Tanner's Sunglasses

 I brought Tanner with me to one of Chase's first soccer games.  It was really sunny so I pulled out a pair of sunglasses for Tanner.  He didn't know what to think of them.  The sunglasses were one of the few items that I kept from the boys.  It cracked me up to see him wearing them.  He didn't try to take them off.  He looks so cool!

Tanner 3.5 months old

Tanner is such a happy baby!!!!  He's getting big so fast!  It's fun to watch him grow and develop.  He's started reaching for things.  He can now grab onto the rings on his bouncer chair.  He likes to snuggle with his blankets.  He likes them right next to his face.  Sometimes he even puts them over his head.  When he's sleeping, I'll come in and pull the blanket down off his face but by morning, it's back over his face.  Luckily he really likes his binkis.  He still likes his bouncer chairs.  He's still not a big fan of the swing.  He'll sit in it for about 10 minutes and then he's done.

The other day Bridger was really tired and Tanner was fusing.  I was trying to clean the car.  So I told Bridger to just lay on the couch with Tanner and see if he could get him to go to sleep.  When I came back inside, I found Bridger and Tanner snuggled up together and they were both asleep.  It was such a sweet moment!!!!

Tanner likes to sit in the bumbo seat.  I'll put it on the kitchen counter and have him sit in it.  He loves to watch the boys eat breakfast.  He's so good to sit in it while I'm fixing dinner or doing the dishes.  He just wants to be a part of things.  The down side is that he spits up a little bit more when he's sitting in the bumbo but it's still worth it because it keeps him happy.  Tanner is so loved by his big brothers.  They love to hold him and give him lots of loves!!!! Bridger is frequently telling me "take my picture with Tanner!"

Rachael's 37th Birthday

A few weeks ago, Kip made this delicious caramel bundt cake.  So that's what I really wanted for my birthday cake.  I tried to make it and this is how it turned out!!!  All I could do was laugh so I didn't cry.  I sent my pictures to Jen so she could have a good laugh!  Kip laughed too.  Bridger really liked Kip's cake so when he tried my cake he said "next time you should have Kip make it!" The pictures sum up my cooking!  It looked gross but with three cubes of butter and 5 eggs, you can't go wrong.  Luckily though it still tasted good.

My sweet friend Michelle arranged for her mom to watch Tanner while we went for an hour bike ride. That's the best present she could have given me!  It was so fun to go with her.  She's been such a good friend to me.  For my birthday, I wanted to go see a movie during the day.  So Mom, Dad, and Marilyn came down and we went and saw "The Hundred-Foot Journey."  Shantelle had Nyla watch her girls so she came too.  The movie was really sweet and it was so fun to do something during the day.   Mom, Dad, and Marilyn stuck around and came to dinner with us.  The C's came too.  Chase didn't want to miss soccer practice so he didn't come.  I was supposed to go to pack meeting but I refused to do that on my birthday.  It was supposed to be Bridger's first pack meeting but he agreed to wait until next month.  I really wanted to go to Red Lobster for my birthday.  I was craving their bite size coconut shrimp.  I love their rolls too.  It was a fun night celebrating my birthday!

First Day of School

We went to back to school night and had the boys meet their new teachers and find out where their classrooms are going to be.  Chase has Mrs. Workman.  She's a dear friend of ours.  She's been in our ward since we moved here.  She's a fabulous teacher so we're really excited that Chase has her this year.  She reminds me so much of mom.  Bridger has a new teacher this year, Miss Larson.   Instead of student teaching, she was accepted into the internship program at UVU and was one of the few teachers that were selected to come to Legacy.  We've heard really good things about her.  It was reassuring to meet her at back to school night.  She's very young (I must be getting old) but she's so energetic!!!  It's going to be a great year!

The boys have been so funny about their hair.  They are very particular with it.  Bridger wants to keep his a little "longer" and wear it missionary style.  Chase likes his very short and "spiky."  The boys were so excited for the first day of school.  They each picked out their outfits.  They got new backpacks this year.  Chase got a really nice one from Costco and Bridger picked his out at Target.  It's an orange camouflage backpack.  Bridger really wanted me to walk them to school.  Last year they wanted to go by themselves so I thought it was really sweet they wanted me to come.  For the last several years, I've struggled with the first day of school because I thought there would be more kids to come.  This year I felt so grateful that our family has been blessed with another child!  I just can't believe that Chase is in 6th grade and Bridger is in 2nd.  Time is flying by!!!

Matt is Released!

After five years of serving as the bishop, Matt was released.  The sweet McBeth family in our ward brought over this candy graham to say thanks.  There were times when I felt like it crept by and I felt like it was never going to end.  But then other times when I felt like it's been a blink of an eye.  I'm grateful that Matt was released.  I was very ready to have him home with our family.  His new job has been very busy so by the time he comes home from work and then goes to church meetings we just don't see him that often.  I'm grateful for the service we've been able to give.  I know we've both grown a lot!!!  It's been a big sacrifice.  Matt has really enjoyed getting to know the people in the ward.  His favorite part was service with the youth.  He has loved the youth!!!

