the ballerblog

California LOVE!

2012-01-12T14:30:00.038-07:00

A couple days after Christmas we headed out for a fabulous family vacation to CALIFORNIA! It was the longest vaca we have ever been on so I was little nervous. 11 days in sunny Cali. It was WONDERFUL!!! I think if we wouldn't be so far from family and friends and it wasn't so expensive to live there, I would highly consider the move. The first day we drove to Vegas, stayed the night and then continued on our ways to Oceanside, CA. Our condo was huge so there was plenty of room for our family and the family that invited us, the Brewers. It was in walking distance from the beach and you could see the beautiful ocean from the balcony. A little bit like heaven for an ocean lover like me. While in Oceanside (about 30min from San Diego) we went to Sea World, The San Diego Zoo, The San Diego Temple and had a couple beach days. So fun and so relaxing.

Brooky with her new favorite face "CHEEEEESE!" We were in the big tower at Sea World. It's like a big elevator and takes you up and you can see all around. Pretty cool.

Here we are, Cannon looking as thrilled as ever, at the Shamu tank. This was really cool because the whales were swimming around and come right up to the window. Cannon was in awe. I had a really good picture on my phone but it isn't showing up very good on the blog. :(

SHAMU
The Dolphin show was pretty cool. But Clyde and Seamore were the best. I didn't take any pics of that. Sea World was kind of dissapointing. The Shamu show especially. If you have been to Sea World Florida I would pass on Sew World San Diego. Florida is way better!

A day at the Zoo...

The zoo was really cool. We started off on a double decker bus tour around the zoo. It is HUGE! But they have some really cool animals like this gigantic tortoise....

koala's,
panda bears,Cannon Ball's,

Flamingos and Brooky Cookies.

The first of many churros. My kids love them and I just thought this was so cute. A rare moment of honest to goodness sharing.

THE BEACH...

Our beach days were probably my favorite. The kids loved them too.

I love this picture!

Cannon liked to play this game he called "the wave game." Rules: Run from the waves. He was having a blast. Don't be fooled though. The water was FREEZING cold but he didn't care!

Me and my littles.

This is a weird angle I know, but I love the look on her face. She seems so happy looking out at the ocean.

I LOVE TO SEE THE....

We spent Sunday exploring the San Diego temple grounds. Such a beautiful Temple.

They had these popeyes all over the grounds. One my favorite flowers. They were so gorgeous!

This is Cannon's mad photographer skills at work. The kid is seriously good.

I guess he learned some hand signals in Cali, not sure what he's doing here but he is cute!

Brooky looking at Moroni.

On a side note, I found Cannon peeing in the bushes in front of the car ON THE TEMPLE grounds! Not my proudest moment. I asked him why he did that rather than tell Brandon or I he had to go to the bathroom. His response..."I really had to go and I didn't see any bathrooms so I just decided to pee by the car." Nice!!! I guess it's a memory. He did get in trouble so I don't know if it will be fond memory for him.

We celebrated New Years in Oceanside. I didn't even see 9pm let alone the New Year. It was fabulous.

L.A.....

The following Monday we packed up and headed to L.A. We hit Universal Studios. We did the back lot tour. It is super cool. They take you behind the scenes of how they make movies. Probably the coolest part of Universal. Not super "kid" friendly. I did make Cannon go on Jurasic Park. He was not happy by the end. I may have ruined him. On a positive note, we waited all day to see Scooby Doo and just as we were getting ready to leave he showed up in his

Time Machine!

After Universal we made our way to the Anaheim condo. This condo, again thanks to the Brewers, was within walking distance of Disneyland. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we roamed the streets of the Magic Kingdom while enjoying Disneyland and California Adventure. This was probably Cannons favorite part of the trip. Rest assured he directed us with his hand dandy map. He had been looking forward to it the entire time but by the time we got there he was gassed. Poor kid. On the last day all he wanted to do was watch the shows they put on and ride the slow rides with no lines. The ALADDIN production is AMAZING!!! You should totally go see it if you can.

This is the best picture I could get of Boo from Monsters Inc. We think Brooky baby looks like Boo. What do you think? She is CUTE!

We did the Tea Cups, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Peter Pan, Snow White, all the old school ride. Pirates, Tom Sawyer and Thunder Mountain. We also spent a lot of time on the Buzz Lightyear ride. Both of my kids loved Buzz! We had an afternoon of fun in A Bugs Life, Toy Story, Goofy's Flight School and so much more. This may come as a big surprise but Cannon did not want to go on Tower of Terror. :)

We saw Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates,

Woody and Jesse.
We also saw Buzz, Mickey, Goofy and many more.
One night we had dinner at Ariels Grotto. It was right on the Pier in California Adventure. This was our yummy dessert. It was all chocolate and yummy stuff. The kids loved it. After the dinner we went to the World of Color. Seriously one of the most amazing shows at Dinseyland.Think Bellagio fountains only bigger and with a colored laser show on the water. AMAZING!

On Friday we packed up and headed to viva Las Vegas, stayed the night again then we were homeward bound. Cannon kept saying, I wish this car would go "soakin" (not sure what "soakin" means but leaning toward really fast, super fast etc) fast so that we could just be home. We were all ready to be back in our comfort zone by day 11.

Cannon was the ever amazing traveling child. Seriously, the kid is the BEST traveler EVER! I am not kidding. He rocks. His sister is a little less so. However I will give her huge props for being absolutely amazing compared to our last Cali trip. She slept through the night every single night, and her car screaming was far less. Kudos to Miss B. I think this comes in part because we let her walk a ton. I think she was just plain exhausted.

We had a great time with the Brewer family in a fabulous place! Thanks for inviting us!!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-11T15:59:00.015-07:00

We were busy this Christmas season! I really wanted to take the time to enjoy some of the simple things as a family. Sadly, due to the once lost now found camera, the pics are scarce but the reading is bountiful. So read on friends!

We started the season with a trip to the Zoo lights. We have done this every year since Cannon was born and it has become a family favorite. It will be even more amazing once the remodel is finished and they can really open it up. Our favorite part about the Zoo lights, isn't even the lights. I know funny right. It's the animals, there are so many animals out and active. Especially the tigers. They are out in the pool, wrestling one another and prowling along the windows. Very cool!! This year, we went with my mom, step dad, Kamille and Conner. We had a yummy churro, some delish cotton candy and some AMAZING homemade hot chocolate from my mom. She makes the BEST hot chocolate EVER!!! We took a couple rides on the carousel, where Cannon was more interested in riding on the "Ceacock" or peacock bench than any of the moving animals. After the zoo we hit up Litza's for some pizza and then headed home. It was a super fun night!

The next week we did Temple Square with my dad and Diana. It was really nice. Kind of busy but the weather was good. We haven't been the last couple of years and I forget how truly amazing it is. I love the nativity scenes all around the temple grounds and the lanterns that adorn the walk ways. After the Temple we went to Crown burger and sat by the fire of course. Cannon poked a hole in his cup which led a massive sprite spill which was super awesome! But hey we wouldn't be out to dinner without some sort of a spill.

The following week we went to the Miller Family Sing along at ESA. We have done this the last couple years and it is something we really enjoy. This year they featured Alex Boye who is no John Schmidt but he was full of energy and made it fun. They had some delicious sugar cookies for us too. I will rarely turn down a treat especially a sugar cookie.

Later that week we hosted an "Old School Ball Family Christmas Party" complete with Little Caesars Pizza. Carrie even brought the old plates. It was super fun and we had lots of family here to celebrate with us. We even had a white elephant exchange with some pretty stellar gifts. "Ding Dong Bowl" anyone?

On Christmas Eve, eve we had a Beveridge family party complete with ginger bread houses and Christmas Carols. It wouldn't be a Beveridge party if we didn't have a number known as The Little Drummer Boy complete with a drum accompanist. As usual, good food, good times and lots of family.

Christmas Eve we did a little Christmas at Karen's. The kids opened their presents from grandma and Jackie then we caught a couple movies.

Cannon got Doctor Pork Chop! He was so excited because this was the present he picked out to give to another little boy. When he picked it out he said, "but I can get one too hugh" Well I guess so, thanks to one awesome grandma. Jackie gave the Can-man a super awesome set of nerf guns.

Brooklyn got a stroller for her babies....or herself. We aren't really sure yet. Jackie gave her a little piano because the girl loves to play the piano at grandmas.

Grandma Karen with her new accent pillows for her new front room furniture.

Post movie we relaxed at home...you know until Santa came.

Christmas day was super fun. The kids slept in until 8, love that they don't wake up from excitement at 5 am yet.

Cannon got the coveted Bat Cave from Santa, which was good because he had been begging for it for months. He also got clothes, shoes and scooter. My dad and Diana gave him a super sweet batman car, and grandma Chris and Grant gave him pj's and a gift card for Disneyland.

Brooklyn got a kitchen, some dishes and clothes. She also got a pop up toy from my dad, pj's and "pretties" from grandma Chris and Grant.

She also got some shoes seen above, which she put on immediately. This girl LOVES shoes!!

We had a really nice Sacrament meeting with lots of music from the choir then we hustled to Karen's to talk to Elder Ball, open a few more gifts such as the AMAZING Dr. Suess she made for us.
She also gave the kids each a set of Dr. Seuss books. So cute!
Then it was off to my moms for more food and gifts then finally home!!!

It was a busy season but it's super fun with the kiddos.

2012

2012-01-01T20:31:00.002-07:00

WELCOME 2012! We are currently on a sweet vaca in California. I cant think of a better way to begin a new year other than on vacation in beautiful Oceanside. It is lovely here and if it weren't so pricey to live in Cali I would have a FOR SALE sign in my front yard. Ronald Reagan spoke the truth, "if the West Coast had been discovered first there would be no East Coast." Don't get me wrong the East Coast is beautiful too but there is something about the weather here.

I wrung in the New Year dead asleep having gone to bed with Brooklyn at an early 830 pm! BOOM! Can't remember the last time I was in bed that early. As a result I didn't really reflect on my New Year's Resolutions until today.

One of them is to travel more. :) Yeah, I can only hope that will really happen. I want to appreciate this beautiful world more. I think it takes getting out of your "rut" to see the other beauties the world has to offer for you to appreciate the world more. God truly did create an AWESOME place for us to dwell.

For my blog followers, and my own personal journaling, I hope to give my blog a little more love this year. I love looking back on my blog and this year I hope to be better about keeping up on it.

The rest of my resolutions are pretty typical, lose weight, exercise more, run a few races this year, eat better and be a better person all around, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually etc.

Being on vacation during the New Year gives you a sense of rejuvenation especially when you are in a beautiful sea side city. So thanks vaca and here's to a wonderful 2012 full of motivation and new adventures!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-22T11:26:00.002-07:00

In case we missed you....

We wish you all a very happy and safe holiday season. May we be thankful for all the wonderful things we have, the things we will receive and most importantly our sweet Savior.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Love,
The Ball Family

"Brooky come with me...."

2011-12-03T21:04:00.004-07:00

So, I lost my camera and sometimes feel like no blog post is worthy without a picture! But I found it so we are back in business!!! Funny thing is, the picture on this post is from my new phone. Haha! oh well, you get a pic none the less.

Cannon has suddenly developed a "fear" of being alone. He won't go downstairs alone, he doesn't like to be upstairs alone, he always wants someone to be with him. So if he wants something downstairs he is always begging me to go with him. I seem to be "busy" far too often and give him the "just go down and turn the lights on etc" business. He has since resorted to a new source of companionship, his sister.

For example. He wanted to play soccer outside so he needed to go get his soccer ball. It was downstairs and I was in one of my busy moments so he grabs his sister by the hand and insists she accompany him because "it is so so scary downstairs."

I find this humorous because I am not quite sure what this little face is going to do in an effort to protect her big brother. Even more humorous is the fact that once he has the item in hand he then ditches his said protector in the "so, so scary basement."

At least he finds comfort in her and not just a nuisance.

Love them.

The Stein

2011-11-14T12:47:00.003-07:00

On Saturday we had the opportunity to stay at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City. It is a super swanky, full-service hotel. Yes it is N.I.C.E! Like one of those 5 star places you only see on TV (in fact Brandon was pretty sure a few scenes from Dumb and Dumber were filmed there). For whatever reason Brandon and I were not fully aware of how nice it actually was. I mean we knew it was nice, probably one of the nicest places in Utah but we were not thinking. I don't know if what was the relief of being childless for 12hours or if it was the excitement of staying somewhere we could never afford otherwise or if we were just plain naive. Whatever it was, it did not bode well.

For starters we decided to make this my birthday outing so we left SLC around 5 headed up to do a little Christmas shopping for the kids at the outlets and then hit dinner at the Baja Cantina. It was snowing and cold and perfect Park City weather and because Brandon always has a dollar sign in his brain we took his Civic for the gas mileage. I know what you are thinking, I don't need a reminder of the absolute "thriftiness" of this man, it is truly pathetic at times. Nonetheless we were rolling in style!

So after we had the To Do's checked off we headed up to the Lodge. We get there and I go check us in immediately realizing that I am so not rich enough to be in the presence of these people. The staff is super nice, asks if I have any questions. Feeling so awkward and out of place I softly ask if she could give directions to my room. She then says, "the bell boy will show you to your suite." Oh OK, I reply feeling a bit embarrassed, so then I sheepishly ask, "Can you tell me where we should park?" "It is Valet parking, the parking attendant will take care of your car for you." Well great! Even more embarrassed, but it gets worse before it gets better as I realize I have $4 dollars in cash and I know I am supposed to tip these people. Lets hope Brandon comes through and has some flow. I immediately realize he doesn't as he quietly asks me for some. Well crap, this is awesome. So we give the car attendant $2 and the bell boy $2. I am positive these boys are used to like $10-15 tips and I am handing them $2 bucks all while the bell boy is trying to grab Brandon's bag out of the door that DOES NOT open, so Brandon has to sneak his hand inside the car awhile embarrassingly muffling a "no, the door doesn't open I'll grab it." To top it off, Brandon has NO trunk, and what trunk he does have is full of a useless sub woofer and a whole bunch of sporting crap,(ie cleats, flags for flag football, a basketball etc). So the entire back seat is FULL of the stuff we just purchased at the outlets, and not neatly either. By this point I think both Brandon and myself were sweating to death hoping this would end soon.

The Bell boy takes our bags and asks if we have ever been there. "Ummm, NO can't you tell?" I reply. He just laughs it off. He asks where we are from and I tell him Herriman, luckily he knows where that is, most people have no idea. He is from Draper, not far from us so I think he understood our flustered appearance. He kindly mentions "not many people are used to a full service hotel so it's totally OK." he continues with the "tour" of the property and I am just praying we get to our room ASAP so this can end knowing I am only giving him $2bucks because that is all I have. I don't want to make him work too hard for a freaking fountain drinks worth of pocket change.

We finally make it to our suite, I hand him his stellar tip and hope we don't need any further assistance. Seriously, talk about the Clampets.

The next morning we get up and head to the lobby. Of course the Valet has to retrieve your car so here goes another round of embarrassment as he pulls out in the 265,000 mile' rusting old Civic that has just spent the night among BMW's, Range Rovers, Jaguars etc. and we still have NO cash. Brandon locates an ATM gets a $20 bill which is now worth $25 after the fees and then heads to the front desk for some change. We head to the car as Brandon gives both the new bell boy and the Valet guy a tip in a just take it and let this embarrassment end fashion rather than a yes I have done this a million times fashion.

