DirtyDash

Dal had the awesome opportunity to run in the Dirty Dash 5K this weekend up at Soldier Hollow. I was so jealous. He ran with some of his work buddies. Jaiden was super excited to go up into the mountains and see his daddy run.
There were so many hilarious costumes...from our Kermits to Nacho Libre, togas, and full on suits. It was a fun sight. I really couldn't believe how many people were there. It was crazy!

Randall and Shirley were kind enough to make the trip up to watch with us. It was so much fun having them there. Dal's wave started at 11. We watched and waited for him to come down to the mud pit finish. At about 11:40 we started to wonder if we had missed them(everyone was so muddy you couldn't tell one person from another). So Shirley, Jaiden, and I started out around the park to find Dal. I think we probably walked a 10K around that place. Finally we made our way back down to where the showers were. It was about 12:30 and there they were. We totally missed them. I'm sad I didn't get any muddy pictures but to give an idea, Dal said he cannonballed into the mud pit and went completely under.

This is right after a super cold shower that gave him a brain freeze.
Jaiden had fun looking over the edge of the barriers where there was a stream. He kept telling me there were alligators down there.

The best part(to me beacuse I was starving) was hitting up the Dairy Keen after. It was train heaven for Jaiden. He had so much fun. The food was great and they had the coolest drink machines we had ever seen. It was a great Saturday! Just what we all needed. And great job to Dal for busting his buns and getting real dirty!!

Easter

This year Easter was a blast. Jaiden was so excited to hunt for eggs and get Easter baskets. He got invited to a little egg hunt and went straight for the sporty ones.

Oh, how this boy loves candy. The first egg he found was immediately opened, candy gobbled up, and shell thrown on the ground. He knows what he wants.

He loves his friends!

Aren't these the cutest kids you've ever seen?? We missed you Chance and Logan!! You both are just as cute ;)

Mimi and Papa throw one heck of an egg hunt! Jaiden loved it.

I got 2 dollars, I got 2 dollars, I got 2 dollars, hey, hey, hey, hey!!

Not only did he get dollars, he got coin monies. Oh yeah!

The Easter Bunny paid a special visit to our house too. He left a trail of jelly beans all the way from the front door up to Jaiden's bedroom.

I think the Easter Bunny brought Jaiden a little too much candy... Oops.

He was way too excited for his own good.

He loves his Peeps. He calls them his "babies."

Easter was very fun this year. But we can't forget the most important part, the Savior. It was so nice to be able to focus more on Him this month. It has helped me to always remember Him and constantly keep Him in my heart and mind. I hope you all had a Happy Easter!!

New

Remember this picture....

There have been a few new things going on at our house.

We got a new puppy, Nico. He's such a sweet baby. Jaiden loves him and has often been found calling him, "honey peanut." It's too cute.

Nico is such a good sleeper. We've had him now for about a week and he's sleeping through the night. He's been very easy and I consider us lucky. Remember that picture?? Remember that crazy hair? One of my most favorite things about my Jaiderbug... I loved seeing how crazy it got after his nap. I love how blonde and soft it was. He was very lucky to have such great hair. I was feeling slightly ambitious this morning and decided to tackle this seemingly impossible task myself. Last week his Gigi(my mom) attempted to cut his hair at her salon(it's been done before). But after Jaiden barricaded himself behind a side table I had this feeling that it would never happen. I knew his hair would just keep growing and continue to get out of control. And I knew that I would have to continue listening to my family tell me to cut it. I've never cut hair like this before. I was nervous before I turned the clippers on. But somehow I managed to get Jaiden in a happy place and he wasn't scared at all. I do have to say that I'm very impressed with myself. It turned out perfect. He sure thought he looked pretty cool. Jaiden looks so handsome to me. And so grown up. We're very blessed to have such a cute little boy.

This crazy cowlick was my number one worry. It drastically swoops from right to left. I didn't want him to look like I cut his hairline too short. It turned out pretty good.

I'm glad I did this. I love it! I love how he looks and I finally have me some peace of mind.

And to my wonderful family...

Are you guys happy now?? ;)

The Aquarium

My awesome friend Hana and I decided to make a trip to the Sandy aquarium. The boys were so excited. They tried to make a couple friends in line.
Jaiden couldn't help but try to show off. He's such a goober.

This is Hendrix. He sure is one cute kid!

This picture kills me. He definitely loves sharks!

Jaiden kept calling the lobster an "icky buggy." It was freakin' huge!

Nemo.

My super cute friend, Hana.

The penguins were so cute... but they were fast. I could hardly get a photo. We had some great fun. I should have taken more pictures but it just started getting crazy. The funniest moment of the day had to be when we went to pet the sting rays. One finally came up out of the water to us and Jaiden screamed bloody murder. It was hilarious. I tried to get him to touch it but when he's scared, he's one strong dude. We will have to go back soon.

One Big Surprise!

This has been a long time coming.

I started seriously painting my senior year of high school. I felt like I was at my very best. I studied art in college, but that only lasted a year. After that, I stopped. I felt like it was slowly disappearing from my life. Now that we are blessed enough to have more room, and room of our own, I decided to revive my passion... and fulfill a promise to my father-in-law.A very patient little boy. Jaiden sat and happily watched me nail the frame to the painting. I think the loudness scared him to sit still.

I couldn't be more happy with the 38''x45'' finished product. I feel like I never lost any of my talent despite the years of never using it. It's like I'm right back there in my 3rd period class... painting my heart out. It definitely filled an empty space in my soul, as cheesy as that sounds.

The initial reaction.

I had so much fun painting this. I loved surprising the heck out of Randall! Thanks for being such a great father, father-in-law, and Papa. We love you!!

My Little Dal

Where's Jaiden??

Oh wait, there he is!

I kept Jaiden up through his nap today on accident. We just played downstairs for hours without any concept of time. It was great, but when 4 o'clock rolled around Jaiden had had it. Dal called me downstairs to show me, what I thought was, an empty kitchen and living room. Little did I know that Jaiden fit perfectly in sleeping form on one of the kitchen chairs. He was out cold. He's just like his dad... sleepin' anywhere and everywhere. I love it!

Just Too Funny!

No, I did not put his hat on him just so I could take this picture, haha, this was all him.

Jaiden: Mom, I wan' some chippies.
Me: Dude, you look hilarious.
Jaiden: Uh huh... Mom, take picture my shoes.

At 2 years and 4 months, Jaiden is crackin' us up right and left. At the top of his ridiculously long list, he's very obsessed with baseball, his hat(obviously), trains, watching movies, and wearing his shoes 24/7. He's talking like crazy and we can understand him 99% of the time. It's so nice for him to be able to tell us what he wants or needs. He's super easy to deal with, when he's not yelling "MOM...MOM... DADDY...DAD!" 80 times in a row. We tend to get a little "mentally fried" by the end of the day. He takes his naps and goes to bed well, as long as we "leave door OPEN," and "light ON." I think he's starting to get a little scared of the dark. It's real cute. He counts from 2 to 9 pretty good, haha, he misses 1 for some reason, but we're working on it. He has a ton of new friends here in our neighborhood and loves going to church to see them in nursery. We can't believe how big and smart he is getting. We love you Jaiderbuggy!