Braydon's Samba

Braydon (Middle)

A little hip-hop to make it interesting. :)

Braydon (left) Dallin (right)

(great friends) 

Braydon's end of the year ballroom dance was soooo FUN!  He did a great job and the director of the dance studio talked to me afterward about some exciting opportunities for Braydon next year. :) We are super proud of him and have such a blast getting to watch him dance! 

Time Flies!

It seems like Braydon just started kindergarten... So hard to believe now that he just graduated from elementary school/ 6th grade!

What happened to my little boy???

Braydon's 6th grade graduation photo

Braydon is such a good kid!  He is a delight (most of the time!)  :)   He is super responsible and smart.

He is a really hard worker.  He graduated with straight A's and great citizenship too. 

 The 6th grade teachers asked him to make an end of the year video for all the 6th grade because of his video and computer skills.  He worked very hard putting together all the photos he had taken, adding great music and special effects to the video.  It turned out great and we were all so proud of him!

It's so hard thinking of sending your baby (even if its your oldest) to Junior High, but I know Braydon is going to continue to bring fun and excitement to our lives and I love seeing him learn and grow.  He has great goals- even wants to be valedictorian one day.  I'm okay with that! ;)  Plus, he's just so fun!  Braydon is such a tease.  He has great taste in music and can dance so well.  He's not shy!

Braydon always keeps us laughing, and on track too!  

I feel so proud to say he's my son.  Love this handsome boy!

Bowling Profiles

We went bowling for Livvy's birthday. We don't go very often.  I noticed that the way we bowl says a lot about each member of our family.  Our personalities all came out. :)  

Just a few highlights and thoughts:

 Livvy- "New SHOES?!! YAY!"

Chase- "I hope there are no parasites in them..."

Braydon- "Am I studly?"

(Always making a joke)  

"They're all so pretty! "

(the cutie says)

The Cutie Pie and Daddy the Pro

Braydon strutting some kind of moves,

Chase keeping tabs on the electronics:

Bowling like a frog:

Middle of the game candid moments:

Four kids competing, and rushing to and fro with very heavy bowling balls (see Livvy above) meant for not much sitting for mom and dad.

And If I am completely honest, I must say, it was the dad doing most of the work. :)

I love him and his mad skills.

Some of us pretended we could play.

Some of us really could.

And some of us were bound and determined to win.

Some of us didn't care. We were just there for the fun.

And to make a birthday night special for a certain 4 year old.

We loved celebrating with this happy girl!

And this is how the night ended-  :)

We all brought something to the game,

and we all left with at least a few points, some laughs

and tired eyes and arms.

Not a bad night. 

Wouldn't it be fun to recreate this photo once a year and see how these little feet grow?  (sniff-sniff)

Braydon's Ballroom Dance (VIDEO)

I was so giddy watching Braydon perform his ballroom dance this weekend.  I just loved it! 

I rarely post videos, but this one I had to!

It is the cutest thing to watch and I'm excited to share. ;) 

 I absolutely LOVE that he LOVES to dance.  

I was a dancer once...upon a time.  I miss it soooo much!  

But I have even greater joy watching my kids loving it too. 

I think Braydon will be a great date one day when he can take a girl to a dance, and actually have the confidence to dance with her!  I hope he will keep it up. 

 As for now, he absolutely feels at home dancing. I hope you enjoy this clip. The image does improve after a minute and I get some good close ups too. 

Not too shabby for a 12 year old, eh? :) 

 I hope it brings a smile to your face too.  :)

He's the one in the middle:

Currently known as Braydon...

One of Braydon's missions is to make goofy faces in all of his photos.  He is such a little jokester and a quick wit. :)  I love spending time and playing around with him.  He is my pride and joy. :)

Recently, he said to me, "Mama (he always calls me mama, even when his friends tease him),

 I think you definitely should have another baby."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, "How come?"

(Braydon) "Because they're awesome, and so you have someone to carry on the family name..."

Of course at this point I gave him a quizzical look and so he quickly replied,

"Well, the rest of us will probably all change our names!"

Haha. Very Funny.

I actually did laugh at that one.

Braydon is such a funny kid.  He loves to joke and kid around.

Here are a few highlights about my sweet boy:

Has his own sense of style* Loves to read* Is currently reading the 39 CLUES books* Loves the color-lime green* Loves dancing and is taking hip hop and ballroom* Is a great student* Loves his iPod* Great with technology and computers* Is a good friend and chooses good friends* Likes to eat weird things- like scorpions, chocolate covered ants, frog legs, etc. (SOOO Gross! I think he may go on a mission one day to somewhere exotic so he can "use" this skill. LOL)* Very neat and Organized* Always does his homework and chores* Empties the dishwasher each day* Loves soft blankets and clothes* Great at styling his hair* Great at routines* Funny kid* Mostly wears contacts now* Is a deep sleeper* Kinda slow in the mornings* Very Curious and Nosy* A big tease* Loves his baby sister* Hazel eyes* Always reminds us to pray and read scriptures* whistles all the time* 12 years old* Is a charming, loving boy

I knew I wanted to spotlight my sweet son I love so much, before he becomes perhaps- Bo, Luke, or Jesse...

