My Man

I realized that I just kind of mentioned in the last post that it was Bump's birthday on the 30th of last month and left it at that. Well, I can't just leave it at that and thought I would share a few fun pictures of the man I married and tell you a few reasons why I love him so much!

The reason that Brayden's nickname is Bump is because he was supposed to be born in February and decided to be born in November. So, when his dad saw him for the first time he said that Brayden was so small he looked like a little bump on a log. So the family started calling him Bump or Bumper and when I met him in high school that is the only name he went by. Most people didn't even know his real name.

This picture was taken when Bump was a few months old. Don't you love the hat?

This picture was taken in 1979 when Bump was about 4 years old. Isn't he just the cutest thing? His mom made that little suit for him.

Bump's best friend growing up was CJ and they spent many summers up at CJ's family's ranch in Oakley. This picture was taken there.

Bump loves and has always loved basketball. His dad played in high school and college and instilled a love of basketball in each of his boys. Too bad he was such a short kid. . . but that didn't stop him from being fast and a great shooter.
When we met in high school Bump and I were about the same height, seriously! Here is proof - I could never hold him like that now! This was our first high school dance together.
Oh, how styles have changed! This was Homecoming in 1993. I had graduated the year before and this was Bump's senior year.
Bump was called on his mission to the Colombia Bogotá Mission. He left in January 1996. While in Colombia he got Typhoid fever and some other things and got pretty sick. He ended up getting a new call to the Texas McAllen Mission and served most of his 2 years there. He was an awesome missionary!

I was able to be out on my mission at the same time as Bump and what a great way to grow closer through shared mission experiences! Bump got home on December 20th and we were engaged on Christmas, 5 days later. We were married 6 weeks later on February 6th. I thought he looked so dang handsome on our wedding day!

Bump is a huge fly fishing fanatic. When we were first married he would use any excuse to be up fishing. We spent many weekends up in the Uintahs and on other rivers throughout Utah. It is a passion of his and he has had wonderful opportunities teaching others to fly fish and seeing and living in some amazing places because of the talent that he has.

I am pretty sure that I can speak for him when I say that the greatest part of his life now and the thing that he looked forward to the most after we were married was having kids. Bump is the absolute best dad and loves spending as much time as he possibly can with me and the kids. He appreciates them like I never could. I love watching them interact together and to see the kids excitement when their dad walks through the door after work. They know how much he loves them.

He would hate that I included this picture of him, but it's just so him. This is my man. He's the guy that loves video games and goofy t-shirts and can make even the grouchiest person smile. He is patient with me and loves me even with all of my faults. He is happy and good and is such a great example. Happy Birthday, sweetie! Thanks for all the fun!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

I have been terrible about posting and now that I am finally taking the time to sit down and post I can't find my camera. . . grrrr. Oh well.

We had such a great weekend! Thanksgiving was spent this year with the Wright side of the family and we met at my brother, Lee's, house in Centerville. For pictures of the day you can look here at my sister's blog. It's always a fun and relaxing day when we get together with my brothers and sisters. We had less than half of the family there because everyone lives so far apart, but it was still fun to be with Lee and Trish, Tracy and Steve and Jared and Casi. We missed you Mom and Dad (in Washington), Jamie and Marty (in Nauvoo, IL), Dave and Julie (in California), Tera and Erick (in Germany), and Thad and Kim (in Boston [is that where you are now, Thad?] and Georgia)!

My brother, Dave and his family were supposed to come in from California, but at the very last minute their 2nd daughter had a fever. They took her in to get things checked out, just in case, and found out she had H1N1. Dang it! They couldn't come and then when we called to wish them a happy Thanksgiving we found out that Dave was also sick! Hopefully nobody else in the family gets it!

On Friday we woke up and put up our Christmas decorations! A little early? No, we do it on this day every year. When else would we find the time? We didn't get our Dicken's Village up yet, but got our tree, outside wreaths and window candles up along with all the other inside things. I will post pictures another time (when I find my camera). We had a good day and got a lot accomplished.

