I am still alive....

But just barely! Life has been so busy! We have been sooooo busy and a lot has happened since my last post... so much that I don't even know where to start or how to catch up!!! I have been terrible about getting pictures of everything. I need to do better. I feel awful about how much I have missed capturing in pics but I can't really change it now! :( So, here is my attempt at playing catch up-

June-

We went to Utah for a few reasons. 1- My brother Kevin got married. Can you even believe that I didn't get one picture of any of the wedding happenings? What a bad sister I am!! It was a really great day. I got to play the piano while people were arriving for the ceremony. It was fun! Kevin and Clair seem really happy together and I am so happy for them!! 2- Masen did his second year of BYU football camp. He got to play in the stadium this year! It was pretty big time! He had a lot of fun. He does it with his cousins, Ethen and Zak. They have a good time together!! 3- All of the kids took swim lessons from their aunt Heidi and her family. I LOVE this swim school! They are so amazing! Kaylen was terrified of the water at the beginning of the summer and now she jumps off the side, goes down the slide, and swims like a champ!!! It was a jam packed trip but it was a ton of fun!!!

Here is the one pic I got of the football camp-



Here are some pics from swim lessons. Somehow I didn't get any of Jay and Brae. But rest assured, they were amazing!! ;)
This first one is Heidi throwing Kaylen off the diving board. This was the last day of lessons and Kaylen refused to try so Heidi took things into her own hands!!!







This next one is Mase doing a front flip off the diving board. He was pretty proud of himself!





Mase rocking the goggles. He makes those things look good!!!



A couple of days after we got home from Utah, Scott's brother Brent and a few of his kiddos came out to visit. Chris and Kaylee needed some dental work done. We did some swimming and just had a pretty relaxing weekend. It was a short trip for them but we sure enjoyed having them!!



July-

A few days after they left, my brother Mike, his wife Lisa, and their three kiddos came out for the Fourth of July. We had so much fun! Lisa and I took Braedy and Emily to see Monte Carlo. It was a cute show and it was so fun to have some girl time! Mike and Scott went golfing, and took the kids up on the Monument. The kids played hard and we swam a lot. Our next door neighbor has a huge Fourth of July party every year complete with an amazing fireworks show. So we sat in the backyard and enjoyed the fireworks. It was so relaxing and so much fun!!! I just wish I had more pics to share!! :( Here are a few-









After that, we had a couple of weeks where we just hung out and did the everyday stuff. Scott celebrated his 38th birthday on July 17th! It was on a Sunday so I made some sweet pork burritos, cilantro lime rice, and a mexican lemonade. It was yummy! Scott LOVES pie so we bought a couple of pies instead of having birthday cake. It was fun!!




About a week later, Troy and Lisa and their kiddos (everyone except TaeLor :() came out for a visit. We swam a lot (again) and just relaxed. It was so much fun! We love our family!!!!








The last weekend in July, Scott took all the kiddos to our Ward's Father's and Kid's camp-out. They had a great time and it was a nice break for me!! The kids all LOVE camping but man alive was it a lot of work getting them all out the door! So worth it though to see those smiling faces when they got home!! My parents came for a visit that weekend, too. The trip was short and sweet. We played cards and relaxed.

August-

The first weekend in August, we went camping with Scott's parents, Troy and Lisa and their kids, and Kevin and Heidi at Miller Flats up above Price, Utah. It was so much fun! I was exhausted by the end of it but it was so worth it!! After camping, we went to my parents to clean up and rest for a couple of days. Then we took our annual trip to Lagoon! The kids look forward to this every year!! Except for Jayden who doesn't appreciate amusement park rides! My dad took Jayden to a reservoir to go fishing in a canoe! Jayden loved every second of it! He said it was the best day of his life!!! Thanks, dad!!!

Here are a very few pics of camping. It was a beautiful campground!! Thanks to Kevin and Heidi for scouting it out for us!!





After we got home from that trip, we headed right into all the back to school festivities- registration, back to school nights, etc. School started on the 24th of August. Jayden is in 9th grade, Braedy is in 7th, Masen is in 3rd and Kaylen starten preschool on September 7th. (No back to school pics!) Since then, Jayden has completed driver's ed, Braedy completed a season of volleyball on the school team (which she loved and improved a ton!!) and Mase has started a new season of flag football. Kaylen is also taking an art class which she is enjoying more than I can even put into words!! Life is busy but I am loving every minute of it! I will be better at keeping things updated! I'm sure everyone has given up on me and this silly blog!

