Bunches of Bradys

Fitness night at the elelmentary

2012-01-27T23:15:00.001-05:00

Gabe did 33 push ups in 1 minute at the fitness event held at his school. He also won a raffle for going to his teachers house to watch a movie.. He is so excited!

It's snowing inside our house!

2012-01-27T23:13:00.001-05:00

This is what we do on a Friday night... Make snow! By the way, this is only after mom said "no" but dad says "why not".

Bowling for Eli's birthday...a look at the family's form.

2012-01-20T18:28:00.000-05:00

Photo shoot ....

2011-12-28T14:58:00.000-05:00

more to come too!

Gabe loves his little Naomi.

2011-12-24T10:28:00.001-05:00

Gabe is growing up right before my eyes. He has become my little babysitter when i leave the room. She loves being held by him too. Now i know what parents are talking about when they say that having more kids gets easier because the older ones help out with the younger ones. Too bad he has to go back to school after Christmas break.

An addiction...

2011-12-23T16:50:00.001-05:00

This website is my recent addiction.

http://m.steepandcheap.com/

We've only ordered a handful of things but it's fun to see what comes up. Enjoy!

Sledding with no hill

2011-12-20T14:14:00.001-05:00

Who needs a sledding hill when you have a daddy?

A smiler!

2011-12-20T10:09:00.001-05:00

This little newborn is so smiley! I know, you will probably say it's gas, but she smiles right back at us when we smile at her. She must have good dreams too, she always smiles when she sleeps.

Gingerbread house/ santa sleigh

2011-12-20T10:02:00.001-05:00

For FHE, we decorated this santa sleigh. Gabe and i were the only ones interested in decorating so i had only him and i in the picture. Merry Christmas!

The newest member of our family.

2011-12-17T20:48:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy of our new little Naomi June. Oh! And for those of you wondering where we live... We are in Kansas. We are stationed at Fort Riley for two years. I hope to update this blog more but then again, there are a lot of things in life i would like to get done but don't seem to happen.:)

Having fun in Minnesota!

2011-10-20T10:36:00.001-04:00

We went to visit family a few days ago and the big boys discovered a fun playground toy.

A craft taken too long!

2011-10-20T10:33:00.001-04:00

I've loved these welcome signs and our new home has a place for one to hang. I finally sat down to finish it!

New table to old table in record time!

2011-02-15T11:41:00.003-05:00

So, most of you know that I sell a lot on Craigslist and E-bay. If you didn't....now you know. So, it's been a fun game for me to see how fast I can sell an item on C.L. In Boston, I thought I hit a record of 1 hour (time of the post to the time of pick up). But living in Oklahoma has since beat that record. My brother bought a new table so we inherited his nice dining table. Well, fitting two dining tables into a small spot isn't a good idea with three little ones wandering around. I listed our old table and 28 minutes later they were here to pick it up. WOW!!! John was in awe that they were coming so fast. I LOVE selling things on Craigslist.
(pictured is our old table we've had for 4 1/2 years)

Valentines Day

2011-02-15T11:32:00.002-05:00

Our traditional heart shaped pizzas. The kids were so excited to see it that they were sad when I cut it. I made a joke to John that I was tearing the heart apart. Gabe started laughing at my joke. I can't believe that kid gets my jokes now. He is one of few people that gets my jokes. ;)

mouth watering sugar cookies.....enough said....

Nest

2011-01-28T15:12:00.000-05:00

So Gabe came running and said, "Mom and Dad I made a nest"...this is what he made out of toys and dipaers. We have a vaulted celiing with a banister that you can look over into the living room. He had thrown a pile down to refill the diaper basket and decided to play instead of put them in the basket. That kid has an imagination!

Hazel loves to Color

2011-01-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

Hazel loves to color while she's laying on her tummy. I almost caught her on camera but she realized what I was doing and got up... John loves coloring with her...mostly to make sure she doesn't eat the crayons. (She loves to eat crayons. She will even sneak them away to eat them!)

Christmas Time

2010-12-24T10:33:00.012-05:00

Here is what our house looks like at Christmas time.
Our first real tree...it sure smells wonderful.

Our stockings I made last year....

Our Christmas Card wall...

Hazel decided to rearrange the Natvity....

Making Gingerbread houses...

Mt. Scott and the Zoo

2010-11-17T14:55:00.003-05:00

Recently we have done some exploring around our home. We went to the Zoo in Oklahoma City. It was hot and a long day but the kids had fun. We also drove up to Mt. Scott You can get a little peak of Captain Brady in his get up too.

Some tips if you are having your belongings moved by a professional company....

2010-10-07T15:23:00.004-04:00

Here are a few things we learned with our first move with the military.
1. Expect all your belongings to be ruined or missing (because you may never see them again). In our case, we lost a bunk bed set, mattresses, and $200 worth of tools, as well as other small misc. things.
2. Don't let the movers leave your house without having them put a sticker on EVERYTHING and have it inventoried on their paper work. (They "forgot" to bring mattress boxes for the two twin mattresses and told us they would put the numbers on and box them once they arrived back at the warehouse....never happened, now we're responsible for replacing them because they don't have record of them....I am so naive). $300 down the drain.
3. If anything breaks, keep it so they can replace it...even if that means keeping small shards of glass in a large box stored in your garage for two months until they can come inspect it. $100 down the drain.
4. Don't expect your belongings for a few months...pack accordingly so you're not wishing you had that one thing (in this case, all of Hazel's clothes I didn't pack because I thought we would receive our things in two weeks. Two months later our stuff came and by then Hazel didn't fit into any of her 6-9 month because she was almost 10 months old...what a waste of super cute clothes I should've packed in our suitcases.
5. Keep paint or other trimmings for anything that is an antique that you refinish. I have a small end table that is handmade and antique. Before I left, I refinished it and now can't find any matching paint for the huge scrape along the top.
6. Sell everything you're willing to get rid of. If you haven't used it in the past year...sell it or give it away....If you don't it will probably get ruined anyway.
7. If you want something done right....do it yourself. If you can hack it...move yourself...I personally can't hack it, so I complain about how other people did such a terrible job moving our things instead.
That's all I can think of now......Enjoy your next move!

