Catching Up

Finally a new post, right? Aren’t we all sick of seeing the swimsuit pics? This has been a crazy fall for our family. Here are a few updates!

Brian took his last CPA test on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. He passed the first three with scores in the 90s and is pretty sure he did the same on this last one. Hurray! Just two more small non-stressful exams and he will officially be a CPA! I am so proud of him. Since he started studying in April, it has been really hard for all of us—especially Brian. He works all day and studies all night and weekends only seeing us for an hour or two. We are so glad that it is over and we can actually spend time together again. Brian has also done some traveling this fall—two weeks in Denver and two weeks in New Orleans. He got to see some crazy things in New Orleans since he was there over Halloween, but overall he was not impressed with the city and said he wouldn’t ever care to go there for vacation.

I’ve just been doing the mom thing—housework, play dates with friends, grocery shopping, etc. Braxton and I did go to Idaho a few times for a baby blessing and for Halloween. I am now a nursery leader in our ward, so it looks like I’ll be in nursery with Braxton for a while. I have expanded my summer stroller walking to walking/jogging on our new treadmill. We’ve had it for a little over a month and I don’t think I could ever go without it again. It feels so good to get your heart working hard and get in better shape. Also, I have started attending the cooking classes at Williams Sonoma and am expanding my cooking skills and recipes.

Braxton is getting so tall and takes life at a dead run. At his 18 month appointment, the doctor said he looked like a body builder. He is pure muscle and likes to lift up his shirt and show off his belly button. He is starting to actually talk now instead of just random words. My favorite phrases are ‘I do’, ‘Right there’, and ‘What is that?’. He also has a cheesy smile that melts your heart.

Braxton is such a good eater most of the time. He lets me know when he is hungry by grabbing my hand and dragging me to the pantry or to get a plate and fork and whine to get in his high chair. His favorite foods are sweet potatoes, squash, chicken nuggets, pizza, beans & rice, pasta, PB & Js, scrambled eggs, pretzels, frosted mini-wheat cereal, and apples. He also loves fruit smoothies. Just like his dad, he doesn’t get head freezes so he chugs smoothies if I don’t watch him too carefully.

He is as curious as a little boy can get. He is into everything all day long. He empties every drawer and cupboard in the room and tries to figure out what everything does. We’ve had to put baby locks on pretty much everything in the house since we had to call poison control three times in October—twice in one day! Luckily, with the curiosity comes this beautiful desire to help. He loves to clean up his toys, take things to the garbage or the sink, help dad with his construction projects, and organize his toys. We think he may have a touch of OCD just like both his mom and dad. He knows where everything goes and all I have to say is ‘put that back’ and he knows right where it came from. Every day, I am amazed at how smart is and how fast he learns. Here are some pictures from the last few months:

Hangin’ out at Grandma’s farm


Slick is the friendliest cow you’ll ever meet. He runs to meet you and could hurt you just trying to get petted since he weighs nearly 3000 pounds! Don’t worry, Grandma’s not too far away.


He’s as tall as Grandma

Braxton was a basketball player for Halloween

Trick or Treating with his cousin Sienna. Braxton would constantly knock on the door until someone answered, then picked up one treat and run back down the stairs. He figured this process out pretty quickly.


He LOVES to help

Belly Button

Summer of the Swimsuit

So, you may be wondering if we have done anything this summer besides go back and forth from Idaho and St. George. The answer to that is yes; however, the everyday activities are not usually picture worthy.

We joined a walking group and go for a ‘stroller parade’ walk a few mornings a week. Surprisingly, Braxton actually likes going and I have started walking every morning. We also play out on the grass with neighbors a lot in the evenings.

But, the best thing we did this summer is buy a season pass to Seven Peaks Waterpark. My friends Aubrey (and her daughter Kennedy) and Geneve (and her son Brooks) also got them. Sometimes we go three times a week in the mornings before the kid’s naps. Seven Peaks and good friends have made this summer one of the most awesome summers of my life. We are incredibly brown and so sad that next week is the last week the park is open. It was amazing to spend so much fun quality one-on-one time with Braxton. He may not remember this summer in the years to come, but I definitely will. Finally, after a whole summer of swimming, Aubrey thought to bring a camera so we could document this summer with a few pictures. Here are my favorites:

Braxton LOVES the big boy slides (Don’t worry—Brian was holding him. He’s just under the water.)

He loves the little slides too

Braxton and his daddy

He loves to splash

Braxton’s favorite wheel

Riding the Gator with his beautiful friend Kennedy

Braxton and Kennedy on their favorite slide in the park. They seriously could go down this slide all day.

