Big Steps for Berkley!!!

Berkley is a paci boy. We tried very hard to get him off it before Brenner came, and we were. That is until Brenner actually came home, and then Berk needed his paci. Over the last 8 months his need for it has intensified, and I finally said ENOUGH! A cute girl in my ward gave me the idea to take him to build-a-bear and put them in a bear, so for a few weeks we have been telling him about our plan, taking him in to look around and showing him the bears on the computer.  The day after we got back from our Utah trip he told me he wanted to put his paci in a bear. So, I gave him one last night and day with it and that Tuesday we loaded up the car and headed to the mall!

Picking out his new bear

Putting the three pacis inside. The worker was so good. She asked where he wanted them (both hands and his head) and waited for him to be ready and then had him slide all three in the bear. You can feel them in the hands, and that is perfect for him.

Look how excited he was!

Then he rubbed the heart on his head, so he wouldn't forget and on his muscles to help him be strong- it really was adorable.

On his shoulder, so the bear would always be there if he needed him.

Finally, they stuffed him and let him squeeze him to make sure he felt right.

Then we were off to 'bathe' and clothe the bear.

Meet 'Binky' the Jedi Knight camo bear!

He had to type the stuff in himself. Good thing he knows his computers and letters!

The first night he had a little remorse, he asked where the strings were so he could get them out. Rusty gave him 6 days before he cut into it, but we are on day 5 and so far so good! He asks for it whenever he is hurt or sad, but we just give him his bear instead, and he is doing great! The cutest was that day he had swiped a paci of Brenners, and so after we got home and told him he didn't have any more pacis, he said, "I want a Bren-bren paci!" So sad, but so cute. 

As and added, unforseen bonus, this week he has totally (FINALLY) gotten interested in potty training (yes he's almost 4, don't judge). He has gone pee nearly every time, and has even done #2 without my prompting. When we get back from Lake Powell we have a month to get him 100% trained before preschool starts again, and I know he can do it! Rah, Rah, Rah for Berkley! 

Summer Dive Team...

Braden took part in our town's Dive Team again this year.  We were a little nervous because he moved up in age groups and all three coaches were new to us. But it ended up being a great thing! He knew a number of kids on the team and the coaches did a great job testing him to try new things.  At the end of last season he could do a front dive, an inward dive and a back dive 1/2 twist.  He refused to try flips, or any back dives.  Thankfully, he got over his fears and by the end of this season he had done the following dives in a meet; Front Dive (straight & tuck), Back Dive, Front Flip tuck, Back Dive 1/2 twist, and Inward. We are so proud of him. The field of divers was four times the size last year, so we were thrilled that he placed top 10 every meet. He even placed 6th and 4th in meets! Here are a bunch of pictures from the entire season!

**Be sure to click on the photo collages to enlarge them so you an see his awesome form.**

I love this photo for many reasons. 1) you can see his abs, he has a six pack 2)his scars from his open heart surgeries are so hard to see. It's funny, but as a new 'Heart Mom' I know I was curious what the scars would look like when he got older, so here ya go- they are invisibly tiny. 

Berk showing just what a cool dude he is.

Waiting for his dive to be called

I love when he looks like he's flying.

Front Dive, look at how perfect his feet were when he went in the water. He got 6 and 6.5's on this dive! (Last summer the highest score he got on any dive was a 3.5)

Back Dive 1/2 Twist

Front Dive Straight with the 3 step approach

Backdive! I literally was bawling when he did his first backdive of the season, because all summer last year it was a huge fight with him. And I was so proud he finally did it on his terms.

His front flip tuck. I was grinning ear to ear when he pulled this off. He had the cleanest landing too!

Braden, you have more guts than anyone I know! We are both so proud of you for trying new things, and doing great at them! You are trying to convince us that you need to do gymnastics, and we think you may be right! Until next summer! Go Gators!

Poulson Family Reunion!!!

We left Snowbird Saturday morning and did the two hour drive out to Duchesne, Utah for a reunion with my Mom's side of the family.  It was at my Uncle Claire's farm. The weather was so nice. It would get hot, then the clouds would move in, then it sprinkled for just a second and then it was perfect.  The boys loved all the animals there. Besides visiting, eating a yummy lunch and taking pictures, they had games for the kids and they got the horses out! My cousin and uncle run a horse ranch, so besides the horses they raise, there are a number of family horses. The kids got to ride Flash, and get pulled by a mini horse in a carriage.Both the big boys loved whn Uncle Clair loaded up a quad and took the kids to see the sheep and the llamas too. Oh, and Braden won a tub of candy by guessing how many were in it, he was only off by 2! Ha!

The kids loved the grass and the tart cherries the picked. Brenner loved all the apples he found on the ground.

Braden's candy winnings! 

My boys and my cousin Roy, the horse wisperer

Brenner just wanted to touch the little horse, and Berk loved the ride!

Brenner couldn't be bothered with pictures when there were roosters and horses around!

Wade & I were the ONLY '79ers there.  We were missing Meg, Kristen, Genny, Ty, Hayden & Rachel. All of us were born the same year, and caused lots of trouble at reunions like this when we were young.

The reason we came- The Poulsons

'Uncle' Jack Skewes, Stan, Claire, Lynn & Kent Poulson

Marsha Peterson, Mom, Pauline  

With the spouses. 