Great news in the mail...

2010-10-07T10:53:00.002-04:00

One down...one to go!

Hazel's new playmate...

2010-10-05T16:13:00.004-04:00

Hazel has a new playmate!

Eli is a great driver!

2010-10-05T12:39:00.004-04:00

Eli and Hazel love the PXtra on Post. They have this car near the front that Eli would love to get for Christmas. He always says, "put baby sister in so I can drive her to the store". She loves to be in the car with him.

Random posts...

2010-10-05T12:31:00.003-04:00

I really am trying to be better at blogging. So, here are some more happenings in our lives.
We are very proud that Gabe painted this by himself. Let me give you a background...
John and I both can't even barely draw stick figures. When Gabe was little he would ask me time and time again to draw a cat, or dog, or something. So, being the mom I am, I said to myself, "how hard can it be to draw something"....well, Gabe would say, "that's not a cat!" We got into so many arguements about it if it looked like what he wanted me to draw. Gabe now never asks me to draw ANYTHING! he knows it won't be what he wants. However, John and I always encouraged him to draw but he never drew anything. He even hates to color. So, luckily for his wonderful teacher (she can probably draw) he now brings home drawings like these...it gives me hope that he will actually be more of an artist than John and I ever could be.

McDonalds

2010-09-22T15:03:00.005-04:00

So, John and I have been attending this ward for a little over a month now. Almost every Sunday in Sacrament Meeting, they announce the meeting with the Bishop and some youth (i think it's BYC..??) Anyway, the first time they announced the meeting they said it would be at the Mcdonalds. Through the next coming weeks I was puzzled to know how they knew which McDonalds location to meet at. The ward boundaries are about 30 min. from one end to the other. There are about 4 McDonalds in the area. So, I leaned over in church and asked John how they knew which one. He said something like, "it's probably the one closest to the Bishop or something". So, time goes on and they keep announcing this meeting, still leaving both of us puzzled. BUT...then, this past Sunday we figured out how they decided on which McDonalds. It was the McDonald's residence..DUH!!! John actually figured it out and leaned over to tell me. We both laughed so hard. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in a sacrament meeting before. So, Now we Know...

First day of School

2010-08-20T23:45:00.003-04:00

Gabe was very excited for school. I was very excited as well. He is definitely ready and very anxious to start school. I didn't cry, but, guess who did?...Eli, He was so sad and said, "I want to go with Gabey to school!"
Poor little guy. However, we had plenty of fun while Gabe was in school...someone even gave him a lollipop while we were out doing errands.
I picked up Gabe and we started talking about his day. Preface: I was worrying about one thing and one thing only...lunch time...I know, sounds crazy but Gabe eats whatever you give him, but he eats it incredibly slow. I knew I shouldn't give him much food, but I also knew he would be very hungry because he can't usually eat a full meal...just little meals through out the day. Unlike his brother who can tank food down and then be good to go for a few hours). SOoooooo, when he got home I asked him if he liked his lunch. He then proceeded to tell me about how everyone at lunch had to wait for him to finish eating. He had a big smile on his face and said, "I was the last one at lunch, no one else was sitting down. All the kids had to wait for me to go outside". I think part of him thought that was pretty cool as well as realized that it was kind of embarrassing. He also said that he didn't know what to do with his garbage because everyone had left so he told me he just put it in the lunch box. He said, "is that okay?"....I sure like that kid. He then asked me in a very sweet voice, "mom, maybe you can give me not as much food next time." I laughed inside and realize that he was hungry but he didn't want to be the last one left in the lunchroom. I guess Mondays lunch will be in much smaller portions.

Some updated pictures of Hazel and Eli. We sure had a fun day with it being only the three of us.
If you look closely, Hazel just got her first tooth. She sure is growing fast.

Family PIctures

2010-08-20T14:20:00.004-04:00

We've finally done it! I am super picky on our family pictures so I end up critiquing everything and I end up not happy. So, for the last few years, I ended up taking them thinking I could set it up perfectly and then just use the 10 sec. countdown. Well, while we visited my family this summer we got all 42 of us together to get a once in a lifetime picture. No one was pregnant, so it was at the time, a "complete" picture of everyone. John actually flew home just so he could be in the picture... (approved by the military of course for the 4th of July weekend). I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and put a lot of effort into making us all look good together. So, here you go...I think the photographer was awesome and made everything exactly like I wanted it to, plus had more ideas of his own. This was my favorite even though some people aren't smiling.

Since I'm so behind giving an update...

2010-06-17T14:38:00.012-04:00

here are some pictures of the events that have happened in the last few weeks.

Commisioned as a Captain Ceremony at Fenway Park

Graduation

All the dental mormon guys

Guys with the wives

Goodbye Good Old Car

So our CRV (named Chooter) died about 60 miles outside of Boston. We had to make a quick decision about what we were going to do. We needed to get to Lawton, Ok in the next few days but had no car. So, we called the military travel office, made arrangements to fly out the next day, bought a car the next day after flying and voila! We were in Lawton.

Stranded in Springfield, MA deciding what to do. The kids were having fun in the shade.

