Halloween Fun

We had a fun October. We decorated for Halloween, made some pumpkin treats, and carved a pumpkin, too. We decided to dress up as the Berenstain Bear family because we love reading the books. I made the costumes (don't look too close- I'm not very good at sewing!) 

Paul had to work on Halloween but we did get to go to our ward's Halloween Carnival together. They had some fun games to play and then there was trunk-or-treating. 

On Halloween night the kids and I made homemade pizza and went trick-or-treating with some great friends across the neighborhood. Susie had so much fun. Several of the houses we went to went all out decorating with lights and fake smoke, etc. The kids just loved it. 

My friend Amberlee gave us all haircuts last week. It was Braden's first hair cut! They both look so cute. I just love Susanna's new bangs. Pretty adorable kids if I don't say so myself!! 

Temple Open House and Grand Canyon Camping

We had a really fun week last week! Paul took some time off and we were able to spend lots of family time. I loved it! Earlier in the week we drove to Phoenix and went through the new Phoenix temple open house. The temple is beautiful. I loved all of the gorgeous art work in the temple and being able to be there with my family. The baptismal font, the ordinance rooms, and the celestial room were beautiful! 

Later in the week we left for the Grand Canyon! We met Rebecca and her family there for a fun camping trip. We were excited to have some camping equipment this time around. We couldn't wait to try out our new tent. It was so nice! We brought lots of good food and had fun roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. We cooked one night for the group and had a pasta dish. Rebecca cooked for everyone the next night and made some yummy pizza on their coleman stove. 

We were able to do a few kid friendly hikes. The views are breathtaking. We played games with the kids like Guess Who and Uno. We explored around our campsite and saw lots of deer and squirrels. One day we saw a huge buck with a big set of antlers destroying someones tent! He looked pretty mad so we kept our distance but we felt bad for those campers. Susie absolutely loved playing with her cousins and they were all so nice to her. Braden really took to Addie and Kate, too. 

I'm so glad we were able to go and make some fun memories! 

We went to the Grand Canyon for Susie's first birthday as well. She's grown up quite a bit since then! 

PS: Braden is FINALLY walking!!!! It is so awesome!!!

West Kids

I've been thinking how grateful I am for all the good examples I have of good mothers. It's so nice to have a support system and good friends who you can talk to how the highs and lows of being a mom. It's not an easy job but I'm grateful I get to do it! Here's an update on the kids:

Susanna is doing great in preschool. It's cute when she calls me "Ms. Brianna". She has 2 more years before kindergarten so I wasn't sure how she was going to do with the curriculum but she is doing pretty well. She is getting better at writing her name:

Susie loves to play Memory, Candyland, and Chutes and Ladders. LOVES  it. We play at least one of those games, multiple times a day. She is also so good at puzzles! This morning she wanted to do a 100 piece puzzle we had. I kept telling her to pick another one out because that one was too hard for her. I finally gave in and she did it! I was amazed. She loves to watch movies and Daniel the Tiger and Curious George. She would watch TV all day if I let her. And eat sugar. Good thing I'm in charge. She is a good listener and a good little girl. She can be whiny and emotional sometimes, too. :) She loves to snuggle and read books with Mom or Dad. When Paul leaves for work in the morning she waves goodbye until the garage has closed all the way yelling, "Bye Dad! Have good day!!" When Dad comes home from work she talks a mile a minute, telling him all about her day. 

  

Braden is my little crazy man. Susie was never big into getting into things and throwing tantrums. Braden is. We have baby proofed as much as we possibly can because if we leave anything open for destruction, it will be destroyed. He will find it. He will make a mess. And when you stop him from his fun, he will thrash and scream. On the other hand, he is a really smiley little boy! My mom calls him Mr. Smiley. He has an adorable laugh and is a good smuggler when he wants to be. He is SO close to walking. What is it with my kids? They take forever! Right now he is 14 1/2 months. Any day now..

Braden just started folding his arms when we pray. I love it. It is so adorable. I need to get a picture of it. He loves being outside. Whenever we go to the park he starts to squeal with excitement when I am parking. When I hold him, one of his legs acts as a tail. He kicks it vigorously whenever he is excited or happy. He gives great kisses. If he sees Paul or Susie give me and kiss, he comes up and gives me one too. 

Susie loves to find rainbows after it rains. We got a good picture of one the other day! 

