Brindley Family

Total Randomness and some good news :)

2012-02-01T09:39:00.001-07:00

Time for one of them random posts about life :)

This last weekend we went to up north with our friends, Marcus and Keshia. We brought the boys over to Antimony and they played with Grandma all weekend. They of course did not miss us a bit. Chestyn said, "I want to live with Grandma forever." I hope a little part of him was lying. They do love their grandma though and had a great time. Chantry and I had a great little get-away. We always have such a great time with Marcus and Keshia. Something about Chantry being with Marcus brings out the kid in him and I love it. We usually don't stop laughing the whole time we are together and this weekend was no exception. It was Keshia's birthday on Saturday and Chantry's birthday was yesterday, so it was kind of a celebration of their birthdays. We met up in Provo and did plenty of eating and shopping.

Speaking of.....Chantry turned 31 on the 31st. That is never going to happen again. It was pretty much a typical day for him. Went to work etc. We tried to make it special for him when he got home and had a little "party". The boys wanted to throw him a Handy Manny Tool party, but I couldn't find a whole lot. Love how thoughtful my boys are and how they kept saying all day that they couldn't wait for dad to get home. We made sure to make him his favorite meal and got him his favorite cake.

Happy birthday babe!!! Hope your day was good. We all love you so much.

Work!!! I have been an MT for over 4 years now, working from home. I love, love, love every minute of it. I am not sure how my cards have played out so well and things have worked out the way they have, but I definitely will not complain and definitely thank God every night for the opportunities that have been handed to me.

When we picked the boys up from Grandma's this weekend and Chestyn was telling us he wanted to stay with Grandma forever, Channer replied "I would be sad, I would not have you to play with and I would just keep asking mom and dad when you would be home." I thought that was the sweetest ever...my response was "Remember that, Channer." cause you can bet he quickly forgot that by the time we made it home and Chestyn was touching his stuff.

I want a new cell phone. I do have to say that I may have smiled a little inside when Chantry told me yesterday that his phone was being weird and it was probably time for an upgrade. It is about time we moved up to the Android or iPhone world. Maybe soon :)

This is my new favorite.....

Jana Kramer is my new favoirte singer. Love her. She plays Alex on One Tree Hill. She is amazing...and beautiful!!

I am a TV junkie and after I tell what shows I have been watching lately, you will question whether I am really in my late 20's or a teeny bopper. I can't help it. Still love my One Tree Hill. This is the final season, I am sad, but I have got to stop living in their life sometime LOL. Of course have to watch my Grey's and Desperate. Now here are the shows that I probably should not even admit to, but I love The Lying Game, Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth and can't wait for Secret Life of an American Teenager and Make It or Break It to start. Yep, it is true, I am an ABC Family junkie!

Of course I can't post a blog without leaving you a couple pictures of my cuties!

Oh....and P.S.----We are having a baby!!! I am not too far along. I haven't even gone to my first doctor's appointment yet, but I think I am safe to say anway. I have never been good at keeping secrets for long. I have always said with the next, I am goign to wait til I know what I am having and surprise everyone, ya that didn't happen. Everyone pretty much knew within hours of me knowing LOL. I am only about 6 weeks, but really have no clue for sure because I never had a period after getting my IUD out....so more will come after I make it to the doc. Channer and Chestyn are super excited, which gives another reason I could not keep it secret for long. The first thing Chestyn said to Grandma when we got there was "There is a baby in my mommy's belly." I am excited for our new adventure, but of course scared too. I am not a big fan of change, but this will for sure be a good change.

January~

2012-01-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

January has flown by and the month is almost over. We have had a great month and a lot of fun. For some reason, I have not taken any pictures this whole month though. If I want that nice new camera I keep telling Chantry about, I better start taking pictures :) Here are some fun things we have done this month:

*Trip to St. George, ranger riding at Sand Hallow.
*Jeep rides up Cedar Mountain.
*Date night to the movie with my hotty hubby!
*Couple Bunko at Brooke and Chris' place, so fun and yummy food.
*Mini wedding shower for Marnie.
*Grandma Irva's birthday party at Pizza Factory.
*Chantry went to Mesquite with his brothers and dad for a mini bachelor party for Ladd.
*Dentist appointments
*Another date night out to dinner with hotty hubby!
*Ladd and Marnie's wedding....gained a wonderful sister in law and 3 new nieces/nephews. :)
*Became a pinterest addict and have a whole list of projects I want to complete.

It has been a fun month and a great start to a new year. Hopefully I can be better about picture taking and blogging.

In the meantime, here are some pictures we got back from our family photo shoot. I haven't got the CD yet, but here are a few that were emailed to me. Enjoy!

My mom and my amazing sisters!

My favorite family of 4!

Me and the hotty hubby mentioned above :)

Mom, dad and my siblings, I am lucky to have such as great family!

Nielsen party and Happy New Year

2012-01-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Our Nielsen family Christmas party is always the Saturday or Sunday after Christmas, which made it fall on New Year's Eve this year. My sister, Sarah, set up with a photographer to get our family pictures taken. I haven't seen them yet, but the photographer did a great job and I hope she got some great pictures.

Both Pateresa and Malia have super nice cameras, so they took a few extra of the kids. I thought they got some good ones. I can't wait to get the rest of the pictures to share.

Channer

Chestyn

Branda

Celina

Dalynn

Bryson

Kaylee

Brylee

Brathan

Kaje

Nolun

Hartly and Yumei hosted our Christmas party this year and they did a great job. We had yummy dinner complete with ham, cheesy potatoes, several yummy salads, yummy desserts, etc.

Me and my baby boy

Garrett and Hadlie

See the picture wall in the background? They put a picture collage of all of us over the years...so fun to see us change and remember the memories.

Baby Taylor

Ready for pass the present

Kids getting ready to eat at the "kids" table.

My mom had the #1 pick at the white elephant gifts.

Jeff

Marie getting ready to open the toilet that Alan and Malia brought....needless to say, nobody stole this present.

My cute Chessy

Uncle Dale, my mom, Cody and Jeff

Millie, my dad, and Lynn

Marie, Todd, Dylon and Deloy

Chestyn with his hat, scarf and gloves that he got in the kids gift exchange

It was a super fun Christmas party and I was glad it landed on New Year's Eve because our fun didn't end there. We headed over to my mom's house for pizza and partying. We played some fun games and brought in the New Year. Chestyn made it til about 11:00 and Channer stayed up all the way til midnight.

OTHER FUN THINGS WE DID WHILE IN RICHFIELD

**Visited the Ideal Dairy...wouldn't be a trip to Richfield without it.
**Went and say my niece, Tiffany's, new house.
**Saw Ashlee and Jared's new house that they have lived in for a year, but we are barely getting by to see it.
**Made a visit over to my dad's.
**Had dinner at South China with our friends, Marcus and Keshia.
**Got a spur-of-the-moment motel room and the kids of course always love that.

It was a wonderful weekend and Chantry and I both had Monday off work and enjoyed a Ranger ride on the incredibly beautiful day. We went with Chantry's dad and nephew, Wyatt. We rode out to 2000 Flushes (so pretty) and saw the freight train go right in front of us. The boys thought that was awesome. I love long weekends and super sad the Holidays are over :(

NEW YEAR, NEW BEGINNINGS....

I love the New Year and just feeling like you have a fresh start to whatever you want. I am not making resolutions this year, but just plan on being a better me: A better wife, a better mom, a better sister, a better friend, a better auntie, better spiritually, better physically. Just a better me! That is the best any of us can ever do anyway right?!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Last Blog of the Year and a quick recap

2011-12-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

2011 has been great to us!!

Channer started his 2nd year of preschool. Loving it and getting smarter and smarter every day. He is growing like a weed. He is growing out of all of his clothes I bought him to start school in September. It is sad, but oh how I love watching him grow. He still loves TV, books, Cars stuff, monster trucks. He is still not a good eater. I was hoping after he turned 5 that would change a bit, but nope. He still loves his routines and does not like when things are different than they should be (like when he doesn't have school on the days he should). He is still grandma's boy and just loves when she comes to visit.

Chestyn is trouble. There is no other way to put it. He is very good comapred to many 2 year olds I have heard about, but he is still way more trouble than Channer ever was. He still does not like TV much and it is hard to get him to sit through a book. He loves cars, trucks, or anything with wheels. He loves his daddy!!! He is soooo full of it and says super cute things all day that make us laugh. He can't wait until he is 3 so he can go to school like Channer. He is all about routine too. At night, when we do our bedtime routine...we brush our teeth, read a book, and then pray. If dad is not in his exact spot when we pray, Chestyn throws a fit. I have to hold Chestyn when we pray. If we start praying and everything is not exactly how he wants it, he will keep interrupting the prayer, so we have to make sure it is just right. Then, I tuck him in and we go through the same things every night...our conversation goes like this:

Mom: Goodnight, love you.
Channer and Chestyn: Goodnight, love you.
Mom: See you in the morning.
Channer and Chestyn: See you in the morning.

I walk out and Chestyn always yells for me.

