Thanksgiving, Braxton's Birthday '09

Its amazing to me how fast the holidays come each year. As soon as October hits, Halloween is here, then you barely have time to get ready for Thanksgiving before it comes and goes, and then you blink and its Christmas! I wish this time of year could just slow down a bit so we could actually enjoy every minute of that beautiful feeling that surrounds this time of year. Its sad that it goes by so fast.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had it at my parents house, of course, and the food was divine. I love spending time with my fam and just sitting around and talking and relaxing. It was ESPECIALLY NICE this year to only have to drive a few minutes to get to my parents, and then be able to actually come home to put the kids down for naps in the afternoon. Living 45 min away the past couple years has made for long holidays and late nights anytime we came into town. I LOVE our new home! :) Later in the evening we met the Nobles at a big field near my aunt's house and played games and ate pie and just enjoyed being together. The weather was beautiful, too, so it was nice being outside and enjoying that while we can. Braxton loved being able to just run around and kick balls all night.

Me and Bella, Thanksgiving night, enjoying the nice cool breeze outside while watching the guys and kids play flag football

For Braxton's birthday, we took him to the zoo. He has been there before, but its been awhile and he was so excited to go see all the animals. I think he might have even had more fun just chasing all the birds around on the ground and trying to make them fly away. He wouldn't sit in a stroller the whole time we were there and insisted on running everywhere we went. Where does this kid get his energy?!?! I had so much fun just watching him enjoy himself, though. It made me happy to see him so happy and carefree.

On the bridge before going into the zoo

Anytime he saw water, he HAD to stop and find a rock to throw in it

I think the monkey kingdom was his favorite cause they were so close and almost in your face. He threw a fit when we left. (The only time the whole time we were there...a miracle!)

Waiting to ride the carasoul...this was his other favorite part of the day. He wouldn't stop smiling the whole time he was on it.

You gotta love this face....

Cake and present time! I said "say cheese" and he would say it but not smile, so I said "show me your teeth!" to try and get him to smile. This is what I got. :)

Happy Birthday my son! I love you like chocolate fudge cake loves milk!!

Halloween '09

So I know this is a little late, but better late than never, right? Halloween this year was so much fun now that Brax is old enough to actually kinda know what is going on. He loved wearing his pirate outfit, but the silly goose wouldn't wear the cool hat that went with it. Ironic, since the kid puts everything he can find on his head, but of course he wouldn't wear a hat when he was actually supposed to. I snapped one picture just before he ripped it off again!

My handsome little boy. He didn't quite get the whole concept of "trick-or-treating"...he would knock on the door then try to walk into every house when they opened the door. He was confused every time until he got the candy then he happily left and went on his way. It was fun watching him and seeing how he reacted to everything. Here he is dancing around in his costume before we left to trick-or-treat.

Bella, my little pumpkin. She was so adorable, and such a good girl. I put her in the baby carrier and she was just a happy little baby all night long. She is so sweet.

My brother and his wife just love Halloween and go all out every year with decorating their yard and making it fun for trick-or-treaters. They always have the coolest outfits, too. We went over there after some trick-or-treating to watch them scare all the people that came by and just hang out for awhile.

My sister-in-law, the classic witch

Matching cousins! Bella and her cousin Audin, who is just a few months older, both were little pumpkins. We had to get a pic, of course.

Here is their spooky graveyard. My little bro Joe dressed up as a freaky scarecrow and pretended to be a stuffed doll until the people came by...He got some pretty good screams out of alot of them.

FREAKY

My bro, the werewolf. He always has the coolest masks and outfits.

I can't wait for next year. I just love watching my children grow and enjoying all these new experiences. Happy Holidays!

Bear Flats Camping Trip

My Speakman family all took a trip to Bear Flats and camped out for a couple days together. This was the first time we have all been camping together since us kids started getting married, so it was fun to be able to all be up there and spend some quality family time together. The weather was a little warmer than we would have liked until night came, then of course it was FREEZING. Luckily I came prepared and pulled out the piles of blankets so the kiddos could stay warm. It was nice and relaxing and we all had a good time. The highlight was probably the Quads that we rented to have up there, minus the small accident Shaliah had on one of them.

Here is pics of random family members just chillaxin'...


You can't see this pic very well but Johnathan of course had to show off his manly prowess and climbed up this insanely high rock and was doing Tarzan calls. He cracks me up. If you look closely he is right in the middle of the pic posing for the camera...

