Birthdays, Baptisms, Flagstaff and more

Cardinals Camp 2008

Flagstaff, Az

WhooHoo FOOTBALL!!!!

(says Branden and the boys)

WhooHooo cool breezes

(says me)

Top pic: Branson and Morey

James and Branson coming down from playing games.

All the kids left to right: James holding Izzy, Branson, Alyssa, Taty holding Brock and Autumn.

Brock driving the truck.

Brock checking out NAU's mascot/gate keeper to the dome.

My nephew Jake with all the kids. He loves'em and they love him as you can see.

All the boys from left to right: James, Branson, Brock, Branden, Jaker and Craig.

James catching the ball.

Branson with Kirt Warner. He also got pics with Linart, Fitzgerald, Coach Wiz, and Morey. They were all so great to Branson especially Morey. Branson was really upset and crying because he felt to shy to ask for signatures on his shirt. Morey saw him and came over to chat with Branson and sign his shirt for him.

Branson pushing through the lineman to catch the ball.

Brock in his "Baby leash" hanging out with Daddy.

All the girls from left to right: Taty, Alyssa, Izzy, Me, Mariesa and Autumn.

Me and Kaycee. She came to visit me. She loves me so much she rode the bus from Vegas to Flagstaff to be able to come be with us for a week. We LOVED having Kaycee!!!!

James and Branson on the 1st day of school. Well, technically it was the 4th day of school but they had missed the 1st 3 due to Cardinals Camp.

JP's 1st pinewood derby car. He chose the design, Branden carved and I painted.

Fames or Waves???? You decide.

The boys at Pinewood Derby. James on the far left.

The flipflops I made for my sis in law Jennifer. Swavarski crystal in 5 &4mm, AB's- 3 mm and a huge 14mm in the center.

A fun pair I made for myself. Pink, AB green and clear 4mm.

Dark grey old navy flipflops with all clear-5-3mm. YES I lOVE BLINGY FLIPFLOPS!!!!

Brocker had fallen asleep with Daddy. I thought his little hand holding up his head was so cute.

Us with James on his big day.

James with Grandma and Grandpa.

James and Branden

Boys in white.

Me and James.

The whole family.... Both sides. Left to Right: Back row: Branden, Devin, Craig, Izzy, Kaycee, Brock, Grandpa, Grandma, Shauna, Clay, Pat, Denise, Paul.

Front Row: Amber, Taty, Alyssa, Autumn, James, Branson, Riley, Kaylee, Ashley, Joe, Katlynn, and Me.

I have no idea why I didn't go stand over by Bran. I was in such a hurry to help everyone get out of there that I gave Bishop Curtis the camera and I bolted into the pic. It was sooooo HOT out in the foyer.

Happy 8th Birthday James!!!!

JP making a birthday wish.

An adorable random pic of Brock chill'n in our bed.
Branson's 6th Birthday!!!!!

The boys that came over to celebrate were Zach and Drake from his primary class.

Here is Drake attempting to soak Branson with his monstor balloon.

They had a ton of fun with water balloons. And now that I'm commenting, I see that my efforts to put the pics in order didn't work out, so I'm sharing the events backwards. Think of it as "rewinding time". :P

Top pic: The boys with their "MONSTER" balloons.

Bottom pic: Water Balloon Figth.

Drake and Branson loading up with more balloons.

The Boys threating me.

Branson pluggging his ears while popping his balloon for our "Gestures" game.

All the boys getting ready to play"Pin the Pennant on the poster"

Hoping for a forcast of a nice September breeze.

Introducing Turley Boy #4 OR.... Turley Girl #1!

( I sure like the sound of that!)

I will have a confirmation of that very issue on September 9th. Please please please send us your boy name ideas! If this is a boy, I am going to need a search party to find a name that Branden and I can agree on and love. I'm really hoping for a girl. Name choosing would be a BREEZE and it's hot here, I would really appreciate a nice breeze.