Chestyn: Did Ladd shoot all the monsters, aliens, ghosts, skeletons and bears.
Me: Yes he shot them all.

If we are lucky this will satisfy him, but most nights he yells for dad and dad has to go through the whole monsters, aliens, ghosts, skeletons and bears thing too.

Love it!!! I get frustrated, but then afterwards I can't help but smile and think how cute it is.

Chantry has had a great year this year too. His job at Con-Way is going well. He keeps busy and that is all we could ask for...we just have the extra added bonus that he has a job where he works Monday through Friday during the day. Really, we are blessed. He has been working lots on his Jeep. It is his "hobby" right now. Therefore, the boys love the jeep too and work on their toys and pretend to climb like their daddy with their toy jeeps. He is such a great dad and wonderful husband!

I am still doing MT work from home and loving every minute of it. It is such a blessing to work from home and see my boys. There are of course hard days, but I sure do feel blessed. I am still watching Charlee on Mondays and Charlee and Canyon on Wednesdays. It keeps me busy, but it is so fun for the boys to have a couple days with cousins over.

Our weekends are still full of playing most of the time. I love that we are always up for an adventure and so spur of the moment. It makes life fun! We have a wonderful family with far more ups than downs and not a complaint in the world. We are so blessed to have each other and our wonderful siblings, parents, friends, etc.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas once again this year. We are so blessed!

Friday we went to the Tuacahn to see the Live Nativity. It has kind of become a tradition the last couple of years. I forgot my camera, so no pics.

Saturday, we had a great day out at Chantry's dads for our Christmas party. My camera had horrible lighting there and a lot of my pictures are blurry. I really want a new nice camera (some day).

We all got out there in the afternoona nd we started by decorating some cookies and making some treats for the people at the care center.

Elli and Canyon

Channer winking at me ;)

Charlee

Jessi

Christmas Eve would not be the same without a little karaoke.

Stetson

Channer, daddy and Ches

We headed over to the care center and sang some songs and brought our goodies.

Then back to Grandpa's to wait for Santa to get here.

Braxton

Tyrell

Stetson

Casey

Elli

Clain

Channer

Charlee

Chestyn

Jessi

Then we played the roll the dice and open the present game. The kids had a lot of fun with this one (and the adults too)

Then it was time to open presents.

We were all spoiled as usual. Grandma got the boys a big bag full of clothes and monster trucks. They have played nonstop with the monster trucks that move. Big hit! Grandpa got the boys new cowboy hats, super cute.

We then had a yummy dinner. We did things kind of earlier than usual this year and so we just hung around and visited for a while.

Then it was off to our house to open our Christmas pj's and leave some cookies out for Santa. We did just that and the boys went right to sleep. I was so excited I don't think I slept more than 2 hours all night. I kept waking up and thinking about if I got everything ready or not. Thinking about if our boys were going to have equal presents, etc. etc. etc. Finally at 6:00 Chantry and I woke up the boys because we couldn't wait any longer.

They were soooo spoiled, but several times throughout the day Channer would say we were celebrating Christmas for Jesus' birthday. So at least he knew that Christmas is not just about the presents. I love my boys. I wish I would have videod them opening presents. Chestyn had something cute to say after every present. Channer was a little turkey and far less appreciative than he needed to be. He would open one present and look for the next to open. Chestyn wanted to play with each one he opened and was surprised we just kept giving him more and more.

I think the boys really loved everything they got. Chestyn asked Santa for a backpack. He loved the one Santa brought him. He got a spiderman one with wheels. He also loves his train table, Magna-Doodle, ABC fridge magnets, puzzles, play doh, and even his new clothes mom and dad got for him.

Saying Channer loves his Innotab is an understatement. He still has not put it down. He can read books, play games, draw pictures, etc. He can also watch movies and listen to music after I get some downloaded. He also really liked his cars toys, puzzles, clothes and new coat. They have been nonstop playing with all their new stuff the last few days. I even put a few things up in their closet shelf that they haven't taken out of the boxes yet. Spoiled indeed. They are worth it!

The boys are not the only ones that were spoiled around here either. Chantry spoiled me. I got my Shark Steam and Vac I have been wanting forever, some cute sweaters, my bear I get every year, and a stocking full of surprises. I got Chantry a Garmin, a new pillow, socks, underwear, and a stockign full of stuff...ya, I am not too exciting.

Christmas tradition carried on and we went out shooting. It was tons of fun, even if my arm is still bruised up :) The weather was great. Not very Christmasy, but great for shooting.

Wyatt and Laramy

Hotty Chantry

Chantell and Chantry

Cute Cowboy Channer

Cute Cowboy Chestyn

The rest of the day was spent out at Grandpa's. We ate more food, watched 17 Miracles (Chantry's mom gave us all this movie for Christmas).

It was a wonderful Christmas for sure. I had all the stuff packed and put away by 10:00 the next morning. I sure do love Christmas, but I just love how clean and fresh your house feels once it is all put away too. I am so grateful for the family I have surrounding me, especially during the holidays. Hope everone enjoyed their Christmas.

Jeepin' at Three Peaks

2011-12-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago, we went out with a few of our friends to Three Peaks to go Jeepin. It is a lot of fun for the guys to climb the rocks, while us ladies visit at the bottom and the kids play. We usually stick to the mountain trails, much more fun for me, but it is fun to go out climbing now and then :) I took a couple videos and they are HILARIOUS but I can't get them to upload from my camera for some reason. The boys are in the background yelling "Go daddy go" and "Get to the very top" stinkin cute!

Somebody always has to break down or have problems and this time it was Sandy's turn.

December faves so far.....

2011-12-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

*Search & Rescue Christmas party (or really a night out with my husband and a yummy steak)
*Having a 5 year old who is as cute as they get.
*Maverik Hot Chocolate (seriously yummiest, but not helping with the weight I am sure)
*Having a 2 year old that likes to tell people he is 5.
*Couples Bunko....Ang and Jason held the December one and boy did they go all out. Yummy food...great prizes....fun white elephant gifts. Love my bunko group.
*A day of shopping in St. George while kids played with Aunt Chan...oh and Olive Garden.
*Christmas cards in the mail. Favorite...so not sure why I slack so bad at it.
*Christmas count downs with my kids. We made chains. Channer gets so excited to pull one off every day...Chestyn pulls a few off every day in hopes that Christmas will be here sooner.
*Driving around looking at Christmas lights
*A nice unexpected Christmas bonus...a very generous one at that.
*Sledding with the boys.
*Twilight (or actually just a night out with hubby). The movie was a bit cheesy for me, but of course, have to watch em all. Besides that, the preview for Hunger Games got me all excited.
*Watching my neighbor come home with the 222. I have lived here for almost 8 years and don't even know my neighbors names...sad I know. But I watched from my window as three little boys and a wife greeted their soldier with open arms and huge smiles. I cried! I don't even know these people, but I know they are good and am grateful not only for his sacrafice to serve our country, but his wife's as well. I could never be an army wife.
*Chantry having some vacation days he has to take and being home.

I love the holidays and just cannot wait for the next few weeks. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Chantry buys me a bear every year for Christmas...not sure where I am going to put them all 50 years from now, but I sure do love the tradition.

Christmas chains...blurry picture.

And he turns 5....

2011-12-04T10:57:00.001-07:00

I have came to the conclusion that you can't stop them from growing up, so just enjoy it. I have had a hard time wtih Channer turning 5. I may or may not have shed a little tear when the night before Channer's birthday he said, "Mom, give me one last hug as a 4-year-old".

For weeks Channer has been so excited to turn 5, been counting down the sleeps, bragging to everone that he is going to be 5. It has become a tradition to put balloons and streamers leading to their presents. Channer loved it. Of course he was up at about 6:30 (really not unsual on any given day) and was excited to find his balloons and presents.

He was so excited for his new scooter. Problem is, it has snowed LOTS and it will be a long time before he can ride it outside, so I let him have it inside his entire birthday. Drove me crazy, but what do you do.

I just love this kid. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He told me cheese and bread...not a grilled cheese...but just cheese and bread. After I told him that he could pick somewhere to eat if he wanted, he chose Sizzler. So the night of his birthday, we met up with Grandpa, Aunt Chan, Ladd and family at Sizzler and had a birthday dinner. All day on his birthday, he kept telling me..."I can do whatever I want cause its my birthday" and "I can have whatever I want because its my birthday". I am a bit of a softy and pretty much that is true.

Saturday, Channer had his big birthday party bash. He wanted a pirate party...so a pirate party we had. It was a lot of fun. I could go crazy with birthday parties if I had the money. It adds up so fast though. I think Channer had a great time with his family and friends and the party was a hit!

Invitations

Captain Channer and his first mate Pirate Chestyn

We had a houseful and it was so fun! I love to have company over. It gets a little crazy for a while and the house gets trashed, but I love it! A big thanks to my friend, Sara, who just threw a pirate party for her little boy and gave me ideas AND shared her templates with me :)

Pin the X on the map.

