March: spring! outside! sunshine! grass!

March 1st found myself and the wee ones outsiiiiide, hallelujah! We ventured out on bikes, played in the front yard, and curled up with a blanket when we remembered it was still technically winter ;).

These facial expressions kill me - so intense... and all in regards to a nutrigrain bar?? Girl's a nut. 

We headed to the zoo with Grandpa Pam on the first Saturday in March. First we met up in Boise and I handed off the kids while I went to the temple and they ran errands. Then we had a nice reunion amongst the goose droppings in Julia Davis park haha and headed into the zoo!

It was a bit chilly and most animals were wisely in the warmest/most hidden crevices of their respective areas, but we found a few furry and feathered friends to gaze upon and then hit up all the popular photo op areas. Also the giraffe slide:

 We looooove Grammy Pammy! Thanks for hanging out with us!

Okay, is it dorky OR cool that as I sorted pictures from Chuck's phone and then my phone, I realized we both took about fifteen pictures of these double rainbows one morning? Imma go with cool ;).

 Fun fact: if you're outside and Carma is outside she WILL harass you until you stick her up in the tree.

 Ohhh man we missed our front yard during those wretched winter months. Literally my favorite thing to yell is "GO outside!" (as opposed to "Brush, don't chew!" or "Shoes and socks on, NOW!" Those are just the things I yell most often, not my favorite things to yell. I can see how people would be confused.)

 I bet if people were asked to guess what my favorite article of clothing is, they would say athletic shorts or leggings or one of my many dresses or something orange. Honestly, it's that yellow sweatshirt. I want to be buried with it. < --- is that official enough? Do I need a notary or something?

Jackers was thrilled to dust off his wee bike and start ridin' again. Key word being 'wee' - Chuck and I realized pretty quick that it was looking a bit like a clown car situation and Jackers needed a bigger bike. JUST KIDDING, it was my dad that saw a picture and texted me a 'height/bike' chart haha!

 So then we dusted off this big boy bike from the hand-me-down-from-Will pile and it looked HUGE but it turns out Jack is also huge and after a couple spills took to it just fine! Insert allll the crying face emojis that my baby's all grown up!!!!!

 He was so excited and proud of himself and zoomed around pretty much every day.

 Have I mentioned all four kids on the trampoline is my favorite? Seriously considering family pictures out there one of these days - wouldn't that be so fun? 

One highlight of our March outdoors experience was adding one more thing to the every growing (get it?) list of things that Chuck and I can plant in the ground without killing immediately: tulips! We bought about a million from Costco and planted them both too shallow AND too close to each other and they popped up anyways! So pretty! And fun! Expect more pictures of them in April posts! We took more pictures of and pride in them than possibly our children for a while there!

(also: in the interest of honestly: the list is actually very short. We don't appear to be gardeners or arborists or farmers or like anything remotely resembling the like)

March church stuff

Random pictures from a random March Sunday! I think I sent the group shot to Chuck at work to prove that we were early to church haha. Also, this was a special day that Carma chose her own accessories and insisted on bringing the entire bucket of crayons into sacrament meeting. Awesomesauce. Also, if Jack has never whispered a secret into your ear you're missing out. It's loud and wet and realllllly fun haha:

 March pack meeting for Cub Scouts! There was a fun electric 'campfire' that the kiddos gathered around and then some Scouts told stories. Will's was long and involved - hence the drawing on the chalkboard - and adorable!

Another random Sunday, this time featuring Clyde going down a couple steps on his bike to Carma's amazement. Also Chuck was home before dark and took a wee Sunday afternoon nap which was quite out of the norm. He (and Carma) thoroughly enjoyed the novelty!

 Also please enjoy Carma's initial attempt at a church outfit vs. her second (and final) version. I think both are adorable and hilarious and show her emerging personality!

Random Sunday where Carma sneaked into Relief Society after church and pretended like she belonged there haha:

Grace and me! We were recruited to help with a super cool Mutual activity for the youth that taught about the Plan of Salvation, headed up by Brother Curtis. Grace and I were in the room that taught about the Terrestrial Kingdom and it was a really neat experience to study about our Heavenly Father's plan for us and testify about it to the youth, emphasizing His love for each of us.

March = the birthday dinner for Relief Society and my calling = heading it up. Lots of awesome people contributed to the decor and food and dessert and it was a nice evening talking about how we can use President Hinckley's "Be" guidelines to bee-come better disciples of Christ. And Chuck possibly earns MVP for compiling all of the delicious chicken salad. Bottom right is me after it was all over. I feel like I deserved that collapse on the couch haha!

 March was an excellent month for going to the temple, and I like the progression of adding someone each trip haha. The first outing was just me on a Saturday afternoon; the next couple were with Emily and also Kara, making (I think??) her maiden voyage in our little group; and finally, we went during Spring Break as a Relief Society presidency which was a really neat experience - I think their favorite part was the picture afterwards ;). Maybe not...

march: Braden fam reunion part duo (I don't actually know Spanish, that means two right??)

Everyone, gather round Quinn's phone to read this recap... and when I say gather round, I clearly mean, let Quinn sit on you haha:

Sunday morning we woke briiiight and early to bid farewell to our hotel, which Carma had become especially fond of haha. 

