writers (talk about their books and life)
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ review of lds books

If you are interested in childrens books check out SherMeree's blog.

Happy reading :)

Fishing and a BBQ with Operation Second Chance

2008-08-13T10:18:00.003-06:00

The little ones weren't allowed on the boats to fish so we went to the beach and played until lunch time.Brandon playing.
playing
playing

hot! hot! hot!
bouncing at the BBQ
Kaitlyn riding a horse at the BBQ
Brandon riding a horse at the BBQ
go horsey go!

Video of Brandon.

BBQ

2008-08-11T08:59:00.004-06:00

So yesterday was the base BBQ. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of food and did a lot of standing in line :)Brandon in bounce castle....
Brandon climbing the rock mountain.
Entering the worm tunnel.

Jumping in the bounce castle...

His legs just weren't long enough but at least he tried :)

squirrels

2008-08-08T09:08:00.002-06:00

A couple of days ago I was sitting in our living room. I looked outside and saw this squirrel in the tree next door. I watched him climb on the roof and lay flat. I grabed my camera and took a couple of pictures because I thought it was kind of funny. He was very nice to pose for me, as soon as I turned to show Brandon my pictures he left.
Today we are going to a BBQ and then may go swimming... I will take my camera and show you pictures on Monday. Enjoy your weekend.

Test day for floaters

2008-08-06T08:27:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. Brandon stayed home with his daddy :) I bought Twinkies. I don't think I have ever bought Twinkies because I ate one as a kid that was stale and it was gross! I saw on the foot network that Twinkies are only good for two weeks after they are made to I decided to look at the expiration date on the back before I bought a box. The first box was only good for another week the second box for two. So I bought that box. A couple of hours later I opened one up for Brandon - he had never had one before and he wasn't sure what it was. I just told him it was yummy and it had cream in it. He loved it! Later he told me he wanted bread for breakfast - I thought um OK if you want.

Now it's Wednesday, I cut him up a fresh peach for breakfast and gave him his fruit loops. "Mom, I want my bread too." I look at how much food he already has and tell him I will give him some when the other food is gone. "Mom, you said" (I could have one) Okay, I get out the bread from the freezer. "No, Mom! the bread and butter you bought yesterday." Hmmm I only bought two loafs and some hamburger/hotdog buns.....what was he talking about? Bread with butter, bread with butter, bread with butter - TWINKIES lol Brandon do you mean these? I get into the cupboard and show him the twinkies. "Yes, Mommy those." I then explain that they are cake and whipped cream not bread and butter and that if he ate his lunch (not breakfast) he could have one later. :) cute kid huh!!!!

So last Wednesday the floater class had their test. I think that half of the class graduated to Strokers, one of them being Brandon - Yeah!!!!! Of course half of the class were kids taking floaters a second time lol. One thing that was funny is that the teachers were going over the rules of swimming and trying to get the kids to answer the questions. They would say "tell me some rules." The kids would answer "no running, no horse play" ect one that they talked about was life guards. The teacher asked who were the life guards and Brandon raised his hand and said "MEEEEEE" we all laughed. When the other teacher asked the same question about 5 minutes later Brandon said "Meeeeeeeeeeee" again. I told him that if he wanted to be one when he grew up that would be fine. lol

Anyway here are pictures and little movies of Brandon during his test.

Gathering all the toys.
Putting them on the side of the pool.

This one is floating (Brandon is swimming) for 5 seconds.

Floating on his back.

lesson 5

2008-08-04T08:19:00.004-06:00

So ummm last week Brandon finished his swimming class :) He passed the Floaters class and if they offer it I can put him in the Strokers 1 class. I think I will post last Wednesday pictures this Wednesday. It looks like we may be out of here soon, we will have to see how everything goes. If all goes well we should be home in a couple of months.

So here are last Monday pictures. This week they are focusing on floating on their backs. Here he is outside learning how to float on his back.
More practice on their backs.

Jumping in 3 foot 8 inch water (I think) outside.

questions and answers!

2008-07-28T11:32:00.004-06:00

These are question asked of Brandon about his mommy. Here are his answers!

