A Good Excuse to Go to Utah

I am so proud of my little brother, Justin (or as I like to call him: Bubba or Bubbaloo) for working so hard and graduating from BYU at the ripe old age of 22...and that includes serving a 2 year mission in Bolivia. So the whole fam (except for Brett) got to drive up to Utah for the special occasion. My mom and dad took Bradock in their truck and left from Pinetop and Sarah, Chance, baby Kai, Raylee and I drove up together. I was a little worried about staying in Utah after we hit a nice little snowstorm on our way...not exactly how I wanted to spend my time up there (it actually only rained/snowed one day while we were there and the rest was fairly nice). We got to Provo Wednesday night and had a fun couple days of graduation fun.

Thursday afternoon was the BYU commencement ceremony and Elder Christofferson was the guest speaker. He did a great job and it was so neat and refreshing to hear about education and religion in the same speech.

I could not believe how packed the Marriott Center was.

McKai took a nice little nap in between the bleachers during the ceremony...a definite plus of having a baby...they sleep anywhere.

Friday morning was the actual graduation ceremony where Justin received his diploma and degree in Latin American Studies with a minor in political science.

Later that night was the big grad party. What would a party be without lots of dancing?! And boy did Mr. B and Raylee get down.

Bradock was busting out all his break dancing moves.

My two little dancers were the center of attention and the dance circle. Bradock is usually so shy, but he sure came out of his shell to bust some moves.

On Saturday I headed up to Sandy to hang out with our friends, the Frys, for a couple days. We had so much fun hanging out with them. Bradock and Raylee loved playing with Easton and Broden and all their fun toys.

Nate became the favorite after taking all the kiddos on a ride on the 3-wheeler.

We had to say goodbye to our friends and grandma and papa and head for home on Monday morning. Chance, Sarah, McKai, Justin, Bradock, Raylee and I packed in the car and made a suprisingly great 10 hour trip home. The kids were seriously awesome (thanks to the dvd player) and I was so proud of them that once we got to Flagstaff they got to get a treat at the gas station. Let me tell you that ring pops are a great treat to entertain kids for a couple hours. Raylee was a little messy with hers, but who really cares when it keeps them quiet and happy for awhile.

Ray was so sticky that her hair was just plastered to her face.

What's a good road trip without an open-mouth shot?

The B's Celebrated Their Big 3's

My two favorite boys had some pretty big birthdays this week, so we got to do some more birthday celebrating. Brett turned the big 3-0 on Thursday and Bradock turned 3 on Saturday, so I decided it would be fun to throw a combined birthday party for them. We had it at Jefferson Park (which is one very fun park with lots of different playgrounds) on Saturday evening and we enjoyed a fun night with family and friends.

Here is a pic of the 3 Stooges at Joe's Farm Grill. We ate there for Brett's birthday dinner, since he got to eat for free.

Bradock with his best girl-friend, Carsyn.

Bradock was so excited about his "Cars" birthday cake.

Lucky for Brett he doesn't look a day over 18...well maybe a little over 18, but you look exactly the same as on our wedding day.

My cutie patootie!

Bradock-

I still can't believe that you are 3 already. Dad and I were just talking about the special experience we had of seeing you be born and taking you home from the hospital. We feel so blessed everyday that your birth mom gave us the opportunity to have such a special special little boy in our family. You are such a good boy with a tender heart and lovable personality. I love your sweet little compliments ("Mom you are pretty or Mom I like your necklace") and I appreciate your two-thumbs-up when you are thanking me for something I've done. I love how shy you are around other people, but so fun and talkative around dad and I. Your ability to stare at the toy or shopping ads for hours amaze me and make me laugh. You no longer have a favorite song because every song is your favorite and you know the words to many of them (even when you don't you make up the words). You have the cutest smile and funniest facial expressions. You are so smart and I love to hear you sing the ABCs, count to 14, and sing church songs. Your favorite foods right now are hot dogs, cashews, blueberries, bananas, yogurt, string cheese, cottage cheese, well any type of cheese, pizza and candy galore...you definitely have a sweet tooth. You sure love your super heros which according to you include: Spider Man, Batman, Buzz Lightyear, The Incredibles, Captain Hook (yes you really love him), Hiccup, Kung Fu Panda and Lightening McQueen. You are still a lefty, which dad has come to terms with and as much as I hate to admit it, you are still a daddy's boy. You love your dad more than any one in the world and you call him your best friend or best buddy everyday. You say you want to be a dentist like him, which makes dad real proud. You are the best night time cuddler and I love that you like to eat popcorn and watch tv with me. You do still like to get up early, but you make your way into our room and find a nice spot on the floor next to dad's side and fall right back to sleep. We find you sleeping there every morning. I love that you are apart of our family and love all the special things about you. I can't wait to share this 3rd fun year with you. XOXO-Mom