Merry Christmas 2013

 BRADSHAW FAMILY TOP TEN FROM 2013:

10) Sign seen on a Phoenix, AZ freeway in October: “Winter Driving Conditions: Drive with Care!”  Outside temperature noted: 86 degrees.  I know people acclimatize in AZ, but that’s just ridiculous.  (Other 2013 travels: Redwoods, Oregon Coast, Bear Lake, Caribbean cruise [sans children], Idaho-sers, and Bryce Canyon.  We live in a beautiful world!)

9) Adam: How old will I be when I’m an uncle?  Will I be 16?  6?  7?

Sarah: Definitely no on the 6 or 7.  Maybe on the 16.

Adam: Argh!  I want to be young!

Sarah: Adam, 16 is still young.  You will be a young uncle.

Adam: A young uncle?  Will that make me a yuncle?

8) Lucy (while trying to list all my siblings in order as fast as she could): Matt, Micah, Becca, Sarah, Katie, Camille, Uncle Shark-Bait Ooh,Ah,Ah, Seth, and David.  (Long story short, when the kids saw Jacob’s massive shark-bite-looking scar on his leg, he told them they could call him Uncle Shark-Bait [ala Finding Nemo].  I guess the name stuck.)

7) Despite my best attempts to stop it, Slugbug, Out of State License Plates, and Twinkie (yellow school bus) sightings all warrant a punch in our family.  And if the kids aren’t near enough to punch someone, they save them up.  I had to laugh one morning when the kids flew out of the van like bats out of you-know-where, trying to avoid Kye and the Twinkie-sighting punching rights he’d gotten on the drive to school.  (He saw 17.  Truth.)

6) Eli (running excitedly into the bathroom one evening): IWANNABRUSHMYTEEF!!  IWANNA BRUSH MY TEEF!!

Lucy: Sheesh!  I’ve never seen a 2 year old so excited about personal hygiene before.

5) Baptism day for Zeeky boy.  Biggest smile I’ve seen on that kid ever.

4) Sarah (On the freeway en route to AZ, looking vainly for a place to stop and eat):  We could stop at Kelly’s Taxidermy.

Zach: Naaaaa.  That’d just make us stuffed.

3) From Isaac's 2nd grade vocab book:
Word: Affection
Meaning: to show feelings of love and caring
His sentence: My mom shows affection on Christmas.
Awesome.

2) Eli (to Zach this morning while waiting for his morning cup of almond milk): Dat’s just MESSED up.

1) Zach: Can you just sit down like normal children?!?!

Sarah: That’s an oxymoron.

Lucy (laughing): Mom just said that “normal children” is an oxymoron!

Actually, I meant “sitting children,” but if the shoe fits . . .

In other news, life seems to be accelerating the older our children get!  Zach’s travel has cut back significantly and he’s only gone 1-2 times a month.  It’s pretty much awesome having him around.  I’m at that stage of life where everything feels busy, yet I’d be hard pressed to tell you what it is I do every day.  Lucy is involved in choir, play rehearsals, piano practice and her ASL classes.  Kye has repeatedly told us just how much he loves math.  He’s recently discovered chess and started city bball as the shortest kid on his team.  (Ummm, you’re welcome for those short genes, kidJ)  Isaac loves to build, create, and serve others.  Adam keeps us laughing (and sometimes crying) with his nonstop chatter.  Eli is Eli (or, as we call him, “Schmeety.”)  And that about sums it up!  As we come to the close of the year, we want you to know how much we love you.  We are blessed to have friends and family like you.  We are also so thankful that we can remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He lives!

Love, The Bradshaws

Summer Happenings: They Say It's Your Birthday

Zach in Vietnam.  Kids at Gma and Gpa's in Idaho in preparation for Girls' Camp. Dinner out with sibs.  It was a good day.

p.s.  37 is my favorite age so far.

Summer Happenings: Girls' Camp

I loved Girls' Camp as a kid.  Having so few opportunities to be around girls who believed the same as I did made it an event to look forward to.  I met my best friend/eventual college roommate, Dorothy, at our first Stake Camp Activity when I was just 11.  And we had so much fun together.  Some of my best girls' camp  memories were also the craziest.  Like the year we camped in what must have been Tick-a-palooza, and we had to look through each others' hair every night after dinner during our stake devotionals for ticks.  We found a lot.  So many, in fact, that Mere-tick and Jen-tick rightfully earned those nicknames.  And the year we had showers with no ceiling and every time a gust of wind came through (Ummm, hello.  We lived in South Dakota.  It happened a lot.), and our shower curtains blew out, we yelled, "EXPOSED!!" and everyone else turned their backs to the showers so the shower-ers had their privacy.  And the year we had such bad thunderstorms that they brought us up to the indoor pavillion to sleep so no one got struck by lightening.  And the year we didn't really know where we were going on our overnight hike, and we ended up having to cross a river with our packs over our heads, with reeds and cattails so thick on the other side that we came out with our legs cut to shreds.  Yeah.  Good times.  (Our saintly YW leaders put up with so much to give us those experiences.  Thank you, saintly YW leaders!)

