Top 10 of 2011

1. Kinlee turned one! She is growing like a weed. On Christmas day she got her first tooth and is talking like crazy, it makes me sad my baby is growing so fast! This year she experienced many firsts, like walking, running, dancing, and talking.

2. Kadence started Kindergarten. She is so smart and is doing so well. I really love her teacher, she makes learning so fun. Some of the fun things she has already done this year are: field trips, pretend airplane rides around the world, met Santa, made a candy Christmas train, Christopher Columbus came to visit, they got to meet a banker, a cop, and an ambulance driver, and I got to be the mystery reader in her classroom.

3. Connor started 1st grade. He also played baseball, flag football, and is in the school choir. He is a fantastic reader and loves to learn. He insists he is going to be a professional football or basketball player when he grows up and practices hard all year long.

4. We finished our family room in the basement. It is so nice to have a place for the kids toys, a fireplace, and somewhere Rory and Connor can watch all the sports they want.

5. Rory FINALLY put rock around my tub. It looks so nice and completes one of the major projects on my honey do list.

6. We accumulated a LOT of animals. We went from no pets to; 2 rabbits, 4 turkeys, a cat (who had kittens), and a dog. It had been so crazy but the kids love it. Our little puppy raider is my favorite addition, although the turkeys are so fun to watch. They follow us around and when Kinlee gobbles at them, they gobble back.

7. Rory got to go Elk hunting at the Mathis ranch. He shot a nice bull and of course had an amazing time. He got called into the Elder's Quorum Presidency and between his church calling and working 2 jobs he is staying super busy.

8. I took on a 3rd preschool class and got a job as the secretary at Price River Water Users. I am a little overwhelmed, but I know it will all work out for my family in the long run. Starting in January I won't be teaching the 3rd preschool class anymore, and the secretary job is only 2 days a week so I am slowly adjusting.

9. This past week we took our annual after Christmas trip to Salt Lake. We went on a carriage ride around temple square, walked through the temple grounds to look at the lights, visited with Wally & Kristene, went to the Children's museum, and swam until we were all worn out. It was such a fun getaway and I am so grateful for the time with my family. This summer we were able to go to Cherry Hill, Lagoon, and the Zoo. We were also able to go on a couple camping trips not too far from our house. Although most of our trips are in the state of Utah, we enjoy them nonetheless.

10. Rory won 2 Utah Jazz contests. This was a dream come true for him and we had so much fun meeting the players and dancers. The odds of winning were very slim, so the fact that he won 2 contests is crazy. I like that he is lucky, I get to reap the benefits. :)

Trains and such...

This month I had the opportunity to go to the elementary school and help Kadence with her Christmas Candy Train. Last year I wasn't able to go and help Connor, so I was way excited to get to go to Kadee's class. We used 3 musketeers bars as the body of the train and the rest was a candy lover's dream. It turned out so cute and the best part was Kadee got to come home with me after we were done!


After football season Connor decided to join the after school choir called "Musical Minors." He stays after school once a week and learns new songs and a little bit about music. He has really enjoyed it and this week he got to perform in his first concert. It was a concert at the school and I must say I was very impressed. I honestly didn't expect them to sound so good. There is a musical major group and the musical minor group that Connor is in. His group sang 3 songs and did a fantastic job. I am so glad he enjoys it and has found another love besides sports.




Kadee wanted to be "Festive" for her school Christmas party so we put her and Kinlee in their Christmas dresses and took some fun pictures. Kinlee is such a ham. As soon as she sees the camera she says, "cheese" and shows me her fake little smile. She had her first day care Christmas party today. She sat on Santa's lap (with no tears) and opened all the other babies presents for them. In her defense, she was the only baby interested in opening presents so the providers just let her tear into them.



Kinlee sporting Grandpa Earl's glasses

Here Comes Santa Claus

Last week Rory got the honey-do bug and FINALLY... after 3 years... finished the rock on the tub in our master bathroom. It looks amazing and I am so excited to have something crossed off our list.

Connor is getting so big. He is really excited to get baptized next July and was the shining star 2 weeks in a row at church. He loves to learn and is doing so well in school. He is in a choir group at school called the Musical Minors and comes home singing Christmas songs all the time.



This weekend Kadence had her first performance of the year at the CEU Craft Fair. She is so beautiful. She did such a great job, but she wouldn't smile. I asked her why, and she said it was just too scary up there.


