Happy Halloween!!

I have totally forgot how to blog it's been so long!! We are still keeping as busy as ever. We had a blast this year for Halloween. Our friends had a huge trailer they pulled the kids around on. They loved it! The best part was the weather was absolutely beautiful! I hope you all are doing great and enjoyed your Halloween this year!

Super Update

Wow!! Well it has been a while since I have been on here. Our life has been so extremely busy!! The girls started school on the August 19th which is when all choas hit. They love school and are really enjoying their teachers. Soccer has also started and has been a blast. Ryan is coaching Brinley's team and they are kicking booty! Bailey is playing competitive this year and they are also kicking booty! They have both won all their games so it has been really fun. They are also both taking piano and love it! Braxton is still growing up so fast. He is almost 18 months old. He has such a fun personality and is definitely a joy in our home. I am still the beehive advisor in YW and Ryan just got put in as the scoutmaster. So as you can imagine we are very busy! I will try and post some pictures soon! My mom and dad are coming to visit in two weeks so I am counting down the days. Then we are headed up north the end of September for the big BYU vs. USU football game. GO AGGIES!!!

Special Olympics

This year for youth conference our ward volunteered for the special olympics that were held here in Cedar City. It was so much fun and such a humbling experience. To see this athletes and their excitement in being able to participate in this event was just amazing. The thing that I admired most about these people is there is no competitive spirit in them what-so-ever! They are just there to have fun and be a part of such a great event. During races they would stop and help someone running next to them and give eachother high fives after the race. It was just such a special experience not only for us as leaders but for the youth in our ward. So I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to volunteer and meet some of these special spirits that are living in our world today. It was AMAZING!!

Almost Summer!

Wow! I can not believe the girls are done with school this week. I am so excited for summer to be here. We have been very busy lately with soccer and end of school programs. Soccer is now done and the girls both had a great year. Bailey has been asked to play on a summer games team so she is really excited about that. It should be a fun experience for her. She was also asked to play on a traveling soccer team this fall. And so it begins, right? The girls are both starting softball this week as well. We have had several fun weekends in Mesquite sittin' by the pool and swimming. We are going to Logan this weekend for Meagan's wedding and to visit with fam! I am so excited!! Then my family is coming down the following week to visit and have some fun. My aunt Nancy is even able to come along with my mom and Mind. We are going to have a blast. Braxton is now 14 months old and still just as fun as ever. He has such a funny personality already and is keeping us busy. We hope all of you are doing well and we miss you all very much!

More Pics

Catch Up Pics

Major Catch Up!

Alright I have really been slackin' this month and of course it was a very busy month so I have lots to share. We had a great Easter times three. We did our stuff here at home and then headed to Mesquite for another egg hunt and dinner. Then the week after that headed to Logan and my mom did her thing with the kids. So Yes they were very spoiled. The girls enjoyed their spring break even though we got 7 inches of snow their first day off. So Ryan and I took them to St. George to the Sand Hallow aquatic center to swim. We also went to the red rock and took some hikes in Snow canyon. It was such a fun weekend!! The week we were in Logan we also had a shower for Meagan and it was so much fun! I am so excited for her and can't believe it is almost here! So we will be back in Logan over Memorial Day weekend for her wedding and to visit with fam. The girls have started soccer so we are very busy! They are both doing great and are so much fun to watch. Ryan is coaching Brin's team this year so she is excited about that. I can't believe the girls only have four weeks of school and then it is summer!!! I love it! Well I think that is the big things we have been enjoying lately. I hope you are all doing well and we miss you all a lot!

More Birthday Pics!

Birthday Boy!!!

Holy Cow!! Braxton turned one on the 12th and I just can not believe it has already been a year since this little guy joined our family. He is so much fun and we love watching him grow and develop. He is now on regular milk...thank the heavens up above! As you know he is walking, he waves bye, plays peek-a-boo, blows kisses, and will nod his head when you ask him questions. He has learned so much so fast. I forget how fast they pick up on things. He has been a very spoiled boy! We celebrated with my family a week early while we were up in Logan. He got tonz of fun toys that he loves to play with! Then Misty and Jason came and spent the weekend of his birthday with us. It was so much fun. He absolutely loved his cake. And he got double the cakes since we celebrated twice. The video is so funny so I will definitely post it soon. He also went to the doc today and got his shots. Poor kid!! He is 25 lbs. 10 oz. (85%), 32 in. long (96%), and his head is 19 in. (92%). So Yes he is still growing and very big for his age. But that's how we love him!