The kids loved playing pin the X on the map. We had them spin around for how old they are...and it was quite funny to see some of them stick the X on my fridge or dishwasher :)

Brodie

Charlee

Charlee with a little help in the right direction.

Canyon

Chestyn

All the kids got a pirate tattoo.

Tasia

Channer

Kinsley

Charlee

Then we did a treasure search. I got a little creative with this because of course we have a foot of snow outside, so we had to do it in my garage. I went cheap and did saw dust instead of sand too. The kidS LOVED it. My house was full of saw dust after, but so worth it. The kids had a blast!

Had a little bucket just for Chestyn, Charlee, and Skyler

Then it was time for presents!

Of course all the friends helped open presents!

Channer got quite the haul...lots of friends and family who love him and gave him some awesome stuff!

Then it was time for cake, icecream, and Dead Man's Punch.

Make a wish...he gets sooo shy when all attention is on him.

I was so excited, my sister, Marie, and her family surpised me and showed up. The weather was horrible here, so I had sent all my family in Richfield the memo to not come. She decided to try coming anyway and she was so glad she did because she said the roads and sky were clear the whole way, except 5 minutes outside of Cedar.

Deloy and Dylon.

Canyon, Brodie and Stetson.

Charlee, Derek, Weston, Ryann and Kinsley

This one is for Tawnya and Sandy...Brodie would make you proud. She spent the time tackling the boys :)

Cute cousins, Chestyn and Charlee

We had some time left after the party, so they took full advantage of the toy room and destroyed it! :)

After the party, this is where I found Channer and Chestyn!

The party was a success. Thanks to all that came.

To my Channer,

I am so proud to be your mom. You are still such a great kid. I know most moms think their kids are good kids, but seriously, buddy, you are a GREAT kid. You are such a smarty and surpise me daily with the things you say and do. You are growing up on me and while it makes me super sad, it also makes me super happy to see what a great boy you are becoming and I just love every new stage. You are still a "rule follower" and I hope you stay that way. You are a great brother and those moments in the day when you two get along so well are my favorite moments.

You still love anything Cars. Your favorite thing to do right now is count and add. You are super good at it too. I love that you put your mind to things and do them. You can count to 100 with a little help here and there, but for the most part you got it. You add things all day and will tell me, "Mom, did you know 4 + 6 = 10" and different additions all day long! You are getting good at sounding out things and one of your favorite games to play with me right now is asking me things like, "If banana started with a d it would be danana and if Chestyn started with an S it would be Sestyn".

Thanks for being so much fun. Thanks for being just who you are. Stop being afraid to be who you are around other people though, because I promise they will love who you are as much as I do.

Never forget how much your mom and dad love you. We are your biggest fan and will always be chearing you on. Chestyn is a BIG fan of yours too....never forget he is your best friend.

Love you my Chan Man!

Mommy

Give Thanks!

2011-12-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, as usual. It was our turn to go to Chantry's side this year. We went to Grandma Irva's house. Of course yummy food and good company. I did not take any pictures, but we sure did have a great time. We spent most of the day over at Grandma Irva's and then I was scheduled to work a short shift from 4-6 that day, so we headed over to Chantry's moms so I could work.

Friday, the boys headed with the Brindley side of the family to go get Christmas trees. I had to work. (so grateful I can work wherever, so I didn't have to travel all the way home and all the way back, I just worked from Marcia's house). The boys came back and had so much fun and found a beautiful tree.

Friday night, we made snow globes. The kids loved it....and even Chantry made himself a snow globe.

Channer and Charlee

Channer's turned out sooo cute. :)

Mr. Crafty ;)

The kids love playing computer games over at Grandma's house.

Grandma sang the kiddos to sleep

Saturday, we headed out to Pine Lake again for those who didn't get a Christmas tree to find one and for the kids to play in the snow. Channer got to drive us the whole way there. He did sooo good too. Chantry hardly touched the wheel.

There was not a ton of snow, but we found a pretty good little kid sled hill and they loved it....Channer would come down and run back up as fast as he could.

Chessy got to drive on the way home...but he fell asleep.

We had a fun mexican dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Wiley's house on Saturday night. That is a fun tradition they have started.

Sunday, we met up with our friends, Marcus and Keshia, for breakfast and then headed home. It was a fun time had by all. I just love Thanksgiving and love that the holidays follow quickly after. It is sneaking up on me this year and I have not even began to start shopping, but I still can't wait for Christmas and New Years and more time with family.

Blessings....

2011-11-24T09:14:00.001-07:00

I cannot let the day pass me by without counting a few of my blessings. I have so much to be grateful for.

....First and for most, I am grateful for my little family of four. I could not ask for a better husband or kids.
....I am so thankful for my siblings and the wonderful friends they are to me now that we are older. I am so grateful they all picked wonderful spouses to marry as well.
....I am thankful for my parents. Now that I am a parent myself, I have a whole new gratitude towards them and all that they did for me growing up.
....I am so grateful for my in-laws. Secretly, I married Chantry because I knew he had a great family. ;)
....I am thankful for my job and the opportunity to work from home. I love being home with my kids and helping financially.
....I am thakful for Chantry's job and thankful that I have a hard-working husband.
....I am very grateful that we have a roof over our head and food on the table.
....I am thankful for reliable vehicles.
....I am so grateful for good friends and that we live in a good community.

I have so much more to be thankful for, but those are some of my biggest blessings. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Introducing the "C group"

2011-11-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

These kids crack me up. Channer and Canyon are the music makers and Charlee and Chestyn are the dancers. Canyon called them the C Group because they all start with C. So CUTE!!!

Things that make me smile.....

2011-11-20T09:29:00.002-07:00

Of course the #1 thing that makes me smile is my boys! I have good boys. I am soooo blessed! Sure Chestyn and I butt heads a dozen times a day, but he makes me smile far more than that in a day, so it makes up for it. Yesterday Chestyn was being a little turkey (again) and I said who are you, a little monster...he said back to me "I'm Chessie and I am 2"....well that explains it all, he really is a monster, but a very normal 2 year old and I love it. Channer on the other hand challenges me as well several times a day, but mostly because he is too smart for his own good. Everythng is a bargain for him these days....I will do this IF you buy me this.....He is only 4 and already has too much of his dad's bargaining skills. I am just surpised he hasn't learned how to use KSL and Craig's List yet ;) They make me smile!!

I had a big smile on my face the other night when Chantry suggested we go to The Sound of Music at Parowan High School. I know mucisal plays are not completely up Chantry's alley, but I love that he will show interest in my interests. I might add that we only made it to intermission because, well, we had a very tired 4 and 2 year old that were fast asleep before intermission, so we headed home. Half was good enough for me though.

I was super missing family and I got a small fix yesterday when we made a quick trip to Richfield. We went to lunch with my mom, had a good visit with Sarah while I got some nice baby lovin time on my adorable niece Taylor. Stopped by and saw Hartly and Yumei (missed Branda and Celina). We made our way to my dad's house. So good to visit with them. AND we got to see my nephew, Cody. We missed Marie. So got to see most of the family in Richfield...now I am already counting down the days til our Christmas party to see the rest of the fam. My sister, Sarah, goes in for surgery tomorrow. Hope all goes well.

My cute little sitter/niece, Mackayla, makes me super smile. She is the best babysitter ever. We had her babysit a few weeks ago so that we could go to a movie. We come home to a cleaner home, kids bathed and in pj's. She brings her "babysitter" bag with her everytime full of books and toys for the kids. They love her....so much that when we asked the boys if they want to go to a kids movie or have Mackayla babysit so that we can go to a movie, they pick her! Hopefully we can borrow her again this week so we can go to Breaking Dawn. Yes, I am that wife that drags her husband to the Twilight Saga.

Netflix! It makes me smile. It wastes a lot of my time. There are so many shows I still plan to watch on there. I am currently catching up on Vampire Diaries. I watched the first season on CW, but for some reason it never recorded after that....so catching up. Started Sister Wives...not too far into it...kind of creeps me out a bit...but very entertaining to say the least.

Maverik pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are back and that makes me smile. The fat roll I am not helping around my waist line on the other hand is not making me smile, but that is what workouts at the church are for right?!

Proud mamma visit to the doctor for my kids' well checks...that makes me smile. Maybe those doctors just lie and tell us how great our kids are because we pay them a pretty penny, but it works nonetheless. I walk out of that doctors office proud to be a mamma of two adorable boys every time. Their stats always make me smile too...especially Channer's because I spend so much time worried about him not eating that when I go and see stats like this.....
(4 years 11 months)
Weight 43.10 (78%)
Height 44 (82%)

I know I can relax a bit because he is above average on both.

Chestyn is right there with Channer on stats too.
(30 months)
Weight 32.14 (81%)
Height 37 1/4 (85%)

All the pictures below make me smile!! They are off my phone.

We had cookis for breakfast (ya I am an awesome mom)

With the time change, my boys have been getting up at 6. Channer was so tired one night that we walked in the house from getting those yummy pumkin chocolate chip cookies I talked about from Maverik and he plopped right on the couch and fell asleep like this.

