Watts Family

Jackson Hole

2011-10-02T13:47:00.001-07:00

Is it a prerequisite that when you visit Jackson Hole you have some kind of picture that looks like this? Can you imagine how many photographs that these antlers are in? Here's our contribution to the collection.

We had a blast spending time together in Wyoming for Brad's birthday. There was one downside, however, and I happened to get that moment photographed...

...This is what happens when you mix dinner, sunshine, outdoor table, aluminum covered butter, a curious Shane, and a squeeze. I am still laughing. Brad's not.

Do you like Daxon's Jack-O-Lantern teeth? He's rich with gold dollars right now from all of his recent tooth fairy visits.

We spent a TON of time in the car and I rediscovered a gem. Mad Libs! Here are a couple phrases that elicited giggles.

"Bears spend most of their time hiking or farting. They look very beautiful, but if you make them squishy, they might bite your Di Luigi. Bears will come up to your car and beg for bananas. They will stand on their hind legs and clap their boogers together and pretend to be soft."

"Spelunking is dangerous, do be sure to wear special shoes with baseballs on them and a hat with a battery-powered junk."

The Jenny Lake boat ride and hike, which happened to be a favorite. Hmm, I wonder why?

Hmmm...

2011-06-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Any one wanna explain this beauty that Daxon drew??

It's a "boy snowman with pecks cause he's strong and the thing on his stomach is a freckle with a hair in it."

Minute Maid Park

2011-05-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

We were able to go to TWO Cubs games while we were in Houston, and it was all thanks to Taylor and his high profile lawyer profession. I was surprised with how many cubbies fans were there to support along side us. GO CUBS, GO!

Houston Children's Museum

2011-05-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

When you think back to your childhood, some of the happiest memories are family vacations, right? Well, we had a fabulous trip to Texas and it was every bit what what I expected it to be. It was relaxing yet crazy, there were boy fights yet we grew even closer, and enjoyed the time spent with our dear friends, the Pullins family. Taylor and Nicole, you guys were great hosts and I'm sad that you are so far away.

One of our first stops was the Houston Children's Museum. Wow, talk about a great museum. The kids were in heaven. Enjoy the snapshots of our time spent there.

In the meantime...

2011-04-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

I know, I have been ignoring my blog for far too long. In fact so long, that I don't even check it anymore. It, embarrassingly enough, reminds me about being a prepubescent girl writing my secret thoughts in a diary. It began as a daily occurence and over time all of my entries began to look like this...

"Dear Diary,

I'm sorry that I haven't written you in sooo long. I have been so busy. This is who I like now... "

Brings back memories right?(Please don't ask me to finish that sentence. I'm just remembering how every entry mentioned boys, unfortunately.) Well, I am going to attempt to get back in the groove of blogging, especially after a recent purchase of a new camera. For some reason I am feeling like blogging will somehow help with the justification of the expense. Does it, please?

We just got back last night from a week long trip to Texas and I am currently working on a post to document our vacation. In the meantime here is a little picture of Ryne. I get a lump in my throat just looking at him and how quickly he is growing up. Can I still consider him a baby?

Yep.

The only thing he asked for...

2010-12-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

Leading up to Daxon's 7th b-day, the only thing he asked for was "front row at a Jazz game." We thought for sure he would change his mind before the big day but he was persistent and knew what he wanted! My otherwise frugal husband is a sucker for his kids and sports-related purchases so he forked out the dough and they went to the game front-row style! Daxon got to give high-fives to all the players each time they came to and from the court...he was in heaven!

Before the game he even got to chat with coach Sloan for a little pre-game strategy (and autograph of course)
He also got his "D-Will" jersey for the occassion. Deron Williams is his favorite player, and since this game he has worn the jersey to school about 90% of the time...He usually couldn't care less about the cleanliness of his clothes but he spilled some nacho cheese on the jersey and it "has to be washed before school tomorrow, Mom!"

Family Pictures 2010

2010-12-07T14:08:00.000-08:00

New school year, and I'm LOVING it!

2010-09-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Shane and his new favorite friend, Zoe. She is in our neighborhood and in his class at school. I am betting that you can see why he likes her so much...
Oh, did anyone else out there not go "back to school shopping", or am I the only thoughtless parent out there that didn't buy any new clothes? I am thinking probably so, cause most of the other kids may have well had the tags still hanging off their shirts, and I'm pretty sure Shane's shirt is a size 3. I bet that Ryne will be wearing that same shirt next fall when he's 2. Oh well, that cute smile and blue eyes of his cover up that fact that he has a cheap mom . I like to shop for them later on in the year. Like in about one month from now, when I pull out last years jeans and they come up to their knees, because they grow so fast. So lucky for me I just pass them down the long line of boys that I have, and lucky for Dax since he's first in line.
Classic boy pose by Dax, "the junk grab". I love this picture cause it will never fail to make me laugh. He must be nervous for his first day of school. This boy happens to be Zoe's brother, Braden, one of Daxon's favorite friends. Beautiful family, I'm jealous.
We stayed the weekend not to long ago in Park City and drove past this sign. I knew my boys loved policemen and sheriffs, but I think that this is taking it a little bit too far on their part, don't you?
Ryne is now one year and he's still the happiest and most content kids out there. He's developing quite the personality as well. I could have 100 more of him.

Ryne's First Steps!

2010-07-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ryne at 10 months

2010-06-06T19:21:00.001-07:00

He woke up from his nap today with his hair like this, no joke. Awesome bud!

He just started showing an interest in standing up and attempting the whole walking thing. He took his first step this afternoon. Can you tell how excited we were?
In his backpack at Zions. Thanks Ash for the recommendation of the ERGO backpack.
Who does he look most like to you?

Where do I begin...?

2010-06-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

As you can see it has been a little while between posts on this here blog...there IS a good reason, I promise! Between finishing with ski lessons for the boys, my parents getting divorced, Ryne burning his little hand on the fireplace, end of the year school programs, digging the trampoline out of the ground to fix it and re-bury it, a vacation half way around the world in Bali, coach pitch and tee-ball games and practices, vacations to Zion National Park and St. George, starting my first garden, and finishing our basement.....blogging seemed to find a comfortable spot on the back burner.

Here's some pictures to attempt to catch up a bit.

Playing in the water in St. George water park place (I have no clue what the place is really called)

You tell me he doesn't look like a future Major Leaguer!!
Daxon and Shane had turned on the fire place one morning without Brad or I knowing...Ryne crawled over and put his hand right on the glass! There's nothing worse than your child screaming in pain. We had to keep his hand bandaged up like this for about 2 weeks. Luckily it healed perfectly, no scars at all.

Ryne escaped from his baby carrier thing for a few seconds to play in the sand at Emerald Pool.
Daxon at the upper Emerald Pool in Zion.
Hiking the Watchman Trail, this picture is a novelty because its about the only time Brad wasn't carrying Shane!

That is not a piece of poo in Shane's hand, OK? It's an energy bar, which he asked for about every 30 seconds along our hikes.
On the Emerald Pool Trail...

Overlooking Mount Batur Volcano in Bali with our best friends Todd and Ashley Harris.
On the cliffs edge at one of the Hindu Temples.

Speak English!

2010-01-30T19:42:00.001-08:00

The other day Brad took Shane and Daxon to the grocery store to grab some light bulbs. (we figured it was time to get more since only 1 of the 7 light bulbs in our kitchen was working....) On their way to the check out line they walked down the treats isle, Shane spotted a box of "fruit by the foot" and in his excitement this is the conversation that took place:
Shane: Dada, dada! buba blah blah blee bo!!
Brad: What?
Shane: Eeeeeee aaahhh shoob blob beep
Brad: Dude, stop talking like a baby I can't understand a word you're saying.
Shane: AAAAAAHHHHHH!!
Brad: Shane...speeeaaak English.
Shane: Okay Amigo!

Gotta Love Ski Season!

2010-01-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T14:07:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve dinner at Sundance was great. This is my brother, Caleb who is a manager up there. What a great place to work, right?!

Shane at Grammy and Grandpa Watts house on Christmas afternoon.

