Christmas 2014

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday.  The Saturday before Christmas we had the annual Branch family party.  It was really low key and wonderful to visit with everyone and enjoy yummy food.  Monday we went caroling (see the previous post) and Christmas eve we went to Derk and Debbie's for a delicious dinner and to open presents.  The kids reenacted the Christmas Story and we watched some home videos before opening presents. The kids had so much fun opening presents and Kinlee was so excited to open her Elsa doll that sings "let it go,"  but told Debbie that Santa was supposed to bring it to her so she wasa little worried she was going to get two.  When we went home later that night, she left her Elsa doll under the tree so Santa would know she already got one. Matthew was excited to be the sheep in the Christmas Story so he crawled around on all fours baaing all night. When we got home he was so upset because we wouldn't let him take all his trucks he got from the party to bed with him, he kept saying, "me big truck! " Christmas morning the kids were awake by 4:30 am. I made them wait until 5:00 before going out to see their presents,  but Kinlee couldn't wait and snuck into the living room.  When she saw the Kindle santa brought her she started yelling,  "I got a Kindle! " over and over again until all of us got up to see it.  After opening presents we all fell back to sleep until it was time to go to Nana and papas for breakfast.  Nana and papa made us a delicious breakfast like always, then the kids opened their presents and stockings.  The rest of the day we relaxed and played games,  then yesterday Connor went rabbit hunting with his cousins.  Finally tonight Rory and I went to a Jeff Wood committee celebration at Connie Hamiltons house.  She had so much food and it was so so fun to visit with everyone.  We are so blessed and have had an amazing holiday season.

Cookies and Caroling

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is making sugar cookies and decorating them with the Miller's.  This year we decided to do a little service and go caroling to some older widows and widowers in the community.  We picked 10 different people to visit and after frosting cookies with the Miller's,  Rauhala's and some other friends,  we braved the freezing cold and went caroling. It was such a wonderful service project and it was great to make some people smile.  The kids really enjoyed singing Jingle Bells,  Silent Night,  We Wish You A Merry Christmas,  & Frosty the Snowman.  Hopefully we can continue this tradition for several years. 

Windows

All the windows are in!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Santa made a visit to hometown flooring in Price,  so we went to see if he was ready for Christmas.  The kids loved visiting with him.  Matthew told him he wants a big truck, Kinlee wants an Elsa doll that sings "Let It Go," Kadee wants an Ipod touch,  and Connor wants a new book.

Progress

The house is coming along.  We have all our exterior doors in, most the windows, almost all the framing, and the roof is near completion, yay!

Grandma Archie's Funeral

It was a beautiful but sad day.  Rory spoke and did an amazing job.  He and his cousins were able to share a lot of very special memories they had made with their grandma.  At the cemetery, the pink ladies let pink balloons go to honor grandma and her 30 years of service as a pink lady.  After the services we went to the church and had a delicious luncheon.  We were able to visit with family and the kids were able to play with cousins they haven't seen in a very long time.  That evening Rory's cousin, Brett, came to visit before they headed home to Kansas.  Rory and Brett were really close growing up and it was fun to see our kids play together and act like their dad's did at their age.  Brett has a son that is Connor's age and a daughter that is Kinlee's age so it was fun to take pictures and reminisce.  It was a wonderful day to honor grandma and I miss her so much but I know that she lived a good life and her memory will live on in our hearts. 

Grandma Archie

During the city of Wellington's 100 year Pioneer Days celebration two life long residents looked back in pride at a city that they have called their home for the better part of a century. They were born in Wellington, have never really left and have watched the small municipality grow and change as if they were caring parents.
Azella Thayn Bradley was born June 3, 1918 in Wellington on the family farm and according to her family she was nine years old before her father was even able to set eyes on her. He served a distinguished term and was in France at the time of her birth, fighting in World War I. Azella was the oldest of 12 children which meant that she had a ton of responsibility around the farm.
Milking cows, feeding chickens and making bread were all done without running water, electricity or indoor plumbing.
Although her family was poor and life on the farm was hard, Azella never knew it. Bradley attended the Wellington school house on the hill by walking to and from the campus everyday. According to family historians, sometimes the Bradley's would move into town during the late fall for the winter and then return to the family farm in the spring.
The cycle of life for the Bradley's involved planting, tending, harvesting and bottling all of their own fruits and vegetables. Additionally soap was made by saving the fat from farm animals putting lye in it and then letting it harden. This soap kept the family clean and was used for the Saturday night bath which took place in a number three tub with the smallest children bathing first.
All transportation in Azella's days as a child took place via horseback and on foot until her grandfather W.A. Thayn purchased one the the first motorcars in Carbon County.

