Playdate Sniffles...

What's better than playing geotrax when you aren't feeling 100%? Playing Geotrax with friends who don't feel 100% either! What a fun afternoon...with the sniffles.

Halloween 2009: One Vampire and one Ghost...

Here are our scary ghost and vampire. Thanks to Grandma, we had some awesome homemade costumes.

The Vampire in deep thought.

Dad and his missing brain from the accident...

Carving pumpkins with the Days Halloween Day...

Yuck! I think 3 is the magic age that they start to remember things. It was so much fun to watch Brad and his buddies experience carving their pumpkins.

The results.

The bobbing for apples demo.

Kids turn. Bradley passed on this activity. He couldn't see why someone would want to do this for an apple.

Doughnuts on a string! The kids had fun - Bryce was the most determined and managed to eat his whole doughnut with no hands.

And then of course, the adults didn't want to get left out of this activity. I came in a close second. Rematch next year!

The crew all dressed and ready to "Trick or Treat"! One ghost, one vampire, one Uno card and one monster. It was so cute to see them race from house to house. They had a great time. After about the third house Bradley exclaimed "Oh Boy, I've got joy!". We couldn't help but laugh.

One picture partaking of the candy.

The loot!

Our scary experience...

Denten won't let me post a picture, but I thought I would share the story. Saturday evening Denten was planning on taking me into the city for dinner and to see Wicked. I think we were both excited for the evening together. After helping a family in the ward move most of the day, Denten borrowed a ladder and decided to clean our rain gutters. That is when our night changed. He had been on the roof for about 1 1/2 hours and was just starting down the ladder to clean up for our evening, when...

THE LADDER KICKED OUT FROM UNDER HIM AND HE FELL 15 FEET, HITTING THE FIRST STORY AND THEN LANDING ON THE CONCRETE GROUND ON HIS FACE!!!!

It was the scariest day of my life! For once I was on the other side. The one who was suppose to be calm, but I wasn't. He called for me and I ran outside to find him hosing his face off and blood was EVERYWHERE!! He told me to stop crying everything was going to be okay and get him a towel. I followed directions best I could and he walked inside to the bathroom, lied down in the bathtub and started running the water over his head and hand to clean the wounds. He then said, call a friend, I won't be able to go to the show with you tonight. And then call 911. I didn't call a friend to go to the show, I had my own show going on right in front of me, but I did call 911. The fire department and ambulance arrived within minutes along with my awesome cousin Debbie and her husband Mike to watch the boys. To see your husband strapped to a gurney with a neck brace and blood all over his face is the most frightening thing you could imagine. The ambulance took their "trauma" patient (my husband), to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek (a hospital I already knew all too well), and rushed him into x-rays. Amazingly, Denten only broke his nose in two places, broke his jaw, road rash on most of his right side of his face, lacerated his right hand so they had to repair muscle, fat and skin and just has minor cuts in various places. Yes, after calling my amazing Mom and my long-time, close friend Kristin (THANK YOU!) and crying on her shoulder, I found out he was going to be okay. He spent the next two nights and two days in the hospital and was released with strict orders to stay down for one week. It is only Tuesday and he is doing amazingly well. (Oh and Thank you to Brigham too who gave up his birthday evening to come and give Denten a blessing with his brother). We have had so many thoughtful visitors, calls, flowers, good deeds, cards, etc. it has truly been an overwhelming experience. Thank you to everyone! We are on the mend...

Cheers!

At dinner last night, the boys ordered rootbeer and when the waitress brought it out, Bryce said "Bradley, Cheers!". It was so cute. All the tables around us were smiling. Thanks for sharing your British traditions with us Jay! The kids remember.

An ALL Boy Weekend - plus Mom!

Stargazing...

Creating...

Exploring...

Climbing...

Catching creatures...

Mom was there too...

Trains...

Throwing rocks in the lake...


Swimming in the cold water...


Hot dog roast...

And even Smores!!!

Thanks to Paul and Annie for letting us have a fun weekend together as a family!

Grandma and Grandpa Eldredge

Thanks for the visit. It was fun to see you again.

Goodbye Butterflies!

A few tears were shed as we said good bye to our butterflies. It was so fun to watch them change from caterpillars to chrysalis to butterflies. All 5 made it! Thanks Grandma!

I Miss My Husband!

Bradley is feeling better (or at least I refuse to stay home any longer) and we had a somewhat normal day. It started with dropping Bryce off at school, then taking Bradley to music, and then off to Scandia so Bradley could climb with friends and I could chat with friends. After returning home and doing a few things, it was off to pick up Bryce, do homework, have a snack, a little unwinding time and then make dinner. That is when the all to familiar call came..."Sorry honey, I have 14 more charts to do so I won't be home for a while". I should be so happy that he is busy (and I am), but I sure do MISS YOU BABE!!!! So after dinner the boys rode their scooters down to the park to fill up time and exert a little energy. Now it is time to read books and get in bed. Another day--thanks for working hard Babe and I hope to see you soon!

