Knee Surgery

Well, it's official. Danny is going to be having knee surgery next Thursday (the 3rd). He went to see the doctor yesterday and he has a torn ACL in both knees as well as a torn meniscus in his left knee. He also needs to visit the doctor for his shoulder to see what needs to be done to fix it. Yes, that is THREE possible surgeries that need to be done for his joints. He wants to be able to have all three surgeries in the same year for insurance purposes. We are starting with the left knee and then we'll see what we can do from there. But 3 surgeries in 4 months seems a little overwhelming to me! Just try to keep him in your prayers next week. Thanks!

Bradshaw Family Reunion - 2009

This last weekend we got to go to a cabin up in Ashton, Idaho. We enjoyed the whole weekend with the whole Bradshaw clan as we enjoyed the 2009 Family Reunion. It was a TON of fun. We enjoyed canoeing, games, hiking, games, 4 wheeling, games, Mesa Falls, and did I mention games? We enjoyed every minute of it and have to tell Grandma and Grandpa THANK YOU so much for the whole weekend. They planned it all and it was so enjoyable. Thank you and we love you!!!

Pictures

Summer 2009

This summer has been so extremely busy (as shown by previous posts), but we've enjoyed just a little down time.

But first there are pictures of a super fun camping trip we took at the beginning of August. We enjoyed sleeping outdoors in the tent and all the kids loved it. I was surprised at how well Ellie handled the whole camping trip. She's such a trooper. And then in the morning, as we were getting ready to leave, our car wouldn't start. We were nowhere near any other campers, up at the top of Heber Mountain, and we had no cell phone service. We decided to say a round of prayers. Preston started by saying his prayer that he was grateful we had not been eaten by bugs. :) Kaden continued with a wonderful prayer about being grateful we could spend time as a family and praying we could make it home.

After we said our prayers, Danny and Kaden walked down to the "main" road. Within a few minutes a very nice gentleman came and offered to take us all down the mountain and into Heber (he didn't have any jumper cables). We accepted his offer and found out that he was lost trying to find his stake's girls camp area. We also found out later that he was on the totally wrong road. I really believe he was on that road for a purpose - to help the Bradshaws find their way home.

Anyway, we ended up seeing a group gathered for a pioneer trek just a couple of miles down the road and they had some jumper cables. We didn't end up driving all the way back to Heber, so we were grateful for that as well. What a blessing prayer is in our lives!

During our "down-time" this summer, the boys enjoyed the xbox and computer games. I think I'm raising a couple of real "gamers". And for Ellie... She's just happy with eating, sleeping, and an occasional bath. :)

Here are some pictures

In Other News...

In other news, Ellie now has THREE teeth - with more on the way. Within a week or two she will probably have at least two more. Yay for milestones! Wow she's getting big!

Bradshaw Family Get-Together 7/11/09

Right after I got back from Phoenix, Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw came to visit. We ended up having a BBQ with Danny's brothers and their families. It was a lot of fun and the kids REALLY enjoyed jumping on the trampoline. Thanks for the good times!

Ellie Got Her Ears Pierced! 7/6/09

While we were in Phoenix, I decided to take Ellie and get her ears pierced. She did cry, but only for about 30 seconds... and then she laughed. She was such a trooper!

A funny (and somewhat annoying) story: Some random old lady tapped on the glass while we were preparing to pierce her ears. She asked me if I was getting her (she pointed to Ellie) ears pierced and I nodded yes. She gave me a dirty look like I was the worst mom on the planet! I tried to ignore her and we continued with the preparations. She meandered into the store to watch as we did the actual piercing. And as soon as Ellie started to cry, she said, "And those are real tears, too!" with a hugely annoyed tone. Then she walked away. Oh, how I wish she would have stayed for 25 more seconds to see Ellie giggle!

