Tayson Christmas Morning

The video is a little dark, but it is the only one I have of the boys on Christmas morning. It is of the boys when they first come into the living room and what Tayson finds under the tree. It then cuts off, but the pictures below show what he got and his excitement.

Christmas

It looks like Santa came through for Tayson and Camden. Tayson has been wanting a "Big" lightning Mcqueen for Christmas. I tried to talk him out of it since we would be having to pack it back home, but he was so set on it. So when he saw Santa he made sure he told him (twice). My sister Erin tried to tell him that she talked to Santa and he didn't have anymore of them, but Tayson was SOOOO sure that he had one more, just for him. He insisted on it, and Erin couldn't phase him. He was right and Santa proved it! He was so excited Christmas morning! There was only one BIG present and he knew it had to be for him. Luckily he was right! Camden also got a "choo choo", just what he has been wanting. He's told everyone he wants a "choo choo". He even got so lucky that Auntie Jana and Uncle BJ even gave him one too, so he ended up with two! They all hook together so now he has an even bigger choo choo. Seems to have been a very successful Christmas thanks to Santa. For those who know the the long standing joke between Brady and I, Santa helped out this holiday giving Brady ANOTHER cookbook!

Grandpa Judd read the boys their bedtime story on Christmas Eve. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

Pre-Christmas Activities

Tayson wanted me to make a sleigh with his model magic, then he continued to want things added to it (Santa clause and reindeer- I made him stop at one reindeer as we were running low on the model magic). He loves to ask me to make things, but is quick to change his mind to something else when I finish and smashes what I just made and asks me to make something else (after all the hard work I put into it! :) ) Oh well.

Brady's parents told us about the train at Pearl Ridge Mall when we were in town (Honolulu) on Christmas Eve. We took the kids over to ride on the train. The mall has two sections to it, and to get from one section to the other you have to ride on the monorail. So the kids road on the monorail to get to the Christmas train at the other end of the mall, and then road on the Christmas train, and then the monorail again to get back to the car. They had three train rides altogether. They LOVED IT!

Coconuts are Falling!

Finished product

Tayson begged Gramma Suzie to let him keep his "BIG" leaf. She was so nice to allow it. However he needed Camden's help to move it (Gramma eventually cut it down a little and he could haul it himself). He was pretty proud of his big leaf. Camden found some hard dry leaf/husk time thing that he claimed was his leaf. I forgot to take a picture though. The boys loved watching the coconuts come down and the guy climb the tree. It was a fun experience watching the guy cut them down, but I am especially glad to have the coconuts out of the tree so I don't have to worry about the possibility of them falling on one of the kids while they play outside (they are very dangerous).

Camden's finger

Early this afternoon (Wednesday- I'm posting late in Hawaii so it shows up as Thursday). Tayson accidentally smashed Camden's finger in the door (a heavy door). It immediately darkened under the nail and all the way through to the other side. We bandaged it up and gave him some tythenol. Eventually after calming him down I got him to take a nap. My mother-in-law called the nurse and she talked about possibly needing to have him get an x-ray to make sure it isn't broken. When he woke up I had Brady look at his finger. Camden freaked out any time we tried to touch it, but once we calmed him down and he started playing and drawing, he showed that he could bend and move his finger without any problems, so we don't feel that it is broken. Brady however talked about possibly needing to use a needle heated by fire to puncture a hole in his nail to release the blood which would relieve the pressure and a lot of the pain. I wasn't so sure about that idea though, I didn't want to put Camden through anything traumatic if I didn't have to. My father-in-law mentioned the same thing when he got home from work. The rest of the afternoon Camden seemed to be doing okay, but as time went on he seemed to constantly be crying and wanting to be held and seemed to be in a lot of pain. I finally decided to allow Brady to do it in hopes that it would help Camden feel better and since he was already crying, I figured it couldn't be any more traumatic for him. I held him while Brady and did the pricking and him mom bandaged it up. It went REALLY well. Camden was a champion and didn't cry for too long, before calming down really quickly and falling asleep in my arms. It seemed to do the trick (along with Tythenol). There was A LOT of blood that came out so it seemed to really help relieve the pressure. I'm very grateful that it went really smoothly, and also very grateful that my husband knows more about this type of stuff than I do and knew what to do. Hopefully Camden will feel much better tomorrow. We figure he will most likely lose his fingernail, but we'll see. Just another day in Paradise right?! j/k

We will be heading to......

For those of you whom have not already heard through email or phone, we decided late last night to accept the job offer in Salem, Oregon, so we will be heading up that way after graduation. We are VERY EXCITED as we have heard SO MUCH GOOD about Oregon. We don't mind rain, if it means greenery. We love to see green around us, such as in Hawaii. This is an incredible job opportunity for Brady and we feel good about everything. It is difficult to get into a private practice right out of school, so Brady had planned on working in an acute setting (hospital), so it was a huge blessing to receive this job out of school especially with such a nationally well-known Physical Therapist. We are excited to finally know where we will be heading. We weren't expecting to have a job offer this early so it is a relief to not have to stress over the next few months with applications and interviews in the middle of internships. Better run, just wanted to share the good news.

