Sledding!!!

So here in the 'cold north' it snows and snows and snows...Brandon and Carson LOVE it. Leslie decided to take them sledding the other day....

Getting a 'feel' for the snow

Brandon is in his own kind of heaven!!

SO EXCITED!!!!

It's Christmas time!!!!

The House

First I started on the outside of the house

The Tree

It's not finished yet, I lost momentum when it got cold.

We fianlly got a tree, it is a beautiful douglas fur and it smells so good!

Stage 1: lights

Stage 2: the ornaments

Stage 3: the cute kids

The finished product!

Catch up!

I know there have been events that I have let slip by without blogging. So....here goes!

Brandon turned 7! Yes I know, I can't believe I have a 7yr old either.

His Skatebord cake

Blowing out the candles

He got snow for his birthday!!

It was his favorite part of that day.

Carson's personality is SO strong!

Throwing one of his many fits a day.

He wears himself out!

Thanksgiving in Vegas!

The cousins playing the Wii at Grandma's house

Lori and her BFF Kayla

At Uncle Jeff's work with the 'The Tin Man'

HALLOWEEN 2009

This Halloween was a challange in the costume department because it is our first year in Utah and the possiblity of snow. Not to mention the fact that Carson is, well...Carson! Meaning that he has his very own ideas about EVERYTHING!! Brandon, on the other hand, decided about a month ago that he wanted to be a Vampire, not a 'cute' vampire a 'scary' vampire 'with blood and everything'!

But with Carson is was a much bigger deal. We went to EVERYWHERE (Wal-Mart, Target, The Halloween Suoerstore, etc) to find a costume, but there was nothing there that was what he wanted, we showed him the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle' costume-NO, then it was a 'Dragon' one-NO, then the 'Transformer' (I thought he would want this one for sure!) but...NO! Finally as we were about to give up he CHOSE (YAY!!!!).....Drum roll please......

You might call this costume a 'Jack-O-Lantern'. But as I mentioned before, Carson has is OWN ideas, so he said he was a 'happy pumpkin' and he LOVED his costume!!! He wanted to sleep in it and as soon as he got up the day after Halloween he was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast in his 'happy pumpkin suite' and underware. I know I should have a picture of it, but I don't.

My 'scary' Vampire, Brandon and my 'Happy Pumpkin' Carson! We had such a great Halloween and can't wait till next year. They are already talking about what they want to be.

Carson on, Carson.

Carson talking about himself, he is SO big now! I cannot believe he is 3 already,

Brandon's opinion of my new hair

So, one day last week I decided to make huge change to my apperance. I cut my hair and colored it, I didn't tell anyone I was doing, I just did it! When I picked Brandon up from school, he looked at me and said, 'Did you change your hair momma?', so I asked hom what he thought, he said he liked it. Later that night, him and Carson were playing and I walked in the room to check on them, and he said 'Momma, I love your hair SO much I can't even stand it!!! I could look at it all day!' It was so cute and sincere. He is such a great kid!

Brandon looses his first tooth!!

See how loose it is?

Is it really ready?

After a couple of tries.

Yep, I think it's ready!

We have been waiting for this day for almost two months,

and finally, it came out.

We were on web cam with Leslie's Parents for the whole thing,

(that is all the people you hear talking)

The tooth fairy did visit and took his tooth and left $10 in its place.

I know what ya'll are thinking $10 is a lot for a tooth!!

Well, the tooth fairy tried to find change, but, by the time it was time

for delivery of the cash it was to late for her to go get any change.

Besides you always get the most money for your first tooth! Right?

Post pull, he has the perfect place

for his tongue to fit.

He is getting so grown up and cute

(I mean, handsome)

Brandon's first day of 1st grade

He was so excited to be a first Grader

He goes to Magna Elementary and he is now a Bulldog!!!

The next best thing to being in 1rst grarde, is that he is

in the sam class as his cousin, Jesse (a.k.a. Buddy).

They are attached at the hip all the time and now they

get to be in the same class, how joyous for their teacher!

I don't have a picture of it, but Carson

didn't want to leave Brandon at school, he wanted to stay

stay with and 'go school too'. It was so sad but cute at the same time!

The Outdoor Expo March 2009

We went to the 'Outdoor Expo' in Sandy Utah when we first moved here in March.

We saw this Huge Elk, Leslie was in a little piece of heaven.

Brandon saw a rock climbing wall and begged us to try it. We honestly didn't think he would get very far.

He started climbing, he was very determined.

And he kept climbing....

....and climbing....

....and climbing....

....and climbing....

....and climbing, until he reached the TOP and rang the bell. It was so awesome to see him do that, we were so proud of him, and he was so excited.

He started to come down, and spun around, he had no fear, it was great!

Safely on the ground, he asked to go again, but there was a long line, so sorry buddy.

How life has changed

Well, life HAS changed drastically for the Leslie Phenald family. What you ask is so different? Well, 6 weeks ago we lived in the small town of Pride, Louisiana and now we live the small town of Magna, UT. Six weeks ago I worked full time for an Orthodontist named Dr. Hiller, now my job consists of taking my 6yr old (Brandon) to and from kindergarten, chasing around my 2yr old (Carson) and taking care of my husband (Leslie). Six weeks ago, we lived in a cute little brick house on close to two acres next door to Leslie's parents (who saw our kids everyday), now we live in a cute little apartment on zero acres around the corner from Leslie's cousin and his family. Six weeks ago my husband Leslie was a full time Firefighter, now Leslie works in one of the largest copper mines in the world (Kennecott). Why all these changes? Well, about a year ago, we were discussing the future of our kids and their education and opportunities for church activities and scouting, and we decided to make a move to a place where our children could have more opportunities to do more things. So we are now Utahans, and it has been an adventure so far, we all love it and look forward to all the adventures to come.