It's offical offical

Ok so I've been to the doctor, everything is A-ok, and I'm far enough along to be past the nervous stage, we're announcing..... OFFICALLY.
I have no due date however because the 1st day of my last cycle is a guess, so he's putting me at the end of January, but after a complete check up, he thinks I"m farther than that! I'm hoping far enough to see what it'll be!!!! Next week I'll have an offical due date.
I'm really hoping for a girl for the sake of my marriage. You see, Branden and I cannot fully agree and any boys name we love together. I love Matthew Allen, he doesn't and there other names I like, but I want to love the name!!!! A girl would make the naming process so much easier!!!!! Plus, a girl would be something new and exciting! If it's a boy, I might have to throw a fit. Maybe.

HELP

We've go scorpions in our rental. Bran killed one yesterday in our room and poor Brock got stung on his finger tonight. And 2 weeks ago when Bran was at scout camp I killed one in my bathroom. I hate hate hate hate hate!!!!!! these things!!!!! Any practical advice on how to get rid of them or at least to keep them outside? Please help!

I've been tagged again!

I promise no novel this time.

Rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, and three random facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end.

3JOYS: My family (most of the time) Although my children and seriously giving me a

headache right now :P

My Awesome friends

My Ward & calling

3FEARS: Not being able to stay in our Ward. Which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! I do not want to

leave it.

My children getting lost or hurt ( And I don't mean scapping their knee, I mean

seriously, go to the hospital or have some sicko arrested hurt)

No work for Branden= an empty bank account=not being able to stay in our ward

3Goals: Having more Faith

Being more patient with my children

Getting something started with my Sugarjane bracelets

And I'm adding a very important #4 group of paying off credit cards and start our food

storage, and getting money back into our saving account.

3Current Obsessions: Flagstaff, I desperately want to run away to Flagstaff! Although it does

get hecka cold in the winter. Good excuse to buy some cozy Ugg boots

thought!

Monsoon storms, I love them!!! Rain makes me happy.

Sleeping, I've been so tired. It's hard work growing a baby.

3Random Facts: I don't think I have 3 random facts. Let's see what I can come up with.

I desperately need a new bed and we have only one sheetfor our bed set since

we've been married. 10 years in December.

I still have my wisdom teeth and their ruining my efforts of braces but getting

those things removed is expensive.

I really want lasik eye surgury, but I am so scared, plus you need moola for

that.

Well, there it is. I tag, Amber, Mom, Kristy, Jenny and Michelle

Random Update

Ok, so I 've been really bad on the posting pictures thing. Mainly because we haven't done anything fun or particularly exciting, FOR REAL! So here are a few pics of our summer activites.

1st up is our 4th of July

The guys love playing basketball baseball. Here they are in action. Branson is up to bat.

James hitting a good grounder.
My nephew Kevin coming to steal my water from me.
When Branden and I were 1st dating he was 3. Everyone was surprised when he crawled up on my lap and wouldn't leave my side. Later, Branden asked him who he was sitting with, and he said "My girlfriend"
He is such a fun boy soon to be a guy. He's 14 now!
Here is some of the girls and kids watching the boys play. Left to right: Joe, Brock, Tori, Aaron, Kenna, Autumn, Emma, Denise, Izzy, Mariesa, Alyssa and Bridget.
Here is Bran in the outfield with Resbusha the cow.
Clay up to bat. Also, Branden and Criag waithing for their turn and Paul is pitching.

Cary, Emma nd Katlynn waiting with excitiment to see "High School the musical" at Gammage.

Shauna, Me and Denise. It's been a rough few months for Denise. She found out a few months ago that she has a cancer in her leg around her knee area. They know it's Cancer but they are unsure exactly what kind. She's had to go through getting her bone marrow tested which is very painful. She also had a full body scan but there is no word on the results yet. She just started Chemo this week. She's a tough girl and but we are all praying lots and lots for her!

So here is Brock, being MOODY. He's been that way a lot lately. We think it's because he has a lot to say but no way to get it out. Most likely he has a desire to tell us whats what! But, he hasn't even said "Mama" or " Dada" yet. Crazy boy.

