King Yogurt

Bring me all the bagels and pastries in the land

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Dustinn, Bradshaw & I were walking out to the car Wednesday night and saw a car with it's trunk wide open--and then we realized it was ours.
The locking mechanism on our trunk is very cantankerous. We quickly squabbled over who had used the car last and realized our trunk (containing a stroller, travel crib, & many Costco boxes of candy) had been open for almost 24 hours! And everything was still there.

Mama, take my picture!

Guess Bradshaw thought he looked pretty cute because he squealed and pointed emphatically at the camera until I took this picture.
He also dumped a bowl of milk this morning and I said, "no, it's messy" and he walked around the room saying "mezzie......mezzie..mezzie."

Just hangin' around town....

One summer, when I was a little girl, my family drove from the west coast to the east coast. My parents made it a very relaxed trip and stopped at many museums along the way. So many museums, that I remember one of my siblings crying/begging, "no Mom...please....not the 'M' word!"
This weekend we went to 2 museums; the National Archives (see Bradshaw with the Constitution) & the American History Museum (see the huge, 30'x42,' Star Spangled Banner.)

16 Months

Bradshaw continues to be an extremely affectionate toddler. Today, I was laying on the couch reading when he climbs onto the couch, crawls between the book and my arms, and lays his head on my chest. He stayed there for a twenty minutes, singing softly and tracing my neck with his little fingers.

• He has mastered the spoon (bowl of milk & cereal, yay baby!)
• He still loves to cook. It has become a daily tradition to spend a lot of extra time preparing dinner so Bradshaw can participate. He stands on his chair and eagerly stirs, adds ingredients and snitches cheese.
• If he gets caught with something he shouldn't have, he lets out a squeal and runs very fast in place
• If he finds a bruise on my leg or a scrape on Dustinn's knee, he will lightly touch it and with a very sad face, says, "OW......ch."
• He kneels for family prayer
• He is an angel when it comes to going down for naps & bedtime. We say, "it's nigh-nigh time" and pick him up. He waves to everything while we walk down the hall. When we reach the crib he lunges into it. He lays still while we cover him with his blankets and walk out of the room. Not a tear; not a peep. Amazing, right?
  
• Bradshaw likes to be part of the fun. If he sees someone laughing, he usually joins in. I should point out that Bradshaw's voice is low for a toddler, so imagine this, we are passing through hushed halls in church when Bradshaw overhears a gentle teehee; suddenly, Bradshaw scrunches up his eyes & throws back his head in an explosive cackle. (I'm sorry nice lady, he doesn't mean to mock.)
  
  
  Bradshaw's concentration face:

Pictures from the Cinderella Ball

• After Inauguration, we the people were ready to celebrate. Several Inaugural Balls were held in the district and we attended the Arizona Ball.
• I was planning on wearing my sister-in-law's prom dress. (It has little buttons inside for straps so was going to sew little detachable cap-sleeves. Of course, I left the task until the very last minute and....well, what was I thinking?) My sweet husband took me to Ross and we found a $15 cocktail dress.
• The evening started out a little rocky. The bridges from Virginia into the district were still closed, so we planned on taking a bus, then the metro to the ball. The buses were on a "enhanced Saturday" schedule, which basically meant no schedule. Instead of waiting 5 minutes (like we anticipated) we sat in the bitter cold (remember I'm wearing a thin, little dress) for over an hour. Finally, we gave up on the bus idea and drove to further metro stop where we could park.
• I envisioned it like military balls in the movies...a grand entrance that overlooks the ballroom below filled with couples waltzing across the marble dance floor. (Dustinn: "You're silly.") The ball was packed and filled two floors but there was people-watching, yummy food, dancing and the excellent company of Dustinn's co-workers. We had a lot of fun.

More Inauguration Details (If You're Interested)

• The district did a lot of neat things to manage the masses. For example, they closed the bridges into the district to all traffic except public buses and anticipating that the metros would be clogged, they ran special buses from popular locations in Virginia directly to Inauguration. We rode one of these buses and it was a flawless experience (well, on the way there. We actually departed from the Inauguration right before President Obama's speech to beat the crowds but dozens of buses arrived and drove off empty because the were waiting for a route assignment from their supervisor who was too busy socializing. It took us 10 minutes to get to Inauguration and over 2 hours to get home.)

