Bradshaw Family

Mother's Day Celebration

2009-05-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Carter had a Mother Day Celebration at his school today. It was so sweet. The kids sang us songs, then served us with cupcakes and juice. This is the one picture that I got of Carter when he wasn't covering his mouth so that we couldn't see him smiling. He gets so embaressed so easily.

why do both my boys have to make a face in EVERY picture that I take of them. They get it from their Dad. He never takes a serious picture either.

Just call me "Strawberry Shortcake"

2009-04-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of my first ever Strwberries! I picked one Yesterday and It was so so sweet. The best I have ever had. I usually have to put sugar on the strawberries that I buy, so this was a real treat. I have about 5 more on there that will be ready in a few days.

Travis built me this greehouse/chicken coope. That is how I was able to grow my strawberries this year. We also keep our chickens in there. You can see them through the plastic. They will start laying their eggs in a few weeks. I am so lucky to have a handy husband who can build me cool things like this. :)

Stickers

2009-03-01T07:46:00.001-08:00

I was doing my hair the other day when Luke walked in with this look on his face holding his hand up just like the picture. He did not say anything, just stood there looking just like that. It took all I had not to laugh. He had fallen into a tumbleweed and caught himself with his one hand. He was very brave and we got all the stickers out very quickly. Maybe I am mean, but I had to get a picture of his face before I got the stickers out. He was not happy with me for doing that.

Madera Canyon

2009-01-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

We went on a hike last Saturday to a place called Medera Canyon. It is about 30 min from our house. I was so surprised how beautiful this place was. We were surrounded by green trees and the weather was beautiful. We went about 2.5 miles round trip. The boys did awesome. Carter is just like his Daddy and loves to hike. He was in front of me the whole time beating me up the trail. Travis had to carry Luke some of the way, but he still did awesome.

It was a good thing that Luke had his beeney. It was cold up on that mountain. Thank you to Aunt Megan for making all of us beenies for Christmas. They are really coming in handy here.

Christmas day

2009-01-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

We had such great Christmas this year. We went a little early to visit family and celebrate Christmas, because Travis had to work on Chistmas Eve and Day. But it was good to be with family and share in the Christmas spirit together.

The boys got way to many gifts. Travis and I only gave them 2 gifts each, but between all the Grandparents, they had a lot of gifts to open. They are very spoiled by the Grandparents, but I guess that is how it is supposd to be.

I think I'll go catch a snake

2008-12-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago, Carter had some friends over and they decided that they wanted to go catch a snake. I thought,"OK sure, you go do that." I was just happy that they were going outside to play and to get the noise out. Then about 30min later they come running inside with... you guessed it, a SNAKE! I could not beleive it. He is just like his dad. Travis can set out to catch anything and he will always come back with his prize. Carter said that he was going to catch a snake and he did. I was so impressed. And yes, we added it to our creature collection. It is Carter's pride and joy. He researched all about what kind of sanke it is and now knows everything about it. It is a western black headed snake. It looks like a baby but it is full grown. It has a red belly and a black head. Kind of looks like a worm to me, but I would never tell Carter that. This was one of his proudest moments.

Thanksgiving Fun!!

2008-12-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

We went to visit family this past week for Thanksgiving. Carter had the week off of school, so the boys and I went a little early then Travis met us there on Thursday. We had so much fun and of course it was so good to see everyone. On Monday my most of the girls in my family went to see Twilight(go Edward!!!)We met at Katy's house so the kids got to play for a while. It was crazy. There was a lot of kids there, but I loved being with my sisters. This picture is of Kara, Katy, and I . I have the best sisters ever. They are truely my best friends! I love you guys!

This is a picture of all the kids in katy's back yard. It is weird the think that this is only a fraction of the cousins in the Slade family. There was so many of them.

We went to Travis's moms house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so so so good. My mother in law is such a good cook. This is Marcus and Travis carving the turkey. I actually looks like Marcus is cutting and Travis is observing. But they did great!