So I was excited when I was called to be an assistant Camp Leader this year.  I was especially excited because it was Lucy's first year at camp.  And I was triply excited that we got to camp at what is known as the Heber Valley Hilton.  They have cabins.  (I didn't know people used cabins for Girls' Camp until I moved to Utah.)  And although I loved camping in tents as a YW and we had fun cooking all our breakfasts and lunches over a fire, it seems that as a leader, cabins and bunk beds and running water and flushing toilets and showers with doors and gas grills are pretty much awesome.   

Very little sleep, lots of hiking and eating (our "lunch ladies" were the best ever), some amazing firesides, a spectacular testimony meeting (where I might have accidentally almost let the 4th years start our campsite on fire--apparently Heber Valley gets some pretty good gusts, too), and being with my ah-MAZ-ing Lucy made for some great memories. 

Other highlights were when the 1st years pranked the 4th years and YCLs after the infamous snipe hunt.  They got them good.  Also loved Lucy and co's Shoulder Angel skit, playing the jelly bean game, cups and the amazing race, the miracle of the garbage, and feeling the Spirit testify of truth as we had devotionals.  Good times were had by all.

Leader Cups tournament, sort of.  And hiking pictures:

 Lezlee and Lucy practicing The Shoulder Angel:

 Awesome beehives, challenge course, and late night activities:

 Lezlee, Randalee, and girls playing Cups:

Channeling our inner Katniss, and Lucy as Elli, from UP!:

 Snipe hunters, hula hoopers, and Big Booty:

  Our campsite at the Heber Valley Hilton:

Summer Happenings: July 4th

I'm pretty sure my two favorite holidays are Independence Day and Thanksgiving.  Expectations are so, so low.  You give everyone a little food and they're happy.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the other holidays, too.  There is just so much more to do for those ones.  Maybe I'm just lazy . . . 

Anyway, we spent the Fourth doing our traditional restaurant breakfast (though the kids serving the breakfast have officially outnumbered the ones being served, and as they will be quick to inform you: tips are kind of scarce with so few parents to wait on . . . ).  Afterwards, we let the kids decorate paper rockets and we had a BLAST shooting them off.  Eli could have watched them take off for hours.

After nap time, we had an awesome family dinner and headed to Dave and Lizi's place for fireworks.  Their back yard faces the BYU stadium and parking lot.  We were so close we could hear the Stadium of Fire and if you stood up on the very tip top corner of the lot, you could see what was going on on the screen.  The kids had a blast doing the zipline and downhill slip-n-slide, and we had some yummy treats to munch on.  The real show began around 10:30 with the fireworks.  Everyone loved it.  Everyone except Eli, that is.  He screamed in terror and had to be taken inside Dave and Lizi's apartment, where he practically clawed up the walls every time he heard a firework.  So it was fun for most of us, anyway. 

I doubt we'll ever have such an amazing view again, as Dave and Lizi moved shortly after.  It was awesome while it lasted, though!

Summer happenings: Miscellaneous

Brandon Mull, author of the Fablehaven and Beyonders series, came to speak at our library.  After having our names drawn to win two of his books (we gave one back to be given to another lucky winner), we got to meet him.  He signed the kids' books and inscribed "Harness the crazy!" (as requested) on the inside of Isaac's.  Aptly done.

Isaac, Kye, Brandon Mull, Lucy:

 Clearly we love to read.  There was a LOT of that this summer:

 Celebrating Father's Day with Zach, kids, gifts, and a mancake:

 Add some snow cones, and this was a typical summer night for us:

 We spent a lot, A LOT of time at the new splash pad:

 Isaac danced with a turtle:

Enjoying ice cream:

 Eli covering himself in lotion and digging for gold:

 Enjoying more ice cream at SOS Drug:

 Getting ready to run/walk/scooter the Provo Temple to Temple 5K:

 

Watching a lot of spectacular summer sunsets:

I love warm weather and green trees.  I love walks at night and viewing the sunset from our mountain.  I love bike rides in the full moon.  I love summer afternoons at the library and playing at the splash pad.  I love flip flops.  I love vacations.  I love summer.

