The Bradshaw's came to town...

I've been meaning to do this post for about 2 weeks now. Forgive me for my slowness...

So we went camping the other weekend with the Bradshaws. It was me, Trace, Tat, Chris, Bryson, and Brody....and um none other than Mr. George Straight. You can't go camping without George, um hellooooo!!On our camping trip we came upon a HUGE Black Bear. I'm pretty sure it was record setting. I took a quick picture and then ran for my life....Trace was lucky cause he caught a ride with another friendly fellow camper. Good thingTrace is hanging on tight...they were going PRETTY fast.Then low and behold...HOLY CRAP....a moose. Actually, a whole herd of Moosen. (Check out those stars in the background. They totally look like stars and not a bit like "show-case" lights. hmmm?)Meanwhile...I took a break and played some Wii. We, not "wii", played golf. Tat would get so pissed cause she couldn't putt. It was hilarious. I also sucked. However, I'm pretty sure we rocked at Bowling. Chris would do the funniest "approaches"...and Tatiana would say, "Oh WOW, REALLY??" ha ha. They are hilarious. Anyway...back to the camping adventure.While we were on my break we somehow ended up in the North Pole. Holy Frozen Tundra. Oh ya, AND I almost got eaten by a polar bear. ROAR....I ran so fast and far away from the Polar Bear that I found myself in the African Safari. What the??? How did I miss the Atlantic? Whatever....I got an amazing shot of this Zebra....Which, by the way, looks a LOT like my new purse...which my mom got for me in New York. (not pictured) Then right as I was snapping this picture, I was suddenly chased by some wild, crazy eyed Buffalo creature. "Ahhhhh" (Edited for publishing purposes!)Alright, alright...we REALLY didn't go camping. We just went to Cabellas. Which, as you can tell, is VERY exciting! We also got to look at the fish and stuff and stuff. Here is Nick, Brandy, Tat, and Trace by the African Safari. Don't Trace and Tat make a cute couple? ha ha. It totally looks like it.After, or no, maybe it was before Cabellas we went to Nick's mom and dad's house. They are the one with the sweet sk8ter dog. They also had a really kick-a Super Sport Camero.We played croquet in the grass. I pretty much sucked. I think I recall coming in last. Here is Tat and Bryson...I couldn't get a good picture of him looking at me. But he is one cool kid. See, I told ya...he is one cool kid. Check out him rockin those shades. The rest are just a couple of Brody playing in the grass.
We had a ton of fun with the Bradshaws. (SICK....CRrrrrrUNCH!!!) They have got to be the funniest people on the planet earth. They are so much fun to hang out with. Bryson is so dang cute and he got along with Brody so well. He only tried to ride him like a horse once or twice! I only wished they lived closer. Thanks for coming up to visit. (For a more detailed description of their visit to Utah...check out her Blog!)

Trying out the 100

Don't feel obligated to read this.