Brinley's Baptism

Well I am a few weeks late but I just wanted to post the adorable pictures from Brin's baptism. It was an awesome day and we are grateful for those who were able to come and help us celebrate this special day. Brinley looked so pretty in her dress! She was very nervous most the day and especially when we got to the church. But she did great! When she was getting into the water she teared up a little bit and when I was helping her change she said,"Mom, I kinda cried when I was getting in the water with dad but I think it was just the spirit." It was so adorable and we are so proud of Brin and the example she is not only to our family but to all her friends at school and church. We love her so much and are so lucky to have her sweet but fiesty spirit in our home!

Braxton's First Steps

Well I can't believe it is already here! Braxton is walking!!! For like a month and a half he would take a couple of steps and then sit down. Then the other night he was really excited about it and just kept walking back and forth to Ryan and I. So we caught some video of his first few steps. Now he is out of control walking all over. He will take off from the couch and walked all the way down the hallway the other day. Now to convince him it is easier just to walk then to get down and crawl. He is learning new things so fast and I am having a hard time keeping up with him. It is crazy to think he will be One next month!!! He is so much fun and I have loved being able to stay home with him.

Merry Christmass, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday!!

I am a little late but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We were very spoiled this year and had a great time. Ryan's brother Aaron and his wife Tracey decided to come down to Cedar and surprise his parents on Christmas day. It has been over 5 years since we have all been together on Christmas. So it was a great surprise and we had so much fun. My girls just love their Aunt Tracey and were so excited when they found out she was coming to sleepover at our house. New Years was a change for me. We have been at my mom's every year and have a little New Year's party, play rock band, and visit with Jon and Sara since they are normally up north this time of year. This year we were home with just our kids having a little party. Which was still fun but we did not dare go bang our pots and pans at midnight like normal here in our new neighborhood. So we definitely missed that fun tradition. Last but not least Brinley had a birthday on January 4th. She is 8 years old!!! So crazy....so now we are preparing for a baptism the first of February and she is scared that her dad is going to hold her under the water too long! We are really excited for her and it has been fun helping her prepare for this special day. A little update on all of us...we are all doing great. My knee is finally getting better and I feel like someday I might be normal again. Maybe?? Was I ever normal?? Anyways Ryan's work is still great. He loves it and really enjoys the people he works with. Bay and Brin are both doing great in school and can't wait for spring to get here so they can start soccer. Bailey just started piano lessons again this past week so we are really excited about that. Braxton is still doing great and learning new things everyday. He now will wave bye and his dad thinks he has learned the sign for 3 pointer or touchdown. Little does he know I taught him "So big" which is why he raises his hands in the air. But hey whatever he wants to think is great. So all is well here in Cedar! We hope you are all doing great as well and we miss you lots!!

Treats and Toys

I have to share this funny story about Braxton. I was getting ready to go to PT and had asked Bailey to watch Braxton real quick for me. The next thing I hear is Bailey screaming at Brinley,"Brin you are suppossed to be watching Braxton!" She comes running in to her room and tells me Braxton is eating something but she doesn't know what it is and she can't get it out of his mouth. So I run...well walked as fast as I could into the kitchen to find my adorable son sitting on the kitchen floor covered in chocolate. He had helped himself to a reeses peanut butter cup. Yup and as you can guess he had already devoured the whole thing. The only thing left on his lap in a pile of slobbery chocolate was the wrapper. All I could do was laugh! Another funny thing with this kid is he loves my swiffer vacuum cleaner. No matter where I hide it he finds it and hauls it around the house wherever he goes. Man-if I could just teach him how to use it properly!!!!

