Fear the Beard (Part 1)

WARNING...WARNING...WARNING!

Be prepared because you are about to witness something you have never seen before, and will probably never see again. And it may really freak you out!

Yes, that is right, Ryan is growing a beard. We are going on a Pioneer Trek with the kids in our ward this summer and Ryan decided it needed to be authentic. So he decided to grow his hair out and grow a beard. We weren't even sure he was capable of it, but as you can see, we are sure now. Here he is, day 1:
After one week:
Two Weeks:
Three Weeks:
Four Weeks:
I will post again in another month so you can see the end result. But I thought you might like to see him now.

On a funny note, Brandon had an assignment in school and this is what he wrote:

"If I was a monkey in the jungle, I would eat leaves out of trees. I will kiss the bananas. I will be like my dad some day. I will be big and hairy. I would be on my own some day."

Happy 7th Birthday Brandon!

I think the most exciting thing for Brandon about his 7th birthday was that he finally doesn't have to sit in a car seat anymore. He was very excited about that. And the fact that Kathleen is 8 and has 8 letters in her name, Brandon is 7 and has 7 letters in his name and Cody is 4 and has 4 letters in his name. Could life get any better?

He had a presentation at his school and was sooo cute giving it. He worked very hard on his firefly project.
It also happened to be "hat" day on his birthday so he decided to wear his Rockies hat.
He couldn't decide what he liked better, the money, or the confetti in his card from Grandma and Grandpa.
What do you think a 7-year-old would request if you told him that he could have anything he wanted for his birthday dinner? No, not pizza. Steak, shrimp, pao de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) and soda, specifically Fresca and Cherry 7-Up.

We took him to build-a-bear to get an outfit for his "Army" bear. He was so excited about his maiden voyage without a booster seat.
Oh baby, a BSU bear! Even better than the Darth Vader one he almost got.
He wanted homemade brownie bites for his cake. Yeah...not the easiest thing to get out of a pan.
Brandon loved the Lego Quidditch Harry Potter set he got from Grammy and Pompa.
A Beyblade birthday cake. I don't have real cake skills, so you get what you get.
Brandon had his party at Monkey Bizness. He said that was all he wanted for his birthday this year.

The only moment the entire time that the kids were quiet.


Brandon was a rock climbing wizard. Although for anyone who knows him, this probably doesn't come as a surprise.




Happy birthday my sweet 7-year-old boy!

May Madness

Happy Birthday to me! And yes, that is a Wicked shirt. We went and saw Wicked for my birthday. And it was wicked!
Also, on a sadder note, we had our school carnival on my birthday too. It turned out really well, but was sad because I was a little busy getting ready and working instead of relaxing for my bday. But it was really fun. Here is Brandon climbing the rock wall.
Kathleen on the rock wall (for some reason Ryan took the pictures in 'antique').
Cody on the cow train.
Ryan got me a new dress for my birthday and I love it! Kathleen made me this cute little flower to wear for Mother's day.
For Mother's Day Ryan and the kids planted flowers for me out front. I have always wanted flowers, but I tend to kill everything I touch (lucky my kids are still alive). So he finally did it for me and they are BEAUTIFUL!
Our Mother's Day tradition is that the kids make me breakfast in bed with much help from daddy. Then they all climb in bed with me and help me eat it while I open presents. It is so cute. And yes, I slept in my Wicked shirt. It was too awesome to take off.
Okay, this is kind of random, but I love the view from my bathroom window in the spring. Thanks to my neighbors for the beautiful tulips and all the pretty trees.
Brandon lost his first real tooth. He fell on his face when he was two and chipped a tooth and it got infected and he had it pulled. But this one fell out all on its own. He was so cute.
Crazy hair day:
For Cinco de Mayo, we pulled out the slip-and-slide. The weather was gorgeous. To think that less than a week ago it snowed...
Oh, and we pulled out the sprinkler for the the trampoline:
Oh, and badminton also:
Cody got himself all ready for school the other day. "Mom, don't I look awesome?" Yes, yes you do. He is wearing all the necklaces, a hat, and a bracelet that he made in preschool this year. And yes, I let him wear it all.

What do you think?

These new "awesome" compost-able, extremely loud Sun Chips bags, well, just how great do they compost? See for yourself. We put this in last spring, almost a year ago. We mixed our compost every week and even added compost accelerator. Well, when we went to add the compost to our garden this year, it looked BEAUTIFUL. Better than it ever has. All except for this bag. It still looks like a chip bag to me, but judge for yourself:For FHE we took our kids to the temple. It was a little chilly and looked like it was going to rain. So we had the grounds almost to ourselves. It was so beautiful.

Happy Easter!

Monster Easter Eggs!



Ryan and I have a tradition that we hide each other's basket and give clues to find it.





We went to the local kart race track last night.
Kathleen was AWESOME!