The dog chases Channer and Chestyn to the couch and barks. Love my naked boys! :)

Channer is getting so good at writing his name. He writes his name all day and draws his people. They are adorable! He draws a big head and he does not like just a stick belly, it has to be round with a belly button. So cute!

This poor dog!

They are nice to him sometimes though.

Sorry Ladies that your man is not as good as my man....I got these flowers a few weeks ago, just because I was having a bad day. I love my husband!

This is the view from my computer desk. I have it set up so that I can see the boys play outside while I work.

Boys fighting in the back of the car :)

More view from my work desk. The thought crosses my mind SEVERAL times a day that I wouldn't be able to see these cute boys playing if I were not able to work from home.

More of Channer picking on Chestyn....sometimes he is a good sport.

It was hat day at preschool and this is the hat Channer chose to wear.

Channer is just like Ches with routine...the second Channer leaves for school, Ches asks for his pillow pet, blanky, milk and dog...and he takes a nap. I am soooo lucky he still takes a nap. (most of the time).

Channer covers Chinny with towels when he is sleeping

Halloween picture of the kids with cousins at Uncle Fred's house.

Trying on cowboy hats.

Before grooming......

.....after grooming! Much better.

Our dog was almost a gonner! Chestyn is far less than nice to him most of the time. We had strongly debated whether a dog was good for us right now. All who read my blog, know that we are not homebodies. We leave almost every weekend. It is kind of a pain to take our dog with us. I put him for sale on KSL. We sold him. Had it all set up to meet up and give the little guy to another family. We backed out. I guess we like him more than we thought. Channer especially. He was super sad! We are still trying to figure out exactly what to do with him when we go places. Like Thanksgiving....at Chantry's moms this weekend. It will be a pain to have him, and I am sure other people don't love us dragging our dog along, but not sure what else to do with him. He is to young to leave at a boarding place yet, I think. So all you people with dogs, what do you do when you have to go places? Chinny is staying and we kind of like him, so guess we have to figure it out :)

Sorry about the long update, but it has been a while. Life is good! Our jobs are good! Family is well! Couldn't ask for more (except maybe a winter home in Hawaii).

Working on the cabin

2011-11-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, we headed to Antimony so that Chantry could get some work done at the cabin. It was a pretty accomplishing weekend. Chantry got some new stairs built for the back door and our gates put up at the entry way. We had a septic tank put in and our water hooked up. We will be getting power and gas here very soon and then we can finally stay in our cabin. We haven't put a lot into it for a while, but are really wanting it to get done now.

While Chantry was working, we spent the day at Grandma's. She has a ton of leaves and the kids had a BLAST playing in them. They buried each other, had leaf fights, jumped in them, wrote their name with sticks. We played out in the leaves for a good 2 hours and they were in heaven. When we left our house Saturday morning, we had a few inches of snow and the boys were super excited to play in the snow. I thought there would be snow in Antimony, so we packed the snow clothes, boots, etc...and when we got there, they had no snow. Good for Chantry to work on the cabin....good for me because I don't love snow...but the kids were a bit sad, UNTIL they got to play in the leaves and they were as happy as can be.

We ended up staying the night despite the fact that we had not packed or planned to stay. The kids loved it of course.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

We had another fun Halloween. I don't think the boys were disappointed a bit. The Friday before Halloween, of course we had to go to the Halloween Carnivals at the car dealerships. Channer chose to be Spider Man this year and Chestyn chose to be Stitch. Luckily, I have an awesome sister-in-lawe who has about every costume you can imagine and she borrowed them to me again. (Thanks Malia).

The Sunday before, we finally got around to carving pumpkins. We waited so long to get pumpkins and did not make it to a pumpkin patch this year, so we were left with little tiny pumpkins, but they turned out cute.

On Halloween day, Channer had a little costume parade and program at his school. Luckily, Chantry had a slower day at work and was able to make it too. Grandma also came. Of course, Channer just stood up there as shy as can be, did not sing one word and did not do one action, despite the fact that he has been singing his songs to me at home. In turn, Chestyn probably sang more than Channer did and got so excited when he heard all the familiar songs Channer has been teaching him. Channer looked super cute anyhow and I love that stinker!

I had to get back to work after the program, but just as soon I finished up, we got ready and trick-or-treated the neighborhood.

Then, met up with all the cousins and trick-or-treated.

Channer and Stetson

Lastly, we headed to Grandpa's where the kids filled up their candy buckets.

All in all, it was another great Halloween. The kids loved having Grandma stay with them for 3 night afterward too. :)

Hunting Weekend Numero Dos

2011-11-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Although, I did not get the big buck I was hoping for, we had a fun weekend hunting with the boys and grandpa. We just stayed over in the Cedar area. On the Thursday during the hunt, we woke up to this.....

A little snow. They boys of course woke up first thing and played in it...good thing cause it did not last long. I was hoping that is the weather I would have to go hunting in.

Saturday, they boys woke up and were ready to go by 6 a.m. We rode up over Brian Head and onto Cedar Mountain since 14 is closed.

We hunted all day Saturday and all day Sunday....with no luck. Only saw one two point and I kind of regretted not shooting it after we did not see anything else.

Hunting Weekend in Antimony

2011-10-25T08:33:00.000-06:00

These first couple pictures are just some cute ones that I have taken and if I dont include them in this post, I will probably forget to post them.

The kids are still loving their dog, especially Channer.

Love this picture!

Two VERY cute boys!

We had a great weekend in Antimony hunting. I drew my first deer tag this year and so this has been my first hunt. So far, so fun! I have not shot anything yet, but hopefully by next weekend. Ladd got a 3 point and we saw a TON of deer.

We brought Chinny over with us for the weekend and he got stepped on by a horse. He still hasn't put any weight on his leg, but I dont think it is broken.

I have decided that hunting is a lot like that fishing song (She thinks we're just fishing) because it is a lot more about just riding on the mountain, making memories, and having fun. Of course you hope you get a big buck, but mostly it is just fun.

The boys checking out Ladd's deer he got.

The boys always have the best time with Grandma. She make things so fun. When we got to her house Friday night, she was at work....but she of course had her kitchen full of goodies for the kids.

She painted their faces a couple times. So stinkin cute!!

I did not take a lot of pictures this weekend, but we sure did have a good time.

Thanks to my AWESOME mother in law for watching the kiddos and making their weekend fun as well as ours. I just have to say that I have the BEST mother in law in the world. I am not just saying this because I know she reads my blog. I just want her to know how thankful I am to have her. Not only did she watch the boys all weekend, she took the dog too. AND we came home from hunting to a house full of yummy chili, enchiladas, pumkin cookies, pumpkin dessert, homemade bread, etc.

She is AMAZING!!! Some of my favorite things about her are that she NEVER forgets a birthday. She is always the first to call, even on our anniversary. I love that she always makes us feel welcome. We go to her house and pretty much destroy it for the weekend and she always just makes us feel at home. I love that she put in every effort to make it to all the grandkids things, soccer, dance, school stuff, church stuff, whatever it may be, she puts in an effort. That is not only important to the kids, but to their parents as well. I love that she is always trying to get us together for more fun. We will be at one thing all together and she is planning for the next. I love that she makes my boys feel like they are so important. They love her! and that is an under statement. I am so lucky to have such a great mother-in-law. So to all of you mother-in-law haters...sorry I can't relate. :) Thanks for being so good to us!

Hopefully my next post is about the monster buck I am gonna shoot ;)

Our New Puppy!!!

2011-10-07T07:52:00.000-06:00

Sunday morning we headed over to Tooele to get our puppy. We had picked him out a few weeks ago when we were there. The boys were super excited. I was super excited. Chantry not so much. He has started to like him a bit more though. The boys are absolutely loving him. Channer named him Chinny. Wherever Channer is, you will probably find Chinny.

So far he has been a pretty good dog. He has had a couple accidents in the house, but for the most part has been pretty good. He is a chewey dog, but hopefully we can break him of that before he can start destroying stuff. Puppies are a lot of work, but it is super fun for my boys....oh what a mother will do for her kids LOL. I have never been a fan of animals or dogs too much, but I read this quote "Every boy should have two things: A dog and a mother willing to let them have a dog.

He is a purebred Shih Tzu. They are nonshedding and really good with kids. So hopefully he will be a good dog.

When I was reading up on how to house train a puppy I came across this and thought it was so cute.

"HOW TO PREPARE FOR A NEW PUPPY"

* Pour cold apple juice on the carpet in several places and walk around barefoot in the dark.
* Wear a sock to work that has had the toes shredded by a blender.
*Immediately upon waking, stand outside in the rain and dark saying,"Be a good puppy, go potty now - hurry up - come on, lets go!"
* Play "catch" with a wet tennis ball.
* Run out in the snow in your bare feet to close the gate.
* Tip over a basket of clean laundry, scatter clothing all over the floor.
* Leave your underwear on the living room floor, because that's where the dog will drag it anyway. (Especially when you have company.)
*Jump out of your chair shortly before the end of your favorite TV program and run to the door shouting, "No no! Do that OUTSIDE!" Miss the end of the program.
* Gouge the leg of the dinning room table several times with a screwdriver -it's going to get chewed on anyway.
* Take a warm and cuddly blanket out of the dryer and immediately wrap it around yourself. This is the feeling you will get when your puppy falls asleep on your lap.