• Another potential problem the district battled was cell signal. Mobile cellular towers & Nexus Repeaters (which capture cell signals from further towers) were installed but with over 2 million people coverage was almost non-existent.

• The district was seemed extremely prepared for any problems. We saw police troops prepared for riots (with masks and "paddy wagons" as Dustinn referred to the scary buses with bars) and countless bombs detection squads.

• From where we got off the bus, we had to walk about 2-3 blocks to the jumbo-trons by the Washington National Monument. There were SO MANY PEOPLE that we couldn't move for 10-15 minutes at a time. Remarkably, no one was impatient or angry (we were all very early) in fact there were people singing the majority of the time.

We attended Obama's Inauguration

Yesterday morning, we decided to brave the cold and join the throngs to watch the Inauguration of Barack Obama. The congregation was so innumerable that several times we heard a low rumble that would grow louder until the cheer reached us like an explosion. Dustinn and I both commented that we felt a lot of comradery and unity with the crowd.

5 Years Since the Day We Met

Monday made five years to the day since Val and I met. I first met Val on Monday, January 19, 2004 (Martin Luther King Day). I'm so blessed to have known her, and look forward to many, many more years together. She is my flower. I love you Val.

VOTE for Your Favorite Musician!

_____________________________B-Rad the Boomer ____________________D-Dad the Drummer

Take-Your-Son-to-Work Day

Well, sort-of. We made an appointment to tour Dustinn's workplace (the Pentagon.)
Initial security included metal detectors, x-ray machines and 2 forms of I.D., before even getting near the building.
A man in uniform (with metals and a long title) told us stories about the historical paintings, beautiful murals and displays.
Did you know that the Pentagon is a no-salute zone? There are so many people in uniform that if saluting occurred it would take several hours to make it from one part of the Pentagon to another.
Did you know that the Pentagon's green windows can absorb the force of a bomb?
Did you know that the Pentagon was built almost entirely out of concrete instead of reinforced steel because they were conserving steel for the war effort?

Did you know that the portion of the Pentagon that was hit during 9-11 had just finished being renovated, so it was relatively empty? Did you know that since that section had been renovated with reinforced steel and other precautions the plane on 9-11 hit the strongest section of the Pentagon? There were 125 people that died in the Pentagon that day BUT if the plane had hit another section of the building, an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 would have died in the Pentagon alone because the plane would've crashed straight through the whole building (fully populated). Woah.

Swimming in December???

Next stop on the holiday agenda was an indoor waterpark in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. We were warm and toasty inside while it was bleak and snowy outside. We thought Bradshaw might be scared of the slides but after the first time down, he was addicted.

The Newlyweds

After Christmas, the whole family drove down to Washington D.C. for the wedding (my sister-in-law Elisse to her long-time sweetheart Brad.)

We only took a handful of pictures because Jodi Pfunder, an AMAZING photographer, was there. (Seriously, I wish I could show you all Elisse & Brad's engagement session, there was a huge variety of shots--all candid, full of personality and extremely artistic.)

So these pictures are not Jodi's but I hope they still give you an idea of how the family felt and how beautiful she looked...

I debated posting this (above) but his expressive little face is just too cute!

Bradshaw loves his Uncle Seth.

Traditions, Traditions! (ie Christmas Day Activities)

Santa brought the boys ride-on-dump trucks! (An immediate hit.)

Christmas Eve, Dustinn and I blew up shiny balloons and packed them in a garbage bag. It was fun for us to pour the balloons out over their heads Christmas morning.

After opening Santa presents, everyone eats a big pancake breakfast. Cami found a penny in her pancake which meant she would be the Christmas elf and hand out the family gifts after breakfast.

Later that evening, we put on the nativity. Everyone participated. Elisse, as the bride-to-be, was Mary.

Sheperds watching over their flock by night

Merry Christmas everyone!

