Bradey, Alyssa, Londyn, & Carter Kendall

We really missed our Daddy

2011-05-10T07:30:00.007-06:00

Bradey has training, or "school" is what we call it, every six months up in Boise. And last week we had no Daddy for 4 days!! He left Sunday afternoon and didn't get home until Thursday evening. We had A LOT of activities planned to make the week go by quickly, although night time was the hardest. Londyn has a hard time going to bed if either one of us is gone, but especially her Dad. We made sure we had storytime with Daddy on the phone every night before we went to bed. It was SO priceless, because Londyn "read" to her Daddy each night, because he couldn't read to her. It melted my heart to see this bonding moment. Each morning she woke up and asked, "Mommy where's Daddy?" I'd say, "He's at work Honey." She'd get her whiny/crying voice out and say, "I wanna got to work too, and be with Daddy." Break my heart!! And there was nothing I could do about it because once he's in school there's no talking to him unti he gets back to his hotel room. Carter would wake up as well in the morning and yell for his Dad. It's a bit easier to divert a 19 month old's attention to something else. We'd play tickle monster or something to get him happy and going. But like I said we had TONS of activities to keep both kids happy each day.

Monday we went over to my Mom's house to play with my sisters kids. They had a lot of fun getting into everything! :)

On Tuesday we went out to see Abbi and Alex's pigs and the cows that the pigs are by. My kids LOVE farm animals, but the day was REALLY windy, so we didn't get to stay very long .

Wednesday we had dance class, achievement days, had a play date with a couple of boys who are my parents' neighbor, then headed to volleyball in the evening. I was SO proud of them all day long!! It was a VERY busy day and they did great!!

Thursday we had our very dear friends, the Carter family, come over and have a play date. My kids enjoyed playing outside all afternoon in the dirty!! :)

Bradey finally got home Thursday evening. Carter was SO jacked, Londyn was sleeping. Carter was pounding my front window when he say his Dad getting out of the car. HE was screaming, "Dad, Dad, DAD!!" I took him outside and he ran to his Dad like there was no tomorrow!! :) It adorable. We woke up the next day and took advantage of the beautiful day. We took the kids to the park. They didn't want anything to do with me, so I was behind the camera the entire time. As you can tell by the pictures they had pure joy playing at the playground with their dad! I enjoyed watching. It really made me fall more in love with Bradey watching him be an amazing father that he is. It's no rare occasion to see these moments, but not seeing him daily was really hard on all of us.

Mother's Day was Wonderful!

2011-05-09T08:17:00.000-06:00

I don't have any pictures from my Mother's Day, but I have a lot to tell!! :)
The Saturday before Mother's Day we went to our nephew's birthday party. Londyn just had a birthday, so she was really excited for the presents and cake. You could tell she was really bummed that NONE of them were for her. WE kept telling her its not her birthday its Kason's.

So Mother's Day is a NEW day!! Well we wake up and Bradey tells Londyn to tell me "Happy Mother's Day!" This was her reply, "NO! It's not Kason's birthday, it's not Mommy's Day, it's LONDYN'S DAY!!" with a very stern matter of fact voice!! :) It really made our day bright, because I couldn't stop laughing!! It was adorable. So we told Londyn "Happy Londyn's Day" and let her pick out breakfast. I received a beautiful hanging basket the day before and I am super excited to put it up in my flower bed!!

We went to church and had no problems, we rushed home because my entire family (minus my loved ones in Washington of course) were headed to my house so we could have a VIDEO phone call from Elder Leonardson!! WE were frantically putting the web cam together on the computer and trying to make sure it would work all before 1 (we get out of church at 12!!). Well 1 came around and NO phone call. He was calling my dad at 12:30 so we assumed he was still on the phone with him. When it came to 2, we became concerned. So I got a hold of my dad to make sure they weren't still on the phone together. NOPE they were not! WE couldn't figure out why we hadn't heard from him, plus we had to be in Aberdeen at 3 for dinner with my Nana Cooker. Well we ended up having dinner at our place. Grandma brought everything she cooked over, and we had a delightful dinner together while we waited anxiously for THE CALL!!
Well after hours, and hours, and hours of waiting there was NO phone call. Maybe we'll find out what happened this weekend when he e-mails up. But at least he got to chat with my dad. And my Mother's Day turned into a wonderful family event. We even got to video chat with my dad!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. Whether your a mom of many kids, one kid, an aunt, Grandma, or really great friend!! "ARE WE NOT ALL MOTHERS?" ;)

4 years of sweet BLISS and Easter!

2011-04-30T10:45:00.001-06:00

We celebrated out anniversary this year by going to the Black Swann Inn!! We stayed in the Rocky Mountain Cabin which was pretty cool. It was hilarious because when we were driving to Pocatello, I called my mom really quick to ask her a question. We got to talking and she said, "Oh that's right it's your anniversary." My step-dad most have been right next to her because I could hear him in the background saying, "4 years, is it still going strong?" And my mom answers him, "Well obviously their going to the Black Swann right now!!" HAHA I love my family!!
It was nice to get away and enjoy one anothers company without children screaming and fighting. Or just needing our attention.
I can't believe we are here 4 years and 2 kids later!! I love Bradey with all my heart. And that love has grown from our very first date, to our wedding, to Now!
It's interesting because that giddy feeling seems to never go away. How excited I get when he comes home from work, or even call me from work (that is a rare occasion!). He is my Superman and I'm grateful that he loves me through my imperfections and malfunctions!! ;)

Easter fell on our Anniversary weekend. And oh boy were the kids excited for their gifts!! WE enjoyed spreading this holiday amongst family. The kids and I went to Malad for my cousins baby shower and Grandparents Easter gathering. We had lots of fun, so much fun that I forgot to take pictures!!
But Easter Sunday I made sure I took all the pictures I could!! Bradey didn't feel well when he woke up on Sunday, so he was stuck at home while the rest of us went and played at both his and my parents' houses. Good food, candy, and Bubbles was what it was ALL about this year!! ;) And I enjoyed every minute of it, minus not being with my husband.

The Easter Bunny CAME!!

I think they liked the eggs the most, probably because they had candy in them!!

So handsome in Orange!

My beautiful baby girl and her Batman action figures!! ;)

Egg Hunt at Ninny and Pappa Kendall's

Egg Hunt at Grandma and Papa Cookies

Bubbles!

Londyn loves to play with these goggles

Kisses from Crystal Horse

We've had a bit of a tragedy on this tramp last year that involved me, a back flip, Londyn's nose, the spring, and a rush to the ER.

So I'm not allowed on it while my children are on it!

He loves to swing

He was determined to get up this bridge ALL by himself

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, and REMEMBERED the whole reason we celebrate it. I am so Grateful to my Savior for willingly sacrificing for my sins and sorrows. Its because of Him that I have baptismal covenants and can be cleansed and purified each week.

Londyn is 3!!

2011-04-16T13:32:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Londyn!!

Cinnamon Rolls is a GREAT birthday breakfast!!

Birthday Princess

Time for presents!!

Already texting! ;)
She LOVES these boots!

Blow out the Candles!

Lightning McQueen couch

Dressing her new dolly in her new clothes

All of her Lighning McQueen gifts!

What amazing and learning experience 3 years they have been. 3 is most definitely the INDEPENDENT stage. Londyn does everything by herself. Reading, bathing, eating, getting dressed, etc. If you even try to help her with anything (without her asking for help of course) you get the wrath of Londyn!! :)

She loves to dance, sing, and learn. We have a section out of our day that consist of all of these things. Carter joins in when he wants!!
Londyn's has always been diverse with the things that she likes, but lately she's been really enjoying Princess stuff. Her favorite princess is Ariel (what can I say the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree!). So this year we did a Princess theme for her birthday. As you can tell from the pictures the rest of the family didn't get the memo so she got A LOT of Lightning McQueen things, which is just as much her favorite as Ariel, so she's not complaining!! :)

Milestone for Car-Car Man!!

2011-03-21T12:21:00.012-06:00

Car-Car and his cars!! ;)

He LOVES to help his Daddy and Pappas!

He is my drummer!

He LOVES FOOD!!! :) He really enjoys Looking out this window!

Silly Face!!

He really likes to play the piano, especially when I'm playing, he kicks me of the bench so he can have his turn!

Always CLIMBING!!

Our little man is 18 months old today!! How fast that went!! What an amazing addition he has been. These last few months his personality has just Sky Rocketed!! He is definitely a climber!! Any high place, he WILL figure out away to get up there. Even if he falls down/off, he gets right back on the horse and keeps trying until he figures it out!! He likes to snuggle, but it has to be HIS idea, so it's a NO GO!! He is JUST like Bradey in EVERY WAY!! He really enjoys his solitude. I am always finding him doing his own thing. He stays in his comfort zone, and if anyone interrupts that zone, it's not fun for them. Everything has to be HIS idea, reading him stories, snuggling, or just being near him. If he doesn't want it, it's not happening!

He has some lungs on him, and last Sunday our ward family got to experience him exercising them!! We took him to nursery I stayed the first 1/2 hr, then Bradey came for the next 1/2 hr. Apparently Daddy left because I could here him ALL the way in the Primary room with the piano playing, and 60+ kids filing in the room!! Wow!! Bradey had left and about 5 mins later Carter realized that Bradey was gone and FREAKED OUT!! Like I said, if it's not HIS idea, it's a no go! We're just going to have to be patient for him to get use to nursery! (cross your fingers!)

When he throws his temper tantrums (which mostly are over not getting food in his mouth fast enough, all the food is gone, or him wanting MILK, the boy LOVES milk), I'll tell him to go to his room or that he is excused. Then he heads to his room and shuts the door. He comes out still upset, turns back around and goes back in his room. He does this until he's calmed down. It is SOO hilarious and adorable that I totally forget why he got in trouble!! :)

Another thing he does that I LOVE is he grabs my hand and pulls it to his back so that I'll rub/scratch his back. Or he'll pat his tummy so I'll rub it!! :)

WE have mommy/Car-Car time every day while I'm making dinner. One of Londyn's favorite shows is on then and Bradey is taking a shower, so he comes and sits at the table and plays with his favorite cars and "talks" with me. It really is a priceless moment each day! He has his list of vocabulary, but his favorite words are Cookie (of course), Go (after we say Ready, Set, he ALWAYS says this!!), and DAD (EVERTHING is dad, Dad, DAD!!).