1. What is something mom always says to you? listen!
2. What makes mom happy? when I listen to mommy
3. What makes mom sad? when I don't listen
4. How does mom make you laugh? tickle
5. What was mom like as a child? me!
6. How old is your mom? 2 (huh)
7. How tall is your mom? 3...hmmm. 3 what? 3 long (oh 3 feet)
8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do? watching the news
9. What does your mom do when your not around? (Rich answered first) Anything she wantsl
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? getting a baby
11. What is your mom really good at? working
12. What is your mom not very good at? getting a baby! lol
13. What does your mom do for a job? go to the park
14. What is your mom's favorite food? fishies (hmmmm I think he meant goldfish- but he's wrong)
15. What makes you proud of your mom? getting him a transformer and treats
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would it be? batman
17. What do you and your mom do together? everything
18. How are you and your mom alike? We both love Heavenly Father (Ohhhhh)
19. How are you and your mom different? mommy's glasses
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because I am happy.

Floaters

2008-07-25T08:01:00.004-06:00

Okay, so Brandon is taking Floaters over again with a couple of kids from his first class. To pass all they need to do is swim 5 yards on their tummy and back. What do you think, will Brandon pass the class? These pictures are from the first class and fourth class. This first pictures is B climbing out of the pool after swimming thru the hoop.
The second is B goofing around.

Floating on his back.
Walking from one side of the pool to the other (blowing bubbles).
The last picture is B jumping into the water (12 feet deep) for safety day.

Floaters

2008-07-25T07:39:00.007-06:00

Okay so Brandon is the first student to do this on Monday the first day of class.

This is his third time on Monday.

Tuesdays class.

Playing in the BIG pool

2008-07-23T08:00:00.003-06:00

So on Saturday we went swimming. At this pool if you can't swim you have to have a life jacket on if you go in the big pool. Brandon wanted to play in the big pool with Daddy so he had to wear a life jacket. Daddy and AJ had fun tossing him around. Brandon climbed the rock wall (LOL) and even jumped off the diving board.

This is right next to the diving board so it's 11 feet deep.

Jumping in...sigh.

Mount Vernon

2008-07-21T10:58:00.003-06:00

Last week Brandon and I went to Mount Vernon for a tour. Brandon in the garden
A huge tree between the house and the kitchen.
View from side of house onto the river.
A lizard who snuck into the crypt and then out again.
In the museum.
life size wax dummy of George Washington (and horse).
They have a hands on area for kids 3-6 and here is Brandon coloring a picture to hang on the wall.
Here is Brandon's picture on the wall.
Brandon pretending to be Jacky Custis.

A Modest Proposal

2008-07-16T12:36:00.005-06:00

I just finished reading "A Modest Proposal" by Michele Ashman Bell.

A group of six girlfriends graduate from high school when tragedy strikes. One of the girls dies in a car accident. The five remaining girls decide to put together a box that holds items that are dear to them. Once a year they will get together and talk about the items in the box- a beautiful butterfly box.

This book is the first in a series and it's focuses on a young girl named Lauryn. She wants to be a designer - a designer of modest formal gowns. On top of this she will be turning 30 soon and is still single. As a joke she and a male friend (right after graduation) said that if they were both single when they turn 30 they should meet and get married. She's 30 and single but is he? Why does everyone at her new job act as if they can't stand her? What's going on with some of her friends and was Ava's accident really an accident or was it foul play? Join Lauryn in this wonderful ride with the butterfly girls.

I really loved this book! I can't wait to read the others in the series when they come out.

cake

2008-07-14T09:37:00.003-06:00

So I was bored yesterday after church and I decided to make a cake. Now as all you with children know - you can't make any food without a helper. :) My helper licked the bowl after I was done and I had to take some pictures.

Here he got his nose twice before I took a video of it. As you can hear he wanted me to take a picture of him putting the spoon on his nose lol!

test time!

2008-07-11T08:24:00.008-06:00

So yesterday was the test for Floaters. It took about 5 minutes and then the rest of the time they got to just play in the pool. Brandon was having so much fun in the pool I just kept taking more and more little videos :) The only thing they hadn't worked on was strokes both on front and back - the kids just can't learn that much in only 8 lessons. All the kids are beginning to float on their backs and start swimming on their tummy with the board. While playing in the pool Brandon would try to do both!!!!! I was very surprised. I have registered him for floaters again (three of the five kids are going in floaters and the other two going to camp), we hope they get the same teacher. That way they can just continue from this point instead of things they did two weeks ago. Anyway here are some pictures of him playing and a video of his little test.