The kids love Grandma Holly's backyard. This is Carter and Ruth digging in the mud. Is there anything better for a kid to do?

We all had so much fun and we loved seeing everyone.

Our very own Military Man

2008-11-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Last week I did a tribute to the men in my life who have served our country. I wanted to post pictures but I did not have any. I emailed my cousin Leonard and asked him for his picture. I just got this, so I wanted to put it up a little late. Leonard is serving in Iraq right now.We are so proud of him and pray for his safe return. My prayers are also with my Aunt Lorene, as I know she is very worried about her son being in danger. Leonard looks scary in the picture, but really he is a big softy! He is one of the most generous people I know. always willing to help. We love you Leonard! You are the best!

2008-11-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

This morning I was getting Carter ready for school and of course Luke had to get ready too, but after we were done getting ready, I found them sitting together in the chair watching a movie. I thought it was so sweet. I had to capture the moment. I didn't even have to make them sit together for a picture, like I usually do.

Luke had his shirt on for about 2 min. and he already got it dirty. I have no idea how he does it, but he does.

Carter's fieldtrip

2008-11-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

I went with Carter's class today on a fieldtrip to Patagonia, Az. We went on a bird watching trail. I thought it was going to be a very leisurely trail that would last a few minutes so I brought Luke along. Little did I know it was a 2 1/2 mile trail. I had my purse and my 4 year old with me. You would think that someone would have told me when they saw me starting off, but no such luck. So needless to say, I carried Luke the whole 2nd half of the way. I did not know that I was going to be getting a workout but oh man I sure did.

This was one of the many "rest stops" that I had to take on the way back. This tree laying down was bigger than the boys standing up. Pretty cool!

This is the group that we were in for the hike. The girl on the other end is Carter's teacher. She is so sweet. These are just a few of his classmates. If you can't tell, most of them are older than him. His class has 1st,2nd,and 3rd graders.

But all in all we had a good time and what do you know...I got a workout that I was not expecting!

Veterans Day

2008-11-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do a tribute to the men in my life that are and were serving in the military. First my cousin Leonard. He is serving in Iraq right now. He just got there a couple weeks ago and I am always thinking of him, praying for his safe return. I am so proud of him. Leonard loves what he does and you can tell that he is proud to serve his country. Thank you Leonard! We love you.

Next I have my Grandpa Adams(my mothers Father) and my Uncle Toby(my Dad's brother) My Grandpa Adams served in World War II. My Uncle Toby served in the Vienam war. He received many decorations among which was the silver star.

I feel so blessed to live in this wonderful country where we are free. We are forever in debt to the men and women, past and present, who risk their lives to keep us free. Today, I remember the men and women who have died for this country and who risk their lives to keep us free. Thank you and God Bless!

Halloween Night!

2008-11-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we went to Queen Creek for Halloween. It is my nephew Tyler's B-day on the 31st, so we always have a party. It was so fun to be with everyone. This picture is of my brother Newell and his son Bradley. They are being DORKS in this picture. They don't really smile like that. I took their picture because they had on matching shirts. So cute!

This is of Jessica,Jennie and I. These are my girls!

This is my Neice Elli. I am obsessed with her, if you can't tell. This is not the first time that I have posted a picture of her. I love her fat rolls. I had to get this picture of her bum. I love a fat ballerina.

And here is Carter. He was an Army man this year. He looked very good and the boys got lots of candy..... that I left at my mom's house on accident. Travis was sad about that.

Luke the Ninja

2008-10-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Today we had a Halloween party at the library. We go to the library every Wednesday for storytime and they were so nice to have this party for the kids. They all had so much fun. Luke is loving his ninja costume this year. I don't even remember getting it. Did someone misplace costume? Let me know if someone is missing a ninja costume and we will return it. Maybe I did buy it. the last couple years are a blur to me.

In this picture Luke is bowling. He was the first one to knock all the pins down. He thought that we very cool.

