Baby Madicyn is finally here!

The end of August brought a cute pink bundle of fun for my sister when Madicyn Joy was born. I got to play photographer for Miss Madi's first outdoor photo shoot. After 2 days and a million pictures later we captured some great shots for Kaley's Baby Shower. It will be fun to see she and Baby Brett grow up together. We call Brett her Body Guard because he is so much bigger than her! Anyway, there aren't too many things that are more fun than taking pictures of cute sleeping babies!

Fast Visit to Utah

When we left Utah in July after Soccer Camp I had this insane idea to come back on Labor Day weekend to let the boys go to the Women's Soccer game. BYU happened to be playing U of A so it was bound to be an interesting game. Ryan and Jennifer let us crash at their house. And when I say crash, I mean crash because we didn't get there until about 2am! Bless Ryan for staying up playing with his new sound system and miles of all kinds of cables that he now has in the new basement!

The kids always enjoy playing with cousins and the weather was great! On Sunday, after church, we drove to Layton to visit Grandma Partridge. Her health has been up and down and I know she misses Grandpa so much. We had a really nice visit with her. I helped her hold Baby Brett for a minute and she said "He's acceptable, I think." I love my Grandma so much! After our visit Scott, Ryan, Brett, Dad and a few other Priesthood holding cousins came to participate in a blessing for Grandma. (Mom and Dad flew up to join in for part of the weekend). Jennifer and I stayed in the cars with the kids. Scott reported that Dad gave a beautiful blessing of comfort for her. I am so grateful for many worthy Priesthood holders in my life!

So Monday morning at literally the crack of dawn, Scott took Bradley, Bryson, Blake and Brock all to hike the Y.




While it's true I have a giant aversion to hiking, camping and such, I really would have enjoyed this hike but I stayed back with Baby Brett and got our things ready for the day.


Here they are somewhere along the trail. Blake fortunately, is in the middle of the path--not leaning over the mountain edge!


A great view of Utah Valley!


And here's my guys at the top of the Y looking down. I know they will remember this little early morning adventure for a while!


So, later that afternoon was the actual soccer game. Ryan, Nathan, Benjamin and Joshua came with us. The game was amazing and BYU was killing U of A. Of course we had on our Cougar best! Then before half-time they asked for volunteers to play some games on the field during half-time. Oh I love BYU! So I totally wanted to volunteer! They needed a family of 4 so Ryan and I went down with Nathan and Benjamin. It turned out we did a relay race of different soccer drills. Nathan had to dribble the ball down to Benjamin and I and then we had to juggle the ball on our knees then Benjamin dribbled the ball down to the other side.


So I hope Benjamin doesn't read this but I was so nervous I was going to make a total fool of myself--which let's face it, would not be the first time. I practiced with him juggling the ball on our knees hoping I would not drop the ball on the first bounce. It was crazy fun!


Somehow we won the relay race and a gift card for Papa John's pizza! That was out of luck and not our mad soccer skillz. But maybe next year we'll win with our Mega Mad Soccer Skillz! Way to Go Boys!!!


It wouldn't be right if Blake didn't get to meet and attack Cosmo so here he is blowing up a fist bump!

After the game we loaded the car, took a quick potty break, said good bye and headed for a gas station to fuel up for the drive back. We decided to drive as far as St. George and spend the night there. That was a good move because not only did we get an early night's sleep before the rest of the trip but the hotel was across the street from the St. George Brick Oven! Yeah!!!! We totally ate dinner there at like 10 o'clock at night and it was so good! With a bottle of Apple Beer to go we headed the rest of the way home Tuesday morning. The trip was fast, fun and filled with memories!

Jedi In Training!

Our little Jedi In Training posed so nicely for me in a Pottery Barn Beanbag chair with one of the boys light sabers. He's so cute and getting so big and the time is going by so fast! Having 5 boys is totally crazy but Baby Brett is worth all the craziness in the world! For the most part, he is very patient and content which is a huge blessing because some days he is the only boy in the house who is patient and content!

Bradley is Twelve!

I can't believe Bradley is 12. It seems like yesterday he was crawling up the stairs in our first little house and sitting on Scott's lap while Scott worked on homework from ASU. Now he is taller than almost the whole world around him and becoming more amazing and talented every day!