Londyn properly nickname her little brother. He is a car man! Very rarely will you see him without a car in each hand! HE loves to play with anything that has wheels! He also enjoys bath time. Whenever he hears the faucet running, he comes running like there's no tomorrow! He enjoys splashing, sticking his face in the water, and playing with the knob that turns on the shower! After is bath he has to go streaking for awhile. He does a few laps around the kitchen and living room, NAKED, before I can finally get him into clothes! ;)

He has the best smile, it melts my heart each time he gives me it! And I am truly bless to have this handsome blond haired car man in my life! :D

I'm READY for SPRING!

2011-03-08T15:18:00.004-07:00

The past few months are a bit a blur! The days seemed to run together. But I guess I can catch everyone up on what I do remember.

At the first of the year I started RE-potty training Londyn. Yes I said RE! As in she was before and decided she wasn't ready! So we took a wack at it again. And were SUCCESSFUL!! All I can say is my method was LOTS of bribery and PRAYING, seemed to be what worked best for this little girl. She has been really turning into a little girl. I painted her finger nails about a month ago for the first time. And she LOVED it. The next time we did it a couple of weeks ago, she wanted her fingers and toes done!! She's really enjoying dance class. The girls had a "recital" just before Christmas. It was too funny to watch her spin around, and then a little boy had a Lightning McQueen car. She stopped dancing and tried to take it from this poor boy, who is just a little older than Carter!! :/

Another thing we started working on this year is getting prepared for Pre-school. I've been going back and forth whether I wanted to teach her pre-school or take her somewhere else. And with the loving council of my husband, we've decided she needs the social aspect of school already!! And I've notice she learns more quick when someone else is teaching her. Anyway, she now recoginzes almost ALL 26 letters in the alphabet, all her colors, and we're still working on which number is which. Although she can count to 20 (skipping numbers here and there) by herself.

Poor thing is getting Cabin Fever along with me. She's asked me many times if we could WALK to the library. The weather has been nice enough here and there that I've taken her and the dog on a few walks to the elementary school.

Carter has been keeping me on my toes as well, but I'll tell you more about him in a couple weeks when he turns 18 MONTHS!! WOW!!

February has been a crazy, busy, sickly, SHORT month for this family! With church calling for the both of us. I don't think I have posted our calling on here, we've been in them for awhile now. Bradey was put into the Young Men Presidency as the 2nd Counselor (which is also the Scout Master in our Ward) around Thanksgiving timish. I've been one of the Achievement Day Girls leader for over a year now. And sometime Sept/Octish I was put in a the Primary Chorister. I tell you I LOVE both these callings, and want to keep them FOREVER!!

We also had an issue with Londyn a few weeks ago. She's was having some weird symptoms for Strep throat. When we first went to see the doctor he thought she might be leaking protein from her kidney's (Uhhh...Yeah totally freaked me out) but come to find out it was only strep! THANK GOODNESS!! The kids have had mild coughs, we had one night of throwing up with Car-Car, and now we're dealing with runny noses and coughs!! Ugh!! Maybe SOME DAY this house will be without sickly viruses!

Also for Valentine's Day Bradey sent Londyn and I flowers. Then came home with a golf game for Carter. He's teaching him early so he can have a golf partner around ALL the time!! ;)

Then that weekend after Bradey took me out for a dinner and a movie. We went to Texas Roadhouse (YUM!) and watch "Just go with It" SO FUNNY!! We really enjoy most of Adam Sandler's movies.

Hopefully I won't go so long between post!! ;)

"BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!"

2010-12-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

December was a VERY busy month for me. With decorations, putting Christmas presents together, and being REALLY sneaky about them, December kind of disappeared without a trace!!

Let's see where shall I start. The beginning of December we took the kids sledding. It was Carter's first time, and he really enjoyed it. We were only out for an hour or so because it was REALLY cold!

Christmas came a little early for Bradey!! It was ONE of the BEST parts of my Christmas. After we had a few intense days of snow storms, Bradey had been talking about getting a snow thrower. Well being the sneaky wife that I am, I went a bought him one. Since its a bit hard to hide an enormous machine, I just let him open the trunk of the Yukon! I NEVER have been able to surprise him, EVER!! So I was really excited to give him this gift!

We got a REAL Christmas tree!! We had one our first year we were married, but the only reason we did was because I was pregnant and got whatever I wanted! ;) Last year our fake tree was really falling apart on us, so we decided to get rid of it, and enjoy the WONDERFUL smell of a real tree!! The kids of course helped Bradey put the tree up, and helped remove all the ordaments off the tree (at least all the ones they could reach!).

The rest of my month was booked with being sneaky with Bradey's side of the family. All the kids redecorated my in-laws living room. It was a chore keeping it quiet, but we managed to do it. And it was fun. I don't have any pictures yet, but I will at another post.

Then Tesha and I received an old window from my grandparents home for my mom's Christmas gift. It going to make a fun decoration for my mom's den. Again I don't have pictures. THEN Mom and I tried to have a photo shoot with ALL 4 grandbabies for my dad's gift, but none of the photos turned out. Thankfully I have an amazing sister in-law that took pictures during Thanksgiving and picks up my slack!! ;)

Then of course CHRISTMAS!! Christmas morning my sweet little Londyn decided to wake up at 3 o'clock in the MORNING!! When she saw that Santa had come, she refused to go to bed. I think she might of had an hour nap sometime in between waking up and going to bed after the day was done. You can find out Christmas morning video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtBHd8y-gw

After our Christmas morning excitement wore down, be headed to Bradey's parents home for Prime Rib and Ham!! YUM! It was a great time. I had to leave for a bit because ELDER LEONARDSON called Mom's house!! It was wonderful to hear his voice and to talk to him!! He told us his testimony in Spanish. IT was CRAZY awesome!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! WE sure did!! :)

Some how the Turkey gets you FULL!

2010-12-01T14:48:00.002-07:00

This Thanksgiving was AMAZING!! We had my family get together for dinner at our church house. I think we're starting to do a new tradition of just doing my immediate family, instead of the entire extended family. Which there is A LOT of people in my extended family. Everyone was there minus our wonderful missionary Elder Leonardson, but he's doing good work, so we'll excuse him this year and next!! ;) But we did enjoy our local missionaries at dinner!! NO one wanted to be photographer while they were eating, so I started taking pictures after dinner.

This is how the men work off dinner

This is how the little ones enjoy their time after dinnerOur clean up crew! :)Carter really enjoys his Aunt Susan!

After their movie, the Grandbabies really became ACTIVE!!

I love this picture, it shows both babies personalities very well.

Carter- ON the Go Always!

Jessa- So sweet and calm!

Abbi is always the best play buddy!!

Playing Balderdash is the BEST!! Especially with Dad and Jesse!!

The kids found a fort to play in!!

I had to get evidence, YES that is my Mom and Dad talking TOGETHER!!

I didn't get a pictures of the rest of the weekend. But we sure did have a lot of fun as a family. We went sledding, trap shooting, and played at Outer Limits all in one day (Friday)!! Oh it was a GREAT day!!

I spent the night at Tesha's house, because Dad had to catch a plane at 9 AM in SLC!! But it was totally worth loosing sleep!! We talked all night with Dad, got 2 hours of sleep, talked for 3 hours on the drive down, then had the best sisterly bonding talk on the ride home!!

When I got home, I got kids ready for Bradey's family Thanksgiving dinner, then I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep, and headed for some in-law bonding!!

I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I have been blessed with. We have come a long way in the past few years, and it LITERALLY has been a miracle! It's interesting because through ALL of our trials, we have become closer as a family. I am a truly blessed wife, mother, daughter, sister, and granddaughter. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for my family!!

A WHOLE week with Pappa & Halloween

2010-11-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

Part of Bradey's apprenticeship he has do get so many hours in different departments of the company. During mid-October and the first of November he was gone for 8 days straight twice, but on the upside he was home for 6 days straight afterwards!! The first "hitch" (October 18th-25th) we went up to Washington to visit my dad!! OH my goodness it was so much fun!! Dad took off the ENTIRE time we were there!! The traveling part wasn't as bad as I thought, thank goodness for DVD players in cars!! Although what should have taken us 9 hours, took us 11 hours! :/ But when we finally got there it was worth the drive!! Every time we've seen Dad since Carter was born, Carter's been too small to understand and recognize his Pappa. But this trip they REALLY bonded!! It was so adorable. He LITERALLY when EVERYWHERE Pappa went! If Dad walked out the door, and Carter saw him, Carter would start crying like there was no tomorrow! And of course Londyn had to play with ALL of the expensive music "toys" of Pappa's. The piano, the guitars, and the Karaoke machine!! We got to go to some family friends' soccer games, play at the park for HOURS, walk to the river with the dogs, play with Michael and Susan, and the kids' favorite ride in Pappa's truck! They also got to sit on Pappa's tractor, but no riding on it because it rained like crazy and there was LOTS of mud!! :)
We got home and the kids were SOO happy to see their Daddy!! And they got him for 6 whole days!! We were so busy that we didn't have time to carve pumkins until the Saturday of our Trunk or Treat! Bradey and I have a deal. I gut the pumkin and he gets to carv the designs out!! I think they turned out rather well! After getting done with the pumkins we put our costumes on. This year was a bit easier than last year. The kids are older and WANT CANDY!! So they were better sports about it. We were the characters from Peter Pan. Londyn was Tinker Bell, Carter was the Crocodile, I was Peter Pan, and Bradey was SUPPOSE to be Captain Hook. Bradey REALLY hates Halloween. He always says, "It's the mother of ALL NON-holidays!" So when he didn't dress up! But that's ok we had a fun Halloween anyways!

Carter's 1st birthday!!

