Getting ready for Christmas...

Last night we went out looking for our Christmas tree. We spent quite awhile looking for the perfect tree. Carey instructed the boys that the right tree would speak to us and let us know it should come home with us. The boys decided this was the tree that "spoke" to them. It was pretty cold but lots of fun.

Braxton put up the angel on the tree this year.

It took a lot of serious concentration to get the angel perfect.

My three helpers... It's so nice to have the tree, decorations and lights up and it's really starting to feel like Christmas. Now we just need SNOW!We hope all of our family and friends are healthy and happy. Have a great holiday season!

Thanksgiving...

This Thanksgiving we did something totally different. Braxton and Brody went with their dad for the holiday, so Carey and I took off for a long weekend. We stayed in Las Vegas in the MGM signature towers. They were amazing! For Thanksgiving dinner we went to Shibuya's and had sushi. It was so fun to do something different. It was such a relaxing weekend. On the way home we golfed at Sand Hollow in St. George. The course was amazing. It was so beautiful and was the perfect way to end a weekend of fun.

Love that swing babe!!!!!!

FOUR!!!!!!!!!!!

My pro-golfer...

This is me in complete bliss after hitting a great drive.

Sunny, warm Arizona!

Carey and I were able to take a quick weekend get away with our friends Tracy and Amy Smith. We went to Scottsdale Arizona. We golfed on Saturday morning, went to the Suns game that night and then on Sunday we went to the Transiberrian Orchestra. We had a blast. It was so nice to be in 85 degree weather for the weekend.

We sat on the seventh row and it was amazing!

Good Ole Shaq... That boy is huge!!!!!

And there's Nash... He's awesome!

RECENT PHOTOS OF EMILY, MAX and GRACE

Emily, Max, Grace and their little brother Johnny hanging out and enjoying the Fall in the Berkshires.

Emily played with the Varsity team in MA. She did excellent. She was written up in the local papers many times. Way to go Emily!!!!

EMILY and GRACE

MAX and GRACE

Halloween in Williamstown, MA

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Braxton and Brody dressed up 3 different times for Halloween. For the Branch party they were both grim reapers. For their school parties Brody was a skeleton and Braxton taped dum dum (suckers) to his shirt and smarties (yes the candy) to his pants and was a "Dum Dum Smartie Pants" (very clever:) )!!!

On Halloween night Ryley came over and Carey took the three boys out trick or treating. They had a blast. Ryley was adorable when he would go to the houses and say trick or treat.

This is what the boys looked like for the Branch party. The boys ran around and scared all the litte princesses and fairies. Boys will be boys...

This is me and some of the girls from work. It was so fun to see all the little kids in their costumes. Dr whiting dressed up as a doctor (boring :) )
I felt pretty cool being a super hero for a day!

THE DENTAL STONEHENGE...

In the last 2 weeks Brody has lost 2 more teeth. So at this time Brody has 5 missing teeth. We often wonder how he eats...

BRAXTON TURNS 11 !!!!!!!!

Braxton turned 11 on Oct. 27th. For his b-day party he chose to go to the Utah Space Center in Pleasant Grove.















The boys had to make sure they didn't upset the Romulins or war could break out and Earth could be destroyed.
They were excellent astronauts! They had detailed instructions before entering the simulator.































The boys were able to ride the USS PHOENIX simulator and go on a mission and study a supernova.


Here's some information about their trip and what each passenger was resposible for. Not only was it fun, but the boys were able to learn about Space also.

USS PHOENIX: The Phoenix was designed in 2359 to have the power of a warship while having the expandability of a science ship or diplomatic vessel. It is equipped with many unique weapons and equipment, like the pulsating phasers. It is also one of two ships in the Federation to be equipped with a working cloaking device.
The Phoenix is currently on assignment in sector 74, assisting with border patrols.
Captain: BRAXTON-The Captain is responsible for the ship, the safety of the crew, and completing the mission. The captain should be a leader, able to think quickly and make decisions, able to give orders, and have a loud, clear voice.
First Officer: BRYCE
The First Officer is second in command, and assists the Captain in anything he/she might need. The First Officer is also in charge of the sensors and cloaking device systems.
Tactical: ALEX
The Tactical officer is in charge of the defence of the ship. They are in charge of the weapons and shields as well as security teams and internal sensors.
Engineer: ZACH
Should any systems on the ship become broken, the Engineer would be the one to fix them. The Engineer also controls the main reactor and distributes power.
Helm: OAKLEY
The Helm officer controls the engines on the ship. They are in charge of the warp engines, the impulse engines, and thrusters, and controls the ships destination.
Operations: BRODY
The Operations officer is in charge of the communications systems. They also control the transporters and tractor beam.