Summer Happenings: 17 years and Counting, Baby!

I remember introducing myself in a Church meeting after we got married, "I'm Sarah.  We just moved in.  We've been married for two months (or whatever it was)."  Two months seemed so, SO long.  How did the time fly by like that?  In contrast, now I can't remember not being married to Zach, but when you're looking at eternity, 17 years seems short.

17 years equals a lot of learning, growing, laughing and crying together.  And to celebrate our 17 years together, we went to the Provo Temple and out to dinner.  After we got home, we walked down to Reams and got a movie and some celebratory ice cream.  All in all, a good, good, relaxing day!

I have learned more from this man than from any other person I have met.  Love him more than I can express.  And I love how the perspective of this picture makes my head look 1/2 the size of his.  Makes me laugh.

Summer Happenings: Coaching PreK Kickball

Lots of twirling, nose-picking, sitting, and staring off into space.  Pretty much my favorite sport to watch as a parent:

Adam in his stride:

 Made it home again:

 Coach Zach with Adamy-schmadamy:

Best tip picked up: spray the kids with a water bottle when they get hot.  They love it!

Top Ten: October 2013

Aaaaaand that's two months in a row, folks. On FIRE!

10) Isaac’s unfortunate inheritances:  My hearing and Zach’s spelling

Exhibit One—

Lucy: My canker sore is really hurting right now.

Isaac: What is a kangaroo shoulder?

Exhibit Two—As seen on his geography test:  Sowthamarkia, Eurup, Psifik, Alantik, Indin, and Astrila. 

Oh, dear. . . But 10 points if you can interpret this bad boy, also from the same test: rsikol.

9) Slugbug, Out of State License Plates, and Twinkie (yellow school bus) sightings all warrant a punch in our family.  I’ve tried to stop it but that hasn’t caught on yet.  And if the kids aren’t near enough to punch someone, they save them up.  I had to laugh one morning when the kids flew out of the van like bats out of you-know-where, trying to avoid Kye and the Twinkie-sighting punching rights he’d gotten on the drive to school.  (He saw 17.  Truth.)

8)Eli (running excitedly into the bathroom one evening): IWANNABRUSHMYTEEF!!  IWANNA BRUSH MY TEEF!!

Lucy: Sheesh!  I’ve never seen a 2 year old so excited about personal hygiene before.

7)  Sign seen on a Phoenix, AZ freeway in October: “Winter Driving Conditions: Drive with Care!”  Outside temperature noted: 86 degrees.  I know people acclimatize in AZ, but that’s just ridiculous.

6) Adam: I can’t do it!

Mom: Yes you can.  You can do hard things.

Adam: No, Kye can do hard things.

5) Adam: When we passed Burber King, I saw a mini-Twinkie there.

Dad: Oh!  Did you eat hamburbers there?

4) Eli (AKA The Amazing Rubber Boy).  That kid fell from a porch swing directly down one of our window wells with nary an injury, except the smallest of scratches.  I’m kind of surprised he didn’t just bounce right back up out of there.

3)During drug free week, we discussed our family rules about drugs, which ended up being something like, “Never, ever, EVER do them or we will cut off your hands and if you have no hands you can never eat another banana . . . and you guys all like bananas.”  That should keep them clean.

2) Most experiences with your last child have something of a nostalgic, almost bittersweet tinge to them, as you realize this is it for you.  Potty training is not one of those things.  We were struggling a bit getting Eli to do his deed on the potty. . . until we bribed him with the IPad.  I’ll be danged if that kid can’t poop at will now.  Not even kidding.  If he ends up with hemorrhoids, we can blame the IPad and its allure for 2 year olds.

1)After reading Moroni’s challenge at the end of the Book of Mormon to come unto Christ and be perfected in him, Adam thoughtfully replied, “I’m almost perfect.”

Mom: Um, what’s that sweetie?

Adam: Yeah.  I pretty much am perfect.

Practically perfect in every way—that’s my boy!

Happy 13th, Lucy!

A new phase of parenting started today . . . and we'll have teenagers for the next 18 years.

Top Ten Post . . . Or Wherein I Admit I Have Failed

I made, like, two New Year's resolutions this year.  And then I promptly broke both of them.  One was to do Top Ten (or Top Five, if needed) posts every month of the year, and the other was . . . I don't even remember.  I obviously wasn't committed from the start because I didn't even write them down. 