2010-09-23T12:59:00.001-06:00

Wow I cannot believe a year ago we were going to have this little man!! He still has handsome as the day he came home!! ;) It's funny because I remember how ACTIVE he was in the womb, and at the age of 1 he is as active as ever!! He walks like he's 2 years old!! Talks very well and clear (the few words that he knows are Dad, Mom, Londyn, Please, Thank you, Lily). I love to watch him when the radio is on. He loves to dance along with Londyn!! :) His favorite song and the song that ALWAYS makes his frown go upside down is 5 Little Monkeys!! He loves to be the alligator and SNAP THOSE MONKEYS RIGHT OUT OF THE TREE.
The last month he has decided he's not going to be pushed around by his older sister anymore!! He fits right back, and when she wants to trade, YEAH RIGHT!!
His SMILE just melts anyone's heart!! Especially when you are having a bad day, he'll just smile at you, and ALL your worries will go away!
These few pictures are all of the week he was born!

This one makes me laugh because he STILL pulls this face when gets really sad!
Look closely and you can see his "Melt Your Heart" smile!

Bradey Mini-Me!!
My perfect family a year ago
My perfect world now!!

We had a blast celebrating Carter birthday!! WE did it on the 21st (his actual b-day) here at the house. Everyone that lives in the area in our families came!! This little boy is SO loved!! :)
WE started the day off with Tesha's kids coming over and playing. Surprisingly everyone got along and not very many separations had to take place!! Then everyone else joined us for dinner and ICE CREAM CAKE from COLDSTONE!! YUMMMMM!! Carter LOVED his cake. It was like an enormous peanut butter cup with chocolate ice cream in it!! Which are his FAVORITE things in ONE!! He received a lot of new toys and clothes, and Londyn is VERY grateful for the toys!! haha!!

I'm ALL ready for my PARTY Mom!!
Cousin Fun!
Present time!
Yes Football!! The boy LOVES to watch FOOTBALL!!
Digging IN!!
Lily was on Clean up duty!!
Thank you ALL for the wonderful gifts!

Its amazing how much your heart grows for each individual that comes into your life. My heart has tripled in size in the past 3 years!! And I am SO grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with this wonderful family!!

Vance Reunion & Lagoon!

2010-08-13T13:58:00.010-06:00

Wow what a past few weekends we have had!! The last weekend in July we went to Choteau, Montana for my mom's family reunion!! WE had a great time. My favorite part was the drive. The beauty of Montana is majestic, in my eyes!! It was Carter's FIRST time camping. Even though he was teething, I think he did AMAZING!! We took Lily with us and she did awesome as well!! There was shooting, duck races (with a BUNCH of CHEATING!!), and AMAZING FOOD!! OH how I LOVE the Vance Family! They ALL know how to COOK!! We had slow cooked pig for dinner one night, then had the BEST homemade bagels I've ever had the next morning!! YUM!!

This is how Londyn helps Mommy pack!!
We're on our way!!
How does the dog get the front seat?
Bradey was in heaven for hours!!
Grandma thought this was the best place for a duck!!
Thank you to Miss Gretal for sharing her little car with LondynAnd letting her hog it all weekend!! ;)

The week after we got home, Londyn and I headed to Lagoon with my family for Dennis' work party. It was SO much fun. I haven't been on a roller coaster since I was in high school, so thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Londyn did awesome the first ride, but then we took her on the Lady Bug ride, which is the kiddy version of the Rocket. She was NOT impressed. She kept saying, "Mommy my tummy, owie!" So she didn't go on any rides for awhile. The funny thing is, we took her on RattleSnake Rapids after lunch, after that she went on EVERY ride!! Oh goodness, such a Water Bug!!

We are ready for RIDES!!

First Ride of the Day!
The Lady Bug RideJessa LOVED all the slow rides!!
Flying the Airplane
Hot Mama's in the Car!!
The girls weren't to sure about this flying elephant thing!
So the bumper cars was the last ride, and the funniest!! Londyn had NO IDEA what to do. The guy running the ride kept trying to tell her what to do, and she just sat there stuck!!

The next morning we were able to go to The Spoken Word in the Conference Center. Mom, Abbi, and I took the kids to the theater room. The boys kept saying that it is SO much better in person. So maybe some day I'll get to go with out kids!! ;) But we had a lot of fun afterward with all the fountains and we even got to go up on the roof! Londyn kept pointing out the temple!

Waiting patiently for the program to start

Playing in the Water
"Look Mom temple!"
Going into the Conference Center, to go to the roof
"Look, Mom, temple!" Again

After all was said and done, we had a wonderful time, but I was glad to get home to my boys. Bradey and Carter stayed home due to Carter's teething, and Bradey's not a fan of rides or big crowds of people! So they just had a hang around the house and relax weekend!

My Silly Kids!!

2010-08-03T11:46:00.005-06:00

On Sunday July 25th Carter decided he need to read the paper like Daddy while waiting for breakfast!

On July 28th Londyn and I had a "Water Park" in our backyard while Carter took is afternoon nap. We had a blast with just a plastic side, a sprinkler, and a NAPA bucket!!

Then on the 29th, Carter and I played in the morning while we waited for Londyn to wake up for the day. I got him to laugh a lot!! I LOVE his laugh!! And then he decided to be a boy and make a huge mess of the living room!!

Car-Car is NOT having the greatest week! :/

2010-07-26T23:17:00.006-06:00

I figured I'd put this in writing so I can remember it; and since I type faster than I write, I'm putting it on the blog.
So on July 11th Carter broke through a tooth. And its SLOWLY coming up through the gum. I feel like a horrible mom because the week before he was really fussy and clingy. I thought he was just being a turkey. But in my defense Londyn didn't get her first tooth until she was 13 months, so teeth at 9 months didn't even cross my mind! :/
He's always been my little bruiser. Some how he ALWAYS ends up with a bruise, scratch, or something at the end of the day (the majority of the time its on his head somewhere!) , especially now that he's moving QUICKLY!!
So last Tuesday Carter woke up the same time Bradey did, 5:45 am!! Mommy does not do 5 maybe 6, but definitely NOT 5!! When Bradey was ready to head to work at 6:30, he laid Carter in bed with me, so that I could snuggle with him, and hopefully get him back to sleep. He was almost a sleep, so I figured I could run to the bathroom really quick. Well I was wrong!! While sitting there I heard a "THUD" and my little man screaming bloody murder!! Poor kid had an instant bruise on the side of his head, and a scrape on his nose.
Later on that day, just after lunch, I was sweeping and mopping the floor. When I do this I put the chairs upside down on the table. Londyn and him were in the living room reading books. Londyn was talking so I assumed he was in there with her. My back was facing the table so I didn't see him come crawling in, but the next thing I heard was "THUD" and him screaming BLOODY MURDER! He crawled under the chair, which knocked it down and fell on top of him. :/ Again he had a new bruise on his head.
That evening my kids when over to my older sisters house, while I went to my Mary Kay meeting. When I came to pick them up, YOU guessed it, Carter had a NEW bruise on his head!! He was crawling up the stairs, fell down, and hit his head on the wall.
You would think by now I WOULD never leave his side, but I didn't learn.
On Wednesday Bradey was grilling up some hamburgers for dinner, so the whole family was outside on the deck. I put Carter down on one of the camping chairs, and was playing with him. Bradey said, "Burgers are done." So I automatically went inside to get plates, assuming Bradey would keep an eye on the kids. Well he didn't realize I came inside, so he came inside to do the same thing. The MINUTE Bradey walked into the house we heard a "THUD" and screaming once again. Carter had fallen off the chair head first onto the deck. Not only did he have a bruise, but he had a HUGE goose egg.
The next few days were calm for our little man, but you know how the saying goes, "there's a calm before the storm"
Sunday I took Carter into Primary with me. He likes to stand up a lot more now, and I let him so he can build his leg muscles!! Well he was standing and supporting himself up with a little chair, and I was behind him using my legs as a safety net for him. Well the chair fell back, and he fell down. While he fell he hit is chin on the chair, which made him BITE his gum, NOT his lip BUT his GUM?! (now remember he just broke through ONE razor sharp tooth TWO whole weeks ago!!) There was blood every where. He snuggled into my shoulder, so most of it was on me, but there was so much that it soaked through my shirt, my bra strap, and my garments. All over his face, his shirt, some dripped onto his pant and his feet, and on my dress. It was a mess. All I can say is THANK YOU Tide for being an amazing product and doing what your suppose to do, LIFT OUT STAINS !!
And today he is trying to brake through ANOTHER tooth!! Oh man this one is really hurting him. SO our little man is not having the best of luck lately.
But on a positive note ALL he ever says is Dad, which Bradey loves because he's two for two!! And he's crawling up the stairs like a champ. Tonight he crawled up the stairs WITHOUT any help TWICE!! He's getting so big. I have a feeling walking will happen this next month! I just can't believe how much he has grown.

We gave him an Oreo after falling on the deck. It really lifted his spirits!!

4th of July and the past week.

2010-07-12T08:53:00.003-06:00

So our 4th of July celebration was a BLAST!! LITERALLY!! ;) We went to the fairgrounds in Pocatello, where they shoot off the fireworks. Well I found this spot, thinking, "Hey there's no one sitting here for quite a few feet, cool we won't have to deal with people crowding us!!" Well when the fireworks show started I realized WHY there wasn't anyone sitting right there. We were sitting in the FRONT ROW of the action!! The fireworks were literally being lit right in front of us!! Haha!! Carter LOVED it!! He didn't even make a peep, he just watched every firework go off!! (I think he's going to be my little pyro). Londyn didn't really like the really BRIGHT ones, so she would hide her face under the blanket. But after the intermission she came and sat with me, and I turned it into a learning experience. I would ask her what color each firework was, and she got a kick out of that!!
Last night Carter pushed through his FIRST TOOTH!! He's getting so big. He HAS TO BE where ever Londyn is, which is funny because Londyn knows he is not as fast as her. She teases him by running away from him, then he chases after her, she comes back, then runs away. They just laugh and laugh when they play this game.
Londyn picks up a new habit every day. This week it's been quoting her favorite movies like "Bolt". Just a few days a go I was trying to get her off the 4-wheel and to come inside so we could eat lunch. She turns to look at me, ROLLS her eyes and says, "Get out of here, JUST GET OUT OF HERE BOLT." Oh my heavens I thought I was going to die laughing. She said it just like the cat does in the movie!! My kids crack me up!! Her new found love is bedtime stories. This started because I've been reading my scripture before I go to bed, instead when I wake up. One night she asked if she should read my stories, and I told her to go get one of her books to read (not that I don't want her to read scriptures, I just didn't want her RIPPING out pages). So she hopped out of bed, ran and got some books (yes not just ONE but SOME!!), and I've been reading to her, letting her fall asleep, then I read scriptures ever since!! I LOVE it because it's been a fun bonding time for the both of us!
Bradey has been working hard in the yard!! Our sprinklers haven't been getting the back corner of our lawn, and our hose isn't long enough to reach that corner, so Bradey (being the go getter that he is) decided to put a sprinkler head in that spot!! We went to Lowe's Friday after work to go get the material (and we were there for FOREVER!!), then got home and he dug a trench until 10:30, then Saturday he put it all together. Now my grass is turning green!! I love my hard working man!!
As for me, I've really been trying to kick it up a notch with my MK business. And it's been fun doing it!! I've gotten to see friends who I haven't seen in years, and meeting LOTS of new people. It has really help me come back into being the "sociable Alyssa" again. Hanging out with adult women has made me realize I have been talking to babies WAY to much!! ;) So I am getting a balance of adulthood and mommyhood. :)

P.S. Sorry no pictures this post. I didn't take my camera with me to the 4th of July!

