Water Park Fun!

We have lived here in Georgia for 8 years now and we are just coming to the realization that we have done and seen little of what Georgia has to offer as far as entertaining ourselves. As most people know Georgia is home to one of the 6 flags theme parks, and we have yet to go. There is also a large water park that is attached to the theme park and yesterday we decided to it was time. We got a babysitter for Hailey and we met up with some friends and even Grandma Cheryl was here to come with us. This waterpark made Seven Peaks look like a neighborhood swimming pool, it had so many different water rides. We ended up spending the entire day there. Braxton had a blast! And so did we. Although my dogs are barkin today!

We Did It!

We finally sold our house! After 4.3 months of blood, sweat and tears......yes all three, someone finally recognized what we knew all along..........how awesome our house is and what a sweet deal they are getting. We close on this house on July 23rd and close on our new house on July 23rd. We then have 2 days to move. Talk about cutting it close, school starts on August 6th for Braxton so we are grateful that we will be in our new house by then.

Independence Day

Happy 4th to everyone! We had a very busy 4th of July. Kristine, Mike and their kids were here for the holiday so they got to join with us in all of the festivities......lucky them! We had our ward breakfast that morning and then we hosted a Barbeque that night with some of our friends. Along with a firework show put on by Mike. (my Mike) Our Bb-que wasn't as big as it's been in the past, but it was still fun. The mess we had to clean up the next day...........well that's a different story.

San Destin

For Mother's Day Mike surprised me with a trip to Destin Florida. We went for an extended weekend. The beach was beautiful and the weather was perfect. It was so nice to just get a way for a while. This is Mike showing Braxton how to boogie board.

Braxton's first time taking a picture all by himself. Pretty good. Mike and I at a restaurant we ate at on the bay.

All of us on the pier, by all of the nice yachts.

Braxton, Hailey and I playing in the sand. (Mike had the "night" feature on the camera, that's why it's so bright)

We stayed at the San Destin resort. At the resort there is a HUGE shopping area. We were able to walk around and see all of the fun things for sale. There was also a live band playing at the courtyard. The courtyard was decorated with christmas lights and everyone was dancing. It was a lot of fun.

Graduation!

The school year is finally over! Braxton passed 1st grade with flying colors! It was pretty rough in the beginning, Braxton trying to get a feel for his new teacher and his new teacher trying to understand him. After ALOT of meetings and phone calls we finally figured it out and by the end of the year Braxton was doing awesome! He was even tested for the gifted program! Great Job Braxton! Now lets go to the lake!

UNDEFEATED!

Baseball season is finally over! After our crappy football season last fall, who would have thought that it would be possible that Braxton would be on an undefeated team! The boys were so excited and they worked hard for it. They get their picture posted on the park website and put into the Forsyth paper. Go Braves!

Hailey and Gabby

Hailey has a little buddy, named Gabby. Gabby's family is in our ward and we've been friends with them for a few years. When I found out I was pregnant with Hailey, Gabby's mom was already two months along with Gabby. I found out I was having a girl and Gabby's mom, Nicole refused to find out what she was having. Gabby was to be her 4th child and she wanted to be surprised. So when she had a girl we were both excited.

I swear these two little girls knew each other in the pre-existance. A lot of people will ask if they are twins when they are together. They both have blonde curly hair, and olive skin but pretty much nothing else in common, looks wise.

All day long all I hear is "Gabby at home." or if I say we are going to run errands Hailey will assume we are going to see Gabby. When we say prayers at night, she will always interject, on her own, "Please bless Gabby".

When these two little tornados get together it is amazing the destruction they can rendure. Going from one thing to the next until the entire house is torn apart.

Their new thing is to take off all of their clothes and run around naked, or they will change their outfits at least 10 times. I have learned to not leave them alone for long. These two have made me come to the conclusion that I NEVER want twins!

The little princess....

Hailey loves to wear dresses. Being a girl myself, who would wear dresses only when I had to, this is a little strange for me. We'll come home from church and if I try to change her out of her dress, she will throw a fit! So I went and bought her a couple of play "princess" dresses for her wear, so she wouldn't wear out her church clothes.