Hello New Car

These are three pictures of us trying to make some fun in the hotel and guest lodging.
We finally found an apartment three days after arriving. (Pictures to come)
But, we have a small problem....the moving company that was contracted by the military can't find a driver to deliver our goods. So, for the last few days I've been living with my brother and his family in Fort Worth, TX (3 hours south of Lawton and 4 hours north of San Antonion, where John is for officer training). We'll probably be here until we can figure out another solution.
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to...

Celebrating Gabe's 5th birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABEY!

I enrolled Gabe in swimming lessons with his cousins..

Attending library events (Critterman)....

And, working on some sewing projects..(pictures to come)
Thank you to all who have housed us, as well as inquiring about how we're doing. We really appreciate it.

We've FINALLY made it!

2010-06-07T23:22:00.007-04:00

We've finally arrived to our new state! After a long, long, long, and I mean LONG week, we finally made it.
Sorry for the small pictures, they are from my phone because I'm to lazy to grab my real one.

Our trip across the country started out looking like this...(yes, that's the check engine light). I made sure to take a picture because I knew then, that it was going to be an adventure to get to Oklahoma. We ended up not going any further than 60 miles outside of Boston. We met really nice people who worked over time just for us, or didn't get paid at all because we were stranded. People want to do good and people are good.
Our options for the car weren't so good. It was one of those car decisions that everyone will make (is it worth it?, what's the price of the car?, how much time will it take to get fixed? how much stress do i want for the car?) So, to make a long story short...yes, Niki and Amber...this will be short...we left our car to a nice man who will tear it to pieces and give us very little money for doing it.
I wanted to cry...
Anyway, we got a flight the next day (i love the army) and then became car-less and house-less. Thank you to everyone for making our lives comfortable, and who continue to do so while we are in this stressful move.

This is Gabe and Eli in the Dallas airport waiting for our next flight. They loved sharing this smoothie.

We found a car (yay! for minivans) and have yet to find a home. I will be busy for the next few days trying to get the last few things done before John starts officer training... and not to mention trying to enjoy our time together before he leaves. So, updates to come....

John's new friend...

2010-05-01T09:31:00.003-04:00

John has a date with these for the next few days....

because he did this.....

Playing this....

Marathon...he did it!

2010-04-26T21:49:00.004-04:00

This is the slide show of the pictures that our talented Ellen Patton took while I was busy enjoying the moment. Yay John, you did it!
The night before the race, John said, "I think I'm going to get the itch to do this". I said, "John, these people are crazy" (meaning, the people we had previously been with....marathon runners). He said, "yah, I know".
His body was built for things like this...he can put it through h*** and back and it recovers so nicely. I wish my body was that nice to me!

And the winner is.........

2010-03-23T20:22:00.003-04:00

Yay! for you! I will be contacting you about your prize!
Thank you to all of you who participated.
The answer is: The flat cookie goes with the shiny pan and the plump cookie goes with the pampered chef medium bar pan (stone). I love, love, love my stone. I use it for making pizza, cookies, biscuits, breadsticks, etc. I got it about a year and a half ago and will grab this pan over the shiny pans every time. I've never officially tested the pans with the same recipe but I thought I'd try it out. Well, they taste the same, but the plump ones are fluffier and prettier.
Speaking of a great pan. I will be having a Pampered Chef Party this Thursday at 7 p.m. at my house. (I'm not a consultant, and I don't get paid for endorsing their products). If you can't make it, but would like to order, here is the website. Let me know if you'd like to order anything.

which is which? contest

2010-03-22T21:10:00.006-04:00

I am doing my first contest on my blog. Not many people read my blog, but that will make the competition more fun. I decided to do an experiment...
These are some unfinished Aunt Maria Lemon Cookies (family recipe). Notice: there are two different looking cookies here (flat and plump). I tried two different pans.

Here are the pans...can you guess which pan was used for which cookie?

Leave your guess of which cookie goes to which pan in the comments. All the winners will be entered into a drawing. If the winner lives near me, I will give them some delicious lemon cookies. If you live far away and win, you will get a surprise in the mail. oooooooo!!! Contest ends tomorrow at 6 p.m.

OKLAHOMA here we come!

2010-03-09T19:21:00.003-05:00

John received the e-mail yesterday...
John will be doing a residency through the military in Dentistry. It was our last choice of 6....But, we'll go where HE wants us to go....
Lawton, OK...here we come...atleast it's only a year...We can handle anything for a year!

Boston Marathon...Watch out here he comes!

2010-03-09T16:55:00.001-05:00

John running with the kids. He never does this but thought he'd try it out.
He'll be running the Boston Marathon. If you would like to donate some money to a charity so he can run...here's the info. Even the smallest amount would help.
Thanks!

http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/johnbrady

What's been happening lately...

2010-03-09T16:07:00.006-05:00

Visiting family and friends over the Christmas break. We went to Thanksgiving Point.
This is a random picture by a shark.

Well, we'll start with a few months ago...
These two are happy to see each other!

This is a beautiful sunset I saw on my my home from doing errands. Sorry for the bad picture...I took it while sitting at a stop light!

Eli's Birthday Cake...Happy Birthday Buddy!

My Birthday Cake!

I promise I'll get this updated...someday!

2010-01-25T14:15:00.004-05:00

Until then.....
Here's an updated picture of the three rascals...
We sure like them!

More pictures of the cutie...

2009-11-24T17:26:00.004-05:00

This is Hazel in her first Sunday dress along with all the cute accessories (bow and tights).

This is Hazel wrapped up in an adorable blanket a friend from John's school crocheted for Hazel. Thanks Courtney! If you look closely you can see a crocheted tooth on the blanket. ha ha ha

Random bowl of fruit

2009-11-23T22:03:00.002-05:00

I took a picture of the fruit we were having for dinner the other night because I thought it was so pretty. Isn't it?

