The Long Awaited Brady Family Update

In February of 2011 a job with the Utah State Legislature, as an analyst, opened up.  Although we'd loved our time in Sacramento (9 years), we'd hoped that we might someday live closer to family.  Nathan tried to warn me that it was unlikely he'd get the job, as there were 238 applicants for the one position.  We prayed that if it was right, Nathan might get the job.  We were thrilled when the job was offered.  In June 2011 Nathan started work, so we rented out our Sacramento home, said a teary goodbye to great friends, and moved to Utah. 

Nathan's parents invited us to stay with them in Orem, while we looked for a house. It'd been a few years since Grandma and Grandpa raised their four boys, but they were very patient with our crazies! Grandpa told me once that he knew it was morning when he heard gunfire! (With or without play guns, everywhere my boys play is a war zone-or a Star Wars zone. I didn't feel too sorry for Grandpa since he is the gun enthusiast in the family.) On August 1, we put an offer on a home in Layton, but it was a short sale and didn't go through for 6 months. In the mean time, Daniel (2nd) and Liam (K) attended Cascade Elementary (the same elementary that Nathan attended from Kindergarten through second grade). Although we were eager for a home of our own, we felt that we'd been led by the Lord. When I witnessed Grandpa having a mini stroke and was able to get him medical help, we again felt assured of the Lord's hand in our lives. Finally, the papers were completed and we moved to Layton (with lots of help from family and our new ward) on January 23rd, 2012. We have loved our new home and neighbors and never plan on moving again!   

The boys adjusted quickly to their new school and have loved the neighborhood with lots of friends to play with.  They also love the UT snow.  Our neighbors in CA laughed when the boys would rake leaves from their yards to dump in ours, so they could jump and play in them.  Here, the neighbors laughed last year when, my boys would go out to shovel the tiniest bit of snow off the driveway and even collect enough to build a snowman before everything else melted off a few hours later.  This year they've loved the winter wonderland, digging snow forts, throwing snowballs, and going sledding.

 
Being an hour between both sets of grandparents, has allowed us to make lots of great family memories.  We went with the Bohman side to Bryce Canyon, magma lava tubes, and hiking up to the Kanaraville waterfalls.  With Grandma and Grandpa Brady we've done lots of rock hunting including Garnett hill in Ely, pyrite cubes at Pelican Point, fossil horn corals at Skull Valley, and trilobites outside of Delta.  We also got to go to the Steed family reunion (Nathan's grandparents) in Bryce Canyon, exploring Kodachrome Basin, Grosvenor Arch, and The Devil's Backbone.  It was so neat to hear Great Grandpa Steed share stories of his family, and explore where he grew up. 

Nathan has really enjoyed his new job.  He is a policy analyst for the Utah State Legislature, covering issues relating to Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement.  He writes legislation, researches issues and policies nationwide, and he was asked to manage the Legislative Intern program this year (supervising 70 college interns).  In church he has been a teacher to Liam's primary class, until just recently when he was asked to teach the men in Elder's Quorum. 

I (Michelle) have kept busy arranging, rearranging, and decorating the house (my kind of fun)!  I have enough walls to paint, curtains to make, and rooms to redo to last a lifetime.  I have also kept busy as Daniel's scout leader, and helping in the boys' classrooms.  I had actually started to enjoy running (a new concept for me), when I got sick and found out I was pregnant, back in June.   With nearly 5 years between Caleb and this new arrival, it's been an adventure! 

Daniel, Liam, and Caleb have been so excited for the arrival of the new baby.   Daniel and Liam told us from the start that they hoped it would be a boy.  When I asked why, Daniel said it was because he wouldn't want a girl to bring Barbies in his room.  Very important!  Caleb hoped we'd have a girl, but we later found out that he thought he'd marry her!  I tried to explain to him that we're not that kind of family.  I guess having a fourth boy saved us from that one.  Liam loves all babies, and told me that he wants to be a babysitter when he grows up.  At one point Daniel thought we should name the baby 'Daniel' after him.  (Maybe that's not such a bad idea for a mom who can't seem to say the right name for any of her boys.)  While we anticipated Benjamin's arrival (boy #4) we enjoyed Caleb's prayers in his behalf.  In one prayer he asked that, "Baby Benjamin will be cuter than a baby duckling."  He also prayed that Benjamin wouldn't eat his legos or Star Wars action figures.  It is so fun to hear what kids are thinking.  Caleb told me one day that he was sure Benjamin was swimming in my leg.  I did feel a lot of aches and pains (although not so much in my leg).  Liam told me that I should swallow some toys so that the baby would have something to play with.  The boys all went along with the idea and decided that my aches and pains were simply Benjamin playing soldier.  There were times that I did feel under attack. 

On February 6, 2013 at 1:02 PM,  Benjamin Thomas Brady arrived!  He weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and measured 20 1/2 in. long.  He has strong dark eyes, lots of dark brown hair, and a deep dimple in his chin.  He reminds us of Daniel and Caleb as infants, although he has his own look.  He is a good tempered baby, but even just after delivery, showed off his lung capacity.  I told the doctor that he had to be loud to fit in with his 3 brothers.  His brothers beg to hold and kiss him.  They sing him lullabies when he cries.  They think everything he does is cute (sneezing, stretching, sleeping, looking, and bathing).  Nathan has given him the nicknames "Benjamini" and "Bitty B" (like his initials BTB). 

