Rob's Doghouse And Puppies

This is a picture of the doghouse Rob built. Its big and cozy. We needed a good doghouse. It is cold here and we knew that our dog would be having puppies. It is insulated and we have a heat lamp for when it is extremely cold. We have a themometer hanging inside so we always know what the temperature is. The roof is slanted so the snow and rain will run off, and it is also has hinges so we can lift the roof up for easy access and to clean it. So far it works great and our dog loves it. It stays about 70 or 80 degress inside. She had her puppies and they are now 10 days old. They are staying nice and warm. They are very cute. They should be opening their eyes anytime now. Puppies are fun and cute. Its just too bad they can't stay puppy cute forever.

Glasses for Robby

Robby now has a new look. We found out last month that he needed glasses. When they were in preschool in Delta they had a vision screening at the school. They actually took pictures of their eyes instead of just covering one side at a time. We got a letter later stating that Ryder and Ranger had passed but that Robby had failed. His eyes have a little different shape than they should. So we took him into the eye doctor and they confirmed that he did need glasses. He has been wearing them for a few weeks now. He does pretty well with them. The adjustment wasn't too bad. I am grateful we found out early before kindergarten. I would hate to see him go to school and struggle because he can't see well enough. And according to him...his glasses are the coolest because they have Spongebob on the inside of the frames and little bubbles.

Made Me Laugh

My day always begins with starting the laundry except on Sunday. I headed into the laundry room Monday morning to find this note on top of the washer along with Railey's pillow.(Her pillow that is shaped like a flip flop)

I got a pretty good laugh out of it. So I fixed her pillow and then I began to wonder why she would have such a big pile of laundry. All of the laundry was done as of Saturday. So I sorted through her hamper and there were a lot of clothes in it. Just not any clothes I recall her wearing. Just clothes she had pulled out and then decided not to wear but instead of hanging them back up they got tossed in the hamper. Sound familiar to anyone else????? I just thought it was funny she would write a note and the way it was written gave us a good chuckle. I showed her each article of clothing later and asked her if she wore it and she just smiled, rolled her eyes and said "oh..sorry." So I asked her if she could get the putting clean clothes in the hamper problem solved and she laughed. OHHH...what a funny girl.

Halloween 2010

The kids were all super heroes for Halloween this year. I had intended to get creative and make costumes this year but that didn't happen. The timing of the move just made things too crazy and I just didn't have enough time.
We found out about our new ward just in time to go to the trunk or treat. So we ended up going to our wards party and we didn't knock on doors for trick or treating. It was great. By the time they made it around the circle of cars they had more than enough candy. We were home by 7. They had a good time and we were able to meet a few of the ward members.
Railey-Wonderwoman, Robby-Superman, Ryder-Spiderman, Ranger-Batman

Saying Goodbye to Oak City

We have lived in Oak City, Utah for the last 4 years. They have been a really great 4 years. We moved there shorty after Railey's 4th Birthday, and the boys were just little babies. It's hard to believe how fast the time went. Railey is now 8 and the boys are almost 5. It was a great home for us. We truly loved our time there. We met so many wonderful people which we will never forget. We will really miss Oak City and everyone there. We made a lot of really good friends. We will definitely have to go back to visit. Railey is already planning a trip back in the summer for the annual "Oak City Days"
Rob took a job working for Savage Trucking back in August so we relocated to Vernal. We spent the last couple of weeks moving. We are now settling in and adjusting to our new life. I think we will like it here. Railey already really likes her new school. She is making friends and adjusting well. We were worried about how she would do. She cried for a good part of the trip when we left Oak City for the last time. The boys are excited. They think its just one big adventure. We hope Vernal will be a great home for us.
This was our home for the last few years. We will miss it and the gigantic yard.

Happy Birthday Rob!!

Rob Celebrated his birthday this week on the 25th. His birthday is special because it was also his dad's birthday. We just hung out at home and had cake and ice cream. He was lucky enough to have the day off. These are a few pictures of him over the years. We love him very much and we are so grateful for all he does for our family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! WE LOVE YOU!!!
This was from one of his trips to Africa.

