Mutton Bustin'

It was the big rodeo here in Delta this last weekend.  Pace had the countdown going for months.  He was so excited to do a little mutton bustin' again this year!  Well the time finally came, so we got him all decked out in his cowboy clothes and we were off!!

Jaygen, Pace, Todd, Briggs 

Pace sat there so excited and couldn't wait until they called for the mutton busters.  When they did, he walked over so proud and brave with Todd.  Then what happened I can not explain!!!!  Todd said he lifted Pace down on the sheep just fine and then right when they were opening the gates Pace jumped off and was totally crying his head off....what?!  He had been so excited...I don't know what happened!  All Pace said was that he didn't want to be on the "big" sheep. 

After last year with Pace getting trampled and getting a bloody nose, I thought he was up for anything.  Oh, well!  That's okay Pace...I still think you are a pretty tough cowboy...pretty cute anyway!!!! :)

Todd lifting Pace down (just look for the bald head ha ha)

 Pace trying to climb out of the chute while his sheep takes off without him (under the Service Drug sign)

Better luck next year #47!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODD!

I hate to say it Todd, but Happy 38th Birthday!! It is hard to just say it, so I can imagine how hard it is to be the one turning that old! :)  Our boys were so excited for Todd's big day.  They helped me make the cake, put up balloons and then they for sure helped Todd blow out his candles.  We had to re-light them 4 times so they could all have a turn blowing them out! 

We hope you had a HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  You are an awesome dad and all our boys totally idolize you.  You are for sure their number one hero!!  You are also an amazing husband...even if you are way too close to the big 4-0!!!  I sure love ya!!

Briggs, Todd, Pace, Jaygen...the big party :)

Mullen Girls' Getaway!

Kris, Kelly, Me, Melissa, Mary, Candace

It was that time of year again...the Mullen Girls' Getaway! It is always so nice to get out of town and away from the kiddos for a weekend and have some girl time! We did the usual...shopped Park City and Salt Lake. We always catch a movie and eat yummy food too! It was fun to visit with each other and share some laughs. See ya next year gals...same place, same time! :)

Easter 2012

Easter/Spring break...yea!!! I love when the boys have time off and we can have lazy days and do fun stuff. We didn't have any real adventurous plans but knew we wanted to get out of town. One of the days we decided to head up north and check out the new City Creek Center and then just do what ever. Kevin and Melissa and their families decided to meet us there which was a lot of fun! Of course my main concern was food, so we ate at the yummy Cheesecake Factory and then wandered over to temple square for a minute. There were blossoms on the trees and flowers in bloom...it was really pretty. Then we stopped at Chuck E. Cheese on the way home. It was a really fun day!!!

The kiddos...Isabell, Lillian, Maddie, Myles, Briggs, Parker, Pace, Jaygen

Briggs, Jaygen, Pace...Do my boys sweatshirts make it just a bit obvious we are from Delta?!

Saturday was filled with lots of Easter fun. Grandma and Grandpa Marshall were here to celebrate with us. We started off with the Delta City egg hunt. Jaygen told me he just wanted to take a grocery bag this year for his eggs...he was too big for an Easter basket. I thought that was so funny and laughed but it made me sad to think how old he is getting! :(

Briggs and Pace

Grandma, Pace, Briggs, Jaygen, Grandpa

After the egg hunt Mel and Josh and their kids meet up with us to head out to the sand hills for a picnic. It was perfect weather and we had a blast!! We brought so much sand home with us in the kids' clothes and hair that I don't think there is any left out there! :) Oh well, that just shows what a great time we had!

First things first...make sand angels! Briggs, Jaygen, Braylee

Treyson, Pace, Braylee, Ty, Jaygen, Briggs

Grandpa and uncle Josh had way too much fun burying all the kids...except for Treyson. He kept escaping. You can tell by the smiles on all the kids faces they liked it too!!!

A competitive game of baseball in the sand!

After we had had all the fun we could, we headed back to our house and had a little egg hunt for the kids and a BBQ...fun times with the fam!!

A good lookin bunch!!!

Well the Easter Bunny found us the next morning. He hid all the boys' eggs and their baskets. It was a fun time finding them all!

Briggs found his basket first in the dryer.

Jaygen found his in our closet. I am sure the Easter Bunny thought he would never find it in that BIG mess!

It took a bit, but Pace found his basket under his bathroom sink.

I am not sure what that look on Pace's face means, but the boys were happy with what they found in their baskets. They all got lots of candy, kites, and trading cards that they are totally into right now. Pace got bull-rider cards, Jaygen football, and Briggs baseball.

Pace, Briggs, Jaygen

Off too church...my boys looked sooooo handsome!!!

cOlOrInG eAsTeR eGgS!!!

It might be a few days early to color Easter eggs but I have spring fever and I also needed a bribe to keep my boys quiet during general conference. Well, the bribe totally did NOT work (my boys were crazy like always) but it did help my spring fever a bit! :)

Briggs was just a bit confused with coloring the eggs so early too because he came running out of his room the next morning asking about the Easter Bunny and ready to find his eggs. Sorry buddy...just a few more days!!!

I totally didn't have anything fun planned this year with the eggs, just plain ole' coloring. I didn't even have enough lemon juice or vinegar to add to the coloring to make the colors bright. Oh well, my boys didn't care. They were just excited to be coloring Easter eggs. You can even tell by the big smile on Todd's face he loved it too! :)

I don't have an after picture of the boys with their final product because we had a little accident and a few, ok a lot, of tears were shed. Pace dropped one of his eggs and he totally thought it was the end of the world! :) Take my word for it though, they did a fabulous job coloring their eggs and I know the Easter Bunny will have a great time hiding them!