Shane and Daxon exploring the lights at Temple Square.

Family Picture in the tabernacle.

Our "Watts " christmas tree before santa came. I spy the "Watts", can you?

Can you believe that Ryne is already 4 months??

2009-12-10T11:36:00.001-08:00

Daxon's 6! What?!

2009-12-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Dax! We love you lots, and lots, and lots!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2009-11-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

Are Ryne's cheeks to die for or what? And why is it that dad's can only get a smile like this one? What, am I not cute or funny enough? At least I am feeding him well enough.

As for the trick or treating... Dax and Shane were in heaven. They filled their bags with candy but were pretty disappointed when they came home and were only allowed to keep 10 of their favorites. Those 10 candies each are already GONZO! Brad and I came downstairs this morning to wrappers everywhere. They woke up early this morning, tiptoed to the kitchen, found their candy, and helped themselves to some breakfast. Yeah, I love Halloween! When we tried to feed them some real breakfast, Shane refused to eat his cereal because, " I forgot to do my exercise this morning, and Daxon has his breaf (breath) all over my cereal, so I can't eat it." Whatever.

Ok, so I'm not very creative when it comes to costumes for myself. I refuse to put much thought into it and so all I can come up with is a witch. Boring.

How cute does Ryne look by the way? I can't believe how fast he is changing, it makes me sad.

It snowed here a few days ago. So, of course the boys had to get the whole snow get-up on. They had a blast for about 30 minutes until Shane came inside crying because "someone" threw a snowball in his face. Hmmm... I wonder who it could have been? Not that sweet boy in the green jacket, there's no way he would do something like that.

I'm heartbroken

2009-10-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Ryli, is gone and I'm sad. He moved last week to D.C. and I have been dreading this time for months. I miss him and I wish he could come back. Come back to Utah, Kesli and Ryan, do you hear me?!

Uncle Corky

2009-09-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

All three of my boys are obsessed with my brother Cortland. They way that they look at him you can just tell that they want to be just like him when they grow up. It is so sweet to watch. Last weekend Cortland took Dax AND Shane by himself to the double feature 3-D Toy Story movies. What a great break for me and how lucky am I to have a brother like him?

So, I just thought that I wold share some images of him. Not only is he talented, sweet, and cute, but he is really funny and has one of the best personalities ever. So here's you you Cortland, I love you!

Cortland is red-shirting this year for Utah State. If I 'm not mistaken it is because he plans to serve a mission in the spring, so that in two years when he comes home he can still play for four years. Every weekend he comes back home from Logan and I think that it is for the same reason that I yearned to go back home after I moved out... our sweet mother! Am I right, Cort?

She does his laundry for him while he is there, and she cooks three meals a day for him. You can tell that he really appreciates all that she does, and I think it is sweet.

If you are wondering why I posted these short clips of him it is because I find it hilarious that he did these out of boredom. I would not be surprised if he sat in front of that computer tinkering on it, laughing at himself, racking his brain for more funny things to record, and having the greatest time, for HOURS. Here were some of my favorites that I found of him while I was at my mom's house the other day (he is going to kill me by the way)...

So you can see why we love him.

2009-09-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

We love him because... he brings a sense of peace to our busy and sometimes chaotic household, he smiles when he wakes up, he happily lets his brothers cuddle with him even when they are borderline smothering him, and he loves his mom. Being really cute doesn't hurt his cause either, what do you think?

Ryne's Blessing

2009-09-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ryne was blessed today and it was so great to have so many friends and family here to celebrate. We love all of you! Great food, great company, and a great opportunity for our first family picture of the five of us...

His Forth Smile Ever!

2009-09-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

Brad captured Ryne's forth smile with his phone. It lasted a few seconds so we had to be really quick. So sweet!

For you Ash, since you asked

2009-08-31T09:27:00.001-07:00

Five weeks and getting bigger by the day. Ryne still loves to eat about every two hours but is now starting to stretch it out longer at night. Yeah, for more sleep! Last week he hit one his first milestones... he SMILED. First was for his brothers while they sang "Take me out to the ball game" (I know fitting, huh?), second was for me after he had a full tummy one evening, and the third was for my Aunt Dianne. I will try to capture one on camera soon because is really sweet. He is sooooo cute and I am completely obsessed with him.

Flippin' Shaners!

2009-08-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Shaners started his second year of preschool this past week. He was a little apprehensive about going to a new school but he did great. He is growing up so fast and he is developing the funniest sense of humor. Here is an example... So, he was watching me nurse baby Ryne when he posed this question, "Mom, is this booboo lunch (while pointing at each one), and this booboo dinner?" I busted a gut. I think that it is hilarious that Dax and Shane call them 'booboos'. Not only does it sound funny, but when someone gets hurt and says," Ouch, I just got a booboo!", my boys die of laughter.

Are the 80's coming back or what??? When I took the boys shopping for school I was shocked. I could swear that half of the shirts that I bought existed when I was in elementry school. Brad found one that he said the he had. Doesn't Shane look cute though?

Here is Shane's newest trick, we call it "The Slingshot Flip".

What's in a name?

2009-08-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Now that we have had Ryne for a few weeks, we have been able to introduce him to many people and the conversation goes something like this... "Oh, look at that new baby." "Yeah, we just had him a few weeks ago." " What's his name?" "Ryne." "Ryan?" "No, Ryne." "Oh, Ryne..." (It's pronounced Rhine, as in Rhino, but without the O.)

Brad came up with the name from this guy...

This is Ryne Sandberg, hall of famer for the Chicago Cubs. I know, not much of a shocker for Brad to name his boy after a Cubs player. He put a lot of thought into it. Well, as much thought as it takes for a life long cubs fan to come up with. I love it...

New Bike Ramp

2009-08-05T21:44:00.001-07:00

One week old...

2009-08-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

...and after one full week I still get excited to hold him in the middle of the night. Things are great and all because...

...this guy has been home to help. I love him, and...

...these two goofy boys that really love their baby brother.

He's here!

2009-07-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Daxon was super excited to see his new brother...Shane, however, we think was faking this smile. Not sure how he's going to respond to having to share his mom with Ryne. He loves to "cuddle" his mommy, a lot, so we'll see how he adjusts.

Ryne Owen Watts was born on July 23rd at 6:50 in the morning. This was the first time that I have actually gone into labor with a child (Dax and Shane were both induced). It was kinda fun to have a surprise...he came about 3 weeks early! He weighed 6lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long. I still find it so amazing how much love you instantly have for someone whom you've just met. Ryne has been such a sweet baby so far, we're still trying to figure out if he actually knows how to cry! We love you baby Ryne!!!

It has begun...

2009-04-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Baseball games. I am so excited.

2009-04-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

To all of you moms out there,
I am a long ways out (three months) from having baby number three, and I can barely walk or bend over. Running is way out of the question. I have gained 15 pounds so far and I have more to go, still. Yuck. I feel like my pelvis is going to snap in two with every movement. Has this happened to anyone else and what did you do? I asked my doctor and guess what was said...

"Well there is this maternity girdle that you can wear around your waist that has straps connected to it which go over your shoulders to hold your stomach up."

Huh, are you kidding me? What kind of contraption is that? I would not last 5 min. with something like that on... I would die of laughter. I long for the days that I used to be able to dash up the stairs while skipping every other step. Ugh. Any advice?

Read from bottom to top....

2009-03-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

When they got bored with their bikes, the ramp turned into this....

As you can see in the background, Brad ripped out part of the rock wall to re-do it...the boys were so disappointed that their "rock jump" was gone, Brad had to build a new one, to which Daxon said, "oooooohhhhh, Sweeeeet Dad!"

And Shane's "monster truck rally" course

Daxon's bike jump...

The rock wall in our front yard served a greater purpose than just to make our tiny yard look beeautiful....

Lots to catch up on...

2009-03-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Our bi-yearly ritual... Taking the boys' full "missionary jar" to the bank where Grammy Paula works. We are already teaching Daxon and Shane to save for their missions and college.

My little brother Cameron last Wednesday on his way to the Missionary Training Center, good luck in Oklahoma City Elder Christian! In 2 years we'll take this same picture and see who's changed the most...