Quick catch-up!

I just realized that it has been almost 3 months since I posted anything... and a lot has happened! I don't know why I have such a hard time keeping up with my blog. Well, actually I do... Life is BUSY!! And I feel overwhelmed!! I keep thinking (and hoping) that life will slow down and get a little easier, but it doesn't. I LOVE being a mom and I am so grateful that I can stay home with my kiddos and enjoy watching them grow up! It just gets so crazy and busy and sometimes I just don't know how to deal with it all!! I'm learning though and hopefully someday I'll have it all figured out! I just hope it's before all my kids grow up and leave me!! ;)

So here's a quick overview of the Stoddard happenings for the last few months-
Masen played football for his second year. He loves it! In fact, he told me that football is his life! It surprises me that he likes it so much because he is such a shy kid. But put some pads and a helmet on him and he transforms into an aggressive little nugget!! His team didn't win a game which was kind of sad but Mase told us at the end of the season that he was the second best player on the team! :) I'm glad he has so much self confidence!! He played guard the whole season. He loves defense because he can tackle. It's pretty fun to watch him!!

Braedy had another great season competing in gymnastics. She only made it to 2 out of the 3 meets, but her team took 1st and she took 6th overall at both of them. She is taking a break from gymnastics this summer. She has been doing it for five and a half years and she is a little burned out. She's debating weather or not she wants to go back. She wants to try some new things so I don't care either way. I just want her to be happy!!!!!

Braedy also went on her first temple trip! (Which is why she missed the third meet.) The youth in our ward travelled to Draper, Utah and performed baptisms for the dead. They stayed overnight in some of the leaders' parent's homes. She had a really good time and loved being able to go to the temple! She has been waiting all her life for the opportunity! She can't wait to go back!

Jayden got his braces off! He looks great! It was a little traumatic because he was supposed to get them off in March but he didn't wear the elastics on his braces like he was supposed to so he had to keep them on for another month. When he finally got them off, he was so happy! Now, it's a struggle to get him to wear his retainers! If it's not one thing, it's another, right? I can't believe how fast he is growing up! He starts HIGH SCHOOL in the fall! And he is going to be starting driver's ed soon!! In Colorado, kids take driver's ed at 14 years old, get a learner's permit at 15, and their driver's license at 16. I am dying! I don't know how I got so old so fast!!

Kaylen and I wrapped up our year of rotating pre-school. It was so fun! I loved having her and her friends in my home every few weeks. It was so fun to see her interact with her peers! She is going to an actual pre-school in the fall. Still just 2 days a week but it will be good for her to be in a different environment and without me!

Masen finished 2nd grade, Brae finished 6th, and Jay finished 8th!! They had lots of fun end of year celebrations and field trips. None of which I got any pictures of! I have been terrible!!

Jayden went to another week of Scout Camp. He loves it. He loves being outdoors and everything that comes with it. He fished for his dinner twice. The first night, he didn't catch anything so he didn't get dinner! But the second night, he caught a 12 inch brook trout, cooked it over the camp fire and ate it! He said it was one of the best things he's ever eaten!!!!! He's so funny! I thing he brought home most of the dirt from the mountain! ALL of his clothes were so dirty!!

Braedy is currently at her first year of Girl's Camp! I can't believe it! I have been a wreck all week! I worry about her because she has such terrible allergies and she has a hard time dealing with things when they aren't perfect! But the Young Women's President was only up there for a day so I got to talk to her and she said Brae was doing great and having a wonderful time and she didn't she any signs of allergies!! Yay!! She comes home tomorrow and I can't wait!!

Scott is in Moab right now playing with a few of his partners. They are mountain biking and river rafting! He told me that he might die on this trip but his life insurance is paid up so I should be fine! Ha ha! He is soooooo funny! The Colorado River is really high (pretty much flooding) and that is the river he is going on! They are crazy!! He texted me last night and told me that he hurt himself mountain biking. He is getting so old!!!

There has been a lot of other things that have happened too. Small things, just all the day to day happenings. It has been chaotic! But I love it! I just need to figure out how to deal with it all without getting down! Depression has been an issue off and on in my life, and I have been seriously struggling lately. I don't know why, I have so much to be grateful for! I just need to learn how to enjoy the journey! Life is good! God is great! And I am so blessed!

Vegas, baby!!

