It's Official!

Now my baby is officially 1! He is such a joy for all of us! Sure, he loses his temper and screams and he can be a little demanding, but mainly, he is just so much fun to be around. He loves to dance, play at the beach and swim, baths, crawl around and discover things, and figuring out ways to make his brothers laugh! He is so funny - he really tries to be silly to get a reaction out of people. We just love having him in our family and couldn't imagine life any other way. Happy Birthday, Baby Boy! Here's his evolution over the last year and a list of some of his milestones and favorite things:









Height : 32.5 inches (off the charts)

Weight: 25 lbs 12 oz

Teeth: 8

Motor Skills: Crawls (fast), pulls himself up to everything, walks around things, stand by himself, walks with fingers, climbs up EVERYTHING!

Speach: BaBa, DaDa, MaMa, Wasah (What's that), Hah (hot) Lots of other sounds, but we're not counting them as words yet. I can tell the difference between Chase and Caden but noone else would know what he is saying

Favorite things: Music and Dancing (Cyclone is his favorite song), anything to do with water (bath, beach, pool), playing with his brothers (until they frustrate him), cuddling mommy and daddy, pulling things out of my cupboards, Chuck E Cheese, eating treats with Daddy at night, blankets, crawling, playing with toys, and discovering this world around him.

Look Who's 1!

I can't believe my baby's 1 (well, in a few days)! Where did the time go? And why haven't I lost my baby weight yet? He had a great party! He didn't really understand that it was his party, but he was excited for all the fun baby toys and balloons on the ground where he could reach them. He was a little overwhelmed at first with all the kids but within a few minutes he was all over the place. I would say his two favorite things were the balloons and the bouncing zebra that the Taylors gave him. He is still playing in the party room as I am writing this (10:15 pm)!

The Birthday Boy

The Party Room

The Cake

The Party Favors

Eating The Cake

The Girlfriend

The Friends

The Joy

The Toys (notice him standing like a big boy!)

Another Busy Saturday!

Part 1: Lunch at Ernies

Lunch at Ernie's Sports Cafe. They had unlimited sports arcade games for just $5!

Part 2: Design Our Own Skateboards

For Christmas, I gave my boys a Quiksilver wallet with a $150 credit card to design their owm skateboards. They have been so excited so we finally went up to do it. Here are the finished products!

Up close of Chase's. They all got really cool trucks and wheels.

Beans just cruisin. He's actually pretty good.

I expected Chase to be pretty spazzy on his board but he's actually pretty good. Here he is practicing an "olly"!? I'm not quite sure what the tricks are called but he can olly and ride a wheely for a little bit.

Part 3: Children's Museum

Crew LOVED all the Little Tykes toys. He just cruised all around, checking everything out. He was in heaven.
Caden on the rock wall - a favorite feature for both him and Nate.
My baby drivin a tractor truck!

Part 4: Dance Evolution by "The Vibe"

Seriously amazing show! The choreography was brilliant and I am always amazed at how well these little girls can shake it!
Ethan and Crew bustin a move at intermission.

Part 5: Sleep Overs

Caden was at KJs and Chase was at the Mortons. Crew didn't get invited to a sleep over. Too bad. Maybe in another 4 years! Caden obviously partied WAY too hard. He fell asleep during sacrament meeting (1:00) and is STILL asleep (6:30)! Can you believe it!

My Little Smarty Pants

This morning I had a BIG surprise as I was getting the boys ready for school; I had made a mistake on the date of Chase's state report. I thought is was tomorrow, but it was actually today! Luckily we had finished his poster last night but we had not yet written or practiced his speech. We hurried up to the computer during breakfast and wrote some things down. We didn't have time to practice or for me to even prepare him on how he should present his poster to the class. I was so impressed when I went to his school this afternoon and he just took over for his presentation. He was a little nervous at first and then just started talking and talking about everything he knew about Pennsylvania, highlighting all 15 required items! He was so mature in his manner of speech - example "Here is a copy of the Declaration of Independence which was written and signed in Independence Hall. The date is at the top. Can anyone guess the date without looking?" We didn't discuss any of that. He just did a great job of teaching the things he knew and even tried to involve his classmates and encourage participation. Another example - "Raise your hands if you have ever seen the movie National Treasure. Did you know that the glasses in the movie were an invention of Benjamin Franklin? He was a great inventor and one of the founding fathers of America who helped write the Declaration of Independence." So his 3-5 minute presentation turned into a 15-20 minute one. I was very proud of him. He LOVES to learn and really retains information that he finds interesting. Now spelling? That's an entirely different story!
Pennsylvania Treats - Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches and Hershey Bars

Caden's Buddies!