(Dee & Jack, Stan & Nadine, Dad & Mom, Claire & Ruth, Lynn & Julie, Kent & Marie, 

Scott & Marsha and Pauline)

I love my aunts and uncles. One more set, my aunt Leesa and her family weren't there, and we missed the Wall clan! My mom is the oldest of em all. And she and her cousin Jack grew up like siblings so we get to see his family at the reunions too! We used to get together at the farm every other year on my grandma's birthday, which was the 4th of July, so I am glad we still have a chance to come back to the farm (a ton of family still live there where my Mom grew up) and for my kids to get to see where I came during the summer when I was little. It was so nice too, having seen all my cousins' blogs to be able to know which kid belonged to whom! There were over 100 of us there! Thanks to Claire & Ruth and kids for setting up such a fun day! See you next time! Oh, and I stand firmly by my color coded shirt system for easier family sorting & identification, ha!

Snowbird Trip 2010...

We flew in Friday morning from Hawaii, washed our clothes, re packed the suitcases and bright and early Saturday morning we headed up to our condo in Little Cottonwood Canyon at Snowbird's Iron Blosam. We only made one stop, at The Junction in Kanab for lunch and cruised the whole way there. I am lucky, my boys are such good travelers. We dropped Kelcie in Provo, and headed to Sandy for dinner (we wanted Zupas but it was closed for the holiday-don't get me started, so we had Cafe Rio instead) and groceries. Then it was up the mountain to the resort.

I've said it before, but this is a trip we do every year. In fact, I have been going every year since I was a baby. There are numerous families who have all stayed there as long as we have and it is so fun to see them each year and catch up.

Snowbird is mostly about three things... 1) swimming 2) enjoying the parks and other outdoor fun and 3) relaxing.  Now, this year with 5 of us (plus Kelcie sometimes) we were at capacity in our unit, but we had a good time regardless.  Braden is old enough now he can pretty much wander the building and get from each of the family rooms with out me worrying so much that he'll get lost. Berk had a great time as long as he got to push the elevator buttons and Brenner was just happy to have such long straight halls to do his monkey walk-crawl down.

We spent the 4th of July at my sister Robyn's house eating yummy food and letting the kids play with Pop-it. We didn't stay late enough for the fireworks because 1) Utah did their fireworks on the 3rd of July and 2) Berk and Brenner both were sick -ear infections and Brenner had croup too...

Rhonda and her girls, Troy and his family as well as my two siblings, Robyn & her family and Loyle and his stepson Dan, who live in Sandy all came up during the week. The kids had a blast with all the cousins running around. Braden stuck like glue to Camden and Braxton, wanting to hang with the bigger boys. 

(L-R)

Braden, Robyn, Draven, Audrey, Talia, Rhonda, Caryn, Yazee & Brenner

We wandered down the mountain to Zupas later in the week to make up for missing it on Saturday. It was my Dad and brother in law Russ's first times there, which is sad, since Russ lives there, but whatever! I once again enjoyed my two favorite things, Wisconsin Califlower soup and Summer berry salad. Yumm-O!

One of the other super special things we got to do was visit an old friend. Heidi and I grew up dancing together. We were both the youngest of big families, who were all on the teams, and we were always partners. I do not have a single dance related memory without her in it. Through the wonders of Facebook, we found each other, and a few months ago she had her third baby boy, Logan, and contacted me. Logan is a heart baby. We talked days after the diagnosis, and just 2 days before his first open heart surgery. I got to be her Welcoming Committee to the Heart Mom club. I cannot tell you how fun it was to reconnect, yet under such crappy circumstances.  Logan has HRHS as well as a number of other defects. I jumped at the chance to meet him while we were up there- meeting at Training Table was an added bonus!

Could this little guy be any cuter? And his color was so good! Not a blue mouth, tow or hand in the bunch- which is amazing. I loved his little mohak!

Logan at 6 weeks old, and post op from his 1st OHS.

Heidi and I & our Heart Babies

Each year we spend one day over at the Snowbird Center doing the activities. This is always a day the boys look forward to. We ride the Alpine Slide, Take a Tram ride to Hidden Peak,jump on the bungy tramp & bounce house, ride the mechanical bull, mine for precious stones and this year they even had a ropes course.

Riding the Alpine Slide

& Panning for rocks

Bouncy Tramps and Rock Wall

The Tram

Views from our unit

I had to include this photo for sentimental reasons... you see when we were little there were so many of us that I usually slept in the chairs. They make a perfect little bed, and as I grew we even added the food stool to lengthen it.  Braden slept there one night before realizing Nana had an actual bed he could use and jumped ship to their room each bedtime. Berkley fell asleep here for his naps. You know he is sick when that kid naps. 

We went down to Rodizio's at Trolley Square for dinner one night. It used to be one of our must have's when we came, but it had been a few years since we had been there. But it was every bit as delicious as I remembered. Berk was fascinated with the block. He did NOT want it turned red, and every waiter that came by he insisted on trying what they had. Braden even braved a chicken heart, although he couldn't swallow it, he was braver than I am! Brenner loved it all, as you can see from his face. I especially loved Kelcie's food hangover face. 

We spent one morning in Park City, ate at Kneaders again and hit the outlets. After that we made sure to hit the pools again and it was time to start packing. We had an awesome time at 'The Bird' and can't wait for next year. Finger's crossed another unit comes up for sale so we can have a little more space.

Up next, our family reunion! We had a busy few weeks...