Back to School

School started again this week. Railey is in the 3rd grade this year. Mrs. Delna Bliss is her teacher. She started back on Wednesday. She was happy to go back. She really likes her teacher. She came home so excited about her new class, and she was happy to see her friends from school. I am so glad she enjoys school. I can only hope that continues.
The boys started preschool this year. I can't believe my babies are old enough to go to school. They were so excited they could hardly stand it. They were excited to ride the bus. All 4 kids get on the same bus at 7:30. And I thought that getting everyone ready for church by 9:00 was hard. Guess that will be easy now. As soon as the bus came to a stop at our bus stop, the boys just took off and got on. They didn't even hardly tell me goodbye. I thought I would melt and cry when they left but I DID NOT CRY!! They think they are so grown up now. I told them I would follow the bus the first day to make sure they made it and then I could walk them to their classrooms. When we got to the classrooms they headed right in and started playing. So I left and had a few hours to myself. A FEW HOURS TO MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was really strange and quiet. But I don't think it will take me long to get used to. The preschool/kindergarten bus drops them off right in front of our house so I don't even have to go to the bus stop. They had a great day and are very happy to be big school boys. They LOVE that they each have their own backpack. They had all kinds of things to tell me about their day. It was really cute. Our babies are growing up!!

Railey's first day of 3rd Grade

The boys in front of the bus after school

Ranger

Ryder

Robby

Hummimgbird

We have had a lot of fun watching the hummingbirds this summer. We put a feeder out on the deck next to the sliding glass door. They come in and drink all day long. My kids get excited every time. We sit in the kitchen or out on the swing on the deck and just watch them and listen to them hum as they fly by.

Our Garden of 2010

Our garden this year is doing great. We planted a few weeks later this year because the weather was so crazy this spring but things are really going nuts now. We planted cantaloupe, pumpkins, watermelons, carrots, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, tons of tomatoes, crookneck, zucchini, cucumbers, cherry and grape tomatoes, honeydew melons, and a ton of green beans. We also planted giant mammoth sunflowers. Some of them are about 8 ft. tall and just starting to open. The kids have had a lot of fun watching them get so big. We have a few pumpkins but one of them is around 50 lbs already. The green beans have gone crazy. Rob now calls me beaner. This last week I picked 2 overflowing 5 gallon buckets full. I've been picking them about once a week. So far I have bottled around 70 quarts. Guess its a good thing I love green beans. My tomato plants are loaded and are now starting to ripen. All my peppers have done awesome. I can't believe the amount each plant can hold. I picked a 5 gallon bucket of bell peppers yesterday. I have already put a lot in the freezer so I gave all of them away. We have been very blessed with our garden this year. I guess all that praying we did for it must have worked. Its nice to see all the time and work we have put into it pay off. And its a lot prettier to look at than all the weeds and stuff that was back there before.

Railey's Baptism

Railey was baptized this last Saturday. It was a great day. She has been excited to be baptized for a long time. She was baptized in the church in Leamington about a 10 minute drive away because our church here in Oak City does not have a font. The baptism was at 11:00. Grandpa (Jerry) said the opening prayer, I gave a spotlight, Grandma (Kaye) gave a talk and Rob baptized and confirmed her. Her primary teacher (John Kapler) said the closing prayer. She chose the songs "When Jesus Christ was baptized" and "When I am baptized" for her music. It was simple yet very nice. Afterwards we went back to our house and had a dinner (menu of Railey's choice.) Marinaded grilled chicken, dutch oven potatoes, corn on the cob and rolls. It was yummy. Railey couldn't wait to eat "dutch" potatoes. That is what she calls them. And we have Grandpa to thank for cooking them for us. For dessert there was apple pie and ice cream or ice cream cones. It was great day. In sacrament meeting on Sunday she was called up on the stand and they presented her with her certificate and a triple combination. Then in primary they did a spotlight on her. She felt pretty special. She looked so pretty in her white dress and the white flower Grandma gave her in her hair. It's hard to see her grow up so fast but its wonderful to see her make good choices. We are so proud of her and love her so much.

Happy Birthday Railey!!

