Early Christmas!

Yesterday my little brother came home from his mission in Argentina. It was such a long anticipated day. We had our signs made and went up to the airport around noon to wait for his flight. All the kids were so cute holding their signs up through the window. For the last six months he has been telling us to get our kids ready to give him a hug when he got home. We tried to tell him that it has been two years and they would probably be afraid of him and wouldn't give him any hugs. The kids did so well. All but the youngest ones went right up to him and hugged him. They didn't even act like they haven't seen him for two years. It is so good to have him home and to hear his spanish accent.


The kids were so excited to show their signs. As soon as we saw the plane on the horizon, they started waving their signs. I'm sure he saw them. :)

Welcome Home Elder Trumbull Bundy!

Hugging the big boys.

There's a few more kids than when he left! Everyone was excited to see him, except for Traxton. Big surprise, he doesn't like anyone but mom or dad.

The picture we took a few days before he left. Wow, look how little they all look.

My Husband the Innovator

Anyone who knows Jared knows that he is quite the handy man. He can build or fix just about anything. This has been both a blessing and a curse. For example, a few years ago our roof leaked, a lot. Jared refused to let me call a "professional" and claimed he could do it himself. After a lot of tension, a tarp nailed to our roof, and a hole in my living room, I think it is finally fixed. Although, I cringe a little every time it rains. Jared has also saved us and many friends and neighbors a lot of money with his handy skills. I had a friend ask me if Jared knew anything about installing water heaters. I was pretty doubtful, but told her I would ask. Randomly enough, he did know how to install it and saved them the installation fee. Jared's famous line is "I could make that", whenever he sees something that he likes. I will admit that I have used Jared's skills to make many things for me. Remember the cows he made for Enrichment.

Well a couple of weeks ago Jared decided that he wanted to make a train to pull behind the 4-wheeler. The kids had seen one of these at Staheli Farm, and were really excited when Jared told them he was going to make one. One thing I have learned about Jared is that when he gets an idea in his head, he has to get busy on it right away. It only took him about a week to get the whole thing put together. It turned out awesome, and lets just say that he is the most liked parent in the neighborhood now.





The kids from our neighborhood, and a few who weren't, were lined up in our circle for hours getting on and off the ride. We had such a fun time.

Seeing how well this little project turned out, and how easy it seemed to be for Jared to make, just reminds me of how lucky I am to be married to such a handy man. Jared works so hard to make us happy and to provide for us. I love you babe.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween seemed to be a lot of work this year, but was still a lot of fun. With all the parties we went to, we put the kids in their costumes four different times. They were really good sports and wore them really well. Even Traxton kept his on a lot better than I thought he would. Ashten was little Bo Peep, with Traxton being her little lamb, and Treyson was a bull fighter. We got tons more candy than we need and sadly I will probably end up eating most of it. I need some self control.


Ashten and Treyson both had little parades at school and loved wearing their costumes around for everyone to see.

Our first annual Harvest Hop

The other day we went to our first official school function. Ashten's school was doing a dance performance for family members as a fundraiser for playground covers. We bought pizza with our tickets and put the remainder in the raffle hoping to win the big prize. Ashten really wanted to win the helicopter ride, but was only disappointed for a minute since she won movie passes instead.

Seeing all the little kids sing and dance was so fun and Ashten did a really good job. The kindergarten kids did the hamster dance so we got to paint whiskers on her face. She was the cutest little hamster ever.



The boys enjoyed eating the popcorn more than watching Ashten's performance. Traxton ate as much as Treyson did. Look at him with his whole arm in the bag.

What A Year!