Housebound...ugh...

I have been blessed to have really healthy kids most of the time, but beginning last Wednesday, Bradley has been sick. He had a temperature for 4 days and it has now turned into a nasty sounding cough. Needless to say, we have been pretty isolated. He also has been wanting to be held constantly. Somedays, I would give anything to have him want me to hold him, but after 8 days of holding him, reading books and watching cartoons, it has really worn on me. Actually, he is getting better and things are finally looking up, which is why I think I can write about it, but I am definitely not a person who enjoys spending endless hours at home. Our usual schedule goes like this:
6:30 AM Bryce wakes up
6:45 AM I stop fighting the desire to go back to sleep and get up
7AM Go for a quick run with Bryce (He has actually become a fun little running partner. He talks the entire time which makes the run go by very quickly and I think he really enjoys the one-on-one time he gave up 3 years ago when his little brother was born.)
7:30AM Make Breakfast and lunches
8AM Quick Shower
8:20AM Take Bryce to school
8:40AM Finish getting ready and take Bradley to his morning activity
9:30AM Play tennis (My new favorite hobby!) or run errands
11:30AM Pick Bradley up and run errands or go to the park and eat lunch
2:53PM Pick Bryce up from school
3:10PM Begin homework
3:30PM Kids get a snack and then play. I clean and do dishes.
5 PM or so depending on day take Bryce to his afternoon activity
6:30PM Eat dinner and begin bedtime routine
8PM Lights out for kids!
As you can see, not much of this time is spent at home usually. Although I am grateful for the beautiful home I have, I would much rather be outdoors with friends. I am so grateful to all my friends!---I miss spending time with you guys! Hopefully we will be back in the routine again soon.

Our house guest Jay!

So I decided I didn't need to be "Team Mom" again, although it was hard not to raise my hand when Bryce's soccer coach needed a volunteer...instead, I decided it would be easier to host a UK soccer player for a week. So Sunday night, Jay showed up. We were all excited and a little nervous because we didn't know what to expect. The first 3-4 days were a little awkward for everyone (I think), but by Saturday, we were so sad he was going to be leaving us, I requested to have him stay for another week. Unfortunately he had another house already arranged, so we said our good-byes, and our friendly house guest with the cute British accent left us. Two days later we found out he would be coming back the following week. We were so excited. So now tomorrow, we will say our good-byes again as he heads back to the UK -- we are so sad to see him go. What a polite young man! Jay always had a smile on his face, was friendly to everyone, answered my endless number of questions, (even endured an evening with the Young Women from church as they giggled and asked him questions,) played the Wii with Bradley whenever asked, shared his love of soccer with our family, reminded me of all the good people that are out in the world and that there is so much more in the world to explore. I am so glad we were able to share a few of our favorite things with you - drive in movies, The Cheesecake Factory, In-n-Out, American Sports, etc and wish we could have shared more. Thank you for staying with us JAY! We will miss you!
Bryce even had the opportunity of attending a little skills camp with Jay and two other UK soccer players. They were all so encouraging to Bryce. He had an awesome time and will miss the Friday night sessions. Best of luck guys!

Missing Teeth

The count is up to 6! Four on the top and two on the bottom. Cute as ever though.

Fall Sports

The boys have been busy: After watching Bryce play tennis this summer and practicing his skills on the Wii, Bradley wanted a turn too! And he is AWESOME! He is the youngest in the class (because I had to beg to let him join because he was supose to be 3 1/2), but seems to hang in there. It is really fun to watch and the coach is cute with the kids.

Bryce is playing soccer and LOVING it! This is the first sport he is still excited for every practice. I love watching him and seeing his progress.

Sacramento Gold Rush Days

This was our first time attending Sacramento's Gold Rush Days and we had the best time! This kids painted with Tom Sawyer.

We rode in a REAL stage coach pulled by horses.

All of Old Town Sacramento was turned into the Gold Rush Days. There were gun fights in the streets, cannons being shot off, soldiers in suit, etc. It was awesome!

Brad sharing his candy.


Bryce making a rope.
We met up with our old friends the Marcheschi's who just moved to Sacramento and we are so excited they are close. They have three of the cutest girls! These are all the kids panning for gold. Then they took their nuggets and it was weighed and they were given a certificate.Isn't she so cute! It was fun to watch a little girl during the day.
This nice gentleman entertained all our kids for about an hour with his balloon making expertise.

And we finished off our awesome day with a ride on a REAL steam engine! This was the highlight for Brad for sure. I think the Marcheschi kids enjoyed it too. They had big smiles. And us parents were glad to sit down for 30 min.Thanks for the fun day! We will remember this one for a long time.