2009-11-23T22:01:00.001-05:00

My parents flew in for Hazel's blessing.
it was sure fun to have them here for such a special occasion.

Red Leaves

2009-11-23T21:57:00.002-05:00

These leaves were beautiful...and so are the boys in them....I mean handsome.

Hazel's blessing

2009-11-23T21:27:00.003-05:00

We recently blessed Hazel at church. It was a sweet blessing and she was wearing a beautiful dress that I got here. My mom did all the embellishing of the dress (putting the ribbon and bows on. It looked so darling on her. The picture with her in the dress is a shot we took before all the embellishing was done.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T13:48:00.003-05:00

Can you guess what movie we're from?
Note: I did not make any of the costumes this year. I knew I'd be a little busy with the baby. But, John's costume is a homemade costume. Thank Heavens for E-bay!

I'm falling for Fall!

2009-10-27T14:36:00.003-04:00

On Sunday we were on a walk and John noticed how beautiful the leaves were in our neighborhood. Good thing we had my camera to take pictures of the gorgeous colors. Sorry you missed them by a week Gr. and Gp. Brady!

The things we do when we're trying to stay sane and warm....

2009-10-27T14:33:00.003-04:00

Ride the rides at the mini mall....

Clean the windows for mommy (they thoroughly enjoy this chore).

More of the newest addition......

2009-10-27T14:29:00.000-04:00

Regatta Races and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Brady

2009-10-27T14:12:00.006-04:00

John and his dad sharing a shake.....oh! how cute!

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the race. I think I took too many last year that I forgot to take one this year.

Introducing......

2009-10-27T14:07:00.003-04:00

Hazel Mae Brady
October 7
8 lbs. 21 inches

John's birthday weekend

2009-10-27T13:59:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday John!
September 14th was John's birthday. We ate yummy cake, went candle pin bowling...kind of....and opened lots of fun presents.
On Sunday we went to the temple to take pictures of my sister's family and got our family picture in front of the temple...which we haven't done since we moved here.

Momma's takin us to the Zoo tomorrah!

2009-10-27T13:52:00.003-04:00

Does anyone know who sings that song? (title of the post)
We went to the Stoneham Zoo in September. They had a really cool bird show the kids loved. The birds flew so low and close to our heads. This is a picture of Mr. Bald Eagle. Now that is a gorgeous bird!

Hike in the Fells

2009-10-27T12:35:00.002-04:00

We went on a hike in late August up the Fells. Even though I was huffing and puffing, I still made it and we got to see a beautiful view of the city.

Family Trip to Philadelphia in April...Warning, Picture Overload!

2009-06-04T23:20:00.009-04:00

Two boys and a....

2009-05-02T16:52:00.005-04:00

GIRL!!!
Yes, we are having a girl! Due in September.
We are so thrilled about having a girl next!
Just for extra info....Gabe guessed first that we are having a girl. He kept referring to the baby as a girl and I started to believe that he really did know, not just guess.

If 2-3 is a couple and 3-4 is a few, then 5-6 must be a bunch!

2009-04-01T12:15:00.002-04:00

We will be turning into a "bunch" officially. Yes, I'm prego!

Market Bag

2009-03-11T15:56:00.002-04:00

My friend Diana showed a group of us how to make a market bag the other day. It took about 2 hours start to finish. I love mine! I will be making many more of these! Thank you Diana!

Church Ad

2009-03-11T15:15:00.003-04:00

I really liked this church ad. I hope you like it too!

Sleep overs...

2009-02-21T10:59:00.003-05:00

Sleepovers...
What do you think about them? I always looked forward to having my future girls have the experience of sleep overs....That is until I got to college. I had a professor that had an entire class on sleep overs. The pros, the cons, articles about them, etc.
After leaving that lecture I was convinced I would never allow my children to attend sleep overs. Nothing great will ever come of a sleep over.
I just read an article that supports my opinion.
Tell me what you think about them.

Visit to the Draper Temple and Million dollar Mansions

2008-12-27T18:03:00.004-05:00

Here's the Temple... Very large and beautiful, yet simple, for all to enjoy.
The Draper Temple's open house is January 15th.

AND...here's the mansions just up the street. Very large and beautiful and very ridiculous!
NOTE: No one even lives in these castles, I mean homes. We know this because there was a lot of snow and their driveway and stairs weren't shoveled. Supposedly a woman had the home built at a whopping 11 million dollars (first picture) and then before it was finished,went bankrupt. In the picture you can only see part of the home. The other part of the home had a huge arch you can drive under. The second picture is another mansion/home for sale.

Holiday vacationing in Utah is going great!

Somethin' Purty

2008-12-09T10:35:00.005-05:00

Isn't it a beauty?

Martha Stewart taught me how to do it.
Here is our very own video of how to make a Cranberry wreath.
Enjoy!

The final product!

Eli's Walking!

2008-12-08T22:30:00.004-05:00

This is a short clip of Eli starting to walk.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

2008-12-01T12:45:00.006-05:00

We had a fun filled weekend visiting our friends in Manhattan for Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures and videos of our trip.

Toy Story Halloween

2008-10-31T23:13:00.003-04:00

A big THANK YOU goes out to Janika Dillon for helping me make the costumes...except for Gabe's (his was an E-bay special).
Do you think we look similar?

Quite a few posts....you ready?

