Neglect

Housework, Laundry, Sleep, Blogging... Yes these things have been neglected. Some more then others. The reason being is I just got called to be the Secretary in the Primary Presidency!!!

I was a primary teacher before hand. This past year since being in this calling I have really grown, my confidence & testimony are probably the two main ones. When I was first called I was a bit intimidated. The class had the reputation of being tough & I didn't know any of the kids or their parents & believe it or not I'm not super outgoing. It takes a while for me to "warm up". October is really where I can say I started feeling the most growth. With the primary program at the end of the month I was feeling the spirit so strong during singing time. I think I was crying every week! Haha. Of course I was trying to play it cool, but the Primary President then & now both told me they would notice me & wonder if I was ok or not because I would start getting teary eyed at the most random points. There was also a week when I was teaching my primary lesson that I totally got choked up on a story I was reading & one of the secretaries at the time happened to walk in. Blast! I was a little embarrassed to say the least. My class was so funny. They just sat there & stared at me wondering if they were the cause for my crying. Then about the end of November the 1st counselor was put in the stake primary & therefore released. It was at that moment I had this feeling "prepare yourself" I kind of shrugged it off & didn't think much of it. Then I got a call from the 1st counselor in the bishopric wanting to meet with me. I had another feeling at that moment "prepare yourself, you're going to be the secretary in the presidency" When Brother Morrow & Brother Rupp showed up & extended the call. I was surprised to hear that my feelings were right but at the same time prepared. A neat experience. The end of the year getting ready for the new year has been CRAZY. We as a presidency have been meeting every Sunday since the call to gather our thoughts & plans for the new year. I have been chugging away at updating & organizing the files I was given so it makes sense to me. With doing that I'm also juggling getting ready for Christmas & my Sister in Laws wedding. And well my friends, that is why housework, laundry, sleep, & blogging are being neglected. I am super excited to get to serve in the presidency with the other woman there. They are all super neat & can't wait to get to know them better. This calling is going to help me grow in other areas of my life & I'm excited for that!!! This is a busy time of year & I'm now an even busier lady :)

"Where's the party at?"....."California!"

That's what Jhett asked when we were on our way to California. So naturally I answered California!

(I think I should have broken this trim up by days because it has literally taken me almost a week and a half to post this because of all the pictures!)

At the end of September we were FINALLY able to do our Christmas present from Austin's dad and Stepmom from 2 years ago! But since we were not able to go to Mexico in June Austin wanted to make our trip a little longer and hit the beach. The kids didn't do too bad. They each had a dvd player and cardboard in the windows. BEST thing we did! It made the car dark so they would sleep. My kids won't sleep anywhere but their beds so we have to go above and beyond and cross our fingers they will sleep. We also didn't leave at the butt crack of dawn. That too was nice. Austin and I were able to get a good night's rest and we just left after the kids woke up.

A friend at of mine at work told me that she stops at Carl's JR in Yuma because they have a play area for kids and that it always wears her kids out. So we thought we would try it.

We let the kids play for about 15 min, took potty breaks, and hit the road. It was great and worked! Both kids fell asleep within the hour!We stopped a couple more times on our way to the hotel, Del Taco and H&M. Then we went to the beach. Austin could hardly contain himself! The beach was right down the road from our hotel.

The kids LOVED playing in the sand.

This is Tredd's thing, shoes on his hands. You can catch him walking or crawling like this. He has been doing it ever since he started crawling. He is obsessed with shoes!!!

I tried so hard to get pictures with the boys.Jhett was so awnry and would not take a picture with me. It then became a goal of mine to get a picture of us with him smiling!

Tredd wouldn't cooperate either.

Thursday was Beach Day. We decided to make the drive to Coronado Island. Austin really wanted to try Skim Boarding and we were told by some locals the sand there was not too rocky and good. We went in the morning and it was not crowded by any means and the waves weren't gigantic so Jhett could boogie board.


The video I got of Jhett boogie boarding was so funny! He actually screamed in terror. Let's just say when he wiped out at the end he was NOT happy. Am I so mean to think that is was funny??

Tredd wanted to try too. I thought it was hilarious that he knew how to stand as if he were surfing. I think he will be my board boy :)

Austin spent quite a bit of time in the water by himself. Check him out in his sexy wet suit!

The water was way too cold for my liking. In fact I wished I wore sweats rather then a swimsuit! I was so cold sitting there.

MUST GO HERE IF YOU VISIT CORONADO ISLAND!!!

Flavor to try: Coconut Cream. SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

For lunch we decided to try the Mexican Restaurant right by our hotel because we had a complimentary nachos coupon. So we changed out of our suits and walked over there. It was pretty good. Not the best Mexican food I have ever had but I'd eat there again.

Thursday evening we decided to go to Sea World to just do rides so that Jhett would do other things when we met up with the rest of our family. The park was completely dead and we walked on and walked off rides and played in the jungle gym for a couple of hours. The boys absolutely LOVED this! Plus it was fun because we would all ride together!
Elmo's Flying Fish was the only ride I got pictures of.

I was the lucky one to climb up the playground with Jhett because he wouldn't go alone.

The toddler area was great! Tredd LOVED it! He is such a social butterfly and makes friends with kids and adults. He isn't afraid of anybody!

