..The Larsen's..

Ski Day

2012-02-04T17:00:00.001-07:00

For Christmas Eric and I got season passes to Sundance. We were so excited to start going and thought since kids are free that it would be a good time to start Tatum skiing. We picked a warm sunny day to take Tatum up with us.

Getting ready to start...

We started at the bottom of the hill and just strapped Tatum in and pulled him around to get a feel for it. He was a bit scared at first, but soon realized this could be fun.

Once he was comfortable, we hiked up to the bunny hill.

Eric was so good with Tatum. Eric and I both snowboard so its hard to be strapped in to teach a kid to ski. Eric had to carry Tatum to the top and then run behind him holding onto his leash.

Tatum quickly got the hang of it and soon had a great time. He only had a few moments that scared him, but overall he was really brave!

This next one made me laugh...

We taught Tatum to slow down by putting his skis in a "big pizza". In no time he was skiing like a pro with his hands on his hips and all.

Overall the day was a success and Tatum cant wait to go again!!

I'm so proud of my little skier!

Where's Waldo?

2012-01-23T11:46:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I was called to be an adviser in Young Women's. I absolutely LOVE this calling! One of my favorite activities so far was Where's Waldo? We did this activity every year in my home ward and I knew it would be a hit in this ward....and boy was I right. The basic idea behind this activity is to have a group of adults dress in disguise as "Waldo's" and roam around the mall for the youth to find. They have a check list and the first team to get all the people checked off their list wins. We had a great group of Waldo's including my sister and her husband and myself. Here are some fun pictures from the night.

The whole group... all 11 of us!

The day of the activity I called the mall and arranged for these two to be janitors. It was awesome, they gave them official janitor shirts and brooms. I love Jason's wig...hilarious!

Elan was a cute old lady. It was pretty funny watching her walk around the mall!

And then there is me. I dressed up as a high school student and just sat right in front of the food court "studying" and texting the whole time! No one recognized me, not even the other leaders!

It was such a fun night and I can't wait to do it again next year!

All about Trey

2012-01-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

On the 3rd of this month our little Trey turned 18 months old. For me this was a huge milestone! For months I have been battling Trey at church and pretty much got to the point of just taking him home because it was too hard. Now he is finally in nursery and everyone is loving it. For Christmas Trey got a drum set. He loves music and especially loves his drums. These pictures remind me of this post back when Tatum got his first drum set.

A few weeks before Christmas Trey fell and chipped his tooth (to read more about it click here). A week went by and he woke up with a swollen lip and his tooth was bleeding. I rushed him to the dentist were we found out the tooth had abscessed and needed to be pulled. We had it scheduled for a few days later but I wasn't happy with the plan. We took Trey in for a second opinion where the dentist said he might be able to save the tooth. The next morning we brought Trey in for the surgery. They put him under and starting drilling his tooth when they found it couldn't be saved. So they had to pull it. I was pretty sad about it but soon realized that it wasn't that big of a deal. Yes he will be my little "toothless" for a few years until his adult tooth comes in, but it hasn't changed a thing about him. If anything it adds a bit more personality :)

Trey is a very curious and mischievous kid. He currently has an infatuation with Monkeys...and actually reminds me of Curious George. With Tatum we never had to child proof anything because he simply wouldn't get into anything. Trey is completely opposite. If there is something you don't want him to have, he will find a way to get it. This is a typical day for Trey...

For his 18 month check Trey came out above average on all of his stats. Which means in no time he will surpass Tatum! We just love this little monkey more than anything and wouldn't change one thing about him!

New Years with the Bradley's

2012-01-12T15:31:00.001-07:00

A few days after Christmas my family came in town. They were here for 5 days and got to spend New Years with us. We all saved some presents so that we could have a "second Christmas" together.

Eryn got all new snowboard gear

Trey liked her goggles

I was so excited to open my toms from Elan :)

Jason got his Tebow jersey

My parents both got homemade gifts this year. Elan made my Mom's apron, and together we made my Dad a quilt.

I love how the quilting looks like waves, so appropriate for my Dad.

We had a little something special hidden in the quilting. Our family has a little phrase that we say anytime we close a conversation called "sly". It means sure love you and started back when my parents were dating :)

During the opening of presents, Eric was working hard on his puzzle...the most impossible puzzle ever!

Elan and Jason played a trick on Tatum...hilarious!

The kids love their Grandparents!

On New Years Eve we spent the night playing Just Dance. We even got my Dad and Jason dancing!

Before my family left town we got a day of Skiing in. I didn't take any pictures due to the injury that I sustained. It was not fun, but I think I am finally recovering :) Everyone had so much fun which is all that matters. Can't wait for our next trip together!

A day out with Grandpa

2012-01-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

During the week after Christmas Grandpa Scott had a slow day at work and decided to take all the grand kids to the Church History Museum. The kids loved it and had so much fun with Grandpa. Afterwards he took everyone out to lunch. Such a fun memory!

I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to sit on these...but a lady walked by and said I'd better take a picture, so I did!

All of this kids had a turn giving talks from the pulpit.

Trey loved to see all of the prophets. He would just run from one pic to the next and yell "Ho-Ho". He thinks that anyone with a white beard is Santa :)

Upstairs they have a huge area for kids. They all had so much fun dancing, building forts, and fishing from the boat.

Thanks Grandpa for such a fun day!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-07T11:44:00.001-07:00

Wow I think this is the longest I have gone without blogging! My computer got a HUGE virus on it and I couldnt upload pictures or even get online. But all is well now so its time for some mass updating.

This year we had a lot going on around the Holidays that it made our Christmas a bit crazy. We still had an amazing Christmas and were so blessed to spend time with both sides of the family.

Our Christmas started out with our ward party. Santa came to visit the kids and Tatum was first in line to see him. Trey wasnt very happy about sitting on his lap, he preffered to look at him from a safe distance.

We actually got some snow for a day, not much, but enough for the kids to play for a bit. You can see in this picture Trey's top lip is super swollen from his tooth infection...more on that later!

Elfie came to visit again. Trey is in LOVE with this elf. Every morning he would search the house with Tatum and yell "Elfie" everytime he would see him. He still is obsessed with him and watches the movie at least twice a day!

Christmas Eve was spent at the Wilson's for dinner and the nativity. Poor Tatum had gotten pink eye a few days before.

Christmas morning was nice. The kids had a blast and it was so nice to spend the morning with just us.

Before church we sneaked in a few pics all dressed up.

After church we opened presents. I started a new hobby...quilting! I love making quilts! I made Eric a "BYU" quilt with a soft minky back. I'm pretty sure he loves it because he sleeps with it every night :)

We then went up to Eric's parent's house for dinner, presents and games.

It was the perfect Christmas...minus the lack of snow :)

Sad Mommy Moment

2011-12-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

My poor little Trey had a tough weekend. For some reason he was a bit off balance and fell time after time. Saturday night he probably face planted 3 times and Sunday at church he fell and got a bloody nose. Well that night we were at Eric's parents house and Eric's Mom noticed his front tooth was chipped. I looked and sure enough a huge chunk was missing! I was so sad I almost cried. I called the dentist first thing in the morning and they set him up for an apt the next morning. The wanted to do x rays but children under 2 wont sit still for them. So instead they had to pin him down and put a laser on it while he was screaming. This office is the only office in Utah County that offers Laser Technology. Its pretty amazing...instead of drilling, they use a laser to fill cavities. Well they put the laser on it to help promote healing and stop infection. Yup this poor little guy got his tooth pretty good. The chip went all the way to the nerve and could result in removing the tooth!! I cried just thinking about my poor baby without his front tooth. If things go well they can get away with doing a route canal and a crown on the tooth. We just wont know for a few weeks what will happen. I am praying for the best but we will see. For now he will just have a piece missing from his front tooth.

This was the best picture I could get of his tooth. He still is pretty happy and doesn't seem fazed by it all. In fact he didn't even cry when it happened! He still eats and sleeps well which the dentist says is a good sign.