2008-10-25T16:15:00.007-04:00

So, every time I take a picture, it's pretty much for blogging reasons instead of just taking the picture to take it. So, here are some random pictures I'm speaking of.
The first is of John's dinner plate. John is very particular about how his food is put together. In this case, it's taco salad. He didn't want to just drizzle the chili on top of his plate, so, instead he filled each individual scoop chip with just the right amount of chili. Now, you're probably thinking that he is so picky and that it would be hard to cook for someone like that. Actually no, he isn't picky and he never expects me to prepare his food in his particular way. For example, when he makes a sandwich he has specific rules (there has to be cheese on top and on bottom of the meat, mayonnaise on every square inch of the bread). So, even though he is very particular about his food, he never expects anyone else to follow his rules of preparation. On this particular night of having taco salad, I laughed and ran to get the camera, he just smiled and said... "it tastes better this way!".

Eli had is first oreo the other day. HE LOVED IT!!! His face was so cute when he saw me put that chocolatey cookie on his plate. Gabe loved his cookie too, just not as much as Eli...can you tell?

Can you tell what Gabe made out of his waffle? I was super impressed! He loves to make animal shapes out of his food.

Last but not least....
The two kiddos posing for a picture.
Gabe loves to dress up but we don't have many things to "dress" up in. Until, one day I was going through some drawers and I found a costume John wore for a family reunion party. Gabe was thrilled about being a pirate!

Eli is posing in his Halloween jammies. He says "Thank you Grandma Brady for the soft, warm jammas!

Wow...so funny I can't stand it!

2008-10-09T22:16:00.003-04:00

As I was posting that last post, I found a video I had taken over three years ago.
John and I were head of activities committee in our married student ward at BYU-I. As a huge committee, we did a ton of stuff together, including watching Napolean Dynamite...way too many times. So, for part of an activity we got the husbands to do a little dance... Look familiar to any of you Napolean fans? I think John is the only one who can keep beat. They all look hilarious and John might not like that I'm posting this...ha ha ha...too bad he never looks at this blog!
Just watch!!!

Post, Post, Post!!!!

2008-10-09T21:49:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I was told by three different people that I needed to update my blog....OKAY! okay! leave me alone!! Here I go!
So, on Monday, we went to a Celtic Thunder concert. John's friend from school got tickets from her dad for her birthday. Her brother didn't want to go so we got to go! It was so much fun to go to a fun concert...at times very funny and cheesy, but for the most part, well worth it!
Here are some 15 sec. videos of the performance. They are probably really hard to see and hear...a well, you get the gist.

Yay! Back to the real world!

2008-09-05T11:57:00.014-04:00

So, in the past month we have done soooo much. I will start with the most recent and work my way back. First.....

We went to a Red Sox game. It was the game day that the church buys a huge amount of tickets for super cheap. It was John's third game and by far the worst seats he has had. The two times before he went with a friend who had seats in the enclosed section. However, it was my first game and I thought it was awesome.
p.s. they played the Chicago white sox and won!

Next, we went to Idaho on the last leg of our trip. We went water skiing at the lake. Both John and I got up. However, John looked a lot more cool jumping wakes and doing tricks than I did skiing just trying to stay up.
ooops...no pictures..sorry, too busy having fun!

We also went to a river where we celebrated Grandpa Brady's birthday.
We canoed and did paddle boats. It was sure fun but it ended in a nasty storm of wind. It was blowing everything away! It was a short trip but fun to celebrate the old man's birthday! ha ha ha

Great Grandma and Grandpa Briscoe's house! Gabe loved all the candy she gave him, even after John kept saying no more. ha ha ha

In Utah...
Visiting friends. Gabe and George met when they were 6 months old. We and his family were in the same ward for 9 months. Turns out we were soon to be related. John's sister married George's, mom's brother...got it? Oh we sure miss you guys!

We went to the Clark family reunion at the Heber Valley Camp.
That was a great reunion family!

We celebrated Grandma Clark's birthday at Texas Roadhouse. Gabe had fun when it came to line dancing with the servers.

We celebrated our anniversary by going out to eat at Zupas
then, we went ice blocking...fun but very tiring.

John flying down the hill.

Carrie flying down the hill.

In the D.C. airport for 7 hours...

Downtown Boston exploring with the Brady Fam.

We drove up to Palmyra to meet up with John's Family on their self guided church history tour.
Sacred Grove with the Brady Family

Last but not least....
Niagra falls with the Brady Fam. Thanks to John's parents we got to ride down in the falls in the "Maid of the Mist". It was so much fun to be right at the foot of the falls!

That's all for now!

Nightly Visitors

2008-08-03T23:21:00.003-04:00

So I have many pictures to post but first thing is first...The most exciting!
We've had nightly visitors, visiting our garbage cans. We have the kind of garbage cans that have lids. Well, in nights past, I have heard animals rummaging through the garbage but have been to lazy/scared to see what kind of animal it is. So, last night John was home and I told him whatever animal was down there must be pretty big because it had taken off the lids to the garbage can (they have a distinct sound when thrown on the ground). I said will you come with me to see what it is. He said "sure". To our surprise it was a racoon! Not one but two! One was probably a male because he was huge, the other was really small and probably a female. The big one had taken off the lid and thrown in to the ground and was in the garbage can. We didn't realize there were two until the second one came right up to the door and stuck it's nose in the door. I freaked out because I knew racoons are pretty mean tempered animals. John slammed the door shut to see if they would take off because we didn't want a mess of our garbage in the drive way. THEY DIDN'T EVEN SHUTTER!! It's like they were so used to humans they didn't care we were there. I ran to get my camera because they were literally right next to us. Sorry for the bad picture but I didn't want to open the door to much because they could've come in. So, now we know what animal is making all the noise in the garbage. In the past we've also seen a possum that wouldn't get out. John tried to shake the garbage can around to make it get out before he brought it to the curb. We hope he got out before the garbage trucks came. If not, poor little guy, he was just too comfortable in our disgusting trash. Anyone know of a good way to keep racoons and other critters out of your garbage? Lids do not seem to be working.

