Spring

We love spring! Even if the wind blows every single day. We are getting so much yard work done around our house, and we love it! Friday night we went to Lowes and bought a new picnic table and a new pine tree. We came home and got everything unloaded and planted our tree. We were so excited. I will sand and stain the picnic table later this week. Saturday morning I went to cross fit, and had a BRUTAL workout. Then I came home and met Jake and Bronson at Granny's. We started burning weeds and trash. We spent a lot of time out by the chicken pens cleaning up. Kevin rented a a skid steer and cleaned all the corrals. Then Julie and I took the girls down to the opening of kids cross fit. It was adorable watching them do it. They loved it too. We came back and helped burn all the weeds in the garden. Jake then trimmed some trees and I started spraying weeds. Bronson decided to take a four hour nap which meant we could get a lot of work completed! Everyone came over and we ate a hot dogs for lunch. Then we all got back to work on our projects. After Bronson woke up we went and rode the four wheeler. Jake rode his horses, and Bri just played like crazy! Jake talked me into riding Marshall, and I was super impressed. Jake has done a good job with him. We also had a nice afternoon walk. Finally, the sun went down. We bathed the kiddos and put them to bed. They both slept all night without hardly moving. This morning Jake let me sleep in, and when I finally drug myself out of bed he was making waffles. After we ate we went and got a BIG dump load put into the horse trailer. Tomorrow we will drop it off and it will feel so good! It looks like the rest of the afternoon will be spent hanging out indoors. It's pretty windy and cold, and looks like it could rain any minute. Another great weekend.

 Burpees

 Seriously, Bri's muscles are impressive! (She's in the green)

Big Time

Today was a big day for our family. BRILEE IS REGISTERED FOR KINDERGARTEN! It is the beginning of a new era with our little family. The dynamics of our world will change drastically this fall. Late nights will be regretted, hours will be spent on homework, friends will be made, nervous nights over academics and social events will happen, amazing memories will be made, and huge milestones met. 13 years of school is no joke (really more like 18 years)! Are we ready? Well ready or not… Brilee was "rounded-up" for the 2014-2015 school year. She is thrilled. We are excited for her, but a little sad for ourselves. Today was not at all what she had planned. We showed up and filled out a bunch of papers. Then it was time to leave and she couldn't believe that was it. "But you said they would round up the kids. I want to stay and meet my friends. NO Mom, this can't be it." She would have hopped right in line with the first grade class walking to lunch and never missed a beat. In all honesty, it makes me so proud of her. She adapts and truly loves life. She is READY and that is a great feeling for her parents.

Here is a clear look into what makes us US at this stage in the game.

Bronson---
He is one smart little boy. He talks in sentences,. He knows and understands things in a way I can't even explain.

Bronson loves letter practice with Brilee. We have to make them take turns. Bronson doesn't get them right very often but he always has a letter and sound to tell us. Our new favorite thing is our bedtime story. Brilee reads Bronson his and then one of us read both kids a story. I LOVE seeing my two beautiful children sitting together reading.

Whenever we are in the car, on the four wheeler, or just plain walking he has his mind set on where he wants to go. "Go that way Mama, Go that way." As he points the way he wants to go. If you go the wrong way you hear it! Lately we have been coming home HWY 40 because if we don't we get yelled at for miles.

He is so good at imaginary play. He will pretend to be a baby (as long as I pretend to drop him and burp him) for the longest time. He gets very into his role. He also loves playing with Jens. The kids and I started a game last week where we had to run from tornadoes. Now, whenever he is feeling creative he tells us, "AUGH! Tornado coming! Hide!"

He loves to hide. He covers his eyes and believes if he can't see you then you can't see him. He also goes into statue mode when he doesn't want to be seen. So funny.

Bronson is OBSESSED with big bucks. Like serious buck fever. I hope that we can get a deer tag this fall, but then again it might make his obsession grow. Scary thought. We wake up talking about them and go to bed saying, "Night night big bucks."

Bronson has a laugh that is a true belly laugh. Oh that noise just makes everyone happy. Nothing better than when he is laughing.

He is VERY shy with new people, especially men. He just clams right up. He quits talking, and goes into hide/statue mode. He wants NO attention and wants to disappear from everyone and everything. I hope he can grow out of this.

