Braden's Birthday

 Our little Braden turned 2! He loves all things cars, especially when it comes to Lightning Mcqueen! So we had to make him a "ka-chow" cake. He enjoyed helping me make it (aka licking the beaters).

We had a little birthday party for him with some of our family. I told everyone no gifts, but everyone brought a ton! He scored big time. We had pizza and salad and fruit, and of course, cake. Susie was all too willing to help him with the unwrapping. I loved seeing Braden's face when he opened his gifts! He got so many new cars and he loves playing with them. The first thing he wants to do when he wakes up is go and find his bin of cars. We got him a little bike for his birthday too and he's been having a ton of fun with that. 

Braden is my crazy boy. He is silly and loud and likes to throw things. He sometimes hits and bites. He is very good at giving hugs and saying "sorry." He loves playing with Susie. When he doesn't know where she is he will walk around the house yelling "Sue-ee!! Sue-ee!!!" At his well check is was in the 35% for height and 73% for weight (he's a stocky kid). He loves being read to and playing with cars and running around outside. 

The Crazy Fun Month of JULY!!

July has been pretty crazy but it's been a lot of fun too! We moved to Utah the end of June and unpacked in a hurry with Mom's help. We miss lots of things about Flagstaff but are really liking our new home too. I was excited to get a Costco membership and stock up on groceries in our new house. We celebrated with a Costco hot dog and Braden was pretty excited about it. 

Then we celebrated the 4th of July! My friend Amberlee in Flagstaff helped me make these cute shirts for the holiday. The kids LOVED collecting candy in the small town parade. We had a fun barbecue with lots of family. We ended the day with fireworks of course. Susie tried to stay awake but didn't make it through the whole show. Braden did! 

We spent a few days in Cedar City spending time at Grandma Suzy's house. We loved the park there with the fun creek. I got to spend some time with my siblings too which was fun. We went on a beautiful hike in Kanaraville. Gorgeous!! 

Don't worry there's more....

After we got home from that trip we headed down to Duck Creek, close to Bryce Canyon for the West family reunion! All of Paul's siblings and their families were able to make it out which is a pretty big deal. The 9 are scattered over different parts of the US. There were 39 grandkids there, plus all the adults. It was a full house! I didn't see Susie much during the reunion because she was too busy playing with all her awesome cousins. 

They played dress up and built little boats to race and had lots of nerf gun wars. We got to see Bryce Canyon and Zion's National Park. When it wasn't raining Braden loved playing outside, in the mud! 

From that reunion I took the kids and headed up to Idaho for the Garbett family reunion. I got to see lots of family I haven't seen in years so it was really nice. Uncle Claude wasn't ready for this picture! 

 

We spent a couple days in Idaho visiting with Grandparents, too. Susie and Braden loved trying on Grandma's wigs up in the loft. We took them Hooper Springs and to see the Gyser. We had a lot of fun road tripping and seeing so much family, but I'm exhausted!  I don't think I'll go anywhere for another year. 

A month for changes

Last month we had lots of things change, quickly. Our landlord came over one night and said he had decide he needed to sell our house. Within the same week, Paul's boss informed him that they were overstaffed for Pharmacists in Flagstaff. So Paul started traveling all over Northern Arizona to fill in for other pharmacists and we tried to figure out what we wanted to do. We decided to just look around and see if there was any openings closer to family. Within 2 weeks Paul was offered a position in Northern Utah and we decided to accept! I definitely feel the Lord's hand in these changes and I'm grateful that He is watching out for us. I'm excited for our new move but I'm going to miss a lot of people in Arizona!

Luckily I've been able to say good-bye to some. We had a visit from a friend of mine in Phoenix. Her son, Aaron has been struggling with cancer this last year. Susie and Aaron were good friends when we lived in Phoenix so it was so nice to see them and spend some time with their family.

Paul has been out of town a lot and he had to work on Father's Day but we were able to spend a little time together the Saturday before to celebrate. He made a fort with the kids and they read lots of books. 

I had a fun lunch date with my friends. We also got to have a little potluck party at the park as a last hurrah and that was a lot of fun. Our ward in Flagstaff has been so awesome! I'm really going to miss them!!

I've been busying packing and cleaning. Most of the time I tell the kids to "go play!" or "watch another show!" so I can get some things done. But we have been able to do a few fun things lately. We love to walk up to the Flagstaff sign for a little fresh air. The kids like to look for bugs. We've had some fun with all the cardboard boxes lying around. Today we made rocket and slid down the stairs on a cardboard slide!

We are really excited for the 4th of July this year because we will be able to spend it up in Utah with lots of our family. Plus there will be a small town parade! Yay!