Azella Thayn Bradley is one of Wellington's oldest living residents.

"I really did grow up poor," said Azella. "But you never knew it because everyone else around you was poor too."
According to Bradley, she would get a new dress every July 4 and new pajamas for Christmas.
"I was happy, loved and we always had enough to eat," commented Bradley. "And that was all I really needed."
When she was a teen she met the love of her life when a young man rode up to an LDS function on his black horse and just kept riding up to here on it until they married.
Azella married Archie Bradley in September 1935 and they moved in to a two room home in Miller Creek. Archie worked a full time job that allowed Azella to tend to the farm and house work. They had four children; Arlene, Dean, Dale and Derk. Once they were school age, Azella worked at the Wellington post office for 31 years.
The only time in her 89 years that Azella ever left the town of Wellington was to serve an 18-month LDS mission. She served faithfully and then returned to her red brick home, a dwelling she has lived in for 57 years.
"There's no place like home in Wellington," concluded Bradley.

This morning we lost an angel of a lady.  I can't even imagine life without her.  She was an amazing lady and our lives will never be the same.  I'm so grateful for the beautiful memories we have with her and look forward to the day when I will see her again.  

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family.  My mom and Gary made us a delicious dinner and I made homemade mashed potatoes and a grape salad.  I was able to pick up my grandparents and bring them down to enjoy dinner with us and it was a wonderful moment when my grandpa realized who my mom was.  He started to cry and was so grateful for a moment of clarity (he has dementia and doesn't remember us very often). We laughed and visited and truly enjoyed our time together.  So grateful for a great family and making wonderful memories.

2014-15 School Pictures

Fall Ball Fun!

We have had a busy and fun November (who am I kidding, every month is busy!).  Rory and I got to go to a 60's themed costume party for his Sergeants 50th birthday.  I've never been to a costume party before that wasn't for Halloween, and it did not disappoint.  We danced, laughed and visited with friends for hours. 

A few days later I had a visit from one of my oldest and bestest friends Heather.  We met at the wave pool and were able to visit and catch up while the kids swam.  Sometimes all you need is a visit or talk with an old friend to make everything in life balanced again. 

Connor's traveling baseball team, the Sliderz had a baseball tournament in St. George, so we headed down for some warmer weather and baseball.  It was so beautiful down there and the weather was perfect.  While down there we celebrated Matthew's 3rd birthday.  Although we spent most of his birthday at the ball field he didn't mind, he played on the playground, in the drinking fountain and under the bleachers.  After baseball we went to dinner and had Coldstone cupcakes then went swimming back at the hotel.  Connor's team won 3 out of the 4 games and only allowed 13 runs the whole tournament (the lowest number of runs allowed out of every team), but they didn't make it to the championship.  Sunday we came home to the cold weather (boo!) and got ready to back to school and work. 

Little Mr. Matthew not only turned 3, but he also is fully potty trained.  Yay to no more diapers, EVER!  He's been in Early Intervention for his speech so the school district had a speech pathologist test him to see if he qualified for additional speech help.  He qualified so we wrote an IEP and Tuesday he began preschool at Wellington Elementary.  He was so excited to start school and use the Batman backpack Landon gave him.  I went to pick him up from school his first day and he was so disappointed he didn't get to ride the bus, it was so cute.   

Kinlee enjoying ice cream on our date

Matthew on his first day of school

 

11/18/14

Election Results

The election is over and we couldn't be more excited about the results!  Jeff Wood won Sheriff and we are so excited for the changes that will take place once he takes office January 1st.  Jeff and Emily are some of our dearest friends and we are so excited to begin this journey with them, and Kadee is excited because we won't have to move and dad will soon be off graveyards. 

Red Ribbon Week and Halloween!

