Caden is 5!

Caden had his birthday last week, so he's officially 5! I can't believe it. He has grown so much. Caden decided that he wanted a pirate cake and to go to Disneyland for his birthday, so that's what we did!
I brought the cake to share with Caden's preschool class. Everyone loved it, but one little boy came up to me and said, "Caden's mom....Caden's mom....Caden's mom....I don't like the cake!" What do you say to that?
All day Caden kept saying, "Mom, are you so proud of me 'cause I'm soooo big now that I'm five!" And then when Scott came home he said, "Dad!!! You haven't seen me five yet!" He was making us laugh all day.

Caden is such a blessing in our family. Here is a little bit about him. He is getting so big and is always wanting to help me out. When I'm cooking, he comes in and asks, "What can I do to help, mom?" And when I'm cleaning he asks the same thing! Caden is as outgoing as they come. The second we go to the park, he finds someone he wants to play with, walks right over to introduce himself, and in seconds he has a friend to play with. Also, anyone who knows Caden knows he loves babies. He is always the first one to run over and play peek-a-boo with any baby. Whenever I babysit for friends, he always begs to feed the baby and asks if we can keep it. A few times I've been flipping the channels to find a cartoon for him to watch, and I've passed "A Baby Story" on TLC, and Caden has stopped me because he wants to see the baby. Almost every night in his prayers he asks Heavenly Father to put a baby in mommy's tummy. He is so sweet. Caden is currently into transformers. He got Optimus Prime and Bumblebee for his birthday and he hasn't put them down! Caden has a ton of energy, but is still so sweet and helpful, I can't believe how fast he's grown.

Welcome to Arizona!!!

We took a little trip to Arizona a few weeks ago and for those of you who don't already know, we've decided to move there when Scott finishes school in May. The boys are really excited about moving to Arizona. Everyone we visit there has a house and a backyard, so they think Arizona = House + Backyard. (Which may not be true for us for a little while.) Also, to compound the problem, when they were so sad that Santa didn't bring them a dog, we told them that Santa knows we don't have a house so he couldn't bring a dog. So, actually, they think that Arizona = House + Backyard + Dogs!! What little boy wouldn't want to go there??

They also think that cactuses (cacti?) are pretty cool. Just not in my front yard, PLEASE!!!
Here are my three tough boys out in the Arizona wilderness.
We had a really fun time visiting friends, and we got to see our good friends Jacque & Tyler from Utah! They moved to Arizona last year, so Caden & Alyssa got to have a little reunion. Aren't they sooo adorable! Here's one of the last photos they took together before we left Utah.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last year I got festive and cooked corned beef and cabbage. After all my hard work, Scott and the kids wouldn't eat it, so I was eating it by myself for the next week! So, this year I simplified and made an all green meal. Pasta with pesto sauce, green salad, broccoli, green apples, kiwi, key lime yogurt, green kool-aid, and mint ice cream for dessert! The kids had a lot of fun making the place mats for dinner. Caden drew pictures of both Scott and I on our place mats. On Scott's , he drew him working on a baby's teeth and reading him a story. On mine he drew me eating a large snake and another one with me eating frog legs. I guess after eating snails and frog legs he thinks I'll eat anything!! Bon apetit!

