It's A.........

Healthy baby as far as we know. Yesterday we went in for the ultrasound. All went well as far as we know, they don't say much, until after our doctor sees everything and then he will give us the report, but everything seemed to be go well (10 fingers, toes, etc). We'll just keep praying for a good report at the next dr. appt. As for the gender......











We still don't know! Ha ha. I was serious when I said we weren't going to find out the gender of this little one. I know many thought I would cave when the time came, but I really wasn't tempted because I was so set on it so long ago. It really has made this pregnancy so much fun! Sorry if you were hoping we had an answer to the gender of this little one. You'll have to wait along with us till the little girl/guy arrives. The boys STILL insist that it is a girl, but I'm sure they will be happy if it is a boy too. They are both just so excited to have a baby around. They LOVE babies. Brady and I really will be happy with either as well. We love boys and wouldn't mind another cute one, but at the same time if it is a girl, it'll be fun to (though a little more scary I think, as I know little to nothing about raising a girl). Crazy to think only 17 1/2 weeks left. It seems to be going really fast.

On another note, we put an offer in on a house yesterday as well. We'll see what happens. Our hopes are not extremely high, but we know it will all works out if it is where the Lord wants us to be. It would mean leaving our ward unfortunately, which we absolutely love, but we are sure we'll love any ward we end up in too. We'll keep you all posted.

Blessed in our Christmas Travels.

So I am finally caught up on posting, I just want to post this last post, to go along with our Christmas trip. We, as a family definitely felt as if we were being watched over this holiday season. The Sunday before we left for Utah it snowed and the roads turned ice, schools were closed for the entire week, etc. I began to worry whether or not we would make it to Utah at all. We were scheduled to head out Friday morning and my little sister was going to fly up that morning and we would pick her up at the airport and head straight to Utah. Brady would then fly down on Christmas Eve as he had to stay back and work in the meantime. Tuesday the snow mostly melted, then Wednesday and thursday we got more snow. We kept an eye on the weather/traffic reports for the gorge. Most places suggested you carry chains or traction tires. Thursday I talked to Brady about the idea of getting chains just in case, but we were concerned they would be all sold out as they had had record sales. Fortunately he was able to pick some up after work from Les Schwab. By Thursday night, they were requiring chains on ALL vehicles in the gorge. Thursday night/friday morning it snowed another couple inches but the gorge was still open with chains. It took us almost 2 hours to get to the airport but we got there, my little sister got in just fine and we headed off. About 45 miles from Hood River, we came to the point where it was time to pull over and put on chains. My little sister and I (her reading the instructions and I putting the chains on), figured it out without much trouble and were on our way. Unfortunately with chains that meant we could only go up to 30 miles an hour, though at parts we were going probably 20. Multiple hours later we got to The Dalles and felt we were probably okay to take them off. I definitely felt blessed that from there on out the roads weren't nearly as bad has had been anticipated. We still had to go SLOW at times, but at other times the roads were completely clear. We hit another small snow storm, but chains were not required on our vehicle and we were able to make it over the pass without too much trouble, just a lot more slow driving. We finally arrived in Boise 14 hours after leaving home at I believe 11:30pm (the amount time it should take to get to my parents house in good weather from our house). Saturday we hit more snowstorms but there are snowplows in Idaho and Utah so it wasn't nearly as bad as Oregon. Once we got to Brigham City we were delayed another couple hours as the freeway was closed due to a 30 car pile-up and we had to get off the freeway and take the highway down a few miles and then hop back on. We didn't get to Alpine till that evening, but we made it. Brady was also relieved by our safe arrival especially since by Saturday afternoon they closed I-84 completely in the gorge, and it remained closed for 3 more days. Overall a 22 hour trip, but we made it and the boys were CHAMPION TRAVELERS! SERIOUSLY! They did great! Saturday night Oregon got freezing rain, church was canceled Sunday, most businesses closed then and Monday, and the airport basically shut down Sunday and Monday. So then it was worrying whether or not Brady and my brother and sister-in-law would make it for Christmas. At the same time I felt that the Lord wouldn't purposely split us up from Brady for Christmas and if he had made it possible for us to get out the day before the freeway shut down, He would get Brady to us too. I as still nervous though. Brody and his wife happened to be the 3rd flight out on southwest after two days full days of cancelling all their flights. Talk about a blessing. Then came Christmas Eve (it was snowing, etc). Brady took a shuttle to the airport, which started to spin out at one point, but was able to recover. His first flight on United was delayed over 3 hours. Then his 2nd flight was delayed another 3 hours. He didn't get in till about 6:15pm Christmas Eve, but we were SO RELIEVED he was there. We are glad to be back now and that the drive home went quicker, even with hitting another snowstorm in Oregon while I was driving of all luck.