Swimming Fun

The summer has flown by!  We couldn't believe that we were on our last week of summer.  We tried to jam a lot into our last week.  One of the things the boys wanted to do was go swimming at the rec center.  Bridger invited his friend Brody to come with us.  Brody is such a sweet little friend.  We love it when he comes along.  Chase tried to invite a friend but no one was home.  Shantelle and the girls joined us for the fun too.  Sweet Mom and Dad wanted to spend some time with us so they came and watched the kids swim.  

Aliyah was so brave.  She went on the water slide a couple of times with Shan.  I loved watching them come out because they get dunked but they have big smiles when their heads pop up.

Sophie Swimming

There's a little pond by our house and we've never been over there to play.  It's been on my list to do for years so we finally took an afternoon and went over to play in the water.  I should have brought life jackets for the boys but I forgot so we only let them get in the water up to their waist.  Sophie LOVED swimming in the water.  There were some ducks in the water by her, but she didn't mind.  I was worried that she would eat them but she acted like she didn't notice them.  She loved swimming after the ball.

We were rushing out the door so when we got to the park I realized that I had forgotten Sophie's leash and a hat for Tanner.  So Matt and I hung out in the shade while the boys played with Sophie.

Back Yard Fun

Bridger really wanted to learn how to do a back flip.  He has watched Chase do back flips for years and is determined to do it just like Chase.  So to start, I would get on the trampoline with Bridger and flip him over.  After a week of that, then it went to me just spotting him.  A few days of that and it finally clicked with him.  He did it just like that!!!  Once he figured out how to do a back flip, he's turned into a machine.  He goes outside and does constant back flips.  He's crazy!!!  Chase is still crazy with his back flips too.  While we were out watching the boys do their back flips I looked over and saw all the "boys" on the swing.  I wanted to capture this moment and remember it forever!

Tanner's First Bike Ride

Luckily we kept our really nice running/biking stroller.  I loaded Tanner up in the trailer and connected it to my bike.  He loved the ride!!!  I was surprised that he stayed awake for so long.  I thought he would fall asleep the minute we started but he was too interested in looking at everything. He finally fell asleep for about 30 minutes so I was able to get a 90 minute bike ride in!!!  He never made a peep!  Luckily he likes going for rides!

Bridger's Friend Birthday Party

I felt like the whole week we celebrated Bridger's birthday.  He really wanted to go to Chuckee Cheese for his friend birthday party.  Chase went there for his 8th birthday with his friends so Bridger wanted to do the same thing.  There was no changing his mind.  There are a lot of little boys Bridger's age in our neighborhood so it was hard to narrow it down.  He invited:  Logan, Daxon, Bronco, Isaac, Dawson, Jack, Preston, and Chase.  His best friend Brody was out of town so he couldn't come.  Luckily Matt worked out his schedule so he was off and could help out at the party.  The boys had a great time.  I was hoping their tokens would last longer but they didn't so we ended up buying lots of tokens!!!

Matt was such a good sport and went around and played games with the boys, mainly Chase and Bridger.  Tanner hung out at the table with me while we waited for the pizza and guarded the presents.  He slept for the first half of the party and then was happy to just watch the crazy boys.

Part of Bridger's party package included on minute in the "ticket blaster!"  He was very nervous but he scored big!!! HE got a ticket that had 1000 points on it so he had over 1500 tickets.  He shared some with Chase and then he picked out a badminton game.  Bridger got a Chuckee Cheese crown and a special medal.  The boys used some of their tokens and then we had pizza.  The Chuckee Cheese came out and sang Happy Birthday to Bridger.  Bridger loved every minute of it!!!!

Bridger wanted me to make chocolate cupcakes for his party.  We brought some vanilla ice cream too.  Bridger received a lot of fun presents from his friends.  Everyone had a great time!!!

Bridger's 8th Birthday

On Sunday, we went to the Grandma and Grandpa A for dinner.  Bridger wanted marshmallow brownies.  He was so excited to get scriptures from Grandpa and Grandma A.  He wanted the nice leather scriptures with the flap that folds over them.  We had a few brownies left over so we shared them with the R's after the swimming party.  The W's gave him the playmobil dragons.  He also got Raphael Ninja turtle and Shredder, the bad guy.  

Chase had outgrown his soccer cleats so we went to the Nike outlet store and got Chase some new cleats.  Bridger had a little meltdown in the store because I wouldn't buy him new cleats.  He was so sad because he said that he never gets new cleats because he always gets Chase's old ones.  I surprised him and went back to the store and bought him the same cleats that Chase got.  He was very surprised and really happy!!!!!

At the cabin, Mylissa and Shan had perler beads.  The kids had so much fun creating things with the beads.  Bridger really wanted some for his birthday and was very happy that Aunt Marilyn gave him his own kit.

Bridger got the new Mario Cart 8 Wii U game.  The boys have had so much fun playing the new game.  Bridger also wanted Anikin's fighter plane.  He loves Legos!  He's gotten really good at putting the set together all by himself.  The next day he built the plane all by himself.

Bridger really wanted the playmobil SUV and camper.  He set it up and kept it on the kitchen counter for over a week so he could play with it every day.