I have time.

With Brady and the boys having a blast at Father and sons tonight (something the boys look forward to ALL YEAR long, I actually have time to blog. Amazing.

Life has kept us busy and we've had to rely on our Faith along the way. There have definitely been ups and downs, but we are trying our best and growing stronger as a family and making memories along the way.

Tayson is still LOVING first grade and loves to make friends with everyone. Its so nice when you step into Tayson's classroom to help and all the kids have to say about Tayson is nice things and they all want to be his friend. Sometimes I wonder if he uses up all his niceness at school and there isn't enough left for his little bro when he gets home some days ;) . We're working on it. :)

Brady has finally had some time to relax a little (in between his job and training for his next marathon) so we've taken advantage of it by taking a camping trip to the coast, celebrating birthdays, gardening, and just enjoying the little sun we see now and then. Hoping summer arrives soon! :)

Camden is SO EXCITED about Kindergarten this fall, excited enough that he doesn't mind that he is going to the doctor in a couple weeks for kindergarten shots. He doesn't mind the pain knowing it means he will be able to go to kindergarten after the summer. He makes me smile and I've enjoyed my time with him home each day this year while Tayson has been at school. He's tried my patience beyond belief, but our relationship is growing and he is such a sweetheart when he wants to be. :) He is LOVING t-ball this year and is just SO excited that he is now old enough to play "real" sports.

Baylee is officially two now and its crazy to believe its really been two years. We've all enjoyed her like crazy. She makes us smile and laugh even when she is mad (she's just so darn cute when she's mad or when she's done something she shouldn't it makes it difficult to get after her without cracking up laughing ourselves). She talks up a storm, has for a while, and LOVES to copy cat everything anyone says. She is SO NOT afraid to say "NO" , its become her favorite word. (yipee! not) She will also repeat over and over and over and over again what she is saying if you don't understand, until you do finally figure it out (its overwhelming when you can't figure it out and you just want to move on, but she won't let it go.) I feel like terrible twos no longer exist after the first two, because now we know about the terrible 3's, 4's, and 5's , etc that the 2's don't seem so bad. :)

I'm staying busy with the kids and then when I have my own time, I LOVE crafts. I've had a blast making some hats for family and friends over the past few months, creating some of my own styles, and growing in my skills. I'm addicted. :) I also have plans for sewing two adorable skirts for Baylee when I get a chance, and I'm dying to get into quilting at some point. Crafts are my way of therapy and relaxation, especially after a long day. There's just something about creating things and the beauty in it.

Well, that's about it for now.

Is it really possible?

Is it Possible that this beautiful newborn girl has turned into this.....

..... blue-eyed, happy, fun-loving, crazy hair angel

(well...not happy all the time ;) )

But most

Its hard to believe that this sweet little girl who makes us laugh EVERY day is now TWO!!! Happy Birthday yesterday my beautiful Angel! WE ALL LOVE YOU!

Life

We are staying busy but here's what we've been up to lately. Tayson had a music concert for school on Tuesday and had fun singing and playing the xylophone. He LOVES his 1st grade class, his teacher and classmates, and really seems to enjoy music as well. (some pics are blurry because they are taken from our camera that is mainly for video, so unless lighting is perfect, the photos end up slightly blurry at least. Video works great of course, and that's what we mainly use it for, but I tried to take a few pictures since it was the only thing I brought.

Baylee and Cam playing at the treehouse (one of their favorite places to go while shopping)

Camden and Tayson with their cousins (my cousin's kids) at Thanksgiving point while we were visiting in Utah last month.

Baylee got ahold of Daddy's yummy chocolate stashed on his nightstand and she SURE enjoyed it! She definitely has a sweet tooth! I bought a shirt for her the other day that fits her perfectly. It says Candy makes me happy. If you could see how she sneaks around here searching for treats you would understand. And when she is caught with treats in her closet, or in the pantry, etc and I tell her they are not for her and its not good for her to eat lots of treats she says "but, es ummy." (aka "but its yummy") and I say, "I know its yummy, but its not for you." She replys with the same answer "but es ummy!" She just couldn't understand how treats couldn't be good for her if they were yummy. (

Also a couple months back she figured out how to get undressed by herself in the morning and has done it a couple of times. This was the first and boy was she proud of herself. Fortunately she didn't take her diaper off or anything, just her pajamas. :)

Tayson made this HUGE pancake this morning for breakfast with daddy. He was sure proud of it!

This is what I've been up to lately in my spare time, crocheting.

This is a hat I had fun making for a little baby boy in our ward. Its been fun experimenting and creating new styles.

Also two matching ones I had fun making for my cousins little girls.

One ended up a little too big, but hopefully she'll grow into it soon. Still trying to figure out how to adjust to certain sizes, especially on patterns I make up.

This little girl LOVES to be outside RAIN or SHINE, this just happened to be RAIN, but it didn't bother her one bit. We are however enjoying the sunshine lately and hoping for much more in the near future. Its been one rainy winter, and spring is beginning to look SO GOOD and appealing!

And we've been blessed to see quite a few of these lately! Can't complain one bit!

Look closely, here's a double!! (it didn't turn out quite so well in the photo though because it took me a little while to locate the camera), but it was beautiful! Sometimes these have come at times when I really need something to make me smile and remind me to live in the moment and enjoy each day and all that comes with it, even if I want to pull my hair out some days. ;)

Random

This was taken over thanksgiving, but it is what Tayson LOVES to do when he goes to papa's house. where we just got back from on Tuesday. The kids and I went out for a week and a half over Tayson's spring break. I just didn't take many pictures, so you get a pic from the previous trip instead.

Baylee's latest thing is begging to put on her swimsuit/s almost every day and walking around the house with them on all day, even if its freezing in the house. This time however she thought tights would be a nice addition to her head/face apparently and she got quite the kick out of it.