Although I did not do any of the following to "prepare" myself for a puppy, I thought it was soooo funny and hopefully none of them become true.

I must love you boys!! Remember that!!

Lagoon/Frightmares

2011-10-07T07:28:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we went to Frightmares at Lagoon. SOOOO FUN!!!!

We headed down Saturday morning and met up with Chantell, Marcia, Dusty and family at the motel. Then, we rode the shuttle over to Lagoon. We got there when the gates opened. The kids had so much fun. Both Chantry and I agreed they probably enjoyed it more than San Diego LOL. I think we have had our share of amusement parks for the year.

Ladd, Marnie and their family met us their too.

Channer's very first ride was The Bat. I could not remember what it was like for sure and was worried it might have been too scary for him....but he was a champ and even wanted to go again, so we did.

I do not like the spinny rides...so Chantry took the boys on them by himself. I think this one was a little much for Chestyn, but he didn't complain too much.

We headed over to the kiddy rides and Chestyn LOVED it!! Channer said "Do I have to ride all these little kid rides?" He secretely loved them too, but was trying to act like he was a big kid.

I love Frightmare time because not only do you get Lagoon, but all the fun stuff to go with it. These witches were walking around the kiddy area passing out candy. They had a kid corn maze where you got candy and prizes and a walk through trick or treat for the kids.

We packed our cooler for lunch and took a break to eat in their picnic area.

Alan and Malia and their family met us at Lagoon. They have season passes and live about 5 minutes away. It was fun to see them for a few minutes even though all they did was watch our kids so we could go through a haunted house and took some pictures of us going on the log ride. Loved seeing them though. While we were on one of the rides Malia took some pics with my camera :)

We stayed at Lagoon until about 9:30. The kids had so much fun. Channer said his favorite ride was the train and Chestyn said his favorite ride was the planes.

After Lagoon, we headed back to the motel and went swimming. Made for a super late night, but we had so much fun. Thanks Marcia for taking us all to Lagoon!!

Weekend in Review

2011-09-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

We spent the weekend at home and it was a good one. I was supposed to have a fun Mesquite weekend with my friends from high school, but it fell through, so we ended up just having a weekend at home and it was a lot of fun.

*We shampood our carpets, much needed!
*Marcus and Keshia came to town. Keshia had a booth at a botique. Good to see them.
*I went to lunch with my friends, Mandy and Shalee. Since Mesquite fell through, we decided lunch would have to do.
*Grandma came. She brought big jars of change for the kiddos to cash in, so they will have money for Lagoon next weekend. (Grandma spoils them and us).
*We went to Canyon's soccer game. It was her last game, so glad we could make it to at least one of her games.
*I lucked out and got to spend some more time with Shalee while she was here, we had dinner with Mandy and Mike, Chace and Stachia, Chantell, and Shalee, and of course the kids.
*We made it by to my friend, Tawnya's house. She had invited us to a BBQ, but since we had friends from out of town here, we hung out with them and just stopped by their house for an hour or so.
*Channer had his 1st real sleep over without mom and not at Grandma's or Aunt Chantell's. He slept over at Canyon's. He had a blast. I worried. Chestyn asked about him lots and of course mom,dad, and Ches had a little sleepover of our own on our living room floor so that Chestyn wouldn't feel left out.
*Breakfast Sunday morning at American Diner. Yummy and cheap!
*Family pictures and went on the mountain with friends. Super fun. I did not get a lot of great pics, just wasn't feeling the whole picture taking thing for some reason, but got a few.
*Jeep ride with the fam! Love it!!

That was basically our weekend. Even when we stay home, we are running all over the place. I did not take any pictures all weekend, except for the ones on the mountain of our family.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

P.S. Channer went to his first "real" birthday party today too...you know, the kind where the parents dont stick around. :( He was so excited and he came home super excited to tell me that he broke the pinata. What do you do when your kids grow up on ya? I'm not ready!

San Diego Vacation

2011-09-20T19:55:00.000-06:00

This might be an extremely long post, and I took a million pictures, but when you only take a vaction once a year you tend to have a lot to talk about and take a ton of pictures. We went back and forth several times trying to decide whether to go to Yellowstone or San Diego this year for our family vacation. We finally had decided on San Diego....after reading a few of our friend's blogs about going to Yellowstone recently, I thought I might regret the decision. I did not regret it a bit though. Our kids were at a good age for SeaWorld and San Diego. They probably would have had a lot of fun at Yellowstone too, but I think we made a good decision. I am not a fan of cold either and so Yellowstone is going to have be a trip we go to in the mid summer!

Our vacation started Tuesday, September 13th. After work, we headed to Vegas and stayed at Charla's house. It was nice to see her and visit with her for a bit, but we basically got there just in time to go to bed.

Wednesday morning, we got up and headed to San Diego. This is what it looked like in Vegas when we left. Flood!! I was so worried that our whole trip would consist of rain.

The boys were excited for our vacation. Uncle Tom gave Chestyn this hat...he wore it most of the way to San Diego, so funny.

We couldn't have asked for better weather or timing to take our vacation. It was overcast most of the time, but made it very enjoyable and not too hot. It was in the 70s most of the time...perfect.

When we first got to San Diego, we checked into our motel. I got our motel on priceline for pretty cheap, so it always worries me with what we will end up with, but our motel was nice. Nothing fancy, but nice. It was located in a perfect spot too, very close to everything we went to. After checking into the motel, we headed over to Seaport Village/Embarcadero. I am pretty sure this was Chantry's favorite part of the whole vacation. He loved seeing all the Navy ships. We walked around and just enjoyed the view. San Diego was much prettier than I expected. I had not been there since I was about 12.

There were so many people running along the pier and if I lived in San Diego, I would love that.

If you make funny faces, they will be added to the blog! Just a warning!

We were pretty tired from driving and walking, so awe headed back to our motel and relaxed and went to bed quite early.

The next day, September 15th....SeaWorld. Honestly, there were a few times Chantry and I wondered if the kids even cared if we were on vacation. Channer just has the personality that he doesn't show a lot of emotion and Chestyn has the personality that he is so all over the place....but in the end, I think they both loved it and if they didn't, I sure did, so it was worth it.

Penguins

Whale

Polar Bear

Walrus

The sea lion and otter show. This was my favorite show there.

Whale show....we were SOAKED by the end of this one.

Dolphin show. Channer loved the divers.

The Boys and Shamu

Finally a smile....cause we are finally riding some rides.

Ready for the 3D Sesame Street movie

We had such a fun day at SeaWorld. Like I said, we picked a great time to go. There really was hardly anyone there and the wather was absolutely perfect!!

We headed back to the motel, had some ice cream and went swimming.

Our home for 4 nights.

Friday, September 16th, we headed to San Diego Zoo. Once again, couldn't have picked a better day to go....the overcast and cool weather made it so most of the animals were out and we didn't die walking through the huge zoo.

Ready for our bus tour

Not even sure what this thing was.

The Panda Bears were my favorite

Chestyn preferred to puch the stroller around and cause trouble. :)

We got so close to the elephants. They were putting their trunks out right by us.

Trying a little massage out.

Taking a break for lunch.

Once again, funny faces will be put on our blog :)

The zoo was fun and so tiring. So, we headed back to the motel and relaxed again before going to dinner. The boys love staying in a motel, as do I. They loved wresting on the beds and of course jumping from bed to bed.

Before dinner, we drove over to Ocean Beach. It was very pretty. Not a great place for kids though. There were tons of rocks and cliffs.

Our last day in San Diego, September 17th, we headed over to Old Town San Diego and Mormon Batallion. This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. I love old places and learning history. Old Town is where the first building in San Diego are, where the first brick courthouse and oldest brick building in San Diego.

Courthouse

Jail Cell

Mormon Battalion

The kids loved panning for gold.

...and learning how to make bricks!

After, we headed to the beach. We drove by Pacific Beach and decided it was too crazy for kids....we drove by La Jolla and it looked a bit dangerous, so we headed over to Coronado Island and went to the beach there....it was perfect. Although the weather was perfect for zoo and SeaWorld, it was a bit cold at the beach. It was perfect for playing in the sand, but the water was freezing.

I loved how this motel was right on the beach...I want to stay in something like this next time we go.

We drove back by Seaport Village and Embarcadero to see the boats again.

Then we headed back to the motel. The kids were worn out and went to sleep great every night.

Sunday, September 18th, we got up bright and early (3 a.m California time) and headed home. I got the boys up and dressed while Chantry hauled luggage to the car. I got Channer all dressed, hat and all, and he climbed back in bed and went back to sleep.

Saying goodbye to San Dago (as Channer and Ches call it).

