School's out for Summer-

1st Day of School 2009

Last Day of School 2010
Brody is now officially out of school for the summer! I can't believe that his 1st year of preschool went by so quickly! He had a great time at school and would always come home talking all about what he did that day and who he played with. I loved his teachers and will diffidently be putting Kaylee in their class when she gets old enough. I asked him what his favorite part of school was and he said "I like every part". I then probed some more and he finally said that music class was his favorite time of day. This was no surprise to me because he would always come home singing the songs that he had learned that day in class. He had a great year and I am proud to say that he never once had to sit in time out at school!! Way to go Brody! Congratulations on finishing your first year of preschool!

Clean Slate Weekend-

This past weekend our church had an event called Clean Slate. They find families in our area that need a fresh start, a new beginning, a "Clean Slate." The catch phrase associated with Clean Slate is: "Transforming lives by transforming homes." The main goal in the end is to show the love of Jesus Christ to the families we are helping. It is a wonderful thing to be apart of!

Our family has a 12 year old boy who has muscular dystrophy. He is now in a wheel chair and was not able to get in the shower without a family member lifting him to put him in his shower. He was not able to get into his closet or go out into the game room because of his chair. The family thought that we were going to come and just redo some parts of their house so that he could access them. However as it ends up we redid their whole house and gave them a fresh new look! Kara Paslay designed everything in the house and she did an amazing job capturing exactly what the mom wanted! You can check Kara's website out at http://karapaslaydesigns.blogspot.com

This year I volunteered to be the house "Organizer". I had to be there Thursday evening until Sat night helping organize the closets, go through some things with the home owner and see if there was anything that we could put up in the attic or give away. I also helped give people jobs, try to keep things going so that we would meet our deadline, and make things look neat.

On Thursday my job was to go through things with the mom and see what she wanted to get rid of and keep. We also pretty much packed up her entire house so that we could start working on it!

(In the picture above Jason and I were in the kitchen of the house that was redone.)

I was so glad that Julie was there to help us! I put her on some very random jobs throughout the weekend and she was always very willing! At one point I asked her if she has ever sanded anything with a power sander, she said no but she can learn how to! Wow what a great attitude!!! We had over 100 Volunteers at this house throughout the weekend! This is 1 of 8 houses that our church is doing last weekend and this next weekend. Isn't it awesome how so many people were so willing and ready to give their time and talents to help this family in need!

My friends Julia and Taylor were there as well! Can you believe that Taylor Lautner was so willing to help out! :)

The teenage girl from this house had this cardboard cut out in her room. So... Julia and I went into teen mode and just had to take a picture with him! :)
Julia also helped me out by doing some last minute things that I needed to be done. She did not tell me at the time that she did not enjoy doing them, she just did it with a smile! :)

Here I am going through some of her kitchen items! I am so glad and grateful for all the people that helped me!! There were people organizing the pantry and they did an amazing job! It was very fun to work with a lot of people that I knew from church but maybe did not know that well. It was a great way to get to know them better!

*One things I will be putting on my Christmas list is the pull out drawers that we installed for her! Oh my goodness they were to die for! :)
Here is our project Manager talking to all of the Volunteers and basically giving us a pep talk 5 hours before the family was to arrive.

Not only did people use their talents to help with the house, Dr. Jason used his talent by stitching up Nate who cut himself pretty bad while cutting tile. It was quite the show outside! :)

I wish I would have taken some "before" pictures but unfortunately I did not. So here are some of the "after" pictures that I took. The picture above is Luke's bedroom (the boy with muscular dystrophy). He totally changed bedrooms due to the bathroom situation. So this was a brand new room to him and it looked amazing! Kara is so creative!

This is his closet/bathroom that was designed just for him. I forgot to get a picture of the shower that was totally built from scratch for him.

This is the finished product in the Kitchen! Wow I thought it looked so good and was totally something that I never would of thought of! She put chicken wire on them and backed it with material. The theme for this house was "Modern Farmhouse". I think she captured that perfectly!
This was the entryway of their house. So cool!

This little boy loved his new bedroom! We built the shelves, and put some very cool cork board in between them to display his artwork! Needless to say he was back here all night!

I had a great time being involved in this project and I can't wait to do it again next year! I have definetely learned some things that I would do differently and some things that I would do the same. I want to thank both sets of grandparents for watching the kids a lot this weekend and to Ja for all his help and support through this!

Our nephew's first Birthday Party!

We were able to go to our nephew Drew's Birthday Party last weekend. We loved being able to celebrate the fact that he is now 1 year old with him!! It is hard to believe that he is already that big and walking around!! My sister did a wonderful job of course decorating a pavilion for his party! It was the perfect place for the party and she made it look so fun and party like!

Look at those BIG blue eyes! Those just melt your heart!