Tayson was awarded the Principal's/specialist award for this last term at school. He was nominated by his teacher. We were pretty proud of him and he was excited himself when he realized he was getting the award.

Cousins and best buddies! they LOVE playing together.

Tayson's skatepark birthday cake

Once again, best buddies its fun having them live so close

Tayson and Camden outside playing in water today. haha, 2nd day since we got back from Utah and the weather is beautiful (maybe 60 degrees) and they think its summer suddenly (compared to the snow we got in Utah last week and the torrential downpours we've had hear in the weeks prior. Can't blame them. They werent' so thrilled though once they got drenched. :)

Miss Baylee enjoying the great weather. She is SO READY for spring/summer! She has a love for the outdoors just like her brothers!

Hats

I'm strictly posting these photos for a cousin to take a look at for styles and colors, etc. They are a few hats I've made over the past few months. Feel free to just skip over the post anyone else who is reading (no updates on the family here).

Chloe's hat (all finished Erin, and will be yours in 3 weeks)

Finally some pics

Daddy and Tayson after a full day of skiing/snowboarding. Happy as clams despite the poor weather conditions.

Cam with his two instructors

Cam with one of his instructors

Our 3 kiddos one sunday morning, We sure feel blessed to have these three in our lives!

Update

Well, Brady is off with both cameras and I haven't downloaded anything off of them in the past couple months so I have no pictures to post, but I have a chance for once for an update, so figured with or without pictures I ought to at least quickly update. We all had a very merry Christmas! Wow, that was a long time ago, but it was great! Nice and relaxed here at home. Tayson got a skateboard from Santa, and Camden got a remote control car that worked for all of 20 minutes and then it began to smoke and we've spent the last month and a half in contact back and forth with the company, and in the end, they have no replacement so they are sending him a refund. He was sad at first (he was SO EXCITED about getting this rc truck and now its kaput! I explained we could buy a new one and he thought about it, but was afraid it also wouldn't work because after reading reviews sounds like there has been many problems. Then he realized he could buy almost anything his heart desired with the refund he'll be getting, so he's got all kinds of ideas in his little four year, almost five year old "big" head. There may be a new kind of r/c car mixed in there, but we'll see. Tayson turned 7 years old shortly after Christmas! WOW where has the time gone. He is excited to know that he will be turning 8 this year! He's been waiting so long for it. :) He still LOVES first grade and is reading like crazy, and finds math way too easy. We are searching for a challenge for him so he doesn't get bored in school. :O) Camden turns the big 5 next week and BOY is he excited! He's most excited about finally being able to start kindergarten in the fall, he's been begging to since last summer, and is more than ready! We are doing just family fun activities for both boys birthdays since they had birthday parties with friends last year. They are happy with it, Tayson chose ice skating and had a blast. Camden is still trying to decide still.
The boys had their first snow skiing experience in January and absolutely LOVED IT! It is so nice living where the snow generally isn't, but then being able to drive 1 1/2 -2 hours and find snow when we do want it. Both boys did AWESOME and loved their lessons, and now think they are pros. :) Brady had a chance to snowboard again for the first time in years and spend some time with Tayson on the slopes while Cam had a blast in a 2nd lesson. We paid for group lessons and Camden somehow lucked out with private in the morning, and double private in the afternoon (just him and two instructors). He LOVED the attention. Baylee and I hung out in the lodge where we could see the slopes perfectly and watch the boys. Baylee LOVED it because she had free reign of a huge lodge and because of the not so great weather conditions, it was virtually empty so she could run and do whatever she wanted. Made for a very happy girl all 8 hours, and a very happy mommy. :)
Brady has a busy month, currently enjoying CSM for a few more days, where he will also present research twice (he's put a lot of hard work into this), and then he just found out last week he has a class he has to teach in Florida next week which means another presentation to prepare. In the midst of all this he is busily studying for his GCS test in March! He is working so hard and being an awesome dad and husband on top of it all. We are SO PROUD of him, but definitely looking forward to the test being over. Its hard to go back into the studying mode when you've been out of school and test taking for so long. He's doing great, and in the process of training for his next marathon on top of it all. I told him I would support him and cheer him on this time around, but not planning to join him. It took a toll on the kiddos last time to do it together, so felt it would be better if one of us was uninjured and capable of playing soccer, etc with the boys on saturdays while the other trained. I was more than happy to be the one to volunteer. :)
Brady gets another awesome opportunity as his coworkers have put a team together and will be running Hood to Coast in August! He's really looking forward to that, and hoping to complete another triathlon this summer too. SHEESH!
Baylee is growing like crazy and is now almost 21 months old. She is a joy for the most part, but definitely knows how to let you know when she's upset. She's got quite the scream when she's mad and she is definitely a stubborn little girl when she wants to be, but oh so sweet when she wants to be too. She is talking up a storm and repeats EVERYTHING you say (the boys didn't do this nearly as much, so we really have to watch what we say sometimes, but its hilarious when she totally catches you off guard and you don't think she's listening and then she starts repeating what you are saying while she's busily playing with her toys.
Everyone is healthy finally after Brady and I dealt with strep throat last week and Tayson ended up with an infected finger. We had 3 out of 5 on antibiotics and I wondered if we were going to make it 5 for 5 all at the same time, but fortunately Cam and Baylee held strong to their health and we are grateful for that. Other than that, we've had a pretty healthy winter thus far and are very grateful!
Well, that's about it for now. We are looking forward to some family adventures/trips this spring/summer, family reunions, etc. We will take things one day at a time in the meantime as we strive to get through the stresses ahead this next month. :) I'll try to get some pics up when I have the camera back.