He loves baby cows. On our way to work he gets a super high pitched voice and says, "Oh cute Mama BAAAABY COOOOOOWS." EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (He also gets excited every time we get close to the high school. "Papa's school! HI PAPA!"

This boy could live outside. He never wants to come in. He spends his evenings riding the pink jeep, feeding cows, feeding pigs, playing with dogs, throwing rocks, pushing around tractors, riding the four wheeler, and pretty much doing anything else that gets him dirty.

He LOVES going to bed. He starts asking for his nap and for his bed about 15 minutes before it's time. He will start shaking his crib and all but begging to go to sleep by the time that 15 minutes is up.

Brilee---
Oh this girl is beautiful! Inside and out.

We have been butting heads lately. She is SOOOOO independent, and as great as it is, it can also be hard. She wants to know everything, and wants everything to be just like it is in her head. She sometimes forgets that we aren't equals, and she does need me to help her. At some point throughout the day I find myself telling her, "You aren't the boss, and you are a nice girl. NO SASSY FRASS from you missy. Choose to be nice." That little reminder does more for her than anything I have ever done with her. (I have tried a lot…) Even with the struggle of this I wouldn't want her ANY OTHER WAY! I am so glad she is so strong willed. Jake and I are always in awe at how much confidence she has. She will talk to anyone, and take care of whatever she needs. This morning we were coming to work and they were playing a match game on the radio. The phrase was GOOD ______ and we were to fill in the blanks. Bri kept saying, "It's good kids." So, I dialed the number and she talked on the radio. It was so cute. The DJ's loved her. But she was wrong. It was GOOD GRIEF.

Brilee is also an outside child. She never comes in. I love where we live and all the areas my kids have to explore and imagine. Brilee plays so well with all her cousins. Chaz, Mar, Haddy, and Bri can play house, school, and doctor all day. She and Cy can do sporty things all day. She and Jens are huge into surviving. They both just get into a different world when they play. Bri always tells me about their secret hideouts, and the bears they have to run from. (Jake has found a few of these hideouts as he is riding his horse, and he says they are pretty impressive. They are all stocked with "food"-stacks of weeds and brush, and weapons- any stick that can be made into a gun or knife.) I asked her the other day to tell me where some of them were so if I ever couldn't find her I would know where to look. She told me no. So… I guess I will rely on Jake!  They too love the tornado game and any game that involves running from things. Adorable and so cool!

Birlee LOVES to draw humans (she always asks if she should draw a human) and write everyones names. She can write all upper/lower case letters. She knows all the sounds, and is putting the sounds together. It's crazy how fast it happens when it clicks.

AMAZING horse rider. She has the confidence on a horse that her Dad has (and he has rode 34 years!). She totally is in control, and is a complete natural. It's something she LOVES to do as well. I get so nervous watching her ride, but my heart swells with pride watching her and Jake connect on something they both have such a desire for.

She is the biggest worry wart you will ever find. Whenever she gets hurt she is so worried, and asking anyone around if she is okay. She has fallen off her bike numerous times this week and each time she comes running in with bloody elbows or knees saying, "I wrecked. Will it be okay?" She is the toughest little girl when it comes to pain, but goodness her mind can scare her to pieces. Stacia was pushing her in the swing last week and told her about the time when Stac pushed her right out of the swing and she fell on her back. Brilee gasped and said, "But was I okay?" When she fell off her horse she couldn't help but show anyone and everyone she saw her ribs just to get the confirmation that she was okay. Literally at the grocery store to a stranger, "I fell off my horse but see (pulls up shirt) I'm okay right?" She is also scared of the dark. I used to think she just said it so she could sleep in my bed, but she really is scared. She now has a night light but says she still dreams about skunks.

Brilee is starting to figure out all sorts of things! Swimming… DONE Bike… DONE Cartwheels… DONE Snapping…DONE. She is so proud of all her accomplishments. We were talking today about how much easier the triathlon will be for her this year. She won't need a life jacket, and she won't have training wheels! She was telling me how excited she is to be on her fast bike this year, even though she won last year on her slow bike. haha… sure thing Honey!

She has a competitive drive about her, and it too can be hard. Everything is better for her when a race is involved. For me, it's great because it is a great motivator to get things done (even little things like buckling her seatbelt). But when other kids are around and they beat her it can be hard. She'll figure it out though.