I can tell that this boy is going to keep us on our toes!

Two Monkeys in the Tub

2011-11-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We spent it with family, eating A LOT, playing games, putting up Christmas and shopping :) Although we did a lot of fun things I actually didn't break my camera out ONCE! I am completely shocked at myself...its so unlike me!

Instead I will post a few pics from my kids bath time the other night. These two are getting to be so much fun. They are playing together better and better everyday! They had so much fun in the tub that I had to snap a few pics.

Tatum got out his vampire teeth from Halloween and had some fun with them.

and he had to try them on Trey...

I just love these faces...I'm so lucky I get to call them mine :)

Such silly boys!

Halloween

2011-11-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

I know I am late but oh well....

My Halloween started great with a trip to Gardner Village for Witch's Night Out with the girls! It was super crowded but still so much fun!

The next week we had a couples Halloween party and a ward party. I forgot to take pictures at the couples party but we dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite and Deb...classic! For the ward party Eric put his costume together in 15 min! Our neighbor is the Lone Peak Highschool football coach and Eric coordinated with his wife to dress up just like him! He had no clue about it until Eric walked right up to him...I think he was a bit surprised! It was hilarious and ended up winning him best costume!

This year for Halloween Tatum was so undecided about what he wanted to be. Finally he was set on a ninja once he saw all of his friends were going to be ninja's too!

Trey had the best costume ever! My friend and I switched costumes this year and she let me borrow this monster costume for Trey...it was perfect! He was nice and warm all night and it even suited him nicely, since he is indeed a monster! Here is my little Trey Monster.

He didn't like it very much at first...

It had 3 eyeballs on top of his head...so cute!

Once again we had the whole gang over for trick-or-treating. Jake and Katie had the cutest costume...the old couple from "Up".

Eric is the guy in the scream mask. He had so much fun scaring all of the kids when they came to the door.

Of course we all got loaded up on sugar, which made for an extra late night getting Tatum to bed :)

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-04T13:59:00.002-06:00

This month has been super crazy for me, so much that Halloween kind of crept up on me. I had great intentions to go to the pumpkin patch way in advance, but it was a few days before Halloween and I still hadn't gone. So Elan and I loaded the kids up and took a few hours out of our day to take the kids. I love this pumpkin patch! Its great for the kids and really gets them into the season.

The kids had so much fun running through the corn maze and riding the tractors.

Trey wouldn't let me get him down from the tractors. He LOVED them and would just keep saying "vroom-vroom"...such a boy!

Of course they loved the little wheel barrows. Tatum and Noah just kept dumping pumpkins in regardless of color, shape or size...they even were grabbing rotten ones!

Trey had to get in the fun, but would just get frustrated that he couldn't do it.

Sometimes pictures are so hard for these boys...Logan wasn't having it!

Finally a good one, I guess we just needed to take Logan out :)

And we can't forget sweet Allie...

This was the perfect little field trip for the kids...and parents :)

A Few Random Pics

2011-10-25T20:05:00.000-06:00

I was going through my pictures and found some cute random pics to share.

First was a trip to the farm.

For some reason I love this picture...

and this picture makes me laugh because you can see the size difference in Trey and Tatum. Trey is almost as big as Tatum!

These next pictures were so funny. One day the kids were all outside playing and kept yelling at the parents to come find them. We went searching and found them in the recycling bin...

They would close the lid to hide and we would walk up to them and scare them!

They loved it.

A few weeks ago I took Tatum to his first dentist appointment. I was so impressed with the Dr. office. Tatum was so scared but they gave him these head phones to watch a movie on the ceiling with which made his visit so easy! He gets his picture on the board for being cavity free in October!!

Another pic is from the other day. We got a random day of snow! All week it had been in the 70s and this day we woke up and it was snowing! Tatum wanted to go out and play but I couldn't find his snow clothes! The next day I went out and bought Tatum all new winter clothes because it was apparent that I was NOT prepared!

And lastly in honor of Halloween coming up, here is a pic of Trey with my neighbors kids. She was showing me her daughter's pumpkin costume so I decided to get out this old pumpkin costume for Trey to wear.

And that is the end to my randomness.

The Cabin

2011-10-12T20:39:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we went with all of Eric's family to their cabin. It was such an amazing weekend. The fall trees were in full bloom making every view look like a painting. Honestly I have never seen this cabin more beautiful, the views took my breath away!

I couldn't stop taking pictures, so here is a huge picture overload...

We spent the weekend watching conference, playing games, fishing, and four wheeling.

The happy newlyweds...

We tried lining up the kids for a pic. Sadly It didn't work :(

Cutest pic ever...

Showing off his muscles

Dustin and Steph brought their Rhino which was perfect for the kids. We are seriously looking into getting one of these things...so much fun!

In between conference sessions the men worked on the cabin while the girls took the kids on a run. Since we only had 2 available drivers, we got smart and put Trey's car seat in the front of the Rhino while I drove...it worked out perfectly!

This was such a great weekend and will always be a wonderful memory!

Just a walk in the park

2011-10-05T14:58:00.000-06:00

A little while ago I took the kids for a walk around the trails by our neighborhood.
We took a picnic basket and ended in the park for lunch.

For some reason Tatum has his hand over his heart in this pic.
It made me laugh because he looks so patriotic with his red striped shirt on.

Trey has become so independent now that he is walking.
He could just spend his day walking anywhere I would let him and he would be content!

I have also started a new tradition. Every year on the first day of school I am going to take pictures of the kids with this chalkboard saying what grade they are in. As they get older they can write the grade themselves and we can see how their writing changes over the years. I thought it was a fun way to document how they change throughout the years.

Trey's 1st Haircut

2011-09-21T22:15:00.000-06:00

My baby got his 1st haircut.

He is no longer a baby, but a little man now!

I can't believe how grown up he looks.

If you know anything about Trey, then you know he does not sit still very well.

Even though it was a bit tricky getting him to sit still, Charity still did a great job!

St. George

2011-09-17T16:42:00.001-06:00

Has it really taken me a month to post a weeks worth of vacation??!?

I am pretty pathetic.

But in my defense I have been swamped with my decor blog, Tatum's preschool (which I am teaching), cleaning my house and chasing around Trey who is now mobile on his feet.

So now I will conclude our California trip with St. George.

On our way to Cali we stayed the night in St. George with our friends Scott & Natalie.

They put us up for the night in this beautiful gated community.

In the morning we went to the pool and did a bit of swimming.

Of course the boys make everything a competition to see who could be more crazy.

I love Natalie in the background, so calm, as if this is an every day thing!

I promise he landed on his feet.

The boys gave us a few scares, but no one was hurt!

I got some really funny pics of them but decided not to embarrass them any further :)

Of course anywhere we go we must find some sort of creature to entertain the kids.

Angeline and Tatum each had their own pet frog and would take turns "babysitting" each others while the other swam. It was pretty funny, only occasionally we would find a frog floating upside down in the pool!

After our trip to Cali we stopped in St. George for a weekend with my family.

We spent a day up at Cedar Breaks by Brianhead to check out these amazing views:

Elan with Allie.

Elan left Jason and the boys at home and came down for a girls weekend!

Me with my boys.

Eric stayed at the condo to do some work.

Tatum was out of control hyper the whole time!

My cute Mom and Dad

My lil sis' sporting my Mom's glasses.

My best friends

Santa Monica

2011-09-11T16:13:00.002-06:00

I love Santa Monica. I love the sounds, the smells and the scenery.

Every time we go to Cali we try to go at least once!

Trey eating sand

Trey's first time in the ocean

Throwing sand

Eryn boogie boarding

Trey loved the birds.

He kept chasing them and calling them dogs!

Eric made a huge shark in the sand

snuggling with my boys

Disneyland

2011-09-06T21:02:00.001-06:00

While in Cali we decided to take the boys to Disneyland.

It was Tatum's 4th trip and Trey's 1st!

