Life!

Lately I have been quietly reading friends blogs and admiring there writing wishing I could write better, but I guess i am just me and that's what you get. These special blogs have talked about things from no work to not being able to get pregnant. I sometimes wonder if anything i say might help them feel better but I always shy away and don't write anything. These people have really made me think. THANKS for just being real!!!

It breaks my heart to hear of familys that just arnt making it. I wish that this economy would just turn around.

Bryan has had steady work, not alot but steady through the winter months which i am very grateful for. He has been working out of town during the week for the past month. i don't know what my problem is but I have had a hard time with him being gone so much when I know that he has to do this work to provide. He works so hard for me to be able to stay home and sometimes i take it for granted.

I am going to have a change of my attitude and really appreciate all that i have and that I get to stay home with my boys. I guess by stating it on my blog it will always remind me of what i have, A wonderful home to raise my family in and a wonderful hard working husband who somehow always seems to make it work.

Life is good and I am so grateful to have the support from my husband, and he never gives up on anything. I truly admire him.

My thought and prayers go out to those in need of help.

Porter turns 4 years old!

We had a party with friends and family on Sunday the 17th but Porter was actually born the 18th. The whole delivery of this child was very long and hard. It was all worth it. Porter is a really big help to me most of the time. He loves his friends and he loves hunting and looking for deer. He loves to give his thing away to people for no real reason....hes alot like his dad. I love this little boy and cant really believe he is 4 now.

For the party we had homemade pizza which turned out to be pretty yummy. A sponge bob pinata (Bryan bought all the decorations and party stuff...... if it were me I probably would have chose something different) but it was for Porter and he loved it. Bry also blew up a bunch of balloons downstairs and let the kids pop them and find some money in them. We ended the night with a sponge bob cake made by myself and Bryan and ice cream. (it was so fun making that cake and Bryan is the artistic one of the family so he helped with the finishing touches) What a way to celebrate a fun birthday and thanks all who came...Thanks.

Sorry for the blurry pictures. I wasnt paying attention to the flash so some are really bad!
Picking up candy after the pinata

Sponge bob cake...

Poping ballons

Port got a guitar

Aliviya

Opening presents!

Family Pictures 2010...Thanks Greg!!

I am so happy to finally have pictures. I have been trying to get these done for awhile now. Yahwhoo I have family pictures!

Christmas!

What a great Christmas it was this year. It was so fun to decorate my house and to have many family and friends over. On the night before Christmas eve We had my family over for our party. It was really fun and nice to see all my brothers and sisters. My brothers family and my dad spent the night and the next morning we went sledding and made a snow cave for the little boys.

On Christmas eve we had Mike and Judy over for dinner and Crapo and Brittney stopped to eat and exchange presents on their way to Fillmore. My dad went home and came back to spend the night again so that he could see the boys open presents. On Christmas we headed up north to see Bryan's side of the family and ended have a wonderful Christmas.
This is what we gave Judy for Christmas. Bryan made this with a chain saw. He is amazing. We are hoping to make a few of these and start selling them. Anyone want to place an Order????

Belinda and Zane came over the day after Christmas and we all went sledding and to dinner that night. It was nice to see them....her new baby is now 2 and half months old....that makes 3 for her.

Bryan on Christmas morning.....ahh new hunting pants!

Cash was so fun. He wanted to play with everything when he opened it and Porter wanted to open everything. Oh yeah and we had to WAKE them up at 7:30 to open presents. (Mike, Judy, and my Dad were there to watch!)

AHHH the forklift. This is what he asked for.. and is his favorite toy! You might see the same toy twice because they both got all the same things... I am sick of them fighting over everything!

Cute

This is the wagon Crapo and Brittney got the boys.

My dad overseeing..We love grandpa!

Traven, Brandon and Porter in the snow cave Bryan built!

Cash is a crazy sledder. He jumps on the sled that goes the fastest and want to go right now. He walked all the way up the hill all by himself pulling his sled behind him. He doesn't seem to care it his little fingers are freezing or his legs have frost bight....he just wants to sled. He doesn't really prefer being pulled behind the ranger either...he wants the hill, the fast hill...I am a little worried that he has a little of his fathers adrenaline in him...oh no! Bryan is crazy!!! and used to be alot worse!!!