The boys (with Aunt Caitlin's help) found some sweet costumes...we're still trying to figure out what Shane is dressed up as

Look at these handsome boys! Shane is just a tiny bit more photogenic than his older brother who can't see to smile normal.

Daxon never ceases to amaze us...here's another example of his skillz. He would spend all day in the terrain park if we'd let him. He was so proud of himself for "landing it".

Wanna Catch Up!

2009-03-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Daxon and Shane came up with this "game" that they play on the couch. It goes like this: they stand on either side of the couch and yell, "Here's the rules, here's the rules...wanna catch up!!!" Daxon usually wins, as you will see.

It's a Boy!

2009-03-01T21:06:00.001-08:00

Yep, no mistaking this one...it's a boy...AGAIN! I am very excited and even more overwhelmed. So, here's to the ER visits, thousands of baseball games, keeping the Giro helmet company in business, many more ski days, and playing referee around the house.

thanks brad

2009-02-16T15:25:00.000-08:00

Brad took me on a quick weekend to San Diego a week ago and I love him for it. He is amazing and he is even better company. I only took one picture and here it is... Another highlight from the weekend, I got to spend a littlie bit of time with Amy and girls. I miss them.

Ski days are my favorite. Here is the boys with uncle cort... That was a great powder day, it was.

Shane had a birthday on Jan. 13. My baby is three now, very sad. He does however make a very cute ninja.

Ski School's Over

2009-02-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

Daxon

Every Wednesday for the past 6 weeks has been ski day for me and the boys. Daxon's pre-school has a ski school program that he has been enrolled in the past two years. Wednesdays are a hectic but fun day around here. This past Wednesday, however, was Daxon's last lesson and he was not too happy about that. This was also Shane's first year on skiis and he did awesome! After 3 weeks of hard core training with his "tarness" as he says, he was ready to fly solo. (In case you don't speak Shaner, a tarness is really a ski harness.) A couple of weeks ago when Shane was ready to go on his own, Daxon yelled to him, "Shaner! No tarness? You're a genius!!"

Shane

Even better news...

2009-01-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

The other exciting news in our family is...

My brother, CAMERON, submitted his mission paperwork and we are all anticipating his mission call in a week or two. For those of you who know Cameron this is HUGE news. We have been praying for this moment for some time now and could not be more proud of him. Go, Cameron!

We love you!

Where is Cameron going? Post your guess on my comments. The more guesses the better and there is a prize for the winner.

I have a confession

2008-12-27T14:44:00.000-08:00

So, why does salty stuff like cashews, ham, veggies, beef jerky, and ketchup sound so much better than...

sugary things like cake, cookies, diet coke, and all the holiday treats hanging around in my kitchen?

Here goes the confession, I am pregnant with child number three! Woohoo!

Happy Birthday Daxon!

2008-12-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

I have a five year old... and it feels weird. I feel like the days are numbered when he will cuddle with me anytime. He loves little babies and asks me every day for a baby sister. He even wrote on his Christmas list that he wanted Santa to bring him a sister. I have a feeling he might be disappointed, but it melts my heart. He is so sweet, and yes, VERY active at the same time. Here is a few things that I love about Daxon:

1. When I drop him and Shane off at school, Dax will walk Shane to his class just to make sure he gets there OK. Shane sometime says that he is shy and nervous for school, so I think that this is a very thoughtful thing for Dax to do.

2. He makes his bed by himself about half of the week.

3. He just learned to tie his shoes last week, which I really appreciate.

4. He is learning how to read and is trying to group random letters together. This is how a conversation will go, over and over and over again. DAX: "Mom, what does this say... QRSSEEEEP? (as he carefully pronounces every letter) ME: "Um, Dax that doesn't spell anything." DAX:" What does this say, PIPE" ME: "Hey! That spells pipe." DAX:" Yeah I know how to spell things now! Mom, what does this say, OTE?" ME:"Hmm..."

5. Sometimes when he gets hurt, feels sad, or just wants me, he will come up to me and say," Mom, I want you to cuddle with me. Sometimes little boys just need their mommies."

6. My other favorite thing that he says," Mom, I need to tell you something... you're beautiful."

Oh Daxon, I love you.

Couple of Favorites of Shane

2008-11-25T09:33:00.001-08:00

The many faces of Daxon

2008-11-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Much like his father, Daxon does not possess a longest of attention spans. This slide show is a perfect example of just how long it can last. You'll notice the first 5 or 6 snapshots are pretty decent....theeeeen genetics kick in, he gets bored and feels the need to entertain himself! What a "goofus" as he would say.

By decree of the Queen....

2008-11-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

Chanel finally got sick of me giving her grief over her late night dates with this here blog thing...my punishment? Well, you're lookin at it. I have the great privilege and honor of documenting our 6th anniversary so that I don't jeopardize my chances of making it to #7. I love blogging Chanel!

The official anniversary occurred on November 6th at approximately 11:30am. It was a rather uneventful day other than the suuuuper romantic dinner we enjoyed that evening. There was no exchanging of gifts, being that Chanel has little to no trust in me purchasing gifts for her. She took care of her own anniversary gifting about a month ago while we were on a trip in Las Vegas, a behaviour which I highly encourage as it takes the pressure off of me.

I did, however, score huge points with my ghetto presentation that you see below. By my own admission, I am not creative...but this was a thing of beauty! With the help of google images and power point I loaded these pictures on the digital picture frame in the kitchen so when Chanel brought the boys downstairs for breakfast she saw the images scrolling across the frame. Probably the first creative thing I've ever done. Chanel said it was "so thoughtful" which I interpreted as, "holy crap, he actually came up with this on his own?!"

You're the best Chanel.

More!

2008-10-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Love my nephew, Ryli.
I think Brad looks great in this picture. We were childless in Az, so we were happy.
Family picture during reception in Utah.
Shane
Daxon

Landon+Molly=LOVE

2008-10-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

Landon and Molly

Me and Brad

The Watts family minus Dax, Shane, and Ryan

Me and Aubrey (Brad's little sister)

More pictures to come...

Brad in all his glory

2008-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

So I was going through some pictures and I came across this beauty. This picture was taken about 8 years ago and I am glad that I did not know Brad at this point in his life. His hair... need I say more? Ok, maybe I will. This pictures depicts the dreadlocks that B.Rad tried to grow. This is his hair after 3 weeks of not washing it (Mmmmm) and rubbing the crap out of it and it still had no resemblence of dreads. However, I do think that he kind of resembles Johnny Knoxville whom I do find attractive, so this picture is not all that bad. So, maybe I do wish that I knew him then. I would just have to plug my nose.

Off we go!

2008-10-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

So, today we are leaving to go to Landon and Molly's wedding in Arizona. I don't know if I am more excited to see them get married or to leave my two boys with my mom.... I am so glad that my mom is graciously taking my children so Brad and I can have a few days together without children. Ahhh. Thanks Mom. I love you.

Here's to Lanny and Molly!

Smoking

2008-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

So today Daxon noticed two women smoking and asked me what they were doing. I told him that what they were doing was not healthy for their lungs and heart, and that when he gets older he might get asked by his friends to smoke. I asked him what he thinks he should say to them. He responds:

" Mom, If you smoke you will explode."

Apparently in his mind he associates smoking with bombs. I will not correct him on his answer.

San Diego, you are missed.

2008-08-25T13:11:00.001-07:00

Spent this last weekend without children in San Diego...
met with friends for lunch, you guys are great
shopped with Amy, i miss you
burned the crap out of myself and loved every minute of it
ate great meals, hail bronx pizza and pipes
went to the festival of sails and met real life wanna-be pirates
i got hit on by two girls, yucky
spent lots of time with brad
fell in love... again.

thank heavens for...

2008-08-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

PRESCHOOL!!!!! Yes, both of my boys are in school together and I am loving my 6 hours of freedom every week. I can get all of my grocery shopping done, go out to lunch, do yoga, maybe a singing class, all without kids. Shane has a perma-grin when I pick him up from school, and Dax is very protective of Shane and helps him to and from class.