Here are the pictures of Ellie getting her ears pierced and then showing off the bling. :)

Phoenix - July, 2009

I was a brave mom and took all three kids to Phoenix for 2 weeks. My sister, Jodi, lives there and we put all the kids in swimming lessons. The teacher was AWESOME and by the end of the 6th and final lesson, Kaden was DIVING! and Preston was swimming without any sort of floatation device. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed spending the time with my sis and her family. We love you all very much and miss you!

Pictures of the Phoenix trip

Bradshaw Family Get-Together 6/20/2009

My sister-in-law, Kayla, had a baby this year. They had their beautiful baby girl (Tora) blessed on Father's Day. That gave us the opportunity to go up to Idaho again. We had a little get together with all the family and of course got some pictures with all the cousins together. It was a lot of fun!

Pictures!

10th Anniversary - Trip to the East Coast

Danny and I had the wonderful opportunity to go back east for our 10th anniversary. We went to DC, then NYC, then to Boston, then back to NYC and home. We had such a fun time and loved every minute of the trip. We went with some good friends and were grateful for the company. I split the pictures into three slideshows:

Washington DC

New York

Boston

Trip to Idaho - 5/31/09

Before Danny and I left on our trip to the east coast, I went to Idaho with the kids to pick up my awesome niece, Cassidy, who watched our children for us. While up in Idaho, we spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw who made s'mores for the boys and gave them a horse ride. They absolutely loved every minute of it.

To view pictures of this event, click here.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

We are back from our vacation.  It was TONS of fun!  We really enjoyed ourselves and we REALLY appreciate everyone who helped with our kids while we were gone.  We had babysitters, dinners made, and, of course, a trip to the ER.  :-)   Again, we appreciate EVERYONE who helped us out!  

Pictures are on their way.  We have been SO busy trying to catch up to life back here that I don't know which way is up.  But I do promise to post some pictures.

Quotes From Kids...

Kaden (during prayer):

"Please bless dad that he will work hard so that he can bring home new moneys for us to spend."

Preston (during prayer):

"I'm thankful that I could eat green eggs and ham.  And that I'm a guy."

Preston (conversation with Grandma and Grandpa Bradshaw):

Gpa - "So, who's the oldest person you know?"

P - "The Holy Ghost."

Lil' Fella

Yesterday, Kaden and Preston were outside playing.  I looked out the window to check on them and noticed that they were playing with bugs.  Then Preston started crying.  He came to the door, opened it, and whined, "Mom, Kaden squished my lil' fella."  I didn't quite understand what he was talking about at first.  Then I noticed the potato bug in his hand.  He thought that since the potato bug had rolled up into his little ball, that somehow Kaden had squished his newfound friend.  I had to explain the defensive stance that this bug had taken.  Then I turned around, went back in the house, and had a good chuckle that he was calling the potato bug "his lil' fella".  What great imaginations they have!

Little Red Riding Hood

Today Kaden was in the musical play "Little Red Riding Hood". Last Friday his teacher sent home the script and told each of the students to pick a part that they wanted to play. They were to practice the lines for that character and the 2 or 3 students that had practiced the most and knew the part best got to play that character. Of course Kaden, along with 10 other boys in the class, wanted to be the wolf. So he practiced and practiced. He read the lines over and over again. When he thought he had the lines down, he had me read lines with him. I swear, he was like a real actor trying out for a part. :)

Yesterday, Mrs. Snyder held the "tryouts" and lo and behold, Kaden was granted one of the 3 spots available to play the part of the wolf. He was so excited! Last night he continued to practice and again he had me run through the lines with him. This morning, he kept reminding me that I should be there at 10:00 to watch the play.

I was so proud of my little wolf. He was the loudest and most exuberant wolf up there. He made sure to yell his lines out so that he could be heard. The teacher's husband recorded the whole thing and will be giving each of the parents a copy. I'm really excited to watch it again.