Earlier in the day while all the boys were napping I went shopping. I was on the hunt for a sweatshirt for Jhett. First stop was Goodwill! No sweatshirt but I found this long board for $20! It made our trips to the boardwalk so fun!

Austin & Jhett couldn't get enough of it! Austin let Jhett ride it on his own.

But actually Jhett preferred riding it like this. Austin said people thought it was great and got lots of comments. These two cruised up and down the boardwalk every night we were there.

I ended up getting a sweatshirt for Jhett at TJ MAX. The local surf shops didn't carry anything in his size and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on some cool ones I saw at Sea World. I also picked up a pair of TOMS for myself. Mission Beach became our nightly outings where we would go to watch the sun go down. We even ate at the same place too.

Friday was the day we were meeting up with Gma & Gpa Udall and Ben & CJ for our 2 day Sea World Adventure. They weren't going to be there until later so we went ahead without them. Sea World offers these awesome All You Can Eat passes for $29. If you are planning on being at the park all day these are so worth it. The pass pays for itself after 2 meals. We got one pass that Austin wore. The only thing it didn't cover were churros. I don't know what it is about theme parks but I crave those things the second I step in the park. I only got a couple the whole time we were there because the pass got me pumpkin cheesecake and cups of strawberries! Yum! We literally spent most of the day eating! I just wish I took more pictures!

The second day we went was the first day of their Halloween Spooktacular!

The whole park was decorated! A few shows were changed to be more "spooky" and there was trick-or-treating! This was the first time any of us had been at Sea World during this event.

We had a blast! Once again, I sucked at taking pictures :(

You can't go to a Spooktacular without getting your face painted!!! I really wanted Jhett to get some sort of Monster painted but he was set on being like Uncle CJ and wanted to be a tiger. Here he is waiting for the other two to be done.

I spy 2 tigers and a leopard!! Jhett sure adores his uncles Ben & CJ!!!

Jhett LOVED the shark exhibit! Well at least the end when you walk through the underwater tunnel and they are swimming all around you. Trying to get a picture of him in front of this mouth was impossible. The camera caught him running off! If you look at his face you can see he thinks he is hilarious!!

Tredd was unsure about this giant sea turtle we put him by.

Jhett was completely pooped by the afternoon.

He fell asleep while sorting Sugar Babies! Haha.

It was the most perfect weekend for this trip. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We saw all of the animals and shows, ate until we wanted to burst and rode rides until we were sick. No souvenirs were bought at the park. I think the longboard, Jhett's sweatshirt, and my TOMS were good enough. We missed the sunset at the beach Saturday night and Austin wasn't too happy about it. It was driving him nuts being in California and not being at the beach.
I must admit, I miss seeing these beautiful sunsets.

The trip was FABULOUS!!! I hope we make it back real soon!!!

Tredd's First Birthday

Tredd's birthday was low key this year. It wasn't going to be. I had a whole theme in mind months before and started buying things for it. Jhett had a HUGE party for his 1st. Jhett was also walking 2 weeks before he turned 1. Tredd had ZERO interest in walking and since he wasn't walking I decided to have the party I planned for his 2nd and keep this year chill.

Friday August 12th was Tredd's big day! The night before I decided to make him a birthday outfit. This is him modeling the "One"sie I made.

I have been babysitting my niece & nephews lately since my SIL got a job and needed some extra cash. Win Win in my eyes. Anyways, I wanted to go out to lunch for Tredd's birthday so we hit up McDonald's. Brinkley & Braxton were in school and therefore were not able to join us. But Drayson got to be part of the fun!

Because I am nice, I let everyone get kiddie cones. I even let Tredd eat it on his own!

I honestly can not remember if we went anywhere that night. I think we met up with Austin at Fudruckers because he happened to be off work when I got done babysitting. Who knows for sure. We will just say it happened ;)

Saturday I had to work at the Animal Hospital and Austin was driving. So my boys were with Grandma all day. My mom is awesome and had a little birthday party celebration at her house for Tredd. We had hotdogs and cupcakes. Jhett got to help decorate them. It was just my immediate family. (Papa, Mom, Scotlyn, Shalae & Erik)

Boys waiting patiently for cupcakes.



Tredd was unsure about the cake. It took him awhile to understand I was encouraging him to dig in and get dirty!

Lame attempt at a family picture.

The dogs couldn't wait to get a taste. You can see Maddie just jumped up and decided to lick the seat :) Silly Dogs. Also, how funny is it that this highchair used to be mine when I was a baby??? Seriously, my parents don't throw anything away!

Tredd was pretty yucky when it was all said and done so he got a bath in the sink.

He even got a couple of presents to open up. Jhett was right there to make sure and help ;) The little stinker even got a present. Yes my mom gives Jhett a present anytime someone else is opening one so he doesn't feel "left out". One word...SPOILED!!!!

Sunday was my niece Brinkley's birthday so Emily & I decided to have a combined family get together. The Udall & Johanson families were in attendance. We just had desserts. Emily made an asphalt pie per Brinkley's request and I brought cupcakes. Here are the two of them as we sing "Happy Birthday!"

Tredd knew exactly what to do this time around

It was a really nice weekend. Tredd is the best baby! He has the sweetest spirit. Tredd let's me kiss and cuddle with him all day long. His smile is precious and he has the most amazing big eyes. I just love this boy so much and am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for letting him be apart of my life! Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

*Tredd finally walked at 13 months and got his first tooth 2 weeks shy of 14 months*