We both get in the car, buckle up and head back to the "slums." Instantly Brandon is apologizing that we didn't bring the Path, because even though she has seen her day she takes the cake over the Civ, so that may have eased some of the some the car embarrassment, not to mention the snow! We both just start laughing thinking of how awkward we must have seemed. Not to mention young and poor, in a Deer Valley Respect anyway.

On a positive note, it was by far one of the NICEST places I have ever stayed. The bed was huge and comfy, the bathroom was nicer than anything I have ever been in and the tub was honestly as big as my own entire master bath. There were also some HUGE TV's for a hotel suite. Which was great for Brandon so he could get in some extra BYU time. We had some yummy hot chocolate, a stellar view and an awesome nights sleep since there were no babies to wake us up. It was super relaxing and if I skied I would be begging B to take me there. It was fun and we definitely created some laughable memories. I don't want this to sound like we had a terrible time because we had a GREAT time just not when we had to interact with the staff. Haha!

We were going to take the kids with us and I can only imagine how much WORSE this would have gone if we did. It would have been terrible! I owe my mother a HUGE thank you since she sacrificed a nights sleep with Miss Brooklyn.

I can sum this up in two words, "learning experience." Right then we vowed to NEVER go to any hotel without cash ever again!!! At least that way we can appear smooth even if we are not! So, so long Stein, we will probably never be able to stay there again and while you may not miss us, we will truly miss you!

Good Times at the Stein!

Sadly I can't find my camera anywhere so you will just have to imagine the beauty of this place.

Favorites...

2011-11-02T14:31:00.003-06:00

This morning on the radio they were discussing whether or not parents have favorite children. They mentioned how we all LOVE our children but deep down we have a special place in our heart for a certain favorite. I won't dispute this. I LOVE both of my children with ALL of my heart and would gladly die for either of them in a second but but for now Cannon holds the title for me. I feel somewhat vindicated in this because I know for a FACT that Brooklyn O.W.N.S her dad! I mean bat the eyes, flash the smile get whatever she wants straight up OWNS him! So I KNOW she is his favorite!

Case in point....
A few months a go I decided it was time to take the bottle away from Miss B. Cannon was done and off by the time he turned 1 and it was never a problem. Brooklyn NEVER took a binky and when I stopped nursing often times the only comfort she found was through a bottle. The girl CRIED ALL THE TIME for the first 6months of her life. Thus Cannon wins the title. (I am still not over the trauma of Brooklyn and what a hard baby she was.) For whatever reason food was a comfort to her. Yes I thought about the long term affects of food being a comfort but lets face it, if she wouldn't have had that comfort we both would have been in trouble. And turn me in if you so desire, I gave her a bottle in her bed with her naps and at night. GASP.....I know terrible parenting but I am still SANE and Brooklyn is alive, adorable and thriving! So the bottle won!

Anyway, full well-knowing I created a monster I knew it was time to take away the comfort. Besides I had run out of bottle liners and I only use drop-ins, so what better time to begin. I was on my 3rd day of no bottle and getting a little closer with each nap etc. One night she was so tired, I mean we had passed the breaking point. She had spent about an hour in her bed just crying hysterically. Break my heart? Yes it did but I was determined to hold strong. I got her out of her bed and tried to comfort her. She wants nothing to do with me, only her dad whom she knows will fall to her beck and call. She gets settled down. Brandon looks at me says I'll be right back. Leaves the house and comes back about 15min later with a box of BOTTLE LINERS!!! His comment to me, "All the poor thing wants is a bottle. Lets just give the girl what she wants." Oh so we did and here we are two months later once again weening her off the bottle. This time I made sure dear ol' dad was on board. I had to convince him it was past time, she is about to go into nursery and Cannon had been off for 6 months at this point. He finally agreed! That doesn't mean she doesn't get some serious cuddle time from her dad at night to help ward of those tears and "give the poor girl what she wants."

Now, I am sure I have a story or two about how Cannon has owned me probably even sweet Brooky B has a story or two. But lets be honest if you have seen Brandon with his daughter you know what I am talking about. The girl has him WHOOPED!!! Heaven help us because we are in big trouble with that big eyed beauty, but oh how we LOVE her!

So, you tell me do you think Brooky is a favorite in the eyes of her father? Better yet, do you have a favorite?

Email...

2011-11-02T14:29:00.003-06:00

This is my "email" from Cannon...I have been getting a few of these lately. I wonder if I should explain "real mail" to him. Haha!

Thankful!

2011-10-20T10:32:00.003-06:00

At times we may not like life or it's prognosis. We may not understand them. We may not want them. We may not be able to cope with them. We may not want to endure them. But we all have a mission to complete here on earth and so we press forward because we are human and that's what we do. We keep going! While we press on sometimes we can see a glimmer of light that allows us to reflect on the good. It allows us to be thankful!

I am thankful for FAMILY.
I am thankful for modern technology.
I am thankful for modern medicine and good doctors.
I am thankful for the priesthood and it's power to heal.
I am thankful for patience.
I am thankful for the feeling of security and comfort.
I am thankful for LOVE.
I am thankful for my body and the many things it can do.
I am thankful for a GOD who knows we exist and is with us always.
I am thankful for hospitals.
I am thankful for the ability to travel to a necessary location.
I am thankful for my MOM.
I am thankful for promptings.
I am thankful for strong wills and determination.
I am thankful for MIRACLES and I believe in MIRACLES!

When did this happen?

2011-10-11T12:25:00.003-06:00

So this morning I was laying on the floor about to start a round of sit ups when the sweet Brooklyn made her way to me and wanted me to pick her up and let her fly overhead. I did, only to be greeted with a stomach o' vomit spewing out of her mouth, all over my clothes, my hair etc. I was hoping it was sweat from my freshly finished workout but the reality, as the drops were sliding down my neck, back and chest, of what it really was was far too obvious. Yes it was DISGUSTING! It got me thinking...

Cannon is sick, with strep. Yep took him to the doctor this morning. Had the little swab test done and got the results I knew we were destined for. After a couple days of a high fever, some nasty strep breath, despite brushing, and a whole bunch of orneriness, I pretty much figured it was coming. Poor guy is miserable. He has just been lounging around wandering from bed to couch to bed.

Which brings me back to my original thought. When did this happen?

When did I become immune to the fact that someone just puked all over me and it not make me vomit too?

When did the NASTY strep-breath of a little kid make me feel more sympathetic than disgusted?

When did I decide it was normal to get up at least once in the night with a well child and countless times with a sick, yet still find the strength to get through another day?

When did I have to go to the Ped's office twice in the same week as if it were just part of my normal routine?

When I did I decide I didn't care if my sick kid wore pj's to get his RX filled?

When did I stop caring about sharing germs with a sicky or keeping my distance to ensure my own health?

When did I become more worried, involved, sympathetic, overwhelmed, exhausted, elated, proud, sad, happy, mad, frustrated and IN LOVE with someone more than myself and anything else that was going in my life?

Oh yeah, when this happened.

School days...

2011-10-09T14:53:00.003-06:00

I was going through some pictures and realized I never mentioned Cannon starting his second year of preschool. He now goes to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I miss having my little buddy at aerobics. I can't believe we are at this point in life already. Next year he will be starting Kindergarten I will be crying my eyes out.

But for now I am glad that he is enjoying it and truthfully I enjoy the few hours of free time.
I took a huge leap of faith this year. Cannon is so not a morning person. He needs a good hour or so to get his bearings and to be ready for the day. His best little buddy was in the morning class last year and C was in the afternoon. This year we decided to do mornings so we could carpool and put these two little guys in the same class.

Cannon still isn't a morning person, but it helps him to get going knowing that he has a friend waiting for him in the car. They were pretty dang cute on the first day of school. Both so excited for a new year with the fabulous Miss Amy! I don't know how Miss Amy feels about the fabulous BF duo, but either way here's to a year full of great school days!

Take a walk in my shoes...

2011-10-07T16:10:00.002-06:00

This was Miss B's choice of footwear....

A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E

Love her!

I "fink..."

2011-10-03T12:37:00.005-06:00

Last night as Cannon was getting ready for bed I heard this insane crying and an instantaneous meltdown. I thought maybe he had hit his head or stepped on a toy or something of that nature. He comes out of his room holding his tummy saying how it hurts so so bad. He had been fine all day so I was a little confused at this sudden wave of sickness that seemed to have overpowered him.

I got him calmed down a bit and asked him what was going on and what he thought would make him feel better. He said he thought he needed medicine, I said I wasn't sure medicine would help his tummy. So instead he offers up this suggestion

"I fink I need to watch a show with milk on your bed, I fink that will make me feel better."

Haha! Both Brandon and I bust a gut. It was so funny! I am not sure if it was a ploy to get out of bed or what. I am thinking not because he had a similar meltdown this morning. However he seems fine now so I "fink' he is ok.

The Maiden Voyage

2011-09-25T21:26:00.011-06:00

Brooklyn is now 15 months old and as of Labor Day 2011 had yet to have seen the glorious wonders of The Back of the Moon. Sadly we don't make it up to the cabin nearly as often as we should, especially considering how close it is, but on Labor Day we made the trip!
We made a day of it with Brandon's sister and her family
and the lovely Jackie Ball.

(Jenny, Kasey and miss Kara)

We decided to hike up to doughnut falls which is in walking distance of the cabin. It's a good thing too because I have never seen so many people up there in my life. We usually avoid the cabin on holidays because the public space, National Park area, is always chaos. This day was no different.

We parked at the cabin and hiked up to the falls. The kids did pretty good considering how much they had to walk but sometimes I swear my 4yr old is the laziest 4yr old alive. Big props to Jackie who was Batgirl while Cannon was Batman, and she needed her superhero strength because she caved to his swooning ways and carried him for much of the hike. Lucky for us Jenny and Kasey had a backpack in which Brooky baby fit nicely,
and the rest of us had to carry our lazy selves.

We made a little stop along the way to the falls....
This is the sacred place of Brandon and I's first kiss. Can I get an "ahhhhh, how sweet is that?!" Okay I know, it's a little mushy. Just be glad I didn't post the kissing picture.

We finally made it up to the falls amongst the herds of other people and tried to a get a group shot of the kids.
This is the best we got. Haha! Trust me they are all adorable even though they aren't visible!

Then we tried again at the cabin...
with a little more success!

After the falls we headed back to the cabin. Spent some time on the zip line, which Brooklyn did NOT enjoy,

Here she is in post zip line tears!

Batgirl herself with the Ball babes!

We made our way home to an awesome BBQ with the fam and then it was time to call it quits. Not bad for Brooklyn's maiden voyage to The Back of the Moon!

Holler, Baller turns 30!!!!

2011-09-25T20:48:00.007-06:00

I remember thinking that there was nothing past the age of 30. I remember thinking people were so old at 30. I remember thinking I will never be 30, that is centuries away. Well, the time has come for 30 to become a reality. Brandon will always be older than me and for that I am grateful! He will always experience those "never" moments before me which is great in my opinion. Maybe not so much for him. However, I know he will show me how those "never" moments can be turned into something far greater than expected.

In honor of this great milestone I decided to throw him a surprise party. If you know the Baller, you know his friends, "the boys," are his family and that beyond them his other true loves include his real family, BYU football and the Jazz. With that in mind you understand that Brandon having a birthday in September makes life a little impossible for me, at least when I am trying to throw a party. I scheduled an event at a nearby park, only to find out that it interfered with a Y game. Not just any game, but a "big game," because they are all "BIG GAMES." Well I knew with absolute certainty there was no way I would get him away from the house during a game. Why didn't I opt for a Friday night you ask? Well, he decided to take Cannon to a Fathers and Son camp out so I couldn't request him not to go without arising some suspicion. So I opted for plan b. I moved the time up to an hour before game time and invited all the "boys" over for the game post SURPRISE! Everyone agreed, now the tricky part was going to be getting him to leave an hour before the game started, you know because of all the pregame mumble jumble. Early in the day he had asked if there was anything I wanted to do or anywhere I wanted to go because come 4o'clock he wasn't going anywhere. A potential problem. Lucky for me, the sap fell asleep mid afternoon making him feel a little guilty about not spending some quality family time, so when I suggested we make a quick trip the park he agreed. Phew!!! I am sure he was spatting off some choice words in his mind about how he already said he didn't want to go anywhere at 4pm and I knew a game was coming on etc, etc. It's amazing what a little child inflicted guilt can do. :)

We made our way to the park and B noticed some friends, comments on how that's weird that they would be all the way out here, especially when a game was about to start. Still connecting the dots. Sees his mom and sister, comments on how weird it is that they are here too. Finally it dawns on him and he realizes they are all there for him and the big 3-0!

We had ourselves some less than quality Little Ceasers, but it is a favorite of Brandon's and it is cheap, and some delicious cake! The gathering was cut short because you know, there was a "big game" and all.
Yes, it was ten year old boy who wrote his name on the cake. Actually, it was a 20 something fella who worked in the bakery at Sam's and was the only one on duty. I am positive this isn't his job on a regular basis, at least according to what I can see.

I am so thankful that Brandon has such great friends that love and support him. They truly are family to him and we are so blessed to have so many. I think having them all there was the best birthday present of all. Thank you!

Admittedly, not the best picture I have ever taken!

I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of Brandon's amazing mom and sisters. He loves you more than you will ever know and I know he was happy that you were there to share his big day!
So, Holler Baller you are 30 and will always be older than me. :) Can't wait to see what life past 30 brings to you and our family. I love you and hope you had a terrific birthday!!!!

Did anyone ever tell you....

2011-09-23T15:28:00.003-06:00

You know when you are in the pre-parenting stage of life and you see kids who misbehave or act in an "unacceptable" manner and think to yourself "I will NEVER let my kid act like that and I will NEVER have 'that' kid!" Yes well, in the words of my mother "did anyone ever tell you that you have that kid?" It's true, I have that kid and with a name like Cannon Ball would you expect anything different. He isn't really a naughty kid and in most occasions is quite well behaved but every once in awhile we have one of "those" moments.

The thing with Cannon is he is incredibly stubborn! I have NO idea where he would get that, having two oldest child parents. And he does things on his own time. Which should have been evident 4yrs ago when he was two weeks over due!

We have been practicing for our primary program for weeks now. I am in Senior primary so I have been able to keep on eye on the C-man during practice. Cannon received his part and had it memorized the same day. The kid is smart just stubborn. While we practice with the primary he absolutely refuses to go up to the mic to say his part. Not because he is scared or wants help but just because matter-of-factly "he doesn't want to." As his teacher said, that is a hard point to argue. I would agree but it is also extremely frustrating! So I begin the bribing process hoping that I can get a shinning moment of glory out of this program with incredibly smart, adorable, little man. I promise him a new car, a trip to the dollar store, a lunch date, a combination of things if he will just say his part in the microphone. Brandon even pulled the, same day IN-N-OUT bribe, promising him we would go right after he said his part, across the parking lot to IN-N-OUT and he could get a grilled cheese. 2 of Cannon's favorites. Still nothing!
So as we spent the last few Sundays practicing I cross my fingers hoping each would be the day. Every week asking Cannon if he would do his part so we could go get him a new toy only to get this response "Hmmm we'll see mom." Which translates to yeah right but I am still going to try to weasel out a new toy.

Finally it's show time. Program day. Grandma Chris and Grandpa Grant coming, Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Diana came, all of them with the no guarantee stamp from me. Meaning I can't make any promises that Cannon will preform so come at your own risk!

He tells me Sunday morning "mom today I am going to do my part and I am going to get a new toy." I am elated hoping it could only be true! He tells Grandma's and Grandpa's once at church "today I am going to do my part and get a new toy." PROGRESS! At least he is committing!

