Merry Christmas

My brother Braden and his girlfriend Meghan

bought him this little scottish flap hat. We

had to take a picture because it is too cute.

Thanksgiving

We went to Colorado for Thanksgiving and were able to spend

time with both of our families. While we were there we took family

pictures with my family. It was the first time in years that we have all been together!

We did the black Friday shopping at Toys-R-Us and swear we will

never do it again. Insane and not sure it was worth the $30 savings due to the lack of sleep.

Playing catch up!!

Brody just finished his first swimming lessons session with his buddy Bowen. At first he was a little reluctant but by the end he was jumping off the side of the pool, going under water, and able to do some strong kicks which included the running man under water. He would always say "I'm fast" and kick, kick, kick...it was a great time for Brody and me to get out and to have some social time with Marci and Bowen. Next up...Tumbling class if anyone is interested. :)

Then we had a great Halloween. Our neighbor Margaret went trick-or-treating with us. She was dressed as a cat and took advantage of the FREE candy. Brody was obviously a lion but would only leave his hood on for a few seconds before ripping it off.

The only other update in our lives is Brody lost 2 pet fish in 2 weeks. He is OBSESSED with fish so we bought him a goldfish--I asked the pet store for the fish that would die the fastest because I am not a big fan of pets! :) Buzz #1 only lasted 1 night. It may have been due to Brody sharing his cheeseburger with the little swimmer. A few days later we got Buzz #2. Every morning Brody would wake up and the first thing he would say is Mama--fish!! Then a few days ago he died too. Life lessons learned early I guess. Lastly, we have hit a HUGE milestone with Brody...for the past 2 years he has called Dustin and me either "Daddy" or "Dust" he can now officially say mama. It melts my heart. Some kids are just stubborn I guess!

American West Heritage Center

All summer long we have been waiting for this farm to get their train installed. Finally, on Saturday we were able to take Brody on a long awaited train ride. They had a lot of fun activities---pony rides, a super slide, and a hay fort that kids could play on. He was in choo-choo heaven!

Boys, Boys, and more boys!

My big stud muffin Brody turned the big 2 on Saturday and we took him to SLC to celebrate. He got to go to the farm, Discovery Gateway, and then to the Gateway fountains to play in the water. He was lucky enough to have Dustin's family here because Dustin's little brother Nathan left on a mission to Calgary, Canada and his family came over for that. Brody got a lot of fun toys and is excited that he will have a new little brother in February! So as you can see lately my life has been nothing but boys! Gotta love it!

Yellowstone/Island Park

Sorry we only had B&W film and Kristi has all the group shots.

This past weekend we went on a camping trip with the Hartman Family. We rented a pop-up trailer and went to Island Park and Yellowstone for 4 days.

Thursday we stopped in Rexburg and stocked up on food and then set-up camp at the Buffalo Run camp site. Minutes after the guys finished putting the trailer together Brody fell out and hit his head on the pavement. :(So for the rest of the trip he had a pretty bad cut on his forehead. Then to make matters worse we were all eaten alive by mosquitoes. By the end of the trip I had 20 bites on my right foot.

Friday was better when we headed to Yellowstone; it was a perfect day with sun and rain. We saw many buffalo and elk and thankfully no bears. We stopped at the geysers, Old Faithful, and then we went to the Upper and Lower Falls.Despite the horrible lunch we had at the Geyser Grill it was awesome! Then that night we went to West Yellowstone and had pizza and listened to Addy tell us about some scary lizzard and other funny stories. They had a live band playing that night and it was so cute watching Addy and Brody dance. Addy would do the air guitar while Brody would do the worm on the floor. They got a lot of attention from people in the bar.

Then Saturday we had the grand idea to go to Max's Inn to float the famous river. Once we got there and realized that it was a 3 hr trip we decided that Brody probably wouldn't last. So the other 2 back up options were paddle boating or canoeing. So after the boat ladies told us that the canoes were really steady we decided to give those a whirl. Their only instructions were to not go under the bridge or we would get caught in the rapids.

So Kyle. Kristi, and Addy head out first and the current is carrying them right towards the bridge---at this point Addy keeps saying this is a bad idea! :) We have Brody double life-vested and we get in the canoe and start paddling. A few minutes later the current gets us and slams us into the dock and our canoe flips. Brody and Dustin go completely under water and I get pulled down the river while trying to save the canoe! Dustin's shoes and once dry clothes are floating down the river along with our paddles. Some guys on the dock grabbed Brody and held him while we tried to gather our things. Meanwhile Kyle and Kristi are long gone under the bridge. Moments later we find them walking up the shore--DONE with the dang canoeing idea. It was the longest and shortest canoe trip of our lives. Then we tried the paddle boats...it just was not our day. Kyle and Dustin would paddle us up the dock and the current would take us back to where we started. So after that we finally packed up and went to the Bear and Wolf exhibit in West Yellowstone where they had 2 bears and 2 wolves and that was it. They give you a 2 day pass and we kept joking saying why would you need to come back? As if people are like kids we can only see the bears today and then we will come back tomorrow to see the wolves. But despite the lack of animals we had a blast!