Here are our millions of photos from the day...

The tram ride in

The carousel

Alice in Wonderland

The castle

Busy Main Street

Cute Trey

Tatum was picked to make silly faces during the Monsters inc show

We had to stop and see Pluto.

Trey just kept yelling "Dog Dog".

I love Trey's face in this picture

We met up with Katie's brother Robbie

And we met our friends for lunch at House of Blues.

Luke and Trey had so much fun playing in the fountain.

California Adventure

On the new Little Mermaid ride

Trey's favorite thing was the petting zoo

Tatum was picked for the Jedi Training and got to fight Darth Maul

and Darth Vadar

After completing his Jedi training he was awarded an official certificate.

You should have seen him strut around the park like he was untouchable!

Now that he was a real Jedi he was brave enough to go on Star Tours.

and loved it so much he had to go on it twice!

By the end of the day we all were exhausted!

August Cali Trip

2011-08-31T22:20:00.002-06:00

Last week we got back from a week long vacation to Southern California.

As always we pack in way to much fun to put into one post.

The first day there we hooked up with some friends in Anaheim and went to an Angel's game.

They were playing the Texas Rangers who happen to be Eric's favorite team.

This may or may not have had something to do with the planning of our trip to Cali ;)

Before we the game started, Eric and Tatum went in early to watch batting practice.

Here is my favorite player, Ian Kinsler.

Eric jokes about him being my boyfriend!

Tatum was given a ball and got it signed by David Murphy.

If you ask him who his favorite player is he will tell you David Murphy.

He tried to get Michael Young to sign his ball but wasn't successful.

Trey and I came in later, there is no way he would sit still that long!

I think we have a baseball fan on our hands.

Recognize this kid?

Yup thats Trey on the big screen.

Moments before Tatum and his friend Sawyer were on it to but I couldn't get my camera fast enough!

Eric is such a HUGE Rangers fan.

This game totally made his trip!!

...A litttle randomness...

2011-08-29T11:03:00.000-06:00

Well things have been crazy around our house lately.

So here is a rundown of what we have been up to.

Jake and Katie had their Utah reception in my in-laws backyard.

Everything about it was wonderful!

..the food

..the decor

..the shuttle

Notice Tatum riding it? Ya that's what all the kids did the whole night!

We also sent away Roxy's puppy.

He went to Eric's sister who just moved to Washington.

We had our friend Zack come in town for one night straight from Afghanistan.

We haven't seen him in 2 years and it will be another 2 years before we see him again.

He took us all to a super nice dinner at Market Street Grill.

He told us he wanted us to eat like kings, and to pick out whatever we wanted.

and we have had a series of lightning storms around here.

I tried to capture it and was surprised when I got this shot...

That's all the updating I can handle in one post.

I have so much more to blog about including another trip to Cali and Disneyland!

July California Trip

2011-08-10T15:29:00.000-06:00

At the end of July we took a road trip to Sacramento with Eric's family for his brother's wedding.

Most of the trip was devoted to the wedding but we did find some time to play at the local splash park.

Tatum was a little apprehensive at first about getting in.

The Bride's family was so good to us, they brought us some delicious pizza that Trey couldn't get enough of!

The groom with Trey the day before the wedding.

Sisterly love...

{The BIG Day}

The temple...

All 7 boys!

The Reception...

We attempted more pics of the boys without much success!

We kept the boys entertained by hunting for frogs.

Gross!

Cutting the cake...

We got the boys to preform a song for Katie!

It turned out so cute!

We had such a great time in Cali and are so glad that Katie joined our family!

4th of July Fun

2011-08-03T11:44:00.001-06:00

Yes I am just now getting around to my 4th of July post...talk about behind!

{The Balloon Festival}

We started our day bright and early at 6:00am to see the Provo balloon festival.

We were all a little tired as we sat around waiting for it to start.

This year they had a Darth Vader balloon.

The kids were so excited about it that we had to plow through the crowds to see it.

And of course you say the word "Star Wars" and these guys show up...

It was a bit of a windy day, so right after we saw Darth Vader go up a huge gust of wind came and knocked all the balloons down.

It was actually pretty funny. People were panicking and screaming, thinking the balloons were going to fall on them. After that they had put all of the balloons away. They only let one balloon up and it was tethered so it couldn't go anywhere. It was a bit of a disappointment, but we still had a good time.

{The Provo Parade}

Can you guess what these two boys are excited about?

Yup more Star Wars!

{Slip N Slide and Fireworks}

After naps we made a huge slip n slide for the kids and did some fireworks.

This year we got some nice aerial fireworks and put on a pretty good show!

We had such a fun but busy 4th of July!

I am so grateful for family and friends to celebrate this wonderful holiday with!

Trey's 1 year photoshoot

2011-07-23T18:04:00.000-06:00

A few days before Trey turned one I decided that I wanted to take pictures of him with his smash cake.

It also was an excuse for me to practice on his birthday cake.

Here is how they turned out:

Well we started out good...at least I was able to capture the moment!

Trey's 1st Birthday

2011-07-23T17:41:00.000-06:00

On July 3rd my sweet baby turned 1!

It was a Sunday, so we kept it kind of simple. I made a 4th of July breakfast, and we just played all morning before church.

That night we threw a small party for him. I wanted to do a cupcake theme so I made everyone cupcakes topped with mini cupcakes made out of fondant.

I had extra stuff so I made some mini cupcakes for the kids...very appropriate for the 4th of July!

Then Trey's smash cake was a giant cupcake.

I had some issues with his cake but overall I think it all turned out so cute!

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Eating his cake

We then got all cleaned up and opened presents.

I can't believe my baby is one!

Here is a little about my boy:

He is almost walking, only takes a few steps!
He is 70% for height and 25% for weight
He says Dada, Mama, Dog, Uh-oh and Wow
Trey is very busy, he constantly is exploring and searching for new things
He loves the swings and can sit in them all day
He is a great eater and especially loves blueberries and strawberries
Trey is such a boy already, when he has a toy he makes a growling noise like a lion
Trey loves water..any kind really, especially the toilet!

We love you to pieces Trey!

Eric's 30th Birthday

2011-07-19T12:43:00.000-06:00

Eric is officially an old man, on July 1st he turned 30!

I wanted to do something special for his big birthday so I started talking to his friends and decided to plan a surprise party for him.

I whipped up an invite in photoshop and emailed it to all his buddies:

That same night we threw a bridal shower for my soon to be sister-in-law. It was held inside and Eric's party was outside. It was a bit stressful and chaotic, but it all came together in the end.

I decided to make Eric's cake and it was my first real attempt at a cake.

I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out!

I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the cake. It was layers of blue and orange.

Everything was on a color scheme.

I made this banner:

and little tags that were glued onto the popcorn boxes and silverware:

I meant to have a beautiful table with it all set up nicely but it got windy and everything blew away. So I don't have pictures of it all put together.

But none of it mattered as long as Eric was happy.

We had a great turnout and after its all said and done, it was worth all the hassle.

Happy Birthday to my sweetheart, you will never get another party again :) haha!

Real Salt Lake

2011-07-14T14:29:00.001-06:00

Recently we got the chance to go to a Real Salt Lake soccer game.
Eric got some tickets through a client of his, and let me tell you, they were good tickets!

We entered in our own special entrance and got taken to our seats through the same tunnel the players come out in. We got comfy chairs with free drinks and popcorn. When we found our seats the most random thing happened. We got put directly next to our good friends Scott and Natalie!

It just so happened to be Natalie's Birthday, and it was so nice to celebrate with them.

Eric is a huge Real fan, he sported his Real hat complete with signatures from the whole team:

and he kept taking pictures of the players.
I don't know enough about the team to tell you who these players are:

While we were taking this picture we scored a goal!

After the game we got to go down to the field and take some pictures.

Such a fun night

Cedar hills days

2011-07-12T10:34:00.002-06:00

I am sooo behind on my posting.
Things have been a bit crazy around here with Birthdays, wedding stuff, and the 4th of July.