SUMMERTIME!!

2010-06-30T14:27:00.005-06:00

OH it has been SOO nice to have summer weather these past few weeks. We have really taken advantage of it with swimming, walking, 4-wheeler rides, and horse rides!! Carter rode a horse for the first time last weekend. The kids and I spent the night at my mom's house last Friday because Bradey went to Bear Lake with the young men for a high adventure trip.

And of course Londyn had to ride. She's our little cowgirl! She loves to put the lead rope on the halter (while its on the horse) and lead the horse to where ever we are going. My mom always worries that Londyn is going to walk underneath one of the horses and get stepped on. She definitely is fearless!

ON Monday we went back out to Mom's so we could play with Hunter and Jessa (my sister's kids). They are out there every Monday, and it seems if we don't start our week with a play date with our cousins then we have an off week. Anyways, the kids went swimming and had a blast. Carter even got into the baby pool all by himself, and entertained himself for an hour!!
These next pictures are from last month. Londyn wanted to help Bradey get the flower beds ready for planting.
And this one is from this morning. For some reason my kids LOVE the vacuum. Every time I get it out they go straight to it. Which makes me laugh because most kids freak out from the noise. My kids' fearlessness could be dangerous one day! :/

A LOT of Catching UP to do!!

2010-06-06T19:47:00.005-06:00

OK so my last blog entry was in FEBRUARY!! Wow I really have some catching up to do.

I'll start with Carter. Our little man is now 8 months old and growing to quickly!! He started sitting up all by himself in March, he started pulling himself up in April, and May is when he started trying really hard to crawl. He's getting better but he still hasn't quite got the concept that his hand and legs have to move at the same time!! But once he starts I know he'll never stop, so I'm ok with him taking his time. Of course Londyn sitting on him when he's almost got it figured out slows down the process!! :) Here are a few pictures of our handsome boy from the past few months.

6 months

Family Pictures in March

Carter LOVES to eat hats, especially Dad's!!

Bath Time Fun!!

Our gorgeous Londyn is next!! LONDYN TURNED TWO on April 16!! Can you believe it?!!! My sweet little baby girl is now in her terrible twos!! And oh boy is she a spit fire!! :) But I love her for it. Her new obsessions are kids movies, singing and dancing, and helping Dad and Mom with yard work. What makes us laugh the most is her obsession for Chocolate Milk. She wakes up every morning asking for it. You know how some people just can't function or be talked to until they have their coffee, Londyn is this way with chocolate milk!!

Getting Ready for bed is one of our favorite things to do together as Mommy and Daughter!

Family Picture
Happy 2nd Birthday Londyn J!!
She LOVES to put on Mommy's shoes
Bradey bought her these boots for her birthday. WE can't get her out of them!!

I also have to mention how much my sweet children fight!! OH my heavens!! Carter is still a baby and he has figured how to push his sister's buttons! Whatever she has he will steal. But Londyn steals his toys too, although, he finds away to get it back and gets even by pulling her hair!! :/

ON April 21st Bradey and I spent our 3rd anniversary with a kid free dinner, we went to Red Lobster! It's amazing how much our lives have changed in the past year. We have really grown up and taken on much more responsibilities. And all of this has made us stronger and closer as individuals and a couple! I am so grateful for everything Bradey does for me, he truly is my Superman. Twice in these past few months we spent a week straight away from each other, and I'll tell you those two weeks made me realize I have got it good and easy!! He helps out A LOT with the children, pitches in when it comes to "indoor" chores and he does so much "outdoor" chores!! I love you Babe!

One adventure we did was go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon and then we went to Seattle, Washington for the AMA Supercross Race. We had so much fun!!

A few weeks later me and the kids went back to Washington to hang out with my Dad for a week. It was so fun to see the LOVE between my kids and my Dad. He was just beaming the entire time we were there!! And oh my goodness Carter sang and talk to my Dad that I think it got to the point where he became annoying!! ;) And Londyn kept asking for Pappa to play songs on his guitar!!

Then for Memorial Day weekend we went to Downata Hot Springs with my mom's side of the family!! Carter LOVES the water!! He would just splash and splash!! Londyn of course LOVES the water. She even let go of us and would swim all by herself (with floaties on). She's getting more brave!! Alex and Abbi taught her a BAD habit while we were there though!! She kept sucking in water then spitting it out at people, especially my Grandma V.!!

Sorry there's not many pictures. For some reason the computer won't let me download anything. But you are more than welcome to go on my facebook page and see all the pictures and videos of what my family has been doing!
Love you all!

Getting Old, Lots of New, Nothing Borrowed, and getting the Winter Blues!!

2010-02-16T22:25:00.005-07:00

Londyn has two more months and she will be TWO years old!! And Carter is 5 months!! Oh my goodness time is just past by with lightning speed!! Londyn is talking in FULL sentences now and you can UNDERSTAND almost every word that comes out of her mouth! Carter has discover many new things, especially his fingers (oh how this boy loves to suck on his fingers!!) He is jabbering A LOT more now!! And I think the wild boy is kicking in, because he just LAUGHS and LAUGHS when Londyn is rough housing him!!
We've had a couple of weeks of new things!! First is my new business. I am a Mary Kay consultant! I started on Feb. 2nd, and have been loving it!! Its nice to have ADULT conversations and interactions. I know I have Bradey, but when he gets home, he really doesn't talk that much, MEN!! ;)
Second is the Yukon Denali!! This vehicle is AWESOME!! Its got all the bells and whistles, especially a DVD player which makes for a happy toddler!! My favorite feature is these buttons that you press and it adjusts the seat to where I like it and where Bradey likes it!! NO more getting yelled at for not putting the seat back, and how he can NEVER get into the car after I drive!! Ya gotta love the SHORTness!!
Bradey got a entertainment center and a 42" Vizio LCD TV for Valentine's Day on Friday. It's wonderful to see him so happy about his Man Cave coming together!!
Then the kids got a puppy for Valentine's Day on Saturday! WE named her Lily. She is a Heinz 57 puppy (which means she's a little bit of everything!!) But she has more dominate features of a mix between a boarder collie and chow. She loves the children, and they love her. Londyn is ALWAYS saying "Come on Puppy!" And Car-Car smiles and sometimes giggles when Lily starts to lick him.
Then for the winter blues....We had our neighbors over for ice cream on Sunday!! It was wonderful having the Teichert's over. Adam and Shawna have a little boy named Austin who is a week younger than Carter. They were face to face and it was SOO funny to see both boys reactions. Londyn just LOVES Adam. She would NOT let him go home. She trapped him in the bathroom and made him wash is hands at least a dozen times!! Having them over made me realize how ready I am to have bar-b-ques and eat ice cream outside in the hot sun!! I'm ready for winter to be over!

Mary Kay!!

2010-02-10T20:15:00.003-07:00

I started a new adventure last Tuesday!! I am a Mary Kay consultant! I signed up on Febuary 2nd and had my first meeting that night!! I LOVE working with the directors that I have, these women are POWER women who just love life!! And I am so excited to interact with them each Tuesday. I have to show you some fun photos I took today. Mom and Abbi were my guinea pigs today. They came over for my very first "on my own" MAKE OVER!! And I just got to say Abbi is going to be a HEART BREAKER when she starts to date, the girl is just GORGEOUS!
Carter slept until we were ready for pictures, then he decided to wake up. But Londyn is a different story. AS you can tell she had to get into the mix, and it was HILARIOUS!!
So if you would like to order any Mary Kay products or would like to become a consultant let me know!!! ;)

Arthur Colby's Farewell

2010-01-26T08:02:00.002-07:00

I cannot believe its already here!! We are taking Colby down to Utah today!! We'll spend the night in Sandy, UT with my Aunt Janene! Then we're headed off to Provo, UT to drop him off at the door steps of the MTC (Missionary Training Center)!
Sunday, January 24 was his Idaho mission departure talk (January 10th was his Washington one). He did AMAZING!! He has such a MAGNIFICENT testimony of the gospel. He will be a great missionary! The spirit was so strong during his talk, its amazing how much he has grown these past 19 years.
After sacrament, we had a brunch over at the library. It was wonderful to hang out and talk to family that I haven't seen in awhile. It's amazing how much this young man is loved! I'm grateful (and I'm sure Colby is too) for all those that came out and supported him and all the love everyone gives him!
Colby was set apart as an Elder after the brunch. Once again the spirit was very strong in the room, and his blessing was beautiful.
If you want to keep up on how Elder Leonardson is doing, you can look up him page on Facebook. I am so proud of him and can't wait to get letters from him!! I love you little brother!

Bringing in the Year 2010!

2010-01-17T17:12:00.006-07:00

WE had a lot of fun bringing in the New Year. On New Year's Eve we went to our church building to celebrate with my family and some friends. WE played volleyball, and many more games to entertain and keep us AWAKE until midnight! There was TONS of food as well.
I couldn't believe that BOTH Londyn and Carter were WIDE awake to bring in the New Year!!

New Year's morning Londyn was helping me practice a song that I played in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday. Bradey caught our precious moment!!

