Happy Birthday Brady!

Brady turned 3 on August 21st. He was so excited that it was his birthday. On that Friday we went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday. He wanted Chicken nuggets so we ended up at Chili's, which really is the only option in town anyways. He was all smiles when they brought him is birthday scoop of ice cream.

 Saturday we had family over for cake and ice cream. Brady sure enjoyed opening his presents. You can probably tell from the pictures what his favorite thing is right now. We sure can't get enough of the Avengers around here.His current favorite is The Hulk and Hawkeye. We sure do love this rough and tough little man!

                                                            

First day of School

Last Thursday was Nathan's first day of 1st grade. For me the summer was way to short. I really feel like it had just started and all of a sudden it was time for school again. Nathan was nervous to start this year, especially after he found out most of his friends from last year were in the other teachers class. But so far he seems to be liking his new teacher and class. The other change for this year is now he goes to school for a full day. It is only one hour longer than kindergarten but he is definitely more tired after school now. Hopefully he adjust quickly because dealing with whiny cranky tired kids is exhausting.

Last stop

For our final stop we headed to Provo after the reunion to visit my Grandparents and spend some time with Jeremy and family. We left the ranch Thursday morning and arrived in Provo around lunch time. We just let the boys hang out at Grandma's until it was time for dinner and then we enjoyed a meal at Texas roadhouse before headed up to visit Jeremy and celebrate Lydia's birthday with some cake.
The next morning Jeremy and family joined us at a waterpark in Salt Lake. It was small but just the right size for our kids. Of course Nathan loved hanging out with his cousin Logan. They had lots of fun playing in the water. Brady wanted to spend all of his time in the wave pool, so that is where I ended up 90% of the time. After spending the day there we said our goodbyes and headed back to my grandparents for some Brick Oven Pizza, yum! Later that night my cousin Lisa and family stopped by to visit. It is always wonderful to catch up with family I haven't seen in years.
Saturday morning we got up early to make the 12hr drive home. Which was about 3 hours too long. But we were glad to get home and have at least Sunday to try and recover from vacation.

Of Course I didn't take very many pictures, besides a couple on my phone.

                                             Logan and Nathan playing at the waterpark.

                    Spending some quality wrestle/tickle time with great grandma!

                         One last picture before we headed out the door Saturday morning.

Dickson Family Reunion

Last Monday we got up early and drove from Mesquite, NV and headed to Antimony, UT for the Dickson Family reunion at Rockin R Ranch. Overall I think everyone had a good time, especially the kids. Dave was disappointed since they ended up being pretty restrictive about the horse back riding. He was pretty bored with the trail ride, I guess we have had just too much experience riding in the back country on our own. I couldn't do much because riding a horse at 7 months pregnant would have been a bad idea. I have been having a lot more pain this time around and just walking has been a strain. It would have been fun to be able to participate but I enjoyed watching the boys get excited. The biggest complaint I had was that the food was pretty awful. There were some meals that were decent but overall it was disappointing. I might have struggled more then the others because I have gestational diabetes again and their meals were very carb heavy, which is not so good for keeping my blood glucose low.
Brady's favorite activity was the pony rides. Everyday the would saddle up a couple ponies for the smallest kids and Brady would stay and ride them over and over for at least 30 min. His favorite was the little one named Buttons. He would ask for her by name. Nathan tells me his favorite activity was archery. Dave showed him how to use a bow and pretty soon he was hitting the target all on his own. Now he wants to be just like Hawkeye when he grows up. He also really liked canoeing in the pond they had on the property.
On the last day of the reunion we went down to the south ranch. There they had rock climbing, repelling, tomahawk throwing, a bullwhip and swimming in the river. The boys spent all their time playing in the water. Later that afternoon we had a family rodeo. There was barrel racing, pole bending, calf riding, mutton busting, and a donkey relay. Dave competed in pole bending and ended up with the fastest time. We had both boys ride the sheep. I think they both thought it was fun but Brady cried because he fell off.
It was a long tiring 3 days, but it was great to be with family.
I will try to keep the pictures to a minimum. I posted all of them to facebook if you want to see more.

                                                                 The Dickson Clan

                                                

                                                                 Brady on Buttons.

                                             Hay ride to tour the tiny town of Antimony.