She was so excited in the store and the entire way home kept yelling "PRINCESS"! Once I put them on, she refused to take them off. She wears them around the house and will even nap in them. I refuse to let her sleep in them at night and it is quite a fight to get her into her pajamas. But when I assure her that the dress will be right at the bottom of her bed while she sleeps and ready for her to wear the next day, she will relent and let me put her pajamas on.

Progress

The ceiling in the family room.

The kitchen.

Well, the house is almost done! All the tile is in, the trim is up and the paint is on. They just need to do the yard, the carpet and stain the hardwoods and we are good to go. Now if we could just sell our current house, life would be perfect!

Easter

Braxton and Hailey looking for eggs the Easter bunny hid for them.

Braxton and Hailey in their new easter digs.

Our little family. (why am I the only one in black? I'm mourning our warm weather.)

Easter was a beautiful, sunny day! Only one problem, the temp was a record LOW! It was soooo cold. You didn't even want to leave the house. I went back and forth about whether or not to have the kids wear their Easter clothes, since Hailey's dress was a sleeveless sundress. But I decided to just have her wear a sweater and call it good. Mike's Dad and Step-Mom came down for the weekend, so we had fun spending time with them. I think Braxton wore them out on the board, and card games. (Sound familiar Mom?)

Saturday night, Mike, his dad and stepmom and I were up late watching a movie, so when Mike and I were on our way up to bed, I luckily remembered that we needed to set everything up for the kids. It took us about 30 min to get everything ready. Whew, that was a close one!

When Braxton and Hailey woke up Sunday morning, they found that the Easter Bunny had left them some Easter Baskets and had hidden a bunch of eggs to find. They had a lot of fun finding them and we all had fun eating the candy. After church we had a yummy dinner with Honey Baked Ham, (my favorite) funeral potatoes, rolls and broccoli salad. Even though the weather was "winter-like", it was still a great day.

Spring Break

Braxton waiting in line for Pirates of the Carribean.

Hailey in front of Cinderella's Castle

Mike, Braxton and Hailey on "It's a Small World"

Hailey, Braxton and myself at Sea World

Well, another year, another Spring Break come and gone. Where does the time go? This was our first trip, as a family, by ourselves, since Braxton was 8 months old. We are either going with family or friends. It was strange for Braxton to not have any other kids to play with. But, we had a great time. We stayed in a very nice resort just outside of Orlando, about 20 minutes away from all of the parks. Our place was a 3 bedroom townhouse with a full kitchen, family room, study and 3 pools, plus a waterpark. We spent two days at the waterpark and 2 days doing theme parks.

The first park we went to was Sea World. I haven't been there since I was young and it's changed a lot. They now have roller coaster rides there and more animal shows. It was a fun day. We of course went to the "Magic Kingdom". (I'm from the West coast, and DisneyLand is over there so it's been hard for me to not call it Disney Land.) Anyway, we were there from 9am until almost midnight! The funny thing is, we added up all of the rides we went on and it only came up to about 12! That took ALL DAY LONG! Hailey had a great time on the rides, which we were pleasantly surprised she could do everything except the big rollercoasters. Her favorite was "It's a Small World".

Braxton had gotten sunburned the day before and wasn't at his "best" so pretty much complained the entire day! Who complains about going on rollercoasters. We had to make him go. But when we got home he was glad we did.

It was a nice relaxing vacation, very much needed after the month we've had.

Take Me Out To The BallGame (unless it's cold)

Yes, it's that time of year again......the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing the sun is shinning, so why are we freezing our behinds off? One of natures cruel jokes! Warm temperatures all week and then freezing temps on the weekend. Don't let the sunny picture fool you. It was so cold, that Hailey and I ended up watching his game from the inside of our car. (Mike and Grandpa Dave braved it out in the cold. But Dave did break down and put on a jacket. Which he never does!) Braxton's team did great though. They ended up winning both games they played on Saturday. Braxton struggled a little bit the first couple of practices, but has really started to pick it up again. This year his team is the Atlanta Braves, which he is very excited about. Not because of the team, but because he was able to get red cleets to match his uniform.

Our Little Easter Bunny

No, the Easter Bunny hasn't arrived early this year, it's just our little Hailey. Mike went to Target to get some supplies for Braxton's school project and came home with these for Hailey. The funny thing is, she loves to wear them. She'll put on her high heeled "princess" shoes, a tutu and the bunny ears, and push her "baby" in the stroller around the house. Yes, it is quite a fashion statement.