1. I love to laugh...laughing is contagious...most of the time.
2. I can quote movies like a mad man.
3. I love to quote movies with my friends and husband. I love it when Trace quotes movies with me. I love Trace.
4. I really enjoy watching basketball. Mainly the Suns, but they suck sometimes and I end up getting irritated.
5. Sometimes I think I'm weird cause I like to watch Sports Center.
6. Shopping isn't my most favorite thing. My mom used to get so mad at me when it was time to pick out a Prom dress. I was so picky and I knew EXACTLY what I wanted...and we would shop and shop until I finally found it. Looking back at pictures those dresses were nothing to brag about!
7. I love having friends and making new ones. BUT my old friends have a greater understanding about me.
8. I love the smell of rain in the mountains.
9. I enjoy leaving singing messages. I especially love to sing old country songs by the Judds, Reba, or Alabama.
10. I have an amazing singing voice.
11. I used to have to sing at the family Christmas party. Rustin, Kari, Kristen, and I. We are pretty much amazing together. Quartet anyone?
12. Speaking of amazing singing. I once sang in a "Little Miss Navajo County Pageant" when I was like 5 or something. I got stage fright...and it ruined my singing career. Thanks a lot mom. I could be making big bucks in Nashville.
13. I drove a kick-a car in High School. I drove a Cherry Red Station Wagon...AKA "Wild Thang." I HATED it at the time...but looking back...I loved that little car. Many good times had by all. AND I loved the auto seatbelts. So cool.
14. I loved playing sports in High School. Volleyball, Basketball (even though we sucked), and Softball.
15. Bus trips were uncomfortable and unforgetable.
16. Oh I love to leave really long messages about nothing imparticular on peoples phones. I think it is hilarious...even though it really isn't.
17. I love a phone call from an old friend.
18. I love getting daily emails from my mom, danica, and my dad...and sometimes Rustin. It's amazing that we have enough going on in our lives to write something each day...but we do...and it's a great way to stay in touch.
19. My little sister is outspoken and tells you what is on her mind...wheither you like it or not. AND I love that about her. I wish I could be more like her.
20. My mom is the best mom in the world. She's supportive, funny, creative, organized, giving, faithful, and just so much fun to be around. I want to be like her.
21. One of my favorite college past times was living with Ashley, Jesica, and Diane. :) I loved being Ashley's roomie and sharing our ward drobe, playing raquetball, softball, going swimming, cooking sunday breakfast, playing football with the JC guys, and just hanging out 24/7.
22. I also loved living with Amanda, Robyn, Jessica, and Caroline. SCUM, volleyball, Gold's Gym, Denny's, Applebees, Texas Roadhouse, SO FUN. Someday Amanda and I will build a house next to eachother. All my friends are welcome to build next to me.
23. I consider my roomates 1/2 sisters.
24. I love small towns. I will live in a small town someday.
25. I want to raise my babies in a small town.
26. I love babies. I love my Brody. I was SO scared about being a mom. I'll admit...somedays I have to slap myself to remind myself that I'm a mom...and that maybe I should grow up a little bit.
27. Danica used to say that I was more immature than she was...and she's three years to my younger. I just like to have fun...and act stupid sometimes.
28. Class clown 2002...explains a lot.
29. Believe it or not...I'm kind of shy around people I don't know. It takes me a while to warm up. But once I get started, there is no turning back.
30. I'm an amazing artist. (see header...um hello, amazing!)
31. I LOVE hair products. I love to use a good shampoo and conditioner. Too bad it's so expensive and I have to give up my right arm for it.
32. For the most part I loved being a waitress. I loved summers at Torreon with Rustin, Danica, Laura, Krista, Nick...lots of work, but fun working with all of them.
33. I also loved working with Rustin at Islands. NO ONE believed we were brother and sister...for the LONGEST time. It was hilarious. Rustin- do the macarena for old times sakes.
34. I, as well as my sister, enjoy watching people fall, slip, and crash. (as long as they aren't hurt too badly.)
35. I love to watch people...they are so interesting to me.
36. I love having clean sheets. It's one of the best things ever.
37. OH new socks are next to heaven.
38. I love mowing the lawn. I always try to make the lines perfectly straight. Maybe I should work at a baseball field.
39. I sometimes get bored at work and end up filling out really long lists that are pretty much pointless.
40. Every morning I wish that Brody would just sleep for 30 more minutes. Why don't babies come with snooze buttons? THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!
41. I love going home to Show Low. It's funny cause a trip to Wal-Mart is like a 10 year High School Reunion.
42. I love my inlaws. They are such fun-loving people.
43. I want to have a lot of kids. Not 12 like Lon and Toni. But maybe 6. Is 6 a lot? It seems like a lot to me.
44. I HATE repeating myself. I get really frustrated if a person keeps asking me "WHAT" over and over again. DID I STUDDER? Come on people. I get anxiety when people don't understand me.
45. If I'm teaching someone a new procedure, or trick, or pretty much any hands-on training kind of thing I'll repeat myself once or twice. After that you are on your own. Best of luck.
46. I don't like to explain myself. I are who I are. I is who I is.
47. I think of myself as a quick worker. Stand back and don't get in my way!
48. I MAY be just a LITTLE stubborn! I think I inherited it from my dad.
49. Oh I LOVE to dye my hair, but I don't anymore cause Trace doesn't like it. The things I do for love...
50. I LOVE LOVE getting a pedicure. mmmmm....love it.
