Fourth Of July!

Our view of the fireworks! J/K...Jordan did the fireworks show.

Grandpa and Ruth were even there! I was so glad they could come over.

We usually go up to Timpanogos on the 4th with the family. It's so much cooler up there, and so pretty!

After Timpanogos, we went to Gateway to shop. We found some glasses for Madi that look just like mine! She was really excited! I was trying to do the "peace" sign, but I can't... my pinky finger always pops up!

Me and Joely.

Saying Good Bye to Granite High

Joel went to Granite High School. Well, after over 100 years, they decided to close it down as a school. So sad! Joel should probably be writing this post, but I have to say, the school had a lot of spirit and soooo many awards over all those years! It was a great reunion.

Joel's old locker.

So this is the Granite Seal...it is made of tiles. I guess the story goes...if anyone stepped on it, they had to scrub each tile with a tooth brush. It was sacred ground AND in the middle of the hallway!

The Zoo!

Here are the Monkeys!!

A gorilla

This is how much bigger that gorilla is compared to Madi!

Hudson lookin' at Daddy... he loves his dad!

Our family

Handsome kid!

The kids not acting like monkeys :)

The Kids are out of school!

Well, it's that time of year...SCHOOL'S OUT! Jordan will be going into 7th grade now, and Madi into 2nd. They grow up way too fast! So on the last day of school, the school students "clap out" the 6th graders. Well, when Madi came home, she busted out in tears and told me how she watched Jordan walk out the Elementary Doors for the last time. She felt so sad! On the other hand, Jordan and his friends went to Wendys and were celebrating! I felt so bad for Madi...she was so sad to see Jordan go. Jordan and his friends have really watched out for Madi.

Two proud papa's! They were so proud of their kids, they just had to take a pose to reflect on the joy that their boys bring to them. Psss....they were actually being big dorks! :)

Madi and the best first grade teacher ever... Mrs. Andersen. She is one of those teachers that is there because she loves the kids, not so much for the pay, but to watch her first graders succeed..which they did. Mrs. Andersen was so helpful to Madi, we love her!

This is Jordan showing off his R.I.S.E. Award. I forgot what it stands for, but basically it's an award they receive for setting appropriate goals for their age and accomplishing them outside of school. Great Job Jordan and Madi! We are proud of you!

Jordan and one of his buddies.

Hudson at 9 months!

Oh! Where do I start? He has learned so much the last month! He is crawling, standing with support, interacting, has two bottom teeth, he will say "Bubba" and "Mama". We call him "Bubba" sometimes, so I think that's where he learned it. He is a very determined kid, Madi asked me one day...so innocently..."mom? When will Hudson quit being so stubborn and start listening?" How funny! I just explained to her that we have to be a little more patient until he can understand us better.

Madi's Dance Recital!

Isn't she just gorgeous? Madi decided to be in Jazz this year instead of Ballet. They danced to "Don't go breakin' my heart". She danced so well and remembered all her parts. You Rock Madi!

Madi got some pretty flowers from Grandma and Grandpa N.

Me and the dancer. I love you Mads!

The Air Show...

We went to the Hill Air force Base Show this last weekend. It was so cool! Jordan LOVES fighter jets and airplanes in general. Joel took Jordan and Madi up early to get right by the tarmack, and I joined them later. We got to see the Thunderbirds do their show at the very end...they were definitely the highlight (for me anyway). I tried and tried to get pics, but the planes go too fast! So below, you can see the sky, and the edge of 2 planes...


One of the Thunderbirds did a fly by, and scared Hudson, so he got the earplugs and was in la la land the rest of the time. He couldn't hear a thing!!


Soo....I couldn't get any great pics, so I took a picture of all the people that probably did get a good pic. Boy, that is one way to get everyone to look in one direction! I'm jealous if they did get a decent pic!

We had a rat in our house!!!

I know, who would voluntarily invite a rat in their home....well, us. Madison's 1st grade class has a pet named Lullabelle. Lullabelle is a hairless dumbo rat, and oh yes, has a long freaky tail. Well, Madi has been begging all year long to let Lullabelle spend a weekend in our home, even though we have cats. Well, I finally gave in. When Lullabelle was delivered to our home by the teacher (I refused to transport it), I screamed! It scared me to death! Lullabelle stayed in her cage for a few hours, then I finally walked over and just looked at her face and she was actually pretty cute...so I held her, that freaked me out...so back into the cage. We let her run around in the ball in the house, and the cats were scared of the rat! Go figure. I now have a better appreciation for Lullabelle. Not any other rat, but Lullabelle :) Hudson liked chasing around the ball with the rat in it... he was very curious.

Hudson at 8 months...