Just about 2 weeks ago we had Cedar Hills Days.
This time of year is so fun!
Every weekend there are parades, carnivals and fireworks.

Enjoying the parade

At the carnival Tatum got his face painted like a Lion.

He liked it for about a minute and then didn't want anyone to see him.

When we got home he ran upstairs and started washing it off.

That was $3 well spent!

Oh well, he was the cutest lion I have ever seen!

Puppy Love

2011-07-07T00:46:00.000-06:00

About 3 years ago we decided to breed Roxy. She had 2 puppies and as cute as they were, we told ourselves we wouldn't do it again. Well we never got her fixed just in case we changed our minds and wanted to breed her again.

Here is Roxy's first puppy, Harlow. She came to visit us all the way from California!

About 5 or 6 weeks ago we went to the groomer and much to our surprise found out that Roxy was pregnant!

2 weeks ago Roxy had her pups.

She had 2 again just like last time and they are Shorkies,

which is a Shih Tzu Yorkie mix....totally adorable!

Once they were born it didn't take long for us to find homes for them. The brown one is set up to go to Eric's little sister Bethany and the black one was going to our next door neighbor.

Everything seemed well with the puppies and our neighbors would come over everyday to check on their little "bolt". Last Thursday night they came over and noticed his stomach was bloated and hard and he was whimpering. We called the vet and he told us to watch him and take him in in the morning if he didn't get better.

The next morning came, which was Eric's 30th Birthday and the puppy was worse. So Eric spent the morning of his Birthday at the vet. After a few hours and many tests they decided that the puppy could come home and let nature take its course. That morning was soooo hard! We watched this poor puppy struggle for each breath and thought at any moment would be his last. Surprisingly he made through the night and woke up totally fine. We thought he was a miracle puppy. He was eating normal and sleeping and breathing just fine.

He went for a few days acting totally normal. Then out of nowhere, he took a turn for the worse and fell right back into the same problems. I held him and tried feeding him through a bottle and put him back with his mom. A few minutes later I went to check on him and he had passed.

Man it is so hard to see a life pass before your eyes, even if its just a puppy. I was so sad but relieved at the same time. This poor puppy was suffering and would have had problems through out its life. Our neighbors will be ok, they were so sad but ended up getting another Shorkie.

We will miss little Bolt!

Trey's BIG day

2011-07-03T12:47:00.001-06:00

Today is a BIG day!

This little man turned the big fat 1 today!

Shocked? I know I am. That was the fastest year of my life.

We are so in love and captivated with little Trey Trey and couldn't be more happy that he joined our family.

Thats all for now, just wanted to give a quick shout out to my little 4th of July baby!

Now I will spend the day snuggling my little bubba!

Happy Birthday little man!

slippin slidin

2011-06-22T09:07:00.000-06:00

We have finally felt like Summer is here, so the other day we got out the baby pool and slip n' slide and let the kids loose.

Everyday I am so grateful for the neighborhood that we live in.

My kids have so many friends their age that they play with every.single.day!

Getting ready... one...

...two...

...three...

These two were born 2 months apart and one day will be boyfriend and girlfriend.

See what I mean...holding hands already :)

How cute is her bikini??!?

Wet Willie!!

I can't believe in just over a week this boy will be a big fat one year old!!!

And this one gets cuter every day!

And a few more from our day...

I thought this last one was pretty funny, it sums up a normal day for us...

Oh well, they all still had fun!

1 quick photo

2011-06-15T18:45:00.000-06:00

I was just going through my pictures for June and found this cute picture of my family on Allie's blessing day.

Thats Grandpa Bradley next to me who turned 90 this year!!

Just thought I'd share...

Memorial Weekend

2011-06-09T20:59:00.000-06:00

Our Memorial weekend was spent at our friends cabin in Logan.

It is one of our favorite quick getaways and is always a blast spending time with our closest friends.

The beautiful "cabin".

While everyone played volleyball, Tatum had fun playing baseball. He discovered that he loves baseball. I think t-ball will be his next endeavor.

Saturday was our 6th Anniversary and since we were with our friends we decided to celebrate the day before. We went to see Kung Foo Panda in 3D and went to a Tepanyaki steak house for dinner....both were so good!

On Saturday night we went into town to Olive Garden with the whole group.

On Memorial Day we drove home and then went to Eric's parents for a BBQ.

We played some fun games like kick ball and red rover.

Tatum was guarding 3rd base.

It is so impossible to get Tatum look at the camera. Look how good JJ poses...

and this is the best Tatum can do. Ugh!!

Tatum spent some quality time with his Great-Grandma Larsen. So Cute!

We had such a wonderful Memorial Day this year!!

Family Pictures 2011

2011-06-06T10:08:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we had my friend and wonderful photographer took our family pictures.

I just got them back a few days ago and I have to say that I LOVE them!

They turned out better than I could have hoped for.

So here is a HUGE thanks to Carrie at DC Photobooth!!

Here are some of my favorites...

It was so hard to choose my favorites, all of them were so good.

I am seriously in LOVE with them!

Thanks so much Carrie!

Final gym performance

2011-05-31T22:53:00.000-06:00

My little boy is growing up!!

Last week Tatum had his final gym performance.

He is now done with gym because in the fall he will be starting pre-school!

It was a bit bitter-sweet for me.

I am excited for the next step in Tatum's life but I am sad that he is getting to be such a BIG BOY.

Here are a few pics from his last performance...

He really loves Miss Heather and we are both going to miss her!

Brandon Flowers

2011-05-21T19:39:00.000-06:00

Back in December Eric went on a guys trip to Colorado and he took our small point and shoot camera with him. He got back from the trip and told me that he had some bad news and that he had lost our camera. We hardly ever use this camera so we weren't really concerned about the camera itself.

The problem is that the week before we went to a Brandon Flowers concert and got to go backstage to meet him. We got some pictures with him and the band and never downloaded them on our computer. We were so bummed when we came to this realization.

Well on one of Eric's last nights in Colorado he took the camera and went to a church activity with his buddies. After this night he didn't remember seeing the camera. He thought by the time he was leaving it would turn up but it never did.

Well Eric recently went over to his buddy's house and surprisingly he had our camera! Long story short, Eric left the camera at the church; someone found it in the lost and found then came out here to visit Eric's friend and brought the camera back. Crazy!

So without further adieu, our pictures from the concert...

For those of you who don't know who Brandon Flowers is... he is the lead singer for a little band called The Killers!

We scored these tickets from Eric's awesome aunt Sallie.

Afterwords we got to go backstage to meet Brandon and the band.

This is the drummer for The Killers, Ronnie. He did one song at the end with Brandon.

Ronnie was such a cool guy. He just sat and talked with us for like 30 min. Kind of embarrassing, but he kind of was hitting on me. Once he found out we were LDS he asked if I was interested in doing a reverse polygamy and he could be my second husband. Of course he was joking, but Eric sure thought it was pretty cool!

It was such a fun night and I am so glad that we have the pictures to remember it!

look who's crawling...

2011-05-15T13:33:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks now, but never got around to it.

Trey has FINALLY gotten the hang of crawling, and once he started he picked it up quick.

Now its time to start baby proofing again!!

Easter Celebrations

2011-04-27T10:51:00.002-06:00

[Saturday]

We started our Easter celebrations on Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's.

We decorated eggs:

while Trey sat patiently in his walker:

Then Grandma planned a scavenger hunt for the kids that ended with them in the tub:

In the basket they found an Easter book for each of them along with some treats. Grandma then took them all downstairs to read them their stories:

When we got home Tatum wrote a letter to the Easter bunny. We left it out with our decorated eggs for him to hide around the house.

[Sunday]

Easter morning we woke up to see that the Easter bunny left a candy trail that led to the kids baskets.

After breakfast and an quick egg hunt we headed to Ogden to my Aunt and Uncle's house. My cousin just returned from his mission and after his homecoming we had lunch and an egg hunt.

