A few new pictures

26 weeks

Braden and Abby

Abby

Gavin and Braden

Growth Chart

Isn't this great? I found it at the Pottery barn kids outlet near our house. It was originally $130 and I got it for $23. I am so excited about it.

Braden's soccer game

Yesterday Braden had a soccer game and he did a great job. He scored two goals and stopped the other team several times from scoring. Way to go Braden!!

I've been missing a few things

Lately I have been missing a few things. I miss the ladies I played basketball with three days a week. I miss going to the gym every week with my buddies. Most of all I miss being able to walk outside of my apartment and seeing my best friend and her kids playing and how it always but a smile on my face. I really miss my Arizona friends. I miss Tony and Lizet's late night visits and the hours we spent laughing about random things. Oh the things I miss right now.

Our Saturday

Saturday was a pretty windy and cold day here, and the kids were begging to fly their kite, so we took them out to do so. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

Almost 24 weeks

Yes here it is the picture you have all been waiting for. Okay not really but thought I would share anyways.

Life in New York

So I thought I would give you some of my thought about living here in New York. I've come to realize that it is what it is. I just need to get use to it. Some things that really bother me are. First, the drivers. They drive way too fast and never let you over when you have your blinker on. They would rather race you than be a nice person and let you in. For instance, today Abby and I went with a friend and her two kids in their van to do some shopping. We were at a red light just waiting and all of the sudden--SMACK!-- a car hit us from behind. She was going too fast and just couldn't stop in time. So now here I am with a hurt neck and a 3 year old not feeling so good tonight and scared to get in a car. Thanks a lot New York drivers. Second, it's hard to find a good place to eat. Okay you might be thinking "What? You live in New York," but we don't live right in New York City. We are about an hour from the city. I can't find a good Mexican restaurant. I really miss Arizona when I'm craving Mexican food. Anyways not so impressed with the food chooses here.
My next frustration I know is no ones fault but come on Mormons don't you want to live on Long Island? The church here is a little different. We are use to the big wards in Utah or Arizona where you are lucky if you get a calling or your really lucky if you get to speak in sacrament once every five years. Well here it's a little different. Your lucky if you get no less then three callings and here you get to say one of the prayers in sacrament every other week. You also get to talk in sacrament once a month. Here is an example, Sunday I conducted primary, played the piano in primary and I am the secretary which meant I took the rolls around to the classes and picked then up. Gavin on the other hand had it much easier then I did. His Sundays start like this; 7:00 am PEC meeting, then sets up all the chairs in the church for classes, then he either blesses or passes the sacrament, then he teaches his Sunday School class and then since he is the Elder Quorum President and has no counselors he teaches Elders Quorum also. We are blessed with our callings but really can't any of you find a reason to move to Long Island?
All in all I am trying to enjoy myself here. I know I just rambled on but thought I would share just a few things that I deal with each week.

Eyes on me

Since Braden has been in Kindergarten he has come home with all of these sayings that he has learned there. One that I think is cute but I am totally sick of it is: "1,2,3 eyes on me."

His teacher says this to the class to get their attention. After she says it the class says "1,2,3 eyes on you." It's cute and all but little miss Abby who thinks the world evolves around her runs around all day saying "1,2,3 eyes on me, 1,2,3 eyes on me." It drives me crazy. Another saying that has become a daily quote in our household is, "You get what you get and you don't get upset." This quote I can handle a little bit more. Oh the things kids remember.

He made it

So yesterday I was a little nervous about Braden making it home from school okay. He made it just fine. The first thing he said when he got off the bus was, "I am never riding the bus again". I thought "OH NO". He said the big kids in the back of the bus were being bad and that the bus driver kept yelling and he didn't like it. I told him that as long as he is doing what he is suppose to be doing not to worry about the other kids. This morning he woke up and was okay with riding the bus again. I'm so glad. It's funny because I thought Bradan and Abby were tired of each other from the long summer and that they wouldn't miss each other during the day. But from the minute Braden gets home from school they start playing together and they play so nice. Also this morning instead of turning on the TV they were in there room playing with there puzzles. I was shocked. I guess they are just really good buddies.

Braden's Big Day

Braden's first day of Kindergarten was yesterday. He got up early and was so excited. We packed his sack lunch and his afternoon snack and got all of his school supplies ready and in his backpack. We decided to drive him the first day. We got in the car and off we went. As we pulled up to the school I could see the excitement in his eyes. He was just ready to get out of the car and go. We walked in the school and were greeted by some really nice people. We walked down the hall to find room 2. His teacher Ms. Hughes was there to greet him. She is SO nice. We went in hung up his backpack and he went to find his name on his desk. He was all ready for his first big day of school. As I was walking down the hall to leave the school a sense of peace came over me. I knew he was going to be okay. He has been ready for this day for a while.


This morning he rode on the bus. He was so excited again for another day of school. I took him to the bus stop and off he went. Now I am sitting here at home thinking I sure hope he is okay. I hope he found his class okay and I hope he gets on the right bus after school. Yesterday was a little bit easier because I dropped him off and picked him up and I knew he would make it home just fine. So now I will continue to sit here until 3:32 and wonder if Braden will be okay today, if he will make it home okay.

Labor Day Weekend

Here are the pictures from our fun weekend. We had to stay close to home because Gavin was on-call. So first off Braden had his first soccer practice on Friday. His first game is this coming Saturday. He's really looking forward to it. We took the kids to the ecology center close to our house. Best part is that it's free. They had lots of animals. We saw bears, llamas, pigs, goats, cows, and many birds. The kids had a great time. This weekend we also took the kids to Boomers and let them ride on some of the rides. A few others things that we did included Braden flying his kite and the kids planting their Kix cereal in the dirt by my front door. All in all it was a fun weekend. Braden starts Kindergarten tomorrow and I will post more about that tomorrow. He is really excited.