Yet another injury by Shane. He is the accident professional. While wearing his helmet, he did a face plant off of his scooter. Oh, and it also happened to be just two weeks after his skull fracture. This picture was taken fresh after the accident. Once the scab formed it looked much worse, it was huge and dark. It recently came off in one piece and was an inch in diameter. yuck.
Another picture if the house. These are the curtains I made from fabric that I got in LA. For any of you who like to sew, the fabric district in Los Angeles is a must. The fabric is usually 75% off retail value. I was in heaven.

gonzo

2008-08-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

So they are gone... Two years of pictures, GONZO! Brads internal components from his computer literally blew up and we only had a hundred of our favorite pictures backed up. Yes, we were idiots and didn't back-up all of our files, so please learn from our mistakes. I found out about this a couple of weeks ago and I am still so angry and sad. If any of you have pictures of my children send them my way please!

For our update, Dax just started gymnastics and is the only boy in his class. He is stoked because he loves to show off to a crowd, especially a crowd of girls. During his first lesson his teacher wanted the class to practice jumping on the spring board and then land on a dot placed on the mat. In true Daxon fashion, when his turn came up he bolted down the runway, jumped on the spring board and did a front flip onto the mat. No, he didn't land it but it still looked pretty cool, but don't tell him I said that because it would contradict our little chat we had following his lesson. I had to give him an 'always listen to what your coach says' discussion, and somehow try not to laugh during it. Oh, and just in case you are wondering how in the heck I talked Brad into letting Dax take gymnastics... I told him that it will be great for Dax to learn how to correctly flip around so he can better prepare for the X-games freestyle skiing. Seriously.

Just as things were calming down...

2008-06-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Like I said, just as things were calming down... Monday evening happened, one of the scariest days of my life! Shane was standing on the back of a kids ride-on jeep and he fell off the back and hit his head on the pavement. Brad said it sounded like a watermelon hitting concrete. He doesn't really get freaked out but he sure did this time. He knows enough about what can medically go wrong that we could not get to the ER quick enough. Long story short, Shane is doing great for what could have gone really bad. He cracked his skull from his occipital protuberance all of the way down to his foramen magnum, or the opening in your skull where your spinal column comes through. So about four inches of a clean break, luckily nothing worse. Looking at him you would never know that this happened because he could not be more active or happier. Which makes it harder for me to keep him from making his head trauma worse because he plays so rough. My solution is that he now almost is always wearing a helmet and I keep trying to get him to watch a movie but he doesn't have the attention span to watch them. UGH! Usually Harry Potter does the trick, yeah, um not this time. Any other suggestions? I had nine people call me today to see if there was anything that they could do to help and also offer to take Dax. Thank you! It just goes to show that not only does everyone know how rough my boys play together and they wanted to protect Shane's head, but more importantly how much that little Shaners is loved. We really have appreciated the help and Shane has loved the gifts that people have brought over.

My crazy life...

2008-06-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

I love before and after shots so here is one that I think is fun because it is of my new kitchen. It is also nice to see how much of a difference all of our hard work has paid off.
Here is the kitchen when we closed on the house...

...and here it is now. I love it! It needs a few more things but is is mostly finished.
Here is the view from the family room into the kitchen and dining area. Also a new and exciting event happened in our family. Brad's sweet brother Landon got engaged to Molly while we were all in Newport. I love her so much and I am really excited for her to join our family.
Happy Birthday to my mom! I am so greatful for her and that she took in our family for these last few months. She made us feel so welcome. The night that we left her house for our first night in our new one Daxon said that he didn't want to go to our new house, but wanted to stay at grandma's house because he "loves grandma and her sweet house." Amen to that one Daxon. It sure does stink now that we have a house payment...
Daxon now does wheelies on his bike. He learned how to do them while we were in Newport, and Brad took about 50 pictures of him doing them. This may not be the best one, but it is the first one that I came to. Oh and by the way, sorry that I have been avoiding my blog the last little while. My life has been crazy, but in a good way. I am enjoying my new neighboorhood and getting to know some great neighboors.

Ady and Cece

2008-05-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

Had a great visit with Amy and the girls. I really miss living by them... I don't have much time to write so I will have to post more updates next week.
Caitlin made me this cake for #25 B-Day... She already thinks that I am old. The cake says" May her sole rest in peace". Gee, thanks Cate. I love her anyways.

Shane lost his wrestling match...

2008-05-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

Life has been quite crazy for a while...

We are in!

2008-04-30T22:15:00.001-07:00

We have the keys to the house, finally---
My awesome father-in-law and husband are very busy laying tile and other manly chores to get the house ready to finally move into. Yeah! Only a couple of weeks until the chaotic moving begins.

So here is the chandelier that I finally got hung this evening. I have been waiting to hang it since we first started building. I wish that I would have taken a picture of it before I re-vamped it but I didn't think about it. Let's just say I painted, de-rusted, bejeweled, and gave some much neede life to it.

Not the best picture of me but it was the only one from my date with my cute younger brother that I got. We went to the Kalai concert and were the first ones in line and in the door, which also equals front row seats. If you have never heard Kalai's music the look it up... it is really great. Cortland told me that it was the best concert that he had ever been to. I am just glad that he had just as much fun as I did. We met Kalai after the concert in the hallway and as we were walking away we saw a young teenage girl walk up to him and ask, "Hey, Kalai do you remember me from My Space?" He looked at her with a blank stare and you could see his mind going, "Ugh....what? who are you ?" It was really funny to see this 14 year-old girl believe that he would remember her from the thousands of other girls that try to contact him via the internet. All in all, the date was a success and I love my brother lots and lots. - Out

Shane is a big boy!

2008-04-23T20:53:00.001-07:00

Shane's beautiful hair is gone...AAAHHH! I don't know about it yet, because it makes him look so much more like a big boy and less like my baby Shane. I have no idea what brought up the idea for a trim. All I know is that I woke up that morning got everyone ready and then next thing that I know I am pulling up to Sport Clips and then 15 minutes later the hair is gonzo. I think that he looks alot more like Dax now. I could just stare at him all day...
I took the boys to the local skate park with their scooters and they were in heaven. Dax is such a nautral and it was so much fun watching him jump and attempt tricks like the older boys were doing on their skateboards. I literally had to drag them to the car, because they did not want to leave. Daxon actually said when we got in the car, and I quote:
"UGGGHHH! Mom, I am so frustrated!"
For a kid with hardly anything to say it was funny to hear him actually voice how he felt. I have to say that that was a first.

Here is all of the Christian siblings together, and I just wanted to post more pictures of the trip. Can I tell you how much I am loving having all of us 5 kids together? We are all even living under the same roof for just another few weeks. I feel like we are all so much closer than we have ever been and I love each of them so very very much. Don't you think Caitlin looks so much older now than even how she looked a few months ago? Gosh, it goes by so quickly doesn't it.

So we close on our house TOMORROW! Kind of exciting... I will have to post some pictures of it soon and show you what we are going to do to the house before we move in.

Springbreak!

2008-04-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Most normal people after a long, cold winter can't wait for Spring Break to soak up some sun somewhere...we are far from normal, as most of you know, so we took the snowmobiles and headed north to Targhee National Forest, a little town called Island Park just west of Yellowstone. Snow, snow, and more beloved snow (about 6 feet to be exact). We had a blast! We literally had to drag Shane and Daxon in the cabin every night because they wanted to ride the "no-no-biles" as Shane calls them. Two freezing cold boys have never been so happy.
Thanks Galen and Sheila for an AWESOME vacation!

The kitchen thus far

2008-03-22T20:06:00.001-07:00

I don't know why, but the color of the wood floor in this picture makes it look more golden than it really is in person. It really bugs me. The dark grey counter tops are really dirty too, but I have yet to see the actual color of them as this is how I have only seen them, really dusty. I am ordering my backsplash this week so I am really excited about that. I still have yet to find my two pendent lights that go over the island. Any suggestions?

We are supposed to close on the house the first week in April so it is coming up quick...

Mmmm, trees taste good

2008-03-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

Daxon is a pretty good little skier...Brad couldn't be happier! This run didn't quite work out as planned, however.