Ruby the stray dog

2008-10-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

A coulpe days ago Travis was driving home from work, when he saw a stray dog. He is always trying to rescue stray dogs, but most of them wont go to him. So, he saw this one, called it over to him and it came running. She jumped right into his truck. She was not scared at all. This is such a "Travis thing to do". We always have some kind of animal or creature that he rescues.

I heard his truck pull in but instead of him walking through the door, I see the saddest, ugliset looking dog. Then Travis follows in laughing so hard. He says,"is that not the ugliest dog you have ever seen? She is awesome". I don't know why, but Travis is obsessed with ugly dogs. I guess because they make him laugh.

I told him to get it out of the house. She was so dirty and had knotted mats all over her body, with random bald spots. She really was the ugliest dog I have ever seen. Travis said that he just wanted to feed it and give it a bath and a hair cut. This ordeal took 2 hours.

So, he gets her in the bath and she looks even more pathetic. She was actually really good for him. Did not try to bite or anything. The boys named her Ruby because Travis found her on Ruby rd.
Then the boys got in to help wash her, then they had a shower themselves. She was very very dirty and this took a long time. When she was done in the shower Travis starts shaving all the mats off of her, which means that she has to be bald. She was covered in them. He left some hair on her face, but that is it.
This is our stray dog Ruby. She will not leave. She stays on our front porch, which I don't mind, only when she is barking at 2am. That is when I am tempted to call animal control in the morning and inform them of the stray dog that is keeping me up at night. The boys and Travis love her, so I will let her stay on the porch for now, but we will see how long this lasts. As most of you know we are notorious for not being able to keep a dog. We have had several dogs over the years and they just don't ever stick. Maybe Ruby can break the curse. (if I don't call aminal control on her)

Conference weekend at the Lodge!

2008-10-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

For the past couple years we have gone to My sister in law's parents Lodge for Conference weekend. It is a such a beautiful place and we are so lucky to be able to go every once and a while. So Travis and I went with Newell and Jessica to Heber for the weekend. It was a 5 hour drive for us, but it was worth it. We had such a fun time and it was so nice to see some family. Their kids were there and also Bradley and Jennie(from Newell's first marriage). Carter was so excited to see Ethan. We lived next door to Newell and Jessica for over 2 years , so Carter and Ethan became very very close. They are like brothers. So they had such a fun time together. I got a picture of Carter, Ethan, Wesley, and Luke sitting by the fire. Saturday was very cold and rained all day, so I guess they needed a little warming up by the fire. I thought it was such a cute picture of them.
My Niece Elli is the cutiest little girl. Ian would be the same age as her, so when Jessica had her, I felt an instant bond to her. We lived right by eachother and so I was with her almost everyday. I have missed seeing her whenever I want, so it was great to be with her for the weekend.

2008-10-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Ethan got his middle finger smashed between 2 balls on the pool table. He was crying for a very long time. As hard and Jessica tried he could not calm down. After he did calm down a bit he was walking around with his middle finger pointed out for all of us to see. I had to get a picture of it. I thought it was so funny. Of course, he had no idea that he was flipping off all of us, but that is what made it so funny. We also found 6 salamanders in the basement. The kids loved it and yes, we did bring some home. So now we have more creatures to add to our collection.

I was also very happy that Bradley and Jennie came. They are such good kids and I love them so much. Bradley looks like he is 20(he is really 15), but he is still a baby to me. He was my first born nephew. There is something special about the first born grandchild . I remember Katy and I fighting over who got to hold him. He was a very loved baby! Then there is Jennie. Talk about a sweetheart. She is a very special girl who has this amazing heart. I love her to death!

Thank you Newell and Jessica for another fun trip to the Lodge. We love you guys!

You would think I could get it by now!

2008-10-01T16:51:00.001-07:00

I did haircuts for the boys yesterday. You would think that after 7 years of practice, that I could atleast give a decent haircut, but this is not the case. Luke was first. His was not that bad. I think because his hair was already short, it made it easier. But it still looks pretty bad.

