Saturday.

These are just some things I observed today (and over the last week or so.)

There are going to be thousands of postal workers who will be laid off in the near future, and I'd like to nominate my mail carrier.

He's around 50 years old, and he's probably a mail carrying virtuoso, which is why he's kept his job this long. I've noticed he loves to socialize. He stands around our apartment mail tree, cigarette hanging out of his mouth while showing his young son how to sort our mail. Wow, an amazing mail carrier and a mentor for future mailmen-- we totally lucked out! He also an energy conservationist. He does this by not walking up the three flights of stairs to give me my certified letter, but skipping that step and putting the  "you have certified mail, pick it up at the post office" note in my mail box, even though I was home. He's amazing. I know, you're jealous.

Next item...

I'm very impressed with parents who are proactive in getting their cute little chubby tweens into fighting shape-- Jr. High can suck, especially if you're chunky. I have some advice though. Before taking them to my gym and telling them to get on the treadmill next to me, buy them a stick of Teen Spirit. I admit, by the end of my workout I probably smell pretty ripe. But I try to combat this by showering before my workout, using some clinical strength deodorant and heck, sometimes I even spritz on some of my Womanity.  So moms of cute little Tweens, let's be honest, you smell it, so I'll definitely smell it.

I'll wrap this up now. Obviously all I've done today is go to the gym & get my mail so I need to get some other things done right now...

Family TIme!

This year was the first Henry & Trudy Bradford Family Reunion.

Since we've moved to Texas I wasn't planning on attending because plane tickets are pricey & Dan wouldn't be able to go with me. A week before the reunion my Dad called & said he would be able to get me a buddy pass to fly free!

I was so excited, but really stressed because the flights were only standby. I was so nervous that I'd be stuck in the airport all day, waiting with an ornery toddler. Fortunately the flight to Utah had open seats, so we were off! Bridgette was a little angel the way there, and slept most of the time : )

We were able to do so many fun things on our trip. We visite Lagoon & Bridgette rode her first amusement park rides, and had lots of fun. We went to the water park at lagoon and went down the toddler slides--she wasn't really down with that.

We had BBQ's and crawfish boils, mini-fireworks by Bobby, lots and lots of sweets-- the usual family activities.

For the 4th of July we went to Thanksgiving Point and watched the firework show. It rained a bit, but not too badly. We got there early to get a good spot and passed the time playing games and chatting, and of course, eating! During most of the trip Bridgette was being very reserved and wouldn't go to anyone except me, but finally on the 4th she opened up a bit. I spent a couple hours playing games and chatting while Bridgy played with her cousins, aunts and uncles. She especially enjoyed acting out the "Thinking Chair" song from Blues Clues with Uncle Yikes!

Before the flight home we were able to get some dinner with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Leslie, although Bridgette was being very reserved and would only let them give her quick loves.

Snuggle Time!

Cousin Kennedy showing us her glowstick beard

Kickin' it with Boyd

Enjoying her new favorite treat- watermelon & watermelon rind : (

Cute little cousin Devri

Love Me some Phil Phil & Nicholas Picolas

A million grandkids and counting...

Uncle Yikes!!

First Firework show!

My Favorite firework photo...

Life in TX

Here are a few photos of a recent family outing. We went to the Stockyards in Fort Worth.

Although we didn't see it, they drive the cattle through this part of town to the stock yard for the cattle to be auctioned. It seems really old-school, but cool that they still do it that way.

It was about 105 that day, so Bridgette wasn't super excited about being out side.

I walked out of the restaurant to see Dan giving Bridgette a carousel ride (manually.) He put money in, but the horses went too fast & scared Bridgy, so he just pushed it for her, what a sweet Daddy!

Fort Worth Zoo!

We took a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo with our friends Rocio & Cavington. This was the prettiest zoo I think I've ever been to. The animals were all out to play (even in the 95 degree heat.)

Taking a ride on the elephant!

We thought this was real for a few seconds- it was very life-like!

This was Bridgette's attitude for the first hour there... it improved once she realized they had big "Kitties" and birds

This gorilla has it made

Bridgette feeding the birds, she LOVES birds, at first she tried grabbing any bird who visited for a snack. She caught on after a minute, and this was her favorite attraction of the day!

These are the most tired eyes!

It was a very fun day, and I'm sure we'll be back. Maybe we'll have to wait until the temperature cools a bit though.

Big Girl Bridgette.

Bridgette has developed quite the little personality lately! She insists on doing everything I do, as well as everything she thinks she can do (see the last post abou the stairs!) It makes for an exhausted mommy, that's for sure! Last night I was making pasta, and she insisted on sitting on the counter to help. Of course I wasn't about to let her near the hot burner and red sauce, so she got her own pot, spoon and ingredients. Here are some photos chef Bridgette.

The Big Move.

I’ve being MIA lately. The main reason, as I’m sure everyone knows, is we’ve moved to Dallas, TX for the summer. We were originally assigned to Denver, but there was a last minute change. Moving 2 times in four months has made me a bit more loopy than usual and I’ve misplaced my camera cords, camera chargers and my memory…

Bridgette’s First Road Trip:

During the trip Bridgette was heavy into a new addiction. She craved it the entire trip, she cried when we wouldn’t let her have it. It was difficult to not enable her addiction, as it made the 20 + hours on the road bearable, almost enjoyable.

Blues Clues. We had to wean her off of it slowly when we arrived in Dallas. It took a few weeks of daily distraction and a little Elmo to help take the edge off. She’s fairly clean now, but we let her have some Blues Clues here and there.