Brad is weird

2008-03-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

So we all know that my husband is a bit weird, right? After 5 years I've learned to accept it, but the problem is that he's rubbing off on Daxon too! We went skiing on Saturday and in preparation to go Brad always has to tape his socks so that they don't slide down while he is skiing because as he says, "its just really obnoxious when your socks get bunched up in your ski boots, so i try to prevent that from happening." Daxon saw him doing it and just HAD to have tape on his socks too!

Snowmobiling the Alpine Loop last week...we are at the Timpanogos trail head parking lot, if you've ever climbed Timp.
We still don't know where Shane got his big blue eyes.

Explanation

2008-03-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

Allow me to explain myself. I have come to the understanding that many of you who have seen my graceful fall on my @$$ are trying to figure out what the crap I was doing in the first place. What I was SO obviously trying to do was go through an obstacle course that I set up for my and my friend Amy's kids while at a climbing gym. After about an hour of them easily running over and through the course, they wanted me to do it with them. You can see how far I got... not even past obstacle numero uno.

Cordo

2008-02-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

I want badly to tell you that I did this on purpose to elicit laughs, buuuut I can't. I am really coordinated.

Ok, so a few days has turned into a week...or so-

2008-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

I finally have a moment on my husband's computer to share updates on the new house. The outside is now pretty much done except for doors and finishing stuff. Here is the kitchen. The island is in the wrong place... needs to be moved to the right a bit, and the cabinets are quite a bit grayer in person. The counter tops are going to be a really simple dark gray granite, and I am envisioning white subway tiles as a backsplash, and white walls. Red is the accent color...a bright glossy red for my bar stools. I made a chandalier ( how do you spell that?) to go over the dining room table, pictures to come.

Dax loves watching his new house be built and sometimes he thinks that it is falling apart if there is a lot of crap on the ground. We are standing in the family room. Do you love the tiny base boards that we are going to tear out as soon as we can and re-do them ourselves? Richmond American wanted to charge a butt load to put in the stuff that I really wanted. Forget that. I have a really handy general contractor father-in-law.
Oh Dax... you are so cute, and I love you soooooo much! I love watching your excitment. He has started noticing girls, but most of the girls that he notices have dark hair. Like the girl at his old preschool that he more than once came home from school talking about. "Mom, that girl is really cute", is what he would say. I hope that he always tells me things like that, you know, and not be embarassed. Brad asked him the other day who his best friend was and he said,"Miley Cyrus, cause she is really cute, dad." I am in trouble...

Moving Again!

2008-02-04T07:19:00.000-08:00

So, while our new house is in the works, we are moving in with my parents starting this week. They just arrived from Palm Springs on Saturday and it is so weird to think that the entire Christian clan now live in Utah. My in-laws live with-in 20 minutes of us, which means both sets of grandparents super close. I never would have pictured this to happen for some reason, but I really love it. It is exciting. I am so glad that we made the decision to move here and family was reason numero uno for doing so. Now comes the juggling of where to go on Sundays for family dinners and holidays, something very new to me.

Here is a picture of the house just for you Kesli! It was taken just last week. Wait until I post another one in a couple of days, because it looks really different. It acutally looks like a house! The inside is sheetrocked (is that how you spell that?) and the outside is 99% done.

Wednesday

2008-01-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

I love Wednesdays! Daxon gets to go to both preschool and ski school which equals a full day of fun for him. I also love it because I get a full day to spend quality time alone with Shane. Today, when I picked up Dax from ski school, his instructor told me to have a talk with him about not going too fast down the hill. How am I going to tell Daxon to slow down when his dad is going to be so proud when he finds out that Dax doesn't want to slow down for the other students to catch up? I watched him ski down the slope and he looked so tiny compared to everyone else there. He is so cute when he skies and is so stinking coordinated.

Watts Family Pictures!

2007-12-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

Cherry Mristmas!

2007-12-26T20:51:00.001-08:00

My two boys with their only cousin.... Ryli! We love him sooooo much, and are greatful that he is visiting us for the holidays.
Uncle Landon just moved away today to Chicago, and we are really bummed out. I was talking to a family member the other day and they asked if I was excited to visit him and do some great shopping. I said, "No, duh, I am sure you have heard of the Chicago Cubs. We will be planning our visits around them."

Ah, Sunday dinners at the in-laws. I love that we live so close to family now, and I am looking forward to all of the great memories that we will share together. T-ball games, football games, family gatherings, holidays, game nights, more T-ball games... I love Cece in this picture. My friend Amy visited me a couple of weeks ago, and it was great to see her and her beautiful girls.

I know..

2007-12-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

I know... I have not updated this blog in a little while and I am sorry for that. It has been so crazy at our house lately. I am still trying to get my boys back on a schedule, and this is what Brad and I wake up to most mornings... Dax and Shane between us. Shane now climbs out of his crib and wants to sleep in Daxon's bed, with Daxon. Then, they come into our bed some time in the middle of the night. Notice the binkie in Shane's mouth. AHHHH, It's back! I am desperate for sleep. Ugh! Oh well, at least they cuddle.

I love the snow, and I forgot how beautiful Utah is in the winter. I hope that I still feel that way in a few months from now when the snow is still here.
Daxon celebrated his fourth birthday on December 2nd. He is growing up so fast. He got the game Candyland from his friend Landon, and that was probably his favorite gift. We were playing it for the 50th time and in the middle of the game he told me that I was a "goofus". Oh, and the only thing that he wants for Christmas is a monster truck movie. I love it! He loves NASCAR, so for his birthday I got him a Jimmie Johnson racecar and the matching truck, well apparently got the wrong one. He said, "Mom, I don't like Jimmie Johnson, I like Jeff Gordon." I had no idea that he knew so much about race cars. Daxon is such a blessing in my life. I am never bored now that I have him. Every day is an adventure.

Daxon found his match. Conner. He is almost six, and is soooo cute. He is spunky, energetic, happy, and crazy just like Dax. I love him! They wrestle for hours and Daxon keeps up very well, even though Dax is about half his weight. I would like to get them both into a karate class together to help burn off some of that energy.

What we have been up to...

2007-11-29T22:49:00.000-08:00

We have finally made our move, and are settled enough to finally post our happenings. I am exausted and my kids are still adjusting to a new house and the one hour time change. Ugh.

Daxon's last day of preschool... what a sad day. It was so sweet because his teacher Ms. Debra cried when I came to pick him up. It was really touching to see that someone else had genuine love for my child. I am really going to miss that preschool, Daxon needed that outlet so badly and he did really well there and learned some of his alphabet and how to write his name. Not bad.
Here is the moving diesel that we completly filled up. There is even two cars packed in there amongst our things.
And here is our house that just started being framed a couple of days ago. The framers say that they should be done framing by next Thursday.
Just a cute picture of Dax.

My parents

2007-11-13T18:36:00.001-08:00

Here is my sister Caitlin. She didn't want her picture taken so I was trying to turn her head unsuccessfully. She is so much fun to spend time with. She can't wait to be a teenager, and I can't wait for her to be older to babysit more often. I love her.

I think that this picture is funny. If you know my dad, then you would know that he never smiles like this. He usually is strictly business. It is probably because he is at a football game. Aren't most guys happy at any kind or sporting event? My mom of course is sporting Cort's jacket. I was upset that Cort didn't ask me to wear his jersey, some "hot chick" (Dana) wears it at every game. I see who is more important...

Tagged...

2007-11-12T22:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have been tagged twice in the last couple of weeks and have just now had the time to do it. For those that I tag, it has nothing to do with favoritism, here are the rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asks them to read your blog.
Here goes nothing:

1. It really bothers me when people discriminate. Even more so when it has to do with being a Mormon. I have already lost a good friend due to me being a Mormon. We were friends for a year and then one day she said that she had researched my religion most of it anti-Mormon literature, and felt that she was disturbed by what she read. Hmmm... never mind researching real source, or asking a Mormon, or that what she came to understand was not correct! Here was her letter that you might find interesting:

Hi Chanel,

I have been meaning to write for so long now and finally I have sat down and actually remembered to do so. First, I want to apologize for not returning your two phone calls/messages. I wasn't really sure what to say I guess, so I never made the time to figure out what I should say. I am sorry.