2008-10-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Then I did Carter. Wow, as you can see, this was a DISASTER!! This is my child that styles his own hair before school and is very particular about it. I kept on messing up, so the blend line was getting higher and higher. I felt so bad for him. He was so worried that the kids at school would make fun of him. It is times like this that I wish I was back at Brent and Emily's house. Emily gives a great boys haircut. She has not even had any real training. I think you just have to have a gift for it. I do not have this gift. So, as you can see Travis had to come save the day. He was able to make it look as good as possible, but Carter now has a "army haircut". That was the first thing that he said when he saw it and it was the only thing that made him feel better about it. Army guys are pretty cool! So I have a before picture and 2 after pictures. I think that I need to just give in to the fact that my boys will be going to cost cutters from now on.

More Creatures

2008-09-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

So, out where we live there seems to be a lot of creatures, which is a little boys paradise. Carter caught this horney toad a couple days ago and it is now another one of his pets. For this picture Luke was allowed to hold Carter's rat, only because Carter wanted to hold the horney toad. He wanted to hold both for the picture, but I told him he had to share. He was so nervous. You would think that rat was his first born child. So Luke held the rat for about 5 sec. until the picture was taken, then Carter grabbed her as fast as he could. Man, he loves that thing.

We were driving the other night and Travis spotted a snake in the road. He slammed on his brakes to turn around to get it. It is just a baby bull snake, but the boys thought it was the best thing ever. So, we now have a snake to add to the mix. Why do I allow this? I guess I am a sucker for boys!

Boy's will be Boy's

2008-09-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

I caught Luke "cleaning his gun" just like daddy does. I guess he saw Travis do it one night and thought that his gun needed a cleaning. I thought it was a classic Luke thing to do . He is a little Travis in the making. Notice how he is using his toothbrush to do the job.

Happy Birthday Ian

2008-09-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

So we have 2 birthdays in a row. Carter is the 19th and our thrid son Ian is the 20th. This birthday celebration is more reverent than Carter's, but we are celebrating it all the same. Our son Ian passed away September 20th a couple hours after he was born. You would thin that it would get easier as the years go on, but I remember it like it was yesterday. We were told that Ian would be born still born, so you can imagine our delight when our doctor announced that he was alive. We were so blessed to have that priceless time with him where he received his name and a blessing right there in the hospital room and where his parents, both grandmothers, and his Aunt Megan and Uncle Marcus could bid him farwell. It was bitter sweet. I feel so honored to have been able to be his mother and give him the body he needed to return to his Heavnly Father. I can't believe that I carried a sprit so special that he did not have to pass through this hard life.

The support we felt going through this hard time was unreal. We had an outpouring of love and support from our family and friends and we will always remember that. So today we revrently remember Ian and the short time that we had with him and say Happy Birthday Ian! We love you!

Carter's 7th B-day!

2008-09-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

We had Carter's B-day party on Wed. Holly, Hillarie, Megan, and Megan's kids came for the party. They totally made the party a success. It was so awesome of them to drive 3 hours to our house, just to be here with Carter! We love you guys so much!!!

Carter got a guitar from Grandma Holly and Aunt Hillarie, A book with $7 in it from Aunt Megan, and a rat with a cage and accessories. He LOVED all his gifts and already has plans to take guitar lessons. He has not put it down. The second Travis walked in the door, Carter had him by the hand to show him his new rat. He named his rat Jennie, after his cousin. He said that his rat is so nice and gentle like Jennie, so that is how he got the name. (miss you Jennie!!)

Carter was very spicific on what kind of cake he wanted. It had to be a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was yummy! The boys has such a good time with their cousins. They are really missing all their cousins, so it was a treat to spend all night with them.

When the sun was setting, we all went outside and took some pictures. Aunt Megan spotted a creapy looking cricket. There are alot of odd looking creatures out here. Carter was the only brave one to pick it up for the picture. He has his Dad's love of creatures.

Our Big Move

2008-09-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

In September we moved to Rio Rico, Az. It is a little town outside of Nogales. We were stationed here with the Border Patrol. I had no idea this place even existed, but it is beautiful here. The people are so nice and welcoming and so far we love it.