Tee Ball

Well, Braden has been doing TeeBall, and beginning to get the hang of it. The first game he was up to bat and hit the ball. Well we were very proud of course, but he also amused us greatly by jumping up and down and yelling, "I hit it, I hit it!!" - a natural reaction right? Well he hit it off of the tee (good job Braden) and then didn't run to 1st base...Needless to say his first game he didn't really get a chance to ever run to 2nd. And that was ok.

As the games go and we practice more he understands alittle more. I enjoy watching because I never know what he will do next. Sometimes he runs back to 1st base after standing at 2nd. Other times he takes practice swings at the tee then hits it a whopping distance of about 2-3 feet! And these are just his batting habits.

I can usually spot Braden in the field, not just by being #17 but also by looking for the only one with his back facing the home plate after someone has hit. I have to brag that my son is getting pretty expert at drawing in the dirt with the toes of his shoes!! But I don't want to make other parents feel bad about their own children. Braden is one of a kind (altho

ugh his Grandpa says that Brandon was the same and Braden is carrying on the family tradition nicely).

RedRocks

I love the red rocks!! Yesterday we went on a picnic at Snow Canyon..it is GORGEOUS! Sometimes I think I get into my world where desert is bad and green is good, but I really think that I might just miss these red rocks here when we move.

The kids were climbing all over the rocks, staining their socks and messing their faces but it was wonderful. Who could ever say no to be outdoors? What a shame it would be if we let our kids stay inside all day playing video games and watching DVDs? I fear for the day when the only area of free nature is locked up in a state reserve. I feel like I'm home in the nature.

Sydney got to climb her first rock. . She was soo cute fighting us to get down to eat the dirt. We thought we were safe with lifting her off of the sand to crawl on the rocks but she still found a little rock to stick in her mouth. She must have supersonic eyes. But we were still amused when as soon as that rock hit her tongue it was quickly rejected. Thank goodness dirt doesn't taste good- Moms all over the world would be in trouble.

The boys just played and played. They climbed pretty high too. Braden is soo funny, his arm got hurt and he had it all bent the rest of the time as if he was wearing an invisible sling. Everytime I turned around, Spencer was higher and higher. It was almost like a slide show, turning around and FLASH he was in a different spot in the same picture. Speaking of..I took lots of pictures and I think in almost every single one Braden is posing and Spence is acting like I'm using some medieval torture device in having him look at me.

I have a feeling they feel like they're home in the outdoors as well. Gotta love it!! I look forward to our first campout this season! Brandon enjoyed himself as well. He is dying to break in his fly rod for this season. I think my favorite part of the outdoor is being free and remembering that we are not confined to news reports, stereotypes and social prisons. Life is beautiful, and the world was created to enjoy.

Anyway- It was a good night...And a good reminder about who we are and how enticing it is to live in the desert.

.THE First..

Well here goes. Where to begin- its like jumping into a movie part way in then having to fill in the details. Hopefully it makes sense once I get going..

Brandon just graduated with his associates!! Yeah!! One down, one more to go. I think the bachelors will be a little more tricky but maybe not as bad as we think. Braden is done with Kindergarten in couple of weeks. He is AMAZING!!

I love it! He reads small books to us and is curious about everything, how to spell things, what this or that says..yadda yadda. Little minds amaze me, but now that I think about it I think we will avoid Vegas for awhile simply out of fear that we might have to explain what things refer to when they say "adult." We have decided to keep Spence out of elementary for one more year. Brandon and I have really been just weighing in back and forth, and both of us feel that he needs to be in with the age group that is closer to his age (he is a late July birthday).

Sydney is growing growing growing. Its nuts. Her new cute thing for this week is getting clothes or blankets -whatever- out of her room and trying to put them on. The other day she grabbed a burp rag (it was clean by the way) and put it on her head, then had to find Brandon and I and show us that she put it on. She would crawl some paces, readjust the rag and then continue on. What would we do w/o our kids? Speaking of Syd, she is getting some hair in the back. It curls and appears to be coming in strawberry blond. We are loving every minute of it.

Today in church a friend of mine bore her testimony and talked about how motherhood is made of moments. I love that. It surely is. I struggle sometimes, as I imagine alot of moms do, but man what would I do without our critters?

We are planning on a move here in the near future. We have found a house that we are under contract to buy. We are moving up to the SLC area (Utah). It will be great. I will be working at Primary Children's Medical Center and Brandon will be transferring to the Van Boreum office up there. This is our first home purchase, its in a great neighborhood and amazing stake (so we've been told). We feel like all this school and sacrifices are starting to pay off...