We know though without a doubt that the Lord was watching out for us all. We feel very BLESSED. We hope all of you were able to travel safely where ever you were for the holidays. I saw enough slideoffs to last me for years to come, but fortunately everyone seemed okay that I saw. I found myself praying for a lot of people I didn't know during our trip in hopes that no one would be seriously injured or killed especially around the holidays.

Below are pictures Brady took of the ice on the trees and bushes after the freezing rain. It is amazing, I've never seen anything like it, click on the pic to enlarge them. All summer we were told how lucky we were to have such nice weather, and it had been more dry this summer than it had been in a LONG time. Well, we apparently were also LUCKY to live here for the worst winter storm in 40+ years. Now we are back to just rain and wet roads. We are THRILLED with that!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jakey!

On Saturday, after we got back to Oregon, we got to celebrate one more special birthday. Brady's younger brother, Jake's, 26th birthday. This is the young man Camden was named after. We joke that it is because he was named after Jake that he is so stubborn! Though I am all too aware that stubbornness comes from my side of the family as well (but I won't admit that in person!) j/k Every year, on Jan. 3rd we make Jake's favorite dessert, Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies (also one of Brady's favorite too). This year seemed to be extra fun as we started it off by going to Chuck e Cheeses as a family, and then came home and made cookies and sat around eating cookies and ice cream. It was fun to take the time while eating to share with the boys some of our favorite memories we have of Uncle Jake. My all-time favorite is a couple of times after he returned home from his mission (before he took off for the summer to Virginia, and also once he returned for school at BYU), he would hang out in our livingroom with Tayson who was just a few months-8 months old each time. Tayson would be swinging in his swing and Jake would be sitting next to him playing his guitar for him. Tayson LOVED IT and was so in awe. I wish I had a picture of it, but I was usually preparing dinner while he was doing this.

Tayson can't believe the idea that Uncle Jake was taller than Daddy, even though Daddy was older. We talk about how Camden is built similar to Jake and we wouldn't be surprised if we have another Brady vs Jake in growing competitions, between Camden and Tayson. Tayson can't believe that it is possible that Camden could EVER be taller than him since he is older. We'll see as time goes on.

The boys enjoying their cookies and ice cream while listening to fun stories too. Tayson asked how we can give Uncle Jakey Birthday presents, and I explained that maybe by being nice to his little brother and doing nice things for others would be a great present he could give Uncle Jake. Tayson then went on to tell us that he learned in primary that that is a great way to give presents to Jesus and he thought that was a great way to give presents to Uncle Jake too. He's been doing a pretty good job since of being nice to Camden and helping Mommy and Daddy. Happy Birthday Jake!

Happy Birthday Uncle Regan

While we were in Utah we were also there for my younger brother Regan's birthday. He turned the big 21! Happy Birthday Bro! He's too cool to give hugs sometimes, so I had to capture the ones he gave to my parents on camera. The boys also had fun watching/helping him open his presents, especially the one from his girlfriend as she wrapped it at least 10 times. He had decided he wanted to open his presents at exactly 10:46 am I think it was because that was the time he was born at. Well, it took him a good 2-3 minutes to just get her gift unwrapped, it was pretty funny!

Tayson is 5!!! Happy Birthday Bud!

Well, while we were in Utah we got to celebrate Tayson's 5th birthday. It was fun to be with family for his birthday instead of here just the four of us. He had a blast. We went bowling the night before and to dinner with my side of the family and had cake and ice cream since his birthday was on a Sunday. Then on Sunday we had dinner with Brady's side of the family too, (that is where the previous wrestling pictures came from.)This is My version of Tayson's birthday cake. I figured as long as it had construction trucks, rocks, etc he would be thrilled. I figured we could do without a crane since he and Camden had already gotten 3 for Christmas, and there wasn't much room on the cake.

This is Tayson's version of his cake. He wasn't too thrilled when he saw the cake so because it didn't have a crane. So he ran downstairs and grabbed the new little yellow one he got from Christmas and brought it upstairs and added it to the cake.

As you can see by the smile, he was then thrilled with his birthday cake!

He loved the attention of everyone singing happy birthday to him too.

He got a new backpack from Nana and Papa. He was SO EXCITED. He asked me about 3 weeks before why everyone in his preschool class had a bigger backpack than him (he was using a small one that detached from a rolling backpack that he had one a couple years ago at a 5k race). I asked if he would like a big backpack for his birthday and he excitedly said YES! He just left this morning with his new backpack on to preschool, his first day back after the break. He loves to have everything BIG.

He also got a new basketball hoop. He loves to play basketball and says he is better than Daddy. He wants to be just like daddy.

This is a pic I forgot to post. Both boys got......DIXIE CUPS.... for Christmas. When we were in Seattle for Thanksgiving, our friends niece was playing with these if you remember from a previous post. Well since the boys had so much fun, we got them some for Christmas. Papa helped Tayson make the biggest tower ever and they were all excited!!

