Turkey Hunt for Railey

Railey drew a turkey tag this year. She was so excited. Rob took her out several times. Each time they went out they saw turkeys. She actually was able to get a great shot on a good Tom but she was a little off. She peppered it but it was able to fly away. She ended up not filling her tag but she was ok with that because they had a great time and saw a lot of turkeys. She is ready to try again when she is able to draw again. I don't have any pictures because both her and Rob forgot to take pictures every time they went out.

Volleyball Season

Railey played volleyball again this year. She has really grown to like it. She had a fun team and she loved her coach. Her coach also lives in Oak City and we know her well so she was happy to be on her team. She is much more comfortable around people she already knows. It is neat to see how much the girls have grown and to see how much they have progressed from last year. They won some and they lost some but they had a great season. She is already excited for next season. I was never able to get good, clear pictures so this is one of the better ones. She has a great serve and has learned to control it.

Wrestling Season

The town of Delta is all about wrestling. The little league wrestling is crazy. There are so many kids that wrestle. There are usually 4 teams with about 25 kids on each team. The boys decided they wanted to wrestle again this year. We started in January and ended with the tournament on February 20th. Ryder was gone on his trip for most of the season but he made it back the day of the tournament so we threw him in and he wrestled. He ended up fourth in his weight class. Robby made it through most of the season but struggled this winter with coughing because of his asthma. He ended up coughing so hard one night at practice that he threw up all over the mat. He can't run as much as the other kids or he starts coughing. He was so embarrassed that he said he didn't want to wrestle anymore. So he was done about a week before it was over. I have always thought he didn't really enjoy it but did it anyway because all of his friends from school are there. So for him it was social hour. He never cared if he won or not. He still says he isn't going to wrestle anymore. Ranger is our tough man. He loves wrestling and he is strong. He loves learning the moves and trying to use them in his matches. He did great in all his matches. He ended up taking first in his weight class again this year. He was pretty excited to be the Champion two years in a row. These are a few pictures of Ranger and Ryder and then of their team.

Ranger's Trip with Dad

Ranger is the one out of the boys that likes staying close to home. We were concerned about how far we should let him go so we decided to have him start his first show by doing the Salt Lake City show to see how things would be before we sent him off on a show farther away. He still got to miss a couple days of school. He had a lot of fun staying in the Hotel and going out to eat. He was excited he got to go to Sizzler one night. He was happy about going to Salt Lake. At the show there was a rock climbing wall and he wanted to try it. Not only did he try it but he got clear to the top a few times. He thought he was King of the World. The booth next to ours was a Lady who was selling these things you stand on and they shake you and vibrate and are supposed to help with back pain. Well, she took a liking to Ranger and told him he could stand on them whenever he wanted. He spent a couple days standing on these things and being shaken. He thought it was so fun. To him it was like a ride at a theme park. Our booth was also close to the Dock Dogs. He spent a lot of time watching the dogs jump off the dock and into the water to retrieve. He thought that was awesome. I can't find any other pictures of that show except of him climbing the wall so here they are.

Ryder's Cross Country Trip

Ryder's trip with Rob turned out to be an extended vacation. They left on January 22nd and did not come home until February 20th. Originally we thought they would be gone about 3 weeks. We met with his teacher and the principal before we decided to let him go that long. The principal thought it was a great idea. His teacher made a packet of work for each day that he would miss and then he was supposed to read everyday and work on spelling word lists. They had a show in Kansas first and then they had a 10 day show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. While they were in Harrisburg they found another show in Philadelphia right after the Harrisburg show ended so the trip ended up being a week longer than planned. Luckily we set up Skype accounts before we started tradeshow season so we were able to still see each other and video chat each night before all the kids went to bed. It makes it a lot easier being able to see them when they are gone for so long. Ryder loved every minute of the trip other than he got a little car sick while traveling. He is a natural little salesman. At the first show there was a lady that had a face painting booth and she painted his face each day for advertising. He got to hold a falcon at one show and they went Chocolate World when they had a couple days in between shows. They passed through many different states while traveling. He thinks its neat that he has been to more place than his mom. He says he is ready to go again next year.

Robby's Trip to Montana

This last winter Rob decided that he wanted to take each of the boys on a trip to one of the tradeshows he does during the winter. The boys couldn't have been more excited. They love the one on one time they get. None of our kids have spent much time staying in hotels so that alone is exciting for them. Not to mention getting to go to restaurants to eat and getting to see new places. And they were each going to get to miss some school. Robby got the first turn and he went to Montana. He had so much fun. His trip was the second week in January. He got to see some cool wildlife at the show. They saw a moose while they were driving and they stopped at the temple in Idaho Falls and went to the visitors center. When he came home he kept telling us how beautiful Montana is. He is still talking about when he went to Montana. He loved it.

