We have a new pal

Welcome to the world,

Olivia Nicole Jewkes

Tara and Jer welcomed a beautiful baby girl today. We are happy to count her among our friends.

Cy's 1st Day of First Grade

Today was Cy's first day of school. It was very traumatic. I was sad to let him go all day, but the kicker was he had to ride the bus. His school is very close to our home but because it is being remodeled they are busing the kids to another school for a few weeks. Cy was very nervous, which is rare. I grilled him about what bus he was riding, where to find his teacher after he arrived, how to remember his code for school lunch, what bus to take home- it was a lot to remember for a little guy. Luckily, when we arrived at the bus stop, he found a familar face and he calmed down. I, however, cried the rest of the morning.

I arrived 20 minutes early to pick him up. I did not want to miss him getting off the bus. He was so happy. He loved school, loved reccess, loved hot lunch (chicken nuggets with ketchup) and LOVED riding the bus. I felt much better about it knowing it was a good day for him.

Happy Birthday Cole

Today is Cole's 3rd Birthday. It is also the first day of 1st grade for Cy and my best friend Tara is welcoming a baby girl today.

I cannot believe that Cole is 3 years old today. I spent last night watching old videos and crying my eyes out. I handle birthday and milestones like a real champion. I baby Cole so much that I really need to take a step back and probably knock it off. He is still in his crib, he still takes a binkie at night and every time I see another child his age I always tell the parent that their kid is "huge" even though they are the same size or smaller than Cole. I just have not come to grips with his growing up. He is such a funny little boy. He is at such an enjoyable age. He says something off the wall everyday. He LOVES to talk. Him and Cy get upset with each other because they both want to be the one talking all the time. One of my favorite things that Cole doing right now are "tricks" on his scooter. He puts his leg up and does these dance like moves and then he will make up funny names for the trick. And while I baby him, it is amazing how much more quickly they learn somethings. They want to be like their older brother so they are much braver about things. My other favorite thing he is doing right now is telling me all the time for no reason, "I Love you, Mom." It melts my heart.

My Mom, Dad and I took Cole to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point today. It was one of the first times I can recall in a long time just having Cole alone. He didn't really know what to do with himself. He kept asking if we could go get Cy. The Museum is really cool, I would recommend it. I think Cole enjoyed all of the attention. He told me it was his "favorite birthday."

Happy Birthday Cole, We love you.

Go Cy and Cole...It's your birthday party!!!

We threw a very fun birthday party for Cy and Cole this weekend. There b-day's are 8 days apart so we do one big party. My parents have been kind enough to offer their backyard every year since Cy turned 3. For the second year we rented an inflatable water slide. It is a big hit with the kids and the early delivery time allows the adults to take a few turns on it before all the guests arrive. For the first time at the boy's party the boys out numbered the girls. Things went well until a major storm came in. It put a shade tent almost entirely over the back fence and broke our brand new pop up shade tent. That was sad. In all the commotion, the cake was dropped, I threw a piece of cake at Cy and then it went bad. I ended up soaking wet in the bottom of the slide, thanks Kev. We had to retire to the house.

The boys were spoiled rotten by friends and family. They loved all of their presents, everyone was so kind. Today Nolan and Cy spent the entire day playing the Wii. It was a wonderful weekend.

Tuesday is Cole's 3rd birthday and Cy's first day of school. I don't know what Cole will do without him. We are sad to have him back to school so soon. We will have lots to report then.

Good Job Dad

I can't believe I have not blogged about this. Nolan graduated with his Bachelor's Degree in Business Management in mid-July. We are so proud of him. This journey has meant almost no sleep for Nolan the last couple of years. He was a good Dad and husband staying up into the wee hours of the morning doing homework so that he would not miss out on time with the boys. Both of us are very excited to resume some normalcy to our lives. Congratulations Honey!

Cy's Birthday

Today is Cy's sixth birthday. I cried typing that. It is amazing how much more quickly the years fly by once you have kids. I am trying not to be such a boob about his birthdays but they are always hard. It is both exciting and sad as each year passes. I really had a especially hard time when Cy turned four, it seemed like he just wasn't a baby anymore. I had made such a big deal about it, saying "Please, don't turn four. Stay three." that soon after his birthday he asked me if I still liked him. I was taken a back a little and said "Of course I do. Why do you ask that?" He replied that he thought I did not like four year olds. So I apparently gave him a complex for his birthday. Good job, Mom.


He really is such a good boy. I try to tell him every night that I am proud of him for having good manners, for being so smart, kind and handsome. We call him the "Mayor" because he can work a crowd. He means so much to us.


He has recently been saying some funny stuff, here are a few. Nolan and Cy have heart to heart talks every night at bedtime. I enjoy listening in to what they discuss. Sometimes they go on for an hour. The other night Cy brought up a neighbor boy who's mom is divorced from his father and remarried. When Nolan asked Cy was divorce meant, he said it is when someone has "just had it" and says "I'm outta here." Then proudly he stated that he had an idea, she should take her old wedding ring and mail it to Cash4Gold.com. She would get back lots of money.
The other day he was tired of running errands with me but I needed to pick up my contacts. I promised it would be our last stop. He told me "but Mom, you look so great in your glasses." Nice try buddy.
Lastly, this weekend Nolan and I were having date night so Cy was staying at Granny's. We mentioned we were going to see The Dark Knight. We gave hugs and kisses goodbye and then he said in the sweetest most matter of fact way "You guys enjoy your Batman." Sweet Boy.


