American Idol 2008

So one of the BIG perks of my Dad's job working for Kellogg's (besides all the cereal, fruit snacks, and Kashi products) is the fact that Pop Tarts sponsors the American Idol Tour!  I went a few years ago (the year that Fantasia won) with a bunch of my girls friends and we had a great time...although I was WAY MORE EXCITED to go this year!!  Torey, her friend Laura, and I all got to go and it was a blast!  We started with the MEET AND GREET!!!!  (And so you know, I took over 200 pictures at this...so I'm REALLY narrowing it down!!)

Waiting to go meet the American Idols!

We walked into the room and were told to wait for a minute...apparently a minute wasn't long enough because then this guy pushed me into the line and we went.

David Archuleta signing my sheet and Kristy Lee Cook signing Torey's.

Most of the idols were really nice when we met them.  We weren't actually allowed to take pictures with them but we snuck some in!!

One of Torey' favorite pictures...we all LOVE David Cook!

There he is again...almost wearing the same hat as Brooke!

Probably our FAVORITE picture...although Torey wishes I wasn't in it!!  Torey even asked Jason Castro if we were breaking the rules and he said yes but continued to stand up to take pictures with us!  None of us really cared for him before but he was the nicest one when we met them all in person!  

My 8x10 that we were able to get autographed!  We headed to dinner after the meet and greet and then back to the E Center for the concert!!

Torey, Laura, and I in front of the stage before the show started....we had 10th row seats on the floor!  And here's my pictures of some of my favorites...

Michael Johns!!  He's wearing a shirt that said "I Voted For Archuleta."  Of course that got lots of screams from Archie's hometown crowd!

Brooke White!!  I totally voted for her and the Davids during the show!  She was barefoot the whole time!  She had taken Carly Smithson to Temple Square earlier in the day (Carly mentioned it when she sang).

She did two songs on the piano...this one was "Yellow" by Coldplay.

Jason Castro!!  We loved him after meeting him...just not really his hair or songs!

David  Archuleta!!!  Definately the hometown favorite!  

We ended up walking right up to the barriers in front of the stage during Jason Castro and had a great view when the Davids came out!  Not the best picture but this helps you get the idea of how close we were!  

ahh....David Cook!!!

Love him!  Even more after hearing him in person!!  I was wanting Archie to win originally but we all LOVED him MORE after the concert!  Not quite sure about the belt buckle on the side but whatever floats his boat!

As you can see, WE HAD A GREAT TIME!  It was so fun to see groups of senior citizen women screaming their heads off with the teeny bopper girls!  Thanks for the tickets DAD!!

Swimming

We have a great pool right in our neighborhood as part of our HOA and we've been having fun swimming there quite a bit this summer!  The only time I've gotten to take pictures has been when Grandma Leavitt, Aunt Torey, and Uncle Logan came to take Brayden swimming one afternoon!  Brian and Brayden go swimming and let Mom have a break at home quite a bit!  We've also been able to enjoy the pool with friends!!  I'm sure we'll be going more before it closes!!

He will either blow bubbles or kick when you have him like this.  Apparently he isn't convinced he can do both at the same time yet!!

He loves to jump off the side of the pool as long as you catch him before he goes under!

Look at those faces!

Enjoying a popsicle after a fun afternoon of swimming!  

Since that day we've gotten him a little fish ring and we put him in it and he kicks all over the pool!  It's so nice not to have to hold him while he does his "grip of death" on you!!  He's really progressed since we first took him this summer!  Maybe we'll be doing swimming lessons this fall?!?

4th of July

Our 4th of July was a lot of fun! It started off earlier than usual for us since I had convinced Brian that we were all going to the Freedom Festival Parade down in Provo! We stopped and got donuts and juice on the way down and ended up having a great spot to take in all the action! We all enjoyed the parade but the adults in our family could have done with a shorter version! It got hot and I wasn't feeling all that great to start with!!

Brayden enjoying his first big donut!!  It got pretty messy!!

Brian took charge of the camera and here's what he felt was picture worthy!!  Basically he couldn't believe there were people that dressed up like this for parades!!

Our Governor walked the route with his family.

Brian REALLY couldn't believe that Utah County has a Sheriff's Posse that is on horseback!