Kinlee is a little climber. She climbs on everything. The other day I walked into Connor's room and she was to the top of his ladder and didn't know how to get down. She is going to be the death of me, my other 2 weren't climbers so this is all new to me!


We had our church Christmas party last night and Connor was one of the Shepard's, he wiggled his loose tooth the whole time and finally mouthed to me (I was in the audience) and asked if he could sit down. Kadence was in the choir and sang Away in a Manger and some other Christmas songs. Santa made a surprise visit and brought treats for all of the kids. Connor told Santa he wants a guitar, Kadence said she wants an American Girl Doll and Kinlee screamed bloody murder. I guess Santa won't be bringing her a present this year, lol.

November Happenings

I live my life by my calendar. I put every little detail in my phone so I don't miss anything. I am a list maker. I love to make lists and check things off, I love to be involved and right in the middle of everything, and I love to hear I did a good job. This month my calendar has been chuck full so I kick myself that I haven't updated my blog for weeks.

A couple weeks ago Kadence had her first ever Kindergarten field trip (yes, I put it in my calendar). I was so excited I didn't have to teach preschool that day so I could go. We went to the museum, library, and fire station. I love the library. I loved it all, but I especially love the library. I think it's because I love to read and there the possibilities are endless. Kinlee was such a good baby on the field trip. She didn't make a peep and was so patient as we went from one place to the next. Kadee's favorite part? Riding the bus. That's right folks, it wasn't the new fire truck, the craft, or digging for dinosaur bones, it was getting to ride on the bus. She feels so picked on that I drive her to school and pick her up. I mean how cruel is it that I do that? Every. Single. Day. I wish she could ride the bus everyday, but the bus stop is nowhere near our house and I am so paranoid about my kids walking past all the strange houses.


Rory went hunting with Kyle in Colorado last week so my amazing, wonderful grandparents came to stay with me and help me with the kids. They truly are life savers. It was such a crazy week and they helped me in every way possible. I am truly grateful to have such amazing people in my life.

I love the cute crafts and projects my kids bring home from school, but I just don't have the room to save them all and my OCD can't handle it. So, when they have accumulated a few cute things I have them take a picture with them, that way we always have the memory, but less clutter. The other day I had Kadee stand against the wall with some of her crafts to take a picture. She smiled, I took the picture, and she walked away. Kinlee watch all of this and walked right over to the wall and sat down. I said,"Do you want Mommy to take your picture?" She shook her head yes. I said, "say cheese!" and she showed me the cutest, toothless (yes, still no teeth) grin I've ever seen. Man they grow up fast. I think babies are so smart, smarter than most people give them credit for. I really think they understand everything, they just don't know how to communicate yet.




Last night we went to our first ever PTA movie night. It sure was fun. The kids were able to buy cotton candy, popcorn, pop, and suckers. They had a silent auction with donated items for parents to bid on to support the PTA and the best part was the movie: Cars 2. Such a cute movie. The kids loved it but Kadee was sick so she just laid there and dozed, not her normal approach to life. Connor and all his friends sat by us and they were glued to the screen. I love that he has such a good group of friends. Rory and I keep telling him to pick good friends and he really has. We are so proud of our kids and what strong, confident, smart people they already are.

Family pics 2011

These are some of my favorite family pics that Laurie Branch took for us at the Helper Parkway. They turned out so good, I'm never going to be able to pick just one for our Christmas card!

No Trick or Treater Could Ever Be Sweeter!

This past week was Red Ribbon Week at the school. The kids had crazy sock day, mismatch day, wear red day, crazy hair day, and hat day. For crazy hair day Connor had a blue and green Mohawk and stars around his head. Kadence had pink hearts and pink Christmas trees. On mismatch day the school had a "better things to do than drugs" talent show. Kadence and 2 girls from her dance class did their beach babies dance and did so great. Both the kids won red ribbon week prizes. Connor got a football and Kadence got a slap bracelet. On Friday I was the Mystery Reader in Kadence's class so I surprised her and went in and read a Halloween book and played Halloween games with her class. It was so much fun and I love, love, love volunteering at the kids school.



So Talented!



This hole is awesome!



Crazy Hair!


On Thursday night Grandma Rhea had a Halloween Party at the church. The food was so yummy! After we ate we sat around in a circle with the lights off and grandma told us a scary story. After her story Rory's uncle Miles came out and sang a haunted song. Kinlee was so transfixed. She really could not take her eyes off of him, so at the end of the story when he screamed, it scared her to death! She bawled and bawled. As mean as this sounds it was so funny!