The program begins it is going along great, it is time for the Sunbeams to head to the mic for their part. I can see Sir Cannon making his way to the mic I am almost giddy! So proud that he is going to do it! All of the sudden I hear a loud crash of chairs. Wait someone is crying. Wait that someone belongs to me. Wait that wasn't just a chair that was a head hitting a chair. Wait here it is my moment lost forever in the thunderous, air gasping cries of my 4year old who is making his way back to me. And it's over....the moment of glory, the opportunity for IN-N-OUT, the new toy, the first shinning moment in our first primary program that just may bring a tear to my eye, all gone in the crash of a chair. It couldn't have been during a rehearsal or someonelse's child, it was during the real deal and it was my child, "that" child.

The program continues. Cannon returns to sit with his class and no more tragedies evolve.
We make our way back to our supporters only to hear these words from grandma Chris "did anyone ever tell you you have 'that' child?" Ahhh yes, I do indeed. However, he did have A part in the program, just not that one I was hoping for. It was more like one of those pre-parenting moments when you think "I will NEVER have 'that' child."

Word to the wise we all have "that" child once in awhile and guess what I think it's "those" moments that make us love them more because after all that's what parenting is all about having moments and making memories. Good, bad, embarrassing, proud, happy, sad, exciting etc. We have had plenty of "those" moments with Cannon, but that's what makes him him and I wouldn't change him. Not one thing because then he wouldn't be Cannon.

On a side note, Cannon was reverent and sang great and anyone can tell me how wonderful he is because that too is so very true!

The next great race!

2011-09-01T15:41:00.002-06:00

Every time I finish a race I swear to myself I will never do another one again. That is LIE! That is a heat of the moment, rushing to conclusions, overwhelmed by the intensity LIE! They are kind of like a drug-at least I am guessing. This last one was no different. Especially when I had to get up at 4am to get there on time. However, I completed yet another race and 5 days later I find myself looking for the next thing to "train" for.

This race was super fun, super hot, close to home in familiar territory and did I mention HOT?! It was called the Rivalry Relay. It started at The University of Utah and ended at BYU. That is a grand total of 70miles! This time the ladies didn't go at it alone. A few couples in our neighborhood decided (well probably the wives decided) that it would be fun to compete against our husbands, since it was the Rivalry Relay and all.

Me and the Balltrain at the starting line at the wee early hour of 5am!

Joe and Aprille

Bryce and Kellee

Alisa and Kurt

Chantel and Kevin

Todd
(this is Kevin's business partner we were short one team mate)

Jill
(Her hubby wasn't available for the race.)

"The Wife Slayers." Let me clarify their name here. All the men grew theses nasty mustaches and they for sure, without a doubt thought they would win. Thus the name because of the win and because really none of us like facial hair, hence Wife Slayers.

We of course had a cute name,
"Does this skirt make my butt look fast?"
We all had super cute tule skirts and some of the ladies even had running skirts.

There was a lot of trash talking over the last few months, but I think that only heated up the competition. The girls are much more experienced runners due to the fact that we run 3 times a week and we have competed in a relay already. We were confident, well hopeful, that we would dominate the men. Plus we had a 20 minute head start and 3 of our fastest runners were starting us off. We maintained a close distance to the men but in the end the "Gazelles" took home the trophy. They beat us by nearly an hour and half. Oh well, it was fun running with them and deep down we all knew we would end up in their dust. We did take home one thing though, BEST team name! Oh yeah!!!

Here is Chantel getting ready to work it up Suncrest! She ran all 3 miles of that nasty mountain!
Look at the furthest mountain on the screen, that is where we started and this was only the half way point.

When you pass another runner it is called a "kill." Here I am making a kill! :)
I wasn't so fortunate on my last leg. I had to climb a 4 mile mountain that I was not prepared for! I should have trained a little harder for that part.

At the end of race the guy making the video said "what was your favorite part?" I readily said, "this, the end!" That still holds true. There is nothing like the Finish line!

So here I am having let my body recuperate a little, sitting in the comfort of my air conditioned house, hardly expanding any effort thinking about the next great race. Oh what will it be?! Till then, thanks to all my neighborhood peeps for a fun time!

BOATING!

2011-08-26T11:37:00.010-06:00

Hip Hip Hooray! The Ball family finally made it out on the water this year THANKS to our fabulous friends the Harrison's! When we got the invite Brandon was quite prompt in obtaining the day off. I am so glad he did. We haven't been boating for a couple years now even though it is a favorite pastime for both Brandon and I.

We went to Jordanelle and when I first jumped in I about lost my skin because it took my breath away. However, as you usually do, I quickly warmed up. It is so nice to be out on the water enjoying the SUNSHINE, the COOLER temps and some good old fashioned chatter among friends.

The kids loved it too. I thought C would be more excited but I should have known his timid self would creep out. We had to throw him in the water at first but then he seemed to warm up a bit. He even did the tube, TWICE!

This is after we threw him in. A little nervous, but he soon realized it wasn't so bad!

Cannon driving with Nate!

Canman and dad on the tube!

Yep he is still 4! Not sure why but this is his new favorite pose!

Brooky, the daredevil, I already know she is going to send me through the roof with her wild ways, was not afraid at all. She LOVED the water and couldn't get enough. She did the tube too. She loved just floating along out in the lake, without help of course. Oh child of mine!

Here is Brooky baby on the tube. Sadly none of her tube pictures turned out great.

She played so hard, she tuckered right out. Sweet B!

Brandon got his groove on with the wakeboard. He did awesome! That is something I am not even sure I want to try. I am WEAK! Not sure i have the strength to get up. I will stick to tubing it! Because I am such an awesome wife I didn't get any pictures of B on the wakeboard. Sorry honey!

But I did get one of him with the two sweetest kids ever!

Here is adorable Talan giving me the eye! He is SO CUTE! He loved Brooky and wanted
to hold the "baby." Such a stud!

We had so much FUN and are so LUCKY to have such GREAT friends! Thanks to the Harrison Fam for an awesome day!

Dip it, dip it good!

2011-08-23T15:25:00.003-06:00

I ran down stairs to get some toilet paper out of the storage room, seriously no more than 2 minutes! I came back to discover this.....

Oh yes, that is a baggie of crayons in the toilet and oh wait, yep one in her mouth that she kept dipping and sucking on!

D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G

Maybe it will help build her immune system! ;)

The Dog Days....

2011-08-22T15:24:00.003-06:00

I don't know if it is because Cannon recently turned 4 and seems so big to me now or if it is just my normal fall blues kicking in. But while most people relish the minute their kids start school I am dreading it. Cannon doesn't go back to school until Sept 7th but I am so sad to see him go. He will be gone 3 days a week now. WOW! When did this happen? I was talking to Brandon last night and I was telling him that I think I will totally be one of those moms who dreads the start of school each year. I don't want to see him go to school all day, or a half day. I don't want our "hanging out" time to go away. It makes me so sad. I LOVE summer! I love the boating, the swimming, the warm summer evenings, the Popsicles, the neighborhood play dates, the vacations, the heat, the holidays, the park, the BBQ's, the splash park, the TANS and so much more. I like the changing seasons, but wish summer time would last a little longer, winter a little shorter. Regardless, my baby is getting so big. He will only kiss me on the cheek now, he is SO EXCITED to go back to school and see Miss Amy, and his friends are way cooler than me. I guess I will just soak in what I can while I can. I wish I could freeze this time. He is so fun! So smart and we can actually have real conversations now. He is very helpful with his "sweetest B ever" and most of all he is my BEST FRIEND! So whether I like it or not fall is coming,and with it school. That means, football, sweaters, dark morning runs, a chill in the air, and a routine! It was fun while it lasted and will always be my favorite time of year! So long dog days!

"My Buzz Lightyear Birthday Party!"

2011-08-15T17:35:00.013-06:00

Pretty much since August 15 of last year Cannon has been talking about his Buzz Lightyear birthday! His birthday is August 14! Last year he had a green guitar cake. It was awesome! The only problem is now Cannon thinks every year there is a theme. He is always asking people what kind of birthday they are going to have, not how old are you? Well, how could I disappoint a sweet Innocent adorable 4 year old who just happens to be my best friend and I his. I couldn't! So he indeed had a Buzz Lightyear Birthday!

So what do you do for a Buzz Lightyear birthday party?

You invite a bunch of little Space Rangers
You host it at Starlight Command center
You have Pizza from Pizza Planet
You have purple Buzz juice
You have green alien cupcakes accompanied by Buzz
You have a bubble smashing contest with a bubble blaster
You play pin the parts on Mr. Potato Head
You have a Buzz glider throwing contest

and you let a bunch of space rangers enjoy their goody bags, play with presents and be absolutely adorable!

Day two of the Buzz Festivities
We had family over for Spaghetti and "Corn on the stick," not in the can.
That is Cannon's favorite dinner.
Yep he's 4!!!

After dinner we opened presents including a BUZZ Lightyear dress up!
Look at that face...PURE JOY! LOVE HIM!

Not so much pure joy in this pic but still pretty dang cute!
(All this kid has asked for for the last few months is superhero dress ups.)

He also got a some capes, a pirate costume, and iron man costume and fall clothes from mom and dad. A BUZZ Lightyear Blaster Gun and Optimus prime action figure from grandpa Grant and grandma Chris. An Optimus Prime dress up from grandpa Jeff and Diana, Cars2 Jammie's from grandma Karen. Money from great grandma and grandpa P and grandma Barrow and Becky.
SPOILED!!!
Buzz (Cannon) and Iron Man (Sawyer)

Sadly we dove into my new little crush...BUZZ himself. He tasted delicious even though it was sad to see him go after the hours we spent together.
I made Cannon's cake and cupcakes and I couldn't have been happier with them. They turned out great and Cannon LOVED them!
I would say we had a pretty AWESOME birthday for a pretty cool 4 year old who takes us to INFINITY AND BEYOND every day! Happy Birthday!!!
LOVE YOU BUDDY!

Stewart Reunion 2011

2011-08-15T16:45:00.013-06:00

Another year another reunion. Last year my grandpa was too sick to go anywhere so we did a day of fun and a day of service. This year was much the same. We started off with a day of fun at Ross Park where Cannon the FISH displayed a hint of manliness and perhaps a glimpse of the end of the "pansy boy" phase and the beginning of "manhood!" Wahoo!

There is a large water slide at Ross Park and we debated on whether or not to let C do it. It could go one of two ways. One: TERRIBLY with tears, fears and the possibility of future scaring. Two: GREAT! Lucky for us C decided upon option 2!
This is a really crappy picture of a really tall tower that you had to climb to go down the water slide. Add to that the 5minute pool break he had to take once he reached the top of the tower I thought for sure he would be taking the long walk down. He proved me wrong!
Here is Cannon at the end of the slide. Still sitting up and laughing! You could hear him giggling the whole way down. It was too cute.

Here he is with "Wia," dad and VICTORY! He spent the remainder of the day going on that slide. It may have been the best $5bucks we spent that day. :)

That night we camped out grandma Dixie's. Yep in a tent! A few of our peeps even rolled their trailers and motor homes down to grandmas. It was quite a sight (SITE..haha), with Kamille giving haircuts outside in the moonlight and all. I can only imagine what the neighbors were saying. Oh those CRAZY Stewarts!

Saturday we had a delicious pancake breakfast and then it was off to work. Since my grandpa passed away there is plenty of work to do and add to that the fact that Dix has decided to move we all had to work hard in an effort to help her prepare for the up coming event. We spent the day cleaning,

painting,

going through boxes,

doing yard work,
trips to the dump and DI and most importantly spending time with grandma and one another.

The kids had a blast on the bouncy house and blow up water slide making me wish I was still a kid.

It may not sound like the funnest of reunions but I will tell you when you see tears of gratitude it makes all the sweat worth it. Here's to next year...perhaps we could return to the old tradition of Bear Lake. :) However, a little service goes a long way! :) Thanks for another memorable year aunt Sandra and thanks to one pretty awesome family.
We love you grandma!

Jeepin' in the rain!

2011-08-15T16:35:00.001-06:00

Cannon and William driving to Williams house in the rain. It was so cute!! They had an umbrella over them so that they wouldn't get wet and you could hear them giggling practically the whole way there. Love those boys!

Ladies and Gentlemen for the first time ever....

2011-08-15T15:53:00.006-06:00

Dun-dun-dunda! Ladies and Gentlemen lets hear it for Brooky who finally had her first tooth cut. It took weeks and many tears but on July 9 it made it! Since then tooth number 2 has cut and she is loving every minute of it! Oh the possibilities once you have teeth!

It is shame that she won't let me get a good picture of it because they are CUTE!!!

Also for the first time ever we have a walkin' talkin' fool! Yep this sweet girl toyed with the idea of walking on July 20 while she noticed her little boyfriend, Hewston, walking like a mad man. By that weekend she was walking more than crawling! A bitter sweet moment for me. So happy I don't have to carry her all over but so sad she is getting so big!

Notice the hands, probably my favorite part of a little walker.

In that same week she learned to do the stairs. HOORAY! No more baby gate and a little sense of freedom and relaxation for us all!

HALLELUJAH!
I love that she can finally do this without the constant fear of having her tumble.

A few things about miss Brooklyn...

She is FEARLESS especially now that she can walk.
The girl is a climber!
Like all kids she is such a big helper.
Her most helpful tricks are climbing up on the dishwasher, emptying the dishwasher,
Another "helpful thing" is her constant emptying of my makeup bag and carrying around my round brush all day while she tries to comb her "fixed hair."

Her "fixed hair," yes, well just say it gets fixed multiple times a day due to her "helpful hands" and grandma Chris's genetics. Translation: sweaty head and fine hair. Hey I am not complaining, at least the girl has hair! My mom says this my payback because I would never let her fix my hair and if I did I was always pulling it out.

I can't say enough about this girl! She is adorable, owns us all and we love her to pieces! It is so fun to see her learn new things even though it is tad sad knowing she is growing up!

Best Pals!

2011-07-24T21:14:00.005-06:00

We have been spending plenty of time at the pool this year. My kids are FISH! Cannon has had swimming lessons, we have had dates with friends, we have gone alone, we have spent some serious fun in the sun. I took this picture of Cannon and his friend William. I couldn't resist partly because William looks so stinking cute with his little pose.

Love these cute boys and how much fun they are!
They are such cute little friends!

The Diaper Toss

2011-07-24T21:07:00.003-06:00

The other day I heard Brooklyn wake up from her nap. She was just talking away with an occasional giggle. When I went in to get her I discovered that she had found a new source of F-U-N!

The diaper toss!

I keep the box of diapers at the head of her crib. They don't all fit in the diaper holder at the same time so I keep the extras tucked away. Well it looks like Miss B discovered they were there and even better, that she could reach them. I caught her pulling them out one by one then chucking them over her crib laughing thinking she was pretty funny. Well it was pretty dang funny.

She is pretty dang cute that girl even when she makes a bit of a mess.

Brooky's Chair Affair...

2011-07-24T20:55:00.002-06:00

I have mentioned before how Brooklyn loves Cannon's room. I don't know if is because she knows it kind of bugs him or if she truly is that enthralled with all his stuff. Lately I have found her in his room sitting up this...

She LOVES this chair. If it is up on something she will pull it down and try to set it up to sit on it. There is just something about it that she can't get enough of.

Last weekend I went up to Idaho to see my grandma and what did a I stumble upon...