Love you kiddo.

(so so much!)

Priesthood Session Oct 2011

This October, Braydon got to go to the General Priesthood Session with Dad and Grandpa.  What a special day and opportunity.. :) 

I always try to take a picture of the men walking over to the priesthood session.  I love seeing the whole army of men walking in. There's just something so powerful about it to me, and even more when I can watch my husband, son, and father in law honoring their priesthood.  :)

Just us...

But, some pictures of ALL of us. :)

This was following Braydon's ordination to the priesthood yesterday.  He's 12 and officially in the young men and Deacon's quorum- with the smile to prove it.  
It was a beautiful ending to a hard and hectic week.  
What a beautiful beginning to a new week! :)

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission...

Braydon gave his last talk (as a youth) in Primary (at church) today.  He is heading to Young Men's in two weeks.  He was asked to speak on missionary work.  He gave a wonderful talk. He was well prepared and spoke like such a confident young man. I couldn't hold back the tears.

His.Last.Primary.Talk? 

And it sounded like a mission farewell.

I guess I need lots of preparation for that day. 

Some highlights from his talk:

He quoted President Monson,

“Young men, I admonish you to prepare for service as a missionary. Keep yourselves clean and pure and worthy to represent the Lord.”

 He also shared this funny story.  Elder Theodore Tuttle said,

"When the prophet of God declares that now is the time to lengthen our stride and to increase our missionary force, now is the time!"

Elder Tuttle talked with a young man about a mission. The young man said, “I don’t want to go.”

Elder Tuttle asked, “What has that got to do with it? We need you.”

(I hope Braydon will always remember this!)

He shared a story from Wade's mission and said how he was excited for the privelege to be the first person to serve a full-time mission in his mom's side of the family. 

Indeed, what an honor!  I wasn't the only person crying at his talk. Other ladies looked at me with tear-filled eyes (which only made me lose it more!)

I am so proud of Braydon. He is such a wonderful boy. He has such a strong spirit!

I told him when we got home how proud I am to be his mom. His words,

"It's the other way around. I am lucky to be your son."

I sooo love this boy!
I hope he will always have the desire to serve a full time mission when he turns 19.

It was a day to remember for sure.  My heart is so full. I am so blessed. And I'm so grateful!

Braydon's Award

Braydon was presented with this award in May.  He received the President's Education Award for his A+ GPA, for testing high in reading and comprehension, and for receiving high scores on his math and science end of year tests. 

It is signed by President Obama.

We are really proud of Braydon and for doing so great in school! :)

We are happy that he received such neat recognition!

Salad Trumps Corn Dogs

I am always so proud of this handsome boy, but recently he gave me one more reason. 

Braydon's 5th grade class was learning about laws and bills at school.  His teacher gave them an assignment of coming up with a "bill" to improve something about their classroom or school. 

Braydon immediately came up with the idea that school lunches needed to be better. Much better.  Currently, when students don't like what is the daily serving, they can opt for a corn dog.

According to Braydon, these corn dogs are gross and slimy.  Yuck!  So, Braydon wrote up a bill proposing that instead of corn dogs, there could be a salad bar.

Braydon's teacher loved the idea. As did the principle.  His teacher contacted to district's nutritionist, and he loved the idea as well.  The nutritionist paid Braydon's class a visit and brought all the salad toppings and the class got to have a taste testing.  The nutritionist said that if they can't afford a complete salad bar, they will assemble pre-made salads , with the suggestions of their favorite toppings from Braydon's class , and offer them as an option to replace the corn dogs.  All but two kids in Braydon's class are really excited and happy about this!

It will probably go into effect when school starts in the fall.

Also, they said the news may be coming to do a story on Braydon and his class and how they are getting healthy salads on the school lunch menu.

Way to go Braydon!  You are so awesome! :) I love you so much!

Braydon's Science Fair Project

Braydon just completed his fifth grade science fair project.  He and Wade went to A LOT of work to build and test airplane wings in their homemade wind tunnel. 

Braydon wanted to do his backdrop all by his self!  I offered to help, but I think he was afraid I would make it look like a scrapbook page.  Ok, he's probably right.    I didn't get to help.  :( 

But, actually I am proud of him for testing all the wings and knowing his subject well enough to type it all up and get it all put together. 

           Braydon demonstrates how the wind goes over the wing, based on the Bernoulli's Principle.  They used smoke, pushed through the straws, to simulate wind.  They burned incense in a smoke chamber behind the wind tunnel. 

 Here are the wings they carved to test.

I was so proud of my super smart boys.  My husband is so talented.  I am so glad that he helped Braydon learn a lot about aviation during this project.  Braydon loved it and did such a great job with it.  He's always been such a great student, so eager to learn, and also has many talents and strengths.  I was very impressed with this project.  I am so proud to be Braydon's mama. :)