It has been a whole year since Traxton got his little hearing aids. I can't believe it has been that long. When I think back over everything we have been through in the last year and a half, I am both so amazed and exhausted. After the initial devastation of finding out our newborn had hearing loss, we set our minds on finding out what we could do to help him. At three months old he was fitted for hearing aids. As most of you know, this was a very bitter sweet thing for me. I was so glad there was something to make it possible for him to hear me, but I also was kinda prideful and didn't want people to look differently at my little baby. The hearing aids made a night and day difference for his world. He started responding to things that he never had before. Other than all the questions and looks we got from acquaintances and complete strangers, our days were pretty easy.
One day it all changed. Our sweet little Traxton gained control of his little arms just enough to reach up to his ears, pull off the aids, and either put them in his mouth or throw them across the room. I would either dry them off or find them from their new location and place them back in his ears. This was literally repeated hundreds of times a day. We found ourselves so anxious to put him to bed at night because that meant we could have a break from the battle. Sadly, that is exactly what our days were. A battle of wills. I refused to let him win and think that if he tried to pull them off enough times I would give in, so we would go through that routine all day long.
Then it seamed like (many months later) one day he just stopped pulling them out as much. It was such a welcomed relief. He still will pull them out when he is confined somewhere, like in the car seat or highchair. I think he does it out of boredom and for attention. He will also come up to me holding onto one if it fell out so that I can put it back in. I think he is starting to realize that he can hear better with them in.

The only understandable word Traxton will say is Dad. We are really working on trying to get him to say more words. He is very vocal and has always been a little talker, but I have been getting worried and frustrated with him not saying more yet. Yesterday I was at Target and a lady stopped me to ask about his hearing aids. She said she lost her hearing as a child but didn't realize the problem until she was in her twenties. We talked for a few minutes and as she went to leave, she said goodbye to Traxton. He immediately smiled and started jabbering to her. She looked right at me and said "he talks". I told her yes, but not really words. She was shocked. She said most kids will try to talk, but no noise will come out. I really feel like I needed a complete stranger to help keep me in check with everything that I have to be grateful for. We really don't feel like he is any different. He hears most everything that goes on at our house and sometimes I actually forget that he can't hear everything. We are so grateful for this little "challenge" that our family has, but even more grateful for our little boy who is still completely perfect and wouldn't be him without his special ears.

Hearing clearly for the first time! Sep 30, 2008


**OUR DIFFERENT STRATEGIES FOR KEEPING HIS EARS ON.

1 Traxton pretty much spent the whole winter in this hat to prevent him from reaching his ears. He hated it and would get so upset when he couldn't reach under the flaps to pull his ears off.


2. Probably the most painful method. It looks horrible, but it did work for a while. Eventually, he was able to even pull the tape off. Poor kid!


3.The current and most effective method. They are similar to chums for glasses. They slide over the back of his hearing aid and with an elastic cord, hook to a clasp on his shirt. They won't prevent him from pulling the aids off, but if he does, they won't get lost. My anxiety level dropped drastically when we started using these bad boys.

Kolob

This weekend we went camping on Kolob mountain. It was so nice to get out of town and enjoy some of the fall colors. It didn't seem that hot up there, but somehow we all still came home with sunburned faces. We just hung out together and let the kids play in the sand and eat junk food. Isn't that what camping is all about!

Ashten couldn't get enough of riding the 4-wheeler as long as she could be in charge of the throttle. We discovered she has a major need for speed.

Treyson loved feeding the ducks and, when we ran out of bread, throwing rocks at them. Good thing he wasn't that accurate with his throwing.The kids were having so much fun digging and playing in the sand that Jared couldn't just sit back and watch. It just goes to show that he will always be a kid at heart.

Where is this kid's mother? I'm still cleaning dirt out of his hearing aid.

Best Babysitting Tool Ever!

Two Christmas's ago we got the kids a little driving jeep. It was a huge hit and has driven around our circle so many times we can't even count. The last few months however, it has pretty much been parked in our garage. I'm not sure if it was the heat or just that the kids have been more interested in riding their bikes and scooters. Lately I have discovered that Jared has been pulling it out of the garage while I was at work for the kids to drive Traxton around in. It was solely as a babysitting purpose so he could get whatever he needed to get done. When I first found this out, I was a little concerned. I wasn't sure how safe it was for my baby to be riding around in. However, I have to admit that after being stuck in the house with a teething, cranky child, I too have pulled the jeep out and strapped him in. Traxton absolutely loved riding co-pilot with Treyson around and around our circle. I absolutely loved the chance for a break from him pulling on my leg and crying. I guess I have to hand it to Jared for being so innovative in his babysitting methods. I'm pretty sure I would have never thought of sticking him in there myself. Probably because I wouldn't be able to get past the dangers of it to even try. I guess that is why dad's are more fun.