Leprechaun Trap!

Braxton was given the assignment to make a "Leprechaun trap". He had to come up with an idea, draw out a plan and then construct it. So we did the old, box trap. We put a box full of "gold" under a bigger box that is conspicuously held up by a stick that is attached to the box of "gold" by a rope. So, when the little Leprechaun tries to take the gold, BAM! We got him! It's an oldie, I know, but works everytime. Braxton was quite excited about it. (That white strip of paper that is on the front of the box says, "Please don't take!" A little reverse psychology.)

New house

View of the kitchen from the garage door. View of the kitchen from the "keeping room"

An ordinary cupboard

door? Nope, it opens up to a large pantry. This is the coolest part of the house. (Braxton is standing inside the pantry)

Looking at the family room from the

breakfast area in the kitchen.

Another view of the keeping room. This is the entry way, looking straight ahead at

family room, the dinning room is off to your

right, the office off to the left and the guest

bedroom and bathroom is in the back left

corner.

The Basement

Ok, here are some pictures of the work that Mike did the week I was in Utah. Yes, he was a busy boy. Our friend from Utah flew out to help him and they got quite a bit done....

Here is the "wetbar" which opens up to the "gym".

Here is the bathroom. It has a deep, jetted tub. If you want to see pictures of the theater room and the extra bedroom, there are some in the archives.....

Hanging out with Grandma

Braxton has found his new "gameing" partner. He and his Grandma Hanson spent 5 hours one day while we were out in Utah, playing board games. Grandma definately has more patience than I do.

It took Hailey pretty much the entire trip to warm up to Grandma and Grandpa. She's not as "forthcoming" with her trust as Braxton has been. But by the end of the trip she even layed on Grandma to watch a movie.

Snow, snow, more snow.....enough snow already!

Well, we got our fix of snow for the year. When we first arrived in Salt Lake it was sunny, warm (60ish) and there was absolutely NO SNOW on the ground. Which is a little unusal for Utah this time year. I can still hear my dad say to me, when we first arrived out there, "Spring has officially arrived." Boy, did he eat his words. The second day we were there Salt Lake got dumped on! Braxton loved it though. He was able to do some sledding with his cousins. Hailey, not to sure about this cold white stuff.

The drive from....you know where!

Well, I finally did it. I made the BIG trek out to Utah, without Mike. Why is that such a big deal? I DROVE! And we didn't get lost. A friend of mine, along with her 4 kids, my two kids and I decided to go out to Utah and visit family. What was supposed to be a "two day" drive out there, turned out to be a three day drive, when windy weather forced Highway patrol to shut down I-80 in Wyoming. So, we were stuck in Sydney, Nebraska for a day. Well, needless to say, there's not much to do in Syndey. But, lucky us, it turns out that Sydney is the birthplace of Cabela's. So we spent a few hours playing in the local Cabela's.

Our trip home, wasn't very eventful, after we made the decision to delay a day, and go the longest route to avoid bad weather. This experience, however, has reconfirmed, to me, the power of prayer!

Braxton's 1st Birthday Party, and mine too!

Growing up, I never experienced having a birthday party of my own. So, I've always felt it a hassle to plan and host one for our kids. Last year Braxton kept talking about a party he wanted to have at the local bowling alley, and we even agreed to it. But after a year of waiting for it to happen I think he gave up. But this year, Mike finally broke me down and we had Braxton's birthday party lastnight at Chuck-E-Cheese. He had 15 kids show up, plus some siblings and parents and had a great time. Although, when we got home lastnight Mike wasn't feeling so hot and ended up in the bathroom most of the night. Apparently the yummy pizza didn't sit to well with him. Glad I didn't eat very much.

Left, Haileys future babysitter, Rachel and on the right is Hailey's best buddy, Gabby

Everyone kind of starring at Chuck doing his little dance thinking, "what an idiot."

Brrrrrr, it's cold out there!

Well, we are finally having our "winter storm". Schools have been closed and business's shut down, and it's only raining outside. We did have an ice storm this morning and there is slush on the grass, but it is currently raining. We wasted an "inclement weather day" for this? The worst part is we just had our house painted yesterday. I'm praying it will survive.