4th of July in Boston

2008-07-15T15:45:00.004-04:00

We were right on the Charles River to see the fireworks show. They also had the Boston Pops and Rascal Flatts do a concert before the show. Then they do music to the firweworks. They have a barge in the water that they use to shoot the Fireworks from. Our ward tradition is to go to the same spot every year to watch them. It just so happens that the spot is right where the barge is. Last year the wind was blowing our way so we had debris flying at us. This year we were able to watch without all the debris flying at us. And, the kids even enjoyed themselves.

Rain, rain, go away...

2008-07-15T15:10:00.011-04:00

If you look real close at these pictures, you won't find anything that water didn't touch. We are all sopping wet. Well, Eli had some shelter under the stroller canopy. I went down town to a children's festival for the HarborFest and met John later that day. We were walking to North Station (a 10 min. walk) when thunder and lightening, started at once. Then, it started hailing. We couldn't find cover anywhere except under a small restaurant sign (Union Oyster House). We were getting so wet, so we decided to go in the restaurant. Luckily, they lets us in! They had a gift shop we fiddled around in. But, waiting the 30 min. only helped a little. It was still pouring outside. We decided to make a "run" for it, (you can't run with a sit n stand stroller). We finally got to North Station all worn out and wet, but we made our train! It ended up taking us 50 minutes to walk to the train station.

This movie was taken about 10 minutes before the rain storm. This kid makes a lot of money. We've seen him numerous times by Fanueil Hall. He only uses buckets and pans to play.

Picture Tag

2008-07-15T14:24:00.013-04:00

My sister-in-law, Erica tagged me... This was so fun!
Picture Tag....The only rule for this tag is NO CLEANING BEFORE YOU TAKE THE PICTURE.
1. Kitchen Sink

This is normally what it looks like. We seem to need dishes all the time (hmm... maybe because we eat) so I can never keep up with putting them in the dish washer.
2. Self Portrait

It was a very humid day... don't mind the sweat.
3. What are the kids doing - right now

Both children are sleeping (knock on wood). Gabe usually falls asleep on the floor, in the hallway, by his room. We can't break him of the habit. Eli was also sleeping but I didn't want to chance waking him up by taking a picture.
4. Closet

This is our coat/game closet. We need to add a few more games don't you think?
5. Favorite Room

This is my favorite room because it's where the air conditioner is.
6. Fridge

Yup, that's it!
7. Bathroom

Very large and spacious!
8. Laundry Room

It's in our basement so it's not a laundry "room". I like it though... plenty of space to hang dry our clothes.
9. Favorite shoes

A while back I finally found some shoes that are flat, brown, and darling. Something I had a hard time finding.
10. Dream Vacation
Prague, Czeck Republic

This was a hard one to decide on. But, because I was there for 12 hours, I want to go back on a vacation there. I took the second picture, not the first. It is of a really cool building that we never found out what it was. It reminds me of how much fun we had, running around the city for a couple hours trying to see anything and everything we could before our flight left early in the morning.
Now I tag Amber and Ellen P.

Being Silly and Boating in the Kitchen

2008-07-02T22:12:00.003-04:00

Being Silly

This is Gabe's idea of boating...watch out our kitchen is full of water.
He wanted Eli to boat with him. What cute kiddos.

SHIPOOPI

2008-06-26T23:43:00.003-04:00

So one night John was singing a classic song from Music Man. I had never heard it and neither did Gabe. Gabe started laughing so hard. It was a silly song and Gabe the whole time, thought John was saying "She's poopy". No, in fact, he was singing this...

Toilet paper and Gabe do not mix well...

2008-06-26T23:28:00.002-04:00

Today I was feeding Eli when I heard a whimper, then crying from Gabe, and then silence. I thought he probably didn't make to the potty in time to go pee so he's freaking out that he wet his pants. Well, when I found him, he had peed his pants and had just finished putting the last square of toilet paper from the roll, in the toilet. (It was overflowing out of the toilet). Apparently he had peed on the floor as well and he was cleaning it so I didn't have to. How nice of him to help me out but I think I spent more time cleaning up the mess he made in the toilet. I was so mad I forgot to take a picture. Dang it!

Celebrating the big birthday!

2008-06-21T15:27:00.003-04:00

Gabe's favorite place to eat is McDonalds. We were so lucky when we went to the nearest one to our house. It is in a mall. They had Radio Disney right next to the Mickey D's. As we ate our lunch, we danced to Hanna Montana and other fun songs. Gabe loved it! I was so excited he had a great day!

Happy Birthday Gabe

2008-06-21T15:18:00.004-04:00

Gabe just turned three! We are so happy to have Gabe in our family. Happy birthday to you and we are so excited you're now potty trained! Way to go buddy!

He passed!

2008-06-15T21:48:00.002-04:00

John passed the clinical boards that is!
He studied and worked really hard to get a really good grade on these boards.
This test basically says he can work on patients.
Yeah for John! I am so proud you passed. Those many long nights have paid off!

Tagged by Celia

2008-06-13T23:45:00.002-04:00

I’ve been tagged by Celia, so here’s a little peek into my life:

20 years ago:

I was 5 and getting ready to go into kindergarten. I loved Mrs. Kennedy my kindergarten teacher. I liked school and for the first two years I got the award that says I never missed a day of school. I’ve always loved going to school and learning. However, my grades wouldn’t say that. I’m definitely not blessed with being school smart but I do love to learn.