Christmas trees

We did 2 trees this year because I got some killer decorations at tiapan the day after Christmas last year. We always got cute down our own trees up the mountain and sometimes when you get then home they are pretty "grizwald" this is how they turned out. the basement one is hunting and fishing and the boys helped decorate it. It wasn't the best looking tree but has a alot of character. My sweet boys. They are getting big!

This is the upstairs tree. It was a great full tree and really fun to decorate.

So we had our annual Axtell Christmas party and we were on the committee this year so we did alot of planning and cooking the meals. The best part was the cool reindeer the Otten's in our ward brought. they own a huge dairy farm with tons of cows and they seem to find room for reindeer. The one in the picture was bottle fed when it was young so we could touch it. How cool! Then Santa showed up on his sled!. Porter told Santa he wanted a crane and a forklift for Christmas. Cash hid behind dad. But he did tell us that he wants a McQueen Cake.....I guess he remembers his birthday. They both had a good time With Judy and Mike and Bryan....I was in the kitchen most of the time. I just love this small town and how the axtell party is the big thing going. Everyone comes! Cash hidding from Santa

Porter

Us by the sled

Sorry for the blurry pictures

Snowing= make cookies

When we are stuck inside and the weather is bad.....the boys and I love to make cookies.

We like to deliver them to our favorite neighbors.

Thankgiving weekend

My dad and sisters going to get a tree

My dad....he help all of us get our trees

Cash was a little wet....i put him in my coat with me to get warm.

my trees

playin

Clint, April, and Gavins tree....15 feet tall

My boys loved all of the toys at Clints house.

cleaning up

Grandma Brown

It was a great holiday this year. We spent Thanksgiving at Bryan's brothers house and then later that night we went to my dads for dinner. Both were really good.

I really wanted to go shopping at Walmart on black Friday and Bryan had to work in Eagle Mountain that day so we stayed at Crapos apartment overnight. Bryan watched the kids until 8, when he had to leave. I woke up at 430 and got some great deals! Walmart is sure nice to cut there prices a TON in this bad economy. Yesterday I bought a bag of cheese for 1:14.....WOW that's cheap.

We went and got 2 trees on Saturday.

Family and friends came and got trees too!

We all came to my house after for lunch.

What a great weekend to remeber all the things i am gratful for.

Happy Halloween

Porter was a robot and Cash was a dinosaur. It was really fun taking the kids around and starting some new family traditions. Bryan drove us around in the car because he is still on crutches.

Someones house...

I hated making this costume. I think that buying one is way better....bryan insists on making them. It turned out cute but really uncomfortable.

Carving our OWN pumpkins. I grew these in my garden this year and I am very proud of that. Never had so many to choose from. i think next year I am going to grow some crazy ones.

Cash was more interested in cutting the paper and stabbing the pumpkin with scissors. I guess whatever makes him happy.

Surgery!

I am home with a laid up husband. He had surgery today on his knee....oh wait I think I should start.....Bryan will now be wearing a bubble suit whenever he leaves the house. This guy has been hurt more this month than the last 6 years of our marriage. So here it goes....he has had a meniscus tear from a skiing accident that happened about 10 years ago, A broken fibula (leg bone) from dropping a log on it at work, and a 3 stitches in his pinkie finger due to catching it in a grinding tool. When he broke his leg 2 weeks ago and had to be on crutches, he decided that he wanted to get his knee operated on while he is already down. We headed to Provo at 6 this morning and he had surgery on his knee. I am not sure what to think at this point in time because i have already been packing wood into the house and doing all of his jobs around the house. I will be really ready for him to be better in about 6 WeEKS!. I hope he gets better soon and doesn't go TOO stir crazy with me and the boys at home. As for work...he has had to get a few guys to finish the cabin he was building.

As for me....I now have a new hobby....I have a new baby palamino colt. She is so cute but doesn't have a name. I am going to TRY to break her myself. I have really started to love riding horses lately. I ran my older horse, Purdy for the first time a few weeks ago. It was so much fun. I used to ride because Bryan rides but I have really taken to it because purdy is so gentle. Anyway, I will keep updates on my training. We will have to see how it goes. I guess i should take pictures of her.

First dentist,concrete, and October fun!

Judy and I took the boys to a hay bale maize made just for kids. The people who did this have a farmers market type thing and they sell crazy different pumpkins. The pumpkins at this cute place were all different. There were big, small, short, fat, and really warty looking things. I was really disgusted at the pumpkins with the warts on them. They grossed me out.
The kids really had a great time going through the maize and checking out all the pumpkins. I made off with a pumpkin that doesn't have and exterior cover on the seeds and some yummy home made jam. It was a fun day.

