Here Comes Santa Claus

Christmas is just about here and we are all really excited! Brykn has been absolutely hysterical about this whole Santa thing. I just love the curiousity, the excitement, and the wonder. I'm convinced that Christmas Spirit (including the reindeer and elves) lives in 2-year olds; and, what better way to spend a magical time of year?

Brykn was awe-struck with Santa when we went to see him at the mall. He wasn't scared a bit. In fact, he jumped right up on his lap. He didn't talk to Santa right away, but the look on his face was really funny. Santa gave Brykn a coloring book and candy cane and Brykn was delighted. After we left Santa's lap, Brandon asked Brykn what he asked Santa for and Brykn suddenly realized that he didn't ask Santa for a new "Dung, (aka, gun.) So, through the line we went again. This time Brykn wasn't shy at all. He asked Santa immediately for the gun. He didn't have much to say besides that!

At Brandon's Dad's family Christmas party, Santa also makes an appearance and brings each of the kids a present (courtesy of Mom and Dad). When Brykn heard his name called for his present, he jumped off my lap and went right to Santa. He sat on his lap and didn't say much, but was thrilled with the matchbox cars. Apparently, the Santa suit has been passed from Brandon's Great-Grandfather, Grandpa Beede. He played Santa for years when his grand kids were little. Now, Brandon's uncle Todd has stepped up to the plate. He's a funny Santa and the kids and adults seem to enjoy that part of the party the very best!

I am really excited for Christmas morning. I think Brykn is going to have so much fun opening presents. And, I think Brandon and I (and Santa too!) are going to have the best Christmas yet!

Deck the Halls!

These pictures are a little old, but at least I got them posted before Christmas was over! Every year Brandon tends to gripe a little about putting the lights on the house, but this year the griping was a minimum--to my very pleasant surprise. I didn't even have to ask twice--wow!I wouldn't necessarily say he hung the lights with "glee," but he worked very hard to make sure our house looks great for the season. I guess it's a good thing we have our lights up, because Brykn thinks its just great to see our house in all it's Christmas glory!

We decorated our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and Brykn was such a good little helper. He and I hung the ornaments together. The only downfall is that he thought all the ornaments needed to go on one single solitary little branch. When he wasn't looking I had to move them around to even things out just a bit. Tis the season!

Winner!

Brandon has been entering these team sorting competitions at the fair grounds. For the most part it's a bunch of hicks who don't know know a thing about horses. But, it's fun to watch. It's sort of like a demolition derby--totally white trash, but entertaining!

This is the third one we have been to and Brykn gets the biggest kick out of riding with Brandon when Brandon's not competing. The second one we went to, I entered Brykn in a practice round and he had a blast. It was then I realized that these practice rounds are going to cost me a fortune because he absolutely loves it! Money aside, it was so fun to watch him! He sits up there so good!

This competition, Mom and Dad came to watch Brykn in his practice round. He wore his chaps, spurs, and cowboy hat and before he went into the arena, we had strick instructions to hollar "Go Brykn!" Which, from the video, I think you'll agree we did quite well!

The goal is to get the cows from one end of the pen to the other in numerical order starting with the number the annoucer reads when the time has started. The practice rounds don't have prizes...but when Grandma comes its a different story altogether. When Brykn got done, Mom had brought a trophy for him. He thought he was sooooo big; and, he was sooooo proud of his "rophy."

We all had a fun time and that trophy sits on the dresser in his room. I'm sure it's a staple for years to come!

A lot to be Thankful for...

This year for Thanksgiving, we went to Sally's house for the traditional turkey and fixins. As we visited before dinner, I asked Janette to take a picture of our cute little family. When I saw the picture, it almost made me want to cry. For some strange reason, looking at us all smiling just happy to be together struck a cord with me.

