Braxton's 3rd Birthday

We had Braxton's party  on Friday the 30th since lots of people have plans for his actual birthday on New Years Eve.  We had a friend party at the pool, yes the pool in December.  We do live in southern Utah  and the pool is inside! :)  He absolutely loved having his friends and cousins there to play with! 

Josh and I made the awesome dinosaur cake and some cupcakes that spelled out Happy Birthday Braxton ( they aren't pictured because they had a little spill on the way to the pool.  The kids didn't mind that they looked funny they still tasted good!)

We had a great time, a BIG thanks to all our friends who made it special! 

Christmas 2011

November 2011

November came and went like a speeding train!!  Josh spent most of November up in SLC working.  The boys and I partied hard while he was gone! ha ha :)  We went to park and played in the leaves a few days, that was lots of fun.  I took the camera and snapped a few shots.  

 My mom and dad purchased a new house so we spent Thanksgiving break moving their stuff!!  The boys really enjoyed getting everything out of the storage units!

We had Thanksgiving dinner on the 26th because we weren't sure when Josh was going to be able to make it down.  He did end up making it down in time but I hadn't defrosted the turkey....oops! :)  So we doubled up my birthday and Thanksgiving dinner.  Josh made me a delicious chocolate cheesecake with strawberries dipped in chocolate. 

 The neighborhood boys had to have their own turkey bowl!  The had lots of fun Josh had to show off his mad skills and agility with all the weight he had lost.

We had a great November  :)

Halloween 2011

This year we went to the first annual Hurricane City Pumpkin Fest.  It was lots of fun, they had trick or treating for the kids, a spook alley, entertainment, food, and games.  Braxton really liked trick or treating,  but he was being shy and wouldn't say it... it was a good warm up for Monday though.  They played all the games and won fun prizes.  The spook alley was a little too much for Braxton, he started out really strong but they had a section that was all black and you had to crawl through the tunnel.  He didn't like that so we turned around.  Boston was more interested in the skulls that had eyeballs that changed colors.  We had hot dogs for dinner and the boys both ate every bite!  It was a fun night they had a magician as entertainment. Braxton was pretty into it, but Boston was done!  So we didn't watch his whole show.   My boys were some of the cutest kiddos there! ( I think they might know it too!)

Hurricane Irene = Josh's First Deployment

Josh has been deployed to the east coast to write claims for Allstate Insurance for the homes that were damaged as a result of Hurricane Irene.  He got the e-mail Saturday the 27th of August.  He flew out  of St. George at 6 am on the 30th.  He went to Philadelphia, PA  for orientation and Allstate specific training.  He was then given 15 claims in North Carolina.  He is learning a lot as he goes from claim to claim.  He said he could definitely tell when he crossed the border in NC because there were trees down all over and you could see a lot of the damage.  His claims have been in a few different cities all relatively close together though.  He has met a lot of nice people and seen some amazing houses! :)  He closed out all of the original 15 in a week.  He now has 6 new claims.  We will see what happens next.  That is the hardest part, just not knowing what the future holds or how long he'll be away.

We love him and miss him lots, but we are proud of him.   It's hard work being away from your family for an unknown period of time.  He is trying to stay positive, though sometimes I get complaining calls ;-P  It takes a lot of courage to go out on your own in a new career and to be away from the family for an extended period of time, We LOVE you and Miss you DADDY!!!  Keep up the hard work :)