Then Sunday we packed up and stopped in Ashton for lunch and then went to Mesa Falls and headed home! It was a great relaxing trip. Brody and Addy are little buddies and Addy did a great job of keeping him in line. We would ask who is the boss of Brody and she would say "I am" and then if Brody was getting into something she would say: "Brody you know better than that!" It was an eventful trip and we cant wait to go again next year! Thanks guys!

Anniversary, Mother's Day, and Birthday!

Well the month of May is always a crazy one for us! May 6th we celebrated our 5th year anniversary. We went to dinner and Uncle Nick and his girlfriend Jackie babysat the Brodman (thanks!) Then we had Mother's Day on Sunday and my birthday on Monday! Poor Dustin I know!

We ended up going to Colorado the week before to celebrate and Dustin and his brother Brett took these fun photos of Brody. Dustin's brother's are offended that I never post pictures of them on the blog. Well I have waited 1 week for the photos that are on their cameras with Brody and all of the boys...but those will have to wait since no one will send them to me! :)

Families Are Forever

Families are forever. This is something I believe with all of my heart. My cousin Jen's husband, Chris, recently passed away after fighting his battle with brain cancer. As I have watched Jen and Chris's long journey over the past year I have been amazed at the humility and love they have had. Many of us could never comprehend being 24 years old having a 2 month old baby and then losing your husband to cancer. These heart wrenching trials are where we learn and grow the most but why do they happen to the people that least deserve them?

I was talking with a lady that is a franchisee that I work with the other night and she said "God is fair" whether we see it in this life or not...God is fair. That is what I am clinging to right now as my heart feels the deepest sorrow for Jen and her little girl Sadie.

Sometimes we get stuck in the "life is hard because my laundry isn't done, or I am not a perfect wife and mother" phase...but what about life is hard for someone else because they lost their husband to cancer or they are going through a really hard trial? I promise when you search for someone in more need than yourself your problems will seem small.

I know that the next few months will be excruciating for Jen but in return I know how many other people she will bless, she will cry with and sit with because of this new found empathy and understanding of life that she has.

Tonight as I played with Brody and searched for comfort the spirit hit me. He loves to run behind a door and lock me out of the room. Then I will put my hands under the door and he will grab on to my hands and hold them. As he did this earlier the spirit overcame me and I felt this feeling similar to what I felt the night of a horrible wreck back in December where 2 parents were taken from their children. It struck me that this is how thin the veil is. I could feel that he was there I just couldn't see him.

I know that Chris will be right by Jen's side and I know with all my heart that they will be together again as a family.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! My camera is not working so these are blurry cell phone pictures of Brody. Brody has a cold so he wasn't able to go to church/nursery today. So we stayed home and had candy that the Easter Bunny left and played with toys! Last night we took the rail off his crib and he slept the whole night! As you can tell he is obsessed with his cool man sunglasses.

Nacho Cheese & Apple Beer

Nacho Cheese & Apple Beer is about all the excitement we have had in the Sanders' home.

Yesterday I was feeding Brody lunch and he wanted some chips and Queso. He has really been loving dipping things lately he thinks he is so sophisticated and grown up! I put him in his high chair and ran upstairs and a few minutes later I heard him screaming. I ran back down stairs to find both of his eyes covered in Queso. He kept rubbing more on trying to get it out of his eyes. It was the saddest thing and I am sure the jalapenos were burning his little eyeballs. So I rinsed them out with water and he just laid on my shoulder with his eyes closed forever in fear the burning would come back.

Then last night I ran into Cafe Rio to grab us dinner. There was a college couple behind me that was on their first or second date. So I was casually listening to their conversation because they were geeky cute.There was an ice bucket on the counter that had Apple Beer and other bottled drinks in it. This is how their conversation went:

Girl: Have you ever had Apple Beer before?
Boy: Yes, actually the guy that was supposed to double with us tonight introduced it to me.
Girl: It's really good. Occasionally, I drink bottled root beer too.
Boy: Me too!
Girl: So are you kind of like a wild Mormon? Not like a Jack Mormon but a WILD Mormon? Like sometimes close to the rebellious edge?
Boy: Yea, I guess you could say that. (chuckling trying to impress her)

I thought oh dear, what is this world coming too? But I guess for the sake of being a mother it redeemed my faith in innocence. And I am pretty sure Dustin used some similar lines on me! Too funny! :)

Brody 18 Months

Tomorrow will be Brody's first day of Nursery! I can't believe it! I know he will be SOOO excited to be able to hang out with friends and to play with the toys. I will have to let everyone know how it goes!