Most recent posts

Just so you have a heads up before you continue on. I have finally updated our blog, but I had so many pictures I had been meaning to post but we didn't have access to a computer for a period of time so I never got around to it, so I posted A LOT of pictures today (it will probably show two days of posting pictures for those looking at it because it is now 11pm in Hawaii which is 2am in Utah). Be aware there are at least two full pages of new pictures just so you have a heads up. As you can see from some of the pictures, we arrived in Hawaii just fine and are having a lot of fun. Brady has started working construction for the next couple of weeks to earn a little extra money before he starts his intership. We miss our family and friends who are on the mainland, but are excited to start this new adventure! On Monday while the kids and I were walking to the beach, a van pulled over and a girl called out my name. I turned around and there was a friend of mine from Elementary-High school, Natalie, with her husband and three boys. We happened to go to BYUH at the same time years ago as well, and I ran into her when we were out here three years ago for Christmas. She was here while her husband finished school. I thought she had since moved off the island, so it was a fun surprise to see that she is still here and lives just a couple streets away. Two of her boys are similar in age to Tayson and Camden so they'll have more friends to play with. There are also two little boys that are the same age as ours that live next door. They have a slide, trampoline and bikes. Tayson and Camden have been blessed to have new friends to play with here. They are having a lot of fun.

Hawaii Thus Far

Our home for the next 2 1/2 months

Tayson's new bed, Camden still sleeps in a pack-n-play. Tayson loves his new bed (with his Christmas pillow that his Sunbeam teacher back in Utah made for him- it came with a special poem to read each December). My mother-in-law's house is the only house in Hawaii that I would allow my kids to sleep on the floor, because I know how clean she keeps it and it is very very very rare that there would ever be a cockroach or gecko in the house to climb on the kids while sleeping. I've just had too many bad experiences with cockroaches and/or geckos (such as in my hair) when I lived here during school 6 years ago. Most houses have cockroaches in them on frequent occasions, but NOT this one. Thank you Susan!!!


View of the temple from our front yard

LDS Temple

This was the kids 2nd trip to the beach. The kids and I went on Monday morning. We don't have pictures from the first time which was on Friday (the day after we got here), since we didn't take our camera, but I sort of wish someone had been there to video us or take pictures, because it was an eventful outing. For those of you who know Hawaii, you know the weather is SOOO unpredictable. It will be sunny one minute, two minutes later it will be pouring rain, and then two minutes after that, the sun is back and the rain is gone. Well, we went to the beach and the weather was sunny, however the wind has been pretty strong the whole time we have been here thus far. Brady and Tayson had some fun riding waves on the boogie board, as well as Camden. Later on, the kids and I were on the beach and I had my back turned to the water watching the kids play in the sand. Brady was in the water boogie boarding, when he saw the rain at The Point (a landmark in Laie not far from where we were). He started heading toward shore figuring he could help with the kids when the rain came, but the rain and wind hit HARD the moment he hit the sand. Because the wind was so strong, sand was blowing hard and it hurt and the rain was coming down hard enough to hurt too, so the kids FREAKED OUT! They were crying and running. I grabbed Camden right as Brady ran past me. I realized he was running after the arm floats that the wind had just taken with it. He caught one but we lost the other for good after it crossed the highway about 100 yards away. While Brady was running for the arm floats, Tayson was running after him crying (staying in the rain and wind longer). I had Camden and was holding a towel around him and over his head while he cried "owie" over and over again. The rain only lasted about 2 minutes total, but it sure scared the kids. They were ready to leave at that point and didn't want to go back (I wonder why). So I made a point of taking them to the beach on monday to give them a chance at a good experience so they would realize the beach is fun. I got a couple good pictures that time. We had a much better experience on Monday, though the wind is still rather strong this week and blows the sand. At the same time I like the wind which keeps it cool around here and keeps the mosquitos away. There is good and bad. I'm sure once the wind is gone I will wish it was back to cool things down.

Last day in Utah and the Drive/Flight

Tayson had to play with the train one last time on tuesday (the last day at Papa and Nana's house). He loves this train and spent quite a bit of time playing with it and hanging out with Papa right before we left.

We woke up early on Wednesday morning to get a head start while the kids slept a little more, unfortunately Brady didn't wake up to his alarm so we got a start an hour later than hoped for, but he made good time driving, so we still arrived in Cedar City early enough to take my brother, Regan, to breakfast at IHOP and spend time with him (he is at school at SUU). The boys had fun with him and hanging out at his apartment for a little while afterwards, it was a good time to let them out of the car to play so they would be happy when they got back in the car.

We also stopped by my grandparents house in St. George to say goodbye before continuing toward Pheonix. My grandpa was out shooting, so we hung out with Grandma Matheson for a while and let the boys play as well. Grandma and Grandpa Matheson gave the boys adorable stuffed animal puppets that bark and quack songs when you move their mouths. They are SOOO cute and the boys love them. The duck sings "Old McDonald had a farm" and the dog sings "BINGO" and "How much is that doggy in the window". Camden can't quite use it like a puppet so he puts his hand in and then uses his other had to open and close the mouth. Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa for everything!