Ho Ho Ho

Braxton finally got to meet Santa Clause the other day at our ward party. We had made bets that he would scream bloody murder when he sat on his lap. We were all wrong. He did not cry but he just glared at him and would not take his eyes off of him as you can tell by the picture. I am really excited for this Christmas season even though I am going to miss seeing my family. We are just staying home this year. But it will also be the first time in a long time that we have been able to spend Christmas with Ryan's family so it will be really fun. It has been fun putting up our Christmas decoration for the first time in a couple of years. Why do kids have to grow up so fast?? Bailey informed me she only wanted a couple of things this year. A four wheeler and a laptop! Man I hope Santa hits the lottery! Braxton is going to be really fun this year. All he needs is some wrapping paper and boxes and he will be happy. Brinley wants a Webkinz and a Nintendo DS. We miss you all very much and hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

What a great Thanksgiving we had this year! We of course headed up to Logan to be with my family. It was a blast! I love my mom's cooking more than anything and miss it a lot. Both my sisters and their families were there and it was so fun to spend time with everyone. Unfortunately Mindy's whole fam got sick while we were there but we were still able to spend some time with them. Mindy made skirts and sold them at the Novemberfest. They are so adorable and I was lucky enough to sit with her all day on Friday and sell them. It was so fun and I saw a lot of people I knew so it was a double bonus. We had a Rock Band party with the Gittins which you can't beat. We were able to watch Texie dance and I am just amazed by her. She Rocks!! Best of all we went to the Utah State vs. SUU basketball game at the spectrum. Man I miss those games. Needless to say Utah State won by 40 so we returned home to Cedar proud to be Aggie fans! A little update on Braxton...he is everywhere!! He has been crawling for a couple weeks now and can now pull himself up on things so he has torn my house apart a few times to say the least. He has his first tooth and it did not really effect him at all. He is still as cute as ever and still very big. I just took him for his second hair cut and man is he handsome. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

A Month of Firsts!!!!

Wow! October was so crazy for us here in Cedar. We had a lot of firsts happen for our family. We started with my knee surgery at the beginning of the month. It has not been a great experience for me and I just keep hoping that someday my knee will be normal. I have experienced my first with Physical Therapy. Now I know why I never have wanted to go!! Braxton got his first hair cut! So cute and now needs another one already. He also experienced his first Aggie football game and loved it! (Really) While at the football game he was on the jumbo-tron for the first time. And finally Braxton experienced his first Halloween. He was sick so we just put on his costume to take a picture and him and Ryan stayed home while I followed the girls around in my car while they went trick or treating. November has started out much better. The greatest part about this week is it is the first week I have walked without crutches for over a month. It feels amazing and I feel like maybe I can be a normal mom again. I have lots of cute pictures to make up for lost time so I will post them soon.

6 Month Check-Up

I am still in shock that Braxton is already 6 months old!! He has grown up so fast and I swear he does something new everyday. He can sit up by himself and he will roll from his stomach to his back. He has learned how to throw a fit pretty good already too. We just love him so much and love watching him grow.....and I mean grow!!!! He is now currently 21 lbs 8 oz and 28 inches long. Yes he is huge but cuter that ever!

I'm not 19??????

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks here in the Hess household. My husband has helped me realize that I am not a youngster anymore. Some of my friends in Cedar asked me to play in a volleyball tournament at the Cornfest in Enterprise. Of course I was more than excited since I have not been able to play volleyball FOREVER.... well that excitement was very short lived. The very first play of our very first game I go to spike the ball and the next thing I remember is I am on the floor in the worst pain ever. My knee was killing me and not to toot my own horn but I tolerate pain pretty darn well and I could not believe this pain. So to make a long story short I got the news I did not want to hear from the ortho. I tore my ACL!!! On top of that I had a really bad bone contusion which made it so painful to walk. So yes I have been on cruches for a week and half trying to take care of a 5 1/2 month old wiggle worm. Thank goodness Ryan was able to take a few days off and his wonderful mom came and spent several days with me not only taking care of Braxton but cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry. His sister also was a huge help in keeping the girls entertained. I don't know what we would have done without them. So now I am preparing myself for surgery. Attempting to get all the swelling and fluid off my knee so that they can operate. CRAZY!!! Wish me luck!