10 years ago:

In 1998 I was in 9th grade. I was so excited to go to high school for 10th grade. Mostly because I was still in that awkward stage everyone goes through in middle school. However, I did just get my braces off and I felt so pretty. I had them on for 3 ½ years. I have worn my retainer ever since then and I have only missed about 8 days in 10 years. John will verify that I am still obsessed with my retainer and will not go to sleep without it.

5 years ago:

John and I were engaged and spending the summer away from each other. I was completing my internship in photography and he was already signed up to go sell pest control in Kansas City. While I was assisting the photographer at the temples and receptions, it made me think I would never get married. I probably watched 4-5 brides a week, get married before I was to get married. That was a terrible summer away from John. Then, to top it off, John backed out three weeks before we got married. Luckily he only backed out for 10 or 12 hours (which I thought I would never get through) until he called and apologized and changed his mind. We were finally sealed August 12th, 2003.

3 years ago:

Gabe was born tomorrow (June 14th) three years ago. I was very pregnant but didn’t mind at all. I have fairly easy pregnancies and super easy labor and deliveries. I had just graduated from BYU-Idaho in Child Development, and was ready to become a mommy.

1 year ago:

I was 2 months pregnant with Eli. We had been waiting a long time for him to come. John just got done with a lot of tests for dental school and we were ready for the summer break.

Today:

I spent the morning listing things on Craigslist, and potty training Gabe. I just got back from Sarah Rodgers baby shower. There was lots of good food and I loved spending a few hours just talking girl talk.

Tomorrow:

It’s Gabe’s birthday. He wants a pink cake with pink frosting. It’s his favorite color. I don’t have the heart to tell him it’s a girl color because John has many pieces of clothing that are pink… shirts, ties, etc. So he would be confused if I told him pink was only for girls. Luckily, I found a pattern for a dinosaur cake. What’s wrong with a pink dinosaur?
Happy Birthday Buddy!

This year:

This year will be a nice change from last year. No more book work and long nights of studying for John. Instead, he’s in the clinic and gone working on patients, not stressing over tests and homework. I’m also excited to see how Eli will look the older he gets. Gabe will go into nursery school. I have started my Scentsy business, so I’m hoping this year will bring more opportunities for steady income.
I tag Amber and Clarissa.

Charity Event at Fenway Park

2008-06-13T16:02:00.004-04:00

We went to Fenway Park (where the Red Sox play) a few weeks ago for a charity event. Everything was free! Lunch, face painting, pictures, t-shirt making, greeting characters, tours of the park. It was super fun thanks to the Christensens who had to specially invite us. We received these pictures in the mail. Don't ask me what Gabe is doing...I have no idea... there was a really weird guy trying to make him smile.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-06-06T14:42:00.000-04:00

Brothers...

2008-06-04T14:49:00.003-04:00

Gabe sure loves to have Eli sit by him or play with him lately. Eli however, does not like sitting by Gabe or playing with him most of the time. They are watching TV in this picture. I know, I know, Eli is watching TV already. But, hey, if they're getting along, why not?

So... anyways...

2008-05-30T20:45:00.002-04:00

I am currently re-doing my template so disregard how funny it looks for the next few days or so.
The title of this post was brought to you by Gabe. I realized he watches everything I say when we sat down for dinner and out came the words, "so, anyways, (sigh) How you doin mom?" I thought where in the world did you get that saying from? A few seconds later I realized I say it all the time, especially when I'm on the phone.

New Template

2008-05-23T10:06:00.002-04:00

I'd like to know what people think about this new template...I'm not sure I love it, but I do like it.
Will you rate it from 1-5 (5 being that you really like it).

They're gone...

2008-05-18T23:06:00.005-04:00

We have struggled so much lately with Gabe, about taking a nap, that I now just enforce quiet time. A few days ago Gabe was being ridiculously quiet for nap time. So, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought "what a good boy, he's sleeping." I checked on him about an hour later and this is what I found. If you can't tell, it's my sticker collection ( A collection from over 18+ years. I'm not kidding, I have a handful of stickers from when I was in 3rd grade in Mrs. Andrizzi's class). So, I really love my sticker collection and actually only use stickers out of it on special occasions. When I discovered this in the third bedroom, Gabe happened to be in his room reading ( like he should be for quiet time). So, I couldn't get too mad because I've only told him once or twice, in the past year or so, not to play with them. My first reaction was to laugh because I had fooled myself into thinking he was finally asleep. When in reality, he was wasting mommy's precious sticker collection that I have been working on for 18+ years. But, as you can tell, he did have a lot of fun organizing them on the cabinet.

Cinco de Mayo Partay...

2008-05-18T21:57:00.003-04:00

Tonight we went to a Cinco de Mayo party. It was cold and a little rainy but for the most part super fun. Gabe had a blast with Kylie. She was so good to keep him busy for the 3 hours we were there. Gabe loves hanging out with her because it's like an instant big sister. This is the two of them jumping on the trampoline together. The other pic is of Eli trying to keep warm.

We've decided to go military...

2008-05-07T22:33:00.005-04:00

After pondering, praying and certain events, John has decided to join the military for the last two years of dental school. For those of you who don't know anything about having the military help you out with school, here's how it goes... They pay for two years of our school and we give them three years in return (working on a base as a dentist). This school is so expensive we think it will be the best for us. We don't have to do anything for the military until Spring 2010. The pros outweighed the cons. The only negative thing about joining the military might end up being a really positive thing...(moving where ever they tell us to..even out of the country). Isn't it funny where life takes you...who would've guessed? It just shows that sometimes what you want isn't always what's best for you.

My new favorite food.

2008-04-27T23:38:00.002-04:00

ITTI BITZ
They're like Dippin Dots Ice cream...except you don't have to go to a tourist attraction to get them...they are at the grocery store.
If you haven't tried them... you should.

