Back to School

It's that time of year again. And this year it's bitter sweet. I'm sad to see our summer ending but am ready for fall and for the kids to get back into a routine. The kids have been so excited for school to start and so far are all happy with their teachers. Mason especially has been counting down to his first day of Kindergarten. He said before he left for school that "today is going to be the best day of my life!" Ahhhh. He literally had a perma-grin the whole day. It's also that time where we are gearing up for all their activities. The kids are trying some new things this year so we'll see how that goes. It's a good time of year, I'm always ready for the change.

Swim Lessons '09

Today the kids finished swim lessons. They all did very well and 2 of the 4 passed! This was Riley's first year and lets just say it was an experience. Technically you are supposed to be 3, but she'll be 3 next month so I thought I'd give it a try. Well, there were definitely no problems with getting her in the pool and getting her to participate. The problem was she wanted to participate TOO much, when it wasn't her turn. Riley likes all the attention on her and doesn't like it when it's not her turn. There were many times she had to sit out because she wouldn't listen to her teachers and sit on the step and wait her turn. I'm so glad the teachers followed through and made her sit out. She needs to know it's not always all about Riley. (Below is a picture of her sitting out sulking with her head down. I didn't have my camera so my friend took a picture with her cell phone.) Classic Riley....hilarious!

I Can't Wait Until I'm 8....

My little "Emma Dilemma" just turned 8! She has been so excited. She had a birthday party with just her cousins last week and then another with her friends this week. Lucky girl. Her friend birthday party we celebrated by going rollerskating. This proved to be difficult for many of her friends. This was the first time for many of them. But we all had a good time.




But the highlight of the day was that Emma got to get her ears pierced! This is the 8-year old tradition in our house for the girls. So I took her to the mall in the morning and she was very nervous. She did shed a few tears but admits it was worth it.

I love my little Emma and we are all looking forward to her baptism next month. Such a big girl!

Enjoying the Fruits of our Labor

Lately I've been wondering when my garden's fruit and vegetables will be ready. Something other than lettuce that is. We're not rabbits, we can't possibly keep up with the amount of lettuce we've got. Last Wednesday I went out to check on the garden, to see if anything new was sprouting up, and still nothing. Just flowers. Then we went on a camping trip this weekend, came back, and then Sunday Katelyn went out to the garden and came back exclaiming we had zuchinni, squash, stawberries and raspberries. I did not believe her because I had just checked 4 days earlier. So I went out and to my surprise not only did we have zuchinni, squash, strawberries, raspberries, tons of lettuce and a tomato, the zuchinni and squash we're huge!! How did they grow so fast? I was like a kid on Christmas morning digging through the leaves and plants to see what all I could find. We actually had much more squash than we picked, we thought we'd let some get a little bigger. But it was so fun for me and the kids to see how what started out as a seed, or starter plants in some cases, was now food. And believe it or not, the kids were begging, literally begging for some squash for dinner!! I guess when you grow something yourself, it somehow tastes better. Now that I've got squash coming out my ears, anyone got any good squash recipes??

Bradshaws Do Yellowstone

This past weekend we took a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park. Believe it or not, it was the first time for me and the kids. We left on Friday and made a stop at a stocked pond along the way and let the kids feed the fish. Then we were off to West Yellowstone. We stayed the night there, and enjoyed some pizza, ice cream and homemade fudge. The kids had fun swimming in the hotel pool all night. The next day we got an early start in the morning and headed for the Park. We had an amazing time. There was so much to see. We saw tons of buffalo, elk, deer, an eagle in his nest, and even a small grizzly! We made lots of stops along the way and saw lots of little geysers, hot spots, waterfalls, lakes and of course Old Faithful. The kids really had a great time despite the fact that at the end of the day, we were all hot, tired, sunburned with tons of mosquito bites. But the kids were real troopers and never complained. On the way home we ended the day with a stop at Big Juds. Always a hit. All in all it was a great time and I'm sure we'll be back!

4th of July Weekend

What a busy fun weekend! We had a lot going on. We started it off by going to Ross Park with my sisters Teri and Holly and their families. Always a good time.



Then later that night my family all came up from California. It was so great having them all here. We later roasted some s'mores out in the backyard. Mmmmm...my favorite! Then Saturday was the 4th of July!! One of my all-time favorite holidays! We started it off by going to the parade-of course.



Then we went to the park for some fried chicken and a little football--who knew my sister Caroline was so good at football??



Then we went back to our house for some slip and slide. I used to love playing on my slip and slide with my cousins when I was little. It was fun to watch MY kids play with their cousins on the slip an slide. The kids also played with the water balloons and even did some finger painting. Later that night we fired up our new BBQ and had some burgers and hotdogs. Then really later that night, there were the fireworks. By this time some were too wiped out. But those that went said they were as good as ever!



The following day Sunday was Landon's blessing day. It was really nice to have all of my family there as well as a bunch of Josh's that had come from Utah. It was a very special day for us.

We had a great fun-packed weekend! I am lucky to have such a great family.

Saddle Up!

Last week we had a mini-Bradshaw reunion with Josh's family. The highlight of the day was horseback riding in Rexburg. The kids had a blast! They got to ride the horses all by themselves. Later in the day we just played in Josh's parents backyard, ate good food and hung out. It was a good time.