Birthday Fun

We had a great week celebrating Paul's 28th birthday and listening to conference! We tried a new waffle recipe for breakfast on Paul's birthday that I still can't wait to have again! We opened presents and had cake. Paul got to pick his favorite meals to have throughout the week. I've been excited about a big surprise I had! I found a Groupon for a helicopter flight in Sedona. Paul loves helicopters so I couldn't wait to surprise him with it! We had some awesome friends watch Susie and Braden and we headed down to Sedona, which is about 45 minutes south of Flagstaff. 

The experience far surpassed my expectations. It was pretty much the coolest thing ever! Paul sat next to the pilot where there was no door to keep him for falling out. He thought that was pretty cool. And scary! I'm so glad we got to do it. Happy birthday Paul!! 

Susie love to help me in the kitchen. She didn't like the cheesecake batter as much as she was hoping though. :) 

Before the helicopter took off:

After we took off!! 

 

Half Birthday and First Triathlon

We like to celebrate half birthdays in our house. Paul is exactly 6 months older than I am. His birthday is my half birthday, and my birthday is his half birthday! So sometimes we get each other half birthday presents and I am always looking for an excuse to have cake! This entry is late but Susie turned 3 1/2 a few weeks ago! We made a half birthday cake to celebrate. It was fun! 

Susie and I like to make funny faces at each other. She will tell me, "now make a scary face" or a happy face, or a sleepy face. Here she is making a mad face and a scary face. She is such a silly girl! 

I have been so excited to do my first triathlon. I started training for it right after we moved to Flagstaff in June. I decided to sign up for the Sprint Triathlon which is .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I thought those distances sounded pretty easy. As I was training I figured out that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! We bought a membership at the aquaplex so I could swim laps and Paul took his bike in to get tuned up so I could practice on that. I am completely new to swimming and biking. I think I made a lot of progress (especially with swimming) but I have a long way to go. I read that race day should never be your first time swimming in open water so I went to Lake Mary to practice swimming there a few times. Lake Mary is really brown and has lots of crawfish. I sliced my foot open on something sharp the first time I went (I'm hoping it was a rock and not a crawfish) but the experience made me really squeamish of swimming in lakes. I didn't like putting my face in the water and seeing all brown.. gross. 

I was pretty scared the morning of the race. Especially for the swim part. I came down with a cold 2 days before so I said lots of prayers that I wouldn't be too anxious and that I would feel up to doing the race. I drove up to Utah and stayed with my sister Tiffany in Kanarraville on Friday. I woke up really early the next morning and drove down the Sand Hollow Lake. I felt pretty good but I was still so nervous!! My dad drove down and it was so nice to have him there. It really helped my nerves.

They start swimmers at different times based on the division you sign up for. I signed up in the beginner division and we went last. We jumped in the water and then counted down. The lake was beautiful and I loved the swimming part of the race! It was so fun! The hardest part was steering. I wasn't used to "sighting" because I swim in a pool. I kept having to realign. At the pool I can swim a half mile in less than 20 minutes and the swim portion of the race took me 26 so I was happy with that. It's pretty slow compared to most people but I will keep practicing. :) 

The bike portion was next so I got out of the water and dad handed me my flip flops and I ran to the transition area. I got my gear on and took off. The bike portion was the hardest for me, which is funny because when I signed up for this I was sure the biking was going to be the easiest. Riding a bike is easy right? I'm not very good at biking. There were lots of hills. One of the hills is so miserable they call is "Nemesis." It is 6% grade uphill for a mile. Eh. A lot of people were walking their bikes. I was able to push through it but barely! It took me about an hour to do the bike. (Again... really slow I know).

Last was the run. I run a lot so I was able to pass a bunch of people that passed me on the bike portion. It was so fun to see my dad at the finish line cheering me on. He says he is going to do the next one with me!! How cool is that!!? I'm not sure when I'll do another but I definitely will. It was so fun. I'm not very competitive but it's just fun to try new things and be outside. I really loved it! 

And we're off! 

Can you see me? 

This is me looking back to make sure I wasn't last ha ha! 

Running to get my bike

 Finishing the bike race

I met so many nice people at the race! This is Taylor. She is from Logan.

 After the race I went to my Mom and Dad's and showered. Then my dad and I went out to lunch. It was such a fun day. I drove home that same afternoon because Paul needed to work the next day. This was the sign that I found when I got home. :)