For such a momentous occasion, we let Bradley have a friend party (these are few and far between at our house--I'm just mean that way). Since it was late August and still as hot as whatever we had a pool/BBQ party at Mom and Dad's house. Actually, we had two pool/BBQ parties that day.

We had all of Bradley's friends over first and let them play in the pool, super soak themselves with really cool water guns and eat hot dogs and burgers grilled by the Master Griller--Dad.


Here they are watching Bradley open gifts and stuffing down one last burger, dog or potato chip!


We threw them all back in the pool to play until it was time to take them all home. It was really a lot of fun. Bradley has a lot of good friends, for which I am very grateful. They are all really good, funny boys and I only had to shout at them not to drown each other a couple of times.


After we delivered Party #1 back to their respective homes, we geared up for Party #2--The Fam! Bradley dried off long enough to open family gifts and pose for a picture or two.


You would think a 12 year old boy would not really groove on getting new clothes, but Bradley was super excited about his new Fast Food wardrobe! The Legos and Chocolate covered Macadamia nuts were ok too.


After the wrapping paper was gathered and thrown we threw all our people into the pool and Mom cranked the Beach Boy Tunes--one of Bradley's summertime favorites! (You can see Megan is getting serious about soaking her Uncle Scott!)


Uncle Chase was so nice to take Baby Brett inside after his little dip in the pool. What a great Dad-to-Be--Soon!


The Grill Master fired things up again and we all got to enjoy amazing burgers and dogs!


On Sunday, we celebrated at Grandma-ma's house with one of Bradley's favorite desserts--Texas Sheet Cake. MMMMMM! Happy Birthday Bradley!

Time for School--Already?

Yes, the insanity of the school calendar sneaks up on us every summer. This year seemed especially crazy as we packed our backpacks and got lunches ready for the BIG day--August 10th! That's right. It's still 8 million degrees outside and we're sending kids back to school. But since the alternatives are jail or home school (and the differences between those two would not be so different for me), off we send the charubs almost bright-eyed but definitely excited!


Big Man on Campus--Bradley's a 6th grader!


Excited for the social opportunities--Bryson's a 4th grader!


Too smart for his own super powers--Blake is a 1st grader!


Special thanks to the Back to School Fairies who decorated the sidewalk. The boys loved the surprise! Now, hurry! You're going to miss the bus!!!

Summertime at the BY!

We declared our independence (or our insanity) this July 4th by driving to Utah so Bradley and Bryson could participate in BYU's Soccer Camp.  The car ride was a little slow getting there but not bad considering the cargo.  Mom and Dad flew up there for a few days too.  We stayed with Ryan and Jennifer the last night so all the boys could have fun together.  The time went by fast which means it was a fun trip.  Here are some photos of my soccer loving boys:

Bryson did a great job learning a lot of skillz and drillz for the first time!

Here's Bryson taking charge of the ball.

Bryson getting serious!

Bryson as goalie for the first time ever!  They won this scrimage game!

Bradley getting ready to play. 

Bradley's kicking leg in action!

Serious Play.

The ever popular Popcicle Break!

BYU is the right place for Bryson.  He found banana popcicles!

Bryson and Coach

Bradley and Coach Lauren

Maybe we'll be crazy enough to drive back for a Women's Soccer Game this fall.  The boys had such a good time at camp, visiting family and not to mention all the great places to eat in Provo--Brick Oven and the Creamery are top of that list!  And Scott and I love driving them around BYU pointing out all the places we lived in our previous life as wild and crazy singles!  Go Cougars--The World is Our Campus!

Blessing Day

Our little Rockstar is growing up so fast! He has already traveled across oceans and next week will make his debut in Utah.

Today was his Blessing Day in our ward. I am grateful to have a husband who is worthy to give such blessings to our children and for our extended family for the love and support they show us. Although we missed the family who couldn't be there, we appreciated those that were and could stand in the circle to bless our little Brett.

Baby Brett is such an amazing blessing in our family. He is a very sweet and patient baby whose personality gets bigger everyday! He smiles and recognizes people now at the ripe old age of 2 months. I'm definitely president of the Brett Michael Fan Club!