I hear wedding bells!

Dan's youngest brother Josh got married a few weeks ago in California to a great girl Jess. It was a beautiful wedding overlooking the ocean. The kids loved dressing up, and seeing Jess in her princess dress. The best part was that we were able to spend time with Dan's whole entire family, which hasn't happened for over two years. We didn't have a ton of down time, but we were able to squeeze in Sea World with the kids and I forgot how fun it was.



We also took a Harbor Cruise around San Diego as part of the wedding activities. It was neat to hear the history of all of the ships and the scenery was beautiful. The food was delicious too!



Over all it was a great trip, a quick one, but a good one. The kids favorite part was dancing at the reception and boy did they dance. They were pretty much the only kids there so everyone got a kick out of their dancing and would just stand around watching them. Especially when my nephew was doing the robot and brake dancing. These kids have got some serious moves. Welcome to the crazy Broadbent family Jess!

Halloween, super heroes to the rescue.

For Halloween this year both my girls were super heroes. I was so excited to hear that Hollyn wanted to be Super Girl and not a princess. And so Paige wanted to be a super hero too, Bat Girl. They were by far my favorite costumes so far! They both pretended to fly around the house saving the day. Every Halloween it feels like it's not just a one day even but a whole week event. Between ward parties, parents ward parties, school carnivals, and just regular trick or treating by the time Halloween comes around I am done, and the magic has warn off. One of my favorite parts of Halloween this year was helping out at Hollyn's school carnival. I love having a kid and school and going to the school and volunteering. I love meeting her new friends and seeing her so happy. I know I have said this before, but Hollyn's teacher is amazing. She planning pretty much the whole Kindergarten Fall Festival which consisted of over 10 booths for the kids to win treats and prizes. It was so well put together and the kids had a blast. We also got to go to Hollyn's school that afternoon to watch the Halloween parade. It brought back fun memories of walking around MacArthur school in my Halloween costume as a kid. What fun memories she is making.

Paige one more time

My good friend Andrea is an amazing photographer, and lucky for me she still takes our pictures even though she has retired from photography. The best part is, she took Hollyn's two year pictures and now Paiges's two year pictures. Here are just a few of my favorites.






Here are a couple pictures of Hollyn when she was 2.

What a zoo Paige is 2!

When I was younger my mom would always make a banner on our birthday and put it up on the garage so everyone in the neighborhood would know it was our birthday. She would always put sayings like, "Shut the door Geri's 4!" or "Do a jive Jon's 5!" and every year we would take a picture by the poster. It was a fun memory I have growing up. So I would like to say I kept the tradition going but I didn't, unless putting it on the blog counts.
I can't believe my baby is 2! It has gone by way too fast, and it makes me feel a little antsy. The reason being is once you have a two year old the world around you starts wondering 1. when are you going to get pregnant or my most favorite 2. are you pregnant. The second one can be really awkward if you are wrong. So I am working out extra hard to make sure no on makes that mistake. To answer you question, no we are not pregnant and I'm not sure when we will have another one. Now back to the real fun, we celebrated Paige's birthday this week. She turned two on the 20th but we had a little party for her on Monday. Until they are a little older we just do family and close friend parties. This year we did a repeat of most years and had dinner at the park and then let the kids play. Dan gave me a hard time about the food because each year I stress about what I am going to make and each year he tells me to order subs or pizza. Of course I never listen and went with tacos. It actually turned out delicious and was really easy. What can be easier than throwing chicken and salsa in the crock pot, I know ordering something. I had a big helper in my mom who always makes things easier for me and she does a great job of making things look and taste great. The party turned out fantastic, minus the little fiasco we had just before opening presents. Who would have known that the lights don't turn on at the park till 7pm. So, we opened presents in the dark with a little help from grandpa's headlights. Although Paige couldn't see what she was opening she was excited to have her own stuff. Every time she opened something she would say,"not sissy's?" We have the best family and friends who just went with the flow. Happy Birthday little Paigey! Here's a few things we love about Paige:
1. She is very independent. If she doesn't want to do something she will let you know.
2. She is still so tiny. I haven't taken her in for her 2 year checkup yet, but she is still only about 20 lbs, maybe a little over, and super short. She is a petite little thing.
3. She is starting to talk like crazy. Some of her favorite phrases are, "not sissy's", "mommy hold you me", "what happened", "where going" and a few more I can't think of.
4. We have been working on zoo phonics (which is basically all the letter sounds) and colors. She actually knows all her sounds and colors.
5. She is feisty. Paige will not back down and is many times the one who pushes first. We are really trying to work on this. Although I don't mind when she sticks up for herself.
6. She is so close to being potty trained. She will go in the potty but just hasn't quite got that she has to tell me when she needs to go.
We love our little Paypay and can't wait to see what this year brings!




I put this little guy in because I couldn't stop laughing. Usually I try to only choose pictures that I look good in or at least okay, but this one just had to be posted. What is up with my smile? I swear ever since I got braces my smile has been off and super cheesy. You know when you tell your kids to smile nice for picture day and not to do a cheesy smile, well this is a great example of a cheesy smile. I think I may have to start using it for that very purpose. It may scare the cheesy smile right out of Hollyn.

October Break

This last week Hollyn had the whole week of school off for October Break. I was actually really looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. One, we have to get up pretty early to get Hollyn to school on time. If we don't leave the house by 7:30 or shortly after she is late for school, so we are usually in a rush to get out of the house. It was so nice letting the girls sleep in and then being able to cook a nice breakfast. Two, I fell like I don't get to spend much time with Hollyn during the week. Between school, homework, and after school activities, there's not much time left for us to just hang out. So, we decided to have something fun planned for each day. Monday, Hollyn had Hollyn day with my mom, because Paige and I were in Nebraska. Hollyn day is basically going to lunch with my mom, and then going to pick out something from Target. She loved spending the whole day with Grandma. Tuesday we made a stepping stone for my parents garden. It has Hollyn's name on it and her hand print, and of course she had to add a little flare. (I'll have to take a picture of it, because it turned out really cute) Wed. we went to the local pumpkin patch called Mother's Natures Farm. I guess pumpkin patch here in AZ is a pretty loose term, because there were no pumpkins on vines. We were really spoiled in Nebraska having actually pumpkin patches. Plus in Nebraska pumpkin patches were more like a theme park. We had a good time though riding on the hay ride, looking at the animals, going through the corn maze and looking for the perfect pumpkin to decorate.





Thursday we headed over to the Phoenix Science Museum, which is a fantastic museum. You could spend the whole day there. We spent almost 4 hours and could have stayed at least another hour or two. The highlight of the museum were the spinning thing, building toys, and the floating balls.



(And yes those are braces on my teeth. I finally took the plunge and got braces. I have been wanting to do it for years, and when a great opportunity came my way I couldn't pass it up. Plus I was looking for a younger look, but I think I overshot it by about ten years. Fifteen is not really what I was shooting for. On a side note, if you need an orthodontist, I highly recommend Tyler Robison)



To end off the week Dan's mom did parkapalooza on Friday. It consisted of going to each of the cousins parks (3) and then ending at Nonni's park for sack lunches. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. I wish I would have thought of it. I can't wait till the next school break!