Hudson 10.5 months!

We just love this kid! He is always smiling, giggling and gets so excited when everyone is around. He still loves to growl, and make those boyish noises. He is standing and walking with support, he is starting to put finger food in his mouth and he can clap! He just recently started showing interest in books. He will grab a book, and crawl over to the rocking chair, for someone to sit and read him a book (Madi started this habit with him). He is quite an adventurous kid. I have had to do the Heimlich on him, and he has fallen down a full flight of stairs. Luckily, no breaks, just bruises. Hudson's favorite things to do is play with his kitchen, read, play with his Mickey and Madi's Baby. Most of all, he loves just being with everyone. We take him over to football while Joel is coaching and Jordan is playing and Hudson crawls all around the grass... he LOVES the grass.

July 2009

July Rocked! Fireworks, Concert, Swimming, Canyon...we had tons of fun. It seems like July is our only month we can all vacation, or this year, we had stay-cations instead. The kids got out of school the beginning of July and then by the end of July, Jordan is playing football and Joel is coaching, soooo we took the month of July to have time as a family.

We took the kids to their first concert. My favorite Country Singer... Kenny Chesney! I only have one tiny complaint, we ran out of time to eat out, so we bought food in the stadium. Holy Cow! Our order was 4 Hot Dogs, 4 Waters (with no caps!) and 4 cookies...total = 48.00! Ouch! it was all worth it though.

On the 24th of July, we spent it with Grandma and Grandpa B. We had a huge breakfast, then the kids swam, we had deli sandwiches with homemade ice-cream for dinner and ended the evening with fireworks in the back yard. Tons of fun!

Hudson was splashing in the pool. I LOVE his baby feet! I will be so sad when he has to wear shoes...all the time!

I wish my thighs were this cute! It's so fun to see the baby fat on his legs, since he was born with no fat on his legs.

Grandpa B. and Hudson having a heart to heart :)

How sweet!

We had tin foil dinners in the canyon, I had to giggle when Madi was arranging her dinner so beautifully, while we were just dumping our dinners into the foil.

Jordan, basking in the smoke.

Jordan had a great opportunity to go fishing with Uncle Craig and Grandpa Lee. They went to Rockport and they all caught their limit by 10:30 am! Jordan brought home 5 fish to cook. Thanks to extended family, we had a"fish fry", and Ruth and Aunt Karen fried them up... I had no clue how to do it! They totally bailed me out.

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!