This is B playing in the pool after the test.He was riding this like a horse!!!! lol

Test - He had to flip from back to front and back again (blowing bubbles too)

playing in the water - getting something of the bottom.

He's umm floating/swimming?

Playing

Lesson 5

2008-07-09T19:15:00.010-06:00

Both classes had safety day on Monday. Here is Brandon surrounded by all the bigger kids in the other class. The first thing they do is save someone in the pool and then they jump in and are saved themselves. My pictures are first and then the video but you get the idea.
Brandon being saved.

Brandon saving someone.

Jumping in the pool to be saved.

Jumping in the pool! When we first got to the pool, I saw that the current class was jumping in from the diving board. I showed Brandon and he said "I'm not doing that"! Within 5 minutes he was telling me that he wanted to jumped in the pool NOW! He jumped in twice - three if you count the first time when he had to "save" someone.

This is Brandon's second time jumping in the pool from the diving board! He loved it!!!!

4th of July breakfast and fireworks at the Capitol.

2008-07-07T10:42:00.012-06:00

On the 3rd of July we went on a trip to Frederick with Operation Second Chance. We met at Walter Reed and then drove to Frederick and had dinner (yummy!) at Duch's Daughter. We then spent the night at a local hotel and then had breakfast with about 700+ other people. lol We had breakfast on the 4th with it looks like the whole town of Frederick. It was sponsered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and it was yummy! They had pancakes, bacon, sasauge, eggs, muffins and tons of fruit. They had a little show with Thomas Jefferson it was all very nice.Brandon wearing his Operation Second Chance shirt.
Brandon, Kaitlyn and AJ.
Brandon blowing the little windmills.
looking so cute.
Saying goodbye to the horses.

Then we went to the Capitol for the fireworks and show. We took the Metro but we went with the Aleethia group.

Looking behind us.
We were right up by the stage (at first and then we had to move back a couple of rows).
Hewy Lewis and the News!
Taylor Hicks (shook his hand after the show).
It was hosted by Jimmy Smits. Once it got dark, it was to hard to take pictures of the people on the stage so I had to take pictures of the screen.

Scott Hamilton (we got to shake his hand after the show)
Brian Stokes Mitchell on the big screen.
Harolyn Blackwell on the big screen.
Hayley Westenra on the big screen.

Hewy Lewis and the News singing

Taylor Hicks singing

Brian Stokes Mitchell singing after Scott Hamilton introduced some men and women that are going to the summer olympics.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Thanks to both Operation Second Chance and Aleethia, we had a wonderful time.

Lazy summer days and Cardinals

2008-07-03T12:28:00.007-06:00

Living on the East coast brings new things into our everyday lives - humidity, lightning bugs and cardinals. Coming from Utah where there is no humidity makes it even worse. It's so hot and so muggy here sometimes you don't even want to go outside. But then you have the cardinals. If they are in Utah I've never seen them so I thinks it quite fun that they like my backyard (even with one and a half trees gone). This little one came on the 1st of July. After I went to find my camera I couldn't find him in the tree until Brandon laughed and said he was by the basketball on the ground. This picture is through the sliding glass door so it's not all that great.

In fact I think I will look and see if I have another picture from a couple of months ago.....YES! I do. Here is one Cardinal from April visiting us :)Now, I don't have any pictures of lightening bugs - I do have to say that I find them.....strange. You (or I) will be standing in my backyard....it's getting dark and then suddenly zap! WHAT THE?????? Yes, that's how they get your attention. Suddenly they make a loud zapping noise and it looks like a spark of electricity in the air. Spooky!

Here is Brandon playing in the backyard (in his pool).

Video of Brandon slowly sliding down into the water.

Video of Brandon sliding on his tummy into his pool.

On his bum.

On his back. He kept saying "ok Mom, take a picture of me doing this".

Happy July 4th eveyone!

Floaters

2008-07-01T11:40:00.005-06:00

So Brandon started his swimming class yesterday. He is in Floaters now (yeah). They are working on floating on their tummy and back. Brandon is doing really well.Lesson 1 - done floating so he is climbing back onto the wall.
lesson 1 - floating on tummy.
Lesson 2- floating on back.

Lesson 1- swimming on tummy - video.

Lesson 2 floating on back - video

Desire of our Hearts By Sariah S Wilson

2008-06-27T09:31:00.004-06:00

While I am waiting for the books on my list to come I thought I would review a book I read not to long ago. I chose Desire of our Hearts by Sariah S Wilson.