We had a great time last week.  We got the walls up at the house and celebrated Red Ribbon Week and Halloween.  For Red Ribbon week the kids participated in Hat Day, Crazy Hair Day, and wear your costume to school day, which also happened to be Halloween.  They had a fun Halloween parade at school where they were able to parade through each classroom and show off their costumes.  They also went to a magic show drug free assembly that Connor really enjoyed.  On Halloween we went to trunk or treat and then went trick or treating all over town.  Kinlee loved trick or treating on "snob hill" and kept asking the next day if we could go back.  We bought Matthew a Buzz Lightyear costume that he wore to a Halloween party on Thursday, but refused to wear on Halloween, so he ended up being Captain America.  After trick or treating we went back to our house where the kids and their friends ate candy and watched Hocus Pocus.  It was such a fun week and the weather was beautiful. 

House update

We have a garage floor and basement floor and walls, yipee!  We also had our annual pumpkin carving at Derk and Deb's.  Connor was the only one to actually carve a pumpkin and I didn't even get a picture, but I got one of his awesome science project he did!  Kadee, Kinlee, and Matthew took the easy route and used stickers for their pumpkins, but they still turned out super cute!

Witchapalooza!

Our land before we started digging

Our big hole in the ground

We have had such a fun couple of weeks that I haven't taken the time to blog.  We started working on our house.  We have the walls of the basement and garage poured, window wells in, and will have basement/garage floors on Saturday.  It's been a fun, but already exhausting and expensive.

We took a break from house work and attended the Children's Justice Center Harvest Ball.  As you can see, Rory and I went as a cowboy/cowgirl.  It was a great night, we had dinner, visited with friends, and danced until our feet hurt.  All proceeds raised went to help fund the CJC, a group that helps care for kids in need.

Lastly,  Saturday we had a fun girls day to Gardner Village to Witchapalooza.  They have the most amazing shops there and there was so much I wanted to buy, but only ended up getting a pair of earrings and some hair bows for the girls.  We window shopped and checked out all the decorations and witches, then went to a lunch show called the lyin', the witch, and the warlock.  It was so cute and such a fun show!  Kadee loved it and loved having some mom time all to herself.  I sure do love spending time with that sweet girl and I love celebrating Halloween in all these fun ways.  While Kadee, Debbie, and I were at Gardner Village, Connor was camping/hunting with grandpa Derk and the boy cousins.  He hiked his little heart out.  He had such a wonderful time and was only a little disappointed that he had to come home a day earlier then the rest because I wouldn't let him miss school.  He can't wait until he's old enough to go hunting himself.

Flash floods and rainbows

So much has happened this past week it's hard to know where to begin.  My grandparents came to stay with us and the kids enjoy their company so much.  Kinlee just adores grandma Bet and insisted on sleeping by her the first night they got there.  Rory was gone hunting so we were on our own.  We went to my mom's house Friday night for dinner and got home late.  I ran over to Debbie's for something (I don't even remember what now) and was visiting with her when Kadee came in holding her chest and crying.  She said she went to plug the TV in her bedroom in and was shocked by the outlet.  Her chest was really red and blistered so I decided to take her to the ER to have her checked.  They got her right back and did an EKG to make sure the shock hadn't affected her heart in any way.  Everything looked good so they monitored her for a few hours and then sent us home.

 

Saturday evening the floods came.  It was about 11:00 pm when Debbie called me to tell me our old house (the house we sold just a month ago) and all the houses down there were flooded out.  They had to back a truck up to grandma Rhea's porch just to get her out of her house.  I couldn't sleep so I actually went to Wal Mart at 3:00 am to buy muck boots because I knew we would need to spend the next day cleaning up mud and water.  When I got down there Sunday morning I wasn't prepared for what I saw.  My former neighbors had ponds in their yards and driveways that went up to my thighs, all of their basements had at least 5 ft of water in them and the damage done by the floods was unreal. I was so discouraged on Sunday and broke down in tears, there were tons of volunteers and we had been there for hours, but I didn't know how the neighborhood would ever recover.  I decided then and there I would do whatever I could to help them get back on their feet.  I'm not trying to brag, just trying to document everything.  We cleaned for days, so many people helped, we washed pictures and were able to save 100's of photos, we washed clothes, tons of people donated food, babysitting services, blankets, towels, whatever they could.  We were able to set up an account to donate to the flood victims and all worked together to get the neighborhood cleaned up.  We were even able to get a fundraiser going at the elementary school to help the flood victims.  The kids paid a dollar a day to wear a hat to school and donated canned goods.  By Friday we had made a world of difference, I'm so grateful to live in an amazing community.  Everyone came together and supported each other and I was so impressed by the love and kindness.  There is still so much work to do, but our spirits were lifted and we could see the progress made.  Governor Herbert came to tour the damage and give the flood victims a little pep talk.  He was a very nice man and it was a pleasure to meet him.       

