THANKSGIVING

We went to Park City for Thanksgiving this year. We spent 3 days together as a family and everyone had fun!! We did puzzles, played board games, watched movies, ate good food, got in the hot tub. We had a talent show and all of the kids were soo cute. (Even Brad Sr. played his harmonica) This is definitley a Thanksgiving to remember.

Halloween

Bradley & Brian went to a halloween party on Friday, They dressed up like Mario, Luigi and Wario. Brookelyn had a couple of parties and dressed like a witch and a pumpkin. Bubba didn't dress up he just walked around with his friends.

Brandon's 1st deer

We went deer hunting at Bear Lake this past weekend. Brad and all 3 boys have deer tags. Brandon shot his first deer! How exciting, he took 3 shots and finally on the third shot he hit it.

We now have an elk and a deer to fill up our freezer. We'll see if Brad, Bradley or Brian get one this year, This will be Bradley's last hunt for 2 years so I'd like to see him get one, or at least go out hunting a couple of more times before the hunt is over. So over the last 3 years all 3 of my boys have gotten their 1st deer. We are so proud of them.

Brian's Cast

Well Brian cut his cast off of his arm last night, He couldn't wait to get it off. I told him 2 more weeks and he was pretty mad at me. He had his friend Jordan help him, I had no idea they were out in the garage doing this. Well they cut on it for along time and finally gave up, They'd made a big mess of it (I should have made him wear it to school like that ha,ha)When Brad got home from his meetings I asked him if he would help Brian get it off, It only took Brad a few minutes to cut it off with the right tools. Hopefully we won't be at the ER with him for a broken wrist any time soon!

ELK HUNTING

We went hunting at Elk Ridge this past week and a half. Brad had a limited entry bull elk tag and Bradley had a spike or cow elk tag. They got up at 4:00 in the morning every day and stalked the elk. They saw some nice ones on the opening day but they didn't want it to end so quickly and hoped to see bigger elk so they let them go. They hiked for hours each day, They saw a few bears and alot of bear foot prints(that made me and Brookie a little nervous at night)Brad shot a 6 point Bull elk On Saturday morning, it took 7 hours to get it quartered and packed back to camp. He's gonna have the head mounted ( I haven't seen him this excited in a long time) He shot it with his bow and arrow.

Bradley shot a spike right before dark on Saturday evening, ( He was sooo excited) they went and looked for it for a couple of hours but couldn't find it, they got up early on Sunday and could only find 2 drops of blood, they found the bloody arrow,they looked for a while then had to give up because we had an 8 hour drive home. Bradley is really bummed about leaving it but we really didn't have a choice. He can still hunt for elk for a few more weeks so hopefully he can get one.

We camped in the dirt for 11 days and 10 nights (except for the one night I drove with the kids for 2 hours into town to get a hotel room, take a shower do laundry and sleep in a real bed) We have never camped that long before, it was dirty but we had alot of fun, Hopefully the kids will always have good memories of this trip. We were really excited to have lyman come up for a few days. He has a tag like Bradley so he got to hunt too, Maybe him and Bradley can hunt together .

Brian's cast

Brian went bridge jumping about 3 weeks ago (after I told him I didn't think he should go because I had a feeling he would get hurt)He climbed on the bridge then up the steel beams above the bridge and got attacked by bee's, he lost his footing and fell on the bridge instead of in the water. He came home with a fat lip, bruises, and cuts, he complained about his wrist for a couple of days but didn't want me to take him to the doctor. I called the doctor and they didn't want to see him for at least 5 days so the swelling would be gone, They found 2 fractures and decided they better cast it because he's so active. He can't go to the skate park or get it wet. They are only gonna make him wear it for 4 weeks. Hopefully next time I have a bad feeling he'll listen to me. They go bridge jumping alot, but I just didn't feel good about it that day. It's hard to give your kids advice then watch them make mistakes when they don't listen. We are thankful that he didn't get more hurt, It could have been alot worse!

Bear Lake

Brad & the kids had fun burying Austin in the sand

We went to Bear Lake for a few days with the Coles. As always we had a blast! we thought we'd get some 4 wheeling, sun and boating in before the kids start school. (Brandon & Brookelyn started on Tues.)

Happy Birthday Brookie!!

Brookelyn turned 11 on Wed. we had a little family party for her. On Sat. she had a party with her friends. She had alot of fun. See her blog for more pictures of her birthday.

http://brookelud.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Brian turned 16 today! He didn't want a party or anything so we tried to make it a good day for him. ( We might do something next week for him, we'll see)He's almost done with his road drives, he did his freeway drive today, they made him drive all the way to park city. He should have his license by Wed. or Thur. He's such a sweet boy. He can always make us smile! We Love You Brian!!

Bradley

So Bradley started on his mission papers today(gasp) I can't believe it!! We only have 6 months left before he goes. This past 6 months has gone by sooooo fast, I feel like I'm running out of time to do all of the things I want to do with him before he goes. I am so proud of him and the choices he's made, He's such a great example to all of us. I just wish I could slow time down. ~ Jodi~

Elk Ridge

We went camping at Elk Ridge over the 4th of July weekend, Brad & Bradley got elk tags for the hunt this year so we went scouting for elk. They saw a few big ones. Brad also spooked up a bear as he was riding the 4 wheeler, he chased it down the road until it jumped off the side of the hill and ran away. Lots of deer, doe with there little fawns and great big bucks. We always have alot of fun camping as a family and with the Coles.