"You have two choices. You are to marry either Alma or Amulon." "This must be some sort of jest," she said in disbelief. "It is no jest," her father said. "You will go to the palace tomorrow before sundown with your decision." ...Sam leaned against a tall stone building for support. The wall felt cool against her forehead. It wouldn't be a difficult decision. It wasn't much of a decision at all. Alma seemed kind. Not that she believed such a thing was possible. How could any man who served the king be kind? It is a time of pleasure and luxury—if you belong to the inner circle of King Noah and his decadent priests. It is a time of servitude and deprivation if you don't. And if you dare to believe the bold words of the prophet Abinadi, it is a time to fear for your very life. In Desire of Our Hearts, LDS author Sariah S. Wilson weaves an intricate, suspenseful, and romantic narrative. Set against the backdrop of the Book of Mormon account of Alma's conversion and breathtaking escape as he leads a band of courageous believers toward religious freedom, this familar and beloved story is brimming with all the elements needed to make it a spiritual odyssey and a tender and timeless love story.

I loved this book! I like it when authors take a story that we know and make it bigger and better. Sure I thought how dangerous it was for Alma when I read Mosiah but my heart was pounding when the guards were hunting him down, hoping he would get away (duh!) lol. I thought this book was well written and I give it my thumbs up if anyone is interested in reading it. I let a friend borrow this book and she loved it too.

Swim test

2008-06-26T13:00:00.004-06:00

Okay, so on Monday Brandon had his swimming test and he passed - yeah! Here's a couple more pics of his test.

Last Swimming lesson before Testing

2008-06-24T06:33:00.003-06:00

I am just so proud of Brandon. This is him learning how to float on his back and tummy for his lesson. This is Thursday lesson and yesterday was his test day. The water was a little nippy but the kids had fun anyway. The teacher had the children jump in the pool and Brandon was first - but she stepped back and didn't catch him. LOL Brandon thought it was so funny. Some of the other children kept telling her to come closer and to catch them but she had them all jump in the water not into her arms. lol

Floating

Jumping some more....lol

Last Ice Skating Class

2008-06-21T08:58:00.006-06:00

Last night we had dinner with the Aleethia org. This is the 4th time we have had dinner with them it's so nice to be able to get out and enjoy the evening. They take soldiers from both Walter Reed and Bethesda out to dinner. This is a wonderful cause so if anyone would like to donate money to any organization that helps wounded warriers check out the links on the right side of my blog.

So Brandon had his last ice skating class. He graduated from Tot 1 first day of class and was working on Tot 2 moves. He was so close to graduating. Here are some pics from his test and just goofing around.

Baby dance

Ice skating on Monday

2008-06-18T10:29:00.004-06:00

Well, this is Brandon ice skating on Monday. He only has one more lesson before he is done for the summer. We might skate on Saturdays but they don't offer anymore lessons during the summer.

The teacher was being silly so the kids were doing silly dance behind her as they skated.

Working on swizzles.

Brandon's 4th swim lesson

2008-06-16T12:39:00.005-06:00

Okay so I decided to take the camera and take pictures of his 4th lesson. Today was safety day. They each put on a life vest and climbed down the ladder and swam on their backs.Waiting in line to go down the ladder.
Going down.
A little help
Floating
All done, just sitting on the side waiting.
Waiting some more.
Back in the little pool - swimming.
Floating
Having fun

birthday party

2008-06-13T06:29:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Brandon's friend Kaitlyn turned 5 years old. Here are some pictures from her party. This is Brandon playing "Pin the tail on the Donkey".
Kaitlyn taking a turn.
They live close to a beach so we took them over to cool off for a while. Elise made water balloon's for the kids and they enjoyed throwing them at each other.
Playing in the water.
A pic from "Babe Watch"
Opps! lost my shorts.
What am I supposed to do again.
Candy!!!!
Cake
Brandon's present to Kaitlyn.

Summer Book Trek 2008

2008-06-11T13:02:00.009-06:00

I decided to join the Summer Book Trek 2008. For all the rules click here. Don't forget if you link your blog reading list to the original you will be eligible for prizes. To read the reviews click here.

My reading list is:

FarWorld by Jeff Savage

Modest Proposal by Michele Bell

Fool Me Twice By Sephanie Black

Desire of our Hearts by Sariah S Wilson