Family Home Evening Packets

Alright, my smart cousins are doing a Family Home Evening Kit Group. Where everyone picks a topic and makes a kit for like 10 people and then you swap folders and end up with quick and easy FHE kits. So I thought many of my friends would maybe like to do our own group? If you are interested it doesn't have to be expensive or fabulous...just something that teaches a principle like Honesty, manners, etc.

If you are in let me know. If not--you won't hurt my feelings!! :) Out of staters/countriers (Brit) are welcome to join. Maybe end of May will be the deadline?

Thanks!

Chain of Love!!!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something given by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make/get for you!
2. What I create or find will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song. It may be a self portrait or maybe even some creation I haven't yet dreamed up. I may draw. I may bake you something and mail it to you. It may not be big or impressive. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! But lets be honest here. This is me and I will likely do something amazing. =) So come on, sign up!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to post this same blog on their blog and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS gift from me! Let's keep the chain of love going around!! (i don't mind mailing out of state.)

P.S. Happy Birthday to Courtney Felix tomorrow! :)

Dalmatians, Games, and a Triple Date

Brody's new favorite thing in the whole wide world is watching 101 Dalmatians! He is heading into the Disney Daze and wants to watch it at least 2 times a day! For Valentine's Day we gave in and bought him 101 Dalmatians II. :) As you can see above he is a cute little couch potato!

(Below) A few weeks ago we had a triple date night with Kyle and Kristi and Addy and Brody. We played Settler's along with a suspenseful game of CLUE. We celebrated both Kristi and Dustin's birthdays at the Olive Garden. It is so great to have Brody and Addy at the stage where they will sit and be entertained while we can play games! If anyone else is up for games...come on over.

Happy Birthday Spanky!

Happy Birthday Dusty Bottoms!

My love, best friend, companion, and man turned 27 yesterday! Whoo Whoo!

Thanks for being so great!

{LOVE}

Cheltz and Brody

Brody at 16 Months

Oh our sweet little man that we can't get enough of is getting so big! Being parents is the greatest thing that Dustin and I have ever done. These little people are just full of fun! Here's what he has been up to: (my camera cord is lost---so I will have to post more pictures)

Still calls Dustin "DUST"-- This is what we wake-up to and hear constantly throughout the day...it's just plain cute.

Obsessed with SHOES. When people come to visit as soon as they sit on the couch he brings them their shoes. Offensive to some...but really it's his way of saying let's go. He just loves to get out in the world.

He is still our dancing fool. Often he does the move called "drop it like it's hot" and still loves Kanye West (sp?)

Loves singing and songs. The other day I was singing "Jesus said love everyone"...He was getting SOOOO excited. And exclaimed Jesus say dhat!!!

We have started Time-Outs and that has been an interesting thing. He goes from laughing, to bottom-lip sad, to ticked in about 5 minutes once he catches on. Supernanny is right though if you stick with it it gets easier over time! :)

Our next adventure: POTTY TRAINING. They say that when they wake up from a nap and their diaper is damp that they are ready? Not sure if this is true but we will soon find out!

Christmas Part II

This is Trace "holding on tight" to Brody the squirmster. On Christmas Eve we started a new tradition. We have a lot of Dutch ancestors so we read the story of The Miracle of the Wooden Shoes and then all of the kids left their dutch shoes out...they filled them with carrots for the reindeer and then in the morning they were filled with goodies. And the carrots had reindeer bites---unbelievable. ;) My sister Ashley also made all of the kids giant Santa Bags and Santa filled them up with presents.

THE GREAT DALMUTI GAME

As one of the gifts---Dustin and I gave my parents The Great Dalmuti game. It is a card game that has different "peons"---I was an Egyptian princess, my mom the Queen, my Dad the Nun, Brandt The Great Dalmuti, Baylee the Jester and Dustin and my sister were immigrant workers. I was a little bummed because the actual card game didn't arrive in time so we played a pretend round. We will have to let you know how the real game is!

First Half of Christmas 2008

We spent 5 days in Bozeman, Montana. There was a lot of snow so we took the kids sledding behind a four wheeler. Brody was nervous at first and then we couldn't get him back inside! We were lucky to have all of my family except my little brotehr Braden who had to work at the hospital.

We went to a fun little restaurant it was Cajun Cafe where we had Beignets and really good food. Then we went to this funky gourmet chocolate shop where they added spices like chili pepper and Lavendar to chocolate. The couple that owned it was from Europe...it was yummy.