Cy also has a lot of his mother in him - a major bonehead. He is usually pretty agreeable, but if he is fearful of something, forget about it. This meant dragging his feet on the task of learning to ride his bike without training wheels. Nolan had attempted many months ago, but because he crashed Cy refused to try again. He told me there was not enough money I could give him to learn. Nolan and Cy agreed that he needed to learn before he turned 6. Yesterday was the day he was going to learn. One little spot and he was off. Of course he loves it now.


He recently lost another front tooth. The neighbor boy punched him with the Hulk hands. We never found the tooth but the Tooth Fairy paid a visit anyway.


We celebrated with a little swimming today with the neighbor boys. Cy got to choose what we served so it was "chicken on the bone" (a.k.a. fried chicken) and no cake - just ice cream.






Cy was very excited to get a Wii, I think we all were. He also got a metal detector. He is going to look for gold and turn it into Cash4Gold.com. We'll let you all know how that goes.



We love you Cyborg, Happy Birthday!

Reunited and It Feels So Good........

The Brady Family Reunion was held over the 4th of July weekend. We rented a lovely home up in Deer Valley that accommodated all 29 of us. It was a huge house with many delightful amenities, like a theater room, but it did not have air conditioning. What is up with that? Park Cityians do not get hot? That was the only real annoyance, but we persevered. I appointed myself as the activities director and we had many fun activities indeed. We watched Fireworks on Friday night and then did the Alpine Slide and Mountain Coaster on Saturday. I did NOT fall of the slide this year, that's not to say I survived the weekend without injury. Our rental home community had a pool so we swam every night. We did a fireworks show

at the home. Did I mention I brought 100,
actually 94 fireworks? I may have mentioned
that once or twice. Sunday was craft day, the
kids (and Heather) made flip flops. They turned
out so cute.



We arranged a movie night for the little ones. Our feature presentation was Alvin and the Chipmunks. On my way to deliver popcorn and milk duds I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle. Heather found me in a ball at the bottom of the stairs debating how I was going to get up and after she was done laughing at me, she helped me. My ankle is very swollen but my back hurts much more. Makes me realize I am getting old.

It was great to have Grandpa there after a huge health scare last winter. I am amazed at how well he is doing each time I see him. We were lucky to have most of the family there, we missed a few. I hope those who missed it will enjoy this post. Michael was in Mexico scuba diving, Brady is playing ball in Kansas City and Candy, Sammy, Jenny, Robert, Camari, and Brooklyn were unable to attend. But Candy's son Micah and Jenny's daughter, Austyn did make it. That was a special treat because we do not get to see them as often. They were such good kids and so much fun to have around.

We did lots of eating, playing, laughing and just a little crying, ok, I cried. I always do. Chel makes sympathetic eyes at me and it is over. I had so much fun, it makes me want all of us to live next door to each other. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends in my family. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Try this recipe for homemade buttermilk syrup that Aunt Pam and Chel made next time you have pancakes, it is easy and DELICIOUS!!

1 C. buttermilk

1 C. sugar

1 cube of butter

1/2 TBSP. of baking soda

Mix butter, sugar and buttermilk together until melted. Add baking soda and remove from heat.

Catching up

I am far behind with my blogging and long overdue in introducing Maile Alexa Gallegos, born to Kanani and Chico on June 1st. She is so cute. I think her favorite activities are snuggling with me through softball games, I cannot be sure though.

June brought the end of kindergarten for Cy, a sad day. We are enjoying our summer and looking forward to the adventures that 1st grade will bring. Cy already starts back to school on the 28th of July, I am not sure about this year round school. Cy and Cole have been doing swim lessons 4 days a week. We did some camping up Huntington Canyon for Father's Day with both of our families and some friends. That was a lot of fun and nice to be at Old Folks Flat which always brings back happy memories of my Grandma Marge (her favorite campsite).

The last weekend in June we went to The Bodine Family Reunion at Blackhawk Campground up by Payson Lakes. Unfortunately, we missed out on all the time we would've liked due to a sick dog and kids, all are fine, thank goodness. The Bodine sisters do a great spread with wonderful food and activities. They do a traditional dutch oven dinner on Saturday night. It's amazing!! I bullied Aunt Kathy into bringing her award-winning enchilada casserole. It's delicious and I will try to post the recipe if I can get it from her. I do not use "award winning" lightly, she really won a dutch oven competition. Aunt Pat headed up a craft, making frames with decorative rocks and grout. It was fun and the frames turn out beautifully. Some were a little frustrated, but it was worth the hard work. It is always nice to see the Bodine's, the family is getting bigger each year, Cammie and Jeff are adding the next addition in early Fall.