Christmas In Texas

This year we spent our Christmas vacation in Texas. To start it off, Caden & Blake decided to join Grandpa Loudon's Polar Bear Club. The initiation into the club is jumping in the pool on Thanksgiving Day. Well, Caden & Blake were even more brave and went swimming in December. Caden jumped in and swam around without any problem, but the cold seemed to knock the sense out of Blake. He jumped in and forgot how to swim so we had to run over and grab him out of the pool. All he kept saying was, "I jumped in and I sinked!"
Blake must not have been too traumatized because a few days later we went to the beach just thinking the boys would love to play in the sand or put their feet in the water. Oh no, just the feet didn't do it for these boys. In a few minutes they were both soaked and were playing and jumping in the waves. Karly's daughter Cassidy wasn't very interested in the waves, but our dog Velvet's drinking water sure caught her attention!On Christmas Eve my family has a tradition of acting out the nativity. Caden begged to be the wise man and Blake was a shepherd.
On Christmas morning we forgot to tell the boys they weren't allowed to go down the stairs without us, so when they woke up, they ran down to see what Santa had brought them. They ran upstairs into our room yelling, "MOOOOM!!! DDDDAAAAD!!!!! Come see what Santa brought us, we have guns that light up, and .....and.....and....!" Oh well, what can you do?? We made them go back upstairs for a picture. So this is "Coming down the stairs Christmas Morning" Take TWO!The kids were so excited for all their presents , but what they had asked Santa for was a puppy. They were a little disappointed, but they worked with what they had. Caden got a camera for Christmas that he can do lots of fun things with. These are a few of his favorite pictures. The kids are always so excited to see Grandpa Loudon, and he definitely didn't disappoint them this year. The weeks were filled with motorcyle rides and wagon rides attached to the motorcyle.
They went to see movies, played at several different parks, toured an old aircraft carrier, did magic tricks, and we won't forget Grandpa's famous cinnamon toast and hot chocolate.

And Caden & Blake will always remember that Grandpa made them green eggs and ham. They still tell all their friends about them. It wouldn't be a trip to Corpus Christi without visiting the aquarium.


Their favorite part is always touching the sting rays.
There was never a dull moment this year. There were so many projects to get done. We started out making letters for Karly's girls' room (C for Cassidy and K for Kyra), then we moved on to a board for Aubrey's bedroom. (The squares are magnet boards, push pin boards, chalk boards, dry erase boards, and one with pockets.)
Then we made a small board for Tyson with our extra material. (Sorry USC fans!)
I made a sign for my dad over the back door with our family motto.
And then when there was nothing to do, we decided to refinish a brass chandelier...

and texture it and paint it to give it a wrought iron look. Then we recovered all 6 dining chairs and the 3 barstools. And after all that was done, I helped Mandy decorate her wall behind the couch. She's waiting for the vinyl lettering and then it will be complete!
WHEW!!! It was a very busy vacation, but we had so much fun! In the past, the kids have always talked about how excited they are to move to Arizona when Daddy is done, but now all they talk about is wanting to live in Corpus Christi. Scott is outnumbered now! We'll see what happens.

Catching Up

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks, so this post is going to be a kind of collage. At the beginning of the month we had our Christmas party at church. It's always been quite the extravaganza, and this year they served the whole ward tri-tip!! We never want to leave California!
The kids got to meet Santa in the Relief Society room, so now every time they walk by that room they squeal, "MOOOOM! That's the room where Santa was!!!!"
Scott finished with school yesterday, so he is officially on vacation (except for the whole studying for boards thing). So today we decided to do what Californians do and hit Disneyland. Well, we weren't the only ones with that idea, so we spent 1 1/2 hours driving there, only to find Disneyland absolutely packed. So, we rode 2 rides, and headed for another 1 1/2 hour drive home. (We only live 30 min. from Disneyland in normal traffic.) Not our smartest move ever, but the kids had fun.


A few weeks ago my sister Karly, husband Chevy, and daughter Cassidy paid us a visit from Idaho. It was really fun to see them, and I just had to include my favorite picture of Chevy. A little uncomfortable Chevy?!
So, to finish out this collage of a post, I thought I would share with you my Kohl's experience on Monday. I was running errands with Blake while Caden was at school and I decided to run into our local Kohl's really quickly to see if they had a light jacket for Blake. Well, the parking lot was pretty crowded for a Monday morning, but I just figured it was the Christmas rush. Anyway, I walked in, and there were a ton of camera people all around. I asked someone what was going on and they said Fergie was there. Well, I was in a hurry, so I snapped a picture of her along with the other hoards of people, and then I had to run. RANDOM!

Build-A-Bear

Caden & Blake's cousin Cierra had her birthday party last weekend. They started at Build-A-Bear and the boys were so excited to pick out their own bear, watch them stuff it, pick out clothes, name it, etc. Caden named his Fluffy, and Blake named his Don. Don't ask me, we don't even know any Dons. After creating their new best friends we went back to Cierra's house for bouncing in the huge bouncer and cake. It was the party every kid dreams of. Here are some pictures.


Caden and Blake have not let those bears out of their site for a week now.