It is hard to believe Tayson is now 5! He is growing up fast. Its crazy how once they turn a certain age they think they are so old and can do anything they want, or once they start school, etc. Tayson asked why he can't go to kindergarten now though since we had told him in the Fall he had to be five to go to kindergarten. He thought that as soon as he turned 5 he could. It wasn't too hard to convince him though that he has to finish preschool first and then have summer break. He LOVES preschool! so he was fine with that. Tayson is such a great Big Brother to Camden and they have been playing together SOOO well lately. I love having two boys close in age. Tayson is still our sensitive child and wants to make everyone happy. He gets emotional when watching any movie where someone is sad. Its pretty cute! I have no doubt he is going to be a great big brother to the new baby boy or girl growing inside. I love to watch him with my niece Peyton cause he loves her just like a little sister, so I have no doubt whether we have a boy or a girl, he'll be great. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! I am SOOO Proud of you!

More Christmas photos, Crane, etc

I never could get our video to download but found these pics of Tayson with his famous Crane that Santa Clause brought. Santa always seems to pull through with the coolest Christmas present Tayson can ask for. He LOVES his Crane! Way to go Santa.

Tayson and Camden with Grandpa Judd and Grandma Suzie. They were so excited that Grandma and Grandpa were coming to Utah for Christmas, and had so much fun while they were with them. Tayson hopes to be as tall as Grandpa Judd one day.

So on my side of the family the boys only have two girl cousins, but on Brady's side there is a herd of boy cousins. So this is what boy cousins do together EVERY time they get together (WRESTLE). Fortunately no broken bones by any of them YET. Tayson especially loves it cause Tyler and Andrew are his size or bigger so he doesn't have to be so gentle, like when he wrestles with Camden.

Christmas in Utah

Well, December didn't start off so great in our house. After the boys and Brady and I being sick for a good month and a half (just never getting over the colds we seemed to have), I discovered this in our home behind the boys beds. Which seemed to explain why we were all still sick. To say the least it caused A LOT of worrying on my part as to whether or not we would be able to get it taken care of, or have to move 2 days before leaving for Utah, or if it was harming the baby inside of me, etc. I reported it and the manager told us to move the boys out of the bedroom (meaning they would sleep in the livingroom) over the weekend and they would get to it on Monday morning. Unfortunately Sunday it SNOWED 2 inches or so here in Oregon and the roads were ice monday morning (schools were closed, and the maintenance was busy ALL day trying to shovel sidewalks and remove ice, etc - no such thing as salt or snowplows around here for roads and sidewalks as it happens so little). Monday while waiting for them to come around and take care of the problem, while also confining the boys only to the livingroom, I discovered the mold was even WORSE in our bedroom. So for the next two nights we ALL camped out in the livingroom. Maintenance finally came tuesday and cleaned it up and said there wasn't any in the walls fortunately, just for some reason we have a lot of humidity in our home. One of the causes as well was that the woodchips outside our building apparently were piled too high, up under the siding that it was causing moisture to get in up over the foundation and into our bedroom. Now that we are back, everything seems to be okay. It is all cleaned up, we've been given a dehumidifier for the time being to remove as much humidity as possible, etc. Lets say we are still VERY anxious to finally buy a house and get out of here, just in case there is any mold left. Baby seems fine so far, and the doctors haven't told me that I should be worried, so I'll try not too. After being in Utah we are finally healthy and hoping we can stay that way now that we are back. As for the trip to Utah (I'll save that for the next post).

The following are some of the pics from our trip to Utah. I emphasize SOME, as Brady's camera has the few pics we took while with his family (we really aren't very good at remembering to take our cameras places and take pictures, which I regret), so I need to wait till we get those downloaded to share those. He also has a picture of Tayson with his crane, which I don't have, so more pics will be coming later.

When we first got to Utah we stopped by my aunt and uncle's house just in time to watch the BYU bowl game. Near the end my dad and the boys, with Peyton's help of course, tackled my younger brother Regan.

Tayson has become quite the expert at putting together puzzles by himself lately (he loves puzzles, takes after his mom and Papa) and has a 64 piece puzzle mastered so he was excited when he got four new 100 piece puzzles to try. He's already mastered two of them, and will likely open the other two pretty quick.

Santa did a GREAT job getting Camden a Thomas the Train computer that he REALLY REALLY WANTED. He was SO EXCITED! Tayson got a crane from Santa, the biggest he has EVER seen and was SO excited, unfortunately apparently I didn't take a picture of him opening it, just video but I can't get the video to work at the moment, so I'll keep trying later.

The boys got a race track for Christmas from Uncle Regan and his girlfriend Kennan. They LOVE IT!