(I took this picture with my phone so it is a little blurry sorry)

Oh yeah, a chair for Brooky! Lets just say she quickly fell in love with it. I mean really, look at that grin!

Cannon may have been just as excited as she was that she finally had her own chair. Now there is one less thing that she will want out of her brothers room...at least Cannon hopes so. :)

2011-07-18T17:26:00.001-06:00

Check out Disneyland below Stadium of Fire!

Stadium of Fire!

2011-07-12T22:23:00.004-06:00

Brandon's mom usually does one really cool thing for the kids each year. This year it was Stadium of Fire! (I know you are totally singing the 80's jingle!) The main performers, David Archuletta and Brad Paisely! They were AWESOME!

We even got a real date out of it. We literally pulled in from California, left the kids with a sitter and headed to P-town! First stop, Brick Oven! As usual it did not disappoint. Then it was time to head to the show. We met Brandon's family there and waited for the big event to begin.

Me and my hubby

Me and Jackie waiting in the steaming hot glare of the sun!!!

This is the second time I have seen David Archuletta and let me tell you the kid can sing!!! Brandon was less than impressed with his filler time but the dude has lungs!! I have never seen Brad but I would hit one of his concerts any day after seeing his show. Lets face it, he isn't hard to look at or listen too. That man can rock the guitar! It was seriously incredible. I think he had a different one for each song. Pretty dang cool!

After the show was the grand fire work extravaganza! The fourth of July is my all time favorite holiday and I have not been able to enjoy it for 4yrs now to do a certain shadow shy little boy. My kid hates fireworks and I just don't get how that happens. Anyway, the fireworks were incredible!!!! It was such a fun night and I am so glad we were able to go. Thanks so much Karen for making our 4th spectacular!!!

DISNEYLAND!!!

2011-07-12T21:35:00.013-06:00

Brandon went to Maine for a CPA training in June. I wanted to go SO BAD! I begged, and begged, and begged some more. Researched plane tickets, did my best to convince him that I should go with him and kept begging. Despite my BEST efforts, he left me home! As a "consolation prize" he decided to take the fam to Disneyland. Lets face it though, as fun as Disneyland is it is no getaway. Vacations with kids are WORK! I love my kids but I would have been ok to spend a week in Maine/Boston discovering a wonderful part of the country. You know getting cultured and all. Instead I got to be cultured Disney style. It was VERY FUN and I shouldn't complain but all I have to do is think about Boston and I am back to my whining ways. The kids LOVED it and it was worth it to see how happy they were.

We had to pick Brandon up in Vegas because of his Maine conflict. I just couldn't throw the kids in the car for 14hrs hoping they would behave when I know miss Brooklyn is not a good traveler. The first day we drove half way to Mesquite. Thank heavens my mom and Grant decided to join us. There is no way I could have pulled this off without them. Then next morning we got up drove to Vegas and picked up the rest of our party then it was off to Cali!

The long drive. Cannon is such a good traveler. The jury is still out on Brooklyn. She didn't sleep that much in case you can't tell by this pic.

We arrived Sunday night and spent the first night exploring downtown Disney.

Cannon and Woody! They had a LEGO store in Downtown Disney with some very cool creations. Cannon LOVES Toy Story so he was stoked to see Woody.

This giraffe was HUGE! It was pretty amazing!

Trying on hats!

So every morning when you enter the park you can get a map. Cannon was sure to pick one up every day. He would open up his map on the ground or neatly across his legs and point to where he wanted to go and off we went. My mom was far better at taking pictures than me and has the cutest one of him looking and pointing at his map. (For whatever reason I can't get the pictures to load or scan into my computer.) It was very cute and he was very good to keep track of it all day so he could reference it often.

Monday morning we got up and hit California adventure full steam. That night we went to World of Color. Definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I think it was Brooklyn's favorite port. She kept clapping and oohing and awing it was adorable! Think Bellagio fountains only BIGGER, BETTER and in COLOR! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Brooky enjoying a pack of mini oreos...thank you dad.

The next day we focused in on Disneyland. I am pretty sure we rode every "BIG and important" ride available. Lucky for us Cannon was tall enough to go on pretty much everything. And he did! We also had Dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. So cute. The characters walk around and come talk to you while you have dinner. Brooky had just had a birthday so they brought her a cupcake and sang to her. She loved it, but wasn't so sure about the characters. I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of doing it.

Notice Pluto's eyes in the background.

Wednesday we had early admission tickets to TOONTOWN. It was very cool and I am telling you it is the time to go because there are virtually no lines. We did more rides in the first 3 hrs that day than we did in entire day some of the days. Cannon got to meet Mickey and some of his friends. It was very neat

My kids are the BEST posers! haha! We were just happy we got to snake a pic with Mickey!

Thursday we did a recap of some of our favorites.
Cannon and his grandma..aka his Best Friend, on the big Mickey ride, the Ferris wheel.

Funny story. Cannon had been BEGGING, I mean BEGGING to go on Tower of Terror all week. We kept telling him no but he was determined. Each day he would pull out his map and find T of T and say "that, this is what I am talking about. I want to do the big scary guy house." After 4 days of constant begging we finally gave in. Once inside the ride it didn't take C long to decide he didn't want to do it. However, Brandon knew that if he took him out he would just end up back in line because he would change his mind. So they stuck it out. Some of the people commented on how Cannon was too young for the ride and Brandon explained "Hey, he has been begging all week and if I take him out now he will just beg to come back." They laughed and understood. C is a trooper and stuck it out. A few tears were shed and it would be safe to say he did NOT ask to do it again. My mom has the best picture on her camera! Sadly I can't get it to load or scan into my computer!

Friday it was time to head back home. We packed up and out of the kind of his hear Brandon drove us out to Newport Beach. I wish we would have had more time there because the kids LOVED the ocean. I guess we will just have to head out to the ocean again sometime. :)
Cannon was soaking wet by the end of the visit. He was having so much fun.

Brooky wanted to get down and crawl around in the sand so bad. She was so happy and mesmerized by the ocean.

We finished the day in Mesquite, then got up Sat and drove home.
All in all the kids were FABULOUS!!! It was a fun trip and I am glad we went. We were lucky that grandma and grandpa came too. They always make it more fun and less stressful! Love you guys!

Now for the next Vaca....without my loveable munchkins! :)

Bubble-licious!

2011-07-06T11:17:00.007-06:00

I am realizing that I take a lot of bath time pictures of my kids. For some reason they seem to have some of their cutest moments while bathing. Perhaps it's because bedtime isn't far behind so they seem extra cute to me. Or maybe it is because they both LOVE water, especially Miss B.

She loves to dip her lips in the bubbles then come up giggling.

She is pretty dang cute and I must say she wears those bubbles quite well!

The latest move is a full on dunk of her head into the water then sit up thinking she is by far the funniest baby ever. She is pretty bubble-licious!!!

Brooky Turns 1!

2011-07-05T16:30:00.008-06:00

I'm not sure how this happened but on June 18 my sweet Brooklyn turned 1! This last year has flown by!

In one short year this girl has changed our lives more than I could have imagined. She has a crinkled nose smile that can light up even the worst of days. She has gut belly laugh that will keep you begging for more. She has the attitude of a stubborn, confident, mesmerizing little angel. She is happy, loving, contagiously happy little girl and boy do we LOVE her!!!

If you don't love this face then you just don't love!

Brooky's party was kind of an 3 in 1. Brandon was heading out of town and wouldn't be there for Fathers Day. Casey, Brandon's little brother, was heading off to the MTC that Wednesday and of course Miss B was having her birthday.

Trying to figure out all those presents!

Here she is playing with her little cousin Kara and her new shopping cart from Grandma Chris and Grandpa Grant. She hadn't tried this walking trick until she got her cart. She loves to push it around the house, I'm sure because she can walk with it.

Enjoying her birthday dinner!

Here are her party people! Notice uncle Casey trying to sneak a kiss before he leaves on the mish! His darling girlfriend Ashley was there she didn't seem to mind too much. :)

The birthday girl and her birthday loot!

She got a baby doll from the Kumps. A cart and a purse from Grandma and Grandpa W. Clothes from Grandma and Grandpa P. A turtle puzzle and clothes from Grandma Karen. A beauty set from Auntie Millie. Money from her Grandma Barrow and aunt Becky. Money from Great Grandma and Grandpa Percival,. A darling dress and matching bow from uncle Nick and Aunt Jaimie and boys. Clothes, a book, diapers, a party and lots of love from mom, dad and Cannon.

What one year old needs this much stuff! She must be loved or spoiled or both!

After a long afternoon of partying she was ready for a nap!!!

Later that evening she was back at it with her cart!

Happy Birthday "sweetest Brooky ever!"
WE LOVE YOU

Thanks for sharing your big personality and your big day with us!

The Zoo!

2011-06-21T15:39:00.005-06:00

Over Memorial Weekend we went to the Zoo. I love the Zoo! I have no idea why, but I always have. Brandon thinks it's weird since it's a bunch of caged up animals who would probably rather be roaming the wild. However I think Utah has a fabulous zoo, and I prefer to think the animals are better off under the care of humans. I think Brooklyn liked it too.

She was so good! She just kicked back in her stroller and took it all in.

Here is the baby Elephant. She was so cute...something about a baby anything is just darling.

We rode the carousel which both my kids were only luke warm about. Dad had the camera here, thus no picture! Brooklyn discovered Cotton Candy for the first time and I think she is hooked! She LOVED it! You should have seen her face and the grunts she was giving us in an effort to get more.

Went on a train ride that both the kids liked. Brooklyn is just loving it!

They have this Dinosaur theme at the zoo this summer. Cannon was afraid of pretty much all of them. We kept trying to explain that they were just robots. He wasn't having any of it. Toward the end of the trip he finally decided to believe us and actually climbed on this dino for a picture. I am not sure if it was because it didn't have legs or because it wasn't mechanical. The kid is afraid of his shadow so it was no surprise that he was scared of them. On the way home we asked C what his favorite part was. He said "the dinosaurs, and they are just robots so they won't eat us." So funny!

Cannon and Brooklyn with Grandpa and Grandma. Cannon LOVES his Grandma in case you can't tell.

Ahh the whole fam!

This is Brooklyn kissing me and telling me THANK YOU for taking me to the zoo, you are my BEST FRIEND and I love you. I think she likes it just as much as her mom! :) We had a great time and we were happy to be there with grandma and grandpa!

Pretty Toes!

2011-06-21T15:18:00.003-06:00

Last week as I was getting ready for church, I noticed that my horrendous toes would some lovin' before I wore open toed shoes to church. So I broke out the nail polish and glammed them up. Just as I was finishing miss B came crawling up. She sat right in front of me , popped out her toes and wanted some polish for herself. She was so cute!!! As I was painting them she had this gigantic ear to ear grin and she was a s still as night. When I was all finished she looked up at me with that same sweet smile and gave me a little chuckle. She was so happy with her pretty toes! Ask her about her pretty toes and she will gladly point them in your direction, she just won't let me get a picture! Oh well these sweet feet are still blog worthy.

I see it. I want it. I get it.

2011-05-24T23:05:00.007-06:00

No this is not a post by Brandon about me, rather it is about his sweet daughter. You know the one who gets everything she wants with just a bat of the eyes and a flash of that sweet crinkle-nose smile.

Cannon wanted to have a bath so I agreed. Brooklyn however was ready for bed so she had to skip the bath time festivities. Or so I thought. I have mentioned in previous posts how much miss B LOVES the bath. I mean LOVES it! This night was no different. I had watched her crawl back toward the bathroom but was busy visiting with my sister. Cannon was already in the tub and needs little attention these days. When I went to get Brooklyn before her sweet brother could dump a cup of water on her or cause some unnecessary damage to his sister I discovered it was too late!!!!

Cannon's response when I asked how she got in the tub, "She was so happy and she told me she wanted to get in so I picked her up and put her in." It is true, she was happy. She just looked at me giggling so hard, she thought it was so funny! I couldn't help but laugh a little myself.

I don't know what worries me more. The wild and crazy Cannon Ball or the I see it, I want it, I get it Brooklyn. I guess time will tell!

The Ripster

2011-05-24T22:59:00.003-06:00

Cannon had picture day at school last Thursday. He looked very handsome and very grown up for a preschooler. I sent him to school appropriately dressed but when I picked him up from school he had a rip in his pants. No biggie, but by the time we got from school the rip had turned into this...

I can only imagine how his pictures would have turned out had he had the rip before school began. He is such a boy!

70 miles of MOAB!

2011-05-24T22:28:00.013-06:00

During the winter, when I was clearly not in the right frame of mind and probably suffering from a sever case of SAD, I agreed to a 70 mile relay race with some of my running gals.

Here is why...

You only have to run 2 legs.
It was through the beautiful, scenic and WARM Moab Utah.
We would be gone for an entire weekend. No kids, no hubbies just some awesome gal pals and our sweet running shoes.
Oh yeah and it is WARM!

Well after months of running in the cold, never ending winter of SLC it was time for Moab! As I drug my suite case across the street I kind of felt like I was running away from home. That quickly dissipated when we began our road trip. It was such a great weekend. I had some much needed girl time and experienced something I never thought possible. It is something I would highly recommend any runner do!

A pre-race dinner at a YUMMY Mexican restaurant.

Kellee and Jill pose as we head off to the races at the early hour of 5:30am!

"CAUTION runners on the road"

Some of the beautiful scenery we ran through.

My first leg was only 5.5 miles and it was GORGEOUS. It was along the Green River through the canyon. If I could run on that every day I would! So beautiful!
This is what I was running next to. So peaceful.

My next leg was nearly 6 hours later and it was 8 miles in the heat of the afternoon. At times I was sure I was going to die, like when I had to run through a heard of cows. My grandpa used to run a feedlot and would stick me in the cow pen and I always hated it. To this day I have an ity-bitty fear of cattle. Those are some massive, smelly animals. Lets just say that by the end of that leg I was more than happy to pass of the bracelet!

What did I do for the 6 hours in between legs? Well, you follow your team of runners, you cheer them on, wet them down talk a lot, rest a little, watch in awe of the other teams and some incredible speedsters! Mostly you just enjoy it and think to yourself, "I am really doing this."

Look closely and you can see the road go WAAAAYYYY back. We ran this entire distance! This was only about halfway through the course.
We all made it to the end and ran across the finish line as team. What an accomplishment! I never in a million years thought I would do something like that.

What I learned from this weekend is that it is so great to have such good friends and better to make more new friends. I learned that you can do hard things and your body can be pushed farther than you think. I learned that it is a must to set goals and accomplish them and that all the stress and anxiety I have had over the last few months was for nothing because it was great FUN and I can't wait to lace up my shoes and join my running gals again next year!

"Papa Roots"

2011-05-11T21:35:00.000-06:00

Jr. Neils Williamson
December 21, 1926- April 14, 2011

I have been trying to sit down and do this for weeks now! I have been a bit overwhelmed with all the emotions of the last month and haven't been able to find the strength or energy to get to it. But here it is, long overdue!

This is my sweet grandpa! He was not a grandpa by blood but he was a grandpa just the same. This is my step-dads father. He died almost 3 weeks to the day after my grandpa Voyd passed away. What a month!

This man was perhaps one of the most kind, caring, loving men I have ever known. He was a true disciple of Christ and his life was proof of that. I was so privileged to know him and have him love me as one of his own grandchildren. I guess 15years will do that. I always felt like I was a part of his family.

He had recently moved in with my parents, more for good old fashioned company than anything. He was a bit lonely and was loving the extra bodies around the house. He was fully functional and didn't need much assistance. His age just got the best of him.