Jake and I just keep on keeping on. Jake is training two horses right now, shoes horses any spare time he can get, and has the yard bug. He is planting trees and fixing up the yard. We also bought a new smoker and he is having all sorts of fun cooking us delicious dinners! I still am obsessed with cross fit. I am also into the yard work, and just love being able to spend our evenings outside. Life is good.

Ski Weekend

Our traditional ski weekend was so great. The kids, Grammy, and I left Friday morning. We went straight to Gma's and Gpa's and spent the afternoon playing and visiting with them. Bronson decided there that he would not need a nap for the day… It was the first time he has ever gone without sleeping at all! We were pretty impressed with him, and he wasn't too bad either. After visiting at the condo we made our way to Bri's favorite destination at the mall, Build-A-Bear. She loves it, and always picks this hippy tie die bears. Jake and I just laugh. She had a blast, and Bronson thought it was alright. We then checked into our hotel and hung out waiting for everyone else to show up. Gma and Gpa were there right after us, and Stacia and Charlie arrived shortly after them. We visited and went to happy hour. Grammy left to pick Del and Kirk up for the airport and the kids and I went back up to the room. Bronson was breaking out into hives and his belly was hurting. He had eaten something with egg in it. He was also exhausted. When Grammy, Del, and Kirk got back we sang Happy Birthday to Stacia and then everyone went to dinner. I opted out due to Bronson. I thought he and Bear would go right to sleep, but I was wrong! They were up. Bronson would have slept but he never would puke so his belly just kept hurting him. I didn't want to give him benadryl until after he had puked because then I never know how much he really gets. Double edged sword I tell you! Jake and Papa showed up around 9, and went and got us all dinner. Then everyone came back and we all went to bed, including the kids. We woke up around 8 the next morning. They all took off skiing and Jake and I went to the Sportsman's Expo. It was so cool! There were so many people there, but there really weren't any lines. We had to wait in line for the kids to fish (Like 15 minutes) but the whole time we were in line we were able to watch the dog jumping competition. Those dogs were awesome. It was so funny watching the dogs that were scared of the water. Some boarder collie totally stole the show! The kids both fished, and Brilee caught a big one. She was so proud. We then ran into Michelle (Birchell family friend) and we were so happy we saw her. She pointed us in the direction of the baby bears. There was NO line to see them and my kids were in love. They just loved on them and couldn't keep their hands off. Bronson actually told the lady, "I bring baby bear home." She told him if he took the bear he had to take her too, and he said, "No." The bears were the neatest thing ever. After that we left. We went to costco, lunch, and then back to the condo. We visited there and then went to meet everyone back at the hotel. My Dad had some cool restaurant he wanted us to try so we met Cathy and Roger there. It was interesting. The people dumped like ten pounds of shrimp, crawdads, and crab on the table. They give you a bib and tell you to eat up. My kids (and my Mom and I) were a little hesitant. Bronson thought they were spiders and Bri just thought it was disgusting. It was such a fun experience. The next day we went back to the expo with Stac, Charile, and Grammy and then headed home. We had a blast and love this tradition we have going with our family!

 This is our new cow dog Kermit. He is an Australian Kelpy. So far he has herded me while I mowed the lawn, and then today 8 of the 11 pigs got out of their pen and he herded them right up. 

 The kids LOVE Gma and Gpa's!

This weekend we watched Chloey win queen at her dance competition! She was absolutely beautiful!

Bronson wasn't a fan of Charlie's hat...