Jaron, cooling off in the cold river. Thats one way to do it I guess.

My little man, enjoying the random hats he would find and put on. I think his favorite part about the quad rides was that he got to wear a helmet the whole time! Silly boy.

My beautiful Bella

Dad Speakman, enjoying being in nature and letting out the good ol' cowboy stored up inside.

Mom and Bella

Father and Son. Dont you just love all the smiles B-rax was giving the camera on this trip? He was like anti-smile anytime a camera came around him.

Bouncy B-rax

My sister watched some of our nieces and nephews while their parents were out of town last weekend, so we took all the kids to one of those cool bounce house party places to let them play for awhile. Sadly, the age limit was 14, or me and my sis would have been all over that right along with the kiddos, but alas we had to stand and watch them have all the fun. There were at least 8 different bouncy balloon obstacle course thingies and they all looked like a blast. Braxton was terrified at first and just had fun running around the arena, but I forced him to go down some with Shaliah and then he of course loved it and didn't want to stop. They all had so much fun. I was jealous!

Braxton and Bella

Its so weird, but cool, to see your little babies turn into little people. Braxton is talking up a storm all the time now, and although I don't always understand everything he says, HE knows what he is saying and its so fun listening to him. Its also amazing to see how much he understands and takes in. He already knows some letters and numbers and is starting to learn the colors. His favorite is blue, of course. Everything is "Bwoo!" He is my little man and turning into a big helper. Of course its not always roses, as he is getting into the "Terrific twos!" as my mom calls them. He is going through his kicking and hitting phase and starting to bite when he gets mad at me. Hopefully it will end soon. He is a sweet kid though and I will do anything to get this kid to smile and laugh at me. I love to hear him laugh. Pure joy.

He here he being his silly self and trying to see how many things he can bump into with a garbage can over his head. Luckily he has a hard head, as he hit pretty much everything in the room, including the dogs.



My beautiful baby girl makes my heart sing. She smiles all day and loves to be loved. She is definitely a mamma's girl, and is usually pretty content as long as she is in my arms. She has been dealing with a little bit of acid reflux and its so hard to see her unhappy and in pain and not be able to do anything about it. I can't wait for it to be over so she can be my smily baby again. I love kissing her fluffy cheeks and hearing her babble on. She is my little princess.

This is the first time she wore the outfit "Aunt Heidi" made for her. Its my favorite outfit she has right now. Thanks Heidi B!


Just a random pic of me and my sisters (and baby girl) during one of the general conference sessions. We were doing backrubs. Gotta love conference!

New York '09

Walking to the Lake on Sunday afternoon. Beautiful, but the mosquitos were a killer. We let Braxton walk, too, and that was a mistake. Poor kid was exhausted, though it wasn't that far from my mother-in-laws house.

We took a family trip up the mountain that my mother-in-law lives on and went up to the rim. It was gorgeous, and the weather was just perfect and the air nice and fresh and crisp. It got me excited for Autumn, whenever it decides to show up here in AZ! Braxton of course HAD to push the stroller rather than ride in it. He is obsessed with anything that has wheels and INSISTS on pushing or pulling it himself. Try to help him, and all you-know-what breaks loose! (This makes it extremely difficult to go grocery shopping, as if it wasn't hard enough with two kids!)

Standing on top of the mountain overlooking the river...

Baby Bella, chillin' in her car seat. One of the few times she was semi-happy while being forced to sit in it during the car rides!

The Thursday and Friday we were there we took a trip down to Boston to spend some time with one of Justin's old mission buddies and good friend, Brad. We ate at good restaurants, rode some fun trains, played at the park, went to the huge Aquarium, and just hung out with Brad for awhile. It was fun being back where Justin served his mission and seeing some of the places he served. THanks again Brad for letting us bombard your bachelor pad and putting up with our two kids. Your awesome!

The weather, again, was gorgeous but a bit chilly. Had to actually break out the sweater some of the time we were there. Loved it!

B-rax's first time riding a carousel! This was probably one of the highlights of the whole trip for him. He loved it and screamed when we had to leave. Poor kid. With $3 a ride, though, we couldn't endulge him as much as he would have liked. It was fun watching him enjoy it for awhile though.

At the Aquarium!

This Sea Turtle was H-U-G-E!!! She was the biggest animal in the tank...even bigger than the sharks in there! That is one giant mamma!

He loves his fishies!!

Me and my boy! (Sorry Bella, your head got cut off! )

Daddy and Son