Then we went out to my mom's house for dinner with some of her side of the family! Londyn LOVED playing with her 2nd cousin Easton (whom she calls Easty!). They were so adorable together.

WE had a great time just playing games and visiting each other.

Then on the 2nd we went to the mall and played on the toys.

On Sunday a bird totally used our front window to commit suicide! Its kind of gross, but I had to share it with you all!!

Then we had a huge hawk in the tree across the road. IT was a bird day I guess.

2nd 1/2 of December

2009-12-29T20:12:00.009-07:00

These past few weeks have been so much fun for our family. Londyn and Carter are going to be the best of friends. I can tell already. They love to play, bathe, snuggle, and sleep together!! As you can tell by the pictures.

We have a tradition to go to the Lutheran church here in town with Bradey's parents on Christmas Eve. While we were waiting for Bradey's parents to come over for dinner the kids fell asleep on Bradey (and it looks like Bradey is ready for a nap himself).

We also made a new tradition this year to give the kids church clothes on Christmas Eve so they have a new outfit for church. They both look "sharp" as Bradey puts it.

Another tradition is getting jammies on Christmas eve before Santa comes! Aren't they adorable!!

Londyn helped put out cookies for Santa. I left to go get the milk and found her eating them!! What a goose.

Christmas morning I woke up to get Carter a fresh bottle and found our wonderful Londyn playing with all the toys Santa brought her and her brother!! I didn't even know she was up, which isn't normal because she makes SOME kind of noise when she wakes up.
After we all got out of bed we started looking at and opening presents. It was a wonderful Christmas. Carter is a little young so he mostly got clothes. And Londyn's favorite thing to play with is her new kitchen set she got from Santa.

Afterwards we had dinner with Bradey's family. It was great to hang out and visit with everyone.

On the 26th we headed down to SLC, Utah to go visit my aunt and ALL of her kids! When we stopped for gas Londyn got a little car sick and threw up all over herself. Eeewww!! We finally made it to Nener's house!! After saying our hello's and eating lunch we went swimming in an indoor swim park and had a blast. It was Carter's first time swimming. He's not as big of a water bug as Londyn, but he did enjoy it (if he wasn't splashed in the face!). Londyn loved going down the BIG slide (the purple one to the right) and my cousin Christopher, she just wouldn't let him go!

It was really humid in there because the water was warm.
Londyn is on the right in the turqouise swimsuit with Christopher.

Monday and Tuesday we had a quite evening and hung out as a family. Londyn was dancing and entertaining all of us! ;)

As the year comes to an end I've been pondering what all happened this year. It has been very crazy and full of blessings. I've notice it has been the year of "1st"s. Everything from Londyn learning to crawl, walk, and talk to being blessed with our first son!! (If you read all my entries you 'll read about the rest of our 1st's this year.) I am truly grateful for everything that I have in my life, the blessings and the trials. I can't wait to see all the new and wonderful things that will come to us next year!

1st 1/2 of December

2009-12-21T13:34:00.008-07:00

So many things have happened this month. I know I will have a lot to write about at the end of the month so I figured I'd do it in 2 parts. We have really enjoyed the white month. Londyn has discovered how much she loves the snow. One day she wanted to go help her Dad shovel the drive way, a few days later she helped him put up Christmas lights (which was the day she realized that snow is AWESOME to EAT!!) Carter and I stayed in the nice WARM house!!

This is Londyn after she helped!

On the 16th we had an early Christmas celebration because everyone is going their separate ways for Christmas. It's hard to believe that this will be the last time ALL of my siblings will be together for the next 2 years! And it was WONDERFUL to have Grandma and pa V. (for those of you who don't know my family this is my mom's parents) joining in the celebration. It was fun to watch Londyn and Hunter fight over things (especially everyone's attention).

The next day my little brother Arthur took Londyn and Hunter out sledding. If you notice on the last picture Londyn fell off!

We finally got our family photo in front of the Christmas tree! I think they turned out very well.

Londyn started potty training last week, and has been doing rather well. She is also turning into a girly girl and gets into all of my hair things and jewlery.

And Carter laughed for the first time last Saturday. We didn't get it on film, but I will next time!!

Car-Car Man is getting big!!

2009-12-16T15:13:00.002-07:00

So I totally forgot to post about little man's 2 month check up appointment. We went in on Dec. 10th. He is growing big and strong!! I was excited to find out how big he is getting. He weighs in at 11 lb. 6 oz. and is 22 3/4 inches long!! WOW!! Those measurements are in the 25%, so he's below average, but he's big for one of my kids! BUT I was SHOCKED to hear his head measurement. His head is 40.3 cm, which is in the 55%!! HOLY MOLY the kid has big noggin!! But Bradey says it's because of his huge brain!! I love my little stud!!

Very Busy Londyn

2009-12-08T14:59:00.005-07:00

After Londyn woke up from her nap on Sunday, she was ALL over the place. Bradey and Carter were in the living room watching the game, (Vikings vs. Cardinals) which is SOOO boring. So Londyn and I went and played in the toy room. Watching her makes me realize how much she has grown in the past year. She speaks in sentences, knows most of her alphabet and numbers (and says them all by herself), can read some of her books all by herself, and LOVES to help with her little brother. Along with being so quick to learn, she has figured out how to climb EVERYTHING!! Couches, chairs, boxes, piano bench, you name it! So here are a few pictures of my sweet Londyn being her usual busy body!

Getting Ready to make her climb

Strike A Pose Gorgeous
Feeding Car-Car
"Hi Car-Car" is her favorite thing to say to her brother!
Thanks to her cousin Hunter hats are her new fetish
Oh how this girl LOVES the phone
But I think she loves her books even more!

I am thankful for.....

2009-12-02T12:31:00.003-07:00

.....MANY THINGS. The Lord has blessed me tremendously this year. A beautiful new home, a very handsome and healthy baby boy. A VERY smart and sassy little girl. And a SUPERMAN husband (I always save the best for last!!).
Thanksgiving was wonderful. I got to spend the holidays up in Washington with my family (minus the Cook Clan). It was great to see my Grandpa Leonardson, and ALL the humor he brought to the table!! ;) And I love to see my Dad with all his grandkids. He is a VERY proud Papa, and all the kids just love him to death. It was also wonderful to spend time with Arthur before he leaves for 2 whole years. Tesha and I went shopping together, while the boys watched the kids, which was something that the both of us really needed. I LOVE SISTER TIME!! And I had a BLAST kicking Michael's and Lydia's butt in bowling! Bradey won by 2 POINTS!!
I am so grateful for everyone's help with my kids. Especially you Susan, you're the greatest!!
WE went snowmobiling on Saturday, and that's what most of my pictures are so here's some pics from that day.

We're Off to See the Wizard!

2009-11-01T15:30:00.003-07:00

Halloween was awesome this year!! Londyn is old enough to kind of get the concept of the holiday. We carved our pumpkin that was from my mom's pumpkin patch a week before Halloween. Londyn really got into it. She helped pull all the insides out, along with a few seeds getting into her mouth!!

We had to divert Londyn's attention from her "helping" Bradey with carving the pumpkin
THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!

Halloween day Bradey and I went to the temple. It was WONDERFUL to finally have a date with my husband!! He even took me to Olive Garden for lunch. When it was time to go do our rounds for Trick-o-Treating Londyn wasn't to excited to dress up, until she got her first piece of candy from her Ninny Kendall. Then she enjoyed the rest of the night!! Londyn was Dorthy, Carter was the Cowardly Lion, Bradey was the Tin Man, and I was the Scare Crow. Because our kids are little we cut the night short, and had our first trick-o-treaters this year!! So fun!!

The past few weeks!

2009-10-21T17:13:00.005-06:00

We've been having fun with our little Car-Car!! He's a wonderful addition to this family. Londyn especially enjoys having him in the family. Like I've said I'm a picture happy mother. So I've been taking A LOT of pictures. So that's what this post is mostly of, our lives capture by photos these past few weeks.

Londyn loving on Carter in his new Bouncer

Carter was blessing on Oct. 11. It was wonderful having most of the boys in my family in the circle (Alex was the only one not in it).
Here's Carter in his blessing outfit. He's such a stud!!

I wanted to get a picture of Car-Car on the day that he was due. So this is our little man on
Oct. 16th
Londyn wanted to help me make dinner last Sunday. She bonked her teeth on the stove. So that's why she's crying in the first picture. But after that she was happy and kept call the chicken I was cutting up "cookies".

Then on Monday morning, Bradey put Londyn in bed with me and Car-Car just before he left for work. I woke up to do some chores before the kids woke up. This is how woke up to them.
I left the room for a little while and some how Londyn wiggled her way up on the pillow right next to her brother

And this is our Car-Car at 1 month old!! which is today!!

He Hopes they call him on a MISSION!!!

2009-10-16T10:36:00.003-06:00

Yesterday my little brother Colby received the best news a 19 year old young man could receive in the mail, HIS MISSION CALL!! He is headed for the Ecuador Guayaquil South, South America Mission. He'll leave to the MTC on January 27th. I am going to miss him so much, but am SO proud of his decision to selflessly give his time to service the people in Ecuador. CONGRATS ELDER LEONARDSON!!!!

Londyn's First Hair Cut & Carter's Doc. Appt.

2009-10-07T11:13:00.004-06:00

Londyn got her bangs cut on Monday!! She did awesome!! I'm so proud of her. She got a sucker afterward for doing so good!

Before we went to the beauty shop, Londyn fell on the driveway and scraped up her nose. So that's why she has scabs on her nose.
Carter had his 2 week check-up on Tuesday. He is looking awesome. Everything is normal and developing well. He has grown an inch and a whole pound!! So now he is 20 inches and is 6 lbs 12 oz. His cheeks are getting chubby!! ;)

The Arrival of Carter Todd Kendall!!!

2009-09-23T22:45:00.003-06:00

Our little boy is here!!

