Happy Birthday BRIAN!

Brian turned 26 today!!! He is such a wonderful Dad and an amazing Husband. He works really hard for our family and is doing really well in school. We love him so much and hope he has a wonderful birthday.

Well we forgot the camera again!. Jenny took some pictures of the kids all dressed up so hopefully we can get a copy of those soon and post them. These are the wonderful pumpkins right before they found their final resting place in our black garbage bin. The pumpkins don't last as long in the heat of AZ as they did in Utah.

The 2 must haves!!!

This hat NEVER EVER is taken off!! Brannon got this hat last Saturday and he loves it so much he even falls asleep with it on. He looks really cute in it but if it leaves his head he screams like a girl!! He also loves to call his daddy on the phone!

Sadie in sponge curlers! Remember those?

A funny conversation!

I had the following converstation with my very funny 7yr old Sadie today:

Me: Sadie would you ride your bike down to the mail box and get the mail for me?
Sadie: ahh man!!!
Me:You usually like to go get the mail. What is the problem?
Sadie: Well, you and Dad always get the win a thousand dollars and I never get them!
Me while Laughing: Oh?
Sadie: yes that's right they always leave me out! I need money too!!! It just is not fair and they are not very nice!!!!
Me: Don't worry one day they will send you the "Youv'e won" junkmail too.
Sadie: I hope it is soon, because Christmas is comming soon

The really funny thing is that it just so happened that today I did recieve one such piece of mail and when she came through the door she was waving it and said "Mom, see they sent you one again and not me!Why don't they like me!!"
I couldn't help but laugh! I have never heard anyone be upset about NOT GETTING JUNK MAIL!

MY DADDY IS 64!!!!!

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my Dad.I am very proud of him and since I can't be with him this birthday I thought I would write a little bit about him. He has always been a guiding light in my life and I love him very much! He loves my mom and has been married for 43 years! He and mom are now serving a mission in South Africa. They are public relation missionaries for our church. This means they are trying to improve the relationship between our church and the government in S. Africa as well as many other African countries. I am very proud of him and hope he has a fabulous Day!!!

In memory of Titan Clark Bradshaw

Titan Clark Bradshaw 04/15/08 - 09/03/08
Recently we traveled to St. George to attend little Titan's funeral. He was the 4th child of our dear friends Mike and Angie Bradshaw. We met the Bradshaw's while living in on campus at USU in Logan, Utah. We became such good friends with them that we consider them family.

We are so sorry for their loss of their little guy. When Titan was two months old we got to spend a few days with him. The Bradshaw's visited us here in AZ. Titan was a such a sweet heart. He loved to be held and was so cute and cuddly. We want Mike and Angie to know that we love and support them and they are in our prayers and in our thoughts continually.

Time Goes By....

WOW!!! I can't believe how fast time goes. I know I am not the best Blogger but don't give up on me! My life has been so crazy! I keep thinking it will slow down but no such luck! So here is what has been happening. I am on the PTSO Board at Sadie's school, I have a busy calling in the Relief Socety, and I am working part time from home. So on top of being Mom and Wife I guess you could say I am sooo busy!!! But I love it.

Sadie, turned 7 the middle of July and is now in second grade. She is taking piano, and she is going to start girl scouts this week. she loves to sing and dance around the house. She says that when she grows up she wants to be a rock star. She is growing up too fast, but I love to watch her learn new things. I guess it is bitter sweet sometimes as I still think she is my baby girl with curly hair and chubby little checks. However, she is getting taller and more beautiful evey day. I have been so proud of her and how hard she works at doing well in all she does. She loves her Baby Brother Brannon although he tends to get in her "stuff" and when he does I hear "MOM!!!! Bubba is getting my stuff!!!!!!!!" being screamed from her bedroom. Bubba is very fond of her and calls her "sissy" and so do Brian and I so it has become her nickname.

She is growing up so fast!!

Brannon, my little man, turned two the last day of July. He is hularious. He eats and eats and then in 15 min. he eats AGAIN!!! He loves to play chase with his puppy Duke. They chase and wrestle with each other for hours at a time. He also loves to to be tickled and he loves to funny just like his Dad! One of his favorite places to go is Nursery and has learned many songs there, including: "Two monkeys swinging in a tree", "popcorn popping on the apricot tree", two monkey's jumping on the bed", Jesus wants me for a sunbean" and many more. He loves to sing. His favorite show on TV right now is The Wiggles which he calls "wiggies". He has several nick names around here too including Bubba, mister, little man, and brother. we mostly call him Bubba. He keeps me busy and for the life of me I CAN NOT KEEP HIS SHOES ON!!! I honestly have kind of given up, it is much easier just to keep baby wipes handy and clean them off when they get dirty.