First day of Preschool!

Today was the big day for Treyson. The day he has been patiently anticipating all summer long. The first day of preschool. He has been so excited and ready to go since Ashten started school. He wore his backpack all morning long waiting for it to be time to go. He looked like such a big kid all ready for school. My kids have gotten so big without me realizing it. I definitely need to slow down our pace and enjoy all the little things, before its too late.

Big Day!!!

All summer long when people asked me if I was going to have a hard time when Ashten went to kindergarten, I totally said no. I was so excited to get a break with her and Treyson for a few hours. But this morning when I dropped her off at school, I about died. She seemed so young to be left at elementary school. The hardest part was that she really didn't even want me to stick around. A lot of the other kids were clinging to their parent's legs, while she was telling me to leave. I guess I'm glad she feels confident enough to be in a new environment and eager for new challenges, but apparently I wasn't as ready as I thought I would be. This just means that she is officially grown up now; she's not my baby girl anymore. I hope I have taught her and prepared her enough for the big scary world. There's no turning back now!

Happy Birthday Ashten

Last week Ashten turned five and we had a couple of parties for her. On Thursday we took some of her little friends swimming and had a really fun time. They swam and ate pizza and cupcakes. It was so cute to watch them all play around in the water.


Last night we had a family party which was also a lot of fun. Sometimes the parties can get crazy with all the family and cousins in one room, but everyone has a good time. Ashten got a lot of fun stuff and loved being the center of attention. I can't believe she is five years old and will be going to kindergarten this year. She is such a good helper and the best big sister ever. We love having her as a part of our family.

Walking

Traxton has started standing alone and taking steps this last week. He is always on the go and seems to forget that he can't walk yet and will step away from things only to fall. It has been very exciting for Ashten and Treyson to see him try to walk. They always run up to me and tell how many steps he took. It is very sweet to see their excitement in his new found skills. I am just hoping that he will be able to walk well enough by the time it cools off that he can "play" with the kids outside.

Girls Weekend!

Because one of my best friends is moving to St Louis in a couple of weeks, we decided we needed to spend a weekend together with just the girls in Vegas to enjoy ourselves before she moved. We all work together and have become such good friends over the last few years. Our kids are all about the same age, so we have a lot of play dates together, but mainly we have scrapbook parties. We have been talking about going to Vegas all summer, but finally planned the trip a few weeks ago. I am so glad we did. We stayed in the MGM Grand, but spent most of our time shopping and well, mostly walking. My feet still haven't recovered from all the walking in heels. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and saw a Cirque du Soleil show, which was really good. The best part of our whole trip was just spending time together for one of the last times. It was really kind of bitter sweet. I know I am going to cry when she leaves us. She is such an amazing person and we all will miss her so much.

Enjoying the Vegas nightlife.

Hanging out at the pool.

Kourtney and I. (She's the one who's moving)

Bundy Reunion Time!

Every fourth of July weekend we pack up all our stuff and go camping for the Bundy reunion. It is always a lot of work to get everything ready, but finally getting there and relaxing makes it all worth it. The kids had such a fun time playing in the dirt, running around with cousins, and staying up way past their bedtime. I was really worried about how Traxton would do, since he is at the stage where he always wants to be down crawling around. He did so good. He just played in the rocks with the big kids, and surprisingly, he didn't eat too many of them either. His favorite thing to do was ride the four-wheeler with dad or grandpa. A couple of his naps were taken on four-wheeler rides.
Coming home and unloading seems to always bring way too much work, but we still seem to go back every single year.


Ashten and Treyson did the little bb gun shooting contest and were so cute. They were so proud of themselves.

Treyson got 2nd in the races for his age group. He loves his little red ribbon.


We took a four-wheeler ride to a the top of a mountain where we could see just about everything. It has been said that on a clear day you can see five different states from there.

We put the older kids in the tent for the first time this year, and it was awesome. They really liked it and I loved not having to clean up their beds every morning. Hopefully next year we won't have to get up every night to take Treyson to the bathroom.

All cleaned up to go dancing. What cute little cowboys and cowgirl I have.