Well Lindsey and Nate moved to Las Vegas this weekend. Nate will be going to law school at UNLV for the next 3 years. Yep, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to survive. I cannot even explain how much I did not want to see my sis go. Yeah, yeah it will be good for them. Anyone who has moved away knows that. It just stinks that we aren't going to get to see them like we're used to. Lucky for us, airline tickets to Vegas are usually cheap. So I told Linds that we would see each other once a month one way or another. Lindsey really is the best friend, sister, sister in law, and aunt you could ask for. We know she would do anything for us. Nothing makes my kids happier than a visit from Sissy and Nate. They spoil them rotten and love them so much. She's also AMAZING to me and to Bryson. We know we can count on her for everything. I hate to see them go. We just love them too much.

So we headed down last Sunday to spend a couple of days with them before they left. Sunday evening they took us to Wheeler Farm to feed the ducks and look at the animals. It was very clear that these birds were used to being fed. They were scaring the daylights out of my kids.

Brevin telling him to back off...

The duck that most resembled Kesler's hair...

We were looking at the goats and I looked over and saw Kelser grabbing onto of the goats horns saying, "You think you're tough? Huh? You think you're tough?" It was hilarious.

Bryson thinking he's funny...

First thing Monday morning we headed off to a new water park in Salt Lake called Cowabunga Bay. My kids thought it was the best thing in the world...actually, so did Bryson :) It's a 6 foot story structure will tons of slides coming off in all directions. It was so nice to have Sissy there. She had just had surgery on her hand and couldn't get it wet, so she insisted on holding Beck the whole time and letting the 4 of us be crazy. It really was such a fun day. My fearless Kesler went on every single slide whether he was tall enough or not. And occasionally Bryson would disappear and we'd see him running to the slides by himself. He's such a big kid, but that's what makes him a great dad.

Thanks for such a fun trip Sissy and Nate. You guys really are the best, and we are going to miss you more than you know!

Swimming Lessons

The boys tried out swimming lessons for the first time this summer. They did great! My only regret was that I hadn't started them sooner. I have been wanting to the past couple of summers, but never did it. Lucky for me, our friend Shelby teaches private lessons, and she had time for them !! She was amazing with them. I cannot believe how much they progressed from day 1 to day 8...crazy. Beck and I got to chill by the pool every day while the big bros swam, and Bryson came along the last day to watch.

Beck's Blessing

We blessed Beck on July 12, 2009. He looked amazingly cute in his adorable little blessing outfit. Bryson did in amazing job on the blessing even though Beck cried through the whole thing. I had a feeling it might happen so I leaned over just before they went up and told Bryson that Beck would only whimper, but he wouldn't wail so to stay focused on the blessing and it would be fine. That's exactly what happened. Bryson was confident and Beck quit crying as soon as it was over :)

It was a bittersweet day. My grandpas have never missed any of the important events in my kids' lives and in the past year my Grandpa Thompson passed away and my Grandpa Farrell is unable to leave his home. It made me really sad that they weren't there. With only one family I was worried that we might be small in numbers, but I was so grateful for our friends who came and made up the difference. We really are blessed with such good friends, and I am so thankful for them. Heaven only knows how much we need them.

We are also so so so lucky to have my family. They show us unconditional love. As with all families we certainly have our ups and downs, but when it matters most they are always there. I need to thank Sissy and Nate for coming up the night before to help. And I need to thank everyone who came to support us. We love all of you and are so thankful for you.

After a weekend of cleaning, and preparing for the blessing we were spent the following day...Beck especially. The boys feasted on the carmel apple dip the williams' brought to the blessing so I had to put these funny pics on here too...thanks Shelb.

July 4th

Yes, I am very behind...but I'm trying to catch up...

The 4th of July as I've mentioned before is our favorite day of the year! This year Bryson and Brevin decided to start the morning off bright and early and run in the Malad Fun Run. Bryson won the 10K and Brevin ran the mile. I was so so so super sad that they had already started running the mile when we got there, so Sissy and Brevin jumped out of the car and ran their darnedest to catch back up. Brevin still did awesome. He caught up to most of the people running in the race. I had warned Lindsey that Brevin runs like his dad, and sprints the whole time so she was really nervous. When they got to the final stretch Lindsey told Brevin he could leave her and run as fast as he could to the finish line. If you look close she's to the back left of Brevin in pink and black. Thanks for doing that, Sis.

Then we headed over to the parade. Sadly this is our first family photo...very classy background.

Following lunch we headed to the kids races. Kesler did amazing and won the 3-year-old race this year. He crossed the finish line with a huge grin on his face. After Brevin's mom got him late to the Fun Run, his dad didn't hear the gun go off at the kid's races and started him late. He still did great and ran his little chicken legs off trying to catch back up. Bryson and I both gave him HUGE apologies for our being the reasons he didn't have the best running day.

Brothers

I had to dedicate one little post to how much these boys love each other. I never anticipated how much Brevin and Kesler would love having a baby brother, but they sure do. They fight for his attention and for who gets to hold him, but the latest is who gets to change the diaper. I NEVER thought they would fight over that! They do a pretty stinking good job at it too. (no pun intended :) Brevin thinks he's big when he picks Beck up and loves to hold him and bounce him. It's awfully comical to watch because Beck is so big! Brevin can only manage for a few minutes before he starts complaining of his arms being too tired.