The truth is that the whole LDS thing kind of threw me for a loop. I read a bit of The Book of Mormon, did a little research and read a book regarding the LDS religion and its history and it all was so crazy to me. Honestly, most of it didn't add up and a lot of what I came to find out was a bit disturbing. Anyway, I wasn't sure exactly how to approach you about it because you obviously are a completely sweet, loving person and I think of you in the highest regard. However, it became difficult for me to imagine having a friendship with someone who I know believes that because I do not accept anything that their religion believes, I will not end up in heaven.

The difficult part is that you are by far one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever met. My kids love you and I enjoyed your company very much. I just have had a difficult time attempting to rectify the feelings I have regarding the impact of religion on our friendship.

I hope that this email finds you well and is not too unorganized for you to grasp some understanding of my feelings. It is often hard to articulate exact feelings in such a limited vernacular.

Love,
********

Did she seem to forget what century and country that she lives in? Last time I checked it was 2007. Are we not taught to love our fellow men regardless of race or religion? Just today, my friend Amy was told that she is not allowed to put her four year old in a certain Christian preschool because she is Mormon, and that it is against school policy to allow a Mormon in their school. Anyone want their number? Who would want to send their child to a preschool where they are taught to discriminate against other religions anyway. Whatever! I think that I am now just discriminating against discriminators...

2. I hate moving! I have moved pretty much every year since I was 13. Ugh! I am excited to get this next move over with and finally get settled. The packers are coming in three days, and we are out of here in five. Times are really stressful for me right now, it makes me anxious just typing about it. My mind is jumping from what needs to be organized, to finding a preschool in Utah, to what else can I give to DI, ect. AAAAH! One positive from moving... I have learned that no matter where you live, you can make it a home and learn to love it. Some places just take more time than others.

3. I dream of going to a fancy cooking school and becoming a pastry chef, just for fun.

4. Who do I admire the most? Brad- he is perfect in my eyes. Amy- she has quite the inner strength that I aspire to have. My mom and Grandma Condie- they are one in the same... both selfless and positive, and have a firm foundation.

5. Growing up, I thought that motherhood would be easier than it really is.

6. My husband offered to hire a cleaning lady to come to our house a couple times a month. I declined due to the fact that cleaning is a huge stress relief for me. Weird? I am.

Ok- so I am tagging Kesli, Ashley, Rebecca, Tara, both Lisa's!

Three on Two

2007-11-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

Cortland... the reason that Daxon always wants to go to my parent's house. He adores his Uncle and tells me that he wants to play football like his "Uncle Corky". Cortland is so great to my boys. He has a warm heart and is incredibly patient with them. Dax and Shane become his shadow anytime he is around. This last weekend I went to his football game against La Quinta. it is always fun to watch him play, and I am sad to think that I won't live close to my family anymore. Those weekend trips to Palm Springs once a month will be missed, I mean, what could be more fun than a house on a private water ski lake? Family to go with it.

So, I was asleep and Brad decided that it was time to take the training wheels off of Daxon's bike. Four attempts later, he was on his own. I thought it was a big deal and I was upset that Brad didn't come in to wake me up to witness this historic event. I instead got to watch his first rides on a camera. Anyway, WAY TO GO DAX! I can't believe that he is going to be four next month. Where has the time gone?

Blah...

2007-11-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

What happens when Shane and a berry smoothie collide.
Just a cute picture of the Daxman.

Brad and I just celebrated our #5 anniversary. We went to K-1 Speedway (really fast go-carts), and of course the group that we ended up in was the local honda car club (that all happened to have their own helmets and racing gloves). I came in dead last and Brad came in second, only because he said that some shmuck wouldn't let him pass. All in all, a fun night!

You know how there are times that you are so tired that you don't want to do anything. Well, this is one of those times. So, I am going to post some pictures to get me by, and then I have a much longer post coming up to show what the heck I have been up to.

Spider Webs

2007-11-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

My pumpkin grew its own spider webs and just in time for halloween. It was really considerate of it to do that, yet really gross. Nothing like pulling off the lid and a huge ball of white and black fuzz following it...
My boys wanted me to dress up with them so I borrowed Daxon's wig and threw the rest of the clothes together five minutes before we left to trick-or-treat. I am almost convinced to make my real hair into dreads. The boys ended up with a ton of candy and most of it will end up being thrown away. I am mean, I know, but my boys already have too much energy.
I made some banana bread the other day, and the best part of it is the dough. I don't like dough, but my boys take after my husband and chow it down.

By the way, does anyone have any advice for weaning a child off binkies? Shane did fine when we took the bottles away from him but we are having quite the time with the binkies... I am all ears!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have ignored this blog thing for a while so now it is time to play catch up... Daxon was supposed to have a halloween party at school this last Friday, but because of all the nasty smoke outside it was cancelled. One of the activities that they were going to do was pumpkin carving so I was stuck with this uncarved pumpkin and the above picture is what I came up with. It only took three hours, no big deal right? More like a waste of time...
This is a blurry picture of our ward party last night. The cute girl in the picture is Miss Swann, so since Dax was Captian Jack Sparrow we had to snap a quick picture. It is funny that the times that you want a great picture the camera fails to do its job and your child wants nothing to do with having a picture taken. Daxon was probably just dissapointed because earlier that day he told me that he wanted his dad to dress up as Miss Swann. We will just say that is why he didn't want to cooperate. I do have to say that she makes a much better Elizabeth than Brad would have.
Last night Shane decided to be a stinker and slept a whopping four hours. Taking into consideration his bedtime is at 7:30, and he usually wakes up at 8:30 for a total of 13 hours of peaceful rest, I was quite annoyed. He finally fell back asleep around 6:30 this morning and this is how we found him at around 10:00. He is usually an easy child so when nights like these happen, I shouldn't complain.
I was in Utah last week for finalizing our house stuff, and since I haven't seen my Grandma Christian in a year or so I decided to meet up with her for dinner. It was great to see her, and catch up . She offered to help me unpack my stuff when I finally make the move to Utah and I am going to hit her up on that.
I walked outside the other night to take the trash out and I literally almost stepped on this frog, and even though it was the kids bedtime I could not resist bringing them outside. I just wanted to see which one of my boys would have the nerve to touch it first. Shane won. Oh yeah, on another note, it was not that long ago that Brad squished a frog accidently. He was closing the garage door and it was timed just right that it came down right on top of the frog as it was hopping into our garage and the door smashed it in half...literally. It was really gross and what made it worse was that Daxon was the one to find it first the next morning. He thought it was really cool, I have to disagree.

Rambles

2007-10-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Watts' family are finally offical homeowners. I know it took us a while but needless to say... we are excited! It is nice to finally visualize where we are going to spend at least the next few years. It should be finished in April, so in the mean time we have a couple of rentals in mind.

I had to go to the dentist today because I had a tooth that I thought had a cavity in it. Don't you love it when you have what you think is a minor problem and it turns into something worse, not to mention a lot more expensive? Well, my check/possible filling turned into a crown. Come to find out I had a cracked tooth because when I sleep at night I clench my jaw tight the entire night. You can't imagine the headaches that I sometimes wake up with! Apparently I bite so hard that after time passes of this retarded behavior I cracked a tooth. Well, because it was my very back molar, in order for the dentist to grind all the way around the tooth, he shredded up the tissue surrounding it. I am expecting it to soon become a huge massive canker sore, since even the smallest scratch in my mouth always becomes a huge canker. Does that happen to anyone else, or am I just naturally a wussy? All I can say is thank goodness for laughing gas and that numbing shot that they give you, without them I have a feeling that most of us would have some pretty nasty teeth...

By the way, if anyone wants to read a really funny story click on my friend Ashley's blog. It is the one titled Urine and Diet Coke... If anyone has had a child that has cut their hair or someone elses' then my friend Amy has a great story as well. You see, this is why I love the blogging world, because you hear stories that happen to others that you can only hope won't happen to you, OR you can relate. In my case I can usually relate.