Look how strong my little man is!
He loves to mow with Dad!

No caption needed!

Brian started a new semester a couple weeks ago and is almost done!!! He graduates in May 2009! Yeah! I am really proud of him. Right now he is studing to take the LSAT again and so it is not uncomon for him to be at school 10-12 hours a day. He got offered a intership/job at the Maricopa County Attorneys office that starts in Jan., which is a real privledge not very many students get this opportunity. He still is Working for the Attorneys office in Mesa and loves every second. He is so busy but he is also so Happy!

My good lookin' hubby!!!

Me, well they about sum it up!! The PTSO Board has been a lot of work and it is starting to settle down. It was busy to organize dates and events but now it should be fun to cary them out and spend time at the school. I love having a calling in the Relief Society. I get to serve some of the most amazing women I have had the privilage to know. So life is good. We love you all miss you too! Come see us! The weather is beautiful and we have a place for you to stay!!

It is September already! Someone told me that our blog had not been updated and to tell you the truth I did not know that it was updated in August! But I thought I would make a post and see if Beth checks this more than I do :) School has become really busy and fitting the time to study for the LSAT next month, all of my homework, and everything else that fills the plate has been hard. I enjoy the challange however. BRING ON THE RAIN! Remember the only closed door is the one we don't reach for!

A doctor, or an elephant????

Brannon loves the stethoscope from the Dr. dress up set. I tried to show him how to wear it but he INSISTS on wearing it HIS WAY!! Is anyone surprised? I keep telling him he makes a good doctor but he tells me "No mom, I elephant!"

Our Summer Vacation!!!!

Well, I have to say my two weeks with the family was AWESOME! I didn't realize how much of a break I needed until I got to SLC and took a big sigh of relief. Not that there is anything wrong here in Arizona, because life is great but sometimes a break from reality is really nice. My vacation started by a trip up to Bear Lake to visit my best girl-friend Robbie.I was there Mon. Tues. and Wed. We had so much fun catching up and going to the beach. I got really burnt for the first time in 7 years. Brannon had a blast too. He loved to play in the sand and wade in the water. After I got back from Bear Lake I was able to visit with my family the rest of the week. I loved seeing my family and how all my nieces and nephews had grown. Brain flew in on Saturday and from then on it was rush rush rush to see all our family and friends. Lauren Brian's sister was married on Thursday and the wedding and reception were beautiful!! On Friday the Petersen family adventured to Idaho Falls, Idaho for a second reception with the Grooms Family. We had so much fun. We drove in a 15 passenger van with Brian's brother Ben's family and his Sisters Jill's family. We had a blast. We swam in the hotel and played games and had so much fun!!! On Sunday we drove from Idaho Falls straight to the airport and RAN to the plane. We barely made it. It was a great vacation!
The Full 15 passenger Van!


My Niece Abby Petersen, Sadie, And Brannon So NOT amused at the reception!!


Sadie and Grandma Nadine.

My Baby Girl is Growing Up!!!

Sadie Kaye turned 7 on July 14th. I still remember looking at her for the first time in total amazement . She has been such a joy in my life and I have loved being her mother every single moment.

She got a new Sunday dress for her birthday. We had a awesome birthday with a big water slide fabulous friends and of a cake!!!

Our 4th of July Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend!!! Our weekend started early on July 3rd. Brian took work off and he and I went to our first Diamond back baseball game. I had never been to a MLB game before so I was really excited. For those who haven't seen Chase Field it is truly amazing. It is inside this huge dome. They have tons of restaurants and stores that sell the team gear. They have a pool that you can sit in and watch the game from and then way at the top they have a playground for kids. It was crazy. I have never seen anything like it. The Diamond Backs won. They were down 5-0 until the bottom of the 9th and then they scored 6 runs and won the game!!!

The Next day we spent the morning just Brian the kids and me at home playing and running around with the two kids and the puppy. Then that afternoon we went to a BBQ with my Brother Brock and his family. We had a blast swimming in the pool and visiting. We also went with them to see the fireworks, the wind was out of control so the fireworks were cut short but we still enjoyed spending some time together.

The next morning, our friends Sara and Aaron Pratt asked us to go to the lake with them and spend the day boating. We were so excited!! Sadie has been boating before and so she acted like a natural swimming and tubing, Brannon on the other hand loved the boat and didn't mind the life jacket but when it came time for the water he absolutely HATED IT! We all had a blast and the kids were so tired that they were asleep as soon as we put the care into drive to head home. You'll notice I only have pictures of the lake well that is because Sara was nice enough to send me some because just like the rest of the weekend I forgot the camera!!!

This is Sadie and Sara and Aaron's son Noah tubing

Sadie and Noah tubing some more!!!!