On our way home, we stopped in Vegas again to help Charla fix her roof. The boys had so much fun there....Chantry and I should have left them there and went on a cruise HA, just kiddng, they loved it and it wouldn't have been the same without my boys.

I asked Channer what his favorite part of the trip was and he said "Making that dolphin penny for Chestyn" (you know those souvinere machines that you put a penny in and they smash it and put a picture on it? That is what he was talking about). Funny that he said that and not making the one for him with the ship on it. Funny boy!

I asked Chestyn what his favorite part of the whole trip was and he said "The Bears" :)

Vacation with the family is so great. I love doing all the fun things we do with our extended families, but time alone with just our little family is much needed too.

Channer's 1st Day of Preschool-2nd year.

2011-09-18T20:31:00.000-06:00

Channer started his 1st day of preschool on the 12th. This is his second year in preschool since he is an early birthday. He will love being older in his class though, I always did.

I decided to take him to Ms. Wendy again this year. He loved her last year and she said she has a completely different ciriculum for her older kids. He was so excited to see Ms. Wendy on his first day.

Tasia

Kinsley

He has a few friends from last year in his class and that made him happy. He has only gone two days, but absolutely loved it. Chestyn was so sad the first day without Channer since we walked in the classroom, he wanted to stay. The second day, Chestyn stayed in the car while I ran Chestyn in and things went much smoother. He actually seemed quite happy at home for a few hours without Channer telling him what to do :). I am so proud of Channer and I know he will do great in school this year and hopefully be kindergarten ready.

On another note, I took these pictures the other day of the boys making fruit loop necklaces. I try to find little things for them to do while I work. Most of them involve me cleaning up a big mess after, but hey its fun for the kids.

Nielsen Family Reunion 2011

2011-09-18T20:15:00.001-06:00

This year for our Nielsen Reunion, my sister, Pateresa, was in charge. She had it at her house in Tooele and we had so much fun. She is such a great host. We had super yummy food. Lynn cooked everyone's meat up and it was delicious!! Of course when we all get together, we get a little crazy, but have so much fun together.

She rented a blow up water slide and we had sooooo much fun on it. Pretty sure the adults and older kids had more fun on it than the kids. Especially Chantry!!! He was hilarious! He was doing flips and all kinds of stuff.

At the end, we all went in the living room and watched a video that Lynn and Pateresa put together. It was of our family over the last few years. It was so fun to see all the fun things we do together. At time I feel like I hardly ever get to see my family, but after watching that video I feel so blessed that we can get together as often as we do. I also feel so lucky that we are all still in Utah at the time. I know so many families that don't get together like we get to. SO LUCKY!

Sunday morning, we went to Pateresa's ward to watch her speak in sacrament. She gave such a great talk and I am glad I got to be there to hear it.

Thanks Pateresa for doing a great reunion this year. Can't wait til we can get together again.

Labor Day weekend 2011

2011-09-08T07:39:00.000-06:00

Yet another fun holiday weekend. We had quite the adventure trying to find our camping spot. We intended to go to Yankee Meadow (best camping ever), but when we got done with work Friday night and headed up, there were no camping spots left, anywhere! (Guess everyone else thinks its the best camping ever too). So by then, it was too dark, so we headed off the mountain and started again in the morning.

We decided to go up Cedar Mountain and camp at Mitchell's Sawmill. We had a great time (as usual)! All of Chantry's family made it except Chace and his family. Always so fun to visit with everyone and have yummy camping food and go for lots of rides.

The kids of course had a blast and were filthy within minutes of getting out of the truck.

McKayla did Grandpa's makeup and I about died laughing!

The boys in the dirt, of course.

We had fun playing cards and doing puzzles.

McKayla made these cute hats for my boys.

I didn't get a lot of pictures camping because my batteries in my camera died on me. On Sunday we went for a ride over to Yankee. The ride from Red Desert to Yankee Meadow is probably one of the prettiest rides there is. When we got back from our ride, we had planned to stay late and have dinner and hang out a while, but it was starting to rain, so we packed up and headed home.

I was supposed to work on Monday, but things were slow, so we took the kids over to the fair and parade in Parowan. Chantry's mom stayed and the boys loved having some Grandma time.

These next two pictures are just some cute ones of my kids. Being crazy as usual!

They are little monkeys, never using things the way they are supposed to lol

Charlee, Channer, and Chestyn

I now get to watch Charlee on Mondays and Wednesdays. I pick Canyon up from school on Wednesdays since it is early-out day. The boys love having them here and so do I.

Taylor's Blessing

2011-09-08T07:07:00.000-06:00

My niece, Taylor, was blessed on August 27th. My brother, Bawb, gave her a name and blessing and did such a great job. Sarah had a luncheon afterwards and it was so fun to visit with everyone, plus the food was so yummy :)

We had such a great weekend spending time with everyone and my kids loved playing with their cousins. I loved snuggling baby Taylor and visiting with everyone.

Boys Will Be Boys!

2011-08-23T20:05:00.001-06:00

You know those incredibly adorable things your kids say that you hate to correct them on cause its just too cute? Well Chestyn is full of them right now! Seriously this boy is so funny right now. I have no idea where he gets half the stuff...stuff we don't say...stuff I don't hear Channer say....and this boy does not watch TV (although I wish he did sometimes), so where he comes up with the stuff I have no clue! Some of my favorite words out of the mouth of Chestyn right now are:

*Woofy- (what he calls a dog most of the time).
*Rolly polly-...he just says it so darn cute. Especially when he says "Channer, let's go find a rolly polly."
*Poky face- (when he hugs dad and he has poky face, it sounds more like poky faith though).
*Flip Flop.- Anyone who has been around us anytime lately knows this is a favorite of mine cause I try to get him to say it. His tounge comes out of his mouth with each word and it is hilarious!
*Come out come out wherever you are.- Now he says this super cute, but it really got me crackin up when he was saying this to his poop trying to get it to come out. HAHA!!
*I'll never become a real boy!-...we have a toy Pinochio from Shrek that says this and Chestyn has been walking around saying this lately. It took me a day or 2 to even figure out where he got it from.

Channer is full of it!! He is too smart for his own good and I know I say this in every post I write about the boys, but I swear to you, he is AMAZING!!! Every mom thinks their kids are amazing right? Well I don't just think it, I know it! Conceited? Maybe. With reason? I do believe so!

Some of my favorites out of the mouth of Channer lately are:

*You have got to be kidding me.- (This is one of those that was so funny the first few times and still is at times, but when he says it when I say he needs to clean up something or time for bed, etc., not so funny anymore)
*I'm awesom huh?- (Talk about conceited lol, hope you always think your awesome, Channer!)
*Those rhyme perfectly-....I think I mentioned a while ago that Channer loves rhyming. He still does and comes to me about 20 times a day to tell me a rhyme. I love it when he says "Those rhyme perfectly" afterwards.
*Gesundheit- (yes had to look up the spelling even). I sneezed the other day and Channer said this to me. I asked him where he learned such a word and he said, "everyone knows you say gesundheit to someone if they sneeze" Ummm...ok! Then, he followed with, "that weird looking fat guy on Seseme Street told me" HAHA, must be where he got it.
*Wholly Molly Rockin Rolly!- Sure this is another one from TV (Channer loves TV and we are working on "no TV days" around here because of it). So stinkin cute when he says this though.
*So Channer has been looking up his own shows on Netflix. He comes and asks me how to spell one of his favorite shows (right now Kipper, Wonder Pets, Garfield, and Pink Panther). I was so proud of him when he came to me the other day and asked if I could help him. He said, "I sounded out Kipper and tried to spell it, but it is not coming up" I went in and looked and he had kiper. I was super impressed that he had sounded it out. So today, he came and asked me if I could come help him find the Wonder Pets. He said "Mom, can you help me get Wonder Pets. I started it. I put a "1" because Wonder Pets starts with "one! Sure enough he had put the number 1! I love that his little brain even thinks enough to put stuff together like that!
*Chantry and I have been teasing him about how he is going to stay 4. I decided I better just let him turn 5 in a few months after he told us this morning that he will still love us no matter what! :)
*He is really looking forward to preschool starting again and I can't wait to see what he learns in the next year!

So as I was typing this, I look out my backdoor and see this!!!!! ~haven't stopped laughing~ I had to take a picture and add it to this post, goes perfect!

Some of my favorite boy quotes:

*****"A boy is a magical creature - you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can't lock him out of your heart.”
*****“Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout "Bang!"”
*****Young boys should never be sent to bed, they always wake up another day older.
****Being a mother of boys is hard work from son up to son down!
****Never underestimate a boy's ability to get into more trouble.

Duck Creek Days

2011-08-23T19:22:00.000-06:00

We had a fun weekend last weekend up at Duck Creek. We camped with Dusty and Ginger's family in the Duck Creek campground. We don't usually ever camp in a campground and it was pretty fun for a change. The kids had a blast riding their bikes, playing in the dirt, playing in their "hideout" they found, going for walks, etc. Us adults just enjoyed each other's company, good food, and watching the kids have fun! On Saturday, they had the Duck Creek Day and chili cook off, so we headed over to that for the day. Chantry's dad came and joined us for the day. That evening the camp host aka Crazy Humming Bird Lady, came and told a story by the campfire. It was a super fun weekend! I love camping!

