I hope the New Year finds all of you happy and healthy. I cannot believe that the
holidays have come and gone, and that it is 2008! Yikes! Here is a few things that
kept us busy the last few months…
DEC 7
Happy Birthday Madeleine!
I can't believe she is 8!
DEC 14
Day trip to Flagstaff
We took a day trip up to Flagstaff to see Jenny graduate from NAU. Here she is with Mom and Dad. Congrats Jen!It snowed the day before we came up, so the ground, cars, trees, and houses were covered in snow. I love that weather, for about a day or two, and am upset with myself for not taking any pictures out in the snow.Brayden did so well in the car. He slept the whole way up and the whole way down!
DEC 22
Mortensen Family Christmas Party
Every year the extended Mortensen family gets together at the old Virden church for a potluck lunch and a Christmas nativity program. Since Bray had done so well on the road to Flag, I thought we'd try a little longer drive to Virden. I know nobody knows where that is, and that is because it is the smallest town known to man, but it is where my dad grew up. It was fun to get to visit with cousins and aunts and uncles that I haven't seen for a while. Of course everyone was more excited to see Bray than they were to see me, but I have learned that that is what it is like to be a mom. :)
{Brayden with my cousin Jason}
DEC 24
Happy Birthday Mike! & Merry Christmas Eve
This year Mike and Brooke are in Texas so we didn't have our traditional birthday/Christmas Eve. So we skipped the birthday part and went straight to opening presents!!!Ben, Brayden and I went to the Mortensen’s for Christmas Eve. Jenny and Faron and my mom, dad and Papi (my mom’s very spoiled dog) were there. Here are pics of us hanging out...
{Jenny & Faron}
{Grandpa Mortensen}
{Ben}
{Papi opening one of his gifts. I told you he was spoiled}
DEC 25
Merry Christmas
{Ben said he was cranky because I put him in a Santa suit.}
We got up Christmas morning and went out to the Rogers' home. Everyone showed up in their pj's!
{Kale, Brayden, Madeleine, Barrett, and Gatlin}
{Grandpa & Grandma Rogers}
{Gatlin, Kyle, Kora, and Brayden}
We all opened presents, had some breakfast, got to talk to Elder Eric whose in Kentucky, played some pool, and then we sat down to Christmas dinner.
{We missed you Matt and Michele}
After dinner Ben and I packed up the bray-ster and drove over to San Diego. Again I must say that Brayden is so good on car trips. We left after a feeding, drove to Yuma, fed him, then continued to San Diego, and fed him when we got there. What a good boy!
Somewhere between here and there I got a call on my cell from my brother Brian who is serving a mish in North Carolina (Spanish Speaking). Thank goodness I was getting reception! I loved being able to talk to him.
DEC 26 – 28
San Diego
My mom, dad and Papi, Jenny and Faron, Ben, Bray and I stayed together in a beach house in San Diego. We went to Old town, ate good Mexican food, shopped, hung out, walked on the beach... Ben, Faron and my dad got tickets and went to the Holiday Bowl (too bad ASU lost) while the girls hit the shops. (that's fair right?) I wish we could have stayed longer. It was so nice to have 5 other people to help with the baby. Other than when he slept, I don't think he ever got put down! 
{Gandpa on baby duty}
DEC 31
New Year's Eve
I love my family and our ability to throw together a party at the last minute! At 6pm I was getting ready to make dinner and called my mom to see if she and dad had eaten. Well Jen and Faron were over there getting some laundry done, so we packed up the food, took it out there and had a last minute New Year's Eve party. We had dinner together and watched a movie. I think we were all home and in bed before midnight, but we have a kid now and have a legitimate reason to get all the sleep that we can!
JAN 1
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Ben got up early and took his jeep out. (This has become one of his favorite things to do.) He was having so much fun, that although he was supposed to be home by 2pm, he was out until 5. He had some crazy story about his friend getting stuck, blah, blah, blah. :)
Brayden and I are not as brave as Ben, so went out to moms to have breakfast. She made the best sourdough French toast that I have ever had. (I love that my parents watch the food channel!)
We had every intention of climbing tater hill (a QC 1st ward tradition), but skipped it and showed up for chili at the Hale's anyway. I got to see a lot of my QC friends. Lara and her daughter Aubry, Monica and Gina and their fams, the Gordon's, the Matheson's, the Hale's, the Richardson's, the Cook's, the Whilhelm's, the Hariss', good times.
Well that brings us into 2008. And since I am such a procrastinator, half of January has passed us by… We have already been so busy this year.
I am hard at work being a mom, and going through the house and getting it Organized. {I LOVE to organize!} I also went back to work this month. (I am so lucky to have such a great mom who can watch Bray.)
Ben is workin’ hard OR hardly workin’! He is busy at work and at ASU where classes have started this week.
Brayden is busy snoozin’ the days away and bulking up. I have been blessed with such a good sleeper. Although he is only 3 months old, he is sleeping 9-10 hours at night!!! It has been so nice for me to be getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time. I am loving it!
I hope that all of you are having a great New Year!
{Brayden - 12 weeks}