Brayden's current favorite show to watch is Curious George so he got pretty excited when he saw the big balloon!!

Brian's dream car...he'll have to tell me exactly what it is!

After the parade we headed up to Salt Lake to have lunch with the Price family!  Brayden LOVES playing with my cousins and it's so nice of them to want to play with him all the time!  They played so well  with him that I even got to take a little nap while we were there!!  Then we headed over to my parents house for dinner and a fireworks show courtesy of Logan!

Brayden can't get enough of those little snaps that you throw on the ground!

Aunt Torey and Brayden enjoying the show!

Mom gets passed over when Grandma's around!

Brayden keeps asking for fireworks...almost daily!  Guess he'll just have to wait until next year!

How Our Garden is Growing

The latest spoils from the garden...zucchini (and lots of it!), tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and lettuce! Brayden has been REALLY into helping and can't wait to water the "dirt" with me everyday! Also, I was lucky to get those 4 peas in the house! He had eaten the rest before we could make it inside! Carrots are the same story only NONE of them have made it inside yet!

These are garden pictures from around the beginning of July! We got really adventurous and planted quite a bit and expected to plant even more but didn't get to it! Next year maybe we'll add the corn, pumpkins, and cantaloupe we were wanting! Those things didn't make it because we got too lazy to finish weeding the rest of the garden! But rest assured, those weeds are now gone and our garden is looking great!!

11 of the 12 tomato plants.

Left to right: Green beans, Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots, Bell Peppers and Lettuce, Jalapeños, and Tomatoes

My Grandpa Leavitt has a little joke in which he says that Zucchini is what was called "Manna" in the Old Testament! He's been sharing his years of gardening wisdom with me and I'm so lucky to have such an expert gardener!! He did say I planted way too many tomatoes though! I didn't think 12 plants were too many when I bought them but now that they've grown like crazy and soon will be covered in red tomatoes, I think he might have been right! Our favorite thing so far has been the lettuce! We'll for sure be adding more than 4 plants to next years garden!! It's been SO yummy and SO convenient!

Watch Out For Flying Trailer Hitches??

So back in June I was driving on the main highway back home after a crazy day with a sleeping little boy in the backseat when the surburban in front of my lost their trailer hitch!! Luckily it didn't come through the windshield but I didn't really have time to react and it hit the bumper and hood! The worst part was that I pulled over to see what had happened and by the time I could get back on the highway, they were gone! (I wouldn't expect for them to know it fell off the back of their car but stopping somehow would have been nice!) So after paying that lovely insurance deductible, calling Brian to try and explain what happened, a lovely rental car, 2 days in the shop and a new hood, my car is back to perfect condition! But seriously...what kind of luck do I have to be hit by a trailer hitch!?!

Brayden's Bobblehead

I stumbled across an ad this morning that promised to make a bobblehead of you, so I made one of Brayden.

Brayden's BobbleHead

When Jamie showed it to him, he just kept saying, "Me, Baseball guy!" 

Slip N Slide Fun

So these have got to be my ALL TIME favorite pictures of Brian and Brayden together! We had so much fun together this day (back in June) and while it's a little long, I promise you it's worth it! Some of the best photos are at the end! Oh, and Brian wants you to know that he doesn't want to hear any comments about how white he is or about his farmers tan! Just enjoy the sillyness!

Father's Day

Brayden was still getting over his sickness and since we've desperately been working on learning to SHARE, he shared his cold with me! We had a fun day though and had Grandpa Leavitt and Uncle Logan over for dinner! (Grandma Leavitt and Torey were in Europe!)

We made these in my Primary class and Brayden gave one to Brian too!

Sharing the Pop Rocks

Brian wasn't expecting much (his new computer was his gift for most of his receiving occasions this year) and he was COMPLETELY surprised to get an old school candy card!

With Brayden being sick, he attended sharing time at church with me and made this cute crown which he insisted was his and not Dad's!

Brayden LOVES helping to unwrap gifts and this was no exception! We gave Grandpa some SF Giants cups, coasters, and a popcorn bucket so he can watch the games in style!

Brian, we love you very much and are SO thankful for the wonderful husband and father you are! Hope you had a good day! We love you!