Railey celebrated her 8th birthday on August 4th. It's hard to believe she is 8. She had a little party with a few friends. She got to have 2 cakes. One for the party and then another for the family. She got a new bike and helmet from mom and dad. She was pretty excited. This bike has gears which she thought was awesome and now she loves it because she can ride with us and keep up. Her and Rob have been going for bike rides in the evenings. This bike should last her a few years. She got a lot of nice cards in the mail from different family and friends, along with some money which she quickly decided what to spend it on. All in all she had a good birthday.

Ryder Teaches Himself

Ryder taught himself how to ride a bike without training wheels. He went outside and stole Ranger's bike and just started riding. The kids came in one day from outside and said "Mom! Ryder is riding Ranger's bike all by himself." So I go look and sure enough he was riding all over the place. He came up to me and said, "I'm so cool cause I teached myself." He was pretty proud of himself. So we took the training wheels off his bike too. I have to admit though, they are a little scary. They act as if they have been riding forever. Now they try to pop wheelies and come skidding to a stop. Crazy boys!! I only wonder how many ER visits we have in our future.

Rodeo

Our kids have never been to a rodeo before, so we decided to take them to the one in Hinckley they have every year. They had a pretty good time other than it was really long and pretty slow moving so they were ready to go home by the end. I'm glad it's only a 15 minute drive to Hinckley from our house. We put all their names in for the drawing for muttin bustin. Railey and Ryder were drawn out so they got to ride the sheep. They did awesome. Railey stayed on for a long time. She didn't fall off until he pretty much ran into the fence and knocked her off. I think there was only one other kid that stayed on longer than she did. She was pretty proud of herself. Ryder stayed on longer than we expected too. I think he could have stayed on longer if his little legs and arms weren't so short. Robby and Ranger wanted to go too but did pretty good with understanding that it was a drawing and some kids get to and some don't. And it helped that all the kids got to go down and chase the calves that had money stuck to them. Of course they didn't get any but they did get a sucker for trying from the Rodeo queen and they were happy with that.
These pictures are not the greatest. I was sitting clear across the arena from them.
Railey getting on the sheep and ready to ride.

Railey walking back after she fell off.

Ryder waiting his turn.

Ryder getting on and ready to ride.

Summer Fun

Just chillin' and eating otter pops. Not too often do we see all 4 of them this close and nobody is bothering anybody else. Love the moments like these!

Another way the boys like play with the pool. They love to race their trucks down the slide and see them land in the water and make a splash.

And He's Off

Ranger has been asking us for months when we were going to take his training wheels off so he could ride like Railey. We kept putting it off thinking he wasn't ready but he kept at us so we took them off this week and within just a few minutes he was riding on his own. He is still a little wobbly but he is doing great. I can't believe it. Way to go Ranger!! I guess that just shows us that each kid does things when they are ready.

Bradford Family Reunion

Last week we had our Bradford Family Reunion. We headed to Blanding on Wednesday. On Thursday we all went up to the mountain and we camped until Saturday. We had tons of fun. It was really great to see and spend time with family. The kids were excited to sleep in the tent and be able to run wild for a few days. We did lots of fun things. My sister Keri made a quilt top for each family and we decorated them while we were there. And then everyone in the whole family signed each quilt. We were able to tie and bind a few before we came home so now we have a new quilt and the kids think it is so neat. We also decorated t-shirts one day. Thanks to my sister-in-law Kayela who brought her cricut and spent hours cutting everything that everyone wanted. They turned out really great. There was a pinata one day and the kids were in heaven with all the candy they got. We had excellent food at every meal. One of my personal favorites was the potatoes. You can't beat my dad's dutch oven potatoes. They are so yummy. And mom's homemade rootbeer is incredible. Nobody makes it like she does. It was a wonderful weekend that just went by too fast. I think I am very lucky to have the family I have. They really are the best.
Ranger and my nephew Trey

My nephew Riley decided to climb clear up a huge tree. Crazy kid.

Our quilt top

Some of the nephews playing horseshoes.

The neices and Railey

My Awesome Parents

Everyone gathering candy after the pinata broke

Rise and Shine Sleepy heads