Afterward, Mrs. Snyder told me that Kaden was so cute when they were practicing yesterday. He asked her if she could just be quiet so that the wolves could sing their song by themselves. That's my little Kaden. Wants to prove to everyone that he can do it by himself. :)

Here are some pictures from the play:

But my FAVORITE picture is:

Playground

A few weeks ago I took the kids to the park to play.  They absolutely LOVED it and can't wait to go again.  The pictures don't do it justice, but Ellie was so giddy on the swing.  She had the cheesiest smile every time I pushed her.  But that meant I wasn't taking a picture when she was actually smiling the biggest.  We are glad to live so close (walking distance) to this wonderful park and if anyone wants to come visit us, we'll take a stroll over there and play.  It's a lot of fun!

Mother's Day

Moving has it's drawbacks, like not being able to keep up with things - including a blog.  But I really had to sit down and write this one.

There are a lot of women out there that are special to me and I want to wish them all a Happy Mother's Day!  Especially to my mom and Danny's mom.  We love you both so very much and continue to be grateful for every moment that you have given to our behalf.  You both have done so much for us.

My mom sent me a WONDERFUL new book for Mother's Day (thank you, mom).  And I started reading it last night.  I really needed the messages in the book.  It is called "Contentment; Inspiring Insights for LDS Mothers" by Maria Covey Cole.  I wanted to quote a couple of things from the book:

"As daughters of God, when we acknowledge His goodness and mercy in our lives, accept that life is not meant to be easy, and learn that motherhood is, by divine design, difficult and testing, we will truly be content with the things the Lord has allotted to us."

"If we work upon marble, it will perish.  If we work upon brass, time will efface it.  If we rear temples, they will crumble into the dust.  But if we work upon immortal minds, and instill into them just principles, we are then engraving on the tablet that which no time will efface, but will brighten and brighten to all eternity." (-Daniel Webster, as quoted in Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families)

And, one of my favorites:

"I have come to understand that the echo of eternity is found in each and every human being and in the interactions between human beings, and that we must not allow these small yet significant moments to pass by without valuing them.  That is why I treasure holding my newborn babies, delight in chasing my toddlers around the house, prize going on Sunday walks with my middle children, and relish spending time with my teenagers.  All of these simple, ordinary moments of daily life are precious and are to be savored.  And for a mother, this is where true contentment is ultimately found."

I love being a mom!  I find so much joy in the simple moments of my boys snuggling up to me while we watch a movie.  I love it when Preston runs up to me and gives me a hug and says, "Mom, you are awake!"  I love the little talks that I get to share with Kaden as I take him to and from school now.  I absolutely adore my little girl; trying to make her giggle, going in to her grinning face after a nap, and holding her when she just needs to be held.  I find contentment in knowing that my children love me and they know I love them.  In my opinion, this is what motherhood is about.  And I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mom and spend time with my children each and every day.

Moving

So, I'm sure most of you have heard of the big, long story of our house-hunting fiasco.  Anyway, we have found a place to rent and are moving in a week.  If anyone would like to help with the heavy stuff, we'll be moving it on the 24th or 25th.  We would certainly appreciate the help and possibly provide pizza as a reward.  :)

Easter

We hope everyone had a lovely Easter Sunday! I thoroughly enjoyed our day. I did something new this year and we made Easter cookies on Saturday night. It was this great idea that I found online - http://www.dvo.com/recipes_archive/easter_cookie_story.html

It turned out great. The cookies weren't the best tasting (especially since I used walnuts cause I didn't have pecans). But I think our kids - especially Kaden - actually understood the meaning of Easter. We tried really hard to make Easter centered around Christ this year. It made the whole day extremely enjoyable for me.

After church we tried to take pictures of the kids. Man, it's hard to get a good picture with three kids to work with! The one above is the best one we got.  You have to know, though, that it was the best out of 31 shots!  Here's the other 30 if anyone is interested...  :)

We also took a couple pictures of just Ellie in her Easter dress.  And of course we did an Easter egg hunt.  Then we got to see some friends and family as well and had to take pictures of Ellie with her cousin Karlee...