The Weekend

Every Monday morning the questions, "How was your weekend? What did you do?" Is always asked. I always think hard to what we do, but weekends like this "Nothing much." Is usually my answer. I was thinking today how even though we aren't doing "much", so much is still being done! Friday after work we went to watch Jens wrestle. We got there just in time for his first match. He did so good, and we were super impressed by him! Then Bronson wanted to run outside and so Jake chased him. After 20 minutes in that gym and a flood of childhood memories sitting at wrestling tournaments I talked Bri into leaving. On our way home she asked if she could have a sleepover. Chazzy's cousins were in town, so it meant it would be a Laws sleepover. We called their house, and Elly was sure it would be fine with her parents. We got home and did chores then went to pick Mar Sue up. Haddy was waiting outside with her bags packed, Marley followed right behind her, next Elly hopped in the car, and then Chloey came running out too. We were happy they were all coming! We came home played for awhile and then turned on Frozen. It was so cute. The kids (Bronson included) would sing every song with the movie, and they had the best time watching it. Bronson played his heart out with Chloey all evening to the point that we couldn't put him to bed at his bedtime because he was being so with Chloey. After the movie Jenny, Donny, and Jens showed up to get the older girls. Bri and Mar were so tired and I knew it would be an early sleepover night. Haddy still wanted to stay so the rest of their fam took off. I made the girls their bed, and the older two were pretty much out as soon as they laid down. Haddy, not so much. She changed her mind and Jake ended up running her home. Saturday morning the girls were up before the sun (Jake claims they were just getting ready for the time change). I told them to just play until we were ready to get up. They did just that. Those two are such a good little pair. They never fight and they have so much fun together. Jake and I finally drug ourselves out of bed, I went to cross fit, and Jake fed the kids breakfast. Crossfit was fast and I was home early. Jake and Bronson went to do chores, the girls were still playing, and so I had plenty of time to clean bathrooms. Lucky me! Jake decided he wanted to got to the sales barn, and Bri and Mar were not having it. So, I dropped them off at the Laws' and Jake, Bronson, and I went. It was fun. Cows are still super high in price, and horses are still super cheap. Yay! We came home put Bronson to sleep, and Jake went to train some horses. Bri was good at the Laws' so I finished my house cleaning. Bronson woke up and then we went to spend the rest of the day outside. We rode horses and four wheelers all afternoon. We had one scare when Bri's saddle slid off Goldie and she went down too. She's all good now though! Bri and Mar both were asleep by 7 that night. This morning Jake woke up super early to go get a new bird dog in Ogden from Woody. The kids and I just had a relaxing morning. We played outside, watched Frozen, ate lunch, and then put Bronson down for his nap. Bri and I cleaned out her closet, and then Elly showed up to check on her pigs. So Bri latched on to her and went to Granny's. I decided to burn some weeds and trash so I got to work outside! It was soooooooo wonderful. I love burning weeds and junk. Bri and Jens showed up playing survivor, and I LOVED listening to them play. They are so funny, and they are NO WHERE near ready to survive on their own. They need to keep playing. They went from pulling each other out of avalanches to getting ledged out on cliffs to being lost in the sand of the beach. They have some crazy imaginations. As soon as I lit my Christmas tree and a bunch of tumbleweeds Bronson woke up. I had 15 foot flame lengths and didn't really know what to do. I called Granny and she sent Elly, Chloey, and Jaylie over. She was also happy to hear Haddy and Rowdy had showed up over at my house. The girls were great baby-sitters and I was able to burn A LOT! Jake got home and took the lighter away (I was out of fuel anyways…)! After that we played with our baby calves and watched Jake train his new horse. Then Bri, Chaz, Rowdy, Bronson, and I got on one four wheeler and Elly got on the other. She was following us so we started playing cops and robbers. The kids LOVED it and were all laughing their heads off. Such a fun memory. Bronson also makes the best siren noise in this world! It got cold so we all went to our houses. We ate dinner and had the kids in bed by 8:30 new time… WISH US LUCK TOMORROW MORNING! This time change is a rough one…


I went to take pics three different times this weekend and each time my phone battery died on me. So I only have like two pics of the beautiful weekend we had!

 Bronson likes to ride the pigs and cows...

Back to Work!

My first week back to work was great. It was such a breeze compared to last year. Bronson is thrilled to be going to Grammy, and Brilee is learning so much there. The first week was busy, but we got back into a good solid routine within a day. The kids adjusted fine, and Bronson actually cried on the first day when I had to pick him up. I am so glad the kids have the opportunity to go to Grammy's and Papa's every day. We all love the way it works out.

 Poor boy… He ate a Laffy Taffy and had a pretty bad reaction to the egg. I had no clue there was egg in them! 

 He's just one of the boys.

 I worried how I would stick with cross fit and work… but it's been easy. I love it. Even when I shin grind the box. 

This little girl has just decided to grow up! She is such a sweetheart. I am so proud of her and who she is becoming. She is kind, smart, beautiful, hilarious, and so much fun to be around. I just wish time would slow down a little. She is now training wheel free (and not looking back), doing cartwheels, knows every letter and VERY close to knowing all their sounds, and she is also VERY close to being able to write every letter. Atta girl!

 then and now...