SURPRISE!!!

On Thursday, September 22nd, Brenton, I, and the kids decided on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Utah. The long story is, I had been wanting to go for a few weeks (my cousin Curtis was having his mission farewell) and then we found out our nephew was having his 1st birthday party (and that made us want to go more). Finally, the night before, I asked Brenton to ask his manager for it off, even if it was last minute. What could it hurt? Well, he asked her right before he got off work (early- because of a dental appt.) and she said yes! He called me on his way home at 10 AM and I started getting things ready. We were completely packed and ready to go, and had people watching our garden, so we left at 12:30. WHEW! I dropped Brenton off at the dentist and took the kids shopping for a couple snacks. After that, we dropped by Brenton's work (on our way out of town) so he could set his out of office message. We were worried how Bryson would do since he's potty training, but he actually did really well. One #2 accident the whole time and that was it. One funny thing was we had to stop on the road to Kingman so he could go on the side of the rood in his little potty. He then wanted to "dump" it. Instead of dumping it, he threw it in the air and the wind blew it back all over him. Brenton and I thought it was hilarious. He did not. He told us, "It's not funny, guys!" We drove to Vegas and spent the night. We got a cheap hotel room @ Circus Circus and settled in for the night. We got up Friday morning and drove the rest of the way to Breanne and Mike's. We arrived there about 4:30 or 5 PM . It was so fun surprising them! (No one knew we were coming except my dad). After a little while, Mom and Dad Jensen showed up and we surprised them as well! I wish I could have caught everyone's faces on camera- it was awesome! We celebrated Evan's 1st birthday with them and other friends that night. We spent the night at Grandma Pam's and Grandpa Dave's house and spent Saturday with them and Breanne, Mike, and Evan. We took a trip to Wheeler Farm and had a picnic. Then, at night, we went to Goodwood Bbq. It was delicious, but we had some fun little times that stressed us out :) (They took about an hour to seat us when it was supposed to be 20 min., a whole tray of food ALMOST landed on Dad Jensen's lap). At least we got a free appetizer and FAST service! We hung out at Breanne and Mike's for a little while longer before we needed to put the kids to bed.
Sunday morning, we got up early and got ready to go to Curtis' farewell at 9:00 AM. It was in Santaquin and took us a good hour to get there. We surprised my mom, Judd, Aunt Leslie, Uncle Andy, and their WHOLE family! It was fun! After the talk we went back to Aunt Les' house where they put on quite the gathering with TONS of delicious food. We spent the day there visiting with family. We also spent the night, then got up in the morning and drove back to AZ. It was a quick trip with lots of time in the car- but it was SOOO worth it to spend some time with our family! We love them all!!!!
The sad news: we were having so much fun with our family that I didn't take a whole bunch of pics- in fact, I don't have any of Grandpa Dave, or Curtis, or many of the Hindes family and all the other family on Sunday (if you have any, please send me some!)

Potty Training!

This post really is more for journal purposes... plus it's about bodily functions, so go ahead and skip it if you want :)

Monday, September 12th- evening: We took Bryson to the store to pick out a truck (he picked out a truck/trailer) as well as a candy (Swedish fish) and stickers. We came home and made him a chart. Every time he went potty he got a sticker. Once he got to 5, he got his truck. We were really hoping this worked! He went potty one time before bed (on his little potty chair).
Tuesday, September 13th: He went potty most of the day with 1-2 accidents as well as a #2 accident. Those are no fun!
By Friday he was a MASTER at going #1 on his little potty chair. However, we knew we needed to get him to go on the BIG potty. We found/bought a CARS little potty seat that fits on a regular toilet and will help him so he doesn't fall in. We got him to use it once. All during the week he was rewarded every 5 times he went potty with first, he truck/trailer, and then a little hot wheels each time. He did great!
Sunday, September 18th: We had Stake Conference and Bryson used his potty seat on the big potty for the first time! WOOHOO!
Monday, September 19th: Bryson finally went #2 in the potty! We had been waiting and waiting, and he had had accidents the previous days. We kept talking it up and told him he could have a root beer float and go pick out a new toy when daddy came home. Sure enough, he went! We are so proud of him! When daddy came home from work he took him to the store and Bryson picked out a little Caterpiller Steam Roller. (He loves trucks, cars, trains, tractors.) We also bought him ice cream cones and let him pick out ice cream. Every time he goes #2 in the potty he will get one.

He hasn't had a wet night since we started. We bought pullups but only used a couple and decided he does better in underwear all the time. He has caught on so well and we are so proud of the big boy he is!

Labor Day Weekend!

We had a blast this weekend! We accomplished a ton and had fun doing it! We spent time cleaning out rooms in our house (getting ready for a garage sale in Oct.), we built/planted a garden, and spent time with family!
On Saturday evening Jeremy, Lisa, and their cute kiddos came over. We went swimming at the local pool (Alia's first time) and played games and ate TONS of good food (steak, corn on the cob, potatoes, salad, cookie/brownie mix, ice cream, skittles, etc). We love when we get to hang out with them!
Friday night we spent cleaning out our closet and the office closet. Saturday and Monday we spent creating our garden. Brenton built the box for it on Saturday. We spent Sunday planning it all out, and Monday we bought everything and finished it! It was work, but it surprisingly fun! I can't wait to see what it yields in a few months!
Bryson loved the garden. He helped plant some of the transplants and seeds. He keeps looking outside asking if it is done yet. We are excited to show him how it grows!
We will probably create a separate blog for the garden so we can document it all, but for now here are a few pics of our wonderful weekend at home together! Hooray for 3 day weekends!

Dentist

We took the kids to the dentist for the first time this week. Bryson did great :) Aimee, not so much. Oh well, she's only 18 months. No cavities- healthy teeth!
Brenton and I, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. The kids got lots of goodies walking out, including a spin brushes :) Lucky ducks! Looks like we'll end up with about $2000 bucks worth of work... and that is with insurance!