Camden got a little crane for Christmas

My niece Peyton ended up pretty sick Christmas morning. She came over for a short time and Camden gave her a curious george for Christmas that does back flips. She loves monkeys and though she was so solemn before she was giggling like crazy each time george flipped, it was so cute. It was nice to see something make her smile Christmas morning. Camden picked the present out himself, and apparently did a great job.

Christmas afternoon we went to my grandparents house and while they were opening their presents Tayson went over to watch and rested his arm on my Grandma, it was too cute I had to get a picture. They don't get to see them very often, but when they do, they both warm up to them really quick.

Camden and Regan's girlfriend Kennan

Camden had a blast with Uncle Regan

Camden playing on one of the inflatables

CieJae and Regan (my younger brother and sister) were racing on some of the opstacle courses.

Uncle Regan and Tayson

Uncle Regan had fun trying to knock Tayson off of this inflatable that rocked. It was fun to watch Tayson try to keep his balance.

Tayson making faces at Purple Turtle, while Peyton laughs. Peyton adores Tayson and follows him everywhere and Tayson ADORES her. He thinks Peyton is his little sister. No kidding. At church the day after we got to Utah he came out of his classroom with his teacher and said "Mom, I have a little sister don't I?" I told him "well, I don't know, you might get one (since we don't know what gender the baby will be)". He said "I do Mom, her name is Peyton" and then walked off down the hall. I had to explain later that Peyton was his cousin not his sister, but he LOVES her like she is his little sister. He would do anything for her I think. Its really cute to watch them together.

There is a funny story to go along with this picture. While driving to Utah, at one point Camden had to pee so bad there was no way we were going to make it to Tremonton, UT in time to get to a bathroom, so I pulled off a ranch exit and had him pee on the side of the road. I told Tayson to go too, so we didn't have to make another stop 10 minutes later. He reluctantly got out of the van, walked to the other side and took one look at the snow and started heading off the road into the field while asking "Mom is it alright if I hurry and make a snow angel?" I of course grabbed him and told him no he wasn't making a snow angel on the side of the freeway and we were in a hurry to get going and get to Nana and Papa's house. He said okay and peed and got back in the car. He wasn't too disappointed and I had to laugh that he asked that at such a random moment. Well, when we got to Nana and Papa's house (after a LONG TRIP) later that night I began unloading the van. As I walked into my parents mudroom I saw my mom helping Tayson take off his fleece sweatshirt covered in snow (it was shortly before 10:00 pm). I asked what happened and my mom told me that apparently Tayson went out to the snow as soon as he got out of the car (I wasn't paying attention at the time) and made a snow angel really quick and then came inside covered in snow (no snow clothes on). I had to laugh! This kid apparently had been waiting a LONG time to make a snow angel. He had been SO EXCITED to get to Utah and play in the snow, I just didn't realize just how excited he was at the time. He was satisfied to go inside once he had made a quick snow angel. I didn't think I would ever miss not living in a snowy region, but now I have to admit I'm a little sad for the boys sake. They LOVE snow, and though we did surprisingly get a LOT for here the week we left for Utah, it likely won't happen again (worst storm in 40 years).

Tayson, Ainsleigh and Camden being pulled on the sled by the four-wheeler.

Tayson LOVED sledding in Utah

Camden showing off the owie daddy gave him when he dumped the boys off of the sled while driving the four wheeler (Camden landed face first on the road/snow and got a bit of road rash). The funny thing is the day before he knocked Tayson into a chair and caused a nice bump on his head, so we've given him a hard time about beating up the boys. Fortunately no major injuries to either child. :)After Camden crashed, he didn't want to ride with Daddy anymore, only Papa, so he and Papa took Tayson for a ride on the sled.
Peyton came outside just in time to see Camden crash on the sled, so lets just say she didn't want ANYTHING to do with sledding after she saw him get hurt. We tried to get her to just sit on the sled, but she through herself right off. She was so upset, but at the same time so cute I had to get a picture. A few days before she hadn't had any problem with sledding, but after seeing Camden get hurt she didn't want anything to do with it anymore.

The boys with Papa and Coco (papa's dog), riding the four-wheeler.

Overall, we had a GREAT trip and it was so fun to see both my parents as well as Brady's parents who came from Hawaii. We also got to meet our new nephew/cousin, Nathaniel. We had a blast in Utah and miss everyone already, but at the same time it is good to be back. Brady got one of his famous headaches half way through the drive home, so I took over driving the rest of the trip, as he couldn't be much help the rest of the time (his headache didn't go away till we got home and he finally got a good nights sleep. To my luck, we hit a snowstorm 5 minutes into my driving time. What luck?! We made it through with out too much trouble, and about an hour or so later it was over the roads were clear again. Could have been worse, so we'll count our blessings.