On Sunday he decided he wanted to go up onto the stand and see the Bishop and his councilors. I caught him right before he ran up the stairs. Of course as soon as I picked him up, he threw himself back and screamed at the top of his lungs! I couldn't go out the side door that was right by me because it's the stake offices, so I had to carry him to the side main doors, with him screaming and flailing his arms and legs all the way.

So fun!

There is a reason why we call him "Trouble" He is just crazy and full of this rough and tough attitude. Except when he's hungry, then he crys and crys and crys. He wants to eat every hour it seems.

Speaking of eating. In May we had an awesome enrichment night called the "Bread of life" Chef Brad Peterson came and taugh us how to make homemade bread. He also talked with us the importance of being able to know how to make bread, and how it really can bring a family together. He also promised us that if we would cook int he kitchen with our husbands, that our marraiges would be strengthened. Well, Bran and I do cook together, but we've never baked.

So anyways, I am scared of using yeast, ( had a tramatic excperience in the past when attemptin cinnimon rolls.)

But after learning at enrichment night and feeling the truth that was behind what chef Brad said, I was determined to make bread, that was not only edible but really good!

Come to find out, Branden worked with Chef Brad at a place called Stradlings that sold cooking supplies, bread and they also did classes when he was in high school.

And come to think of it, Branden has bragged a few times since I've known him that he could make bread, yet he never proved it. So here was his chance and this is our 1st loaf of bread that we made together. And it was edible and very very YUM-O!!!

Hey, Ya you!

Shell,
Ok, I gotcha back on my list. I just high jacked your blog name from Britt's blog. I hope camping was great for you and you're doing super. You guys need to come down and visit! We'd love it!
Lot's of love

Hey Trishers, how are you doing! You guys should come visit too! So fun it would be!! So do you know for sure it's a girl or are you going to be surprised? I'm way excited. I tell everyone who knows you! Ok, that's not a ton on my end. But Mariesa thought it was very cool!
Love you!

To the rest of you wonderfuls...... I love you all!!!!

SHELL!!!!!!

I accidently deleted you off my list! Could you email me your blog address again? Thank you:D

Love you!

I was told

So I was told by my mother that I needed to update. Unfortunately there is nothing exciting to update about. Just a lot of stress that no one wants to hear about. So lets count blessings shall we?!
1. Branden and I have started to make homemade bread together. About 1x a week. So funny and Yum-o!
2. The rental house we have moved into has a community pool. A great option when you have kids who are already asking after 2 weeks of summer, " When can we go back to school?"
3. It only takes me 2 good productive hours to get my house clean enough that I'm happy.
4. I get to spend lots of time with my hubby everyday. Downside. There's no drive for datenight when your with eachother all the time.
5. Only about 6 more weeks till the 4th book of the Twilight series comes out!!!!! YEAH!!!!
6. I love my primary calling (primary secretary) and the girls I serve with.
7. My birthday is on Friday! I love my birthday most years.
8. Branden has found a love for cooking. I love it because he's good and when he wants to cook, I don't have to!
9. I love love love my ward. I just really pray that we get to stay in it!!!! You all help me pray for this too would you!
10. We are all safe, healthy (for the most part) and despite all the CRAP...... a happy family. I am definatley most grateful for that. Unhappy family can make things 1,000 times worse!

So, there it is. When I feel up to it. I'll get some updated pics posted and a fun video of our new little temp rental house.

LOVE MANDI

Where are we now?????

So, we finally moved. And just a note for all you..... MOVING TOTALLY BITES!!!! And I don't mean in the way that Edward Cullun does.

But we're hear and settled for the most part.

There's a communtiy pool which is nice.

Our phone number is the same for those of you who would like that updated info.