I am such a lucky girl! I have an amazing husband who is a dedicated, hard worker and who loves me unconditionally. Despite the little quibbles from time to time that seem to be an inevitable part of marriage, I can honestly say that he would do nearly anything on Earth for me or for Brykn. And, for that I am lucky. I'm not saying that I always realize how lucky I am, but I know that I am lucky nonetheless.

Then, there's Brykn. I distinctly remember right after Brykn was born thinking to myself, "People tell me this is the best day of your life...I'm not sure I believe them." And, after a very long night of labor and three hours of pushing, I really was not sure. But now, I understand. Brykn is so full of life, so fun, so, well, everything. And, in hindsight, that day truly was the best day of my life. Every night before he goes to bed, I kiss him and say, "I love you more than anything in the whole world." And, he replies, "Whole world."

This year, I am thankful to be the wife of one wonderful man and the mother to a wonderful boy. Sometimes both Brandon and Brykn's halos are held up with horns, but deep down I know they are both angels; and, for whatever reason, God sent them to me.

Very, very thankful...

Crashed the Car!

I crashed the car. Yes, it's true. I crashed it and crashed it good. I'm bummed I didn't think about taking pictures of it at the scene, but I was just grateful to be in one piece. I was on I-15 in SLC when the car to my right tried to make a lane change into my lane. I swerved so she wouldn't hit me and in doing so lost control and slid into the HOV lane. From there I over-corrected and began sliding right. The woman who tried to change lanes hit me from behind and sent me sailing head-on into the cement retaining wall on the right hand side of the road. Then, the impact from the barrade bounced me back into the middle of the freeway facing on-coming traffic. Whewww!!!! What a wild ride!

I think the scariest part of the whole thing was seeing the cars headed toward me 70 MPH. I remember thinking, "Maybe I should get out..." Probably a good thing I didn't. There happened to be a man hauling port-a-potties behind me who saw the accident and who came running to my car. I will never forget him lifting up the airbag on the passenger's side and asking me if I was alive. Boy, I really never dreamed that I man hauling traveling lous would come to my rescue. That's not something they typically write in the storybooks!

I am so glad that Brykn wasn't with me. The bulk of the damage to the 2006 Honda Accord was sustained on his side. One good thing, though is that his car seat didn't move. In fact, the UHP trooper couldn't even get it out of the car.

I held my composure pretty well until I heard Brandon's voice. Then, I lost it. And, when we told Brykn I crashed the car all he could ask me was if I had hit a bus.

Thank goodness I'm okay and thank goodness for the luck that this accident happened AFTER I had dropped Brykn off. It's amazing how an accident can change your perspective. Suddenly, after my wild ride, my errand I was running didn't seem all that importnat after all.

And Liberty for ALL!

I don't mean to brag, but I might quite possibly have the smartest 2 year old on the planet...or at least the funniest one. He cracks me up! This video was taken last night and shows off just a couple of Brykn's newest talents. First, we have a really loud rendition of the ABCs. Second, we have a very theatrical version of a monkey falling off a bed, and last we have an abbreviated version of the Pledge of Allegiance. Just in case you miss it, we do cover "Meric" and "to the republic." I don't think, however, that you can possibly miss the "And Justice for All!" Proud American and a genius, I tell you...a Genius!

More Halloween Photos

Trick or Treat

This year Halloween was a blast! Brykn was old enough to say "Trick or Treat" this year and once he caught on that he got candy when he rang the door, he was really into it. I even made his costume this year. Mom always told me that I would want to know how to sew one day and boy was she right. All in all, our "Inian" costumes turned out really cute. I wanted Brandon to dress up, but he wasn't all that interested in a costume. I told him he would look great in a loin cloth, but he wasn't buying that either. I still would've liked to see it! :)

Dad also grew a pumpkin patch for Brykn. He had white pumpkins and the traditional orange pumpkins. Brykn thought getting them out of the patch was great fun.

Brandon's mom holds a Halloween party every year where the kids can carve pumpkins. Brykn was really funny. He didn't mind digging out the pumpkin guts. And, when it was all over, he was really proud of his pumpkin. We put it on the porch and lit it with candles. It's a really fun tradition for the kids!