Trey hates to sit in the grass...

We then had 3 more stops later that day to visit Eric's side of the family.

We came home exhausted and to our heads in candy...it was a great day!

...Love of the family...

2011-04-19T22:33:00.000-06:00

We have had a very eventful week around here.

On Saturday I just dropped my Mom off at the airport after having her for 9 whole days!

My Family came in town on Thursday the7th.
The next morning my Dad, little Sister and I got up early to go snowboarding.
On our way up the canyon I said to my Dad "Bet you anything Elan (my older Sister) is going to have the baby (due in a week) while we are gone and then Mom is going to be stuck at home with all 4 of the boys."
He said there was no way that was going to happen.

We went for a few runs and then came to the lodge for a break.
I called Elan to see how she was doing and sure enough she was in the hospital and in labor!

All I had to say was "I told you so!"

We only skied for half a day and then headed home, showered and headed to the hospital just in time to meet baby Allie!

After a quick hello, we ran back home picked up a few things and then headed to Brigham City for my Grandpa's 90th Birthday party.

We showed up and realized it was only an adult party...I guess we missed the memo!
We still had a great time and enjoyed seeing the fam!

The next morning we went to see our nephew Hunter get baptized.

It was so great to be there for him on his big day!

Then the next morning (Sunday) we said goodbye to my Dad and lil' sis.
They had to get back to work and school but left my Mom to help with the new baby.
She definitely spoiled us while she was here and she spent every spare minute snuggling with this one...

...and chasing around these boys.

We love you Mom, and miss you already!

...9 Months Old...

2011-04-12T11:39:00.000-06:00

Last week this cutie pie turned 9 months old.

People always say that your second goes by so much faster that the first and man are they right!

Here is a little about Trey:

He is SUCH a mamma's boy
He will eat anything you put in front of him
At his 9 month check he weighed 18 lbs 3 oz which is surprising only the 10th percentile
He refuses to crawl. He can sit up and tries to crawl but then lands on his stomach and cries.
He pulled himself up the other day which makes me think he will just skip crawling.
Trey is a great sleeper. He sleeps between 11 and 12 hours at night.
He says "Da-Da" all day long but will not say "Ma-Ma"
Trey loves his Brother. Tatum can make him laugh like no one else.
He loves to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but wont give any other show the time of day.
Trey is a busy kid. He is always looking for something new to grab and play with.

We just love our little guy and can't imagine life without him!

...Pump the Jam...

2011-03-30T11:05:00.000-06:00

The other day I came down stairs to find Tatum doing this:

Ya wanna know what he was listening to?

Lady Gaga!!

...St. Patties Day...

2011-03-22T17:14:00.003-06:00

For the past week Trey has been super sick with a double ear infection and border line RSV.

So when St. Patricks Day came around I thought for sure it would be a total waste of a fun Holiday. Thankfully the anti-biotics kicked in and Trey was back to normal just in time for St. Paties Day.

We started off the day with the usual green pancake breakfast.

and the leprechauns came and brought the boys all sorts of fun green things to wear for the day.

That morning we headed to the church for a fun St. Patricks Day playgroup.

They made rainbows out of paper plates and fruit loops and went on a scavenger hunt for the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow.

Trey is at the age where he grabs everything in site and puts everything in his mouth.
Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

I love how festive everyone was, thats a whole lot of green!

After lunch with Dad, I decided to make some cupcakes using a new recipe I found online.

If you think they look gross its because they were.
The frosting was all wrong and the cake was kind of weird. I absolutely love cupcakes and wish so bad that I could make them like the pros but it looks like from now on I will be sticking with the box. But if anyone has some good tips, I would love to hear them.

The rest of the day was spent playing games and relaxing. It was a good day!

...Playgroup...

2011-03-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday our ward does a playgroup. It has been so much fun that Tatum looks forward to it every week. So far Tatum's favorite playgroups have been trips to the fire-station and animal hospital.

{The Fire-station}

It was a bit of a cold day but that didn't stop the kids from going out to spray the hose and check out the fire engine. Tatum wouldn't go near the hose, I think he was scared he would get wet!

They gave all of the kids a goodie bag equipt with a hat, badge and coloring book. They were able to see the whole station and they even got to play on the pole.

{The Animal Hospital}

This was a fun trip. They took us in and showed us all around the Hospital. We saw how they weigh the animals, where they give baths and then we got to see the doggie daycare.

They brought this St. Bernard inside for us all to pet. Such a beautiful dog!

Little Alayna loved him and had no fear.

Trey just went along for the ride.

Always content to be doing what Tatum is doing.

Its so nice to have these playgroups to get us out during these long winter months.

..Loving Your Space...

2011-03-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am starting something new!

Its called loving your space...my new decor blog.

I love showing the latest projects that we have done around the house and getting feedback,

but I was getting tired of them "cluttering" up my blog.

So the solution was to start my own blog where I could showcase all of the fun things that I do around here. I doubt it will turn into anything big, but I am still so excited.

So you can click on the link above or on the button to the side of my blog to get there!

Enjoy!!

...Tatum's Birthday...

2011-03-01T20:49:00.003-07:00

On the 27th my sweet boy turned 4!!
We celebrated the big day with a Harry Potter themed party.

{the invites}

Each invite had an official letter from Hogwarts and a ticket for the Hogwarts Express.
Then they were enclosed with a wax seal.

{the party}

The morning of the party, Tatum got a delivery at the door.
Every year my Mom sends Tatum balloons and chocolate.
This year the balloons were the colors of Griffindor, all except for the one pink one.
They misunderstood and thought it was for a girl!

{the sorting hat}

After all of the kids arrived we started with the house sorting.
This was so cool.
We put Trey's baby monitor inside of the sorting hat with Eric upstairs talking into it. Each kid got their turn wearing the sorting hat and then each got a badge to match the appropriate house.

Our TV hooks up to the internet, so before we started the sorting we pulled up a clip of it from the movie.
They all sat so patiently and watched in awe!

{ollivanders wand shop}

After everyone was sorted, we headed downstairs to Ollivanders where each kid got to make their own wand.

We had paint, glitter, feathers and pipe cleaners that they all could use to personalize their wands.

{the lessons}

Once the wands were made it was time to head to their lessons were they learned the spells to become a Wizard. Eric has a Harry Potter spell app on his phone and he hooked it up to the surround sound for the lessons. Dustin and Eric would teach them a spell and then through the speakers it would say "excellent" or "outstanding". They made a feather float, a snake appear, opened doors, turned on the lights, and changed the color of water. They ALL thought they had just done real magic!

In between lessons we had them all search for the golden snitch.
We hid a bunch of these around the house and they each had to find one before we could proceed.

Once they all became Wizards it was time to put their hard work to the test: they would have to use their spells to change the color of their potion. While the kids were searching for the snitchs, we put a few drops of food coloring at the bottom of their cups and covered it with ice. We then put Sprite in a cauldron with dry ice to act as their "potion".

When they did the right spell Eric poured the potion into the cup and it would magically change colors.
They loved it!

After the potions we finished up with cake and presents and the kids went home with a bag full of candy from Honeydukes Sweet Shop.

I think the party was a success :)

...Valentines Day...

2011-02-16T12:42:00.003-07:00

Valentines morning I woke up early and made everyone delicious pancakes with some homemade strawberry peach syrup topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. Yum!

I showed this sing-a-ma-jig to Trey in the store and he went crazy, so I had to get it for him for Valentines Day. He loves it!

He also got some pancakes. Man can this kid eat! He is only 7 months old and wants nothing to do with the bottle. He doesn't take after his brother at all!

Tatum made some Valentines this year for all of his little friends. I know this idea was all over the internet but I couldn't resist!

Valentines Day is a special day for Eric and I. This year it marked 6 years since we were engaged. We try to do something special every year and this year we went to Midway for a night. We took our best friends Josh and Brooke and Mike and Jessica with us and had so much fun. We packed in a lot so the only picture I took was of these 3.