Ahoy!

2007-09-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

There was some random guy that came up to our table wanting to make balloon things, so, five dollars later he made what is supposed to be a pirate hat, which Brad the birthday boy is wearing, and Daxon a sword. I am sure it is no suprise that they completly exploded two minutes later due to biting of the balloons... a waste?

Well, we did Disneyland again, however this time I let the boys wear their pirate costumes that they are going to wear for Halloween. Shane is wearing the one that I made. Daxon's looked pretty plain next to Shane's so I had to add some details like the trim and the ties. While there I took them to the pirate island and they met Captain Jack Sparrow again. Oh, and a FYI, if you are on the pirate island alone with 2 or more young kids beware because there are caves there that if one child goes into (ie. Daxon) then you have no idea where he/she went because there are multiple exits. Stressful! They were pretty dang cute and I can't wait to dress them up again for Halloween, because then they will have the fake dirty faces and pirate wigs... more pirate pictures to come.

It's official...

2007-09-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

We are moving to... UTAH!!! Brad signed an offer letter, and we are moving in November. It is a long story how it came about, but to make it short, he was offered a territory in Salt Lake. We are really excited to get back to the mountains and family. Beehive State here come the Watts!

Girls Weekend

2007-09-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I just had a exciting weekend with my friends Amy and Sunshine. We stayed at the W Hotel in San Diego and it was really modern almost to a fault. Amy said it kind of reminded her of a really nice college dorm room. Do you see it, too? I am sure that you can guess what the weekend was filled with... you guessed it, shopping, eating, laughing, story telling, bonding, complaining, and more shopping. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends, and I cherished every moment of this past weekend.

I went to the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, and as I was walking out of the museum I heard jets flying over my head. I looked up and there was an ad for Zappos.com. There were five jets that somehow created the very expensive advertisement. HMMM, it sound like a waste of fuel to me...

What we seemed to do best.... shop.

We ate at Laurel Resturant, which had the coolest atmosphere. I think I loved it even more because it looked like the dining room that I want, just a lot bigger. I love how we all color coordinate with eachother and the resturant. I know, its dorky but I promise it just happened like that, and great friends think alike, right?

Our dinner, and Amy and Sunshine's funny hand positions... I think that Sunshine did the better Vanna White impersonation.

Dessert at Extrodinary Desserts, it was so much fun and I have never been so stuffed in my life. We finally left the place at about midnight and walked back to the hotel. After a full day of walking and shopping you can only imagine the sore feet... It is a sacrifice a girl has to take for cute heels that aren't normally worn. All in all, great weekend and even greater friends...

I need to see the doctor

2007-09-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday morning Daxon woke up screaming and holding his ear.( The previous two nights he was sick and kept both Brad and I up half of the night.) Well, he started saying to me,"Mom, I need to go to the doctor!", then began to cry, and then started screaming that phrase REPEATEDLY. So here I am, contacting the pediatrician only to find that he is booked. They then tell me to take him to an urgent care. They may as well have told me to take him to Tijuana for help, because the last time we took Shane to an urgent care in this town he ended up in the emergency room. So, as I am frantically calling Brad to help me find a decent urgent care, flipping through the phone book, changing a poopie diaper, and putting some clothes on myself, I realize that I don't hear Daxon crying anymore. I run to the garage door to find it unlocked, garage door open and no Dax. I run outside and I see him outside of our gate, walking on the side of the main street sreaming that his ear hurts and that he needs a doctor. This is where I reached the point where I think to myself that I may need a doctor, too. I felt so bad for him, because to him I wasn't hurrying fast enough to get him to the doctor. Five minutes later, we arrived at the hospital, only to find out that they don't take our insurance (why they don't take a PPO, I have no idea because most of the people that live up here don't even have insurance). Shane was screaming because I was out of fruit snacks, and it was past his naptime. Dax and I were so desperate at this point that I decided to pay out of pocket. Come to find out, he had an infection in his ears, throat, nose, and eyes! No wonder he was so uncomfortable. He is now feeling much better, and I have finally regained my composure. I may not need that doctor afterall...

Finally!

2007-09-15T22:39:00.000-07:00

I am ashamed to say that Brad and I have not been through the temple in over two years! There is no excuse for why that happened, but nonetheless I am very glad that we went today.

Oh, and the reason why I realized that I hadn't been in a couple of years is because my temple clothing was adjusted for a fat, pregnant lady. Yes, the last time I was at the temple I was prego with Shane... AAAHHHH!

Happy Birthday, by the way, to my brother Caleb who is a hippie. You are missed by your nephews.

Contiunation of the awards

2007-09-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, this post needs to go below the next one to make more sense, but you will still get it... Just read the next one first and then come back to this one. I am still figuring this blog thing out.

For the coolest and nastiest white trash beard the award goes to:
The guy sitting next to the bald dude with the sweet chops

For the best monster truck driver, the award easily goes to:
The 21yr old Canadian chick that drove a truck resembling a Triceratops head
Last but not least the award for the cutest boys there, goes to:
The monster truck loving, Watts hicks

The Monster Trash Rally

2007-09-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

As promised to some of you... here are the pictures of the Monster Truck Crash and Bash. The event was held a few miles from our house, so you better believe that there were some sweet looking hicks. Yes, I have the pictures to prove it.

And now for the awards... For the cutest shirt and most colorful hair the award goes to:
Little Miss Sunshine
For the bitchinest mullet, the award goes to:

The Announcer

Who did your top award go to???

Disneyland with Landon

2007-09-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we were able to meet up with some friends from Utah at Disneyland. Their little boy, Landon was so much fun to watch interact with my boys, especially Daxon. The two were quite a match, because Landon is just as fiesty and active as Dax is. It was great to visit with his parents, Eric and Alisa as well. She is pregnant with a girl and I have to say that I am kind of jealous.

I know, my boys will be mad at me in five years for posting this picture, but I love it because it captures their personalities perfectly. They are pretending to be pirates, but I don't see it. Don't they know that pirates wear clothes? I do have to say though, that I am making Shane a pirate costume for Halloween, and it is turning out better than I was anticipating. Just wait for the pictures and you guys will see for yourselves. Dax is going to be Captian Jack and I am cheating on that one by just buying it. Oh, and yes, they are already practicing their sword fighting and are doing quite well. The sound effects they make are what make it so realistic, or not, and it is great hearing Dax call out to Shane, "Come here me heartie", and Shane will reply,"ARRRGH!"

Homework and Scavengers

2007-09-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when I don't feed Shane often enough... He loves to eat and would be constantly doing so if he could. He is a scavenger and finds things that I forgot that I even had. For example, these unfrosted Pop Tarts, who in the heck would want to eat those other then Shane? I have a child lock on my pantry door that Shane and Daxon have both figured out how to bypass it. What a waste of money that product was.

Well, here is Daxon's very first legitimate homework assignment. He was so excited to do it, and he kept hugging me throughout the process of making it. Now let's hope that this is not the week that he gets kicked out of preschool. Yes, he has already been "written up" twice, and last Wednesday when I picked him up from school he was sitting in front of the principal's office. I didn't know if I should cry or laugh. He has made such an improvement with his "listening skills" in the last few weeks, that it makes it all worth it. Oh, and yes that is a picture of Toby and Ady on his poster...

Thank You Aunt Catilin

2007-09-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

I captured a cute moment between my two boys. I swear, these moments are few and far between for me. Shane started crying because he hurt his foot while getting into the jeep. Dax felt bad and tried to make him feel better, hence the kiss. Dax can be such a sweet brother to Shane sometimes. These awesome shirts that my boys are wearing are from my 11 year old sister Caitlin. She used some of her back to school money to pay for them. I am sure all of you girls out there can understand what a sacrifice that is. She was so sweet to do that for them. Thanks Aunt Cate.

Shane the farting pirate

2007-08-26T22:14:00.000-07:00

Anytime Shane sees anything resembling a sword he yells like a pirate...anytime he farts, he giggles and says "pee pee". He is a funny kid.

sk8 r die!!

2007-08-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Daxon's new favorite thing to do...