Then, on Halloween night we go to Jeannie's house for her Halloween party. Chad, Kelli, Tate and Jeannie were the Disney clan--their costumes were darling! I really love the picture where Tate is looking at Brykn and Brykn is looking at Tate. They both look like they are thinking, "Why'd you wear that?" Thanks Aunt Jeannie--we love the party.

Speaking of parties, since Halloween feel on a Friday this year, Brandon and I decided to go out with some friends. Wow--we has such a fun time! We danced until the wee hours of the morning. The funniest part of the evening was when this really old guy (he must've been pushing 90) came up to me and asked me to dance. All my friends were cheering the old duffer on and Brandon just kept hollering "Make us some money, Honey!" Finally, about 2 hours after we arrived I had to break the poor guy's heart and tell him I was married. He found Brandon and told him, "You sure are a lucky guy, she's the best dancer in the whole place." Too funny.

Here's to a really fun Halloween! (Look for more pictures on the next posting.)

A Hunting We Will Go

Well, he FINALLY got Morty. Okay, maybe not Morty (the name Brandon has referred to when talking about the garganchious buck he is going to shoot every single year), but at least its a deer. I tease Brandon because in the 11 years we have been together, he has been hunting every year and never shot a thing! I laugh and tell him he doesn't need a tag to go CAMPING!

This year, Brandon wanted so badly to take Brykn hunting. I went with them the first night, but after 4 hours in a crowded truck with Brykn (it was way too cold for him to get out), I decided that was enough for me. The next night they went was when they brought home the buck.

Brykn kept telling me to "Pet he's ears, Mommy, they sost!" I couldn't let him down by declining, so I did touch the stupid thing. I didn't like it, but I did touch it. Brykn kept telling me, "It's okay, Mom, him's dead." That didn't make it any better for me!

After Brandon got the poor thing skinned, he cut the horns off for Brykn. He told him that they would put the horns on a board and hang them in his room--NOT something I really wanted... Brykn was so excited. He ran right upstairs and hollered, "I wanna hang em right here, Dad." He has a spot on the wall (at his height level) all picked out. Oh boy. Literally, 100% boy.

I think the best thing about this hunting trip has been watching Brandon's excitment, not because he shot "Morty," but because he wants so badly to do these father/son things with Brykn. And, I love that. He's truly a wonderful dad.

On the Move

We finally moved the barn! I couldn't believe it went as well as it did. Brandon told me the morning of move day that he was going to pick it up and set it down and that I would be sooooo impressed. I laughed at him! But, I have to admit, that's exactly what happened. First, they started by chopping off the bottom part of the barn so they could saw the posts off at the ground. Once that was done and the posts had been cut, they literally picked the barn up with backhoes, moved it 16 feet forward and sat it down again--right in the saddle posts! I was a nervous wreck while it was happening, but totally stunned when it was over. I've never really looked at Brandon as a construction foreman, but WOW I have to say that he did REALLY good!

Tonsils

Arriving at Primary Children's

Pre Surgery Exam

Well, after 2 years of wheezing breathing, throwing up, and feeling lousy, we finally bit the bullet and had Brykn's tonsils and adnoids out. What an ordeal! He was a little trouper to say the least. When we got to the hospital and registered, the registration clerk gave both Brandon and I sticker's with Brykn's name on them to wear on our shirts. This is so the physicians and nurses can easily identify which parent goes with each child. Brykn wanted a sticker so badly! So, after taking my sticker off my shirt at least four times, I finally had the clerk make him a sticker of his own. He was SO proud! In the picture above, you can see his "BRYKN" sticker--exactly where he put it, on his belly and crooked as can be! Too cute.

After surgery, I got to go into the PACU (post anesthesia care unit) to be with him. He was asleep--sound asleep on his belly. I asked the nurses if they layed him on his tummy and they told me no, that he had woken up, started to cry, flopped over and went right back to sleep. I had to snicker because Brykn has always been a tummy sleeper.