We're in New Jersey!

Dustinn found out he didn't have to work the 22nd & 23rd. (Hooray!) So we drove out early and have had a wonderful time with family.

Cuddling with Aunt Elisse (bride-to-be...only 3 more days)

Cuddling with Uncle Kevan

Holding hands with Jack-Jack
Playing in the snow

15 Months: A Little Man

• Bradshaw loves toothbrushes. He was walking around the apartment sucking on one when I heard a scraping sound. Lo & Behold, he was using his toothbrush to clean under the oven. Only it wasn't his toothbrush...it was Daddy's.
• We were late to meet Dustinn's co-workers for dinner. I had just set my concealer on the bathroom counter and now I couldn't find it. We figured Bradshaw snatched it and began looking behind the toilet, under the fridge, etc. Finally Dustinn comes walking down the hall with it. Where did he find it? In the trash. Along with a Doctrine & Covenants
• Whenever I am riding shotgun, Bradshaw insists on holding hands the entire car ride.
• Bradshaw's rock solid. When you pick him up he feels like a load of bricks.
  
• Bradshaw has started talking in his sleep. Apparently he dreams about cats.
• I love sleep. When Bradshaw wakes up in the morning, I usually let him play in my room while I try to catch a few more Z's. One such morning, Bradshaw was standing above me gently stroking my hair. So I slowly open my eyes to smile at this sweet boy and AH! I see my metal brush raised high above his head ready to come crashing down on my head! That wakes you up.
• He can follow a lot of instructions like, "Put X in the garbage can" or "Go get a diaper" or "Find your binkie" or "Mommy needs a hug." Hooray for this development!
  

What We've Been Up to....

Lights at the Washington D.C. temple (with our cute friends)

Ward Christmas Party Unfortunately, Santa was not a hit:We celebrated this handsome man's birthday:
(He doesn't look very happy here, but really he had a good day.)
National Tree

Our Thanksgiving Story (as told through a potpourri of Bradshaw pictures)

Thanksgiving this year was held at my parent's house in Flower Mound, Texas. Not only were all my siblings & spouses there, but my Grandmother & Grandfather were there as well! (This is a BIG deal. My grandparents have 10 kids and 80 grandkids so you have to book them a long time in advance.)
Many of the dishes were special family recipes (the stuffing, sweet potato souffle, orange rolls, creamy blueberry jello ring and , of course, my Grandfather's mashed potatoes!)
Each person had a small pile of candy corn on his/her plate. We went around the table, and for each candy corn you said one thing you are grateful for.
After the meal, we had a turkey bowl out on the ranch. Then at night, we had a thanksgiving program (Joe slaughtered the rest of us in the Thanksgiving quiz. Smart man, my brother-in-law.)

Captain Smith & Pocahontas? Myles Standish?

Can't forget the pies! My Grandmother & Dad made more pies than there were people!

Nelson & Bradshaw set-up the Christmas train.

This picture represents our puzzle races. (I know what you're thinking. How can puzzles be fast & furious? Ohhhhh it was. Boys vs Girls. It was extremely competitive and SO FUN.)

In the 2 weeks I was there, the puppy went from a ball of fur to a real dog. So sad. I'm glad babies don't change that quickly.

These two have a very symbiotic relationship: Puppy catches everything that falls from the high chair; Bradshaw grabs fistfuls of her fur while she sits patiently; when Bradshaw is drinking a bottle she licks the drips off his chin. I went with my dad & grandparents down to the barn.Bradshaw comes from a long line of chicken-men. Note his first impression of chickens. In the midst of a busy week, we had a very special temple trip.
See the meter stick? It was intended to keep Bradshaw out of the treat drawer. Instead, he used it to open both drawers at the same time, and reach in through the side. Then we'd find trails of powdered sugar and chocolate through the house.

Early morning frost on the ranch. (Steam coming off the water.)

A coyote strutted right behind our house. There are tons of animals on the ranch (deer galore, racoons, opossums, etc.)

"I love you my family! Please come visit me!"

Note: I'm going to take a short hiatus from blogging and will be back in few weeks. =)