Little Brynlee

 Brynlee in her blessing dress

 One of the first times she learned how to spit

 Checking out the remote

A few pics of Brynlee when she was younger with her oh so kissable cheeks!! : ) 

New Years!

We were so incredibly lucky to have grandma and Lance's family come visit for the first time during the holidays.  We had a great time while they were here, and we enjoyed visiting with them.  Here we are enjoying the festivities of the Fiesta Bowl Parade.  It turned out to be super hot and we were all dying by the time it ended!  Gotta love AZ!  Thanks Lance, Jodi and fam for coming to visit we loved it and hope you do it more often.

 Pam, Kiana, Mckenna, Jodi, Jensyn

 Jon (striking a pose), Chase, Pam, Mickey

 Zach man eating fruit snacks

 Jodi, Jensyn, Grandma, and Brody

 Lance, James, Colten, Kenzie

 Lance and James

 Brynn Brynn

Lance (with his monster drink of choice), James, Jodi, Levi

Christmas 2012

Ok so I am going out of order here.  I am way way way behind on blogging and so I will post things as they come into my head.  So next is Christmas!!  This was our first Christmas at home all by ourselves.  On Christmas Eve we opened our traditional pj's.  Brody got transformer pj's and Zach got Lightning Mcqueen both boys were very excited about them.  I even got some this year!!  James picked out the bottoms and then the boys helped pick out the top.  We read our Christmas Story and talked about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas then the kids went to bed.  However, in the morning they were taking forever to wake up so we had to help them a little!! : )  We did things a little different this year in that we took all morning to open gifts!  We let the kids go at their own pace and play as they went.  Brynlee ripped the paper a little bit, but didn't really get into it too much.  The boys got excited for her though which was very cute.  After the kids opened presents we went to church then ate dinner at Pam's house.  That night when we got home and the kids where in bed James and I finished opening our presents.  It's a good thing I knew what most of my presents were or that would never have happened!! : )  It was a wonderful holiday and we all got super spoiled!

 Happy Boys!

 Brynlee with her new monkey from Santa!

 Brody's Stash

 Brynlee's Stash

 Christmas morning

Zach's Stash

Brody turns 5

 My sweet little boy turned 5 this year!  What an amazing 5 years it has been.  Brody is such a good kid I don't know how we were so blessed.  Brody has grown so much in the past year especially academically.  He has officially graduated from the IEP program and was above average in a couple areas.  The psychologist was very surprised and had never seen a kid test that high before.  We are so proud of him.  Brody is still as friendly as ever and a very caring little boy.  He always has a smile for everyone.  Brody enjoys playing computer games, wii games, riding his scooter, playing with friends, reading books, dancing (doing tricks), and volleyball.  Brody will play soccer again this year and we hope he enjoys it a little more.    Brody loves, loves, loves transformers so we decided to give him a transformers party.  We found some awesome decorations and when he walked into the room you would have thought it was Christmas all over again.  He was so excited it was hilarious!  He couldn't wait to show dad!! : )  Brody wanted a transformer cake so we did our best to make him one.  He loved it and that's all that matters.  We are so grateful to have Brody in our lives.  He is just a really good kid and I wonder how I got so lucky to have him.  I love you buddy.  Happy 5th Birthday!! : )

Transformer Cake

 Awesome Decorations!!

Birthday Boy with his cake!

Zach turns 2!!

Zach turns 2 and what a busy two year old is he! This cute boy of mine keeps me on my toes. Zach is full of life and loves cars, trains, books, and doing whatever Brody is doing. He is really well rounded in that he enjoys singing, dancing as well as playing ball, and riding his bike. His new favorite game is duck duck goose as he smacks you on the head. He knows what soft is, but doesn't practice it much!! He is a very smart kid and amazes me with things that he knows. Zach loves to take Brody to school and if he could he would stay there. Which almost happened once because Dad forgot him. Luckily the teacher was paying attention and caught James in time. Zach can be such a sweet kid and is hilarious to watch. He is just a little man and I get a kick out of him. Happy Birthday buddy!! We love you tons.

Zach eyeing his race track cake

Zach loved the cars. He also received monster trucks, a ball, clothes, and a t-ball set for his big day. We had Pam's family over for the festivities as well so it was a fun little party.

