Household Chores

Brinly has been learning how to help more around the house. She was doing a marvelous job of vacuuming and, I just had to document it.

Also, she is learning to help with the laundry as well...not quite as cooperative:) Cade was sure enjoying the ride!

Our Autumn

Apparently, we went through a little bit of withdrawls this Fall season. We did not see any beautiful fall foliage! So, one day Brin and I took a walk in the 80 degree weather and found a few leaves we could call Our Autumn. It helped, a little.

Oh, and please note the homemade turkey decoration Brinly made in her art class...yes, we are saving it:)

Big Sister, Brin

Brin decided she needed to help Cade with his Cherrio snack. Notice the floor..she thought she would help him eat them faster in order to keep more from being wasted on the ground:)

Turkey, turkey

Family Times:

So, we had a marvelous time in Logan with all the family. It was a fast trip up to northern Utah, but provided great memories all the way! Kim provided a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmin's and a lovely home to entertain all the extended fam.

Brinly and Auntie Lynds having fun with the purple grandma pillow. Lynds is just sparking!

As you can see, Lyndsey is kindof liked by her nephces (as Ali has coined to mean, neices and nephews b/c the English language doesn't provide a word meaning both). Addie is such a doll. Just one question, why do they both have their mouths open?

I just love this photo! Mother and daughter, shining with sunlight.

Cade showing off to Grandma and Grandpa his silly smile. He truely thinks he is smiling and puts on this forced, scrunched up face and just grins at whomever he is communicating with. It's pretty funny! Auntie Katie must have given him few lessons in the pre-existance!:)

Good ol' Grandpa with Katie. He put up a good fight to have a good time while we were there, but still struggled. It was great to see him! Thanks for the wonderful company.

Brinly's Favorite part of Thanksgiving:

This picture doesn't quite show the reality of how favorite this was! Brinly was constantly asking Lyndsey and, "what's that girl's name again?", Kendall to play dolls with her. Oh, it was so much fun!! Kendall and Lyndsey were such troopers playing along with her whenever. She hasn't forgotten!

Shane's Homework:

Shane practicing his head and neck physical exam on Kathy...Jaydon is trying to figure out what is going on?! We had a good time at the Hulses on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was lovely to spend time with them. Brinly and Jaydon had a great time together, and didn't fight! Yippee!!

James, that is definately an interesting view!

What is that?

The first victim, James. He was very willing to let Shane practice on him. What a great sport!

Tamra's House:

Black friday, we spent the morning at Tamra's house doing various things. Our main purpose was to help her with the leaves in her yard.

As you can see, Brinly enjoyed the event. She kept asking where the big comb was...meaning the rake. Cute little mind, so very logical.

Gingerbread Houses:

That evening we had a great time making true blue gingerbread houses at Jay's house. It was a great time. Jay was busy making frosting for the rest of us decorating. Thanks to all her hard work, we enjoyed making a huge mess of sugar and candy.

Two things I've completed!

Ok, I know this seems pretty boring to some...but his is a major accomplishement for me!! I canned 21 quarts of pears on my own, while Shane watched the kids. We will be enjoying pears for a good long while:) I didn't burn myself until the very last little pint. Don't they look pretty!

This is my other accomplishment: Brinly's task chart. We spent a week trying to get this thing put together. We found stickers or clipart pictures laminated them and added velcro dots to them. She can put them on the ribbon when she completes the task. We also started a "behavior jar" as well, where she gets to put in a heart or star in her jar for good behavior and has to take one out for bad behavior. When it gets filled up, she can do a special something (whatever we designate). Anyway, exciting post, I know:)

The Air Show

My USAF pride emerged as I, a military brat, husband, and two children, rode onto Nellis AFB with a bus full of Jr.ROTC cadets, a retired AF pilot Colonel, and a retired AF Sargent. Passing through those gates brought back many memories. Seeing the multitude of AF pilots strutting in their flight suits stirred a familiar feeling of belonging.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, though it was VERY loud. We never thought that we might need ear plugs, but the kids were really struggling with it (Brinly didn't like the noise at all and Cade would cry out of pure fear). So, we found a vendor that wasn't sold out, and paid $1/ set of ear plugs. Here is Cade sporting his while in awe of the airplanes....who he was talking b/c he was SURE that those noisy contraptions were making that noise to communicate to him! It was so cute.

Brinly wouldn't take her hands off her ears...ever! While napping, she still had her hands on her ears, with her ear plugs in:) We love her!!

To the right is mama and Cade, with the ever-so fashionable ear plugs:)

The S.D. Ford Missile...oh dear!

Grandpa and Cade..having a good time!

This was Brinly, Cade, and Shane's first Air Show.
Brinly and Daddy inside some large carrier...huge, eh!

Although our Brinly is adorable in this picture...this is something I would never want to mix. Such innocence in a machine of war (though it is also the means of peace at times as well...just thought there is a bit of irony here).

As we sat on the flight line, we watched the famous Thunderbirds demonstrate their skills in formation flying. It was really pretty amazing to watch, and even more amazing as my Dad explained how such moves physically effected the human body (like flying upside down...he said he hated doing that b/c it literally hurts).

