Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we usually go to Star Valley and spend time with both of our families which is really nice, because then we don't have to pick and choose who we spend the holiday with. The other holidays we are not so lucky. We did eat the actual Thanksgiving dinner with my family this year though. My dad has been raising turkeys for a few years now and this year he decided he was going to kill one for dinner. It was pretty comical seeing my dad and brother out there with a shotgun trying to hunt Thanksgiving dinner down. I don't think it was much of a fair fight but my dad sure got to work up an appetite! Well we sat down to dinner excited to try our "homegrown turkey". I will tell you there is nothing like fresh turkey full of buckshot! Needless to say my mom is buying a turkey next year!!! We had a good laugh. It is always fun to get together with family. The boys had a good time with Grandmas and Grandpas, uncles, aunts and cousins. Shane and Clay went and got us a Christmas tree with the Robinsons. It is a very pretty tree and very big. It takes up literally half of our living room. Anyway he did a great job. Clay found out pretty quick that it "poked" so he hasn't bothered it much. We just hope that Broden doesn't start crawling within the next few weeks or the tree could be in for it.

We got home in one piece, something that amazes me! Florida was a lot of fun mostly due to the fact that I got to spend so much time with Shane without work and school to get in the way. Our flight left for Orlando at about 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday and we didn't get there until almost midnight. It was a very long flight especially with Broden. Flying was not the highlight of the trip for him I am pretty sure. We traveled with Shannon and Mike, 2 other members of the Rocket team. They were great and I just hope they still want to have children. On Thursday we did some "sight seeing" We drove to Kennedy Space Center but didn't go in because it was 40 bucks a pop and we were going to being going the next day. But on our way back we were driving right next to a river and we saw a few alligators! So like your typical tourists we stopped and took pictures. That afternoon we went to the beach. It was weird to see people out and about in swimming suits in the middle of November. We also saw them putting up Christmas decorations which was really weird in the 86 degree weather. Friday we went back to Kennedy and went in but I went in with 3 other wives. Shane and the other guys got a special tour and got to watch the launch from 3 miles away. So it was just us girls. It was pretty fun actually. There was so much to see and do. I seemed to be the center of attention wherever I went. You would think that people in Florida have never seen a baby before. People were always stopping to talk to Broden. He loved it! The shuttle didn't launch until 8:00 that night. We sat with the rest of the public 7 miles away from the launch. They had a big screen where we watched the astronauts suit up. They also had a astronaut come and talk to us about what was happening as they got ready to launch. Then he let little kids come up and ask him questions. I can't explain how cool the launch was. It is amazing to me that we can even make it up in space. Just one of the two boosters on the space shuttle burns 1.1 million pounds of fuel in 123 seconds. The 7 astronauts that went up were going to the Space station and would be up there working on it for 2 weeks. Anyway I thought it was awesome. The Saturday and Sunday we spent mostly resting. At church people couldn't believe we came all of the way from Utah. Monday before we headed to the airport we stopped at a place called space shirts, and picked up some souvenirs. The flight back was a lot better because I remembered to grab Broden's medicine out of my suitcase before we checked it. He cried for the first 5-10 minutes of each flight and then slept until the next morning. I am really glad we got to go. Shane was more excited than I have ever seen him. He worked really hard on the rocket last year and has recently become a NASA fellow. I am glad he enjoys his work and am proud of him.

Florida!!!

Halloween!

Our bouncing little Tigger!

The boys in thier costumes. I couldn't get
either one to look at me. Talk about Frustrating!!

A pretty cute tigger

Dad and Broden at the game. Go Aggies!

Clay in his pooh costume, obviously didn't want
to cooperate for pictures.

Clay as Max from Where the Wild things are

This was the only spot with Clifford that Clay
could reach. I didn't realize it would look kind
of funny as a picture.

Here is part of the pumpkin walk. All of the
people in them had pumpkins. They were all
pretty creative. Clay really liked this one
because of the tractor.


Clay helping himself to the pumpkin at the
beginning of the pumpkin walk.

Last week we went to the pumpkin walk in North Logan. Clay didn't like the pumpkin walk itself so much but he did like playing with the toys at the end. For Halloween we dressed the boys up as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Clay wasn't to impressed but he kept his costume on. My mom and dad had come from a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake so they spent the evening with us. We went to our ward Halloween party. I was impressed that Clay actually ate some of his dinner before going to play the games. They had musical chairs, a fish pond and a bobbing for doughnut booth. He really liked all of them. Then we headed home to pack a suitcase for Clay. My parents really wanted him to spend the week with them. My aunt is getting married this next weekend so we will meet up with my parents then. My mom has called me everyday to report that they are having a lot of fun. We will see if she feels the same by the end of the week! Saturday morning I was in charge of Stake baptisms. I took Broden with me so Shane could study and he was perfect and slept the whole time. After baptisms, Shane, Broden and I headed up the hill for the USU football game. It was a really good game and they actually won Hawaii! Broden actually enjoyed this game which was nice since we usually only last an hour and he is ready to go home. It was a fun and busy weekend. I miss Clay, it is defineitly quieter around here. It sounds like he is having fun though and with any luck my mom will bring him back potty trained!

Good News!

Holly, Mom , Me and the boys

Holly, Clay and Travis

Clay enjoying the snow in his socks!

