Happy Halloween!!!

We had a very fun Halloween this year. We started off with eating our Pumpkin Pizza from Papa Murphys and then we got the boys dressed up and went Trick-or-Treating. Max sat in the stroller the whole time sucking on wrapped candy while Darrin ran to the door, said Twick-or-Teet, and then after they would give him some candy he would say, "Bro Twick-or-teet" and then he would stick his hand in their bowl, grab 2 candies and put one in the cup holder of the stroller and another one in Max's little treat bag.

The Ferocious Lion (he even Roared!)

The Thomas the Train Conductor

After we left one house, Darrin would get sad and say, "More Candy." So, we'd move on to the next house and he would get more. He was so cute and loved it so much that he asked if he could go trick-or-treating again the next morning. Good Times!

The Goods!

The Potato-Head Pumpkins

Thanks to Troy's mom; this year the boys got to do Mr. Potato Head Pumpkins instead of carving them. They had so much fun with them and it was MUCH easier to clean up.

Troy and I still carved our pumpkins, (although we are thinking of doing Mr. Potato Head's for ourselves next year); mine is supposed to be a cat!

The Pumpkin Patch

This year, instead of picking our pumpkins out at the grocery store or Wal-mart, we went to "The Pumpkin Patch" at Staheli Farm. It's a farm that has a lot of fun things for kids to do. They have a bunch of baby animals to walk around and look at, there is a playground with "corn" as the sand, there's a corn maze and of course, the Pumpkin Patch where you can pick out your own pumpkins.

The boys loved everything about it...Darrin was our "leader" through the corn maze and actually found the way back. Darrin also loved riding on the tractor pulls all around the farm - that's how you get around to the different areas. Max just loved being outside and seeing the animals.

"Hiding" in the Corn Maze (brang back memories of Iowa!)

Max Turns 1!

Our Max turned 1 years old on August 23rd. It's crazy to think that he is already one, but yet it seems like I was pregnant so long ago!

For his birthday, Troy's parents were came down and we went swimming in the afternoon, barbecued for dinner and then opened presents and ate cake.

We thought that Max would down the cake, and were very excited for the fun pictures. Well, he really let us down (you can tell his thoughts by the picture above). He was very hesitant to even touch the cake so Darrin would dig in a little bit and say "Brother, eat" (you have to understand that you never have to TELL Max to eat; he's always putting something in his mouth!) After many attempts, we finally got him to taste it a little bit and still, nothing. The funniest part of the whole thing was he started doing things just to entertain us. He stuck his finger in the frosting and put it on his face and started laughing. This went on for a little bit and then he just pushed the whole thing away! We were shocked at his performance. Hopefully next year!

Max got lots of presents that Darrin enjoyed opening. He got a couple of books, lots of clothes, animal cookies, a little tikes car garage, some bath toys, toy keys and (still coming) a fun ride-in car.

Thanks to Troy's parents and Jodi and Steve for celebrating with us! And thanks to Max for being in our family! We love him to pieces!!!

6 Whole Years!

Wow, I can't believe that Troy and I have been married for 6 Years! We are SO old! It's amazing how fast time flies and how much fun you can have in the meantime! It has been a great 6 years and I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else.

Troy is an amazing husband and father. He is so good to me and puts up with all of my craziness. The boys adore him and it is so fun to watch him play with his 2 boys (even if that doesn't mean always changing their diapers too). I love you Honey!!!

So, to celebrate, we decided to go on a trip this year (we were going to go for our 5 year, but I happened to be 9 months pregnant)! And, the lucky place was...Lake Tahoe!!! We didn't realize it was so far to drive; however, it ended up being a fantastic trip. It was so nice to just be able to spend time together without having to worry about the kids or the business.

The BEAUTIFUL Lake

The Beach (don't you like the Pine Trees?)

We were able to go hiking, swim, layout, get a couples massage and go on a dinner cruise (the drunken people were very entertaining!). Thanks to my mom, Kaylee, Jessica and Jodi and Steve for watching the kiddos!

July 2008

So, I know I'm still updating the summer (which was a couple of months ago); but hey, I seem to live a couple of months behind. Time just gets away from me!

Hanging out in the pool


July was very eventful this year. First, for the 4th of July my parents and Kaylee came down and we swam, did a few fireworks (which Max slept through and Darrin ran when they went off) and then even made it to the City of St. George show. We were very impressed - they even had background patriotic music. It definitely made me feel proud to be an American!!!


The Fireworks Crew (notice Darrin's terrified look)


A couple of weeks later, for the 24th, my parents, Christy & Greg, Cody, Kaylee and Jessica all came down so we could party at Lake Powell. I was so excited because it is my favorite vacation and I haven't been able to go for YEARS!!! So, everyone headed over on Monday and Troy and I were going to head over there on Wednesday night. Well, Kaylee called me at like 9:00pm on Monday night and said "Brooke, I just wanted to let you know that the houseboat caught on fire." I was shocked and didn't believe her at first. Then she told me what happened and I couldn't believe it...you mean, OUR houseboat caught on fire? It was crazy!



We don't really know what happened exactly, just that it happened pretty soon after they got on the boat, and luckliy, hadn't left the slip yet. Later that night as I was thinking about it, I realized how disastrous it could have been and was just SO grateful that nobody was hurt. I concluded that for some reason, we weren't supposed to be at Lake Powell that week, for whatever reason and was just so thankful that everything turned out okay.



So, instead of partying at Lake Powell, we were able to hang out at my parent's house and swim away the heat. The guys did a lot of golfing and the girls were able to just hang out and we even got pedicures (thanks mom!). All in all, it was a blast just to be able to hang out with my great family. I love them all so much and wish we could do it more often!!!

Bear Lake "Boot Camp"

This is the start of my summer update...at the end of June, we were able to go to Bear Lake with Troy's family. We had a blast. It was definitely nice to escape the heat of Southern Utah and get to relax with family!

Our "Boot Camp" consisted of a strenuous 1-mile hike, with gorgeous views, a water grenade fight (they were pretty hard to pop!) and a snowball fight (with socks)! We were also able to go wave-running and swimming in the COLD, yet very gorgeous, Bear Lake. And my kids got play in the mud puddles!

We even got our own private showing of Iron Man on the back deck (with no attack of the skunks this year.)

Thanks Troy's family for a GREAT time! It's always fun and crazy at the Braithwaite Bashes!!!