Short Hair for Railey

Back this last fall, Railey was certain she wanted to cut her hair and have it kind of short. We talked about it a lot and she decided to go ahead and do it. So we cut it into a slight A-line, and layered up the back. It was so cute. She could still let it go curly and it was super cute or she could blow it out straight too. She decided not too long after that she didn't like it. She hated having to straighten it but she hated how short it was curly. So anyway, I have heard nothing but grief about it since we did it. She gets mad at me everyday when she does her hair and tells me how much she hates her hair short. According to her, it is all my fault because I let her cut it. I will never be so happy as when her hair gets long again. I forgot to take pictures right after we cut it so these pictures aren't that great but you can kind of see how it is.

Pinewood Derby

Since the boys are now 8 years old they have been going to Cub Scouts. They were so excited to start because Railey had been going to Activity Days for the last 4 years and they thought it wasn't fair. I kept telling them that she didn't get to go until she was 8 and that when they turned 8 they would start. So when they FINALLY turned 8, (according to them it took forever), they were more than ready. They had only been going about a month when they had their first Pinewood Derby. They were so into making their cars. They had so much fun racing them. Ryder ended up taking First Place and Robby took 3rd. Ranger didn't place but he was fine with that because he thought he had the coolest looking car. His was a Batman car. Ryder did a green car he called the "Green Machine" and Robby did a Superman Car. They made little stands to display them on one day in scouts so now they have them on display in their bedroom.

Boys Baptism

The boys were baptized on December 28th, 2013. We decided to have the baptism over Christmas break. It was such a wonderful day. We had many dear friends and family that came to be with us for this special occasion. Many of them had to travel quite a distance to be there. We filled the room. We are so grateful for such good friends and family that support us and our children. We are very blessed. The baptism was held at the chapel in Leamington, Utah at 11:00. Our neighbor and friend Ellen Allred played the piano, Aunt Keri Gappmayer lead the music. Brother Jacob Nielson of our Bishopric conducted the meeting. The opening song was "When Jesus Christ was Baptized." Grandpa Jerry Bradford gave the opening prayer. Then Railey gave a spotlight on the boys. Grandma Kaye Bradford gave a talk on Baptism and the Holy Ghost. Then they were Baptized and confirmed by Rob. Brother Jacob Nielson made some remarks and then we sang the closing song which was "When I am Baptized". Some of the lyrics to this song are "I like to look for rainbows, whenever there is rain." That is the reason we have rainbows on the cakes. Then Steve Allred gave the closing prayer. It was such a neat experience to see the boys all dressed in white and sitting there together. They looked like little angels. The spirit was strong and I was overcome with emotion. I like to think that maybe Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs were watching that day as well. After the baptism, we went back to Oak City to our Chapel and had a luncheon. It was a lot of fun to visit with all those that came. The entire day went well. I hope they always remember the spirit that was at their baptism and remember what a special day it was.

Christmas 2013

We had a good Christmas. It was fun to have such a little one again that was into tearing the paper. We didn't get pictures of kids opening stuff this year. I don't know how we managed to do that. Our little town always has a program at the Town Hall on Christmas Eve and then after the program, Santa comes and the kids get to sit on his lap. The boys all sat on Santa's lap but Railey wouldn't. She is too old now. Rob kept Rexton at home because he had been teething and had been pretty grumpy. We had a fun Christmas day and we had a nice Christmas dinner. I took down the tree and all the decorations on Christmas day while the kids were playing with all their stuff. We knew we had a lot of people coming for the boys baptism in just a couple of days so I figured I might as well clean up the house and get ready.

Triplets 8th Birthday

The triplets turned 8 years old on December 16, 2013. We had cake and ice cream and presents. We didn't have a big party because we knew that their baptism was only a couple weeks away and we had a big TO DO planned for that. They got some fun presents but their favorite was their new .22 rifles. They got BB Guns a few years ago for Christmas but this was their very first .22. They were thrilled. It's hard to believe how fast the last 8 years have gone. We are so happy they are our boys. We love them so much!

Rob's Falcon Hot Rod

Back in December, Rob found this old 70 1/2 Ford Falcon Wagon and decided he had to have it. His plan is to make it a family Hot Rod. It already had a good engine and runs great but he wants to switch out the engine and do a bunch of stuff to it. The guy that sold it said he would meet rob in Farmington, NM. So Rob took the boys and they went on a Road trip. He left the boys at Grandma's house and he and Grandpa drove to Farmington to pick up the car. He loves his car and so do all of the kids. They think it is the coolest thing ever!

Rexton Walks

Rexton took his first steps on December 1, 2013. He had just turned 13 months old. He hadn't had any interest in walking. He scooted and crawled everywhere he went. He didn't even want to try to walk. But one day he decided to try it and he has been on the go ever since.

Halloween 2013

The kids had a fun Halloween. The boys wanted to be super heros again. Robby was Superman, Ryder was Spiderman, and Ranger was Batman. Railey wanted to do something fun this year so we decided on a Rodeo clown. She looked awesome. It was Rexton's first year to dress up. He was only 6 days old on the last Halloween. He was the cutest pumpkin I have ever seen. He did not like to wear the hat though. The kids had parades and parties at school and then we walked around town for trick or treating. They had fun.