We spent the rest of the day and that night at the hospital. He started feeling better and was able to eat some chicken noodle soup and jello, but the look on his face was sheer misery. While I really hated seeing him sick, he was so cuddley! I haven't been able to hold him on my chest for a long time; and, that's really all he wanted to do. Hopefully we will be able to get to the bottom of what is causing him so many breathing problems. But, I sure hope we can do it without another trip to the OR at Primary Childrens.

Crazy Sock Day!

Our babysitter does some really fun things. She is teaching the kids about clothing. So, she had a "Crazy Sock Day." I pulled an old pair of socks from Brykn's drawer and let him decorate the socks with glitter glue. He had a great time! We glued pom poms on the toes and painted them to look like eyes. We even wrote his name in glitter glue. He was so proud to wear them to Jamie's house that he didn't take them off all day long. The glitter is sparse now, but they will always have a memory.

Lagoon!

We have had a trip to Lagoon planned for a really long time. Because it was Brandon's work party and a lot of the guys he works with were camping at the park, we decided to do that too. Brykn didn't know where or what Lagoon was, but he was tickled to be going camping. He loves our trailer (although, by the end of the weekend, I think we all decided that in a little trailer like ours, there really is such a thing as too much togetherness...) and especially likes his "magic bed" that turns into the table. Before we left, I recorded this video. It's so funny because on our last camping trip, Brandon fell down when he was carrying Brykn on our way to the river to fish. Brykn must've remembered it because when I asked him about going camping, he literally relived the entire fall. There's a lot more on the video than the fall--but I thought the whole thing was cute. He's a pretty good conversationalist...although in our family is more like B.S.

The Treehouse Museum

In our attempt to find something fun to do while Dad was busy at home doing yard work, Brykn and I went to the Treehouse Museum. I had heard a lot of good things about it and people said it was really fun for kids; and, they were right! It was so fun! Brykn had such a good time playing on everything.The exhibits are mostly all educational and just for pint-sized people, i.e., kids. They have a fire engine (which Brykn loved) complete with fireman coats and hats, an indoor slide from the top of a tree to the roots, a musical exhibit where the kids can pound on drums, play a keyboard, etc., and even an exhibit about all the presidents (I wondered if Lewinsky would make the bio for Clinton--she didn't). In the "Coming to America" exhibit, they had stuffed animals to represent animals that the pilgrims brought to America. Brykn dug to the bottom until he found a horse and that dang horse got drug to every exhibit from there on. The very best part was when we found the necklace making section (don't tell Dad!). I helped Brykn make a necklace from yarn and feathers. When his was done, he insisted that I have one too. He was so cute with his cubby little fingers holding the feathers while I tied them on the yard. We had a great time and will definately go back!

Happy Birsday to My Dad!

Yesterday was Brandon's Birsday and Brykn has been singing the Birsday song for weeks now! Just the other day he had to go potty in the store and just as I got him sitting on the potty he burst out in song, "HAPPY BIRSDAY TO MY DAD!" he sang at the top of his lungs. He was so proud and I was so embarassed! It was truly hysterical.

We bought Brandon the staples, shirts, cologne, etc. and some fun stuff too like a gift certificate for a massage and Brykn bought him a fishing pole. But, Brandon didn't get to open very many of his gifts because Brykn is convinced that everybody's birsday is time for him to open presents.

Happy Birthday, Brandon, we love you.

Rascal

We spent this past weekend visiting some friends in big, wonderful Wyoming. On the way there I really thought we had drove at least 30 miles past nowhere. Actually, we were about 35 miles past Lander. Everyone owns a lot of property, so the houses are really wide spread and it's about as rural as rural gets. I kept telling Brandon that I thought I grew up in a small town, but from the looks of this place, I didn't know what rural was! Gus and Cassie and their kids, Taylor and KC, were so excited to see us. I think they just wanted to see a familiar face--I sure would if we lived there!