Stetson and Channer always have so much fun together, afraid they are going to grow up to be trouble!

The boys became quite fond of Spot while we were there, amazing, they usually are FREAKED of dogs.

I love that my boys have cousins close to their age to play with :)

Trying to get Grandpa in their secret hideout.

Gotta love bounce houses and slides.

Saw lots of these pretty birds.

Channer loved having Stetson sleep in our trailer with us.

What's camping without yummy dutch oven?!?

Thank goodness for a trailer and shower when it comes to this boy!

McKayla, Channer, Stetson, Channer

The first 70 years are the hardest!

2011-08-10T08:16:00.001-06:00

This weekend we went to Antimony to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Wiley's 70th Anniversary!!! Can you believe it, 70 years!? That is quite an accomplishment in this day and age. The best part about it all is they are still so in love. They are so cute together!

We made it over there Friday night. Stayed up late and had a great time visiting.

Saturday morning Marcia and Sally did a yummy breakfast at her cabin for everyone. After breakfast, we headed down to the river to go tubin' down the river. It was SOOOOO much fun. There were about 20 of us and we had so much dang fun!! I can't wait to do it again. I wasn't able to get any pictures of us during our fun adventure, but I took a couple before.

Marcia kept the boys over at Roma's house where they played in the water there. I need to get my boys in swimming lessons so that I would feel safer about them going down the river with us because it really was so much fun, they would have loved it!

The girls (Canyon, Charlee, and Stachia) thought it would be fun to put makeup on my little boy!! Good thing he is cute no matter what!

Saturday night we had a fun BBQ at Roma's house. On the way from Marcia's to Roma's (only about 1 mile) The kids were all fast asleep in the back of the Ranger.

Yet another fun night with the Wiley bunch. All the kids put so much work into making Grandma and Grandpa's Anniversary special for them and it was a success!! The food was good, the kids had a blast with the candy cannon, and the company was especially fun!

Chy and Kamryn

After we were all done eating, Roma asked Grandma and Grandpa what there secret was to 70 happy years of marriage. I probably won't get this exactly right but Grandpa pretty much said, "I loved her and she loved me. I told her I wanted to marry her, but we can't live with each other and fight. My parents fought and her parents fought and we aren't going to do it" and Grandma chimed in with, "So we didn't" That sounds simple enough. Hopefully Chantry and I can always remember that and have a happy 70+ years ourself.

Everyone took family pictures with Grandma and Grandpa. I only got a few, but Charla is going to share with me and then I will post some more.

The Grandsons

Our little family....not cooperating.

The kids, minus Tom.

The Great Grandkids

Candy Cannon.

As you can see, Chestyn was quite excited for all the candy he got.

It was a very fun weekend. I had fun looking through all their photo albums and learning more about Grandma and Grandpa. Many of the kids, grandkids, and great grandkids wrote them a letter talking about memories they had. It was so fun to read. They are definitely wonderful parents and grandparents and I am so grateful to have married into the family and be able to be a part of such a special family.

Sunday I really wanted to go to church and attend testimony meeting with everyone, but we forgot our clothes :( Channer went to church with Grandma and the rest of us went for a Ranger ride up the mountain. I hate when fun weekends end...in our case that is every weekend. I love that we always have so much fun together as a family!

PIUTE COUNTY FAIR

2011-08-10T07:23:00.000-06:00

We try to make it to the Piute County Fair every year. It is always so much fun. This year we made it just in time for the parade on Saturday. The kids loved having yet another parade and TONS of candy.

Afterwards, we went and played at the park. They had all kinds of booths and the kids won lots of prizes. They had more fun on the free park play equipment though. :)

After some lunch and good singing entertainment at the park, we headed back to grandma's house to rest before the rodeo. Grandma bought this cute new picnic table and the boys loved sitting outside to eat their snacks.

The boys loved, loved, loved the rodeo. Especially the bulls. They were both soooo good and it was so fun to watch how excited they would get when someone would get bucked off a horse or a bull.

Channer loved just running back and forth in the dirt too. He would run with the horses as they would run, haha. He cracks me up!

After the rodeo Grandma was nice enough to take the boys back to her house to sleep while Chantry and I went to the dance. The dance is always so much fun!! Again, we are people watchers and that is definitely the place to do it LOL. We also had fun dancing a few times ourselves. Thanks Marcia for taking the kids so that they didn't have to watch all the crazies at the dance.

To my boys....

2011-07-28T08:10:00.002-06:00

I just want you boys to know what a pleasure it is to be your mom! I could not ask for better boys. I love waking up with you two every single morning. I try to think back about what your dad and I did before you boys were here, and we must have lead a pretty boring life, because you two are definitely what makes life good now. You guys have been getting along so well lately and I LOVE it. Of course you still fight a few times a day, but for the most part you get along. This summer, you two spend most of your days outside. In fact, I have to be mean mom and make you take a bath and eat breakfast before I open that back door and it just about kills you both.

Not a day goes by that I am not in for a good laugh from you guys. You two are always coming up with something. This might not be so good when you become teenagers and feed off each other, but for now it is usually harmless fun and brings a smile to my face.

Channer, I just love that you are so easy going. You have always been my "rule follower" and I love it. You are a great big brother to Chestyn and I couldn't have asked for a better example of an older brother. You have always acted much older than you are and sometimes I forget that you are only four. You are so easy to compromise with and usually it doesn't even take any compromising because you will do what your asked the first time. I hope this sticks! Although, you are trying to be the compromisee lately and you are pretty good at it. Too smart for your own good. Now, if you would just lay off the teasing of your brother a bit, we would be doing well. Chestyn absolutely adores you and I hope you can remember what mom tells you about a hundred times a day "You're brother is watching you, so be careful and make sure you are doing what is right" I am pretty sure I have to remind you of this A LOT to keep Chestyn from trying everything you try. You are such a fun kid and ther is no greater joy than being your mom.

You are getting way to smart on me. You were watching out the window the other day and saw the garbage truck coming. You said, "Hey Mom, it must be Tuesday, the garbage man is here." I love that you have such a good memory and remember things like this. You make notes all the time for grandma (I just need to be better at giving them to her). You are so kind hearted and I love you buddy! Come out of your shell a little and let people see the cute personality that dad and mom see every day.

Lining up his cars, this happens almost daily.

Lining up bikes and toys, loves to line things up.

Oh Chessy-Messy! You live up to your name sooooo well. You are always a mess!! Even right out of the bath you still smell like boy! You are ALL boy and it so cute! I am so in love with your sense of adventure. You will try anything that Channer does, and most the time things he won't try. I love that you can make me laugh so much. You need to be a little more careful with that tongue of yours though, kid. It is quite funny when you stick your tongue out at your aunts, uncles, cousins, mom and dad....but complete strangers in the grocery store and Grandma's and Grandpa's are another story. I think it is funny, but not sure everyone else does. I blame your personality on your dad...you are JUST like him. I am not saying that is a bad thing, I love it. You like to tease me way too much though. I am so proud of you. You have learned to potty in the toilet and have been diaper free for 3 days now. On Monday I told you to throw all of your diapers away and you did, and we have been accident free since. Way to go buddy!!! I love this stage of talking. You repeat everything we say (good and bad) but your little voice can turn the simplest phrases into the cutest thing we have ever heard.

Thanks boys for being mine!!! You are my whole world and I am such a proud momma. I know I probably brag way to much and cannot get away with friends or family or even your dad without talking about you two the whole time. I thank Heavenly Father every night that I have you guys and that I am able to work from home and be with you all day. I hope that one day you appreciate the fact that I made things work to be home with you. It is not an easy task you know, working 8 hours a day with two little hoodlums at your side trying to talk to you, while you are trying to hear the doctor say "Pneumonoultramicroscopiciliocovolcanoconiosis" (yes that is really a word), and getting up from my chair a thousand times to go in the living room and "watch this" or have to pause after I hear "Mom, mom, mom, mom" a million times (a title I proudly hold when it comes to you boys).

Guess what?! I wouldn't change it for the world. I love you boys and I hope you know it.

Love always,
Your Mommy

FUN WEEKEND IN RICHFIELD.

2011-07-26T19:55:00.000-06:00

(Many of my pictures are compliments of Pateresa...thanks sis)

We had a fun weekend in Richfield last weekend. We got to see this cute little girl again!!! I just love her, she is too adorable!

Friday night my sister, Sarah, was kind enough to have us all at her house for a BBQ. Everyone was there but my brother, Bawb, and his family. We missed you guys!

It was a great time. Chantry and I had to work Friday, so we got there just in time for dinner.

I am pretty sure I have the cutest nieces and nephews in the world. Not sure how Chantry and I were so lucky to have such cute nieces and nephews on both sides.

Jordyn, Rylee, Brylee, and Taylor

Cute teenage girls, Branda, Celina, and Kaylee.

Cody, Branda, Celina, and Kayle...they are all growing up on me.