Pretty typical pic, Tatum playing on the I phone, Brinley playing with Woody and Trey just loving sitting with the big kids.

For our Valentines dinner the guys made all the girls a delicious meal. They did an Olive Garden night with Steak Gorgonzola, salad, bread and asparagus.

We had a wonderful Valentines spent with the ones we love and care for.

...7 Months Old...

2011-02-03T13:15:00.005-07:00

Its been a while since I updated about this little man.
Today Trey is 7 months old!

Originally this post was going to be all about how fun Trey is becoming and the milestones he has passed. But due to recent events I think a little "vent" session is better suited.
I am not a big complainer. I have a positive outlo0k on life and I am a glass half full type of girl, always have been. That being said it shows what kind of a week Ive had that I am willing to complain on this blog. This week has been a 2-kid week. My friend used this phrase on her blog and it seemed to describe my week perfectly. A 2 kid week , meaning, after this week I don't want to even think about having any more kids!

Lets start at the beginning...

Saturday night I developed a sore throat. By Sunday morning I could hardly talk. Eric played He-man and took the kids all day so that I could rest. Monday morning Trey got sick. He wouldn't let me put him down all day. He wouldn't eat and never slept for more than 30 min at a time. That night the only way he would sleep is laying on me. So I spent the night on the couch with Trey and hardly slept. We figured this all was a sign of teething. Trey had gotten his first tooth at 6 months and I thought his 2nd was coming in. I just told myself "by morning this tooth would have broken the skin and all will be better". Not!
The rest of the week continued on in the same way, sleepless nights and long days. The laundry needs folding, toilets need scrubbing and I can't handle my messy house. Last night I was so burned out that I checked out at 8:00pm, got into bed fully clothed and crashed!
Today is Thursday and still no sign of the tooth.
This morning was the first time I have left the house since Saturday night. We went to playgroup and then to the store. Tatum had multiple breakdowns and ended in the walk of shame kicking and screaming out of Walmart.
Kill me now!
On top of this we have had to deal with Eric dislocating his finger and possibly needing surgery, a friend of a friend wanting to file a claim on our insurance for breaking his hand in our car, and a few other smaller problems.
So now you see what I mean about my 2-kid week!

On the other hand these kids really are so sweet! I am so blessed to have them and if this is the worst thing to deal with than bring it on!

...Pattern...

2011-01-27T12:09:00.004-07:00

I have had a few people ask me about the flower pillows I made below. I got the pattern from Amy Butler and its free to download. On the site there is also the stockings that I made and a few other freebies :) Here is the link...

Amy Butler Design

...Mini Face-lift...

2011-01-20T11:43:00.002-07:00

When we moved into our home, we had very little furniture.
We came from a townhouse and the only furniture we brought with us fit perfectly in our tiny front room.

In our townhouse I loved these couches because they looked great with my green accent wall. Here our walls are tan and I wasn't diggin the tan on tan on tan in this room.
Every time I walked into our home this room would depress me.

So I decided to make a few minor changes to brighten up this room.
Here is the room now...

Not a lot changed, but enough to make me happy.
First I put up some beautiful silk drapes.

Next I made some pillow cases to cover the ugly brown and green ones from before.

The flower ones are my favorite.
They took a bit of effort to make, but I think they add so much character.

I love how the pillows tie in with my peonies.

And the whole reason behind this blog is to have this book...

Now the only thing this room needs is an updated family pic...sorry Trey!

...Happy 2011...

2011-01-11T22:30:00.002-07:00

I love celebrating New Years!
This year we threw a party at our place and had a total of 31 people!

We all went to dinner first so we didn't plan a ton of food for the night.
Just some simple chip dips and an awesome hot chocolate bar!

We got our groove on with some Just Dance.
Seriously, funnest game ever (to play and watch)!

These two entertained each other all night long. Love these boys!

Adam and Jessa...and Arass in the background...

Alex, Melanie and baby Jaci...

Josh and Brooke...

Bracken and Jasmine...

Bethany and Jeremy...

Jake's girl was in Cali so he toasted with the boys, who stayed up all night!

and this one woke up for 10 min just to ring in the New Year!...

2 days after New Years, this little man turned 6 months old!
He is already close to 16 pounds and says DaDa all the time.
He is growing way too fast!

Happy {late} New Year!!

...Christmas Vacay...

2011-01-03T17:07:00.006-07:00

Here is a run down of our Christmas Vacation...

{Christmas Eve}

We spent Christmas Eve at the Wilson's.

We enjoyed a HUGE dinner, a Christmas program and opening presents.

That night we went home and opened our Christmas jammies, put cookies out and read stories about Santa.
Tatum went to bed to the sound of reindeer on our roof, compliments of Uncle Jake.
Its so fun to re-live the magic of Christmas through your Children's eyes!

{Christmas Day}

This year we woke up Christmas morning alone in our home, which was a first.
We had a nice relaxing morning with homemade cinnamon rolls and we stayed in our jammies almost all day long.

Ahh the joy of Christmas!

I gave each of the kids their own homemade gift.
Tatum's was a batman blanket and pillow...

and Trey's was a wobbie...

Santa was also very generous this year.
He brought us a 3D TV!! Pretty much the coolest thing EVER!

Christmas Day was spent with Eric's family.
Lunch at Uncle Steve's house and then dinner at his parents.
Then the kids stayed at Grandma's house that night for a sleepover.

The day after Christmas my family came in town.
It was so nice to spend some quality time with both sides without feeling rushed.

The whole time Logan snacked on Tatum's gingerbread train. Funny kid!

These next pictures explain why our kids are spoiled!
(It was probably the most foggy night we have ever had, so the pictures aren't great.)

We took them outside in front of the garage and told them their present from Grandma and Grandpa was inside.
Then we opened the garage and their reaction was priceless!!

Yup they each got a....

POWERWHEELS!!

What did I say? Spoiled!

...[Pre] Christmas Festivities...

2011-01-03T14:53:00.003-07:00

Wow I can't believe how fast this Christmas has come and gone.

We started our celebration with our ward Christmas party.
Santa came to visit and Tatum was thrilled!
He wrote Santa a letter and got to personally hand it to him.

We then had our Polar Express night at Grandma Mary's house.
We made gingerbread trains and our very own Polar Express train with all 7 grandchildren.

Trey was the caboose...

Next we celebrated with the Larsen's where we enjoyed decorating cookies, singing carols and the nativity.

The next morning we woke up to this...

The perfect snow before Christmas!

..Merry Christmas..

2010-12-23T10:35:00.002-07:00

I had every intention of getting these Christmas cards out this year,
but in all my chaos it just didn't happen!
So here it is for all of you....

Love,

The Larsen's
.Eric. Elyse. Tatum. Trey.

..Christmas Tour..

2010-12-15T21:56:00.005-07:00

We officially ready for Christmas!

Christmas decor is up, and presents are bought, wrapped and nestled nicely under the tree.

Now the partying can begin!

I love the feel of Christmas!

My home feels so warm and cozy and I seriously never want to take the decor down.
Here is a tour of our Christmas home.

{The Stockings}
This year we needed to add one more stocking to our mantle and I thought instead of buying a miss-matched stocking that I would make all new ones.

They turned out perfect! So simple and classic, just what I wanted.

{The Tree}
Every year I add a few more ornaments to the tree.
This year I got these adorable candy cane balls.

And fun wrapping paper to match.

{The Loft}
This year we added some more decor to the house.
Eric got this tree for FREE at a yard sale this summer. I could start a blog with all the deals this guy finds...its out of control! But hey I'm not complaining!

This tree will be the home for all of our kids home made ornaments.
I love that they will have a special tree all to themselves!
This is Tatum's first ornament, Eric helped him make it!

My favorite part is that we have great way to display the boys' nativity and Christmas books.

..Thanksgiving..

2010-12-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving this year was spent with the Larsen's.