A few pictures of clean up.  I bought Uncle Roger Depends Underwear because he jokingly told me that was the most important thing he lost in the flood. 

Branch Family helping clean up

Sunday morning as clean up began

Gov. Herbert, me and Kadee.

Utah Jazz Dunk Team

Last Monday Connor got to participate in the 4th grade tin can cookout. We cut out a can and sent it, a Sterno, and all the supplies he would need to cook himself a delicious breakfast.  I met him there and watched as he and Chet cooked pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and sausage.  It took awhile, but they were eventually able to cook and eat everything they had brought to eat.  They had a great time and Connor is super excited because they are doing another tin can cookout at Pack meeting so he gets to try it again.

Saturday we went to Kiwanis Kids Day at the park.  Everything was absolutely free so the kids had a blast.  They got free lunch then jumped on the bouncers and did some other activities.  Matthew even won a $50 Wal-Mart gift card.  Rory sat in the dunk tank and the kids made rockets to blast off, it was fun but super exhausting. 









Saturday night was our Jazz Dunk Team Event.  Rory has been planning this for months, so we were super excited and stressed that it was finally here.  Matt Griff (Taylor's dad) is on the dunk team so several months ago we contacted him about doing an event at the high school.  He and his team were super excited and so the planning began.  We invited several dance groups to perform as well and had dinner for the dunk team and the Jeff Wood for Sheriff Committee.  It was such a fun event, they got the crowd involved and did some amazing dunks.  The stands were full and we have received so much positive feedback that we've decided to make this an annual event.  All of our hard work paid off and the kids loved meeting the dunk team (Kadee even got their autographs).   

Americorps

I began my job at Wellington Elementary as an Americorps mentor.  I'm still working at Price River Water Users, so I'm a little overwhelmed right now, but super excited to start working with the kids.  I'm going to be working with kids who are frequently absent and with kids that have behavior issues they may need to work through.  I'm also going to be working in the leveled library and doing attendance.  I attended the Americorps 20th Anniversary in Salt Lake this past weekend.  Rory and the kids came with me and stayed at the hotel while I went to the Capitol to listen to speakers.  They fed us yummy food and we were able to watch a live broadcast of President Clinton and President Obama about the Americorps program.  I met some amazing ladies that work in my area and we were able to tour the Capitol building.  It was breathtaking.  I was amazed by the architecture and attention to detail in everything.  It was a quick visit up north, but well worth it.  I am so excited to make a difference in the life of a child and I pray that I can be a positive influence in my own children's lives. 

So right now I feel like I'm at a life changing place in my life.  I've been reading a book about success and am obsessed with Maya Angelou and the impact she made on the world.  I feel myself shifting from who I used to be and I hope I'm turning into a greater version of myself.

It's beginning to look a lot like...Fall

We have had an exciting week.  We moved out of our house, the kids had mixed emotions about it (as did I).  They are excited to live across the street from grandma Debbie, but sad to leave the only home they've ever known.  Luckily they have adjusted quickly and seem to be enjoying the rental.  We have our plans and the purchase on our land will be completed soon, so we are hoping to start excavating on our new home within the next couple of weeks.  Rory took the kids up to the house one day before school last week and let them take a picture in the house one last time.  Connor said he is sad because that house is where he learned to ride his bike and got his first Xbox, but he is excited to live in the rental because it's small and will bring our family closer together. 

 

We were going to go to the lake on Labor day, but our plans fell through so Rory and I took the kids swimming to the Wellness center.  Matty is a fearless fish.  He would just jump in wherever and had no concerns whether or not there was someone there to catch him.  The whole time I kept thinking about the first time we took him there.  He was so scared and sat on the side of the pool the whole time.  What a difference a year makes.    

Kinlee had her preschool open house last week and her first day of preschool today.  She also got to be the first one to bring snack and was so excited to take cheese and crackers and raisins.  She ran right into her classroom and was so excited to be back in school.  Matthew came with us and did not want to leave.  Hopefully he will start in November when he turns 3. Kinlee has gotten so smart and has grown so much this summer.  We have practiced writing her name, counting, the alphabet, and shapes.  She is ready to learn more and show her teachers all she's learned so far.  Her favorite part of school is singing and her favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  Matthew loves to sing Bringing home my baby bumblebee  and is starting to talk more and more.