So, Branson asked me last night when it would be time to go back to school!! Holy Cow kido it's only been a week and a half and you're already done with summer vacation???!!!! Ok, well I'm almost spent too honestly. It's difficult to find something for 3 very active boys to do all day when there's really no "budget" for unlimited fun possibilites. Free is good so tomarrow I think I'll be taking them to the library. They really want to do the Summer reading program. And in the 1st week of July I'll be going to UTAH. So fun! And Shell. What's your schedule the last week of June? Maybe I'll come early and visit with you and your family and Sara. That would be fun.

Well, I love you all. Send me lots of prayers for Bran and that he can get consistant work in doing what he loves. It's been way to inconsistant and it's very overwhelming!!!! I appreciate all the happy thoughts my way.

Stalker!!!

Ok, so instead of packing, I've been blog stalking! But I've found 2 friends! Yeah!!! I have found Mandy and Stephanie! I get so excited when I can reconnect with people who I adore! I hate that life is so busy for all of us, that we lose track of each other! Now with just a little time and a mouse click away, you can find all your favorite people. And thanks to blog stalking, my cousin Jenny found me! Is it sad that I sound like an infomercial and that something like this just really made my day? I know you're asking yourself, " But what's better than packing with no plan of where you're moving too!!!" I know!!! But let's call my excitement "friend appreciation!" And I want you to know that I appreciate you! All of you! Stalking may make me look crazy, but you're all worth it! ;P

Love, Mandi

update

Hi girls! I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive, but barely! We are supposed to move out this weekend, but we haven't been able to find a short term rental. There's a house we're wanting to put an offer on. It's so Us! It looks like we might have to put our stuff in storage and live in a hotel for a month., which sucks!!! I don't like all this uncertaintyof are we or arn't we.... and not being settled. It's very..... Unsettling. :P Anyways. I'm off to do more packing.
LOVE YOU ALL!

PS: New pet peive. People who put "month to month short term rental for only $850 a month" but when you call them, they tell you it's that price if you sign a 10 month lease. (which is not short term or month to month!!!) Month to month for real is $1450!!!!

Hello Jerks! Thanks for getting my hopes up for nothing.

Warrior Princess!!!

I did it! I finished the Hinckley Challange. I am now a Warrior!, says the printable certificate that pops up when you hit the "Done" link.

I was way behind too there for a bit. Almost a 100 pages. But I did it and I feel....... Good.

I have issues with goals and this is the second time I've taken a "Read the book of Mormon all the way through" challange and I loved it this time around. I totally understood it more. I got how people were connected and I was able to keep up with who was writting and exactly what and who they were writting about.

And do you know what?

I've discovered that I really love reading my scriptures!

When I don't read, I miss them. So, now that the challange is over, I'm going to strive to get a little bit of time in every day to read.

Who's up for reading the Bible all the way through?!! :P

NOTE

Please note the fabulous window covering in my video. They are fantastic and really add to the ambiance of the room, wouldn't you say. We like to improvise and thank goodness because we've been doing a lot of it lately! ;P

HELLO!!!!!

Hey you girls! Where are all your updates? Where's my update you ask? Right here. This is a little clip of my Brockers being great and unloading the dish washer for me. He did about 75% of it before he ran out of room on the counters and got distracted. Next I'll do a walk through of our home that we're forclosing on :( Sad I know but, such is life sometimes and we're ok so no worries!

HI!!!!

So first and most importantly, Here I AM!!! :P

In my "Are you Army Strong?" T shirt. It's not very cute but it's comfy for packing.

Do you like my "not washed in 3 days" hair?

Update. I am now watching my niece Izzy. She's fun. However the 1st day was a nightmare. She "yelled" and pitched a fit for 3 hours. But after her nap, it was very enjoyable. And she's been doing great ever since. Today I had all the girls. Taty, Lyssa, Autumn and Izzy because there was no school. I'll get a cute group pic of them and post it later......(promises promises)

House stuff is dead in the water right now. We haven't decided on a rental, or packed and our auction date was last Saturday. For some reason Bran and I aren't in a complete mad dash, so we're just kind of doing the "let go and let God" sort of thing? We're seeing where the wind takes us I guess.