We had a huge get together up at Eric's parent's house and had such a blast.

Eric and Kai napping while we waited for dinner.

I think just the smell of Turkey put these two out!

Trey had fun playing with toys...

Can he get any cuter??

Everyone got to talk to Bethany and Jeremy in Seattle via Skype...

We miss you guys!

We played some fun games.

{Holiday Pictionary}

and our own form of apples to apples.

We replaced the green cards with family members names...

it sure made it more interesting!

and over the weekend we gave Trey his first taste of rice cereal.

He is now 5 months old and the Dr. gave the ok to try it out.

He wasn't the biggest fan, you can see his eyes are red from crying...

maybe 6 months will be better!

..Trey's Nursery..

2010-11-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished Trey's nursery!

This room has been such a project, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how it came together!!

{The Tree}

When I found out Trey was a boy I decided to use Tatum's old nursery bedding to save some $. I never loved Tatum's nursery, so I needed some fresh ideas to make it a space that I would love. To start I found this picture from Pottery Barn that I used for my inspiration.

This tree set such a calming ambiance that I knew I had to have it. I asked Eric if I could have my friend paint the mural and he said that he wanted to do it. Great! 6 months later it still hadn't been done so I decided to do it myself!

Back in my day I used to be an "artist". All through Highschool I took many many years of art classes. Who knew that one day those classes would pay off!

The walls I painted a sky blue and did stripes in a high gloss.

Its very subtle and kind of hard to see in the pictures but I think its perfect!

I made the drapes and accent pillows.

{The changing table}

Lately I have been in this "labeling" kick and really like the look of custom labels.

{The Shelving}

I put these shelves up to display a few little keepsakes.

The neighboring elementary schools made these firecrackers for all of the new moms on the Fourth of July. It doesn't match the nursery at all but its definitely worth displaying.

My Mom gave me the bunny. It matches the crib skirt perfectly.

Also displayed are Trey's hand and foot prints and hospital tags.

And lastly I hung three white frames showcasing Trey's newborn pics above the crib.

And there you have it. Trey's perfectly perfect serene nursery.

..4 months old..

2010-11-11T15:16:00.001-07:00

Yup this little man is 4 months old now!

Trey had his 4 month check and is growing like a weed.

Here are his stats:

weight: 13 lbs 12 oz (25%)

height: 25 3/4 in (75%)

head circ: 42.5 in (50%)

Looks like we have another tall and skinny kid on our hands!

Eric is so happy that he is finally starting to interact with us more and more.

He jokes about newborns being "boring"...

I on the other hand happen to LOVE the newborn stage.

Trey absolutely loves his play mat.

He can lay here and play for hours giving Mom a nice break!

Recently he started to sit in his Bumbo.

He hasn't mastered it yet, but he is getting so close!

This little bug loves to be cuddled.

One of my favorite things about newborns is when they sleep on your chest.

Trey will still do that and it just Melts My Heart!!

Such a happy boy!

And one more for fun.

This is what my boys did the other night...

watched Harry Potter, both with their blue blankies!

Can you tell whose is newer??

What cute boys I have!

..A little Halloween..

2010-11-02T13:07:00.004-06:00

Oh the joy of Halloween! I just LOVE this holiday!

Here is a run down of our Halloween...

Eric and I went to a Halloween party on Friday night. Last minute we put our costumes together and this is what we came up with...

I was so proud of Eric for putting this costume together in about 1 hour. I borrowed mine from my neighbor seriously 30 min before we left for the party.

I made these candy corn cupcakes for the party.

I thought they were cute and yummy too!

On Saturday I went out early and took Tatum's picture in his costume.

I'm so glad that I did because when it came time to go Trick-or-Treating is was
pouring rain!

Here is our little Batman...

During our little photo shoot Tatum found a caterpillar and wanted me to take its picture.

He named it Caterpillar...so creative!

Later our neighbor let Tatum borrow their batman mask.

I think its safe to say he liked it...

Here is Trey in his Lion costume.

This is such a hard age to get pictures.
I just wish he was able to sit up, it would have been a whole lot easier!

He absolutely hated his costume!
These were the only ones I got of him being semi happy.

Now onto our ward Halloween party.

These three just ran around with each other the whole time.

I found them hiding in the corner.

Ive got my Lion...

and DARTH VADAR found his STORM TROOPER.

After the party it was time for Trick-or-Treating.

Our neighborhood is perfect for Trick-or-Treating so most of Eric's family

came along with us.

I stayed home with Trey in our nice warm house to pass out candy while everyone else braved the cold and wet weather.

We had a great Halloween and cant wait for next year!

{Nutty Putty Cyclers}

2010-10-26T14:51:00.000-06:00

Between the ages of about 5 and 10 years old I had a friend that I considered one of my all time best friends. Emily and I were inseparable. I have countless memories of our families getting together for dinner or a movie night, swimming at the Reynolds next door, riding bikes, playing dress-up, playing sardines with her brothers or playing house in her attic. I considered her family. Until one day her Dad got transferred for work. I was devastated. Over the years we lost contact but I never forgot about her.

Last year I heard about John Jones who died in the nutty putty cave over Thanksgiving. You can read his story here.

I had never met him before but I felt so connected to his story because his sister Cherie is an old neighbor and friend of mine. I read blogs and looked at pictures of his cute family. I never made the connection until this past Sunday.

My Mom called me and told me that John's wife was my dear friend Emily from my childhood. My heart just sank! I felt terrible that I didnt realize this earlier. I had seen her picture a million times on blogs and on the news but never put 2 and 2 together. I felt so sorry that I couldnt be there for her through all of this.

Here she is with her two adorable children. She was 2 months pregnant when her Husband passed away. She named her baby John Edward Jones II after her Husband.

I just reconnected with her after about 17 years and found what her amazing little brother is doing to help. Him and 3 friends are cycling from coast to coast to try and raise money for the Liz Logelin Foundation. Its a charity that supplies grants and support to widows and widowers who have recently lost a spouse.

You can read about them HERE and follow their progress through twitter or facebook.

I plan on donating and want to spread the word about these amazing men. I admire every single one of them.

[..Pumpkin Point Farms..]

2010-10-20T12:35:00.000-06:00

Last week some neighbors and I took our kids to Pumpkin Point Farms. It is this little Ma and Pa farm up in the Riverton area and it was the cutest thing ever. All of us have 3 year old little boys and they all were in Heaven. This place had it all and the best part was that everything was free (excluding the pumpkins)!

They had a small corn maze that the boys had to run through about 10 times...

tractors they could climb on,

old trucks they could play in,

kid size wheelbarrows,

and a hayride.

They had rows and rows of pumpkins all with their own name...

We all had our cameras out the entire time and I got so many cute pictures. My camera died half way through but I still had way to many pictures to go through.

For some reason Tatum struggled to smile normal for me, I have so many pictures of him with this new smile of his.

or with a weird face like this...

finally a cute smile...

Thanks again Natalie and Luci, we had a great time!

..They {LOVE} each other..

2010-10-12T19:30:00.000-06:00

As a mother of 2 one of the things that brings me the most joy

is seeing my two boys playing with each other.

Trey is still a little young to interact much with Tatum,

but I am starting to see the beginning of a great friendship.

The other day I found Tatum playing doctor with Trey.

It was so cute to watch...Trey was even lovin it!

On Sunday I attempted to take pictures of the boys in their church attire.

It was a pretty sorry attempt seeing as this was all I got...

I just love how Trey is smiling away in the background.

On occasion Tatum will read to Trey.

Not the best pic, but still cute!

..Main floor bathroom..

2010-10-06T15:10:00.001-06:00

I love that when we moved into our house it was a COMPLETE BLANK CANVAS. Every wall was white and with a little effort we repainted almost EVERY wall.

We never got to the bathrooms in the house and our main floor half bath was driving me nuts! Its the main bathroom that everyone uses and the white walls had to go!