My sister and Drew. We were afraid that it was going to rain during the party but it turned out to be very sunny, a little hot, and a lot humid! We were just glad it did not rain. That night after the party we did experience some heavy down pours and even had to take shelter from a tornado in Amy and Eric's laundry room. It was Brody's first experience of a tornado and he of course had tons of questions about it! Luckily when we took shelter he was fast asleep on the laundry room floor so he did not have to experience that!

Kaylee and her Daddy at the party.

One of the gifts we gave Drew was this ball. He loves balls and it was a big hit with him and Kaylee.
Amy had bubble wands and sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with. The bubble wands were a big hit!

Brody playing with his bubble wand.

Drew blowing out his candle on his cake. Amy had some great table decorations like candy!!! And of course all of the candy was blue and green. This of course was a big hit with not only the kids but the adults as well! She also had blueberries and green grapes along with some yummy blue frosted cupcakes for everyone to enjoy!

Here he is digging into his cake! Lets just say he really really really liked it.........

I just LOVE this shirt that he is wearing! She got it on Etsy of course! So cute!!

Brody, Kaylee, and my mom enjoying watching Drew chow down on his cake!

Brody and Pops taking a gander across the way. :)


Drew loves this blue dog and let me just tell you he can really get it rocking! He will sit there and rock it back and forth! So cute! Happy Birthday Drew we were so glad that we got to come and share this time with you and your parents!!

Our Little Lady-

This is a post entirely dedicated to our Kaylee Jo. It seems like a long time since I have talked about what she is doing and how much she is changing. While I love having a boy and even prayed for a son first I also wanted a little girl. Not just because the girl section at the stores is way bigger and so much more fun to shop in, but because of the relationship that I hope to have with her when she gets older. I hope that she will tell me when something that I am wearing is out of style or when I am wearing "mom" jeans. (Which apparently the kind of jeans I wear now are considered "mom" jeans--- ummm I am sorry I can not bring myself to wear the skinny jeans when I am not wearing boots! I have a friend that wears them and they look great on her- but it is going to take me awhile to feel comfortable in them with out boots on!!!) -- ANYWAYS--
It is my prayer that Kaylee and I will have a great relationship when she gets older.

Right now she is attached to my hip- or if I am not carrying her my leg. :) She is definetely going through a stage of always wanting me and not really anyone else. When I am not around such as when we drop her off somewhere she does great. No problem, but as soon as she sees me - she wants me and only me! I know this is only a stage and that one day she will not always be like this.

She always has so much fun playing with Brody! She loves him and whenever Brody is at preschool and I tell her it is time to go pick him up, she gets all excited and goes to the door! So cute!

It seems like just in this last month she has started talking more. She will repeat a few things and has started using them all the time. She can say, ball, mama, dada, bro, up, help, out, all done, bye bye, book, uh oh, snack, drink, eat, yes, dog, and knows her animal sounds.

She loves to "help" me get ready in the mornings! When I blow dry my hair and fix it she loves to sit in the sink and watch me/turn the light on and off/ play with my hair stuff on the counter. This is where I have her sit when I fix her hair. I was given this advice from a grandma who would always fix her granddaughters hair while her granddaughter was sitting in the sink looking at herself in the mirror. Let me tell you it is a great way to get them to sit still while you try to fix their hair! Kaylee will then "help" me put on my makeup by taking all my makeup out of the bag and then putting it all back in the bag. This is our normal morning routine. Hey whatever works right! :)


She has started having little tantrums! Yes she is almost 15 months old and she is already crying and having a little fit when she does not get her way! I chalk this up to watching big brother and learning this from him! :)* At first I did not recognize this and thought she was filling bad- however I soon caught on and gave a heavy sigh because now we have to start disciplining her! *sigh*

She loves to go outside and would stay out there all day if we let her! I really can't wait to take her swimming this summer because I think she is going to love it!

I love our little lady so much! She has changed our lives and every time I look at her I can't believe how big she is getting! *sigh*

How many questions does a 3 year old ask?

They ask about 100 - 150 every day! I know right! If you have had a 3 year old or have one now then you totally understand this. However if you have never had a 3 year old then you are probably thinking that can't be true, ummm I beg to differ it is totally true!! On one 15 min car ride to school these are some of the questions that can be asked by my 3 year old:

-Why are we going to school?
-Why do cows stand on 4 legs?
-Where did all the Dinosaurs come from?
-Where did all the Dinosaurs go?
-Why do the trash men ride on the back of the truck?
-But why mom?

These are just some of the questions that I get about things he is thinking about. Then there are the harder ones to answer like these-

-Why do we have to Die?
-Where do our bodies go when we go to heaven?
-Do we get our bodies back out of the ground when we come back?
-How does God live in our Hearts?
-Why are there clouds in the sky?
-Why are the clouds moving?

Ummm yeah! Try explaining those things to a 3 year old where he can understand them! It is not always easy. When a hard question comes up we try to explain it to him in a way he can understand, however that is not always easy.