Brans been doing more work in Mexico unfortunately it's not enough for a paycheck (very technical) but, his specs in Mesa are going good, and besides the worry that they probably won't sell right now, if we could just get our draw from the bank; our stress level would drop a bit. Every time they delay a draw, Bran gets really antsy. He's worried that they will drop funding because of the market. And a bit ornery too.

I think thats it for now. Although, I'm hoping for a cat nap later:D

The pic that got deleted.

You're probably wondering "why this random pic.?"

Keep reading, you'll find out!

Dang Difficult Blog STUFF!!!!!!

Where the heck is the UNDO button!!!!

Whats up with the boys.

So here's a run down of March till now all in "photo journal" format :P

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!! HUNGRY???

This is what all the kids insisted on having for St. Patrick's Day. Green Eggs and Ham. The eggs look like the chicken were raised on radio active ground and we also put green food coloring in the brown sugar glaze that looked like baby poop. The potato's don't look too bad. Kinda like they were colored with a green marker. YUM O!!!

B A S E B A L L

JP and Beau sit'n in a tree............

This is the boys on opening day. It was a crazy! James had team pics at 9:45am, Branson at 11:30am. And in between we just hung out. Then at 1:30pm they had the Opening program, at 2pm was James 1st game and at 4pm was Branson's. We were so warn out by the time the day was over!!! And I ended up sunburned even thought I SPF 50'ed myself.

DANCE DANCE JAM

The boys rock'n out and shake'n in the family room. James tends to be drawn to shaking his butt, but Branson has some pretty good moves when no one is watching him.

And last but not least, MR. TROUBLE
Also known as Lion, Garbage pail kid, and my favorite (what Bran calls him)....
Hombre.
Here he is.......
SWEEPING
Brock loves brooms. He was always stealing mine so I bought him one of the dust devil play ones soon after this pic. If you try and take it away, he screams bloody murder! It's hilarious! I really want to get him the mop and vacuum too.

SLEEPING

There was a pic here but it got deleted by mistake and you all know how it goes....... I wasn't about to erase all that you've seen before this. How in the heck can you insert pics where you want! AHHHHH! So yes, this is the place where Brock sleeping standing up goes.

EATING

Brock LOVES tomato's! (just like his mommy)

Here he is eating one like an apple. (just like his mommy)

A promise forfilled

I just realized that I never finished my tag thing that I promised to continue like 2 weeks ago. Sorry all, everything right now is like bumper to bumper traffic. I need to make a list in order of priority and just go down it one thing at a time. But until I do that, here is the rest of my info from being tagged.

Snacks I enjoy:
1.I love love love Junior mints!!!! I can't live without them at the moment. I have to have a very large box in the house at all times. It's the one treat that I can have a few and be completely happy. I love to have them close when I'm reading my Twilight books.
I also love:
2.rice crispy treats
3. candy corn
4. licorice
5. sweet and salty chex mix, beef jerky, original and ranch corn nuts mixed together, strawberries, grapes, string cheese, green apples with motzarella cheese ( I got this one from Oprah) and ....... dark chocolate.

5 Things to Do On My List Today:
Well, there is a ton of things but I'll list the 5 (if I can) off the top of my head.
1. Start packing
2. Boys laundry and put clean laundry away
3. work out
4. shop for random things like, victoria secret bras (they have 2 for $40 and $44 right now) and their boyfriend sweatpants that I love, blingy flip flops, a straightener and new blowdryer ( I picked one of each up yesterday at Ulta but I don't love'm so I need to go exchange) cloths for Branden, shoes for me ( I don't need any persay but there are a ton I would love to buy), and Bath and Body's Honeysuckle lotion.... LOVE IT! And I love their cinnamint gloss too.
5. Make out with Bran. ............. I bet you're super glad you asked now!!!!