All in all, it was a great day.  I hope you had a great day too!

Ellie

As you can see below, I was having fun with the camera as I took pictures of Ellie. The boys all left on Saturday (they had a boys day) and I was left behind with Ellie. It had been a while since I took pictures of her, so I went a little crazy. :-) Enjoy...

Interview with Kaden & Preston

Once again, this is for those of you who aren't on facebook....


What is something mom always says to you?
Kaden - “Stop doing that - When we’re in trouble or we’re doing something wrong.”
Preston - “Preston”

What makes mom happy?
Kaden - “When we don’t do stuff wrong and when we listen to you.”
Preston - “Jelly beans make you happy.” (I am not a huge fan of jelly beans)

What makes mom sad?
Kaden - “When you get hurt.”
Preston - “Sparkles make you sad and they make me sad.”

How does your mom make you laugh?
Kaden - “Tickles me.”
Preston - “Jumping beans.”

What did your mom like to do when she was a child?
Kaden - “I don’t even know cause I wasn’t even born. Maybe play on the playground.”
Preston - “To throw a big ball in a pile.”

How old is your mom?
Kaden - “28”
Preston - “6”

How tall is your mom?
Kaden - “I don’t know. I think 1 yard stick long. Thats what I think.”
Preston - “A little bit tall”

What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Kaden - “Mmmm, ‘24’?”
Preston - “Um, Spiderman”

What does your mom do when you’re not around?
Kaden - “Mmmm, exercise.”
Preston - “You just run around, and then you was sad”

What is your mom really good at?
Kaden - “Uh, Mmmm, you’re really good at exercising.”
Preston - “When I come back.” (?)

What is your mom not very good at?
Kaden - “Sports”
Preston - “When I leave.” (again, ?)

What does your mom do for her job?
Kaden - “Clean up and make us dinner.”
Preston - “When you work. You just work and be on the computer.”

What is your mom’s favorite food?
Kaden - “I think it is burritos” (Not likely)
Preston - “Jelly beans”

What makes you proud of your mom?
Kaden - “When you help me do my chores every saturday.”
Preston - “When the jelly beans was good.”

If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Kaden - “Spongebob.”
Preston - “Doctor. And then you got me an eyeball that looked like Kaden. But Kaden was a kid still.”

What do you and your mom do together?
Kaden - “We play together.”
Preston - “We do jump rope. That was when you was littler. And then you growed bigger and bigger. And then you was not a kid.”

How are you and your mom the same?
Kaden - “We both have white skin.”
Preston - “When we both was a kid.”

How are you and your mom different?
Kaden - “We don’t have the same color of eyes. You wear earrings and I don’t. You have long hair and I don’t.”
Preston - “When we just work on something and then we was different.”

How do you know your mom loves you?
Kaden - “Because she helps me when I’m hurt.”
Preston - “When we jump on the trampoline.”

What scares your mom?
Kaden - “When someone’s hiding and you don’t even know and then they pop out and scare you.”
Preston - “When I go upstairs.”

Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?
Kaden - “Taco Bell.” (Um, not really)
Preston - “When we go to the store.” (yeah, right!)

What is one thing you wish you could change about your mom?
Kaden - “That she would be a lot more nicer.”
Preston - “I want to change my mom into a witch.”

What would your mom do with a million dollars?
Kaden - “Spend it on things that she would want.”
Preston - “Go to my dentist so I could have a toy eyeball that sticks.” (Kaden got a sticky eyeball the last time he went to the dentist. Apparently Preston has been jealous ever since.)

What do you wish you could go and do with your mom?
Kaden - “Go to Jumping Jacks and play with you there.”
Preston - “Play with toys.”

What is one thing you hope never changes about your mom?
Kaden - “That she would always love me.”
Preston - “To be mom.”