Ryleee, Brylee, and Kenzie.

Branda, Celina, and Yumei.

Two adorable girls, Hadlie and Taylor

Marie and baby Taylor

I had so much fun being a kid again. We played night games and it was so much fun!

Me and Chestyn

Friday night we spent at my mom's house with Alan's family and the next day got up early to get ready for the parade in Monroe.

Kenzie and Brylee

Kenzie and her daddy (my brother, Alan)

Kenzie, Brylee, and Garrett

One super cute boy!

Me and my boys!

Our family.

Me and my amazing sister, Pateresa.

Me and my sister, minus Chantry being silly in the background

Malia and Sarah

Cute cousins, Rylee and Brylee

Cute sisters.

Both Brylee and Jordyn won cakes at the cake walk

When there were loud sirens at the parade, Chestyn would run to Aunt Malia to save him.

Channer caught this cool fire hat during the parade.

When a Dodge was holding up the parade (inside joke), the boys would sit down and wait.

After the parade, we headed over to the park and let the kids do the cake walk and walked around for a biut. It was so crowded and the food lines were so long that we headed back to Richfield and had Sandy's drive in for lunch.

Chantry and baby Talyor...don't get any ideas Chantry!

The guys went golfing and the girls went to Sarah's house to play in the water (thanks for letting is invade your house all weekend Sarah).

It was a very fun weekend. I had not spent anytime in Richfield for a long time and it was so fun to see everyone. It is definitely too hectic when we all get together that it doesn't seem like we get to visit. I need one on one time with each family. I did get some extra time with Alan and Malia and their family because we stayed at the same place. Hopefully we can all get together soon! Love you all.

Pictures from my phone

2011-07-15T07:31:00.001-06:00

It has been a while since I did a post with pictures from my phone. I like including a post like this because it gives a look into our everyday life, rather than just our weekend fun.

The first four pictures are ones that Chantell took and emailed to me. She took these pictures when we were playing over at Aunt Roma's house for Grandpa's birthday party.

Chestyn loves to put on my Wii Zumba belt and walk around. It goes around him two or three times, but he looks so cute.

I haven't found a kitchen table yet, so on days that it is not nice enough to eat outside, this is where my kids have lunch/dinner.

Channer playing sword fighting on the Wii. He is soooo good at it!

A scraped up knee that Chestyn got while we were on a walk one day. I had to send a picture to Chantry.

One day my friend Tawyna came over to work because her internet was down. I set this table up for her. After she left, Chestyn comes running in with a play laptop and pretended to work....so cute!

Chestyn riding his bike.

Channer on his bike, sportin his Sponge Bob shirt and shoes.

One day Channer was coloring with markers and he comes running into me and says, "Mom, I "accidently" colored on myself." I sent the picture to Chantry and he sent back a message saying 'Every dad's biggest fear' LOL.

Driving with Daddy!

The kids love when we are in the mountains and Daddy lets them drive his jeep.

Daddy ordered the boys some Con-Way hats and they came in the mail, so I had to take a picture to send to dad at work.

Playing outside. I tell ya, Chestyn's hat is always like that...not sure how he sees.

Bedtime!

I decided to download the pictures from Chantry's phone this time too. I cannot gaurantee that some aren't a little x-rated. LOL.

The first two pictures are ones of Chantry's driving while at work. He likes to send me pictures of dangerous roads or bad weather. He knows I alread worry enough as it is about him driving, but then he has to do this to me.

When we went to Zion's for our anniversary, we stopped in a store that had some crazy things in it...these were some of the milder things. I guess Chantry took pictures to send his brothers, lol.

Chantry having to pull Ladd's tow truck up the Yankee Meadow road because it ran out of gas while he was towing his broken down truck.

I could barely even post this pictures...I.Hate.Snakes!!! This is Wyatt picking up a snake on the side of the road on one of the boy camping trips.

My handsome 4-year-old....car in hand at all times.

Chantry was delivering to the hospital in St. George on the day they had their open house for people to see the new life flight helicopter. Pretty cool.

My extremely Messy Chessy!

Not even sure who these next couple pictures are of...just some Chantry took snowmobiling this winter.

LOL....the cake I gave Chantry for Valentines Day this year. I think it turned out extremely ugly hahaha. Tasted good though.

Pretty sure the next two pictures are just ones Chantry took to sell something...he is always selling something, and this time it was probably guns.

The ride they went on in March. I was at my sister's weekend in Park City.

Reading the newspaper. This one cracks me up. Channer sat and read the newspaper forever the other day.

Oh the things boys get excited over....Chantry got new mirrors on his truck, guess he had to send pictures to his brother.

I don't even know who this boy is...he is sooooo filthy dirty!! Thank goodness for Stain Spray...because at the end of most days, this is about what he looks like. Chantry got a good shot of him poopin on the toilet. LOL.

SOME OF MY SUMMER LOVES

2011-07-14T07:59:00.000-06:00

Tiki Shak shaved ice
Pandora Radio
Workouts at the Park
Netflix (currently loving Army Wives and Brothers and Sisters)
Camping trips
BBQ corn on the cob (Chantry does it just right)
Spa parties
Fishing (something I thought I would never enjoy)
Bedtime with the boys (I love reading time and nothing funner than hearing them say prayers)
The MILLION kisses each boy has to give me before I walk out of their room at night
My boys in hats (they never leave the house without them)
Hardwood floors
Picturs of my newest niece, Taylor (Sarah sends me some almost everyday, makes me homesick though)
The way Chestyn says....Kiss me, hug me, cuddle me.
My Hard Workin Husband
Channer getting in and out of the car all by himself (and Chestyn trying to copy him)

GLEAVE REUNION 2011

2011-07-12T19:14:00.000-06:00

One thing we look forward to every year is the Gleave Reunion. I was really bummed that it landed on the same weekend as the Larsen Reunion this year, but the Gleave Reunion is one we just dont miss. Seriously, it is the BEST reuion EVER!! If you are not a part of our Gleave family, you should be jealous....nobody does a reunion like they do. It is just a little reminder every year of how lucky I am to have married into the best family.

We headed over Friday after Chantry and I were done with work. I was worried that Chestyn had an ear infection so we ran by the Insta Care on the way out of town and sure enough he had a double ear infection. Sure glad we got him some antibiotics so he didn't have to suffer all weekend.

We made it pretty late Friday, just in time for bed.

The next morning, the boys were up and ready to play bright and early.

Once again, best food ever. Everyone in that family knows how to make extremely yummy food. I never even bother to get any meat because I dont have room on my plate after all the yummy salads and desserts.

They always have a fun talent show...singing, dancing, etc. Canyon even joined this year. Surprised us all when she just walked out in the middle of everyone and demanded for a chair to sit in so that she could sing her song. She sang Grand Old Flag and it was so stinkin cute!!!

They had a ton of fun games this year....darts, wrist rockets, bean bag toss, egg toss, watermelon spitting contest, ladder throw, horeshoes, and more.

We did get rained on a little, but it still was so much fun. Chantry and channer keepin dry under the Dora umbrella.

In line for the dart throw. Chantell won her age group and Charlee won her age group. :)

Calvin getting ready to sling some paint balls.

Chestyn spitting some watermelon seeds. He won for his age group. He did so awesome....even with his hat over his eyes. I can fix his hat a million times and he will just pull it back down over his eyes. Drives me crazy, but I gave up on trying to fix it.

The adults all lined up for the egg toss.

Chantry spitting watermelon seeds.

Stachia seeing how far she can spit.

Ellen taking her turn at it.

Chestyn trying out the wrist rocket.

Getting ready to race.

Channer is in the green. This is just the 4 year old that were there. Crazy how many people are at this reunion, I would say around 300 or so.

Adult races. I love that everyone joins in.

And after that....my battery died on my camera.

We had lots more fun though. They did an awesome raffle with great stuff including a gun, redwood table and chairs with a vacation to the redwood forest including lodging and food, some awesome chairs, and tons of other fun stuff.

I am already looking forward to next year. It such a fun group of really great people.

Brindley Family

Total Randomness and some good news :)

January~

Nielsen party and Happy New Year

Last Blog of the Year and a quick recap

Christmas 2011

Jeepin' at Three Peaks

December faves so far.....

And he turns 5....

Give Thanks!

Blessings....

Introducing the "C group"

Things that make me smile.....

Working on the cabin

Halloween 2011

Hunting Weekend Numero Dos

Hunting Weekend in Antimony

Our New Puppy!!!

Lagoon/Frightmares

Weekend in Review

San Diego Vacation

Channer's 1st Day of Preschool-2nd year.

Nielsen Family Reunion 2011

Labor Day weekend 2011

Taylor's Blessing

Boys Will Be Boys!

Duck Creek Days

The first 70 years are the hardest!

PIUTE COUNTY FAIR

To my boys....

FUN WEEKEND IN RICHFIELD.

Pictures from my phone

****SOME OF MY SUMMER LOVES****

GLEAVE REUNION 2011

SOME OF MY SUMMER LOVES