Trying out my new lens...

2008-04-27T23:33:00.003-04:00

I love my new lens...well worth the price I paid. And the two cute boys...Always willing to stop and pose for mom. I've had a few people ask me what new lens I got. I found a steal deal on C.L. for a brand new Canon 28-135 mm ultrasonic, image stablizer lens. I took advice from my friend Ellen and bought a more portrait appropriate lens. I'm trying it out to see if I like it any better than my other lenses. So far, so good!
I'll post some pictures I've recently taken.

Silly Eli

2008-04-22T11:30:00.001-04:00

Watch out, this little guy can make anyone smile and laugh.

Blessing Day! (over a month ago)

2008-04-22T09:21:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to list these pictures for over a month now. All of these pictures are courtesy of Ellen P....what a great friend and photographer...thank you!
This is when Eli was blessed. Thank you to all family and friends who were able to make it for Eli's special day.

Patriots Day...A great day!

2008-04-22T09:12:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a state holiday. PATRIOTS DAY!
It was filled with watching the Boston Marathon for 4 hours...
John got a great sunburn on his face. Thank heavens for sunscreen, for me and the kiddos!
We also tried to make it to a parade but couldn't ever find the parade route and giving up when we saw a mass of people headed our way...getting in their cars to go home.
Then, having a bar-b-que with a bunch of our close friends.
I didn't have my camera with me all day, but I did get a picture from my friend Ellen...He is such a chub!

Gabe and oranges

2008-04-06T22:00:00.003-04:00

Gabe loves clementines and oranges. He wanted to peel a clementine all by himself a few days ago. When I came to look to see how he was doing, this is what I found. He said it was a train. I thought it was picture perfect for the blog.

John being bored with studying...

2008-04-03T11:34:00.003-04:00

My Cute kiddos

2008-03-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

Aren't they cute? The first is Gabe doing a photo shoot with me (we were taking pictures of items to sell on C.L.)
The second is Eli taking a bath in a big bowel because his bath tub was in Gabe's closet and Gabe was already asleep. I think he really liked the bowl.
The third is of Gabe and Eli playing under the gym mat. Gabe was laughing so hard because he got to lay down by Eli.

Purtty Spring Tulips

2008-03-21T19:57:00.000-04:00

We are doing the secret spring friendship week here. I bought these for our secret friend and then found an actual plant to give them. I thought the tulips would help us feel the spring coming soon.

Sunday Naps...aren't they great!

2008-03-10T12:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, during dinner, Gabe fell asleep in his high chair...the third time since he's been born. He must've been sleepy! After about an hour he woke up and was whinning. I asked him if he wanted to be held. He said "yeah, (cry, cry, cry)". John picked him up and got him all cozy next to him on the couch. Next thing I see after coming back into the room was this...so, I decided to take a picture. It is blurry because I didn't have the flash on because I didn't want to wake them up because I wanted to sleep too! Lately with Eli's schedule, John and I have been getting 3-5 hours of sleep. I was feeding Eli while taking this picture. I had to hold very still because the shutter speed was so much slower without flash. It turned out cute and we all got a MUCH NEEDED Sunday evening nap.

Yahtzee Championship

2008-03-06T16:46:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures (sorry for the blur). John and I love to play Yahtzee and most other dice games. We used to play atleast once a week. We have a tradition of kissing the person who gets a yahtzee. I think in this picture, this was John's 4th yahtzee...John, you're just like Grandma Briscoe.

Hubby Tagged

2008-03-06T15:55:00.001-05:00

Isn't he cute? John loves the outdoors. This is one of my favorite manly pics of him.

Hubby Tag:

What is his name? John Samuel Brady

How long have you been married? Almost 5 years

How long did you date? 7 months, then engaged for 4 months?

Who eats more sweets? We both like sweets but I by far love them and will eat them more often.

Who said I love you first? John. It took me two weeks later to say it...I wanted to make sure I really did before I told him.

How old is he? 28

Who is taller? John....by an inch.

Who can sing better? We both sing the same.

Who is smarter? John...by far.

Who does the laundry? I do.

Who pays the bills? John.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? John. In all of our apartments or dwellings...John slept on the right 6 out of 7 apartments.

Who cooks dinner? Me. Unless I want breakfast for dinner, then John cooks dinner.

Who drives? If we're together he does. I don't like a side seat driver.

Who is more stubborn? We're both super stubborn...it makes arguments quite interesting.

Who kissed who first? We both kissed eachother...it was a great meet in the middle.

Who asked who out? John asked me out to a scary movie.

Who proposed? John.

Who has more siblings? John. He has 10 kids in his family. I have 7.

Who wears the pants? We both wear jeans usually. Sometimes slacks. Ha! Both of us.
I now tag...aaaaa...I think everyone I know has already done this.

Eli's Blessing outfit

2008-03-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

Front view...

2008-03-05T11:31:00.000-05:00

My mom gave us this tuxedo for Eli to be blessed in. The tux has a tail...can you see it? I wanted to show it off because it's so cute! Thanks mom!

Eli's Photo Shoot

2008-03-05T11:27:00.001-05:00

This morning Eli was super happy. I decided to do a photo shoot and Gabe wanted to join in. Gabe got his fisher price camera and started clicking away. He took full charge as I was trying to pose Eli and said, "Mommy, move! Eli, okay turn, smile, great. So cute! Good job!" It was really cute watching him copying me. Gabe loves to take pictures with me. This is one "we" got of Eli.

How Romantic can you get with a newborn and a two year old....

2008-03-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

Pretty romantic with heart shaped pizza and flowers..hahaha