51. I love getting a pedicure with a friend.
52. I love getting a pedicure with a friend and drinking a Dr. Pepper with crushed ice at the same time. OH HEAVENS YES.
53. I love sleeping on my stomach. I slept on my stomach the day after Brody came out. Best night of sleep I had in 9 months...well, minus the screaming baby at 2 and 4 and then 6 in the morning!
54. I love it that Brody sleeps ALL the way through the night.
55. I've been told MANY times that Trace and I are a lot alike. Our personalities mesh well, but we are different in a LOT of areas.
56. I wear hard contacts. Not very comfortable...but they give my blind eyes amazing vision.
57. Someday I want to decorate my own house. I dream of having a "magazine house" someday. I clip out pictures and save them for ideas. Someday....Magazine house + a small town = PERFECT.
58. I've never been to the East coast. The farthest east I've been is West Texas. I know...I'm very well traveled.
59. Someday I will travel the world...or at least go to the East coast.
60. I created a Holiday in our High School. It was called "National T-shirt Day." You see, how it worked was that you got the UGLIEST shirt you could find and wear it to school. Seriously, I'm talking UGLY. I once wore a shirt that had a pig frying bacon on it and it said "Pigly Wigly's BBQ". I also wore a shirt that had lights in it...real glowing lights. Some other girls tried to claim that they started the day, but um no...it was all me.
61. I am very forgetful at times...and this drives Trace completely crazy.
62. I have a habit of throwing away important papers. I think I got this one from my mom cause she would throw any sticky note, piece of paper, notepad paper, or ANY other type of paper away if it was left on the bar for more than a day. The only way I wouldn't get thrown away is if you wrote, "IMPORTANT...DON'T THROW AWAY!"...and even then it was still in jeopardy after 2 days.
63. I've bitten my fingernails since I was in first grade. I saw one of my friends doing it and I thought, "Oh wow...cool!" My mom tried to put this skunk fuem tasting polish on my nails to try to get me to stop, but I would just pick it off and then keep on biting. Haven't stop since.
64. I bite my nails the worst when I'm playing a game or when I'm watching a game. It may be a nervous thing.
65. I've never ran my car out of gas.
66. However, my dad did at about 2:00 in the morning on our way to Texas...after he just got done taking 2 or 3 No-Doz pills. We made it to a gas station, which opened for service at 6:00 am. He spent most of the night walking circles around the place and jumping on the service bell. I'm surprised he didn't get shot by the owner.
67. I love drinking water. It delicious to the taste.
68. I want to own a boat someday and go to the lake weekly with all my family and friends. The more the merrier.
69. That's what she said.
70. I love Brody's laugh and I love it when he gets excited to see me.
71. I think Brody inherited Trace's laugh cause I love Trace's laugh a lot too. Especially his "rocking laugh."
72. One of my favorite childhood memories is going camping with the WHOLE Reidhead clan at Brown Creek. We used to build the coolest forts EVER. A-mazing. I could be a fort architect.
73. I had 3 lambs growing up and was a proud contestant in 4-H. Buddy, Lambert, and Lamb Chops. They were good compadres. I had Buddy trained. If I would whistle from our back porch in Vernon...he would come bouncing towards me.
74. I lived in Vernon Arizona. Population= 13 1/2.
75. My dad almost cut my finger off. We were getting my lamb ready for the Navajo County Fair and when LambChops jumped, I grabbed him and my fingers landed on the newly sharpened sheers. Not a pretty site.
76. I like to play practical jokes on people.
77. Everyonce in a while I'll dress up like Richard Simmons and dance around the house.
78. Did I just say that?
79. I once sunk a tractor in like 6 feet of mud/clay. It wasn't a good day on the farm.
80. I once broke out the back window on a tractor. I then spent the rest of the day fighting dust allergins, flying rocks, and MONTROUS mosquitos. It wasn't a good day either.
81. I once bailed 3 or 4 rows of Hay without having any twine in the bailer....NOT so smart.
82. I can rap the song "SHOOP" by Salt n Peppa word for word. Along with "Ice, Ice Baby" and "Baby Got Back." I dare you to dare me to do it.
83. I don't really like to wear shoes. I love flip-flops. I've been known to wear flip-flops in a snow storm.
84. I take a multi-vitamin everyday.
85. I love going to Mexico. Its fun and carefree. Plus it makes you realize how cool the USA is when you get back. We used to go during Spring Break when I was little. I loved it there.
89. I'm proud to be an American.
90. I love country music. Old and new.
91. I love going elk bugaling and trying to get as close to the elk as possible without totally freaking out.
92. I used to really enjoy going out to the farm and shooting those darn jack rabbits. That was actually one of our (me and Trace's) first dates.
93. I really admire how hard of a worker that Trace is. He goes to school from 7-12, does wood work from 12-4, comes home for an hour and eats dinner, and then goes to UPS from 5:25 till 10:30. One day he'll only have to work one job and it will be WONDERFUL!!
94. I like to save money...but at the same time- if I want something, I want to buy it...no questions asked. (Trace asks a LOT of questions...ha ha.)
95. Oh and I would love it if my house was a constant 70 degrees.
96. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
97. I have a really weird discoloration on my front tooth. I've had it ever since I can remember. Maybe one day a family dentist will fix it for me....hint, hint!
98. I hope all my kids turn out as cool as me! :) j/k.
99. 99 bottles of be...coke on the wall.
100. I love my life and I have no regrets.