The other day I decided enough was enough and made a trip down to Lowe's.

I got all of the supplies: paint, wood, caulk etc. and went to work.

I am pretty proud of myself.

It took me almost a FULL day to finish (minus touch ups) and I just love how it turned out. Eric was pretty impressed himself seeing as I did all of the woodwork myself!

I decided to try my hand at board and batten.

This really was an easy project but by no means is it PERFECT. I went the cheap route and got lattice wood and just nailed them straight to the wall.

Here you will see that I ran out of wood and didn't want to buy another 8 foot section. Its pretty well hidden but still I'm no professional!

This was my inspiration. I got it as a bunco prize and it was the EXACT color I wanted for the bathroom (thanks Marianne!).

These pictures don't show the color very well but it really is more of a robin egg blue than a green. My computer is getting fixed right now so I don't have photoshop or a before picture!

But in a matter of days I will be running with the latest and greatest version of photoshop...woot woot :)

Now that this project is done its time to move on to the office, family room, loft, master bath...

...and the list goes on and on!!

[end of Summer fun]

2010-09-20T23:21:00.000-06:00

For the last 2 (almost 3) months since Trey was born I have been in full "baby mode".

Most of my time has been spent nursing, changing diapers, doing laundry (darn those blow-outs!) or sleeping. I have felt really bad for Tatum during these adjustment months because he has been

slightly neglected by his terrible Mother.

Before I had Trey I really questioned whether I should put Tatum in Preschool this year or not. I decided not to because I was unsure how this so called adjustment period would be, plus he is really advanced for his age.

So in efforts to make myself feel better about my poor parenting I decided to enroll Tatum in some extra curricular activities. I put him back in his gym class, which he LOVES! and I signed him up for Tot Soccer.

He was so excited to start soccer, especially when we got him some awesome cleats and shin guards.

I signed him up with 2 of our neighborhood boys, Brandon and Hunter.

Here is his team with Coach Jackman.

They only played 4 on 4. These poor kids were never taught how to play soccer. I guess a practice would have been a good idea seeing how they had no clue what they were doing! It was pretty entertaining though. They were running in the wrong direction, staring off into space, occasionally I would catch Tatum following his shadow.

So funny!

They all got yellow jerseys to wear over their shirts. They were way to big on them.

Exhibit A:

Coach had the idea of tying them in the back. Just shows how little these kids really are.

Here are the 3 musketeers...Tatum, Hunter and Brandon eating their after game snacks.

After the game we decided that a practice was very much needed. Eric got out the cones and trained Tatum on the ways of Soccer!

Turns out a little nudge in the right direction was all Tatum needed!

When Tatum isn't going to Gym or Soccer he is outside playing with Brandon. Brandon is our backyard neighbor and his about 6 months older than Tatum.

We could not have asked for better neighbors!

These two boys are so cute together and seriously LOVE to play with each other. Just Yesterday they wanted to have a camp-out. So we got out all of the tents and let them have their fun.

Here is their "camp site".

These boys are seriously so cute and I am so grateful for all of the little friends that Tatum has made.

It really has made my life so much easier!

{Trey's Blessing}

2010-09-11T11:28:00.000-06:00

This last weekend Eric had the opportunity to bless Trey. My Family came in town for the occasion and we were lucky enough to have all of our close friends and family here. Both Eric and I come from big families so when everyone stood up to stand in the circle people in our ward started to laugh because we had so many Priesthood holders come to participate. It was a beautiful blessing and I am so honored to have a Husband worthy to give my children such wonderful blessings.

After the blessing everyone came to our house for a luncheon. My Mom and Sister helped me make these Pom Poms for the decor. I LOVE how they turned out!

We put a slide show of Trey's pictures on the TV.

Tatum loved the pom poms. He said they were bad guys and fought them all around the house. Gotta love a 3 yearolds imagination!

Grandma Donna held that baby the whole time she was here and loved every minute of it.

Grandpa and Grandma Wilson

3 Generations of Bradley's

Family pic. Within minutes of being home after church, Tatum ran upstairs and changing into his play clothes!

Trey with his Mom

Trey with his Dad

While my Family was in town we had a lot of fun. Here is what my Dad spent his time doing...

This is what my Mom did the whole time...

Now that Trey is 2 months old he is starting to change a lot! We went to the Doctor and here are his stats:
Length: 22 3/4" ~ 50%
Weight: 10 lbs 8 oz ~ 25%
Head Circ: 40 1/4cm ~ 50%

I wont even compare Tatum to Trey's stats. Lets just say they are night and day! The best part of 2 months is that Trey started to sleep through the night....yay!!!

I just love my 2 boys and they love eachother...

[..the cabin..]

2010-09-01T22:03:00.005-06:00

Before it starts to get cold we decided to take one last trip to the cabin. We brought a bunch of friends with us this time and had such a great time.

The trip started out a bit rough with us all heading down to electric lake. We drove up next to the lake and ended up getting stuck in the mud.

All of the boys pushing the cars out while the girls watched and took pictures!

Here is the whole group minus Christine who took the picture...

Then not 5 min after this shot was taken did this happen...

Yup, Josh backed right into Alex and Melanie's car. Melanie was putting her baby in the backseat when Josh thought they had left already. The door was wide open and they were in his blindspot. The side door bent right in half and the window shattered. They couldnt even close the door. But the boys got to work and rigged a window and sealed the door shut for the drive home. Day one was a total disaster!

The next day we did some serious fishing and I think revived the trip. Tatum had so much fun. He caught 3 fish and would reel them in on his own!

One fish!

Two fish!

Three fish!

Even though we had a rough start, we ended up having a great time. We were so glad that everyone could go last minute and are so grateful for such amazing friends!

.happy.sleepy.sad.

2010-08-23T14:44:00.002-06:00

[..6 weeks old..]

2010-08-14T09:58:00.001-06:00

Today my baby is 6 weeks old! Its crazy how fast new babies grow. The other day my neighbor brought her postage scale over and we weighed Trey. He is a whopping 9 lbs 2ozs!! I couldn't believe it! I am so used to Tatum who I swear took 4 months before he reached 9 lbs. But really I shouldn't be all that surprised since so far these two are complete opposites. Here is how opposite they are...

Tatum was and still is a great sleeper, Trey is still learning.
Trey is a great eater and could eat all day long, Tatum could go all day without eating and be fine!
Tatum has blonde hair and Trey is still holding on to his dark brunette locks (and hopefully keeps them).
Tatum is a Daddy's boy, Trey is a Mommas boy.
Trey loves to get his diaper changed, Tatum would scream every time.
Tatum hated his car seat, Trey loves it and will sleep for hours in it.

Its so crazy how I can already see so many differences. I can't wait to see Trey grow and see his little personality start to show.

BTW: isn't this kid just beautiful? Maybe I am just partial but I really think he is perfect!

[..The Tetons..]

2010-08-08T16:34:00.004-06:00

Well I survived my first road trip with 2 kids! Last weekend we went to my family reunion up at the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. I really debated about going but when our friends told us about their cabin in Driggs we decided to give it a go. (I was not about to camp out for 3 days with a month old baby, especially since it rained everyday!)

..The Tetons..

Our view from the cabin...pretty amazing!

Tatum collected a whole $1.44 from the penny hunt

Trey and Grandpa napping

Tatum launching water balloons

..Bear Lake..

After the Tetons we stayed the night in Bear Lake. We enjoyed some famous raspberry shakes and wave running on the lake.

This is what Trey did the whole time...we were so worried that he got sunburned in the Tetons that we didn't want him in the sun at all.

Tatum could not get enough of the wave runner

Eric let Tatum drive and he said that Tatum had no restrictions when it came to speed. Tatum pushed the throttle as hard as he could!

Our little water bug

Sometimes its I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E. to get Tatum to look at the camera!

I am really glad that we were able to go on this trip. Everyone thought I was crazy going with a newborn, but it really wasn't that bad and turned out to be a lot of fun!