Hudson is in such a fun phase right now. He is sitting on his own, rolling everywhere, starting to crawl (crawling backwards counts right?), he'll wave, give kisses, and dance by bopping his head around. We often find ourselves calling him a "monster" or "the big hulk" or "hulk Hudson" because he will growl and sometimes if he gets upset enough, and if he is in snap pajamas, he he will pop all the snaps open (thus the name "HULK"). Then on the other hand, he has this really high tone voice he will talk in and sound so sweet...that sound only manifests itself about once a week. Overall, he doesn't do the growling and all of that because he's upset, I think it's just because he's a boy! Oh! Another reason he has earned some of these nicknames is because he has large hands! They are so cute! He loves to go outside, screech in a really high voice to get attention (then when he gets your attention, he just laughs), he likes to gag himself too (that would keep him occupied for hours if we would let him!) and he loves to be with the family. He has a really hard time napping if the family is home, because he wants to play! He's so much fun and we all love him tons! Right now, as I'm writing, he is gagging himself and laughing...he is crazy!

Easter 2009

We had one problem this year, the Easter Bunny had to improvise the Annual Easter egg hunt because it was snowing! So as smart as the good ol' Easter Bunny is, he decided to do it indoors, and turn the hunt into fishing for Easter surprises! It was really cute and fun.



The kids loved fishing for prizes. They all got really neat things.



Hudson got this phone.



This is Jordan fishing...right before he pulled the fishing pole out and knocked poor Kennedy in the head (she is in the white shirt and piggy tails).


The Easter egg hunting bunch...all cousins, Left to Right: Madison, Nicole, Rylee holding Kennedy, Danielle, Angie (friend), Marci, Seth (Brett's son), and I think that is Jordan coming out of the room. Jer and Lindsay did such a great job of hosting the egg hunt!



We celebrated Easter Day in St. George at the Resort this year. The Easter Bunny special this year was edible grass. The kids thought it was great. It tasted like green apples.



Hudson got this little toy that hooks onto his carrier. When you push one of the frogs eyes, it plays music. It was great entertainment while traveling.



Among scrapbooking stuff for Madi, and an Airsoft Gun for Jordan, the Easter Bunny left 4 tickets for Kenny Chesney, Sugarland and a couple more singers in concert on July 23. The kids were really excited...first "real" concert for them.

Hudson at 7 months!

Happy 7 months! This pic was taken on April 22...exactly 7 months (thanks for remembering to take it Madi). He is doing really good. He does not look preemie anymore. He makes big monster noises, and when he gets sleepy, he makes a screeching high pitched sound. He is loving baby food, rolling over, almost sitting up, and becoming to get a little temper. He has a cell phone toy that he will play with for about 5 minutes, then literally looking at it and cooing at it in kind of a mean voice as he's making angry facial expressions. I still have yet to find out why he gets so mad at that toy!



He loves, loves, loves to chew on his feet! And of course anything else that can go in his mouth!



This is Hudson doing his leg lifts...I don't know what he was doing. Maybe he wanted his foot and toy in his mouth!



On April 4, 2009 at Jeremy & Lindsay's new home at the Easter egg hunt, Hudson rolled over to his tummy for the first time. Hurray Hudson! Sorry kind of a bad pic.

Our trip to St. George Apr. 10-19

Madi LOVED the hot tub!


Jordan loved going swimming!


The girls...swimming.


OH! Yummy! In and Out Burger...that was top of our itinerary.



This is at Pirates Cove. It is such a fun place. We ate, then you can go and play those fun games that give you a bunch of tickets. Joel really scored on the tickets. I think between all of us we had about 525 tickets...so the kids could get a piece of bubble gum! j/k...they got some fun little toys.



The Dinosaur museum. I loved this museum because a developer found it by mistake. Here's the scoop...the man that owned the land decided to level the ground down, so that he could make it more appealing to sell. Well, as he started getting deeper, he ran into the rock. Well, he tried to make the best of it, and started cutting into the rock and selling off the rock to residents for landscaping purposes. One day, he had a large rock in his loader, and the rock flipped over and right there was a big dinosaur imprint (above). The rest is history. He stopped cutting rock, and they built a museum around it. It's kind of cool though because this is one of five museums that show a dinosaur moving from a sitting position to getting up and walking. It was fun!



The Kids at the Dinosaur Museum.



Our view out the back window...ahhhhhh.



The Diva girls found matching hats and purses at Target...who could say no to that purchase with those cute faces. In fact, Kelly and I overheard the girls say "our moms rock!". So hey, whatever it takes to be a mom that "Rocks!".



This is at Jumpin' Jacks. The kids had so much fun bouncing around.



Me and Hudson hangin' out.



The girls giving us "peace".