I'M DONE!! I did it. Holy cow. That took FOREVER! Sorry to all those who actually read it.

Jaime Stephens...

Jaime had a Birthday the other day...and I'm just barely getting around to a birthday post. Jaime is the most caring, funny, board game lovin, Black-eyed Peas singin, thoughtful, welcoming, friendly, and generous friend. She is such a good mom and inspires me to get more organized! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAIME...a couple days late! (She's the one on the left!) I also drew this little picture for you! AND I wrote you a poem. But the poem is on your card and I'm not going to spoil the surprise until you get your card! :)
Anyway, hope you had a great day! Thanks for being my friend.

Question...

So at my job I answer phone call after phone call. I always end by saying something like, "Thanks for calling, have a good day"...you know...something friendly like that. BUT before I say "BYE", I always say "mmmm Bye." I also noticed that other people on the other line do it as well. Is this a Provo cultural thing? Or do other people do it? I think the "mmm" is VERY unintentional and very habitable (and yes, that is a word.)

Update

I took some new pictures of Brody. It was so funny...when I set him in the grass he held his leg up like this for about 2 minutes. It was hilarious. I guess he didn't like the feel of the grass. Then we moved to a chair on our front porch...I can't believe he is going to be ONE in July. That is just nuts. My baby is getting TOO big...TOO fast.
Aw, so handsome.
Check out those saggy cheeks. Nice profile.
Trace left on Thursday night to attend a "Fathers and Sons" adventure with his family. They went fishing at Lake Powell. So Brody and I got to chill over the weekend. We went swimming with the Stephens. Brody was tired and he did not like it at first...but he ended up liking it a lot in the end. I even put him all the way under the water. It was scary for me, but he was a pro. We had fun chillin with our pals. (I have no pictures because Trace had the camera.)
Anyway, these are some of the nephews...and a couple of the neices holding up their fish. Lets see, from left to right. Fisher, Twinner, Nolan (you can barely see him), Twinner, Bailey, Caitlin, Dennon, Lexi, and Reed Jr...I mean Timmy.

Here is the happy fisherman. This fish doesn't even compare to the glory of his previous fishing trip.
Here is Timmy.
Here is Poppa Lon, Twinners, and Reed.
I think they had a great time. Trace loved spending time with his family. I'm jealous that I didn't get to go. Heaven knows my pale skin needs some sunlight. Alright, well have a great day! We are off to explore the world...

Our back yard...

Well, since we have a HUGE "back yard"...we decided that we should have a HUGE deck to go with it. We (Trace and Banning) added on to our deck over the weekend. Pretty fancy huh? Now we can have BBQ, a swing, a mini refridgerator (with a six pack of be....soda, and candy bars and pretty much anything you want to keep cold). Next we are thinking about adding a swimming pool and a gazebo.

Most annoying sound...

So Brody has started doing this horrible, ear screaching, stuck pig squeal. The only thing I can use to describe it is this....HOW DO YOU MAKE IT STOP???

More from AZ

My mom sent me a couple pictures that were taken with her camera. (Trace had our camera on his fishing expedition...see previous post.) Brody loved Aunt Nica's water bottle. She was in the shower and Brody was having a hay-day. So funny.
I just love my family. It was so great to spend some time with them. It doesn't happen nearly enough. Coming up on Mother's Day I just wanted to tell her that I love her and send her a boquet of her favorite flowers...LILIES. I love you mom...you are the greatest mom ever...in the ENTIRE world.Here is a picture of my beautiful momicita and sister...and Budah.I love my daddy too.And here is Brody and I before church. He looks so thrilled. :) Check out his penny loafers.

My new addition

I got my new straightener in the mail....FINALLY! Good bye frizz. I got a BaByliss one. (Well, actually, Trace got it for me. He is quite the internet bargain finder.) Anyway, so I plug it in...wait like 1/2 of a second and WALAH...it's hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks. Hooray! Just thought I would share the good news. Here's a picture of my new bundle of joy...

Trace's fishing trip

While we where in Arizona, Trace got to spend some quality time with a couple of his bros. They went fishing and caught some GINORMOUS fish. These babies are huge...probably record breaking. Please don't be jealous.HA HA HA. I just love it how he looks so proud of himself.Showing off his amazing catch.
AHHH....a flying sucker fish.We rode down with the Stephen's. It was a great trip and the kiddos did really well. The rest of the pictures of from a pit stop in Ganado or Chinle. One or the other...an indian town regardless.Me and Brodster waiting in line. And what is that in the background you might ask? I'll let you decide....but to me it looks like Savannah learned a new trick. (Jaime, I know I shouldn't encourage Banning, but I couldn't resist.)Brody, the King stricking a pose.And here is his little Queen....Here is the gang enjoying Burger King. As you can tell on their faces, they are all REALLY excited to be there.
We had a great trip to Arizona. It was wonderful to see family and friends. Thanks to the Stephens for letting us catch a ride. Until next time...

Aunt Danica

I stole this picture from Danica's blog. But I just loved it and wanted to tell Danica how much I love her and what a wonderful person I think that she is. She is such a good Aunt to Brody. She carried around his fat booty all day! :) Anyway, we had a great time with her...we love Aunt Nica.