Today was Caden's special day for friends. Most days I feel like we end up playing with Chase's friends, but today was all about Caden. We started off the day with his soccer game, which they won by a ton! Then we had about 2.5 hours to kill between his game and Chase's game, so I took my boys and 5 of Caden's little friends to Chuck E Cheese. I wish I had my camera then, they had a blast. Then we went back for Chase's game, which they of course won (still haven't lost!), and then Caden brought a couple of friends back over to our house to play. They did everything - Wii, arcade games, basketball, movie theater with popcorn, rope swing - pretty much just went crazy for a few hours. It was a blast! Caden wants every day to be like today! Do you blame him?

Boys Will Be Boys

Some days the kids are crazier than others. Can you guess what kind of day today is? You would think Chase and Boston would be kind of tired after skiing today (Mondays are 1/2 days at school for skiing) but they obviously are not. Tonight while I was cleaning the kitchen from dinner (by the way, Ali, I used my dishes you got me and the kids LOVED it) the boys were making a mess with their body paints. Geoff was venting to Brett and I about his horrible day at work and now I think he is trying to figure out if work or home is better! The boys have one more hour to be crazy and then it is bath, story, scriptures, and BED! Shannon, next play day is at your house! j/k

Snow Day!

Most calls at 7:00 am are not good. Most calls from Chase's teacher are not good. However, this mornings wake-up call from Mrs Brady was very exciting - school had been cancelled due to all the snow! My boys all slept in until almost 10:00! Then they got to order whatever they wanted for breakfast - Dutch Babies for Chase and Crepes for Caden (of course they couldn't decide on just one)! Then we got all bundled up and went sledding at the park - we picked Brogan up on the way! It was a blast - a perfect day. We went to Shannon's afterwards for Hot Chocolate. Then home for basketball and games, dinner at Tepanyakis with daddy, and then Geoff and Cory took the kids snowmobiling around the neighborhood tonight. It is so much fun to have a free day off when you are not expecting it. Sure none of the things I was planning on doing today got accomplished but that's how good memories are made. The errands can wait for another day.

40 Under 40

Geoff is going to seriously KILL me, but what is the point of having a blog if you can't brag about your family?! This year he was chosen by Utah Business magazine to be on their 40 under 40 list. It has been a crazy but successful year for Geoff. We are so proud of all his achievements and of the amazing company that he has built. He truly is unique in the way his company is organized, the services they offer, and the cutting edge design features and attention to detail that he and his staff bring to all their homes. Good job, Geoffrey!
PS - I'm pretty sure this title has also been held by both Joe and Dusty. I think we need to start campaigning for Cory before he no longer qualifies for the "under 40" part of the title!

Hawaii Condo

As per Jane's request, here are some pictures of our "other" home.

This picture is taken from the upstairs lanai. We have a kitchen, living room, little study area, 1/2 bath and a guest bedroom and bathroom upstairs. On the lanai there is a BBQ area, dining table, and a couple couches. The boys sat at this outdoor table and ate breakfast looking out over the ocean. I was too lazy to move Crew for the picture.

This is the ocean view from the family room/kitchen area. Just gorgeous! The hotel on the left is the Four Seasons and the one on the right is the Grand Wailea. The garland on the outdoor patio is normally NOT there - just a Christmas decoration!

I like this picture because you can really see the bamboo and thatch ceiling and you can see the bamboo detail in the cabinets as well.

These are the upatairs and downstairs lanais. Downstairs there is the master bedroom, the boys bedroom, the laundry room, and the garage. I can't believe I don't have any pictures of the boys bedroom. It is SO cute!