Gymnastics

We out Braden into Gymnastics because he is always hanging all over the place. We found a great place here in town and it has been so great! Braden is loving it, class is once a week but we have considered having him go twice a week because it is so much fun. At first Braden wasn't so sure about things and he wouldn't go near the teacher but by the end of the first day he was walking around with the teacher holding her hand. The teacher warms them up then shows them all the stuff they can play on and practice on the equipment and then she says go play and the moms and the kids go and play. They have all the real stuff, they adjust it to fit little kids it is amazing. There is so much to play on a long trampoline, and regular (gymnastic) trampolines all over, a bouncy floor, balance beams, bars of all kinds, obstacle course objects and everything you could dream of. Braden just goes town, he is completely fearless, he will do and try anything. The class lasts 45 min and by the end he is soaking with sweat. It has been so good for both of us to get out into the community and meet moms and kids and go play. I look forward to it all week. I really hope one of these days Brian will be able to come watch, he would love it.


Braden on the balance beam all by himself, I have to remind him to watch where he is going, his mind is always going 100 mph.
I love it that they can just climb all over everything and not get in trouble. It has been so good for him and made him have to work hard, he will attempt things that are much bigger than him and things that others are scared to do, that's our boy! Oh I was actually surprised that there were 2 other boys in the class, I was so happy about that.
I over heard the teacher talking to another mom saying how much organized activities like this help kids out in so many ways. She said that they have done studies and kids in gymnastics, etc, perform better in school. I thought that was pretty neat. It is much more than just going and playing they learn how to use their body and learn coordination.

The kids tend to hang out at the trampolines, Braden can get some serious air for a little guy.

Ta Da!!

Bath Time!

These two cute kids love bath time. Ashley is constantly trying to drink the water and Braden is splashing all over the place. Braden is immitating Ashley in this picture because she is constantly sucking on her hands, feet anything she can get in her mouth.
I am so glad she sucks her hands and takes a bink, it is so much easier!

Spicers Apple Orchard

Michigan is so much fun in the fall. There are Apple Orchards all over and you can go and pick all sorts of Apples, Raspberries, Pumpkins, Corn and all sorts of fall foods. We went to Spicers and went on a hay ride out to the apple fields, Brian and Braden had so much fun picking apples. Brian would lift Braden up to get the highest apples and Braden Loved it! When we are done there is a store there and we bought some fresh donuts and Hot apple cider. It was all amazing and all fresh as can be, Yummo!! They had all sorts of fun stuff set up for kids and farm animals to feed it was a great way to spend a Saturday with the family.
Our little man, we have been telling Braden that we were going to pick apples for a few days. He was so excited to go. He would pick the apple and take a bite he loved it.

Beautiful colors.
Here is little miss Ashley, she is so beautiful. She amazes me every day, she is so much fun to have around. She rolls all over the place now and is starting to scoot forward and backwards a bit. I cannot believe how fast time has flown, she is over 5 months now. She is so happy and gabby. It is so fun to watch Braden get her to laugh, Before long they are both laughing their heads off, I love it! We are so lucky to have these two little angel in our family.

Clear to the top Dad!! This was some serious apple picking.

Our Van

We have been talking for a long time about buying a van, some people don't really like them but they have never seen or driven our wan. It is a Honda Odyssey and it totally rocks, I love it!!! We have had it for about 2 months now and I am so happy we got it. Braden loves it and just wants to hang out inside of it all the time. It is so nice to travel in, we keep the back seat folded down all of the time, (it folds right into the floor) and the kids just ride in the front 2 bucket seats. It is all leather with heated seats, it is my dream car. ( and I really mean that)

Our New Place

This is our new home in Grand Blanc,

It is actually a condo, but it feels like a home. It is very roomy and it has a 2 car garage, I love it!! Because it is a condo all of our lawn care is provided and also snow removal. (which if you know anything about Grand Blanc we get lots of snow) We have a porch in back and a big finished basement.

I will take pics of the inside in a bit but for now its a work in progress.

Away for a while

Wow its been forever since I have posted. So much has happened these last few months. In January of this year as many of you know Brian injured his back, he re-herniated L5-S1. It happened right after Christmas break and it was an absolute nightmare. He was in un-controllable pain in his back and all down his leg and foot and it was really bad. I was 6 months pregnant with an almost 2 year old and things were so bad and hard. I didn't know If I could make it through.

Thank goodness time passes quickly, here we are now in almost October and life is so great!! Since Brian's injury he has had multiple injections to try and get the pain under control. (and remember we were in the middle of his second year of Medical School) Thank heavens for so many wonderful doctors who helped us along the way and took such great care of us. Brian was able to finish out his second year with flying colors!! I don't know how he did it, sometimes he would be up all night in pain and it was really hard to listen to him practically moaning, not to mention he could barely walk, and he was never pain free. I think this was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. Thanks to the many prayers in our behalf and a loving and caring Heavenly Father we made It through.

Ashley Mae was born April 16th 2008 at a whopping 9lb 8oz, yes she almost killed me. Before Ashley it always drove me crazy when people would complain about being pregnant and how uncomfortable they were and how they wanted to go early. Well Braden was a breeze but Ashley made me realize what so many women were talking about. I was so uncomfortable I could barely do anything. And if I would over do it at all (which wasn't hard to do) I would start having contractions. Once she came out My body was in such relief it was a miracle. No more pain, no more uncomfortableness (at least being pregnant) it was amazing!! And thanks to Dr. Solovieva and all the doc's and nurses in Kirksville who helped me all along it was wonderful!!

My family came out to help and see the baby and it was so nice to see them, and so nice to have so much help. Also to my neighbors and friends they helped out with Braden and meals. I have never really considered myself a needy person but these last few months I was, and I needed help to get through.

Time has flown since Ashley has arrived, Brian finished school, we have moved from Kirksville to Grand Blanc, Brian had back surgery and things are finally settling back down.

Brain's Back surgery went excellent, thanks to an incredible doctor (Dr. Huntsman) in Utah. He did Brian's previous surgery about 6 years ago and we have been very pleased with him.
He has been in physical therapy and is feeling much better.

We love our new home, it is so much bigger than anything we have ever lived in. We don't have enough furniture to fill it up but that's ok for now. We have a big playroom downstairs which is so nice. Braden can play all he wants and the toys stay downstairs. We have 3 bathrooms, wow I love it. We went from 1 to 3, ahhhhhh it is so nice. Oh yeah and we have a 2 car garage, it has been so nice and in the winter especially it will be so nice.

We love being in Grand Blanc, we miss family and friends from Utah and Kirksville but we really love it here. I miss so badly just walking outside and having a neighbor out to talk to and kids for Braden to play with but we are figuring things out here. I love being in an area that's not as isolated as Kirksville, I mean it was nice but its so nice to be able to drive 10 min to the mall, etc.

I find myself so excited to go to church and see people and make new friends, there are so many wonderful people in our ward. I am looking forward to meeting and making new friends.

I am so thankful to be at the end of September, I know that our challenges are not over but we have made it through some hard times this year.