One day when he is in an inquisitive mood I answered 30 questions in a row before I finally gave up and distracted him with something else! Many times if I am busy or if I have already answered lots of questions I will say "I don't know" and he will always come back with "Yes you do mom just tell me!" :) That is when I just have to laugh! He is just like a little sponge just soaking everything up!


I had to end this post with this cute little girl!

Silver Dollar City

This past weekend we were able to go to Silver Dollar city with Ja's parents. Brody was so excited to go!! For weeks prior to this trip that is all he would talk about!! We had a great time there and could not of asked for better weather!!!
Here are some pictures of what we did while we were there.

The first thing Brody wanted to do when we got there was ride the Elephants with Grandpa! :) So that is where we went. He had a great time and then rode them again with Grandma!

Kaylee really watched the rides and we could tell that she really wanted to go ride them. However she was to young for this ride. :) I think this is a cute picture of her watching Brody and Grandpa getting on the ride.

Grandma and Grandpa braved the teacups to be able to ride them with Brody. What is it about this ride that kids love???

I don't know about you all but one of my favorite little treats that I never eat because they are so expensive is Dip n Dots. I am not sure why I like them so much but I just do. :) So when we were taking a break from the rides and we just happened to sit down in front of a Dip n Dots stand we decided to get the kids a treat and introduce them to some yummy ice cream. Little did I know that Jason had never had them either!!! Wow Mr Ice cream man had never tried them! :) The kids (and Ja) gobbled our little 4 dollar bowl of ice cream up!! You can see that Kaylee did not want to stop and take a picture she wanted to eat and was helping herself to some!! This was her first introduction to ice cream and I think she liked it!!!!! I should of given her ice cream at her Birthday party instead of cake she probably would of eaten it up!! She is a girl after her daddy's heart on that one! :)

We were so excited to see that Kaylee was able to ride her first ride there! She loved the frogs and did not want tot get off of them. It was so cute to hear her giggle every time they would go up and down. She did a great job on them!!

Brody of course loved them as well!! He got to ride his first roller coaster this time. And no it was not in the kid area. If you are familiar with SDC then he got to ride Fire In the Hole. It is a roller coaster that is in a dark building and has 3 drops to it while you go around this little town. He was very excited to do it however when we got off of it he said that he did not really like it. :) I think if it would not of been in the dark he would of liked it better. :)


Here we are riding the train. Growing up my family went here almost every year. My sister and I would always have the things we wanted to do however they did not have all the rides then that they do now... I think it has gotten a lot better! I am always thrilled that Brody still wants to do everything and has his favorite things he wants to do. I hope that him and Kaylee will always remember going here when they get older.


Brody and Grandpa waiting for the train to take off.

I know I have said this before but it still always AMAZES me that she will fall asleep in her stroller! I am so glad that she does not follow after her brothers footsteps in that area!! :) We were also glad that she did not fall asleep in our arms like the last time we were here! I don't think I could of carried her all around the park like we did last time!

This girl loves horses or really any animal for that matter. So when we saw this little rocking horse she just had to get on it!! This was one of her favorite things that she did besides the frogs and probably eating the ice cream. :)

Here we are at our Hotel climbing the stairs with Kaylee. She would of done this forever if we would of let her! She loves climbing stairs!

Grandma and Grandpa took Brody around the outlets and let him pick some rides to ride on. He had some money that he got to spend on the little rides and had to choose which ones he was going to ride. It made it more fun for him and taught him a lesson on money at the same time!

We had a great trip and can't wait to go back!!!

Our Easter weekend

This weekend we were able to spend some family time over at Ja's parents house. We had a lot of fun and were so glad that Aunt Heather, Uncle Drew and Luke were able to come and celebrate Easter with us!

Grandpa is showing Brody how to fish. Brody was into it for a min. but then decided that since there was no fish biting that he would rather go and do other things. :)

They also have two horses that all the kids love to look at!!

Brody, Grandpa, and Luke.

Happy Easter! We were able to go over to my parents after church for a little bit and then we headed over to Ja's family's house for Easter lunch.

My parents with the kiddos ... you can tell it was very windy out yet I was so glad that it was a nice day and not raining or really cold!


Here is our little nephew Traber. He looked so cute in his little Easter outfit!!

We attempted to get a group shot of all the cousins. As you can see they all were sitting there so we thought that was a great accomplishment!

Brody after hunting Easter eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Kaylee really got into putting the eggs in her basket. It was fun to watch her on her first Easter egg hunt!

playing outside...



This little girl loves to slide!! Even face first!

She loved landing on this cushion!!! It was so cute to watch her!

Lilly also loved to slide!

The Easter bunny gave Brody a new water gun so we just had to try it out! He loved it and really got into getting everyone wet! Ja and I are going to have to buy one just like it so that we can get in on the fun and not be the only ones getting wet!!!! :) We had a great Easter and enjoyed going to church and spending time with our family!