Bradan is 8!

I can't believe that Bradan is 8! It seems like yesterday that I was waddling my big, pregnant rear end around the block, praying that "tonight" would be the night. At about 34 weeks my dr. examined me and told me I was dilated to a 3. Holy cow! With Tate I hadn't dilated at all until the day he was born. This kid must be coming any day. I was in the YW presidency at the time and was scheduled to go to girl's camp, at the end of June. It wasn't far from home and I was tough so I decided to go ahead and go. Maybe it would put me into labor. No such luck! I made it the whole week-sleeping on a cot and using an outhouse. I came home and began my nightly walks hoping to encourage the process-with no luck. My due date was July 14th and no baby, July 16th was a full moon-that would be the night-still no baby. Finally on July 17th I went into labor about 11:30pm. We drove to the hospital and by the time we got there I could barely walk. I had not had an epidural with Tate and I had no intention of doing that again, but just my luck I was too close to delivering. No epidural-AGAIN! Needless to say, I was not happy. Bradan was born at 2:50am on Tuesday July 18, 2000. He weighed 8lbs. and 14oz. What a cow! He wanted me to know who was in control and that he would come when he was good and ready. He still likes to torture me on a regular basis, but I love him anyway.

8 GREAT things about Bradan

1. He is very artistic. He loves to draw and write stories he has made up.

2. He is pretty carefree, which I am so jealous of. He didn't inherit my anxiety. His main concern is when he is going to get to eat.

3. He LOVES lasagna! He always tells me that I am a good cook.

4. He does a great job with homework.(most of the time)

5. He loves to build things with Legos.

6. He loves his friends.

7. He is a big sports fan. (Most of the time rooting for the opposite team as Jon)

8. He is a super cool kid and we all love him very much!
My sweet little baby, just a few days old.


Always into some kind of trouble

Bradan decided he was a cowboy at the age of 2.

He loved horses and anything to do with the wild west.

He would watch the old black and white, John Wayne cowboy

movies. And knew all about the old west outlaws.

Summer Fun

With Tate and Bradan in KY visiting their dad, our summer's around the Jarvis home are always relatively quiet. It is a nice time for Jon and Nathan to hang out and spend some quality time together. This year they went camping up on the Rim. They reported some nice bonding time and pretty weather. It looked like so much fun that I want to take the whole family when everyone is home.

Binky Babies

A couple of weeks ago we got Jace a "big boy" carseat. He was so ready to be able to sit up and see what was going on. I love this age when they start doing all kinds of new stuff and everything is a big deal. So here are my big kids-Addison with all of her paraphernalia-binky, bear, cup, and always shoes(which you can't see in the picture). She wears her flip flops 24-7, unless she is in bed. And the binky, she is too big and I know it. But I am too chicken to try to take it away. So for now I will just enjoy having 2 binky babies.

4th of July Fun

Jon's brother Jim and his wife Sandra hosted their annual 4th of July bash. It is always loads of fun and this year was no exception. We celebrated with the short end of our crew. All the big boys were off partying with their other families. Jon, Addison, and Jace had fun swimming. I was a party-pooper and opted out. Jace has no fear of the water. He wants to dive right in and must be restrained constantly. Addison on the other hand is pretty nervous of just about anything-she takes after me. But she did pretty well and even shocked everyone and decided to be a little bit social, playing basketball with Uncle Jim, Colin, and Jereme. We ate some good food and had homemade ice cream. Yummy! Jon dreams about Sandra's homemade Oreo ice cream all year. It is his favorite! We stuffed ourselves until we could barely move. We all headed over to Banner Desert to watch some fireworks. Addison was a little afraid at first because the fireworks were "noisy", but she relaxed and enjoyed the show.

I am grateful for people like my older brother Preston, my good friend Christopher, and so many others who defend our freedoms and keep us safe. I feel blessed to live in a country where we are free. Happy Birthday America!

Blue Steel

For those of you that have seen Zoolander, Jace is giving me his best "Blue Steel" look. For those of you that haven't, Don't. I am embarassed to say that Jon thinks it is hilarious. My little baby is 10 months old. He has graduated from Baby Jace to Bubba Jace. This is not a KY thing, I never called any of my brothers bubba, and I didn't know anyone that did. But somewhere along the way Jace became Bubba. I literally could not get him to hold still for 10 seconds so I could take a picture. He is busy, busy busy! This month Jace had his first haircut. Jon cut all of his pretty curls off while I was at the dentist. So now he only has a short little afro. After Tate and Bradan left for KY I moved Jace's port-a-crib into Bradan's room, from our room. We were going to test out the-it is time to go to bed-no more rocking you for 30 minutes-you are going to have to cry thing. And low and behold he has started sleeping all night. Who knew, that he just wanted a little privacy. This is a MAJOR accomplishment, as some nights he was getting up 2 or 3 times to eat. I am not sure what we are going to do when Tate and Bradan come home? Maybe the garage?

4 Years of Wedded Bliss

Okay, here is the story...Jon and I met, he fell madly in love and begged me to marry him. I wasn't so sure, but then he promised he would tickle my back every single night of our lives. How could I pass that up? I would love to report that he kept his word on the back-tickling, but you know how it goes. To celebrate our 4 years of holy matrimony we were able to go away for a little break, thanks to my wonderful in-laws!!

We had a great time lounging by the pool, reading, watching movies, eating some yummy food, and lots of sleeping.

In 4 years, we have both grown, literally-we have both packed on a few pounds, spiritually-we have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives countless times and have felt his love for us, and emotionally-we are stronger together and continue to develop a bond that will last for eternity.

Called to Serve

Our nephew, Jordan, recently received his mission call to Puebla, Mexico. Jordan is a super cool guy! We will miss him, but are so excited that he has chosen to go on a mission. We are very proud of him and know he will make an awesome missionary. I am thankful for his and Trevor's great examples. I hope that our boys will follow in their footsteps.