His funeral was another tear jerker! He too had full Military honors and for whatever reason that just kills me. The Spirit is just so overwhelming. I can not express my appreciation to our service men enough. They do SO MUCH more than we realize. Perhaps the Spirit was so strong because this man was in tune! What an incredible life and example of love he was. He leaves us some big shoes to fill.

Cannon started calling Jr "Papa Roots." I am not sure why but it seemed very fitting. I thought it was so cute. The morning he passed away I was explaining to C that Papa Roots had gone back to live with Heavenly Father. Cannon sweetly said, "Oh so he can live with his grandma?" Jr had a picture of him and Gladys, his late wife, and for whatever reason Cannon always called her Papa Roots' grandma. While we will miss the stories, the laughter, the parties and the overflowing welcomes, I know that Papa Roots is happy with "his grandma" and our Father in Heaven. I am also thankful for children and their sweet spirits to put death in an eternal perspective, for some day we will all see our sweet "Papa Roots" again.

We love you Papa Roots!

Ball Babies!

2011-05-05T17:48:00.017-06:00

You all know I am a S-U-C-K-E-R for pictures! I just love them, especially when they are of my kids. ;) Brooklyn was long over due for her 9month pictures, seeing as how she is now nearly 11 months. Brandon was out of town too, so I thought this would be a nice little surprise for him and a mile marker for Brooky! I could not be happier with them. I was nervous because we always use the same girl (sorry Kristy, we still LOVE you) but suddenly I had the itch to do them and I just went for it. As you can see they turned out darling! Probably a bit of a picture overload, but really, can you get enough of these adorable faces?!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Them!

Brooklyn has some GREAT poses!

This girl is just too fun! I love what a sweet big brother Cannon is! He loves his "Sweetest B" to pieces!

This is Brooklyn's "really?" face! I get it entirely too often.

Cannon loved this chair because it was the "green BUZZ Lightyear chair"

I love this playful pose! This her personality for sure.

And this is Cannon's personality to a T!

In the words of her father "that is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!" This face is sure to get her whatever she wants!

Look at those cheekers! They are so kissable!

Yay Brooky!

I can't believe how big Brooklyn looks here! What happened to this last year?!

Then I see this picture and I am even more amazed at how big Cannon is. Time goes too fast!

Princess Brooky!

All tuckered out from her photo session!

Easter smeesher!

2011-04-25T15:16:00.012-06:00

I try my hardest to make holidays fun for my kids. I am not so good at it. This year I tried again and failed again! But as the saying goes keep on truckin' right?!

We started our Easter weekend with a trip to the movies to see the fabulous RIO! Cannon loved it and Brooky got her groove on to the music. She did pretty darn good. We had a great time at the movie. It was a terrific start full of promises for the weekend!

Saturday morning I thought we would try the Herriman City Easter Egg Hunt. They always do such a great job and I was so excited to go because C is finally getting the hang of holidays. I must have been a little too excited because we got there at 8:45 thinking it started at 9am. Umm no, it started at 10am! That made for a not so happy husband right away! However due to my misunderstanding my family got the breakfast of champions! White powdered doughnuts, Gatorade and a soda for mom and dad.
Even Brooklyn got in on the doughnut action. Oh yeah, mom of the year!

C is loving his doughnuts, B a little less thrilled on the start of the day!

The kids got in a little bonus time at the park.

Brooklyn loves the park, being outside and her stroller or the wagon!

Here are my darling kids, preparing to hunt! I just love this picture of them!

After an hour of waiting for the hunt to begin and much scouting out of the forbidden eggs and prizes from C. It was go time! A fire truck came in and when the siren went off the hunt was to begin. And it did, just not for us. Cannon decided, randomly, that he was going to be terrified of fire trucks and their noises from a football field away. Thus resulting in a Cannon Ball sized tantrum. C left the park in tears, egg less and with fuming mad parents! It was awesome!!! That of course set the precedent for the rest of the day, lets just say none of us were getting along so well after that little stunt. After a few hours of cool down time, naps and some much needed yard work. We decided to give Easter another go. We colored our eggs which ended up going great. Even though in the beginning, C put up a bit of a fight. Brandon mentioned how he thought it was so funny that moms try so hard to make holidays fun for their kids when they don't appreciate it or even realize what they are missing. Too true, but I will NOT admit defeat! I will keep trying!

Brooky chowed on some mac and cheese and we blinged up our eggs.

Love this crinkle nose and that cheesy grin!

Don't you love that Cannon is wearing his Christmas jammies? Too funny!

A classic Cannon cheese!

We even had a little talk about the real meaning of Easter. All C remembers from that talk is that "bad guys threw rocks at Jesus and killed him and it wasn't very nice and that Heavenly Father made him come alive again." I will take it!

After the eggs C set out his and Brooky's baskets in hopes that even after a terrible start to the day the Easter Bunny would still make his way to our house. He even left him a note explaining why he left his big egg hunt at the park.

Well guess what, the Easter Bunny made it to the Ball house!

Cannon got some new church shirts, a pinwheel, some candy, Lightening McQueen sunglasses, some new buckets and shovels for the dirt and of course a chocolate bunny! He also got a note from the Easter Bunny saying it was ok and not to be afraid of fire engines and that he was sorry he missed out on something super fun, so there was a surprise for him in the backyard! His very own egg hunt!

Brooky got a new dress, some summer shorts, some new shoes, a pinwheel, a stuffed chick and her very own car.

The Easter Bunny also brought the kids BAMBI and dad his favorite "mini egg" and a movie. That Easter Bunny is just too nice!

The kids went to church all adorned in their new clothes and looked darling! The primary kids were participating in the program so naturally we invited grandma to come watch. She did, only not who she came to watch because once again C pulled a battle of the wills and would NOT go up. I guess you pick your battles!

Why is it so hard to get your kids to cooperate for a picture?! Yes Brooklyn is eating grass, but hey at least she isn't crying!

After church we had some family over for dinner! It was yummo, and some delish cookies from the baker Millie! My dad and Diana brought the kids an Easter gift and we wrapped up the evening with the 4 of us! In the end I guess Easter turned out ok and perhaps it made me have a greater appreciation for the true meaning of Easter.

Another classic Cannon pose!

I am truly grateful for my Savior and His sacrifice brings tears to my eyes on a regular basis these days! I am so thankful for my family, fun holidays or not, and all the joy they bring to my life! I love my sweet primary girls and their sweet testimonies that strengthen mine weekly and I love that I have a testimony to get me through this life. I am so thankful for the atonement and the resurrection and because of those things eternal life and more importantly eternal families! I am thankful that we have the Savior to bring us back to what is really important away from all the worldly hub bub! I am thankful for Easter!

I hope you all had a great Easter!

RUN ON!

2011-04-25T14:20:00.005-06:00

You know how you always feel GREAT right after you have a baby and you feel so skinny because you have felt so huge for the last 9 months, then about two months later when you start to get the hang of things you realize you look like the crapper?! Well, I had that moment with miss Brooklyn! She gave me reason to R-U-N!

You all may think I am crazy and I will tell you that MOST days when I drag myself out of bed I hate the decision that I made to get up and go running. But a mere 20 minutes later, about half way into the run, I feel TERRIFIC! I can tell you that I hate running, but I love the feeling after and I love what it does to my body. That is the long explanation as to why I am crazy and run. I have a fabulous group of ladies that I run with in the mornings and they push me to be better and force me to get up. However as much as I love them, you still need something to train for. You need a goal, something to keep you getting up.....thus the HALF MARATHON! After much taunting and disbelief that I would actually do it from an unnamed husband of mine, I signed up and had a goal!

I spent the last 4 months terrified that I wouldn't be prepared. That I couldn't do it. That I would get injured. That I didn't believe in myself enough. That I was crazy. I spent the last 4 months running! And because I ran I achieved my goal. I did it! I ran a half marathon in 2:44 and I truly ran it, I didn't walk it, I ran! That my friends was a huge accomplishment for me and now I am hooked!

Brandon and I decided to make a night of it. We dropped off the kids at various grandparents then headed off to the races! We picked up our race packets, had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, did a little shopping and stayed downtown. We got up at 5 am got the race sight at about 6am and began our 13.1 miles at 7am! We had a great time and it is always nice to have a break from the kids. Thanks to my hubby for making it a fun night!

My cute friend Teressa was there and took this picture for us at the starting line. We saw lots of people from our neighborhood and other friends there. It was fun seeing them all.

Coming out of the race gates! Yes the picture and the ones that the marathon guys take made me realize I HAVE to KEEP running because even after months of training I still have a nice tire around my middle! So HOT!

Love the posters! I love that my mom and Kamille did them. It is so rewarding to see your family at the finish line!

My mom and G were there to greet us with our sweet Brooky. So was the always amazing Jackie Ball!
(Cannon was at soccer with my dad and Diana)
Thank you to all the grandma's and grandpa's that made this race possible for us. We love you!

I can't wait to see if I can do better next time. Get a better time, run a little faster, a little harder and prove to myself that I am stronger than I think. For now I will be happy with the fact that I did my first half ever and I didn't die. ;) Now it is time to gear up for the MOAB relay with my runner girls and a couple of 5K races!
Run on friends, run on!

On a side note, I beat the unnamed, marathon runner husband by about 5 minutes! That deserves a BOOOOOOM!

G-O-A-L

2011-04-11T15:13:00.005-06:00

Ok, so maybe we haven't really scored a goal, but Cannon is playing soccer! He is so funny about it. He gets all pumped up and dressed in is game day uniform, only to get to the game and decide he isn't really sure if he wants to play. Let's just say we have made some vast improvements from game one, which was spent on the bleachers in tears, and our bribes have become less involved. I may have started him a bit too early but hey, I wanted him to be active! He is pretty good to play, but about half time he decides he "needs a break." I think he gets exhausted because he makes the funniest faces ever!

He is playing with his cousin Sawyer and a couple of boys from our neighborhood. Most of the time when Cannon and Sawyer are on the court together they spend it like this...

(this picture isn't the greatest but you can see the boys in the background holding hands)

Yes they are holding hands and running after the ball, or in circles, depending on their mood.

I missed picture day but Brandon tells me it was spent much like this...

with little cooperation and lots of tears, mostly from C! I think we actually told them to make funny faces in this picture. Sawyer left early this day so sadly he isn't in the pic. These are the boys from the hood, Tate and Jackson. Don't they look adorable in their shorts, jerseys, shin guards and those soccer socks?!

Every game we have noticed improvement with our little Cannon Ball. Last week we almost did score a goal. We can only hope the trend continues! Either way, we have enjoyed this little taste of the sporting life. Overall I think Cannon has too, who knows maybe next year we will trade in the tears and craziness for a real GOAL!

Good job Buddy!

Brooky love!

2011-04-05T22:03:00.005-06:00

Just because this...

other than what I think was a big puddle of pee, yes I did change sheets the pronto,

and this, are just TOO DANG CUTE to resist!

Now you know...

2011-04-05T21:17:00.018-06:00

Voyd Reed Stewart
1937-2011

My sweet grandpa Stewart passed away on March 26, 2011. He suffered from Alzheimer's, a CRUEL, HEARTLESS disease. It was somewhat unexpected but in the end an enormous blessing and an answer to so many prayers. His mind had left us a long time ago, his poor body was just hanging on to this mortal existence. I was lucky enough to see him in the hospital before he passed away and found it very comforting to have that closure. Even more comforting is knowing the sacrifice our Savior made to make eternal lives and eternal families possible. I will forever miss the man I knew growing up, but I take great comfort in knowing that he is no longer suffering.

My grandpa served in the Army and had full military honors. It was really amazing to see the many things that our country does for it's soldiers. The picture above is one my favorites. It says so much without saying anything at all. I couldn't hold the tears back when I saw that.

It is amazing to me that these fine, retired service men would take the time on a cold, blustery, Idahoan spring day to stand at attention and file their rifles in honor of one of their fallen soldiers.

This picture may seem terrible, but it I feel that it depicts the true love of a family as the pallbearers pay their final respects. When you see the coffin roll out of the car only to be surrounded by people who loved and respected this man, it was as if they were saying "it's ok grandpa, we are here and we love you and we will see you through to the end."

My grandpa had 8 grandsons and they were all there! Everyone of them taking him to his final resting place.

If you have never been to the service of a United States service man, it is quite overwhelming. The Spirit is so strong! I don't know if it is the love of country that is bursting or the testament that America is a chosen land and that the founding fathers and Jesus Christ were at one point on the same page. Either way, it is incredible! I love the flag adorning the coffin and these young service people did a fantastic job. This was truly incredible!

The military salute. Kind of an earth shattering feeling to hear the rifles fire.

My uncle Karl is in the Army, has made it his life's work. He was able to present the flag to my grandma which was so much more meaningful and harder than I expected it to be. I will be forever grateful to him for his service and the opportunity he had to be a part of that.

Yes, this was a tear jerker. I can only imagine how my grandma felt as she took the flag.

These are my adorable cousins. My grandma asked us to write and read the life sketch at the funeral. We learned some interesting things about my grandpa. I will always be thankful I had that opportunity. You can read it here Life Sketch.

The final respects. We will miss you grandpa! We will miss your silliness, your singing, your craziness, your handshakes, hand squeezes and most of all your sweet smile. We are so happy that NOW YOU KNOW just who , what and where you are. Love you forever!

"Shot through the HEART!"

2011-03-23T22:01:00.012-06:00

Brandon has pulled off some pretty amazing things in our married years. However this may be perhaps one of his greatest! This Christmas he played the "we are so poor, we don't have any money, we aren't doing anything for Christmas this year, we need to keep it simple" card. Which sadly for him, I did. He didn't even get his one and only desire, a something or other type of basketball. However, what did I receive to my great delight?!

That's right my friends BON JOVI tickets. While this may be on the list of few, I for one was ecstatic! I love me some Johnny! I mean really what's not to love? So after 3 LONG, cold months in the drawer, I finally got to whip these babies out and warm up to the sweet sounds of Mr. John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.

Brandon came home early, we were out the door at 4, thanks to my fabulous sister who babysat for us, not really her favorite thing to do! First stop PF Changs for some yummy dinner! After dinner and a fabulous chocolate cake shot we were off to see this beauty!

and the rest of these guys...

non of them are too shabby, for rockers anyway.

What you can't read on this sign is the part that says "and Rachel Ball!"

He was fantastic! He had more energy than I have EVER seen! Unlike the review in the SL Trib, he put on a fabulous show. I may be a bit biased because I truly love him. The BEST concert I have been to! There were some rockin' cougars there, though I don't know that can be called cougars considering John himself is nearly 50.

They were one of my first CD's! I remember rocking out to him with my brother with the stereo full blast when my mom was at work. I have nearly every album and somehow it has taken me 27 yrs to get to a concert! I just have an old soul and love the '80's! When I was 19 I got backstage passes to DEF LEPPARD and 7th row on the floor seats! Up til now my favorite concert experience. But when it comes right down to it my heart lies with
Bon Jovi.

We had upper bowl tickets but trust me when started singing, pointing and flashing those pearly whites, it didn't matter where you were.

Yes he is pointing at me! :)

THANK YOU Brandon Ball for one fabulous date!!!

The many faces of Brandon Ball, it is truly a challenge for him to make a regular picture pose!

YOU ARE THE BEST and of course the most "AWESOME"! LOVE YOU!

You have to fight for your right....

2011-03-23T21:34:00.005-06:00

I can't tell you how many days I feel like this....

You know, that feeling of if I could have a nap right now, this instant, I would take it in any form, sitting up, laying down, in a car on the grass whatever, just give me a nap feeling!

