January 2015: Part 1

January was a good month. 

Full of kisses for this cute little guy.

And trips to school lunch to see Ryan. I have been volunteering at Ryan's school every week this year and it's been so fun. I bring Camden and Brady with me and we switch out the Take Home Reading books for the kids in Ryan's class. We do all our work behind the scenes in a little room off the library so it has been prefect with the two little boys in tow. They can play toys, draw or play on the iPad while I switch the books out and check them in and out on the computer. The fun part comes when we go to drop the books off in Ryan's classroom. He is so cute and his face lights up whenever he sees us. He always comes over for a hug and is always excited to see his little brothers. I know Camden and Brady love to see Ryan in his classroom each week. If we can time it right we have lunch in the lunch room with Ryan- one of Camden's all time favorite activities. He feels so big eating lunch with the school kids.

I started trying to transition Camden to one nap a day in January. Most days he couldn't make it. He was begging for his bed by 10:30am. On the occasional day that he did last until 12:30 or 1 he would only sleep an hour or an hour and a half- not long enough for his only nap of the day. On this particular day, however, he slept from 11:30-3:30! That's 4 hours! He woke up in the best mood. It feels good to catch up on sleep!

Going back to school after Christmas break ended up being so good for both Ryan and Brady. It was funny to see them get back into the schedule of things. I guess spelling tests were a novelty for the first couple weeks back because Ryan and his buddy, Lukus, spent one Thursday afternoon with the white board out giving each other spelling tests. It was so cute.

I mentioned getting back into the schedule of school.... Brady woke up one Friday morning (a school day for him) at 6am. By about 8:30 when it was time to get ready to leave for school he had disappeared. I found him in the office totally passed out on the floor. Poor guy. I tried shaking him and calling his name, but he was out for the count. The best was when Camden came in and started trying to pull his arm all while yelling, "BayDEE! BayDEE!" I ended up getting him dressed in his sleep and moving him to his carseat only half awake. He finally did wake up enough to walk into preschool. It was an easy bedtime that night.

Our good friend, Ashley, from Virginia got married mid-January. I grew up in the same as her and Zach got to be good friends with her after he came to BYU. She is seriously one of the nicest people you will ever meet and we were so happy for her. Zach and I planned on meeting Aaron and Brittany at the reception but got there before them. We were making small talk with some people from home when I glance at the door and my sister Anne walks in with her fiancee Spencer! Haha. I didn't even know she was coming! It was so random and such a pleasant surprise.

Brady came due for a haircut in January. I just love his hair. I have the hardest time cutting it, which is why it ends up very shaggy between cuts. Haha. Luckily, he looks cute either way but it is definitely easier having it short and not having to comb it everyday.

One Saturday there was a little excitement on the mountain just in front of our house. The weather was gorgeous (such a weird winter in Utah!) so Brady and Camden and I were out on the trampoline when we saw this helicopter start doing circles around the mountain side facing us. At one point it even landed on the top of the mountain. It started circling low to the ground just over our house so we ran- in bare feet- out to the main road to see what it was going to do. Sure enough, it landed in the golf course across the street. I assume someone was lost or injured up the mountain because they kept making trips up the mountain and back down to the golf course for the next 6 hours or so. We never did find out what happened or if they were successful in their rescue efforts but it made a good story to tell. I hope everything turned out okay for everyone involved. There was no coverage on any of the News sites, so I like to think it all ended okay.

Pam and Doug came to town to take Ryan and some of the other grandkids skiing. It happened to be the same weekend that Zach left for India for work. It was great timing as they came to church with me and the boys and even helped me in my primary class. Pam got the boys new suits for church so I tried to get a picture before church. Brady would have none of it.

While Zach was gone (he was gone for a full week) I tried to stay busy with projects around the house. One of the projects I took on was a reading wall behind the sofa in the toy room. I am so happy with how it turned out!

We met the Smiths at the Children's Museum one evening. It was fun to meet up with them. I've found the secret to surviving long business trips is to stay busy. Camden wandered into a little library room at the museum with this little statue. I propped him up on the shelf to get a better look and he put his arm around it. So cute!

Rick secured his spot as brother-in-law of the year and went with me all the way out to Eagle Mountain to pick up these bunk beds I found on KSL. They were a killer deal (less than a year old, with mattresses included for $150!) and I didn't want to pass them up. With Zach out of town I had to negotiate the deal on my own and with the help of Rick and his truck we picked them up. It all went surprisingly smoothly and I was able to spend the next day while the kids were at school putting them together. Have you ever assembled bunk beds on your own? It was tricky to say the least, but I didn't want Zach to have to help me after his long trip so with some balancing and stacking I was able to get them put together as a surprise for Zach when he got home.

Ryan sleeps on top and Brady is on the bottom. They have loved it! I switched their room with Camden's and they have enjoyed the change.