And then it was time to head over to Quinner's church for baby Jethro's blessing. I love babies. I love baby blessings. I love the visual of men gathering to collectively hold an infant and humbly use the Priesthood to facilitate communication between Heavenly Father and one of His beloved children.

Random cute pictures of a sleeping baby Jett later in the day. Ohhhh man he's cute.

Carma and Leila... so cute... so unwilling to smile for a picture together haha:

Dad hit the road back to Idaho after the blessing but we snagged some pictures of Quinner with him before he left. Handsome guys!

Quinn and Eden graciously welcomed all of us to their place for food and general family bonding and merriment:

A lot of which occurred outside... on the playset...

Also on the rocks...

Oh, definitely on the trampoline....

Oh yes, some more climbing on the rocks occurred...

As a dutiful doting aunt, I made sure to be photographed with Jett in various light and settings. I want him to have plenty of options for his phone screensaver someday...

Here's the H-I-J gang out on the trampoline together. Hazel and Isaac are the cutest little best friend cousins and I love when Jack gets to join in too when we visit:

Are any of us shocked that Carma found some dirt to play in? Also that scarf hahahahaha.

Here's Jack demonstrating a favorite pastime in Quinn and Eden's backyard area - runnin' down the hill at full speed and managing not to fall:

More random pictures. Eden is the prettiest sleeping person I've ever seen... and trust me, I creepily observe a LOT of sleeping people...

Mama with her four kids! Don't you love gathering grown adults for a picture, knowing that no childish antics will ruin it??

OH WAIT hahahaha.

I call this series "Progression of a Girl About to Pee Her Pants from Laughing Too Hard". I'm awaiting interest from various modern art/photography exhibits and museums:

Seriously though. Funniest brothers ever... especially when they use their talents for good and not evil (aka making fun of their VERY NICE only sister).

We got a good one! 

And a couple of just me and the boys. Quinn claimed home field advantage and purposefully stood where the ground went up a bit - I promise he's not that tall and I'm not that short!

Favorite outtake: Will starting a sneeze hahahahaha:

Good lookin' crew.

Aaaaand then it was time to bid everyone goodbye... which Cody apparently attempted to do in one fell swoop, er, hug ;). I loved having a couple of days with my mom and dad and brothers all together - not sure when the next time will be (circa 2019? 2020?) so in the meantime I'll enjoy these pictures and memories!

march: Braden fam reunion part uno

Once upon a time in March, baby Jett was blessed in Utah so my parents and brothers and families all gathered round and had such a fun quick reunion! 

Our first stop on Saturday morning was a way cool indoor trampoline/playground place with Grandpa:

Clyde and Will explored a bit with Chuck and Quinn while the rest of us mostly stuck to the kiddie zone area. Jack and Carma loved running around with cousins.

Chuck and I both got suckered into climbing through the (small! claustrophobia-inducing!) tunnels. I think he went through with Jack. I shot down my own kids' requests but finally gave in to a super cute Miko because who can say no to winning over a niece??

Quick photo ops! I don't get to be around my dad and brothers all together very often, so this was really really fun for me.

The slides were a big hit. I'll spare everyone the video of me going down with Miko on my lap, but rest assured that the loud squeal after hitting a bump came from the grown woman and not the preschooler haha:

And of course Uncle Cody cemented his place in the hearts of various nieces and nephews by taking them on repeated trips down the slide, including one attempt with Miko, Leila, Carma, AND Jack. Lots of giggles that time!

Quick attempt getting Grandpa and the oldest ten grandkids in a picture: 

Ha, we'll take it!

All that running around built up some pretty serious appetites so we headed over to BYU campus for some reminiscing and food. Carma and Miko were so so so cute in their matching braids and flowery skirts and held hands the whole walk and I just died:

We went to the Wilk, which is across the street from the Law building where I attended church every Sunday during my year at BYU! Our ward met from 2pm to 5pm which was kind of brutal but also meant that we walked back to Deseret Towers and got straight in line for dinner which worked ;).

We found lots of excellent food options and enjoyed a little bit more time together as we ate.

Carma enjoyed scamming Leila out of her ice cream haha. Such good little sharers though!

At this point we stole Grandma Pam away from her cute twin sister/good friend and college roommate Sandra! Sandra lives in Orem and has graciously housed my mama and various members of our family over the years when we've been there visiting. We love the Thornes!

We handed Will over to Grandma and caravanned over to a park near Sam's house to spend the evening. Clyde sought some peace and relaxation whilst surrounded by younger siblings and cousins:

Chuck explored the playground haha!

The hit of the evening was this random spinning device that Cody spun and spun and spun for the kids:

I love Carma's face in all of these pictures!

My cousin Janessa lives near the park as well, and came over to the park with a few of her cute kids which was really fun too - Mom and Cody talked to Janessa and we all loved watching Janessa's cute Hazel (just a few months younger than Carma) and her darling shenanigans :). Such a lovely evening! Almost enough to distract us from Quinn having 9 o'clock church the next morning AND losing an hour to daylight saving's time, grrrr.