As long as bu-ba was not near the water he was so happy just watching everyone and eat some goldfish!!!

On Sunday we went to church and then just relaxed. We hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful 4th of July with your families. We miss you all and can't wait to come to SLC next month!

The update at the Petersen Home

Hello All,

I haven't been blogging lately because it has been a little crazy here in Gilbert Arizona. We feel like the past week has finally been somewhat normal. Sadie came home after visiting family for 4 weeks in Wyoming, Brian finally took the LSAT and I never want to hear the words KAPLIN ever, ever, EVER AGAIN! Really it wasn't that bad, we are still waiting on the score. But we will know the second it is posted because I really think Brian checks 3 or 4 times a day to see if they posted his score. He says he only checks once but I am having a hard time believing that! LOL:) Brannon is getting really tall and he talks all day long. He loves to talk and talk and talk and I usually catch about every 4th word. His new words are Happy Birthday and NO, okay well no isn't that new but it is the word I hear the most:) He will be two next month, I can hardly believe it. Sadie is growing taller and more beautiful everyday. She loves to sing, dance and play with her brother and dog Duke. She is a lot of help around the house and she always helps with her little brother. She will be 7 next month. I definitely can't believe that. I just turned 26 this last week and I had a really good birthday, Brian spoiled me and I loved every second of it. I have the best husband!!

Today we were doing some yard work and the kids were playing and they were having so much fun so I took some pictures.

Our Update

Hello All,

I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted, so here is my renewed effort to keep up this blog.

Sadie is doing great. She is playing soccor now and they have a game every saturday. Last week she was playing a group of boys that were a little rough. When she backed down to one of them I pulled her aside at half time and said "Sadie, just cause they are boys doesn't mean that you can't go after the ball. Be tough and go get it!" With renewed self esteem she did just that and as she went to get the ball from a boy on the other team they collided and Sadie came out with a black eye. I should have taken this picture earlier it was very black and puffy, it is starting to heal now but you can still see the damage! She took the hit like a champ! She is also playing the piano and dispite a few tough weeks she wants to stick with it.

Brannon is aproaching two. He is busy, busy busy! He learned a new word today, School. It sounds more like "scoooo" but I was excited, I even caught it on tape.

He is a fun boy!

I was taking some pictures for Grandma Kaye this morning so she could see how much he has grown and this is what happened.

1st picture:

2nd picture: notice he couldn't take his hair combed from one more second!

3rd picture:

4th picture:

5th picture:

I guess this one means "I'M DONE!!!!!!!"

All in all, things are good here in Gilbert, AZ. We are having beautiful weather and as the school year comes to an end once again Brian and I feel totally blessed! Brian will graduate in May of 2009 with his Bachelors Degree and then on to law school. We don't know where but we are excited. Sarting May 5 Brian will dissapear to study for his LSAT exam and reapear June 17th the day after he takes his LSAT test. So life is busy and we love it that way!!!

Easter Weekend

Well, Easter turned out to be awesome! Brian's Brother Ben, his wife Wendy, their kids Abby and Morgan, and Wendy's sister Kaye came from Utah to see us. We had a BLAST!!! We went to the Easter pageant on the Mesa Temple grounds the first night they came.

My cousins Jermey, his wife Reanna, and their kids Sierra, James, Athena, Joel and our friend Stacy came too. Needless to say we had a big crowd and lots of fun! After the show some of the kids got to have there picture taken with the man who portrays Jesus.

The next day we went to the Pheonix Zoo! It is a huge zoo and I have only been there once , I didn't know my way around so we only got to see a few animals, but the kids had a great time.

I forgot to take pictures at the zoo. Oh, well.

Then on Easter Morning we had a big easter egg hunt with the kids.

We had a great weekend!!

Sadie's 1st grade program

Sadie lost her first tooth!!!!

Sadie was so excited today when she woke up and saw that the tooth fairy had visited!

"Proud To Be An American!"

Sadie did her first school program last week. She was so excited. She got to sing a song about the liberty bell. Since I didn't catch it on video during the program she did it for me at home. It is so cute! She is becoming a great singer and she loved to perform with her classmates!

These are the pictures from the night of her program.

My Nephew Got Baptised!

My nephew Joshua Jackson got baptised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on March 1st, 2008. Brian, the Kids and I made him a video but for the life of me I can not get it to post on this website. I think the file is too big, so Sadie made a little video to say CONGRATULATIONS!

Josh, we are so proud of you. We wish we could have been there. I am sure it was great. You will have to tell us all about it and send us some pictures. We think it is awesome that you chose to become a member of the Church. If you live by the teachings of the gospel you will have a happy life. You are a great person and when you smile so does everyone around you. You are a good big brother and you are a good son to you mom and dad. We love you and can't wait to here all about your special DAY!