This girl fights sleep like you wouldn't believe. I think she is afraid that she is going to miss something. When she was first born, one of the nurses in the hospital said that with her big eyes and her lack of desire to sleep she was destined to be nosy. I guess time will tell, but I will take a nap from her regardless of her position. I did lay her down in hopes of pursuing a more comfortable, longer nap. I love these kinds of pictures. Do you ever wonder how they fall asleep like this? If I slept like that every muscle in my body would ache for a week. I guess she couldn't fight it off anymore, she finally gave in to her true desire, or mine, a nap!

Do girls pee?

2011-03-16T16:22:00.003-06:00

This is a conversation I had with Cannon the other night while he was bathing.

Cannon curiously looks at Brooklyn "Mom, Brooky doesn't have a wiener."
Me hoping the conversation ends here "Nope, she sure doesn't."
Cannon "Do you have a weiner?"
Me still hoping "Nope!"
Cannon a little confused "Oh! So do girls pee?"

Haha! I couldn't help but laugh! He is so funny. In case you are wondering, I did insert a brief explanation here. I am hoping it tides us over for a few years.

I hope they call me on a mission!

2011-03-11T21:10:00.003-07:00

"I hope they call me on a mission!" I regularly hear this tune being sung by my sweet little Cannon Ball. I too hope they call on him a mission just not for a really long time! Though I am positive the next 15years will fly by!

Brandon's little brother Casey will be leaving on his mission to Atlanta Georgia soon. He went through the Temple last night and even at his tender, innocent age of 19 I think he was better prepared than I was at nearly 21. Not that two years is that big of a difference, perhaps I just realized how truly young I was. There were several people taking out their own endowments in our session last night. One guy in particular stuck out to me. He was an older fella, perhaps mid 70's. Not to take away from Casey's moment but I was rather zoned in on him for awhile. I couldn't help but wonder what, after all these years, prompted him to go through the Temple. I wondered where his wife was, how he had finally made such a decision at this stage of the game, what his conversion story, if any, was. Had he been a member his entire life? The questions kept coming to me. Come to find he was a widower and was ready to take the next step and have his wife sealed to him as soon as he could. Brandon was Casey's escort so he filled me in on some of the questions I had because they had been with that guy at an earlier stage of the endowment.

For some reason I just can't stop thinking about his guy. It wasn't until today that I realized why.
On occasion I read this blog that totally tears me apart. http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/. Truly this family is amazing. Their little girl passed away over the summer. It happened in Idaho and I was there not long after it happened. I have some family that knows these people so it felt a little closer to home than it otherwise may have. And for some reason being a mom just ruins you as far as being able to control emotions when anything is affecting children. I don't know why I read it. I don't know why I find myself feeling like I have some sort of connection to this. I have never met these people, most likely never will. It must be the mom factor. Regardless, I do. The stories I have read on this blog and have heard through the grape vine of the incredible strength of this family AMAZE me! Tonight I read through it a little and clicked on a letter that the grandpa had written. He talked a lot about the Temple and how it is "this generations calling" to do Temple work and how his sweet little granddaughter was perhaps one of the greatest missionaries he had ever known. How she had touched the hearts of thousands if not millions and perhaps introduced them to the Church. Then I realized that we are all on a mission. We have all been called on a mission. It doesn't matter our age, our stage in life, our past, or anything else for that matter. What matters is that we are all doing the best we can to be examples and to bring people closer to the Gospel.

It didn't matter to Heavenly Father that that guy last night was in his 70's. It only mattered that he took that step to make the commitment. It doesn't matter that that sweet little girl who passed away was only 2, because she was a missionary and is continuing her work in the Spirit World. And it doesn't matter that Cannon is only 3 singing "I hope they call me on a mission" because simply by him singing that tune he is somewhat of a missionary. I don't need to wait 15 years to send him out. And while Casey is seemingly so young his Spirit is far more mature than most. Finally, it doesn't matter if we are all "called" on a mission period. The point is, that is why we are all here. We have all been called on a mission of sorts. Sadly I feel completely inadequate in my duties most days. But, I guess that's what it is all about. The quest for perfection both in mortality and spiritually.

So while I hear this sweet song being sung in my house by my sweet little boy I will take it as reminder that I too have a mission, at the Temple, at home and anywhere else I may go. So, thanks to Cannon, the fella last night and all how truly serve their missions and remind us in little ways what it is all about. I guess they did call me on a mission.

Jazz it up!

2011-03-04T16:23:00.009-07:00

Last night we took Cannon to his very first Jazz game! I am sure my regular blog followers are wondering why we would even attempt such a task when he was so visibly upset at the BYU game this last fall. Two reasons, 1) it was free and 2)Brandon! Need I say more? Considering the fact that if it were possible to be married to sports he very well may have chosen that over me.

My Step-mom has a job with fabulous perks! Sporting events in suites just happens to be one of them. When they called to invite us to a game last week we were in! We asked Cannon if he wanted to go to the Jazz and he said "to see the Bear?" We obliged. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. He kept telling everyone that he was "going to Jazz with his papa and Diana." He was so excited. Some of that excitement may have rubbed off on his dad! Nah, he gets giddy for every Jazz game! Nonetheless he was stoked to be taking Cannon to his very first Jazz game.

On Wednesday night we had to make a trip to FANZZ so that C could get his game-day attire. His t-shirt of choice...

the Bear of course! He loved it so much he even wore it to school so he could tell all of his friends and Miss Amy all about it.

When we first got there he was fascinated with the players warming up and a little yellow airplane flying around the arena. He kept pointing out all of the "green chairs and there were lots and lots of two of them." (We don't really have a lot mathematics down yet.)

He was pumped that they had broccoli on the veggie tray! Weird I know but this kid LOVES broccoli. He was a little disappointed that there was no watermelon but that disappointment quickly melted away when he got his own soda out of the fridge and realized there was "pacorn" or popcorn for those of you who speak English! Just before halftime they brought in ice cream. If you thought soda was a perk you should have seen this kids face when RUSSEL'S made it's debut!

It was delicious!

I snapped this pic and Cannon quickly snapped at me, "mom get out of the way I am watching that game!" I just thought to myself "Oh excuse me, I didn't realize you were so into it!" Not really sure what Brandon is doing here, but clearly these boys were busy watchin' ball!

He went on the hunt for the Bear with aunt Millie, (or KMAILLSAP as I am now calling her due to her "had to have" jersey purchase) a time or two. No luck! He was kind of sad about that. But stoked every time he showed up for a timeout routine. He was so good during the game. I was seriously in shock because I was expecting a meltdown at some point especially since it was an 8:30 tip off and we have an 8:30-9 bedtime!

The only meltdown we experienced from this bro was that of pure exhaustion the second we got in the car. No crying, no screaming just a pure shutdown, lights out, goodnight folks, once he was comfortable.

Today he woke up, still adorned in his game day shirt, came in my room and said "mom, I weally, weally wuv the JAZZ!" I think he had a great time!

Thanks papa and Diana!

Tiny Toes & Sweet Cheeks!

2011-03-02T22:02:00.006-07:00

Brooklyn LOVES the bath! I am talking kicking her feet, squealing with excitement get me in the water now love! If she merely hears the bathwater running she books it to the bathroom in hopes that it is for her! Let me demonstrate.

Cannon is in the tub and of course Brooky thinks she should join him. She is slowly trying to make her way into the tub. Look at those tiny toes, I love this picture. Love those yummy feet!

Getting a little closer...

closer still...

Ah, success! She is naked and heading in with her new trick...pulling herself up. If only she could reach those roly poly legs over the tub.

She won! Her sweet cheeks joined her bro and had a blast in the tub!

Best Friends!

2011-03-02T21:42:00.004-07:00

I am loving the sweet relationship that is developing between Cannon and Brooklyn. They will entertain each other for extended periods of time, which for me, is so nice! Cannon is very endearing to his sister and is very protective of her. We finally had to put up the baby gate so that Brooky wouldn't take a nose dive down the stairs. The other day she had crawled over to it and Cannon was sitting with her explaining that we put it there to keep her safe. He didn't know I was listening to him. He just went on about how it is very dangerous and we don't want her to fall down the stairs and hurt herself. Those are tender moments.

He has had some rather funny statements lately too. For instance;
"How did Brooky get so dang cute?"
"Brooky is the cutest B ever."
"Hi sweetheart"
and my personal fave "Where do you think you're going little missy?"

As noted below, Brooklyn has a fascination for her brothers toys. She can have a million of her own toys in front of her and if Cannon is playing cars, she wants in on the action. She prefers Mater. It is so fun to watch them. On a good day she gets to be Sally because she is Lightning McQueens best friend. Cannon always gets to be Lightning McQueen.

Cannon has a sweet, tender heart. For awhile now he has randomly said "mom, you are my best friend." I hope he remembers that when he is a teenager! Occasionally Brandon gets to be his best friend and if he wants something from grandma Chris all he has to do is bat those brown eyes and whip out a "gama, you are my BEST FRIEND" followed with a kiss and the deal is sealed!

So the other day he and Brooklyn are playing and I hear this. "Brooky, you are my best friend. I love you so much" and then a sweet little smooch! Seriously, I wish I had a video camera recording the moment. It was priceless! I know it seems like he has a lot of best friends, but trust me when you get to be the friend of the moment, you don't care because it is so dang cute!

So here's to best friends! I hope they will always remember to be each others Best Friend because this world is tough and they are going to need it!

Here, There and Everywhere!

2011-02-23T22:59:00.006-07:00

Little Miss Brooklyn here is on the move! This girl is everywhere and she has some serious speed in her little crawl. I love, love, love to watch her. She so busy and curious and finds everything so fascinating. Especially things in her brothers room which seems to be here room of choice these days.

She has got it figured out, even knows how to tip his basket of toys over. Can anyone guess who isn't loving this? That would be her big brother. While he loves her to death sometimes "he just don't want Brooky in my room."

Sometimes she finds herself in funny positions, such as this...

Which is usually followed with a cry of panic because she is stuck!

And other times she finds herself in positions like this which you can hear her giggle her way into and grunt her way out of.

Lot's of times she is right under my feet all day,

And other times she is perfectly content playing in one place for minutes at a time!

We love this sweet girl! Who wouldn't with those yummo cheeks?!

3 Little Ladies

2011-02-23T22:18:00.003-07:00

Is this not one of the CUTEST pictures you have ever seen?! Look at those little quivering lips and those yummy cheeks! Here are three very lucky ladies.

From left to right, Miss Hartleigh Ward, Brooklyn Ball and Kloee Jacobs.

I was very lucky growing up to have two cousins that were very close in age. It was always so fun because I always had a playmate. These girls probably won't get to see much of each other but it was sure fun to have them all together for a photo op. This has been a long time in coming. But we finally made it to the same place with our babies.

When I was pregnant with Brooklyn I found out that my two close girl cousins were also pregnant...with GIRLS! All the girls having girls! Kloee and Hartleigh are just days apart. Brooklyn is 4 months older than them,thus she is the "big one" of the bunch. Don't you love how all the mom's have their hands in the picture preparing for a "just in case" moment.

Here is my sweet Grandma (grandma Dixie as Cannon calls her)with her 3 great granddaughters. Thinking back we probably should have had the moms in there too and gotten the full 4 generations picture. Maybe next time. I will say this, that this will surely become a picture to cherish. This my friends is why we take pictures!

She's doin' it!

2011-02-07T16:29:00.002-07:00

Why do I have this series of beautiful baby pictures with Brooky's face getting closer and closer to the camera? Because she is CRAWLING closer and closer! Here we are at nearly 8 months and my sweet little Brooklyn is crawling. Whenever she starts booking it across the room Cannon shouts "mom, she's doing it, Brooky is doin' it! Yes she is and she couldn't be cuter! My favorite is when she starts crawling, stops only to put her toosh in the air and her head on the ground, think the yoga pose downward dog, and rocks back and forth. It seriously is the cutest thing. I think she is very happy to be mobile because she so happy and chatty! She just yaks away while she is getting in her exercise. She is so fun! We love our little Brooky!

The Adventrues of Cannon Ball

2011-02-07T16:11:00.003-07:00

I know I have said this before, but someday I am hopeful to write a book titled "The Adventures of Cannon Ball." He keeps me busy, makes me crazy and brings a smile to my face

Yes, this is Brooklyn minus a very important accessory...her diaper! Cannon took it upon himself to change her diaper because she was "smelly." Luckily for all parties involved, it was just wet. Clearly Brooky doesn't mind. She LOVES her brother!

And this my friends was a special treat! On Saturday, Brooklyn was asleep and both Brandon and I were in desperate need of a nap, so we sent Cannon to his room. We have a rule that you don't have to go to sleep you just have have quiet time. You can read a book, color whatever as long as it's quiet. Apparently this counts too because it was indeed a quiet activity. When we got up from our nap we discovered this disaster! The mattress, sheets, bed skirt etc all off the bed! Toys spread out EVERYWHERE! When we asked him why he took his mattress off, he said "because I wanted to jump on my bed." Good enough reason I guess. Seriously! He did apologize for taking his mattress off and he did spend some time with his good friend "thinking time." I am thinking that this may be a boy thing too!

As a redeeming act, after I was ready for the day on Saturday Cannon said "Mom, you look so beautiful." Melt my heart, and this pictures doesn't hurt much either. Oh the Adventures of Cannon Ball, it truly could become a children's book SERIES! Love you bud!

Oh the faces you"ll make!

2011-01-19T21:57:00.005-07:00

"Brookie is the CUTEST Brookie EVER!" That is a phrase that Cannon commonly utters. He LOVES his little sister and I must say we are huge fans of hers as well. I was scrolling through the camera and noticed a couple of pictures of the cutest Brookie ever! It is so funny how no matter the face a mom is still whooped over her children. I am a whooped mom indeed!

It could be...

Adorable and sweet, full of happiness and joy!
And the next minute it could be...

The SADDEST thing you have ever seen!

It can be...

Messy, and tinted and yet yummy all the same!

And it can be just darn right CUTE and kissable, lovable, hugable and wonderful!!!

"Motor"

2011-01-05T17:14:00.006-07:00

Here is a glimpse of a Christmas post....

Don't judge me because my kid is in flip flops and basketball shorts (2 of his favorite things) and it is a crisp 32* outside. He was just sooo excited that this is truly the BEST we could do to get him clothed at all. This is Cannon's "motor," or as most people like to call it his JEEP. Santa left a very nice ride near the Christmas tree this year and trust me he did not disappoint!

Here he is already rolling with the chicks, OK maybe it is just his little sister, but still! Brooky LOVES to go for rides in the "motor" she gets so excited squealing and kicking her little feet. It is truly precious. BTW it was late morning in this pictures so it had warmed up a bit.

Santa you did good, too bad it is too darn cold to go out and cruise. I'm sure that time will come soon enough!

Who's Who?

2011-01-05T17:05:00.004-07:00

I have never thought my kids look like one another but as I was scrolling through some pics I noticed some very similar babies! Minus the blue and pick some pictures are hard to tell, can you tell who's who?

Do you know the muffin man?!

2011-01-05T15:54:00.004-07:00

Do you know the muffin man, I mean the Can-man? This little fella is our in house chef! He LOVES to help me cook, which is sometimes not that much help, but as the saying goes "practice makes perfect." He is definitely on his way there.

Cannon made these banana muffins, with a little bit of help from mom. Really, he did the scooping, the dumping, the mixing and the scoop & dump into the muffin tin. He really enjoys making things and I am rather impressed with his mad cooking skills.

