Happy Birthday Broyden!

HEY, EVERYONE! GUESS WHAT!

Broyden turned 1 year old!

We celebrated by getting pizza and going to the park to play!

Broyden is getting to be such a big boy! He is a great crawler and can walk along furniture or holding someone's hand. He loves to stand on the play equipment and look out from the bars as he yells at his sisters. He can even climb up the slides all by himself! Broyden LOVES balls and dogs and says, "Ba!" or "Woof woof!" all day long! We don't need to get a puppy because we already have one! He loves to rough house and wrestle, especially with Daddy. He also loves to tease his two older sisters. He has truly changed the dynamics of our household! As much as Demarie is 100% girl, Broyden is 100% boy! He definitely keeps us on our toes!

Broyden, Demarie, and Preslyn at the park for Broyden's birthday!

Broyden's Choo Choo Train Birthday Cake!

I was pretty proud of how Broyden's birthday cake turned out. Probably not the best choice for a first birthday cake (a definite choking hazard!) but it was alot of fun to MAKE...

and alot more fun to EAT!!!

After cake and icecream and a nice clean bath, we opened presents. Lucky for Broyden, his two older sisters were there to give him a hand!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!

Skyping with Poland

One of our favorite things to do on Sundays after church is skype with Grandma and Grandpa Moon on their mission in Poland. They are getting ready to go to bed and we are just starting to eat lunch! We are so grateful for the technology we have today. It has been such a blessing to be able to look at each other face to face, even though they are on the other side of the world! They can catch a glimpse of their growing grandchildren and their grandchildren can continue to get to know their grandparents.

Our family has been blessed in so many ways because of their decision to serve a mission. It is so fun to hear about the people they meet and the places they go. There is a family with a little girl that looks similar to Demarie and she has a little sister that looks like Preslyn. We love to hear about their visits to this family and we pray that they will continue to be activated in the church.

Labor Day... Hiking Mt. Charleston

For Labor Day, we took the kids up to Mt. Charleston to do a little hiking. We found a little trail off the side of the road and after about five minutes of walking, we realized we have raised city girls! It was a pretty pathetic little hike, but we had lots of fun. Broyden really enjoyed it. Too bad he's not walking yet!

First Day of School...

A new backpack, a matching lunch tote, sparkling pink shoes, toothless grin... Watch out 1st grade, here comes Demarie!

Saying "Good-bye" in the courtyard.

It is nice to have so many of Demarie's friends from the ward at her new school, even though she misses her friends at her old school too. Here she poses with Sarah and Bailey Stirling.

Demarie and her 1st grade teacher, Ms. Hardeman!

Preslyn missed her sister so much! She got teary as she watched Demarie walk through the doors to her class and was sad all day. A new Strawberry Shortcake doll helped to cheer her up... a little. Unfortunately, Preslyn wasn't the only one who missed Demarie. It's hard to have my little girl gone all day!

Good-bye Summer! It's Time to Go Back to Work!

We missed Daddy so much on his first day back to work! Teachers had to return a few days before the students to get ready for the upcoming year and Aaron has a lot to get ready for since he switched from Western to a new magnet high school. It was so nice to have Aaron around this summer. We created lots of fun memories and had a great time together as a family... with no school to get in the way! We made him a special dinner and Demarie made sure Daddy got to eat on the "You are Special Today" red plate. Daddy liked the cards that Demarie and Preslyn made him too. (I love how Broyden is cheesing it in the picture too!)

Thanks for all you do for our family, Daddy!

Good luck at a new school and with your 2nd year of PhD!

Natural History Museum

North Las Vegas Library District has a summer reading program where kids can earn prizes for reading so much over the summer. Demarie and Preslyn read lots and lots of books and were able to get our whole family in for free at the Natural History Museum!

The displays were pretty neat and interactive. The kids liked digging for dinosaur bones. Preslyn was deathly afraid of the roaring T-rex behind them! We even got to watch the workers feed the sharks and sting rays! (No picture)

Thank you Demarie and Preslyn for being such great readers! It was a great way to end our summer of fun!

Potty training Preslyn

I attempted the ordeal earlier in the year. Preslyn would protest against sitting on the potty, so I made every attempt to make it fun. Usually she would sit through a book, but there would be no tinkling or pushing/grunting of any sorts. (We have a picture of Demarie reading the same book when she was potty training too!)

Eventually, I decided to give up the fight and wait a little longer. In the meantime, Preslyn continued to explore the "big white loud potty with water in it."

Our second attempt left us all feeling a little discouraged to say the least.... Even during all the protesting, Preslyn somehow was able to provide some comic relief to the stressful situation. Once again, we abandoned the idea that our little girl would ever be out of diapers!

Then one Saturday in August, I came home to this.... "Ugh!," I thought to myself. "Will someone please come potty-train my daughter???? This is getting way to out of hand!" I knew the answer was "No." It was up to me. So, I pulled Preslyn aside and said, "Preslyn, as of now, there will be no more diapers."

And that was that. It was that easy! She had one accident with Aaron while I was at work and that was it! Not only that, but she is also night dry!!!!

WAY TO GO PRESLYN!!!