Grandma took a picture of our family for us as well before we continued on the drive. It is the most recent picture we have as of now so I figured I'd better post it.

We finally made it to AZ Wednesday night and stayed with Brady's aunt and uncle that night. The next day we made a trip to Walmart to get a couple supplies and then headed to the airport for our flight. The kids were great on the plane for the most part (Camden had about 20 minutes where he was sick of sitting, but he was fine after that). The kids were great travelers overall both in the car and on the plane. We've always felt like we have good travelers for kids, but this time they were Champions!!! Camden had about 20 minutes of frustration in the car as well, but that was it. My prayers were filled with much thanks both Wednesday and Thursday night for the help from our Heavenly Father. We were very blessed!

Fun in Utah

We had Christmas early in Utah with my family and the boys got really cute "scrub" pajamas from my parents for Christmas this year. They love them, and they are perfect for the warmer weather. They also came with accessories to be a doctor. I've never seen scrubs for kids, so I LOVE these.

The kids got early b-day presents as well from my parents before we left for Hawaii (they both LOVE tractors) so they were thrilled with their gifts! Thank you Nana and Papa as well as Auntie CieJae who gave them a coloring book and crayons for the plane ride (it was a life saver! for keeping them entertained).

The boys LOVE Papa's motorcycle, so they had to climb on one last time before leaving.

Tayson and his cousin Amelia at a family Christmas party. My cousin Shelly and her family moved about 2 blocks away from our apartment at Alpine Storage earlier this year, so they kids had some fun playing together and getting to know each other. It was fun for Tayson to be able to become such good friends with his cousin. He'll definitely miss her.

We went to the National Guard Base at the Airport with Brady's Sister and Brother-in-law to see Santa Clause before we left Utah. The kids loved seeing him but I have to tell you the story of what happened. Tayson had just seen Santa at a family Christmas party the night before and when Santa asked him what he wanted he couldn't remember. So right before he went to sit on Santa's lap we asked him if he remembered what he was going to tell Santa he wanted for Christmas. He said he did remember. So when Santa asked him what he would like for Christmas, he told Santa (a BIG lightning Mcqueen - from Cars movie). Santa then gave him a candycane and a wrapped gift (they had a bunch of generic gifts to give the kids for fun) as you can see in the above picture. Some of you may know where this is headed, but we didn't at first and didn't think much of it. Tayson came down and handed me the candycane. I continued to talk with the adults and the next thing I know Tayson pulls on my arm and I look down and he is looking up at me with tears in his eyes and holding the gift up toward me. He had only ripped off one side of the paper so he could see what it was. He told me with tears in his eyes "I don't want this present Mom." I then realized what he had been thinking. He had sat on Santa's lap and told him what he would like for Christmas and then Santa gave him a present, so who wouldn't think that this would be "the present" (the one he just asked for). It was a small puzzle that they had given to a lot of the kids. I had to then explain to him that this was just an extra gift santa had for him and that he comes on Christmas Eve when he is asleep to deliver a special present to him, so there is still a chance he may get what he asked for. He was fine and happy after that explanation and enjoyed the rest of the time there. Poor kid, I felt so bad that his hope and dream for Christmas had almost been completely destroyed. I sure hope Santa pulls through with that special Christmas wish of Tayson's. :)

Face planting

Camden had a nice spill shortly after we moved down to Orem before heading to Hawaii. We ran to the bank to change our address and on the way back to the car he skidded on the gravel on his face. It healed pretty quickly fortunately. I think my kids have some sort of special healing power. Both boys have nailed their eye or forhead on something really hard multiple times and have had HUGE bumps and we think for sure it will result in a black eye, but by the next day the bump is completely gone and there is only a tiny mark. This was Camden's first experience with really face planting. I was glad I wasn't planning to take any professional pictures anytime soon. I am grateful it was only this bad, and of course with his special powers, was healed almost completely within two days.

Tayson's Early B-day Party

Poor little Caleb along for the ride. What a good sport.

These two were crazy. They loved this ride and went on it over and over again. It is quite fast. Even Camden ended up going on it with me (though we don't have a pic). He didn't cry at all, but I wouldn't say he loved it either.

He made it look like the candles were really lit right? We forgot matches, fortunately Tayson has a great imagination.

Last year Brady promised that we could give Tayson a "Big" friend party when he turned four. When we realized he would be turning four in Hawaii, he said that we could do it early, so Tayson had an early b-day party on Dec. 4th at Jungle Jims in Midvale. He was SOOOO excited!! and insisted on inviting all of his friends (he even wanted to invite his friend Sophie in Michigan, but I explained that it would be too hard for her to get here because she would have to come on an airplane, so he was okay that she wouldn't be able to make it). He had a blast with all of his friends and it was fun for him to be able to see them again before leaving Utah. He and his friend Bryson really loved the roller coaster and went on it many times while we were there, that was their favorite ride. They are definitely kid rides, so adults don't fit in them extremely well, but it was fun to give it a try. I give props to all the parents that rode on the rides, especially Brady's brother Derek on the bumper cars with his youngest son.