This is Porters first time at the dentist. I thought that it would be really hard to make him sit there, but he did a great job and his teeth are great. Do any of you moms out there find that taking care of your kids teeth is a big responsibility? Sometime i hate fighting them to brush but when the dentist told me I was doing a good job I kinda felt like a mom who got a reward. Duh...yes I know but now days you have to take what comes.

He carried his new toothbrush and toothpaste around in his bag all day. He also told everyone that he went to the dentist. (the cashier at walmart, the neighbors, etc.)

Bryan poured some concrete at our favorite neighbors house and some at ours. Slowly but surely we might get this place looking like we want. We love our neighbors Mike and Judy. We call them our adopted grandparents. They help us so much and such good friends.

Bryan used Porter for weight on one of the concrete tools. It was so fun to see Porter going out on the wet concrete riding on the tool.

I love my boys!

Just a few things we have been doing the last couple of weeks. This is us helping Bryan look for elk. We didn't really help that much, I sat down from the scope taking care of the boys. They had a great time and loved the hike in.

Cash and I hanging out on the slanted hill.

Port checking out the elk.

We went and got wood a few weekends ago. This is the load that Bry and I put in by ourselves. This is our new Sunday afternoon activity.

Bry is cutting wood and the boys are playing in the dirt and weeds.

We were working on Bryans truck and looked over and this is what Porter was doing....and yes he is in his undies!

So funny....I love it.

6 Years!

So Bryan and I have now been married for 6 years. I can honestly say that these years have flown by and have been the best years of my life. I never thought that we would have lived in 4 different houses, built 3 and lived in 3 different states in the short time we have been together. It has been an amazing ride and some of the most memorable years. for our anniversary this year we decided to go to dinner at big rock candy mountain and stay over night in a cabin. It was really nice to be together and enjoy the great food. The funny thing is that we came home after dinner because our house is more comfortable than the cabin was. I guess we are getting old.

Bryan it has been a great six years and I am so happy that you chose me as your wife. I really think that you were made for me. You are an amazing father and husband. I love you and look to life forever with you!!!

So I thought I needed a little update! Me and the boys have been doing lots of park time and playing outside in mud! I took a few pictures of them playing in my pillows in my room and watching cartoons in my bed while I was folding laundry. The pictures are all screwed up but you get the picture. I recently took Cash in for his 2 yr old visit and he is tall and skinny. He stands 36 inches right know which estimates him to be 6 feet tall when he is full grown. Porter is supposed to be 6'4 and I believe it because he is as tall as a five year old and he is only 3 and half. We will have to see if those statistics are really accurate. Anyways, Cash is talking so much and is saying almost full sentences. It is surprising because Porter didn't talk this good when he was this age. He says things like. "Mom, I want some" or Fill it up" "lay by me" " Daddy is at work." He is a big crack up...in fact we were at the dealership in Provo last week and Cash drove a golf cart into the glass doors. I about died. I was watching him but I looked away and he was gone. I had no idea he could open those heavy doors. He ended up getting a little burn on his head I assume from him hitting it on the steering wheel. He is the little crazy child of mine but I love him so much. he makes me laugh everyday.
I learned how to bottle this week. this is something I have been wanting to learn to do for a long time now. Bryan really wanted me to bottle some of the elk meat and I had no clue how to do it so i went and picked up his grandma. She has been bottling for many years and is a pro. By the end of the second day I had pressure cooked 7 quarts and 20 pints of elk meat, and 7 quarts of tomato's. It was a lot of work, but really fun. I decided to try peaches on my own. Here are a few pictures of the result.

Making "tents" in my pillows. this is not my favorite thing that they do with my nice pillows but they love it.

The mighty hunter!!!

AS you can tell one of Bryans many loves is hunting. The last day of the bow hunt was September 6th and he wasn't going to give up. He hadn't been successful yet but went up the last day, and shot a cow Elk from 22 yards away with his bow and arrow. Way to go Bry....I guess it took like 3 hours of stauking the elk to actually get a good shot at one. I am really excited for him and that we have about 250 lbs of really good meat for the winter.

Elk Hunt!