The trip was a success and the boys returned back to Earth safely...

GOURMET MEALS...Watch out Betty Crocker

Are you wondering what this is?????? This is Carey's favorite Saturday lunch he makes with the boys. They like to call it "The Spread". Here's the recipe if you're interested in making it... Lets see... I think he puts in some hot dogs, ramen noodles (spicy vegetable is the best), chili, salsa, chili peppers, green tobasco, nacho cheese, regular cheese and Fritos. Every time he makes this gourmet meal it's gone in minutes. I'm a little higher maintenance and require peanut butter and jelly on the days the boys eat this.

Doesn't this look YUMMY????????

Nutritional Value: Lets not talk about it.

GREAT JOB EMILY!!!!!!!

Emily has been playing volleyball for the highschool team in Mass. where they recently moved. She has already proven herself as a go-getter and amazing athelete in her new school and here are 2 articles from the local paper. Carey definately has a proud daddy smile on his face!!!!


THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE




Weather:
PITTSFIELD, MA Now: 53ºF High: 67ºF Low: 45ºF 5-Day Forecast

Mount Greylock 3, Wahconah 1
DALTON — The Mounties rallied on the road behind seven kills from Chelsea Garrison for a 23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16 win.
Garrison added 28 service points for Greylock (2-0), while Sierra Schultz had three aces. Emily Mortenson notched six kills and 10 assists.
Jen Conner led Wahconah (1-1) with 13 assists, nine service points and three aces. Jessica Yarmey had 11 assists and four digs, while Sam Burgner added 12 service points and seven aces.

Mount Greylock (2-1) got 30 service points, five aces and eight kills from Chelsea Garrison, while Emily Mortenson contributed 14 assists, two kills and 15 service points.

Back to school

School started August 18th this year. It seemed like summer just flew by. The boys had lots of fun though in such a short amount of time. Lots of swimming, playing, sleep overs, family and friend parties, a few great vacations and a total blast just hanging out together. We've decided that Braxton and Brody should have been twins. They are inseperable. They can entertain each other for hours. They are amazing friends and awesome brothers.
Braxton and his cheeser...
The bear is still waking up...
Carey, Harley and I were so excited to take the boys to school for their first day. Carey made eggs for Brax and of course Brody had to have Life cereal. We are so excited for school to start and to watch the boys grow in so many ways. Goode luck this year boys!!! We love you!

FAMILY VACATION

Look at these handsome boys. They had so much fun exploring in the wild and looking at all the beauty and animals in the wild.

Braxton and Harley enjoying mother nature.
Say cheese!!!!! Brody posing for his next model gig. Look at those blue eyes. Watch out girls...
The Gang!!!!! John, Michelle, Olivia, mike, Taulor, Emma, Roz, Brody, Kim Carey and Braxton.
John and Roz
A family picture at Artist point.

Floating the river

We took one of the afternoons and floated the river. It took about 3 hours to float. Well actually we had to get out quite a bit and push ourselves down the river. It was very shallow in parts and the current was so slow. It took FOREVER to finish.
We had a good time but won't be floating that river again. It was way to slow and not action packed enough for us adventureous folks :) It was a once in a lifetime experience.
Brody was so tired after our day of fun that he crashed out on the couch. Nighty night sweet boy!

ANIMALS WE SAW IN YELLOWSTONE AND ISLAND PARK...

Here is a moose that we saw in Island Park on our animal hunt.
Close up of the moose
Now its really hard to see but there is a dark spot in the valley which turned out to be a bear. We couldn't see it without binoculars (a nice lady let us use hers) It was sure fun for the kids to see a bear in the park. That doesn't happen very often.
There is a bald eagle preservation in Yellowstone. The eagle's nest were so big and it was amazing to watch them fly over us.

The bison are not afraid to take over the roads and cross them at their own sweet time. They are so ginormous and scary!
Just lounging around, unaware of all the people that stop and stare at him.
We were also very lucky to see a wolf in the wild.

This elk was about 15 feet away from us. There was a park ranger keeping people at a distance. Carey asked the park ranger if he could go feed the elk a carrot. The park ranger didn't think that was too funny. He really takes his job seriously!
Look how close I am to that huge elk
Say cheese Carey and hope the elk doesn't decide to charge you :)
Duckies swimming in the river.
The buffalo were everywhere and when they crossed the roads in their herds, we just had to stop and wait.