Ladies and Gentleman Londyn would like to proudly announce the arrival of her new little brother Carter Todd Kendall a.k.a Car, Car!! He was born September 21st, 2009 at 9:28 pm, weighing in at 5 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long!!
Our day started out as one crazy Monday and ended with a blessing!! So lets start at the beginning. I woke up Monday and realized that I had leaked something out. I didn't think that my water had broke because it wasn't a huge leakage and I was not due for another 3 1/2 weeks. So I called waited for the doc's office to open to ask what was going on. The nurse said most likely my water broke and I needed to come right away. I waited for Bradey to rush home, so we could head to the doctor's together, just in case.
When we got to the doctor's I found out my water was still very much intact. Then we did an ultrasound to make sure I had enough fluid (which I had PLENTY), and we also did an NST to make sure the baby was still doing just fine. We got sent home because everything was normal, and the doctor said that we just have to wait until our little man decides to come on his own. We went all the way back home and picked up Londyn from Bradey's brother's home, by this time it was about 2 pm. After a very long and busy day I needed a nap. So Londyn and I hopped in to my bed for a good hardy nap, well at least Londyn did.
I started having contractions!! I've been having false labor every now and then so I thought that's what it was, until they got really intense, and once again it was back labor!! Yuck! I got up to use the bathroom, and that's when I had lost my mucus plug. My contractions went from being 8 minutes apart and 30 seconds long, to 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long with in an hour. So Bradey and I headed to the hospital once again.
We got to the hospital about 5:30, where they watched my contratctions to see how long apart they were, and they checked to see how dilated I was. The doctor said I had won a ticket to stay because I was 6+ dilated and my contratction were 4 minutes apart and 1-2 minutes long.
I was able to get an epidural which was nice, but wore off by the time Carter decided to come into this world. So I felt EVERYTHING!! Lucky everything went perfectly. He was taken to the NICU because he was having trouble breathing, but was back in my arms and announced as a well baby with in 2 hours.
We were in and out of the hospital within less than 24 hrs. It was a very quick processes compared to Londyn's birth. But we are so very grateful to have this handsome little boy in our lives. He looks just like his Daddy! And Londyn absolutely loves her little brother. She almost hoped into the basinet with hime when she first came to the hospital. She loves to hold and kiss him. I'm very proud of how well she is adjusting to sharing the spot light. He the perfect little boy. And I am so blessed to have him in my life!!

Londyn meeting her brother for the first time
The Kids and I watching Clifford
WELCOME HOME CAR,CAR!
His first night home!!

Loving Our New Ward, and a New Calling!!

2009-09-13T14:27:00.002-06:00

We are enjoying the American Falls 3rd Ward!! Everyone has been wonderful and very welcoming!! We've been trying to get Londyn to go to Nursery a little early so that she will be use to it by the time she is 18 months, but no such luck. She did awesome the first week, but the last few weeks she has flipped a lid when I leave her in there. But I'm going to keep trying and praying she will go before her brother gets here.
We've been in the ward for 4 weeks now and Bradey was just called and set apart today as the Priests' Quorum Adviser! I am so excited for him, as he is too!! He is so stoked to work with these miraculous young men. When we got home from church today he kept commenting on how bright these young men are, and how much they are going to teach him. He's such a stud!!
I've been singing in the ward choir, which has been a blast!! And we're going to sing next Sunday!! And on top of everything we were asked to talk in 2 weeks!! But we love being involved and are grateful to give of our talents (if you can call them that!!).

On another not, the pregnancy is still going well. I still have to do NSTs twice a week, and an ultrasound once a week. So far, little man is doing what he's suppose too. So maybe there's really nothing to worry about?!! I am grateful for this little boy to becoming into our lives, and cannot wait to meet him. Although I don't know what his sister will think when my belly goes down, and my belly button goes back to normal!!

Catching Everyone Up on Our lives

2009-09-06T14:39:00.004-06:00

WOW!! I can't believe that summer is over and kids are back to school. We had a great summer, lots of swimming, playing, and getting some sun time in!! Londyn loves outside, so we were out there a lot!!
Lets start with OUR very exciting news, WE ARE FIRST TIME HOME OWNERS!! We love this cute home that we can stay in for years and years, which I'm so excited for because this is our 6th move in 2 years!!! Londyn adjusted in to her new home and big girl bed AWESOMELY!! And I finally got to have my piano after having it sit in storage for 3 months!!

The Front Yard
Bradey and My Bedroom
The Kids' Bedroom
The Upstairs Bathroom
Dining Room
Kitchen
Family Room
Now lets look at the downstairs!!
The bathroom

The Guest Bedroom
Bradey's "Man Cave" aka the Living Room

And the Kids' Toy Room

Another thing that is going on in our lives is that we just found out that this pregnancy is no different from when I was with Londyn. Our little man is measuring small and my fluid is low. :( I started NSTs (Non-stress Test) last Thursday, and have to have them twice a week, plus an ultrasound every week. He didn't do so well the first 1/2 hour of the stress test, but did much better the last hour!! So we'll see how he'll do on Tuesday.

Here's some pictures of my belly at 33 weeks!!
We tried to get Londyn kissing her little brother, but she was to quick.

Our VERY busy MONTH of JUNE!!

2009-06-28T18:24:00.004-06:00

Holy MOLY!! June is almost over and I feel like I haven't been able to catch my breath. Let me update ya'll on what has been going on in the Kendall family life! Memorial Day we had to move out of our town home because our lease was up! We've been oogling over this house in American Falls for a few months now, that is being flipped. WE were hoping it would be done by the middle of June, so we moved in with Bradey's parents for awhile. (FYI: The house isn't done yet, but its well worth the wait. We went and saw the progress last weekend, IT IS BEAUTIFUL and almost done!!)

Then on June 9th, I found out that my doctor decided to change my due date from Sept 29th to Oct 16th, because little man is measuring 3 weeks behind!

On the 10th we made an all night trip to Washington for Arthur's (most of you know him as Colby, my little bro) graduation!! What a drive that was!! But the trip was a wonderful success!! We stayed from the 10th-14th. My little family got very spoiled by my dad! With all the fun "toys" he has it was hard to pull Londyn and BRADEY away from my dad's home.

The first day we were there Dad took Londyn and Hunter on a ride on the tractor, we couldn't get Londyn off!!

After that some of the family walked down to the river that's behind my dad's house. We got some very precious pics of Londyn that I just have to share!

Then we had a fiesta for Arthur and his "twin" Peter Pan (his name is actually Elias and its a long story of why I call him Peter Pan. I love this kid! He's my brother from another mother!!) It was a blast!

The main event GRADUATION!! was on the 12th. I can't believe my baby brother is graduated from high school!! I have a very special bond with this kid, plus I'm pregnant, so I was a CRY BABY!!

Saturday was our fun day!! Dad had Bradey run the tractor around his garden (an acre + of food!!) Londyn went with him. And it was HARD to get the BOTH of them off!!

To cool down from all that "hard work" we went boating. Londyn got on the tube for the first time and did amazing!! We even got splashed quite a bit, and not a single tear or fuss!! I'm so proud of her!

We went home on Sunday. :( The drive was a little better. Londyn and I played and read books most of the way home.

5 days later Tesha welcomed into this world a GORGEOUS and very little girl!! Jessa Lynn Wellard came into this world on June 19th at 5:20 am!! Weighing in at a whole whopping 4 lbs 3 oz. and 17 inches long. She was about 5 weeks early, so they took her down to the NICU to monitor her for awhile. She's been in there for over a week now. Everything is healthy and perfect, she is just having issues with eating. They have to feed her through a tube that's in her nose. Preemies have problems with swallowing and breathing at the same time. So once she figures that out, she'll be able to come home. Hunter just loves his new baby sister, and Londyn loves her new girl cousin!! Its adorable to see these to toddler's with this newborn.

PS: You're gonna have to go to my FACEBOOK profile to see pictures. For some reason my pictures won't download today! :(

WE ARE HAVING.......

2009-05-13T10:45:00.002-06:00

Londyn is proud to announce that she will be a big sister to a little brother!!! We went to the doctor's office at 3:30 yesterday for the ultrasound. The techie said she knew right off the bat we were having a boy! I guess he was showing off his equipment!! Looks like my children are very PROUD of who they are, because Londyn did the same thing!! He is healthy and everything is perfect, except he's measuring 3 weeks behind, so my due date might change next month!! BUT we are THRILLED to be blessed with a little boy!! It will be a new adventure! Just as Londyn was!!

Another exciting thing happened for us this morning, Londyn broke through her first tooth! It has been a very hard past few days for the little girl! :( Because on top of teething she's got some virus. Poor thing can't catch a break. But she was such a big girl at the ultrasound and even watched the screen for the most part.

WE are so blessed to have these children in our lives. I am very grateful that Heavenly Father trusts Bradey and me to take care of them here on the earth. Being a mom is amazing!!

Mother's Day/Kason's 3rd B-day

2009-05-12T04:20:00.011-06:00

Our nephew Kason turned 3 on May 10th (Mother's Day) and we were invited to go to Yellowstone Bear World for his birthday!! WE had a blast!! Londyn loves animals, so she was in heaven with all the bears, deer, elk, and other animals!! We got to go on a "bus tour" to feed the BIG Grizzly and Black bears, we went on rides, and had YUMMY cake!! After all the bear fun, we headed to Idaho Falls to eat dinner at Red Robin!! The food was awesome, our waitress SUCKED!! Oh I guess I should mention that I got a new CTR ring, a book, and breakfast for Mother's Day that morning!! I have the best husband and daughter ever!!!

The first BEAR we got to see was a huge stuffed one in the gift shop

Then we got to see and pet the little baby bears. They were maybe a few months old!
Then we hopped on the bus
First we saw Buffalo and Elk
This guy will get up to 8 points when his antlers grow out!!

Then we were ready to FEED and see the BIG bears! The neat thing was that some of the bears were "show biz" bears. One was a Coca-Cola bear, and another one was Baloo from the live-action version of The Jungle Book.

The Alfa Wolf and The Oldest Grizzly

This was funny!! This wolf kept following this white car!!
After the tour we went into the petting zoo. Londyn loved the momma and baby deer.
The momma started to lick me!
Our little baby bear!! ROARER......
Bradey went on all the rides except one because he couldn't fit in the car, so I had go!!
Londyn had fun, so don't be fooled by the faces she pulls in the pictures!

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!

ANOTHER ONE!!