Soccer Season!!!

Wow...it was a long wait for my boys until soccer started! They were so excited to play again this year, especially when they found out they got entire soccer uniforms this year. Jaygen was feeling pretty awesome because he got to move up an age group this year. Pace was feeling pretty awesome just because he got to play again. The game treats are still a highlight this year, but they are both having the time of their lives!!!!
Jaygen showing off his shin-guards that he LOVES and Pace showing off his HUGE muscles

Jaygen loves playing goalie and I thought this was a cool picture of him ready to block the ball. This ball actually went over the net, but he has made some good stops.

We have some pretty fun times ahead of us for the next month or so watching all the games and I can't wait!!!! Have fun boys! :)

cHrIsTmAs 2011

Christmas has come and gone once again! This year for sure goes down as one of my favorites! I don't know if it was that my boys are at such a fun age, or we just got to stay home relaxing, or that a family did some really fun service for us, or that we got to do some fun service for another family or just everything all combined but it was a fabulous year. I felt the Christmas spirit so strong and loved the season. I loved all the memories we made as a family and all the time we got to spend together. I love my family so much!!!!! On Christmas, Pace told me it was the best day every, and I totally agree with him!!!

On Christmas Eve we ate our traditional cheese fondue for dinner (yummy) and the boys used our puppets to act out the Christmas story. Of course we got some cookies for santa and the boys opened a present. The boys "sportin" their new pajama pants they opened on Christmas Eve...they loved them!

Well our cookies for Santa this year were so easy but yummy! Jaygen had begged for those store bought Christmas sugar cookies every time we were at the store and I always said no. But the last time we were there and he asked I thought why not cook them for Santa?! That would be so simply and I know Santa loves them warm, right out of the oven!!! :) Jaygen was excited and I made sure we cooked them right before the boys went to bed so Santa got to eat them warm!! :) We also made sure we left carrots and celery out front for the reindeer...can't forget them!

Christmas morning was great! We had 9 a.m. church so I told the boys we would wake up and see what Santa left in their stockings and open one present and then open everything else after church. I was totally ready for them to put up a fight but they all just said ok and that was that!!
Then when we were sitting in sacrament meeting they started to get restless and wanted to go home. Pace said, "Mom, that is ok if you want to stay. I can just walk home!" ha ha I was laughing so hard at him!

Santa always leaves an orange by the boys' bed so when they wake up they know he has been here. Jaygen and Pace woke up on their own and found their orange. So then we woke up Briggs because they were to anxious to wait for a sleepy head!

The boys finding their first treasures from Santa. I loved all their reactions...were so excited!

Jaygen with all his presents. All he had asked for was a black angry bird bird, but he scored alot of other fun stuff and he liked it all....hunting coat, broncos watch, basketball, wii game, Dsi game, alarm clock......

You can tell Briggs was happy with what he got. He had asked for a Dsi but Santa wasn't going to give a 3 year old a Dsi so Santa tried to buy a Leap pad and of course they were totally sold out. So he found the same thing that was just a different brand...the Vtech Innotab. Briggs loves it ( and so do I). It is super fun! Briggs also got a light bright, hunting jacket, basket ball, hoppy ball..........

Pace looks sooo cute in his new black cowboy hat. He was so excited when he opened it! He also got his hunting stuff, new tractors, skateboard game, basketball.........

Santa also left a present out back for the boys...a basketball hoop. We didn't say anything about it and it turned out perfect. While we were opening presents, Pace noticed it out the window and they all started jumping up and down and then grabbed their new basketballs and headed out to shoot some hoops. It was for sure a hit!!!

Grandma Marshall came up to go to church with us, have Christmas dinner and drop off another load of presents. She gave all the boys pillow pets that they loved and sleep with every night. It made the day that much more special to have her here. We for sure missed my dad. He was injured and layed up at home after falling out of the back of his service truck a few days before. The boys missed him a lot to say the least!!!!

IF YOU LIKE CHRISTMAS SAY I DO!!

So these pictures are horrible...I really need a new camera! But anyway, I can't forget about how cute Pace looked in his Santa hat and what a good singer he was at his preschool Christmas program. He either sang the songs really loud or didn't sing at all. You could tell he was having a good time just watching all the people in the audience! :) The theme for their program was "If You Like Christmas Say I Do!" It was really cute!!
Pace surrounded by his good buddies...Tate, Cy, Pace, Dax...oh and Aarth the big one. Pace talks about him more than anyone!!!

Mullen Family Christmas Party - 2011!!!

We always look forward to our Annual Mullen Family Christmas Party! It is fun to get together with the fam during the holidays:) We started the festivities off with a little bowling. Of course I am so awesome at bowling I didn't get any pictures of me or even Todd...just the boys!! When you only bowl once a year it sure isn't one of my greatest talents! :) It was a blast though and all the kids had a great time! Pace

Briggs

Jaygen

All the grandkids...Jaygen, Audrey, Parker, Spencer, James, Maddie, Myles, Claire, Lillian, Isabelle, Briggs, Pace...what a crew!!


Then we were off for more fun...of course it included food! Grandpa Mullen always makes his famous chili verde and it is scrumptious!!! I am sure all of the kids favorite part is the opening of the presents. When you see all the presents that get opened, it really makes you realize how lucky you are! We are a blessed family!

All the kids sitting really nice waiting for the presents to start! :)

The kids had a "yummy" time decorating some sugar cookies that Aunt Kris brought. Pretty sure my boys ate enough frosting to last all year! :)

It was really nice to be with the whole Mullen clan. We had a good visit and the kids loved playing and being crazy with each other. Thanks to Lynn and Melissa who hosted us at their house once again!!!