Ta-da or "hoot, hoot hooray" as Cannon says. The finished product and they were DELICIOUS!
SOMEDAY in a very, very long time he will woo some hottie with his mad talent! Until then he can keep practicing and be my little Can-man!

A-DOR-ABLE!

2011-01-05T15:15:00.007-07:00

I mean seriously! Do they come any cuter than this?! Brooklyn may give me a run for my money, but boy when she flashes that gummy smile or lets loose on a giggle she has stolen my heart! She is BEAUTIFUL and we love that girl so much!

Even Cannon has a soft side for her, he always says "Mom, Brooky is the CUTEST Brooky ever!" Well, though I am biased I would have to agree. I mean look at this adorable beauty. Her brother isn't so bad either!

She is all but crawling. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth, then decides it is just too much and ends up collapsing on her tummy. You can tell she gets so frustrated. She is a busy body and wants to be a part of things so I can only imagine what's in store once she begins crawling. She is 6 months, yes 6 months! How does that happen?!

Nemo!

2010-12-23T20:51:00.002-07:00

Here is a recent conversation with my sweet Can-man....

C: "Hey mom, where's grandma's Nemo?"
M: "I am not sure, isn't he still in the bathtub?"
"Nope, he's not!"
"Ok, well where did you put him, he was in the bathtub this morning."
"He went to find his dad."
"What do you mean, he went to find his dad?"
"He was sad and wanted his dad, so I put him in the toilet."
"You flushed him down the toilet?"
"YEP! He wanted his dad, so he went in the toilet to the ocean."
"You know he is not coming back right?"
"Yep, he wen to get his dad in the ocean mom."

Seriously, this DID happen! Cannon borrowed these squirt bath toys from my mom, one of them just happened to look like Nemo. I'm not sure when Nemo's departure actually took place, but it was sometime in between a morning bath for Brooklyn and an evening bath for Cannon. Good Luck Nemo, I hope you find your dad in the "ocean!"

Santa and the Zoo!

2010-12-15T22:41:00.005-07:00

We took the kids to zoo lights last week. Cannon loved it! He has been begging to go to the zoo for weeks because his dad promised him he would take him to the zoo, on Labor day. Haha! Well we finally made it. We had a special treat that night. SANTA! He had just arrived with 2 of his reindeer, Comet and Vixen. We patiently waited for Cannon to visit with Santa only to get a picture like this...

Yep, true to themselves neither of my kids are even looking at the camera. O'well, Santa put on a good pose!

Oh yes, my sweet Cannon who so badly wanted to see Santa barely spoke a word to him. However he had a load of questions for me to ask him. Here is just a sample;

Santa where is your sleigh car?
Where is your little Bambi? (That would be Rudolph)
Are you going to bring me the red Toy Story for Christmas?
(That would be Toy Story 2)

After Santa we headed into the "Jungle" as Cannon called it. There were lots of animals out, perhaps the most fascinating were the tigers! Cannon did not love them, he was worried they would jump out of the fence.

He is so much fun right now. So curious and so FUNNY! He has so much to say and so many ways to say it. Brooklyn is quite fun herself. She was a champ at the Zoo. Slept the whole time, but like her sweet self, SCREAMED the entire way home. I hope Santa doesn't get wind of that or she might be gettin' nothin' for Christmas! :)

Jinks!

2010-12-15T22:16:00.003-07:00

Last night I was just climbing into a bed after a nice hot, bath when I commented to Brandon how this was my FAVORITE time of the day! Crawling into my nice warm bed ready to collapse from a long day with the kids, knowing that the instant my head hit the pillow I would be out! Yes, this is my favorite part of the day!!!

My kids know this, and all to often the second I crawl into bed one of them wakes up. Last night it was a special treat when both of them woke up at the same time. Both in tears. Cannon, because his arm was asleep and he had to go the bathroom, Brooklyn, because the thundering cry from her sweet neighbor brother disturbed her slumber. So they both ended up in our bed. Not unusual, just unusually early. Luckily they both settled down rather quickly and after no more than ten minutes this too became their favorite part of the day.

Oh how I love these sweet kiddos! They melt my heart daily, even after I jinks myself!

Awe!

2010-12-01T22:06:00.004-07:00

There have been a few mornings where I am absolutely dead to the world, either because Brooklyn, my non sleeping baby, was up numerous times in the night or because I am a mom and I am just plain tired! Sadly, when Brandon heads off to work around 7:30 Cannon is usually not too far behind him, wide eyed and bushy tailed ready for his adventurous day! I foolishly believe that he will entertain himself until I can manage to find the strength to rise from the dead. While he does entertain himself it usually involves a little of this....

As tiring as it is to begin my day before I am really ready, it most definitely melts my heart to see my two little tykes enjoying one anothers company. Cannon just lays next to Brooklyn talking away and she just coos and laughs at her big brother. I can't wait to see how these two will play but until then I will LOVE my moments of awe!

LIttle Drummer Boy!

2010-11-19T22:21:00.004-07:00

Cannon LOVES music! Has always loved music! In fact, I am quite sure that when I was pregnant with him he was jammin out to Bon Jovi. No lie, I swear to you he would hear the sacred tunes of Johnny and be dancing around in there. This love has followed him into life as well. Last year he took a music class and really enjoyed it. The kids has rhythm! Whenever we are in the car he always says "hey mom, turn it loud." I can see him in the back seat tapping his little foot and bouncing his head to the beat all while singing the words he can catch to various songs. Oddly enough he really likes the Rhianna Eminem song Burn and knows most of the words. When we are in a store he recognizes songs and is sure to point them out to us and even knows how to refer to some songs, such as Fireflies. Don't worry it's not all pop and rock, as of late I have heard plenty of I Hope They Call me on a Mission and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam! For your viewing pleasure today, his rendition of Life is a Highway.

I LOVE this boy! Such a little stallion!

The funniest part of this was that when he was all done, he came out of the drum room and said "Hey Millie, I was slammin' it!" Quite the character! Keep up the "slammin' " dude!

As Promised...

2010-11-15T16:28:00.007-07:00

It was almost a year to the date that I posted our family pictures with a big announcement. This year there will be no such announcement but as promised here are some new family photos with our sweet addition!

I hope you enjoy them!

Fall Fun!

2010-11-08T12:44:00.004-07:00

I am NOT a winter person but I can do Fall! Especially when it is more of an Indian Summer like we have had...too bad it is snowing today. I enjoy the beautiful colors, the smells, the crisp mornings, sweaters, pumpkins, the pumpkin patch and of course a little bit of Halloween! Here is a glimpse from our Fall festivities.

We had family pictures with my dad in early October at Gardner Village and lucky for us the witches were out! If you have not been there to see them you MUST go! They are incredible! Witches all around with different themes and accessories, AMAZING! Cannon really enjoyed it this year! Sadly I didn't take very many pictures but hopefully this gives you the gist. There are definitely some cute kids in those pictures!

Here it is our infamous trip to the pumpkin patch! Cannon was so worried about getting a"wittle punkin for Brooky," that he made it his first item of business. He as then sure to pick out one for his two "best friends" mom and dad, and feeling little generous 2 for himself. Can you see the pride of his this little man and his little pumpkin as he was sure it had to be in multiple pictures! As usual, all I wanted was ONE, that's right just ONE good picture of both of my kids at the patch and yes people, the ones above are the BEST of the bunch. I guess there is always next year.

Cannon was brave enough to do the mini corn maze and now every time we drive by he is sure to point out that we "got lost on there." Perhaps they will plow the field soon. :)

And finally, this is becoming one of my FAVORITE holidays, Halloween! Cannon just loves it and it is so fun to see how excited he gets! He is still not so hot on Trick or Treating but he loves the decorations. This year we decorated our porch with our pumpkins, some misc stuff and a ScArY tReE! The Scary tree is black with orange lights and C was so excited every night for it to be "dark outside" so he could plug in the scary tree! His other fascination this year, FIRE in the pumpkins. Every day he asked me when we were going to put fire in our pumpkins. We had some pretty cool ones this year. We finally bought a carving set, why we haven't done this sooner I have NO IDEA, it made carving a cinch! So we managed to carve a "Scary house" for Cannon. Brandon did "scary guy" (a skeleton) and a cat I was assigned a funny face and some ghosts for Brooklyn. Cannon was the man in charge, giving out assignments of who was to do what. He was so excited!
This year he was a "dragon." It was really a dinosaur or maybe even an alligator, but he was convinced it was a dragon, not just any dragon "Toothless" from How to Train Your Dragon. So we let him think what he wanted and thus he was a dragon! He wanted Brooky to be Hiccup. She was not feeling so hot, so I dressed her up in a little pink tutu and called it good. No pictures of miss Brooklyn, and the only one I got of Cannon is on Millie's Camera. I know, Mother of the Year! As for the Trick or Treating, this year we made it to all of 4 houses and a trip to Grandpa Jeff's and then over to see Grandma Chris. The weather didn't help. It was cold, rainy and windy. Plus we had to wake Cannon up to go out and he was not happy about that. Again, here's to next year or perhaps my kid is going to hate every holiday that I LOVE!

That about wraps it up. Now, Cannon is set on putting up the Christmas tree. His new favorite question; "Mom do we have a Christmas tree?"

Me: "Yes, we do."
C: "Oh, so should we set it up?"
EVERY DAY he asks me this, every day! I have a feeling Christmas festivities will begin early in the Ball house this year. :)

Solids and Giggles!

2010-10-31T19:29:00.004-06:00

My sweet Brooklyn is 4 months! I know where did the time go?! She is quite the "chunky monkey" coming in in the 98th percentile for both weight and height. She is 16 lbs now. Enough break my back every day! But look at those cheeks?! Evey pound is well worth the back ache just to have such yummy cheeks to kiss!

She just tried solids for the first time the other day and she is quite unsure. I tried bananas first because even I like baby food bananas. She does not enjoy cereal unless it is in her milk. Yesterday we tried sweet potatoes, she seems to like those a bit more but is not sure what this solid business is all about. Either way, she is adorable!

She has also been giggling a lot. She is quite stingy with the infectious, joyful sounds of her laughter, but when she laughs the long stints without are totally worth it. Ironically enough, as much as she dislikes her brother on most occasions, he is the only one that can get her belly a rollin' with laughter! Here is some of that infectious goodness for your ears to indulge in. Keep in mind, it is more for the sound, not for the actually videography! :)

Oh how we love Miss Brooklyn! She is such a fun little girl!

Ice Ice Baby!

2010-10-24T21:42:00.002-06:00

This post will contain no picture other than the one you will paint in your head. If you know my kid, this will be HILARIOUS!

Cannon and I were making sugar cookies this afternoon and as usual he had to go the bathroom. So he tells me he is going to the potty and I continue making our delicious treat! Suddenly I hear SHRIEKING from the bathroom! I am talking shrieks of death!!! He comes running into the hall with no pants, this white goo all over his hands and is just so upset! I am thinking he has having a bat of constipation since this is a regular struggle for us, however the scream was not the one I associate with that issue and for the life of me I could not place the white goo. I recognized the smell but just couldn't remember what it was. Just then Brandon comes in the door from home teaching only to ask why Cannon is freaking out. I am still mystified as to why and Cannon is still in tears only wanting the problem fixed! Brandon asks what that white goo is and I tell me I don't know! He smells it and says "I think it's ICY HOT."

Yes it was and poor Cannon had pasted it all over his bum and various other parts. I start laughing hysterically! I know that is terrible of me, but really it wasn't going to hurt him. I start to run him a bath, and he WILL NOT get in. Telling me he just wants his pants back on and it's nothing mom, all the while still in tears! Brandon is practically rolling on the floor and I can't stop laughing either. Before too long, Cannon is under control because the ICY HOT is starting to lose it's intensity after a good hand washing and I am guessing the underwear soothed the other problem.

So you ask, how did this happen?!

For one, Cannon is the SNEAKIEST 3 year old ever!

Two, it is not unlike him to spend extended periods of time in the bathroom (I think he gets that from his dad, on occasion I catch C "reading" Sports Illustrated while in the John) so I felt no need to check on him.

3- When I am pregnant I get insane knots in my shoulders and neck, and when I run I get some tense muscles, ICY HOT seems to be the only thing that will loosen things up, thus the reason it is in my nightstand and not put up in an medicine cabinet.

4- We have had to use Desitin on Brooklyn a few times and Cannon has seen me use it. I put it in my nightstand drawer because I usually change Brooky on my bed.

And lastly, with all of Cannon's constipation problems, we have become quite familiar with some "bum" products. My guess is he was feeling a little "uncomfortable" so he thought a little paste would help. Little did he know it was ICY HOT only to make it more uncomfortable! Fortunately he is fine and know we have a story to tell!

What would I do without my little man!?! As for the cookies, I finished them up and they were delicious! :)

26.2

2010-10-04T13:41:00.005-06:00

Well he did it! After months of training and endless hours of running, Mr. Brandon Ball can now cross one more thing off of his "bucket list." The St. George Marathon! What an accomplishment! It is quite a big deal. There over 7000 runners from all over the country that come to participate in this race. It is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, probably one of the largest marathons if not THE largest marathon in the United States. It my friends is 26.2 miles of pure running!

Here is the pre-race meal. We had set our sight on The Olive Garden, but apparently so had everyone else in St. George. When we got there we discovered it was an hour and half wait. With 2 kids in tow, NO THANK YOU! We ended up at Iggy's, I forgot how good it actually is. Here is Balltrain enjoying his Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti Marinara. Delish!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel so Brandon could get some sleep in prep for the big day. Cannon, Grandma Chris, Millie and I headed off to the pool which was delightful!

The 3:30 wake up call came all to early if you ask me. I am pretty sure Brandon was already awake due to the excitement of race day. Here is pre-race photo. Look at him all smiley and tagged!

Here are the kiddo's as Brandon was leaving. So excited for dad to start his big race! Isn't it funny that no matter how big the bed, the kids can somehow manage to consume the ENTIRE thing! Oh one of the joys of parenting! Let's just that this trip did not allow mom a lot of rest and relaxation for a number of reasons. This being one of them.

So what do you do on race day when the big runner is 6 hours out?
You take some pics in the scorching heat of St. George....

....and make some posters to cheer on your runner!

and take some more pics!

Yes, it was a hot beast that day! They said it was the HOTTEST start they have ever had in the history of the marathon. Trust me, it was a scorcher especially come high noon when the clouds were shying away from the sun and the wind was taking a nap! How the runners took the heat I will never know! I am pretty sure I fell ill to some heat stroke just standing there!

A video of Baller and his grand debut at the finish line (don't mind my recording skills)! Priceless! The final time 6 hours and 2 min. Just 2 minutes shy of his goal, which if you count the heat, is not bad, not bad at all my friends!

Here is the grand exit! I am sure that Brandon has never felt more relief exiting a venue than he did at this one!

After a 26 mile run you know you are getting a family photo! After all, I may not have run the marathon, but I definitely contributed to some serious training! I doubt I will ever adorn my running shoes for a 26.2!

Thanks to my mom, G and of course aunt Millie for helping us out and offering some sweet support and company. It meant a lot to Brandon to see you all there as he came around the corner nearing the finish line and trust me I could not have done it with out you there!

WAY TO GO TRAIN! We are so proud of you!

I heart this...

2010-10-04T13:37:00.002-06:00

Here is just more reason to LOVE miss Brooklyn...

How funny is this?! This was what her hair looked like after her bath last night. I think it is all too adorable that her bald spot could look so sweet. What a sweet-HEART! :)

Canoes, BYU and a Rollover!