Caleb, who will be turning 5 in May, keeps us laughing.  He loves to play Star Wars with his big brothers.  He has done a great job in preschool.  He loves being read to and is beginning to read on his own.  Each day Caleb tells us which animal he is pretending to be for the day.  His favorites are squirrels, humming birds, armadillos, mudfish, baby puffer fish, roly poly bugs and baby alligators.  He recently gave his first talk and has recited several memorized scriptures in primary.  (I tried to prompt him on his first scripture, and was asked in no uncertain terms to sit down and let him do it himself!)

Liam turns 7 this week (March 6th).  He is at the top of his class.  He is an excellent reader.  He loves playing games on the Wii.  For most kids, playing computer games doesn't require energy, but Liam can't hold still.  He jumps up and down for the entirety of the game--great exercise!  He also loves Angry Birds.  Liam has always looked out for his brothers, and his new baby brother is no exception.  He worries any time Benjamin even whimpers.  He does his part to keep him smiling by putting on puppet shows for him.  Liam is always surrounded by lots of friends.

Daniel, who will be 9 in May, was baptized by Nathan last June.  It was such a special day.  We were so thankful to live close enough for grandparents on both sides, as well as great grandparents, and lots of uncles, aunts, and cousins, to be there.  Before he was baptized Daniel met his goal to read the entire Book of Mormon.  Daniel was busy this year playing soccer, Jr. Jazz (basketball), skateboarding, and tennis.  He has also earned his Bobcat, Wolf, and fifteen beltloops awards  in the cub scout program.  He loves science especially tornadoes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.  He loves going rock hunting. 

So there you have it.  The Brady Bunch in a nutshell.  Nathan and I are constantly thanking the Lord for bringing us here.  We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and neighbors.   You've loved, motivated, and inspired us.  We are most grateful for our knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ and his atonement, which allows us, despite our shortcomings, to continue to learn and grow.  We hope you are all well and that you know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. 

Boys' Babble

After attending sacrament meeting with my family in Logan, for the blessing of our sweet nephew Lincoln we were asked to stand outside for a group picture.  Caleb had had enough, so he explained to me, "No pictures, Mommy...I'm airsick."  What a funny kid.  I've never heard of airsickness from church, but perhaps that was the result of the paper airplanes that Nathan made out of the program.

I caught Caleb singing a song that he made up himself.  It went like this..."I have popcicles, rainbow popcicles.  They make me happy."  He was so pleased with himself.  It was so cute. 

When Caleb told Nathan about his day he said, "Mommy put germs all over me."  --I have no idea what he was referring to, but Caleb goes crazy when he feels sticky.   At breakfast I usually just put a washcloth next to his plate (it's quicker than having him run to the sink multiple times during the meal). 

I struggled to cut through a platic tie to get one of Caleb's birthday presents out, and Caleb asked, "Does that afflict you?"  'Afflict?'  I've tried to figure out where my 4-year-old would have learned that word and all I can figure is maybe he's picking up on my from our scripture reading than I realize.  Wow!

Liam came upstairs shortly after we put him to bed.  He complained that he couldn't sleep because of the growing pains in his nose.  Now I've heard it all. 

Liam and Caleb saw a swingset at Walmart.  It was roped and wired so that it couldn't be played on.  Liam asked me, "Are those electric?"  What a funny visual--a swingset with electric wire--it totally made me laugh.  Then Liam, came back with, "Why don't you go sit on it?"  He tried to say it so off-the-cuff, innocent.  I guess I'll have to watch myself from now on.  That little stinker. 

Liam came upstairs one day and asked, "Did it really, really, really, really hurt when you had us as babies?"  Where did he come up with that?  I just told him that it hurts sometimes when you have a baby, but my boys are totally worth it.  That seemed to satisfy him for now.  I'm really not ready for 'that' talk. 

We were looking at a picture book that had a picture of Christ with a lion (the Lion and The Lamb).  Daniel leaned over and said, "I didn't know that Christ had a pet lion?!"  What a cutie.   My own Daniel in the Lions' Den liked that idea.

I just walked in on a conversation between Caleb and Liam.  It went something like this... "Who builded the animals?"  "Jesus builded them."  "Yeah, He had to put in the right ingredients like, blood and guts and meat and some other slimey stuff."  It sounds like they've got it all figured out.  Boys, boys, boys!

Email Me

To those who need our new address and phone number...
email me at nathan_and_michelle@yahoo.com and I will email you all our new info. I'd like to keep in touch but I feel pretty out of touch since the move. If any of you will be in Utah, I'd love to get together. Call us if you need a place to stay.

Spring Break Salt Lake

When we lived in CA we used to love going downtown to visit Nathan at work and to go out to lunch together. So with time off from school, for spring break, we drove to Salt Lake City and went into the State Capitol to continue our lunch out with Dad tradition. We enjoyed the gorgeous weather on our walk down from the Capitol.