Family Reunion in Idaho

In July we made the trek to Idaho again for the Merkley family reunion. We had a nice little picnic at Tautphaus Park. It was so good to see my grandparents and a few cousins. We went to the little amusement park and the zoo. Here are some pictures:

Braxton’s First Merry-Go-Round

At the Zoo

Didn’t everybody play like this in a flooded yard at one time in their childhood? Well, now Braxton has too.

The Great Flu of 2010

Many of you also caught this flu. I don’t know where we got it for sure, but Braxton and I were traveling to Idaho at the end of June and the next day Braxton was sicker than a dog. The poor kid threw up a lot for his first flu and didn’t have much fun on the visit. Needless to say, I came down with it the day we drove back to Utah for Brian’s cousin’s mission farewell. I ended up out on the church lawn in tears because I felt so awful. I swear I haven’t been that sick in a long time, if ever. My whole family in Idaho also got it, so it was just extremely contagious. And just like the song that never ends, by the time Braxton and I started feeling better, Brian came down with it. So, we did the flu in our home for more than 2 weeks. Despite being so sick, I did take Braxton over to his Grandma Coombs’ to see the animals and he got to play with Sienna. Here are some pictures:

Feeding the Chickens

Walking with Grandma and Hank

Just a cute picture

Braxton & Sienna

A Week of Broadway-ish Shows

In June, most of the girls on my Grandma Foster’s side of the family went to St. George for a girl’s week. I drove down with my sister-in-law Amber and her daughter Sienna. It was so nice to spend some time with them this week without the boys. Sienna and Braxton got along so well. One morning I found them sharing a piece of licorice. Here they are at the pool:


We all went to Tuacahn Theater (minus the kids) two nights in a row to see Tarzan and Cats. Here are my thoughts:

It was really good and I totally recommend anyone to go see it; however, I was slightly disappointed in two things. First, the singers were not as good as I hoped in this one. I am not sure if it is just because Phil Collins’ voice is so unique and I love it, so this just wasn’t as good or if the singers really just weren’t good. Second, I thought all the cables and flying across the stage was more distracting than helpful to tell the story. This also could be because the wind was blowing so hard they almost cancelled the show. Actually, we heard the next night that they would have cancelled it if they didn’t have a special guest that night. The original Tarzan from the old movie was sitting 5 rows behind us, so they didn’t want to cancel it for him. Besides those two things, it really was a great production for little old Utah.

Oh My Gosh! Loved it! I have never seen Cats before and didn’t know the music or the story so I don’t have anything to compare it to. But, the dancing and singing was SO amazing. I felt like I was watching a real Broadway performance. My favorite cat was the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. He was awesome! The lady who played Grizabella was also one of the best singers I have ever heard. She was a tony award winner that happens to live in St. George teaching voice lessons.

So, after the girl’s week was over, Brian drove down and picked me up on the way to Las Vegas to celebrate our 5th anniversary. My mom stayed in St. George with Braxton and they had a great time besides 4 back teeth coming in at the same time—sorry mom! Brian and I stayed at the Monte Carlo, ate at a lot of good restaurants, and saw a few shows. Here’s my review:

O by Cirque du Soleil (Sorry, couldn't get a good picture)

WOW. This was diving, gymnastics, contortionists, and synchronized swimming on steroids. What these performers do is so beyond crazy that it blows my mind. The real star of the show was the stage. It is the coolest stage ever. You just have to see it to believe it. This show was worth every penny of it’s expensive ticket.

It was a really good performance. I have seen this one in London and it was so amazing there, that I was slightly disappointed this time. The woman who played Rafiki was perfectly amazing and the older Nala was really good. But, other than that the singers were just okay. I was expecting a little more for a professional production and feel like Tuacahn in St. George could have put on a production as good as this one.

All in all, it was a really great week and I am totally spoiled!

The Big Number 5

We did it babe—5 whole years! Although it seems like so much longer than 5, since we fell in love 9 years ago. Let’s take a minute today to flash back to one of the happiest days of our life and then celebrate in Vegas next weekend!

Cake? Cake . . . CAKE!

Today we had a little birthday party for Braxton. He got so many fun toys and he loves all of them! Thanks everybody for coming! Here is a picture overload, including the progression of cake demolition. Enjoy!

Opening presents

Lots of presents

Happy Birthday To You

What is this?

I don't know, but I think I like it. Gooey.

First Bite

Diggin' In

I'm Lovin' It

It needs a good massage.

Oh Yeah, the massage worked! One big bite!

That's enough. Pretty sure I'm done.

Gettin' Clean

Lovin' the bubbles

My first four-wheeler from Grandma Coombs

Birthdays are the best!

Happy 1st Birthday Braxton

Braxton turns 1 today! Where has the year gone? He is so big now and walking all over the place. We went to The Living Planet Aquarium this afternoon for the first time and he was obsessed with it—talking to the fish and splashing in the water with the stingrays. Thanks Aubrey for inviting us to go with you!