The Dam Tour

We enjoyed a fun tour of the Hoover Dam on Saturday with Kathy (Shane's sister and fam), Scott, and Jaydon. It was really interesting, and the view was great! They are building a new freeway that goes OVER the dam, so there isn't so much traffic ON the actual dam. You can see the construction if you look closely. Anyway, it was quite interesting to learn how we are able to live comfortably in this desert environment. Thank Heaven's for so many people's sacrafices so that our little family could enjoy eletricity of every kind, and plenty of drinking water! We are so blessed.My cute hubby and son smiling on the Dam!

Shane, Scott, Kathy, and kids in a tunnel 50 stories underground next to the dam. Pretty neat.

Brinly and Shane generating electricity for the comupterized household.

Cade really enjoyed the tour, as you can see:)

Brinly and cousin Jaydon enjoyed the tour inbetween naps in the stroller:) Building memories...

Trick or Treat Innocence...

I got to thinkin', and the only thing about Halloween and it is a strange tradition! If anybody has any insights on where all the silly little traditions came from, I'd be interested in knowing. The part that I enjoyed is displayed right here! My two cute kids dressed up, though Cade HATED his costume, as expressed here! It only lasted a few seconds. Brinly loved her little Piglet and had fun trick-or-treating at our local outdoor shopping center. Very fun.

Afterward, we passed out candy, and Cade discovered this! HA, it was great fun.

Brinly, Cade and Shane enjoying the spooking little maze at the shopping area. What a cute Daddy!

Fambly Fun

CUTE KIDDOS!!

Brinly, Cade, and Addie having a grand ol' time in the port-a-crib at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They really had a good time together.

We had a great time last weekend at Mom and Dad's...and Jami, James, and Addi were able to meet us there. Cade took a likin' to his auntie Jami:)

We went to Lynds' and Dad's highschool and watche an excellent rendition of the Wizard of Oz. And my Aunt Rache pulled a surprise visit and came with us. Good memories!

Happy Pumpkin Painting

We had a great FHE, painting our pumpkin for Halloween! So fun.

White Coat Ceremony

Today was Shane's special Physician Assitant White Coat Ceremony, where each student was "cloaked with their white coat". It was rather unique and very fulfilling. Most medical programs do this at graduation only, but this school does it at the beginning to help the students learn professionalism, responsibility, and motivation during thier coursework, shadowing, and rotations. It was neat, and Shane looked very handsome in his white coat! Good work Shane...we are proud of you!!

This program was held at the Bally’s casino and hotel’s grand ballroom (which reeked of smoke, but was nice). So, Brinly was exposed to a casino for the first time—she thought they were great looking computer games. We had to have a little talk about that this evening…not sure how effective that was…but better than not. I was a little disappointed in my photography skills…my pictures are not very good.

Family of Ford's

How to make dinner with two kids:

Yes, here it is. This is how I make any meal
when the kids are awake:) Cade really enjoys the sink and Brinly usually in standing on a stool, but nonetheless...our goal of dinner is accomplished without too many mishaps.

Well, our little Cade is officially on the move! We wanted to show you our little man. He has much more hair now and it is actually starting to lay down (versus static style). Enjoy! Sorry it is so dark.

Cooling off:)

Well, life is good. We've had a week of unique events. Shane had school off weds. through friday, so we had some time to do some fun things. We went to the M. Ethel Chocoate Factory here in Henderson. It was fun to taste a free chocolate...the tour itself was kinda lame, but interesting. We also watched a movie on the green at the Henderson District, where they had free popcorn and candy---to Brinly and Shane's delight! It was nice. They showed Narnia...a good one.
Cade is on the verge of crawling. He gets up on all fours, and can move his arms and legs, but not together. He has yet to get that coordination under control. It's pretty cute though to see him try so hard to get something out of reach. He tries SO hard! He is determined, but he just isn't quite physically able to yet. He also is starting to gab, moreso when he is eating than any other time (like it is just so satisfying to have food in his mouth, that he has to express it verbally....pretty cute). And he is doing the "raspberries" ALL the time...drooling like crazy. Cute though.
Brinly went to the first day of her pre-preschool class on Friday. SHe thoroughly loved. In fact, when I dropped her off, she didn't even look back or say good bye!:) She just soaks in every minute. It's only once a week, but that's all we can do for now. We've been having a few potty accidents this week, not sure what the deal is. I think she just gets too busy and then has to go so bad, she can't hold it. Darn.
Anyway, doing well. It's finally starting to cool off just enough to make things barable at night. It is actually ok to go out for a walk in the evening. During the days it is only in the low 100's vs. 116. We've heard that this is the hottest and longest summer(lingering temps) Las Vegas has had ...we made it just in time! Lucky us.

Four Years and still runnin'!

Today was our 4th wedding anniversary! Yep, we are American made and still running strong:) Thanks to all those contributing to our success.

Las Vegas, here we are...

Las Vegas, with it's incredible heat, is becoming a home. We are enjoying our new home full of fans, though it is lacking greenery inside and out. We miss the green!
This week Brinly stopped asking me when we were going home. She is beginning to realize, this is our new home. She has asked when can we go play with Matilida or when can we go swimming with Matilida...but other than that she is adjusting well.
Cade is rolling over and becoming a little cranky with his aggravating teeth. The bottom right one has broken through, while the left one is still making it's way. Poor guy. But he is still a smiley little guy!
As for Shane, he is into his program neck deep. It is going well. First exam is Friday! He's nervous to say the least.
We miss Harrisonburg!