Another business trip...

2007-08-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

We just got home from another business trip to the Orange County area. We stayed at the Balboa Bay Club and it was a great place for our family to stay. My boys were in heaven. Our room overlooked the front entry way where all different kinds of cars, or "coys" as Shane says, drove past. There was a beach and a pool for them to play in and boats to watch float past in the bay. What more could a boy ask for?

So the first night that we arrived, we pulled up to the hotel swarming with Secret Service and large black SUVs. Well, come to find out Arnold Schwar-I have no idea how to spell the rest... was having a party at the hotel. I really wanted to see what was going on and crash the party, but putting my kids to bed became #1 priority.

The last evening that we were there we took the kids cruising on the boardwalk. They loved it and they only hit eachother like 4 times. It was 25 dollars well spent.However, I wish that the bike would have gone a little faster. It was hard to pedal and I was the one who got stuck on the side with the fake steering wheel. Brad got the side of the bike with the real one. Sucker...

Dax's first day of preschool

2007-08-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

Daxon standing in front of his pre-school, he was so excited to go in I could barely get him to stand still long enough to snap this picture....the outfit that we picked out for him the night before his big day....the pre-pre-school pep talk with Brad over a hearty breakfast of cinnamon Life..."Don't let those kids push you around, Dax, you stick up for yourself, OK?"...Didn't take him long! So sly pretending to check out that sweet tower but its really an excuse to get to know his new classmate a little better...

On our way to Church

2007-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

I love this picture, I don't know if it is because of their happy faces, or if it is because of Shane's cute shoes paired with that suit. It's a toss up. While at sacrament meeting today we thought that the boy's were doing really good compared to their normal sacrament meeting behavior. We only had to take Shane out to the foyer twice, and Dax only threw his cars 2 rows back instead of 6. Well, we had three different people comment on how they remember how hard it was at the stage in life that Brad and I are in right now, because of the non-reverence of our boys. So either people are much too observant or our expectations are waaaay too low for the boys based on past performance...! At least they look cute.

More Cancun Pics

2007-08-09T20:51:00.001-07:00

Pictures of our Trip!

2007-08-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

That was the best trip that I have ever been on. I don't know if it was just because of the company, or if it was where we were. All I know is that it was so much fun and so well needed. Brad and I went with our best friends Todd and Ashley from Boston. We were all laughing about 90 percent of the time.
Here is the trip outline:
Day 1- Check into the JW Marriott after 8 hours of travel and met up with our sweaty friends who had walked to the mall to find clothes because Ashley's bag didn't make the trip. We all hit the pool and put down some killer "nachos grandes"
Day 2- We took a ferry to Isla de Mujeres and rented some scooters. We drove around the island stopping for "cocos frios" and mangos that were being sold on the side of the road. We did lots of swimming because it was so sticky and hot. Then we talked some guy into taking us snorkeling for half the price that he was initially charging, he was stoked to take us out to say the least....Pizza for dinner.
Day 3- Ashley and I did a morning at the spa while Brad and Todd got huge at the gym. Then we hit the pool and did what you're supposed to do at a pool: read books and fall asleep. We all went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. We wanted to see a movie but when we got to the theater we were dissappointed because all the movies were in Spanish...but then we remembered that we were in Mexico, so it made sense. Instead of watching "Los Simpsons" we made it a "Ticket to Ride" game night.( To anyone who hasn't played that game I highly recommend it.)
Day 4- Went to Xcaret. Snorkled, got lost, swam with dolphins, got lost, relaxed in an underground river, ate, and got lost some more.
Day 5- Took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the ancient Mayan ruins: Chichen-Itza. The ruins were amazing and afterward went swimming in a nautral underground pool called a "cenote". Definately the highlight of the trip.
Day 6- Unfortunately had to part with our friends to head home. Ashley and Todd's flight took off 5 hours later than it should have, and Brad and I were late getting in to Phoenix and almost missed our connecting flight. Brad woke up at 430am because he heard Daxon talking in his sleep...Brad kept saying "Dax, Dax, come up here." He was excited to see his boys.

Cancun

2007-08-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in Cancun! We went out to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse tonight. We are having so much fun. Ashley and I spent a relaxing morning in the spa and both had 80 min deep tissue massages. It was wonderful. My massuse's (spelling?) name was Sergio and it was interesting to watch him prepare for the treatment. He waved his arms in the air and harnessed his chi. It was really funny. After that we layed out on the beach and saw a tornado in the ocean about 5 miles away. Weird...

Bloody Nose

2007-07-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

I forgot to put this picture with my last post. OOPS! Well the other day Shane woke up early from his nap screaming, so as I run into his room I see blood all over his face and blanket. Not something that you expect to see when you check on your kid. I freaked out thinking something horrible happened, until Shane started laughing at me and I realized it was just his nose.

Oh, and yes, that is a light purple and white binkie. I thought that I lost all of his other 10 binkies so I had to make a mad dash over to Target and get more and all they had were pink with flowers, or purple with polka dots. Hmmm...I chose the less feminine of the two. The next day I found the lost binkies in a hidden pocket of a bag that we packed for a trip that we went on a few days before. Well, just yesterday I asked Brad to boil the binkies, bad idea, he put the binkies in the boiling water and went outside to wash the car. One hour passes, Brad still outside, and I am welcomed home by stanky burning plastic stench . I ran to the stove and found a puddle of melted binkies in the pot with the water long evaporated. I hope Target has a new stash of more masculine looking binkies...

Latest Happenings with the Watts Clan

2007-07-29T22:25:00.001-07:00

Brad and I got to stay in a really sweet hotel last week. It is in San Jose and the whole setup and decor of the hotel is very unique. It was right accross the street from an Anthropologie and a Z Gallerie, so that is probably why I love the hotel so much. If any of you get up that way I highly recommend Hotel Valencia on Santana Row. We then made it down to Santa Cruz and Monterey. I have to say that that area is one of the most beautiful places in our country.

Oh, my sweet baby Shane. I just love him. I have been so impressed how tough that he is . He wants to play with Daxon so bad that he puts up with a lot of intentional pushing and rough housing from his older brother and cries for about half of a second and then gets up for more with a smile on his face. It is so much fun to finally feel like they are buddies, and can play well together.
Daxon is on a pirate kick lately. When he asks Brad and I to play with him he asks me to be the princess and Brad to be the pirate, or he asks me to be Miss Swan and Brad to be Captain Jack and Dax plays the part of Will Turner. Let me just say that Daxon is great at saving me from his dad... This is a picture of Dax and Shane playing pirates. The upside-down bench is a pirate ship, and I don't know what the BYU hat and the glasses are well...sweet. And yes, more often than not my boys are dressed just like you see here.

Devil's Gate

2007-07-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I should have put this picture in my blog a while ago, but I kind of spaced it. I have more that I should probably put in as well. I had the opportunity to go on a trek last month in Wyoming without my kids and husband. It was so much fun. I am pictured here with my mom and my sister. We had to wear pioneer get-up the entire 4 long days. It was definately more of a spiritual experience than it was fun. My great-grandfather, Gibson Condie, was one of the rescuers for the Martin and Willie handcart companies. It was great to learn more about him and see his name on the plaques. It is definatly a trip that every Mormon family, that has older kids, should do. Well worth the time. One of the highlights was that one of my cousins had her daughter baptized in the Sweetwater River right between Devil's Gate, and Martin's Cove. If you can take a trailer with you do it because there are no bathing facilities... Luckily, we had a trailer, thanks to my dad. Oh yeah, I made the aprons that are in this picture for the trip.

Daxon and Ady

2007-07-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Amy these pictures are for you since you posted some of all the kids on your blog not to long ago. I am loving all of the pink in this picture, but most of all I am loving how happy that they look which only happens fifty percent of the time that they are together. Obviously the other half they are in an all out war with eachother. We love you guys!

Shane and Cece

2007-07-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here is, as Daxon used to say,"bobby cececece, and bobby shaaay", playing at the park the last time that we made it down to San Diego. We miss you guys.

Team SwattS

2007-07-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

I love these boys! I just can't decide which one that I love the most...