Our Backyard!

Our backyard has been a work in progress since we bought the house. We have filled up many trashcans and sweated a lot. We will continue to work on it, but now we are starting to rebuild it instead of tearing it apart. We have enjoyed all the work and are looking forward to enjoying our backyard.

This is a reminded of what the yard looked like when we bought the house.

We have torn out many plants and trees. We have moved lots and lots of rocks. And Curtis has torn up and moved a million pounds of concrete. He has the slimmer waist and bigger muscles to prove it!

Curtis and I actually moved the piece of concrete below. It took us a couple hours but we got it where we needed it. Thank goodness for nap time!

Curtis rotatiled the whole backyard and tore up all the weeds. Then I raked all of the junk out of our dirt filled backyard.

Next Curtis played mule and pulled a handmade plow with giant pieces of concrete on it all around the yard. Our backyard had many different heights, but not after Curtis was done with it. Brayden helped, as he did with most of the yard work. We have a great video of Curtis pulling Brayden around the yard on the plow.

Fun Break!

Curtis put in the sprinkle system and it works great. He dug all the trenches by hand and put a lot of hard work into them.

We got a new tree for our yard. It is my favorite tree, a Chinese pistache. Brayden named it Bob. I got the pleasure of planting it. It was fun to go outside and get a little muddy.

These are some of the beautiful leaves that fell off of it while we were planting it. It will look beautiful next fall and give us lots of shade in summers to come.


Finally, the sod arrives. We were all very excited!

Curtis and two of his friends, Charlie and Albert, laid all of the sod. It took them a whole morning. They did an awesome job!



We had 2 pieces left. Since we can't walk on the lawn until after Thanksgiving we put one of the extra pieces on the patio and enjoyed it.

Below is a picture of what our yard looks like now. We still have a lot planned, but it is now at a point where we can go out and begin to enjoy it. I am so excited to watch the boys run around and play. Thanks Curtis for all of your hard work! We love you!

Brayden's 3rd Birthday!

I can't believe my baby turned 3 in September. He is getting so big and changing so much every day. He is now 40 lbs and 40 inches. He is very smart and very silly. He always wants to be the big boy and do big boy things. He is an awesome big brother. He helps with Colby and loves to make his baby brother smile. Which he is great at doing. He is very cautious, but get him on wheels and he loses all his fears. He loves to learn letters, math, and the united states. He loves Mickey Mouse, playing in the dirt, animals, fuzzy things, and his cousins. He copys a lot of things we say, which sound funny coming out of a 3 year old's mouth. He is a fun and very loving little boy and we thank God every day that he blessed us with Brayden.

We had a little family celebration on his real birthday. We had pancakes, strawberries, and whipped cream for dinner. For dessert he choose MnM cookies and neapolitan ice cream.

It was so hot outside bu we couldn't get him to take off his new fuzzy wuzzy moose jammies.

Brayden choose to have a dirt party. It was a great party. We ate, played games, and the kids played in the dirt. I was very impressed with the sign Curtis made him and very proud of the cake I made him.

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween. Curtis' parents came and brought us a special Halloween treat, Smith's cookies. Yummy! For those of you from Bakersfield you know what I am talking about. At night we went to our church. We had the cutest pumpkins there!

Carving pumpkins. Brayden still doesn't like the inside of the pumpkin. Colby loved it. We had to take it away from him. He apparently liked the taste because he kept sucking his thumb while he was playing.

After lunch one of our neighbors brought the boys some candy. Brayden did a good job sharing. I'm assuming things will be different next year when Colby can eat it.

My Cute Pumpkins!

I totally love this picture!

I asked Brayden what we should type on this post. He told me to type, "I love Uncle Brad!" When I asked him why he said "because Uncle Brad loves us." So here's a shout out to Uncle Brad.

My Cute Baby!

I had to post these adorable pictures of Colby! I love that smile and to hear him giggle! I can just watch him all day!

Chicken Pox ?!?

Our home and family is under quarantine. Brayden has the chicken pox. Colby got his second pox today so we will see where that goes. Brayden got vaccinated for the chicken pox when he was one, this past February the doctor thought he might have had a mild case of the chicken pox. Now we are pretty sure he has them. The doctor is doing a blood test to see what is going on with his chicken pox antibodies. He has no fever. Just about 30-40 itchy bumps. He is still getting new ones today so we will probably be stuck at home all week.

To keep entertained this morning we made cupcakes. We had no powder sugar so they have no frosting. Brayden was able to help since we don't have to worry about Curtis and I getting sick.

I think Colby is feeling okay but he has been extra snugly today. I couldn't get him to let go of his blanket this morning. He is just like the rest of his family and loves his fuzzy blankets.

The boys were funny to watch while they were playing together today. Brayden was mooing in Colby's ears and Colby kept trying to catch him. I love Colby's face in this picture!

Monterey!

Earlier this month we went to Monterey for Len's 77th birthday. We had an awesome time! We got to spend a lot of time with family, and all the cousins had a blast. And us big kids had a blast too! We went to the beach every day and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We also went to the aquarium. Brayden loved it! He still talks about it all the time. One of his favorite parts was the touch pools. He would only touch the starfish, but he touched everyone he could find. I think Brayden and I could have spent the whole day there. Colby liked watching all the fish and had a great time too. Curtis had to drag us all out when it was time to leave. Colby went swimming and played in the sand for the first time. He loved both! Ever since the pool he spends his whole bath time every night splashing me. None of us wanted to leave Monterey!

Brothers!

Here are some pictures of the cute brothers. It is awesome that they are starting to be able to play together. This picture looks like they are telling secrets, but really I think Colby is trying to eat Brayden.

Brayden loves to hide. He is very excited that Colby can hide with him now.

Another game they like to play is horsey. Brayden is a very fast bronco! I love the last frame of this video.

Now some solo pictures. Brayden trying to get some camera attention and being silly.

Colby's first food, sweet potatoes. He is really liking eating, not that we're surprised.

A cute picture of Colby and Daddy!

Brayden recently spent the night with his Aunt Sara, Uncle Brad, and cousins. He was so excited and had an awesome time. He called and told us he loved us and good night in his sweet little voice. Curtis and I decided he is not doing that again until he is at least 12.

My Mickey Mouse lover!