2009-05-08T09:47:00.003-06:00

I just have a funny tale to tell!! You all know how much of a Daddy's girl Londyn is. She has been that way since the womb. Every time Bradey would talk or touch my belly she would kick like crazy. Well this morning at 4:30!! I got a nice little kick that made me have to go pee, and then I just couldn't fall back asleep. The baby was kind of moving, so I just sat there and enjoyed our "alone time" together. Bradey's alarm went off at 5, like it does every morning. I told him that his child was kicking, so he put his hand on my belly! OH BOY!! Our new little monster just went CRAZY!! She/he was kicking like there was NO tomorrow!! It seems that my children share a secret bond with their father that maybe I'll understand in the eternities maybe?!! Since I don't know what makes them love him SO much before they even meet him. I just find it funny how we're 2 for 2 on Daddy's kids! But I can't blame them, he's very hard NOT to love!!

Miss J's Birthday Party!!

2009-04-26T22:34:00.010-06:00

Oh my heavens!! What a BLAST Saturday was for our "Big" girl!! THE moment she woke up her Daddy kept saying, "You want to go swimming!! We're going to go swimming today!!" And she KNOWS the word swimming very well! So I couldn't get the kid to fall asleep before her party, which I was really worried she be a total grouch the whole time!! She was having so much fun between getting spoiled with ALL her presents, ICE CREAM cake, and SWIMMING that she didn't even notice that she had not had a nap all day!! Of course when everyone started getting cold and headed to the hot tub, the girl just passed out in my arms without a peep!! I was so proud of her! And I'm so glad she had so much fun!! As you can see from the pictures this girl LOVES the water!! So we are so glad that we decided to go swimming.

We want to thank everyone for Londyn's gifts!! She got a lot of clothes and toys, but so far she has 2 favorites.

One is from Grandma & pa Cook
Its a singing book! Her two favorite things in one!!
And the other is a musical Princes riding car!!
From her Ninny & Papa Kendall

After presents we had to hurray and eat her ice cream cake (it was melting!!) She didn't like sticking her fingers in "cold stuff" so I gave her a spoon to see if she would eat it that way! And she did!! And OH BOY!! Did she make a mess!! There was ice cream and cake IN her diaper!! on the ground, in her hair!!!
This picture makes me laugh, its such a Londyn thing to do!!
She clapped for everyone after we got done sing "Happy Birthday" to her!!

Our favorite part of the day finally started!! After a few children got impatient!! (Alex, Abbi, Kason, and Londyn!!)

Bradey and I got Londyn a new swimming suit and floaty for her birthday!!

She loved both!!
I love this one! It shows how silly Bradey & Kason are together!!
Londyn wanted to play like "BIG" girl, and Kason wanted to hop into the "BOAT"!Like most party girls, she was run down, and ready for that nap!!
Can't ya tell!!
When we hopped in the hot tub Bradey & Kason were doing "Tough Guy" moves!
This is just a silly picture of Hunter afterwards!!

Londyn and her big girl car seat!!

2009-04-26T22:15:00.005-06:00

Last Friday Bradey took the day off, so we had a family day! Londyn wanted to play with her Daddy the moment she woke up!!

This is how these two play Peek-a-boo

In mid-morning a SURPRISE for Londyn arrived!! She got her big girl car seat, now that she's 1!! Yay! She was SO excited. She played in it and helped Daddy put things together!! She LOVES that car seat. She even falls asleep in it better than her old one, which is good because I was really worried about that!! But she's our BIG GIRL!!

Later that evening we went to Outer Limits, which is a fun zone here in town, for her cousin Troy's birthday. She loved the rides! Bradey was in charge of the camera so there are only a few pictures. Sorry!!

2 years, going onto ETERNITY!!

2009-04-26T21:43:00.005-06:00

Bradey and I have been married for 2 whole years now on April 21!! You know I'm a TRUE Mormon girl because I'm going to have kid #2 in the same year!! ;) Just joking!! We found out about 2 months ago that one of our favorite comedians (Je-fa-fa Dunham) was coming into town 2 days after our anniversary! So we bought tickets, and I was so excited!!
We dropped Londyn off over at Tesha's house (I was a little worried because she's never been "babysat" by Aunt Tesha, but she did awesome and had a blast with Hunter and Tesha!!), then headed to Senor Iguana's for dinner! I had THE best smoothie ever there! which surprises me for a Mexican restaurant, but whatever!
Then we went to the main event!! We were kind of in the nose bleed section because be kind of bought our tickets late, but our seats were in the middle so it wasn't so bad, and we were in the aisle!! So I didn't have to bother anyone in the middle of the show when I had to pee every 1/2 hour (I swear this kid thinks my bladder is a soccer ball!!!).
The opening act was Brian Haner a.k.a. Guitar Guy! He was HILARIOUS and is totally amazing on a guitar. I've gotta say the man is a musical genius.
Then Jefafa came out!! Some of the pictures I took are not very clear because I never stopped laughing long enough to take a picture!! So sorry about that! I don't think I've laughed my butt off so hard in my life!! It was AWESOME!!!

Guitar Guy
Achmed Video before the show
Walter is one of My favorites
Achmed & Guitar Guy
Peanut is MY VERY favorite!!

Peanut w/ Jose Jalapeno on a STICK
You know Pocatello is a total HICK town when they know all the lines to Bubba J!!
Everyone was doing his lines! I think we knew them better then Jeff!
Even Jeff Dunham said "This is the weirdest show we've ever done!

The Man of STEEL!!

2009-04-23T10:41:00.002-06:00

I've always called Bradey my Superman, because he can do everything, especially FLY!! ;) The man is made of steel!! For him to fall aka FLY off a 30 ft pole and only get a minor fracture is pretty amazing!!
Well after waiting and waiting for 8 weeks to be cleared from the doctor, he finally did yesterday!! After looking at the X-ray the doctor made the comment that if he had not been following Bradey's charts from day 1 he would have not known where the fracture had happened!! Like I said AMAZING!!
I'm mostly excited because now I don't have to fight tooth and nail to keep him off his motor bike! I'm very grateful the Lord is watching over my family. Without him, this miracle would not have happened!

Londyn is 1!!

2009-04-20T11:32:00.006-06:00

Oh my heavens!! My gorgeous little 5 lb preemie baby is NOW an 18 lb 1 year old!! How time flies! We kind of a had a busy day on her birthday, April 16th. We didn't do a birthday party because Bradey's parents were out of town, so we're going to have it this Saturday. Although we had a pretty good day, except the part where she had to get her 1 year old shots that day! :( My mom told me I was a mean mother for doing that to her, and I better make it up to her. And I did!! We had to watch our beagle Sadie (who lives with Bradey's parents) and house sit Bradey's parents' house while they went down to Arizon. OH BOY was that a treat for this little girl. She loves her dog!! I didn't make a big old cake because it was only going to be the 3 of us all day, so instead we had panCAKES for dinner that way she had some type of "CAKE" on her actual birthday. Because I'm a picture happy mother I documented the GOOD parts of her birthday with photos!! Hope you enjoy them!! ;)

Waking Up!!

Birthday BATH!!

The day isn't a day without playing with Mommy's shoes!!

And THE main event......playing with SADIE DOG!!

Londyn's 1st Easter

2009-04-13T12:34:00.010-06:00

I think Londyn is going to be exactly like I was as a kid when it comes to holidays. This is her second major holiday that she has woke us up early (which I always did). We had a wonderful Easter. Once we woke up on Sunday morning, I told Londyn we celebrate Easter because of Jesus. Then Bradey had to ruin it by saying, "Then where does the bunny come into play?" Men they always have to ruin a special moment!! ;)
Well after our spiritual thought for the morning, we headed downstairs to see what the Easter bunny brought us. Of course he brought her a church outfit, then there was a book in her basket, but she didn't care about either one of those. She headed straight for the chocolate Easter bunny. She started sucking on it WITH the wrapper still on it. We decided to let her have a little bit for breakfast. OH what a mistake that was!!!

She was a mess!! After her chocolate fun we got ready for church. She was so adorable in her Easter outfit.
We were a little late for church, but it was a really neat experience sitting out on the couches. There is a picture of Christ in the heavens just above the couch we were sitting on. Londyn just sat there and smiled and talked to the picture. It was a priceless moment.

After church we headed out to my mom's house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. What joy that brought to everyone!

Then after the egg hunt, Londyn chased Hunter around the porch. These two are the best of buds. We are really sad to be moving 20 miles from them instead of being 3 miles away. That's what sleep overs are for though!!

They had to stop in the middle of their game to tell the dog to STAY!!

And of course, after they were all done we went inside to read books and watch "All Dogs Go to Heaven".
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I'm grateful for the atonement and my Savior. I'm grateful for the sacrifice he gave for me. I just love the true meaning of Easter. I love you all!! Happy Easter.

Catching Z's, cuz we LOVE to SLEEP!!

2009-04-09T14:26:00.005-06:00

Oh the love these two share of sleep is uncanny!! When I can't find them I always know to look in our bed or the futon! You know how some kids have a "security blanket" whether it's actually a blanket, Binky, or bottle. There's one thing that they just can not sleep without at night. Well Londyn's is her Daddy. She does not sleep well with out him. If he's gone on a trip, or if we go on a trip without him, those nights are THE Longest nights of my life. The only time she will sleep past 8 o'clock is if her Daddy is sleeping by her side!! The funny thing is that her other favorite thing to do with her dad is completely the opposite of this activity. When these to wrestle, they are noisy and rambunctious. But I love it all!! Here are some pictures from the past year of the two doing what they do best!! From the day she came home from the hospital to just a couple of nights ago!!

We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet!!

2009-04-05T21:37:00.003-06:00

OHhhhhhh how I LOVE conference weekend!!! It's a time you can lay around in you jammies all day (without feeling lazy) and hearing from the amazing men and women we sustain as General Authorities. I have got to say how AMAZING the MOTAB is, everytime I hear them sing I get goosebumps!! Especially when they sing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet".

There were SOOOOO many great talks, but I just want to express my feeling on the ones that touched my heart the most.
Elder Richard G. Scott gave the most beautiful talk on temple attendance. We hear so many stories about people in South America, Africa, and other countries that give up everything, sell EVERYTHING just so they can go to the temple once. For those that have a temple that is less than an hour away, do you take advantage of the privilege and blessings of having a temple so nearby. This apostle is an inspiration to me, he and his wife would go every week!!! Bradey and I use to do that when we first got married. I sat and pondered the reasoning behind not doing it as much anymore. Then she drooled all over me, and the other was making me very nauseated. Then I thought, "Am I using my children as an excuse to NOT partake in my temple blessings? Funny, they should be the REASON I DO it!" The reason we continually go back to the temple is to keep it fresh in our hearts, minds, and souls. Let's ALL make a commitment to go more often!!