Tonight was our ward Halloween party. We had soup, trick or treated around the church, and played games. The kids got so much candy and are insisting we have to go trick or treating again on Halloween night. Rory went to a drug court training in Park City for a few days last week, so it was nice to have him at the party with us. Life sure is hard when he's not around, I am so grateful he is such a great husband and daddy.


Football Star


50's Girl


Poky Little Puppy

A Hunting We Will Go!

Last weekend Rory had the opportunity to go Elk hunting on the Mathis property up Indian Canyon. Opening day he shot a beautiful 5x5 and the next day brought it home. He was way excited for the hunt and had lots of fun.


Today we went swimming to kick off UEA weekend. Kinlee had fun but her lip shivered the whole time. She couldn't stand for the tubes to be in the water, so she would push them out and then try to sit in them. I love my kids so much and love when we have long weekends to hang out together.

Happy Fall Y'all

Wow! Where did September go? Between school starting, Kinlee's birthday, and teaching 3 preschool classes my blog has been totally neglected. I am going to try and summarize our month. Connor and Kadence had SEP's. They are both doing super well in school and love to learn. Connor moved up to Level E on the leveled library (a reading program based on what they can read at a comfortable level). He is playing flag football this year and is once again obsessed. His team is the Cowboys and he practices almost every night. Since starting football he has made 5 touchdowns, some interferences, and captured plenty of flags. His friend Cole Cripps is on his team and both of them agree the games get very "intense." :)

Since Kadence has been in school she has learned lots of new sight words, has made applesauce with her classmates, has met ambulance drivers and a banker, and has taken a Praying Mantis to school for bug week. Her teacher does lots of hand on activities which is right up her alley. I get to be the mystery reader in her class in a couple weeks and I am so excited. She doesn't know I'm coming and I am going to read a Halloween book and do some fun Halloween activities. She is always so excited to see me when I volunteer in her classroom so I think it will be a pleasant surprise for her.

Kinlee still isn't walking!!! She will take 4 steps then just sit down. She has no desire to walk, but can say Kadee, Connor, kitty, and many more words (some we understand, some we don't!). She is battling another cold but is always laughing, smiling, climbing, chasing her brother and sister around, chasing the cat, pushing chairs, sitting in her little red car and moving it Flinstone style, and dumping out toys.

Kindergarten

The First Day of Kindergarten
Everyone has a "first day" when they feel sad and all alone.
It can be so scary when you're out on your own.
Take my hankie, dry your tears.
You'll find lots of things to do
And you'll probably make new friends.
I promise we'll be together when the school day ends.
Here comes the teacher, blow your nose and be brave.
Come on now, wipe your eyes, this is no way to behave.
"Well good morning teacher. We must really beg your pardon.
No, Mommy doesn't always act this way.
But it's my first day of KINDERGARTEN!"

Kadence's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Penry, sent us this poem and a picture to welcome her to her class. I thought it was really fitting since I cried after I dropped Kadence off. They grow up so fast. It seems like just yesterday she was a little tiny baby. She really enjoyed her first day as a "Penry Pirate." They went on a Treasure Hunt and she made lots of friends at recess.

1st Grade, pom poms, and teeth

Connor started first grade last Wednesday, August, 24, 2011. He was so excited to see who was in his class. His teacher is Mrs. Wise and she seems really nice. His friend Gavin is in his class so he is set. I told him he needs to try and make other friends too though. Kadence had her Kindergarten testing the same day and was excited to find out her teacher is Mrs. Penry. She has been saying since Kindergarten round up that she wanted her for a teacher so she was beyond excited. She got a letter in the mail that said she is going to be a pirate on the first day of school and all she can talk about is how she needs a pirate costume.


On Thursday I took Landon, Kadence, and Kinlee to the preschool with me to get my room ready for the upcoming school year. Kadence and Landon started playing with the little craft pom poms and asked if they could take a couple home. I said sure and we headed home. They were in the very back row of the car and told me they were sticking the pom poms up their noses and I told them to knock it off. The next day Kadence's nose was running and she sounded really congested. Rory looked up her nose and said, "she has something green up her nose." After that she confessed that her and Landon stuck the pom poms up their noses and they got stuck. I called Candee to let her know and we decided we better take the kids into the doctor. He pulled them out with no problems but I told Kadence she better not ever do that again!