Grandma and Broden

Broden has become quite the little chub. We
figured out that if I gained as much weight as
he has in 5 months I would weigh over 300
pounds!!! He sure is a happy baby though.


I haven't posted for awhile but nothing really spectacular has happened. The boys and I went to Star Valley this weekend to visit my mom. My dad and brother were gone the whole time elk hunting. It was good timing because my sister had time off school and Shane needed some time for some hard core studying. Qualifying exams for the doctorate program are coming up at the beginning of November. The boys are not very helpful to him when it comes to studying. So we decided to give him some quiet time. It was fun to go home and visit for a few days.
Last April, Shane went to Huntsville Alabama to launch the rocket that he and his teammates built. They entered it in the NASA university student launch initiative and won 1st place. As their prize they get to go to Florida and see the Endeavor shuttle launch. Shane's parents told us that for Christmas that they wanted to pay my way to go with him. We will be taking Broden with us but I am very excited!

Highlights

Thinking about it....

mmmm...Nevermind

Uncle Eric and Broden

This is how Clay listened to conference

Our Happy Boy


Well our week has been pretty normal, but I thought I would blog the highlights. You will see in most of the pictures that we started Broden on cereal. He can't quite decide on whether he likes it or not. It's hard to tell especially when he spits the same bite out 54 times. He was happy trying it though.
My brother came down on Wednesday and spent the night. The boys loved having someone other than Shane and I to play with.
Last night we went to the Aggie game against BYU. Of course I forgot my camera. I would have loved to take some of Clay. It was funny how he would watch people and then do what they were doing. So if someone he was watching was clapping he would clap. If someone was yelling he would yell. It was pretty funny to watch him. He stayed the entire game. Broden didn't last quite as long.

Playing at the park with friends Kennedi and
Brooklin

Clay's one true love!

Clay playing in his favorite dirtpile

Broden helping Daddy

Broden usually likes Clay's hugs but I think he
was a little unsure about this one.


I think that I am finally starting to feel like it is fall. It is not as hot which is a definite plus and the leaves are turning. The boys are doing well. Broden is sleeping better. He has had a cold and has been really stuffed up. So he hasn't been sleeping well and consequently I haven't either. He takes it like a champ though and is still as smiley as ever. I am anxious to potty train Clay but he doesn't want to have anything to do with it. I am open to suggestions ?!?! School is going well for Shane. On Wednesday Broden and I went up on campus to watch him teach an astrodynamics class. His professor was going to be gone and asked if he would be interested in doing it. He did a really great job, he is definitely a natural. I didn't understand anything he talked about but astrodynamics is a subject that is just a little over my head! He did great and I am proud of him for taking it on including everything else he has to do. I am doing well. My month for sharing time is over and I can relax a little which is great!

Fall Fun

Grandpa, Cousin Helayna and Broden having
fun on the swing.


Here is the happy boy himself!!


Twins!!! We finally figured out who Broden looks like.
This is Shane's Uncle Sil.

Grandpa and the boys

Clay enjoying himself in Grandma's dirt

It has been pretty busy for us the past couple of weeks. Shane's sister just moved here from Georgia and a couple of weeks ago was sealed to her husband and little girl. It was fun to get together with all of the family. It has been nice to have them here so that the boys can get to know their cousin a little bit better. We have had quite a few doctor's checkups since we got back. Broden had his 4 month checkup. He weighs 13 lbs and 13 oz and is 25 inches long. It seems like he weighs so much more than that especially when carrying him around. He also got 3 shots which, he wasn't very excited about but he has done well with them so far. He is getting to be such a hoot! He is so much more talkative than Clay was. He will smile and talk to anyone.
Clay visited the ophthalmologist because he was scheduled AGAIN to get the stints taken out of his eyes. The doctor decided to leave them in 3 more months because they tend to clog when he has a cold. Clay doesn't even notice they are there so I guess it won't matter. It is nice not to have his eyes running all of the time.
We went to the Aggie football game on Saturday. Clay really loved it he has been hauling around his "feetball" ever since. Broden did surprisingly well and slept through most of it. I couldn't believe that he could sleep through all of the yelling. It was really fun especially since we were able to sit by some of our friends and Shane's doctoral professor.
I finally got the primary program done and we will be putting it on at the end of October. Hopefully things go well. Last year I was really nervous but the kids did great! Hopefully Shane's parents will come again and help Shane with the kids or it could get ugly! I am also doing sharing time this month so if any of you have any good ideas for object lessons on prayer I would love to know!!

Family Again!

Having a buddy bubble bath!

I don't know if we have mentioned that Clay's
new love is tractors but this is how he sleeps
every night!

Broden is such a fun baby! He is always cooing
smiling.


Clay has been pretty excited to have dad home.
He has been handing out kisses left and right!

Best buds! Clay all of the sudden likes his
picture taken again. But he wants it taken with
Broden.


We are back in Logan! It is so nice to be home and to be a whole family again. School has started for Shane but so far hasn't been to intense. He has been home quite a bit, which has been really nice. Clay has just loved having him home and is always trying to help him do whatever. BYU football has started so they have been throwing a lot of football. Broden loves to watch them and whatever they are doing. I can't believe that he is 3 and a half months old already. He is such a good baby and is sleeping more at night which is definitely a treat. Clay is such a good big brother. He is always pushing his swing and holding his hand. I don't know how much Broden likes it but it sure is cute!