Our newest apostle Elder Neil L. Andersen gave a wonderful talk also. But one of his quotes really stuck out to me. "You're a NOBODY. When you forget the Lord will quickly remind you." How true is that!! To me this means that never let pride and arrogance come into your heart, or you'll end up like Laman and Lemuel!!

I LOVED Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk of the TRUE reason we celebrate Easter. There were so many things he said about Christ that I have never really thought about. Such as, Christ being ALONE to pay and suffer for my sins and sorrows. It was amazing.

And last, but most DEFINITELY not least is my FAVORITE apostle Dallin H. Oaks. He spoke of being selfless in all that you do, especially in your church callings. We go to church not to compare who has the best of things or who is or isn't doing what they are suppose to, but to give OURSELVES to others and to Christ. Service is what helps us become like Christ, and to find happiness in our lives. It was truly an AMAZING talk.

I just want to end with a funny little tid bit about Londyn. She doesn't understand what's going on when we watch conference, so she just plays and is her marry little self. But what I find SO completely AWESOME is that everytime a picture of Jesus Christ came across the screen or when Pres. Monson would speak, she STOPPED in her tracks and watched for a little while.
I'll say, "Do we love Jesus?" or "Do we love the prophet?" and she answers with a simple "yeah."
Children are a great blessing in life, and give you a whole different perspective on it.

I hope you all enjoyed conference as much as I did. Can't wait for October to come by!!

April Fools!

2009-04-01T11:52:00.002-06:00

Normally I have a whole plan for April fools. Every year for the past 4 years I have gotten someone really good with a really mean April Fools joke. First year Bradey and I started dating I told him I broke my leg and he went crazy. It was awesome!!

Due to wonderful sicknesses (on top of baby sickness, I've had bronchitis since Sunday. Londyn's had the baby version since last week!) I won't be doing anything this year. SAD Day! :(

But I hope everyone has a wonderful April Fools, and do something FUNNY!!! You'll live LONGER!!

Here's an awesome idea!!!
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2599776/the_most_evil_april_fools_joke_ever/

The Month from HELL!!

2009-03-29T11:24:00.002-06:00

I'm am SOOOOOO glad that this month is almost over, and hoping April will be better. Especially since our 2nd year anniversary and Londyn's first birthday are in that month!!

Let me explain why this month has been total hell for this Kendall family, although with trials come blessings. And the Lord has really blessed us at the same time.

The very first of the month our computer got a virus. It almost killed our hard drive. Bradey took it to some computer place down the road. The guy said we'd probably have to get a whole new computer! I was devastated. All of my pictures would be lost, everything from our wedding, Londyn's birth, and her entire first year would be lost. I've got to say I am very grateful for NERDS!!! The guy saved everything!!! and we didn't have to get a new computer!! Yay!!

Just a few days later my "morning sickness" (I've been calling it baby sickness) had really got the best of me. I had to go to the doctor's office because of dehydration. They put 2 litters of IV in me. I've been miserable with "baby sickness" this past month, this one is completely different from when I was pregnant with Londyn.

Then a week after that I received the most horrifying phone call a wife could ever get. I was putting Londyn down for her afternoon nap, it was just a typical Tuesday. Bradey called me, I thought it was to tell me what he wanted for dinner that night (because that's what my afternoon phone calls from him are always about!). He was so nonchalant about what he said, "Babe, I kinda fell of a pole. They're bringing in an ambulance just for pre-caution. So you might want to head to the hospital in American Falls." I replied, "I am not going to drive 20 minutes just cause you slipped on a pole." 15 minutes later I was biting my tongue. One of his co-workers called me from Bradey's phone saying, "Alyssa, Bradey is being life flighted to the Portneuf Medical Center. He fell about 30 ft off a pole. He should be there really soon."
I was in TOTAL shock. All I could think was, "How could this be, I just talked to him . He seemed just fine. What happened." When I walked out the door to start the truck, the helicopter flew over my house. It hit me that something TERRIBLE has happened to my STUD! I grabbed Londyn and headed to the hospital, which is about 10 minutes away. The whole time I was praying, asking the Lord, NO TELLING him that he better be alright because I can't function without Bradey. He is my rock and my everything.
When I got to the ER, he looked at me. And the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "BABE, They cut up ALL of my brand new clothes, I had to BEG Them not to cut up my boots. This stupid stretcher in killing me, I just want to go HOME!!"
I'm thinking, " Well at least his head and brain are JUST FINE!!"
We waited for HOURS to get the CT and X-ray results back. Turns out he has a minor fracture on his L1 vertebrae (this is a very common vertebrae to fracture). This means that the top of it is chipped a bit.
The Lord's hand was definitely about him, because we've heard stories of Lineman falling like this, and they broke their legs or got a concussion. I tease him and say "it's a good thing you pay your tithing buddy!!" But I am truly grateful to my Heavenly Father for keeping my husband safe.
I am also grateful to and want to thank all the family and friends that helped out. And a very special thank you to Brother Anderson and Sparks for the blessing they gave to Bradey.

Bradey just went to the doctor last Wednesday, and is healing up nicely. He also went back to work last Thursday.

About a week and a half after his accident, Bradey got VERY sick It was horrible, because through all this I've been having some serious episodes of "baby sickness". Then the next day Londyn started the teething process. We've been through this before, but not as intense. We're hoping she'll FINALLY break some teeth through. Poor kid is in misery.

So that's my venting about this ugly month that we've had, but on a positive note we've has many great blessings.

Ode to Londyn J

2009-03-28T03:39:00.000-06:00

And pictures within the last few weeks!!

9 months

6 months

3 months

One Week Old (FYI: those shorts are preemie size!!)

Our First Family Photo

Just a few weeks before she came

This is Londyn's story. We found out we were expecting Londyn about 3 days after we moved from Boise to American Falls. We were excited and scared to be parents for the first time. As my tummy grew, so did our excitement and confidence! Because my belly wasn't growing at a normal rate, the doctor was worried she was struggling and not growing herself. All the ultrasound tec.'s kept telling us at every ultrasound (which was around 6 or 7) that she would not be more than 5 lbs. She was due May 9th, 2008. We found out the source of my belly not growing, I didn't have much amniotic fluid. Dr. Cox (my doctor) told me on April 15 that she needed to come out in the next 24 hrs or she would not survive. So after being in labor for 8 hrs. we were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL little girl. She came April 16, 2008 at 6:09 am. She weighed in at 5 lbs 7 oz and was 19 inches long. Because she was having trouble breathing on her own the nurses and Bradey took her down to the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit). She was strong and health within 3 days!!! And now the little stink is stronger than ever!! Seriously don't let this kid get a hold of anything valuable on you, she's got a MEAN grip on her. She's getting into the toddler stage, which is fun to watch. She's crawling everywhere, and because she's an impatient little one she refuses to walk (I'm still working on it). Her favorite thing to crawl to and up is the stairs. She loves it when we chase her up them. We can already tell that she is going to be a bookworm like her mommy. We have story time every day. She goes for her favorite books and brings them to us to read to her, but SHE has to turn the pages. She even reads to us from time to time. Eveyone says she looks like Bradey, I think she has an equal amount of the both of us, but she definitely has her mommy's personality (which is really dangerous at times). We're ok with it though because she's independent, but still needs to be snuggled and loved on. Another favorite thing of hers is wrestling with her Daddy, and she wins ALL the time. She's a total Daddy's Girl. When I ask her to say "mom", she teases me and says "DAD" everytime (NO exaggeration). She loves the men in her life, especially her Papa's (grandpas). In Feb. we spent a little over a week up at my dad's house in Washington, and now she absolutely loves her Papa Charlie!!! One more thing you need to know about this wonderful child is she is a total water bug!! She loves to play in the tub. One time when she spent the night with my mom, she called me and asked, "How do you get this get out of the water?" She is COMPLETELY my child!! Let's just hope she doesn't pull any stunts like I did as a toddler (I jump into a swimming pool at two without an supervision or fear!!) We've been swimming a lot in the past year at hotels, and she eats it up!! So naturally that's what we're going to do on her 1st birthday (IN 3 WEEKS!! time flies) And that's Our Londyn J so far!! Can ya tell I'm a proud parent!!! :)

My First Blog!

2009-03-27T17:21:00.000-06:00

A more recent photo of US!!

Bradey's Graduation. I'm so PROUD!!!

But being Married is SOOO much BETTER!!!

Being Engaged was a BLAST

So young and SO IN LOVE

Bradey being a goof, that's why I love him!

OUR FIRST DATE

Lets start with our story. Bradey and I went to high school together, but never ran in the same crowd. I was a Molly Mormon and he was one bad dude!! ;) Our first date was a girl ask guy Halloween dance, so let the records show that I asked HIM out!!! We clicked after that, and became the best of friends. Bradey joined the Church the March after our first date (which was in October obviously), and has been an amazing priesthood holder! We had our ups and downs as most teen aged couples do, but we finally tied the knot after 3 years of dating.
We got married on April 21, 2007 in the Idaho Falls Temple. It was ONE of the most amazing experiences I've had in my life. I have got THE best ETERNAL companion!!
We moved to Boise after our honeymoon so Bradey could go to school at Northwest Lineman College. (NO it's not a school to learn how to become a profession lineman for the NFL, I've been asked that a lot). Its something that he's always wanted to do, and he promised that he will always LOVE his job!!! He graduated on August 10, 2007. We moved back to American Falls at the end of August, where I started working at Deseret Book, and he started working for a contractor as an apprentice electrical lineman!!

I am currently a stay at home mommy and wife, which I think is the best job in the world!!! And Bradey, after a year of waiting, is finally working for the American Falls crew for Idaho Power. And he still LOVES his job and everything that comes with it! (Grunt work, FALLING, snow storms, and etc.) He is my SUPERMAN!!! And I am his #1 fan!!