2010-09-29T07:14:00.005-06:00

Here's a glimpse of what we have been up to. Nothing amazing, but it sure seems like time is going way too fast these days and it is so hard to keep up. I always heard that time flies by in the blink of an eye when you have kids, I never believed that until recently as I see my kids growing way too fast! Hopefully I can keep up and capture the moments they are young.

We, (and by we I mean Brandon, as Brooky and I stayed ashore) took Cannon out on a canoe we borrowed from Brandon's cousin. Funny thing about the canoe, I am pretty sure we picked it up and returned it on the 2 windiest days of the year. If you can imagine the green bean strapped to the top of our Pathfinder teetering on the edge and rocking from side to side in the insane wind gusts. It was quite a sight indeed! However as you can tell from my little man's grin, he loved it and so the canoe adventure was well worth it! The cutest thing was watching him row with the ore's that are 3 times his size!

Cannon started Preschool! I debated on whether or not to send him. I feel like he is a smart kid (because I am his mother and I am totally biased) so I wasn't sure he would need two years. I am still not convinced he needs two years pre-k learning, but I will tell you he LOVES it! He loves his sweet teacher Miss Amy and has made some new friends. I love hearing him tell me about school and showing me the cute things they did. He is always so excited to go and it hasn't been a struggle even once to get him there. He has had some struggles once there and has become well acquainted with "Thinking Time" but I am proud to say that we are going on 2weeks no thinking time.! Go Cannon! He makes his grand entrance into class each day with a booming "Ka-chow" if you are not familiar with the phrase please refer to Disney's' CARS and you will quickly be informed it is Lightning McQueen's infamous phrase! He is so cute and I will tell you I too enjoy some quiet time!

Here is Miss Brooklyn, trying to master the art of the rollover for weeks now, she finally succeeded on Sunday (video to come later)! Now she rolls, and rolls and rolls! Here's is the downer for me...once she rolls on her tummy, she is usually stuck and then she just cries until I turn over. Within seconds she proceeds to rollover again so I spend a lot of time rolling her back! She is just growing too fast! She will be 4 months on Oct 18! Where did it go?! I will tell you I LOVE that balding beauty! Yes, my sweet angel born with a head full of dark, thick, hair is losing her luscious locks! I can't tell if maybe her head is just getting bigger and her hair can't keep up or if she is truly obtaining a receding hairline! Either way she is a keeper!

Alas, we took Cannon to a BYU game last Saturday. We had gone down to P-Town a few weeks prior and Cannon saw LaVell Edwards Stadium and was just sure he needed to go to a By-U (pronounced by C "by you") game. So we gave it a shot!

He got a super sweet hat before the game and he was so excited!

Still excited and anxious to go in....

Excited still and loving it! Probably loving the one on one attention the most but non the less excited to be there. THEN....................................... the cannon's went off to start the game, and wouldn't you know it they sound just like fireworks to my little guy. Who by the way is absolutely terrified of fire, fireworks and loud noises. I know with a name like Cannon Ball you would think "tough" is in the genes right?!

So then we spent the next 3hrs like this....

with a lot of "I wanna go home tears." Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you are, BYU was struggling and didn't score too many touchdowns, so the cannons were minimal. However, let's just say the game didn't go as planned. C and I walked the stadium a time or two, sat out on the grass and grandma Karen emptied her candy reserves trying to bribe C to stick out. In the end we stayed until the beginning of the 4th quarter and headed home just in time to avoid traffic and a total blow out by Nevada! On the way to the car I asked C if had fun and if he wanted to go again, he politely said "Ummmm NO!" I think we will wait until he is a little older to try that one again.

Here is one sweet little girl adorned in her BYU attire. Even this beauty couldn't give the cougs the good luck they needed to get out of their losing streak! Oh well, she will just have to steal her daddy's heart in her game day uniform!

Sweet Brooklyn

2010-09-13T11:56:00.005-06:00

Brooklyn had these pictures done when she was just 2 weeks old! I can't believe how much different and bigger she is already! It has taken me a while to get them loaded on the blog, but she is still precious all the same!Here are a few of my favorites. I hope you all enjoy our sweet B.

Her feet are so long, I love how this picture captures them.

These two are some of my favorites! Aunt Millie made her this darling tutu! She has these pics hanging in her room! Love them!

Here is little miss sweetness in her blessing dress! She was so beautiful! I can't believe how much bigger she was even at her blessing just a mere 4 weeks later. The dress fit in a completely different way!

Here a couple rare shots of Cannon being nice to his sister! Trust me it does not happen often.

I love how you can literally see the concern on her face because her big bro is holding her!

Too soon!

2010-08-30T18:17:00.004-06:00

Cannon LOVES watermelon! It is pretty much the only fruit I can get him to eat! So this year we decided to plant some watermelon in our garden. Cannon has taken good care of his watermelon checking on them regularly to make sure they are growing well, showing them to grandma and his friends and counting them as they grow from little blooms to the real deal. I wasn't even sure they would grow but sure enough we have 4 nice and plump beauties just like this...

so we decided to pick one and have it with our dinner! Cannon was so excited and I must say there is something very satisfying about bringing in the fruits of your labor, that is until this...

Apparently we picked our melon a little too early!

Good thing we have 3 more! I think I will let them ripen a little longer! :)

Lions!

2010-08-30T18:08:00.004-06:00

The other day I had Brooklyn nestled safely in her chair with her little elephant and lion friends, when all the sudden I hear giggling from the supposed movie watching Cannon. When I went into to see what the giggles were all about I found this...

If you look closely you can see pen on both of their faces. Cannon, with a grin from ear to ear just looks at me and says "mom, look we are lions!" I could not get mad, because apparently even Brooky liked it considering she was all smiles and no tears!

I must say they are quite the cute little lion cubs and by the way...baby wipes remove pen in a flash!

2010-08-17T23:42:00.003-06:00

For your viewing pleasure!

"Brookin" the smiler!

Cannon simply exhausted!

Thank heavens for camera's and moments like these. They are PRECIOUS!

3!

2010-08-17T22:49:00.007-06:00

8/14/2010

Will somebody please tell me when this happened?

6 weeks old

1st Birthday!

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday!

WhAt?!?! Yes Cannon turned 3! For his birthday he wanted a guitar so I made him a guitar cake! It was the first cake I have ever made for him (loser mom I know) and it was actually quite fun! Cannon picked out the color and helped me make it. It was fun to have him help. He kept telling everyone that his "gitar cake" was his "pavorite!" He loved it and that is all that matters.

We had some family over for cake and ice cream and presents!
He got a PERCY the train for his track set, clothes, a radio, some Cd's , pajamas and a DOC car from mom, dad and Brookin. A Toy Story football and Buzz jammies from grandma Karen. A Guitar from grandma Chris and papa. And a lot of love from his sweet aunts and uncles! He even had a surprise guest...his true love Ashley, who is really his uncle Casey's adorable girlfriend that we LOVE!

The next day we had dinner to celebrate birthdays at grandpa and Diana's. He got more track from grandpa and Diana! A sweet C^3 cake from uncle Nick and a good old stake dinner where C opted for a hot dog instead. As always he was spoiled rotten!

Cannon and his cousin Sawyer

Cannon and his aunt Millie have birthdays just days apart, so it was double the party!

I know I complain about Cannon ALL the time, and pretty much daily wonder how I am ever going to survive this stage of his life and mine, but really he is my sweet baby boy and I can't believe how fast time flies! I swear it's true that time goes by faster once you have kids! Remember way back when you thought you would NEVER have your driver's license, go on your first date, or even reach High School for that matter?! Well here it is folks, I am afraid that I am going to open my eyes tomorrow and Cannon will be graduating college! I am trying to learn to cherish this age and everything about it because next year it will be gone and we will be in a new phase. Here are some of the things I cherish right now and want to remember forever!

1. Your sweet kisses, on the cheek of course...getting too big for a lip smacker!
2. When you climb in bed with me and hold my hand or wrap my arm around you to tuck you in a little closer.
3. Your infectious giggle!
4. The way you cry and throw the biggest tantrum then the second you want something can stop and even throw in a "Pweese!"
5. Your facial expressions! The way your eyes light up when you are excited, or your brows arch when you are concerned.
6. How incredibly smart you are!
7. The way you remind me and dad what we should be doing!
8. What a great brother you are. Always concerned about your sister and loving her, sometimes too much.
9. Your hilarious phrases and quick whitedness!
10. The way you make our family a family and our house a home!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY BUDDY! WE LOVE SO MUCH!

Stewart Reunion

2010-08-17T22:22:00.004-06:00

8/07/2010

We just had our annual Stewart Family Reunion! Good times as always! In the past we have always had it at Bear Lake but my grandpa is not exactly in camping condition so we decided to keep it a little closer to home for him....like at his home!

So we did a little of this...

Swimming at Ross Park,
with the on again, off again, on again lightning storm / get out of the pool, get back in the pool drill!

Bouncing around!
Thank heavens for the bounce house! It was a blast and quite the babysitter! Poor Cannon, he and our little cousin Jake were sorely outnumbered!

A little of that...

that's right, camping in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard!
It made quite a quaint campground, even though I didn't camp it looked nice! :)

...had a sweet pancake breakfast...
thanks to my mom (who may quite possible be the BEST pancake maker ever!) and Karl who knows how to cook his meat! :)

...And a whole lot of service!
Because my grandpa is unable to do so many things at this point we spent the day painting, cleaning, digging, and dolling up the place. The eaves, windows and foundation needed some serious paint! The yard needed some sweet lovin' and the garage needed a whee bit of on overhaul. With everyone there and willing to serve, it all got done!
We even managed to get three baby quilts in! (Please ignore my fabulous look! Keep in mind it was the end of the day and we had been working outside in the heat painting etc.) These are my two cousins. We are all with in a year or so of each other and we are all having baby girls. Brooklyn will only be a couple months older than these September babies! Kind of cool.

That evening we all headed to my cousins baptism and then to the Hall's for a fabulous chicken dinner and some good old fashioned family time! It was definitely different this year but it was really neat to see everyone come together and serve my grandparents. I know my grandma was truly grateful for our efforts and loved having her family together. It made for some good memories and a reminder of what family is all about.

All in all I would say it was a success! You can't go wrong with service!

You did a GREAT job mom!

7 blissful years!

2010-08-02T18:17:00.005-06:00

Brandon and I just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary! I KNOW! Where does the time go?! It seems like just yesterday I was doing drive by's, by his house with my chica's in my super sweet convertible! Those were the days and how I long for them regularly!

Last week Brandon called me from work and asked me if I could give his single, co-worker 3 reasons why he should get married. He had asked Brandon the same question the day before and sadly he could only give him one. Knowing full well I would give him the same single answer he asked if I could give him 2 more. I too fell short. At this point in our marriage when our lives revolve around our kids and most days I am waiting with them both at the door ready for the hand off, plus the stress of everyday life you forget exactly why you love someone to begin with. I think that is why we have anniversaries. To reflect and celebrate!

It was all in good fun and what I really want Brandon and everyone else to know is that I could give you a million reasons why I married you 7 short years a go. But for now, in honor of our years together I will start with 7!

1. Because you are my BEST FRIEND!
2. Because when I think of living without you, I don't want to.
3. Cannon, Brooklyn and all the other children we might have.
4. Because you teach more than anyone else can.
5. Because you are smart, spiritual, strong, loving, kind, a good provider, bullheaded, stubborn, impossible and amazing.
6. Because you are the only one that can put up with me and everything that comes with me.
7. Because I LOVE YOU!

Happy Anniversary!

Brooklyn's Blessing

2010-08-02T17:33:00.004-06:00

We blessed Miss Brooklyn yesterday. What a sweet, special day it was. Sometimes you get all caught up in the hype of preparing for the big day that you forget and take for granted what it is really all about. Brandon did a great job and so did Brooklyn. Not even a peep from an otherwise fussy thing. :)

Brooklyn looked so beautiful in her dress, she was nothing shy of angelic! We are so lucky to have such a sweet little girl in our family. She has truly been a joy and a blessing to us.

It is days like that when the Spirit is burning that you realize how incredible the priesthood is, how amazing it is that we can have eternal families and how truly blessed we all are to have such a wonderful Savior who made ALL things possible. These are testimony building days. Days when you know without a doubt that the church is true. Days that make you realize what a miracle babies are and how lucky we are to get to take care of one of our Heavenly Fathers children. These are good days!

We love you Brooklyn and we were so happy to share such a special day with you. We look forward to many more good days with you sweet girl!

Feeding time!

2010-07-27T16:14:00.003-06:00

Brooklyn eats, and eats, and eats ALL THE TIME! I swear most of my day is spent nursing her. I am hoping she slows down a bit or we might all be in trouble! Because of this incessant eating, I have to give here a bottle on occasion. The other night I had just made her a bottle and C was demanding some attention so to distract him I asked him if he wanted to feed her. He came trotting in my room and climbed up on the bed. Then he pulled his shirt up and said "OK I'm ready!" I busted up laughing! I had to explain we were giving her a bottle which must have seemed much less fun than an actual "feeding" because he then said "never mind" and left the room!

PRICELESS!

Don't worry buddy there are times I certainly wish you could help me out in that department!

Bathing and Wrestling!

2010-07-27T16:01:00.004-06:00

We have discovered something Miss B enjoys doing while her brother is within 10 feet of her. BATHING! I dipped her in with Cannon one day when we were crunched for time and low and behold she LOVED it! Not a scream, a cry or even a whimper! She just sat there in my arms as content as can be and even flashed her brother a little smirk! Believe me she does not LOVE having him around just yet so this was a success and it saves me time and probably a little energy!

Isn't she CUTE?! She is getting bigger by the day, and I mean that. She eats ALL THE TIME, and I like to call her "cheekers" a nickname her father hopes is dropped long before her dating days!

Here's something she doesn't enjoy so much...

WRESTLING with her brother! Bless his little heart, he just wants to love her and play with her and she just doesn't want him near her. However, I think she is warming up to him. The wailing doesn't start until he actually touches her now. Look at the concern on her face! I think she learned early that to survive her brother she was going to have to work it with mom and dad. Cannon LOVES her and he is such a good brother. A little rough at times, but always trying to help and love her.

They are so cute and I am so lucky!

Who needs a pool anyway?!

2010-07-27T15:43:00.004-06:00

Since the day Cannon was born he has LOVED getting his feet rubbed. He would cross his little feet at the ankles and you could comfortably rub both feet at the same time. He would just lay there loving it! It soothed him when he was upset and often times he would fall asleep.

He has also had stinky feet since the day he was born...I am not lying! Any family member who knows about C's foot rubbing love can attest to this!

The other night we were at birthday dinner and Cannon was playing with Jackie, she insisted he take his shoes off and not a moment later insisted he put them back on!

Sadly, the stank is only getting worse for my little man. When we got home Cannon asked me to rub lotion on his feet. I told him I would after he washed them. I heard him turn on the bathtub and proceed to rinse them off. Turn the water off, go in his room, back to the bathroom and turn the water on. When I went in to check on him to see what he was doing, this is what I found!

Yep! He is swimming in the tub! He had put on his swimming suit and was filling up his "pool." Another thing he has loved practically since birth, swimming! He just looked at me laughing and said, "mom I am going swimming in the bathtub, that's funny huh?!"

I am happy to report that after the swimming lesson was over, and the feet were scrubbed he did get lotion rubbed on his feet just before he was tucked into bed!

Love you buddy, and YES you are funny!