My boys love water features!

Temple square was beautiful.

Liam Joseph next to his namesake Joseph Smith.

And here's our Daniel in the lion's den.

I couldn't help myself. Every mom needs a ring around the rosie picture infront of this statue!

We had lunch at City Creek Mall. It was really busy and really beautiful. We followed the creek, but didn't actually go in any stores--just the food court. The boys loved watching the fish.

After lunch, Nathan hiked back up to the Capitol and I took the boys to the interactive kids' area in the Church History Museum.

The boys got to help build and sail Nephi's ship.

They did some fishing from the ship.

They translated and handled the gold plates. They built temples,

They rode missionary bikes,

Liam had some fun with puppets....Don't you love Liam's expressions?!

Worked the primary children's song turntables,

Planted and harvested gardens, Prepared a missionary feast,

Made pioneer buzzsaw toys, Sounded the trump (the boys thought it was so cool to see how big the angel Moroni on the temple actually is),

More Daniel in the lion's den, Looks like Caleb is one up on the lions!

On our way out, we went to the Visitor's Center. They have a really neat 3-D map of Christ's final week. It had been a long day, but the boys didn't want to leave until they got to see each of the areas located in Holy Week. I think that needs to be our new Easter tradition.

To be honest, I thought I'd have to carry Caleb the whole way back up the hill to the Capitol, or possibly call Nathan to rescue us in his vehicle. But the boys were troopers. They made it the entire way.

One more lion photo op. We played hard and Caleb was asleep just a minute after climbing back into the car. What a fun day. There is so much to see, so close to Nathan's work. There will be many more lunch outings in the future.

Playing House!

We finally moved into our house the 19th and 20th of January. It was such long process, that we found ourselves doubting, even after the closing papers had been signed, that all would go through--but miraculously it did.

Nathan was already busy with the Legislative session, so my mom and dad and I loaded up the first half ourselves. I called our new Bishop to find out how to get the power, water, etc. turned on and he immediately volunteered help moving us in. We were only able to give him 1 1/2 hours notice, but when we got there, he and 6 other guys from the Elders quorum were waiting. Nathan also met us there to unload. All of the guys made quick work unloading. Everyone was so kind and willing to help. They even told us to call the next day when we were ready to unload the rest! We felt so welcomed. It was further testimony to us that the Lord had a hand in our move.

The next day my brother Jared, and my sister Andrea and her husband Paul came down with my parents to complete emptying the storage unit. It fit nearly perfectly in my dad's snowmobile trailor. Once again, we called with little notice to see if anyone would be willing to help us unload. Once again, we were really touched by all those who generously returned to help unload. In addition to some of the elders quorum, we had 3 neighbors stop by to help. Wow! What an awesome neighborhood. My mom made homemade soup and brought drinks and treats for everyone. My sister Emily came down and got the fridge set up and cleaned out. Mom Brady sent us a big box of groceries so we'd have food that first few days, so we wouldn't have to worry about it. We were all totally worn out, and amazed that most all of this had fit into a home under 1300 square feet! Mostly, we were just grateful for family, a new home, with great new neighbors and a supportive ward.

After some food and thanks, we went back to Mom and Dad Brady's to pick up our boys (our car had been loaded to the brim-with no room for the boys). It was around midnight when we arrived at our new home for our first night's sleep. We all slept in blankets on the floor. (Not very comfy, but we were thrilled to finally be there!)

The next morning we went to the church for a primary activity that we'd been invited too. We were exhausted, but I felt it was important to get the boys involved as quickly as possible.

The next few weeks were spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and unpacking. The house had been previously lived in by a dad, his two teenage sons and 3 big dogs. Everything was covered in dog hair. I had a lot of asthma.

Liam's 1st Lost Tooth

Liam's tooth had been loose for nearly a month. He kept asking us to pull it out for him, but he didn't want to wiggle it out himself. Finally, Liam lost it on March 30th. He was having a picnic outside with his brothers (in a wagon, which I'm told was their boat). His tooth popped out when he bit into an apple. Liam loves apples so I'd wondered from the beginning, if it might be the perfect thing to get the job done. Liam put the tooth in the pillow that Grandma Bohman had made him and he wasn't disappointed. The Tooth Fairy left him two gold dollars. Wow! What a cute toothless grin.

Weather or Not

This weather has been really strange. One day it snows, the next it all melts and is warm enough to go out without a coat. I guess Utah is going easy on us, since we're used to California sunshine. Whatever it is, I'll take it. No cabin fever here. This whole week it's up near 70--perfect. I called friends in CA and found out it was nicer weather here than there. Strange.
One night the boys and I built this snowman to welcome Nathan home from a very late night with the legislative session (He didn't get home until after 11:30.). They named him Fred Ice Cream.
My boys love shoveling snow. We really haven't needed to shovel since it's all melted off the day after, but they've had fun with it anyway. I hope they keep their enthusiasm for the job in harsher winters yet to come.