Today Connor lost his first tooth! He has been impatiently waiting for this day for quite some time. It seems like everyone around him had lost at least one tooth and he was starting to feel left out. It started getting loose on Thursday and he worked on that thing until it bled. He finally convinced Rory to get some dental floss and pull it out. That kid didn't even flinch when Rory yanked that tooth out. He went over to Uncle Bob's tonight and got stung by a bee 3 times, so I told him the tooth fairy will probably leave him a little extra money for being so brave.


Kinlee still isn't walking, but she is as busy as ever. She climbs in and on everything and can climb up the stairs like a pro. Even though she's not walking, life at the Bradley house never slows down!!

Life Happens

Life is what happens while your busy making other plans. I can't believe August is halfway gone. Connor starts school on Wednesday and Kadence starts school the following Tuesday. We have had an exciting month. Today was my cousin TJ's farewell. He is going to West Virginia. I have never met someone more excited to go on a mission than he is. I know he will do great. Last weekend we went with my mom, Gary, Elise, Aniston, Brileigh, and Kysen to Seven Peaks. The kids loved it, of course. My kids are such fish, even Kinlee, she is totally fearless in water. We also took some time to go to the zoo. It was the Zoorasic exhibit so we had fun seeing the dinosaurs as well as all the animals. I had to laugh at Kadence because I asked her what her favorite animal we saw was and she said the bears. The only problem with that was the bear exhibit was closed so we didn't see any bears!

On a sadder note, Gary's mom, Grandma Mary passed away. We were able to go to the viewing and the funeral. The kids got to ride in the limo and we will cherish our memories with this wonderful lady.


Saturday Connor and Kadence went with my grandma and grandpa Curtis and my uncle Darrell and his family up nine mile canyon. It was such a good experience for them. They were very excited to learn about where my grandma grew up and hear stories about her growing up. While they were there, Rory and I took Kinlee to have her 1st pictures taken. She did so good! They only gave me the copyright to one picture, but here is a preview of her adorable pictures.

Happy Birthday Kitty!

Our little "kitty" Kinlee turned 1 today! I can't believe it. I am so sad my baby is getting big so fast. I wish we could freeze time to make these moments last just a little bit longer. She is so much fun and had a fabulous day. Some of my favorite Kinlee moments are: When she waves bye bye, her kisses (she is so stingy with them and I am lucky to get one), the way she nods her head yes, the way she nods her head no, her laugh, how excited she gets when she sees her bottle (if she has a pacifier in her mouth she throws it across the room), how she yells at her brother and sister, her mischievous ways, and practically everything she does!



We had her first birthday party at the park in Wellington. Lots of family came to help make her day special. She had her very own cookie monster cake and LOVED it. Every time Rory would try and take it away she would stick her lip out and start to cry. She loved crawling after the big kids and playing on the bounce house Paola and Hyrum brought. Her favorite present was a baby doll from Jerod, Elise, and their kids. She want to hug it and got so mad at Rory when he took it away to take it out of the box. We love her so much and are so grateful she is a part of our family.


Don't take my cake!!

Parade's and such...

Friday Kadee and her friends at Encore dance got to perform in the park for International Days. She did her beach baby dance and learned a new Salsa dance that they performed. She was such a doll and had so much fun. After her performance we walked around and checked out all the booths. Nana Kelli bought us ice cream and drinks and pushed Kinlee around in the stroller. It was such a beautiful day and was so hot we didn't last long at the park.

Saturday the kids got to be on the Nielson Construction float for International Days. They got construction hats, construction vests, baseball hats, and t-shirts. They had so much fun riding on the float waving at everyone. It was so weird to watch the parade without my kids. I kept looking around for them and really missed watching them fight over candy. Kinlee was on Debbie's lap through the whole parade and LOVED the horses. It was hilarious. Every time a horse would walk by she would scream, jump up and down, and point. When the parade was over and Kadee got off the float she said, "How was the parade? Tell me everything!!"

Sunday afternoon we headed to Huntington Lake. This was Kinlee's first trip to the lake and she had lots of fun. Connor and Kadee both rode on the tube on the water, but Kadee was a little nervous, so she didn't stay on for long. I was eating a peach, sharing bites with Kinlee, and she decided she wanted the whole thing so she took it from me and sucked the juice out of it like a bottle. She ate the whole thing and wanted to eat the pit but obviously I took that away from her. She loves fresh fruit and veggies. No baby food for her, she wants the real stuff!