Actually, Henderson but close enough, right? We went to visit my brother and his family over spring break. He is in dental school at UNLV. They have a 9-month-old baby boy that we have never seen before so we figured it was about dang time! Scott drove down to Vegas with his buddy Sam. They met up with a bunch of other guys for a few days of golf and NCAA basketball action. They got to watch BYU win a couple of awesome games and then lose miserably!! The kids and I drove down a couple of days later. We had so much fun eating out, playing games, late night talking, and just hanging out!!

We went to Lake Mead one day to feed popcorn to the fish and we had a picnic lunch. My kids love Lake Mead!!


What a bunch of cuties!! Ally is behind Kaylen. Pretty sad that's the only pic I got of her!!


Two of my favorite people in the world!! Leah and Corbin


Big Mase in action!!


Jayden kept trying to catch a fish with his bare hands! He was unsuccessful and pretty bummed about it!!


Crazy kiddos!!


On the way home from the lake, Chloe started falling asleep. Kaylen tattled on her because I never want her to fall asleep in the car because it's usually in the evening when she wants to fall asleep. Anyway, I told her it was OK and then I said, "You can fall asleep too if you want." She said, "I can?!?!?!" After I assured her it was alright she was out within 30 seconds! I had to snap a pic before I got them out of the car! Such cute girlies!!!


I forgot to pack church clothes, so while Dave and Leah were at church we got really bored and put all the kids up on the shelf. They stayed there until Dave and Leah got home. We thought we were really hilarious but I don't think Dave and Leah agreed!!!



Dave and Leah have a game called Just Dance on the Wii. It was sooooo fun and addicting! We spent a good amount of time playing it. Dave is the master at it and he doesn't even try! The rest of us are like totally into it and getting all sweaty and out of breath. And he just stands there and basically moves the arm with the controller and he KICKS BUTT!! It's pretty funny!!



Masen and Kaylen just dancin'!!


Me and Braedy


Cute Corbin!


Jay-Dawg and Bigsie dancing away to Cotton Eyed Joe!!


Dave and Leah letting loose!!


Me and Kaylen getting our groove on!!

Jayden really wanted to go to Hoover Dam so Scott and I took him, Masen and Kaylen. Braedy opted to stay home with Dave and his family. It was amazing! I would have liked to do a guided tour and go inside but we just parked and walked on top of it. I'm glad we went though.


Looking out on Lake Mead. The water level is super low! Kind of scary!!


Jayden looking over the side of the dam!





Looking down from the top of the dam!


At Hoover Dam. This is a new bridge they just built and it is REALLY high!!!


We have so much fun with Dave and Leah! I wish we could see them more! Thanks for having us guys! Hopefully it won't be so long before we see you again!!!

Kaylen Rae is four-years-old!!!

Kaylen turned four-years-old on March 2. (I know, once again I'm behind on blogging!!!) She has been so excited for her birthday so on the morning of her birthday I told her that she is four now and she looked at me and said, "No, I'm not, I'm not big yet!" I guess she thought she was going to be noticeably taller overnight!! We had a really low-key day. We have been so busy lately that her birthday was almost an afterthought. She chose to go to Chuck-E-Cheese's for her birthday dinner. Not my favorite but she (and the rest of the kids) loved it! Here are some pictures of her opening presents.















Kaylen and her new big girl bike!! She loves it and wants to ride it all the time!!



The lovely store bought cake that Kaylen picked out for herself! I was a little lazy this year!!



Blowing out the candles. Not sure why she's standing on the counter... I must have been really tired because I don't even remember that!!

I have been doing a rotating pre-school with some other moms in my ward and it has been so fun!! So instead of doing a separate birthday party for Kaylen's friends, I combined it with pre-school. She had so much fun!! We had a pinata, and some cute cupcakes that I decorated with flowers made out of marshmallows. But I didn't get any pictures of all of that. Just opening presents.








They all wanted to be in on the action and no matter how many times I told them to back up, they kept crowding around her. She loved it though! These kiddos are so much fun!!!!





Kaylen, Hannah, Nicholas, Edison, Jesse, Lincoln, and Taylor after all of the festivities! We had a lot of fun!!

I can't believe that my baby girl is four! She is so much fun to have around! I can't imagine life without her!! She is so funny and has more personality than any one little girl should ever be allowed to have! She loves being social and asks me everyday, "What do I have today?" She constantly wants to be on the go and is always upset when we don't have anywhere to go!! Kaylen has a lot of spunk and just loves being alive. She is almost always happy and somehow sees the good in any situation. I have so much to learn from this little girlie!! I am so grateful that my Father in Heaven sent her to me!