Saturday we woke up and got the kids dressed and ready then headed to Bump's parents house. We dropped the kids off there for the day and headed to the BYU/Utah football game in Provo. My little brother, Jared, was able to get a few extra tickets and it was so fun to have a day away from the kids cheering for our favorite team! We went down early and did some tailgating in the east parking lot of the stadium. I say we went down early, but not as early as my little brother. He was there at 7 am with a few other guys. We had some great BBQ'd bratwurst and watched some other football games with the provided tv and satellite dish. It was a bit cold, but we had a great time! Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for watching the rugrats for us!!

So, how was the game??? Well, if you are a true fan you would already know and be glad of the outcome! BYU should have won by a few touchdowns, but they decided to keep it close and exciting so they let it go into overtime before they took the win! Hooray! We were definitely on the edge of our seats through most of the game and couldn't have guessed what the outcome would be at any point. I am just glad that we came out with a victory in the end!

Sunday Quincy woke up with a fever and so Bump and I had to do a little switcheroo since I was teaching Gospel Doctrine. He was in meetings early, then conducted Priesthood and then came home. I went and got a few things from the library and taught my class then met Bump outside where he had the kids in the car so he could be there for the start of Sacrament Meeting. It worked well and it is something we have done before. Bump spent the rest of the day at the church doing tithing settlement and I had a pretty relaxing day.

Monday was Bump's 34th birthday so he took the day off and we just hung out at home. He got to relax and play some Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. It was a great ending to a fun, fun weekend!

I can dream

I haven't been anywhere like this before, but right now. . . I want to be there.

Or there. . .
Or there. . .

. . . anywhere without screaming kids, laundry, phones or responsibilities. Where the sun is shining and you have nothing to do but relax. Not to stay forever, but just to have a little break. Doesn't that sound nice?

Ancestors

This past Monday night for Family Home Evening we talked to our kids about family history and our ancestors. I got out my scrapbook and showed our kids pictures of their grandparents (who they know and love), great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents (on my side).

We had a really great discussion explaining to our kids who these people are to them, and why it's important to know about our ancestors. I also made copies of a family coloring book I made for all of my nieces and nephews for a reunion before I had kids of my own. I couldn't believe what a hit it was, especially for Gabby, who loves to color and absolutely absorbed the lesson about her ancestors.

As we were showing pictures of people, I started out with pictures of their grandparents. They thought is was fun to see old pictures of them when they were kids. When I got to their great-grandparents I showed the kids the above picture of my mom's parents who are still living and who the kids know. I wondered if they would recognize them from their wedding photo. I asked the kids if they knew who these people were.

Gabby answered just as serious as could be. . ."Adam and Eve?"

We got a good laugh at that. What a wonderful Family Home Evening!

Halloween

So, here are the pictures that I promised. First, Corban's preschool Halloween parade. Here is the group coming toward us with his teacher, Mrs. Baird leading the group.

And there is our scary skeleton, Corb. He had a perma-grin on his face the whole time! So cute.
Halloween was fun because my parents came into town and got to spend the evening with us. Well, my mom did - my dad went to the UofU football game with my brother instead (that is just so wrong in so many ways!!!) My mom came out trick-or-treating with me and the kids while Bump stayed home to give out treats. The kids had such a fun time and were so excited to have Grandma with them. Sorry I didn't get any pictures with them! Dang it.

Here are pictures from Halloween. Quincy was a penguin and stayed toasty warm (almost a little too warm with all the walking we did).

Corb the skeleton. He has asked since last Halloween if he could be a skeleton and loved putting on his costume any time he had a chance.

Gabby asked if she could be a butterfly. We created this costume for her and she loved it. She didn't want people to think she was a fairy and let everyone know that she was a "beautiful butterfly."
On Friday at work Bump and his friend, Jay, dressed up like H1N1 detectors and destroyers. (???) They had a friend crochet those pig surgical masks for them and went from there. Bump used equipment (a stud finder and flashlight) to "detect" H1N1 particles and then Jay would spray them away (with pressurized air). Bump said that not only did they go all around the office, but also went into some of the surrounding businesses and eradicated H1N1 from the whole area. They had a great time with it, like they always do!