We got eggs

the big egg is a normal sized egg

We found our first 2 eggs on Saturday. We are so excited! They are tiny, little brown eggs, but they'll get bigger each time they lay. when they all start laying then we should get about 10 a day. We'll have to share because we can't eat that much.

Bradley

On Thur. June 4th Bradley graduated from high school, and on Sunday June 7th he was ordained an Elder by his Dad at church. We are so proud of him and the choices he's made. He had a lot of support and friends come for these special occasions. We had a BBQ and movie night with all of our family and friends, We want to thank all of you for your love and support. WE LOVE YOU BRADLEY!!

David Sullivan

The Leeds boys in Mesquite, on one of their trips to California





Brad got his first deer with David (1984)





David in Brad's car on one of their trips to California

One of our friends from Leeds past away last week so we went to St. George for his funeral on Friday. So wierd that someone our age could die from congestive heart failure. David was a great guy he always knew how to make you laugh, he had his own out look on life. He was always living on the edge. We will miss you David, You were loved by many!!

Brian's Crash

Brian had a bad crash on his bicycle at the skate park last week. He was doing a really big jump and he came down to far forward on his handle bars and landed on his shoulder/neck. Brandon called me from someones cell phone in a panic and told me to hurry and get here, "Brian's Hurt, he can't remember anything!" So Brad and I hurried up there and he was a mess!! We brought him home and he couldn't remember anything, not going to school that day,the day of the week or the date, not going camping and hunting a few days earlier. It was really scary, Lane and Melanie came over and Brad and Lane gave Brian a Priesthood blessing. We waited for about 3 1/2 hours and he still couldn't remember anything, He was very upset and keep saying things like "I'm so confused, I feel like I'm in a dream. He was pretty scared. So we took him to the ER and had a CT scan done. They said that he had a moderate concussion with amnesia, a couple of broken ribs and lots of scratches. They prescribed his some pain med. and gave him a Doc. note for school and gym. Brian is feeling alot better, he remembers everything except for the crash. His ribs are still very sore and he walks a little crooked because it hurts to stand up straight. We are very grateful he is ok!! It could have been alot worse. Hopefully he learned a lesson and will wear a helmet from now on. I have seen kids from the neighborhood who saw him crash wearing helmets I think they all learned a lesson, We have had lots of concerned parents calling and checking up on him.

Happy Mothers Day!

I hope you all had a nice Mothers Day! I also want to tell my family that I love them and am greatful to be the Mom of my wonderful family!

Brookie

Brookelyn has been a very sick little girl! Last Thursday she woke up for school and said that her back was hurting. I thought it was just from doing back bends and jumping on her friends trampoline, when I picked her up from school her back was really hurting and she had a tummy ache so she came home and rested for a little while before her softball game. We went to her softball game and were only there for a few minutes before she wanted to go home. She had a head ache too. So I gave her some Medicine and put her to bed, at 4:00 am she started throwing up. Friday she stayed home from school and slept all day, Saturday she got a fever of 105, it would go down to about 102 when she had medicine in her, throwing up all day, she was absolutely miserable!! Brad gave her a priesthood blessing. Sunday I stayed home from church with her and just tried to keep her cool, she would complain about being really hot and want a cool rag for her head then she would be freezing with blankets piled on her, Still throwing up. Monday Brad and I took her to the doctor and he confirmed what I thought it was, She has a kidney infection, which he said is not very common for someone her age. He gave her an antibiotic and said she might be able to go to school on Wed. Tuesday she was miserable.Well Wed. came and went and she was still miserable , throwing up, high fever, the antibiotic wasn't working. The Doctor called to check on her and said to give her until Friday and then we'll decide what to do. Thursday morning the fever is gone and Brookelyn wants to eat.Yay! She is feeling alot better today and we are sooooo happy!! Our little Brookie lost 8 pounds in 7 days. Now that she's feeling better we'll have to fatten her up. She only weighs 57 pounds. I'm going to keep her home from school tomorrow and help her get caught up on her homework. Hopefully she'll be back to her fun little self again soon! We Love our sweet little Brookie, She's just an angel and a blessing in our home, her brothers have been very loving and helpful in taking care of her. I want to thank all of our family and friends who have been praying for her.

bASeBaLL TiMe

Well it's that time of year again. Brandon is playing baseball and Brookelyn is playing softball, They've both had about 4 games. They've lost some and won some. I get to drive to practices and games every day but Sundays, aren't I lucky? They both have 3 games this week, hopefully Brad and I can split up so that they each have someone to watch them. I really enjoy watching their games, it's alot of fun to watch them improve and have more fun each year! Good Luck Kids, Love You!

Brian's Car

Check out the car we bought for Brian while we were in Leeds for spring break. It's a 1961 Buick Lesabre. It fits Brian's personality so well. He's always loved old cars and didn't want a "normal car". The inside of it is pretty cool, it's all origanal and in pretty good shape. It has 66,000 original miles on it.








He ran out of gas while driving it around after we bought it, We had to go rescue them.





This is what he wants to paint it.

Spring Break

For spring break, We had Easter with the Hall side of the family, it was sooo much fun! we reserved the church for a few hours on Saturday and played games. We played a game of volleyball and a pretty bruttle game of dodge ball, it felt like we were back in high school again.(you forget how hard those rubber balls really are) Everyone was pretty sore the next morning, but I think everyone had a blast. We brought the 4 wheelers and dirt bikes, its always fun to go out riding. The kids did alot of hiking and all the boys went out shooting.