The Elk hunt is was a great success. Not only did we all have a great time but Adam (aka Crapo) shot his first big game animal. They saw tons on Elk and rode many miles on horseback and had "one of the best hunts ever" Bryan said. As for the wives at camp, Cyndi was there for the first couple of days and Belinda and I spent the entire 10 days together. Our kids played very well together and still wanted to have a sleep over after it was all over. We cooked some mean dutch oven meals and really enjoyed talking and hanging out while our husbands were out hunting. All in all Bryan said that he is not done yet and plans on heading up ummmm who knows when, to try to get one before the hunt ends.

I also rode my new horse Purdy to get the Elk down from the mountain. She was awesome all except I wasn't paying attention and she close lined me and I fell off. It was really funny all except the bruise on my knee. Thanks Belinda for watching my boys so that I could go. (Shes a dang cute prego girl)

Happy Birthday Bryan!

It was Bryan's birthday yesterday and you never would have thought it was because we did nothing out of the ordinary. I guess after all the years of him telling me that he wished i would forget about his birthday i really didn't do much. He got a shirt. We have been Elk hunting for the past 5 days and that is all he wanted to do....hunt. We came home for the day and he headed back up the mountain and the boys and I stayed at home. He was in heaven and i guess that's all the counts.

I hope he had a great 34th birthday and Man he is getting old!!! ha ha ha.

As for the elk...one has not been killed yet but I hope that he gets one so we can have yummy meat for the winter! as for the pictures i left my camera up the mountain...I will post when I get it back.

My first Garden...

I now live in small town and the thing to do
around here is to grow a garden. I was really excited to have one this year because I love all the veggies that come out of it. We started about 3 weeks later than most but I am proud to say that IT GREW. I cant believe that it really grew and it starting to make food. Its so crazy that all you need is a little water and seeds and this sucker will grow.
Anyways, I have zucchini growing like crazy and yesterday I made my first zucchini bread ever and it was actually really good. I have really enjoyed learning how to be a home maker and take advantage of the little things god has created for us. My next goal is to learn to bottle....and what to bottle is the question???????


A few pics of my garden. I planted in the backyard along the fence line.

More Camping.

This past weekend mine and my brothers family went camping for the weekend to willow creek up above my house. It was really fun shooting guns, balancing on logs, and just hanging out. We also went to the annual Axtell party up at Anthony's flat.....(a few miles up the mountain) it was really fun to see all of the community. Last year we missed the celebration due to Cash being burned. I really thought alot about how terrible that whole experience was.
The camping trip was a great success until Porter feel from about 10 feet in the air to the ground from a swing that came loose. It was the scariest sight. It knocked the wind out of him and really bruised him up. It is Thursday and he is still walking with a limp because fractured his pelvis. So I think next year we are going to stay home and not go anywhere because we seem to have bad luck on this weekend and don't want to chance anything again.
Cody and his family April, Traven and Brandon

Porter shooting a 22 with his dad.

Cash shooting the 22....(he isn't strong enough to pull the trigger but he really does try.

Oh ya...Ports photography. He caught me in action cleaning my car...I decided that my car needed a little detailing so I work for about 4 hours cleaning it inside and out. Its already a mess again! Dang!

Axtell Parade!

As most of you know or don't know I live in a town with one paved road down the middle and by golly the primary had a little parade on Saturday on axtell main. It was so darn cute. Judy and I decorated their gator, gave them some candy to throw and headed over to the local post office for the parade. They started at the post office and ended at the church.....not to far away. Kids rode their bikes, horses, and four wheelers they had decorated and the spectators were all the older people of the town. When they got to the church they played a few games and had cookies and homade root beer.

That wasn't the end of the day.....we finished off at the Salina pool and then hung out with daddy. He has been working really hard on a cabin he is building. We sure missed but had a great time.

Cookies and Root beer.......Yummmmm!

Chowing on some Marshmallow(Marsh-on-os in Cash's words)......waiting for the parade.

Port would stop to throw candy. He would back up to if he missed someone. (almost got ran over by a horse)

This is the new puppy. Yes I am not that big of a fan but Bryan tells me every little boy needs a little puppy. We picked her up yesterday and on the way home she threw up in my car. I guess i have yet another kid to take care of but only for a week or so because Bryan will take her to work with him. It doesn't look like a healer but they said she was so.....whatever. Two healers....better watch out if you come to my house.

Starting early in the pickup!