5 Things I would do with a billion dollars:
Bran and I were just talking about this last night.
1.We would buy some land. I'm thinking 3 acres here and 5 in Flagstaff. Build a comfy house and a cozy cabin. And a cute beach house in Mexico where Bran has his fun projects going.
2.I would love to do horse back riding lessons and have a horse and a lifted blue tahoe with a sunroof and would be able to do all the things that need to be done in a very short amount of time for my bead bracelets.
3.Put money away for missions, collage and schooling and then do all I can to help others. Sponser scholorships, missions, and such.
4.Also it would be awesome to randomely give someone a new car fully paid for with a loaded gas card, like a struggling single mom or a family who doesn't have a car because they can't afford one. The thing is there are a lot of things I'd like to splurg on but their not very lavish. The giving would be the funnest part. I love giving now, I just want to be able to give even more to help others along.
Make a diffrence and change the world.
5. Invest in Brans building and schooling dreams.

5 Bad Habits:
1. I sometimes interupt others when their talking.
2. I sometimes say things the wrong way ( But always know, if you thinking "how did she mean that? The possitive way or the other?" It's always the possitive way I promise you!!!! I don't like to make others feel sad or upset at all.)
3. I'm a picker. Bran always has to tell me to stop scratching the little bump on his arm or to stop picking at my face. I feel a bump and it has to go. NOT GOOD!!!
4. I over do it when working out and end up hurting myself which means I loose my groove. My most recent injury is shin splints. I was trying to be productive and run sprints. My shins didn't hurt when I walked by when I would run and my feet would hit the pavement.... OUCH!!! Like a pencil being jabbed right up my leg. So now, I can't even attempt to run with out pain.
5. I have a plan and I see point A and I know I want to get to B but how??? The baby steps trip me up a bit. I get overwhelmed by them. Does that make sence?

5 Places I have lived:
1.Mesa, Az
2.Las Vegas, Nv
3.Queen Creek, AZ
4.Gilbert, Az
5.And more AZ............ Wow exciting!!!! I have to say, I don't love Vegas but there are some of my most favorite people on the planet there! I love love love my Vegas Family.

5 Jobs I've Had:
1. Secretary for Sterling Spencer at Blue Ribbon Dental
2. Junior and misses Dept at Sears
3. Sales girl of Geppeddo dolls
4. worked at a flower shop for a week. ( they wanted me to do computer entry but I wasn't digg'n that. I wanted to work with the pretty flowers)
5. Nanny

5 Things people don't know about me:
Hahahha. This is funny because of my habit of loving to chat and share share share, most people know lots about me, and maybe more than they want to know. Let's see if I can think of some new things.
1. I love listening to new talk radio. Especially Glenn Beck and Mac on 92.3. I feel informed and sound smart when I pay attention to all the "issues"
GLENN BECK FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
2. I'm not a registered voter..... Boring I know!
3. I never could do a "real" push up till this last year, thanks to boot camp. I can't touch my nose to the floor mind you but I can go half way and do more than 1!!! Hey, it may not seem big but I'm proud of me! Again... BORING
4. I won't buy character clothing or shoes for my babies, like whinnie the pooh clothes, or thomas the train shoes, and such. I just don't dig the idea of it at all. It's only fun when they get older and know what they really like.
5. My favorite color is Green??? Did ya all know that???

Ok so this is me forfilling my previous 2 week old promise. Now let's see if I can get the other ones fullfilled soon enough for Shell who really wants pics.
I bet all of you prefer pics over my blabbing.
Love you all!!!

I walked barefoot

I went to confrence this weekend thanks to my great sister in law Shauna who had extra tickets to Saturday afternoon's session. It was beautiful and the spirit was ...... well, I was on the edge of very happy and greatful tears while sitting in the confrence center just before the session started. It was so cold that my calves cramped up on me, so I took off my shoes and walked barefoot. Funny enought, my feet were actually warmer on the pavement then in my wedges. I have some fun pics but my camera was left in Shaunas Tahoe. I'll get them posted soon........hopefully.
Lots of Love!!!!