Brayden's Luau

In our little family, we started the tradition that the first birthday party is a Luau! As Brayden's birthday grew closer, plans got underway. We had big plans for having the party at the park behind our house, since the weather is always so beautiful in early October. Well, we couldn't have picked a worse day! It was misting, raining and sleeting and I don't think the temperature creeped over 40 that day! Luckily, I had some amazing help that day (mostly my wonderful sister-in-law, Heather, who drove up with her 4 kids to help me!! But also Brian and my parents helped too!) to turn my home into a Hawaiian Paradise for 70 people. Here's some pictures of how the decorations turned out:







So, after we were all decorated, we managed to fit almost 70 people in my little house! We literally used every room in my house (including the garage!) to fit everyone in. Luckily, since we spread everyone out throughout all the room, no one felt crowded. AND since there were so many people, the house stayed at a warm 74 degrees, even with no heat on!!

Some of the favorite activities of the day were:

The Pie Eating Contest




The Hula Contest



The Piñata


The Food



The Cake



And Presents!!




We had such a fun day, despite the weather. We had family and friends from the Carbon Valley area, Loveland, Wellington, the Denver area, Colorado Springs and even Clovis, NM, all come to my home to celebrate my sweet, adorable son! I feel so grateful and blessed that there are so many people who love my family. I can't thank you all enough for being the village to help me raise my children. We love you all, and we're so glad you could join us for Brayden's special day!

Happy Birthday, Brayden!

A year ago today, my sweet little Brayden was born. We've had a great year getting to know him. He loves to crawl around, be chased, climb up on things, play with his brother, point, say "Arrrr" like a pirate, play in the bath, plunder the dishwasher, eat, swing, give kisses, stick rocks in his mouth, cuddle and many other things. There isn't anyone who wouldn't be lucky to know and be a part of this child's life. He brings so much joy to everyone who meets him. You can't help but smile when you see his happy face! Happy Birthday, my son! I love you so much and I'm so glad I've been able to spend the last year with you!!

Brayden on the day he was born


Brayden on his birthday, sitting inside his birthday present

New Mexico

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of spending time in Clovis with Brian's brother Eric and his family. Danielle (Brian's niece) was getting baptized, so it was definitely a special occasion.

We had a lot of excitement on this trip. As we were driving down, we encountered some critters crossing the highway that you don't see around these parts. These were big enough that we could tell what they were when we were driving 65 mph. That's how big they were!! Don't click this link to see what they were if you freak out about weird critters, ok? ----> Critter.

We made it to Eric's house and went to the baptism that evening. The baptism was wonderful! We are so proud of you, Danielle!

This next picture is of Tyler shortly after falling on his face in the gym during dinner and got a fat lip with bleeding gums. It wasn't a pretty sight. There was blood on his white shirt and his favorite tie.

Later that same night, Tyler and his cousin, Josh, were playing around and Josh's head went right into Tyler's eye. What resulted was my son's first black eye!




Brayden sure had fun playing with his Grandparents....and the dog!!



Tyler and Josh had a great time together despite the black eye set-back. Tyler is sure excited to play with Josh when his family comes this weekend for Brayden's birthday party!


Aren't they a good looking bunch of kids? We love cousins!!


While we were there, Brian also help Eric and his brother-in-law tile the kitchen floor. Brian enjoyed hanging out with his brother and learning a new skill. He's even thinking about tiling our bathrooms now!




Thanks, Eric and Heather, for your hospitality and a fun weekend! We can't wait to see you guys this weekend!