The kids just ran wild while we were there and Brykn seemed to have the time of his life. They have a very unique pet--a racoon named Rascal. Brykn and Rascal hit it off right away. Brykn liked to hold him and Rascal like to eat whatever Brykn was holding, so the arrangement worked out well! Rascal found his home at Gus and Cassie's after his mother was hit by a car leaving him and 4 other babies orphans. Cassie told me that she fed him milk from a Visine bottle because he was so small. Now, Rascal is just like another child. He goes just about anywhere with the kids and even has a leash!

Lazy Days of Summer

I love the hot summer sun and I love watching Brykn play in the water. Everything from the BBQ grill to the windows and even the cat ends up soaking wet but he sure has a good time. And, it never really matters if he has on clothes, a swimming suit, or his skinny little birthday suit--he's perfectuly content in anything (or nothing...which I'm sure the neighbors wonder about).

Yesterday, it was blazing hot outside. Brykn turned on the water as soon as we went outside and immediately drowned his clean, dry clothes. So, off they went. He was having so much fun playing in the water and I ran to grab my camera. When I got back, he was drinking from the hose. I had to laugh. As I kid, I drank from the garden hose on a frequent basis--a lot of times right after the hose came straight from the horse trough. Looking back its a wonder I didn't get salmonela or some other disease. I think hose drinking is genetic!

29

Today was my Birthday and what a day it was...wow. They say getting older is rough and if the future is anything like the 29th birthday was I think I'm in trouble.

I wanted to take Brykn to the Living Planet Aquarium and for a ride on the train since he's been dying to ride it. So, we began the day at 10:00 am when we boarded the commuter rail, FrontRunner. We rode it to SLC and arrived in good spirits (good spirits is important, believe me). We hopped on Trax and headed toward Sandy since the Aquarium is off of 106th South. Funny thing, though, is that Trax doesn't take you to 106th like I thought it did...it drops you off at 98th--a good distance from 106th. We arrived at the Trax station at 98th at 1:00; and, we were still in fairly good spirits. I kept telling Brandon that it might have been a long ride, but that it was the adventure that we would remember. Wow was that an understatement.

The aquarium is on 106th and 7th East which means the train dropped us off about 4 miles from where we needed to be. I figured we could just take a bus that would drop us off near the aquarium so we didn't have to walk. But, there are no bus routes up 106th or remotely near the aquarium. So, that it was the "adventure" and not really knowing it really was 4 miles, we (okay, I) decided we could walk to see the fish. BAD IDEA! There were hardly any sidewalks, we walked in the dirt and had to carry Brykn the entire way. It was 97 degrees in SLC and we arrived at the aquarium at 2:30 pm hot, tired, and in mild spirits.

The aquarium was pretty interesting, but it was sort of hard to enjoy the fish when we knew we had a 4 mile walk, and 2 very long train rides ahead of us. After all, it did take us four hours to get to our destination and, it was going to take us just as long to get home. We had as much fun as we could and set off for home.

We only made it a block when Brykn fell asleep on my shoulder. I had a thirty pound kid on the front and a 30 pound purse on my back since I packed it chuck full of everything knowing we wouldn't have the car. When I just couldn't carry him any longer, Brandon took over carrying him.

We boarded the Trax train with Brykn still sleeping. He was sweating and so were Brandon and I. Not anticipating the walk, I wore sandles and my feet were killing. At this point, we're not in good spirits at all. I did have to laugh when Brandon said, "This is all fine for your birthday, but I'm planning mine."

Finally, we made it to FrontRunner and the last leg of our exhausting, terrible "adventure." Brykn woke up and all he could say was "My need a drink of Pepsi," and "My no want to ride the train."

At 6:30 pm, we made it to our car, dirty, stinky, and exhausted. I was so grateful Brandon took the day off, but I felt terrible that the day was so rotten. I promised right then and there that my adventurous days were over!