Fortunately, I am well past the point in my life when I get down about such things.  One of my favorite Marjorie Pay Hinckley stories came from a letter she wrote to her daughter (I think?).  She said, "I've made a goal to read one chapter out of each of the standard works every day.  I'm four days in and three days behind.  Oh well.  Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried."  Wise, wise woman.  So I don't feel the slightest bit bad that my resolutions didn't stick.  Except that we love to go back and read our Top Tens because they help tell our family story.  So it's time to get back on the saddle and try again.

Note: this Top Ten comes from months of random events.  ENJOY!  (I know we will when we come back and read it again in a year or so.)

10) Adam: What day is it?  I could order Pokemon today.
Lucy: Mmm-hmmmm.
A: I hope the mail people aren't Catholic.
L: Ummm, why?
A:  Because then my Pokemon can't come on Sunday!

9) Overheard dinner conversation:
L: If you were an ice cream topping, what would you be?  I would be cherries.
K: Hmmm.  Hot fudge.
I: Caramel.
A: I like sprinkles!
E: Chocolate.
M: I think you're all nuts!

8) M: Slinkies off your noses during prayer!
(Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd need to say...)

7) Adam: I can do it easilier.  (Trying to teach the basics of the English language to a 5 year old is confusing for both of us.  How do you explain our grammar?  It just doesn't make sense.)

6) Lucy (after watching a video of the Prophets and Apostles bearing their testimonies of Jesus Christ):  I just feel so sorry for anyone who doesn't know about Jesus.

5) What is up with the love/hate relationship of siblings?  I KNOW that's how it is.  I grew up with 8 siblings.  I really do get it.  And still, the change from loving, hugging, laughing brothers to yelling and punching each other in the face and screaming in under 2 seconds seems a little excessive.  They'll like each other when they get older, right?  Right, brothers??

4) When one is making baking powder biscuits for the first time in awhile, one should make sure that they are actually using baking powder instead of . . . say . . . baking soda.  Because otherwise one will take a bite and spit it out when one realizes just how disgusting baking soda biscuits are.  For the record.  (And it might take one an hour or so to realize just WHY the biscuits were so awful, and then it will just come to one as a bolt from the blue.  For the record.)

3) After a little coaching, I let Isaac call his Primary teacher to say thank you for the gift she brought him and left on the porch.  And this is how it went down:
I: Hi!  This message is for Sister Buhler.  This is Isaac.   Thank you for the gifts you brought me.  They are really fun.  Bye! . . . . . . . MOM!  HOW DO YOU END A MESSAGE!?!?!?
M: Just hang up the phone, Isaac.
I: Ohhhhhhhhhh.  Hahahahahahahaha--click.

I'll bet she got a kick out of that one.

2) Our carpool friend came hopping up to the car one afternoon and I asked him what happened?  Twisted ankle?  Nope.  Stubbed toe?  Nope.  Sore leg?  Nope again.  He decided he wanted to hop on one foot until his birthday the next day.  You know.  Just cause.

1) A: If Lucy died would Isaac, Kye, and I get her money?  We could split it up!
A: You'll be consequenced that...
And...
M: OK.  Do you know what you do when your alarm goes off?
A: Yeah.  I go 'cawcacaw' and everyone else in the house wakes up.

Mmmm, hmmmm.  Something like that.

That's all folks.  See you next month.  Maybe.

Amazing Summer Vacation Part Last

After our time at the Coast, we headed up to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory, ate a very windy lunch at Rockaway Beach and headed inland to spend the night at the Dahl's house in Portland.  After a lovely time, in which all of our children discovered they had much in common with their 2nd and 3rd Dahl cousins, we drove to Multnomah Falls before heading on to Twin Falls to stay with the Barlows.  Shockingly, I got no pictures at either place.  This is not indicative of how we feel about those cousins--we think they are awesome and we love them!  After a night in Twin and a fun picnic lunch at the Shoshone Falls the next day, we headed home.  It was good, GOOD to be home.

Beach selfie of me and Zach:

 Lighthouse overlook:

Pretty mucht the only family photo we managed to get on the trip:

 Picnicing at Beverly Beach, where my Fesler family camped on our West Coast trip over 20 years ago: 

 Grandma, Isaac, Adam and Lucy at the Tillamook Cheese Factory:

 One of the only pictures of Isaac I got on the trip.  He is not loved less.  He is merely in constant motion:

 Gma Tina and Lucy at Rockaway Beach:

 

 Flyaway hair:

Okay, so we got TWO family photos on the trip:

It was an awesome trip.  Except that Zach was more than a little appalled at the amount of peanut butter and jelly and spaghetti we ate.  Oops--bit of a fail there.  But at least I didn't have to chase Eli around any restaurants:)