Other than the “addiction” Bridgette’s been good. She was confused when we first got here, and cried a little and had a short adjustment period…wait, that was me. No, she’s been really good though. Just playing a lot, enjoying creating chalk art on our 3^rd story patio. She doesn’t have my fear of heights. She had a little accident and sprained/ strained her ankle a few weeks ago. She’s a trooper though, and insists on walking up & down our three flights of stairs when we go anywhere, and the sprain didn’t deter her. She has Dan’s determination that’s for sure.

The Accommodations:

Oh, back to the road trip. We left Utah Easter Sunday. Dan thought that leaving that day would prevent us from eating a gallon of Cadbury mini-eggs. It did, but Lynsey gave Bridgette a bag of goodies and we ate a lot of that (I gained about 5 pounds on that road trip!) We didn’t get very far that night because we (I) were exhausted. We stayed at a hotel in Farmington, NM.

Now, I have never wanted to go to prison, but that hotel was even more of a deterrent. They should have troubled teens stay there to show them what a night in jail might be like. The bed linens were about as thick as 1-ply toilet paper, the toilet paper was probably ½ ply, if that exists. There was not tub, just a shower, with no door, just a curtain. The toilet also had no lid; it reminded me of the toilets, well, the toilets in a prison. The carpeting was that industrial sisal material, real scratchy. At least it exfoliated my feet. They didn’t put chocolates on our pillows, however Dan did get a chocolate colored curly surprise on his towel.

Enough complaining! I got a decent 2 hours’ nights sleep and we were on the road again! The only problem was I recently started a medication and ignored the little side-effects pamphlet, which were dizziness, sleepiness and nausea. So, we didn’t get too far the second day.

We stayed the 2^nd night in Amarillo, TX. The hotel room was like the Ritz compared the 1^st night.

Yummy Breakfast:

We ate breakfast the next day @ Cracker Barrel, which was my first time having breakfast there. YUM! There was this sweet older couple sitting across from us practically flirting with Bridgette, but they left a few minutes after we sat down. Then, a couple minutes later, the man came over to our table with this little chicky toy and handed it to Bridgette. He just said, “This is just too cute for her not to have.” And he left. It was so sweet! That was our welcome to Texas.

The Rest:

The drive to Dallas was not as painful as I thought it would be. The route took us through lots of little towns and farms. It was quite nice, really.

So we’ve been here about a month. The weather was mild through most of May and now hovers around 100 everyday. Luckily, we have a pool right out our back door. I’m always trying to come up with ways to stay occupied (I need some that don’t cost anything though!) Dan works 14+ hour days, so Bridgette thinks the Mexican maintenance guy is her dad and I am watching “Lars and the Real Girl” and taking notes on how to have a pretend relationship. Seriously though, he’s working crazy hours and we miss him! But we get to see him on weekends, which is better than when he sold before!

Any post that has to be separated into chapters is too long. So, I’ll end it now, but will hopefully write more soon.

I just wanted to post this... I walked into our bedroom and Dan was tickling her back and she drifted off, mid granola bite.

Bridgette's 1st Easter Egg hunt. Nick, she never would've made it without you man!

Her last hoorah at the old house. This was her favorite spot.

Our hotel wall artwork.

Blues Clues overdose (do ya like her new chair, we finally turned her front facing.)

At this sweet park playing with her friend Cavington. An older man, how scandalous!

Fair & Rodeo Weekend

Last week I took a final visit to Logandale, NV to visit my parents before we leave for Dallas. I planned the visit around the Clark County Fair because it's always a good time.

The weather was not very cooperative this year, but we did our best to enjoy the fair! The grounds are about 2 minutes from my parents' home & so we'd drive over (too windy to walk!) and check out all the sights. This included lots of 4-H exhibits and cute piggies, chickies and baby goats. I love baby animals, can you tell? It was also really nice to just walk around with my mom, who I won't see much over the summer. It was really low-key, and great.

I cannot mention the fair without giving props to the fair food. I usually go to the fair with Dan, who is kind enough to remind me how fattening & unhealthy the food is. This year he couldn't make it, so I took the opportunity to savor all the heart-clogging food I could buy! I had smoked turkey leg, dippin' dots (YUM) and funnel cake.

Fortunately, I was also able to take advantage of the wide open spaces in Logandale to go on long runs. This is one of the many reasons I enjoy visiting my parents, and it helps keeps me from returning home looking like I am 12 months pregnant...

The highlight of the fair is the Clark County Rodeo, which seems like the highlight of the year for my Dad. He grew up in the John Wayne era, loving the shoot 'em up westerns. He used tell stories (mainly to his favorite child, Bonnie) of his horses Blaze & Blue Boy, which he loved to take camping & could even do some fancy tricks on. This Rodeo gives him an opportunity to work with horses again and he seems to love every second of it! But I must say, he was woooorn out when he got home.

Here are lots of photos from the fair (mainly rodeo) And just a warning... If you belong to PETA just go ahead and skip the photos

My Dad & Nephew Austin (very far right) taking a break at the rodeo

This skittish horse didn't want to leave the chute & when he did, he went straight down. The cowboy fell off & the horse got up & started bucking around

Ouch!

My dad & Austin (the middle two) watching calf-roping which is my least favorite thing about the rodeo

Mom & Bridgette checking out the arts & crafts exhibit. The organizers did an amazing job, they created the apple orchard from "Wizard of Oz" using paper.

Pig races... they race for oreos. I almost got in and started racing too. I looove oreos.

This little piggie was so stinking cute! He swims for oreos, once again, this is something I can get behind.

Dad, Austin & Nathan (holding Bridgy) just got back from working the rodeo. Cowboy hats are required to work the rodeo.

Toby. I rescued him 8 years ago last month, and he has lived with my parents for the past 7. My siblings have given my mom old sweats, socks, shoes, etc. I gave her my old cat, you're welcome mama ; )