Brynlee Slade

I am so behind on blogging I can't even believe it. We have been so blessed this year with so many things, but the most important has been our sweet baby girl. Brynlee Slade was born on May 31st weighing in at 7lbs 7ou and 20in long. She had dark hair and the cutest most kissable little cheeks you can imagine! She wasn't in any hurry to get here which made it a very long day for mom and dad, but was worth it in the end. A few days after she was born we found out that her thyroid wasn't working. She has been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and will have to take medication for the rest of her life. Over the past few months we have found the right dose that works for her and she is thriving. Thank you to all those who have had her in your prayers we are so grateful. She is such a joy to have and has brought such a sweet little spirit to our home. We love you Brynlee Girl!!

Such cute outfits!!

Day she got home from the hospital

Brody's 4th b-day!!

Well it's happening my little boy is growing up. He turned 4 yrs old this year and I don't know where the time went. Brody is an amazing little boy with so many wonderful qualities. He is such a sweet boy and is very friendly. He will say hi to almost anyone especially if he is on his bike. He loves preschool and is doing really well. He just doesn't like to get up so early to go. Brody's interests are robots, rockets, and planes as long as they have guns. He loves to ride his bike, play on the computer, and play with his trains. He is a fantastic big brother and puts up with a lot from Zach. Brody is my little cuddler and I love it. We are so blessed to have him in our family and love him very much. Happy 4th little man!!

Rocket cake!

Monster Truck. . . not sure if this was more for dad or Brody!! : )

Brody with cousins Elise and Jarom checking out Walle.

His new helmet so he can be safe riding his bike.

New shoes!

Transformers: Helicopter and Tank

He was so excited about these, but talk about hard to put together.

Optimus Prime. . . transformer!

Christmas

This year we decided to have Christmas at home. This was a first for us in our 6 yrs of marriage. We were excited to have Heather and Steve's family over to celebrate with us. We were able to mix family traditions with both families and it was a lot of fun. I've never had a fancy meal for Christmas Eve so this was a first. Heather was in charge of that so it turned out great. After our meal it was time to read the Christmas story found in Luke. I don't know how people make it through the story with little kids. We tried to make it fun with a little nativity set, but it was entertaining to say the least. Once we made it through the story the kids got to open a Christmas Eve gift of PJ's. Brody was really excited about his Buzz Light Year Pj's, but mom guessed the size wrong so they were a little snug. Grandma saved the day though with Pj's she had made the kids! Thanks mom your the best!
I don't know what we were thinking putting all the kids down to bed in one room. I guess we figured they would get tired eventually. Good thing we had made a decision on when santa's elves needed to get to work so they wouldn't be up all night. Needless to say we ended up splitting up all three kids until they each fell asleep. Santas elves tried working hard, but really one of them did most of the work (love ya sweetie!!) It was a short sleepless night, but was worth it in the morning when we woke the kids up and told them it was Christmas and that Santa had come. They all came running out and each went to their toy Santa gave them except for Zach. He went running to everyone elses toy especially the train set Brody got. It was pretty cute. The day was a big success and I even got surprised by Santa. . . he's the best!!
On Christmas day we headed over to Pam's house to have our traditional big Christmas dinner. The food was fantastic which it always is when someone else makes it, and it was fun to see what fun things Santa had brought them as well. My mom had come to town a few days before Christmas so we were able to spend time with her and loved having her here for a couple of weeks. The holidays were the best and I am so grateful for the blessings we have received this year.

Christmas morning!!

Brody with his Christmas stash!

Brody and his Geotrax set!!

Zach and his Christmas stash!

Brody at his school Christmas program. They sang Rudolph the red nose reindeer and jingle bells.

Thanksgiving

Apparently Thanksgiving isn't a big deal in our family because I don't have any pictures of it. Such a slacker I know. This year we were lucky enough to have Roxanne's family come down for Thanksgiving. It was so fun to have them here and see how the kids have grown. We had a delicious dinner at Pam's house and I was in charge of side dishes. . . how fantastic is that. I had no stress about the main dishes and my house didn't have to be spotless!! Thanks Pam your the best!! : )

Halloween trunk-or-treat

We had a fantastic time trunk-or-treating in our ward. Brody was a cowboy without a hat, but not without a gun! He couldn't get enough of the cocking sound before he got a shot off. Zach was our little batman. He was such a cute super hero I'd let him save me any day. Both boys had a good time Brody was a pro at asking for candy and Zach loved our neighbors wagon. It was fun to dress up and we had a great time dolling Heather and Steve up as well. Thanks for being good sports.

My cowboy and his facial hair!

Brody enjoying his stash of candy!

Batman. . . aka Zach!! Couldn't get him to hold still!

James, Steve, Zach, and Lawrence a guy in our ward. Love when people dress up!

Gotta love Halloween!!