Braden's 3rd Birthday

Since Braden is just a littl obsessed with dinosaurs right now (most days he tells me we are an Allosaurus mommy and baby) we decided to go with that theme for his 3rd birthday party. We held it at Junlge Jim's Playland and since I didn't have to spend time making food, etc, I spent time making caveman costumes. The kids definately didn't like them as much as I did - but it did make it really easy to spot who was with our group. We also had fun parties with each side of the family BUT forgot to get out the camera as usual.

My little caveman

The party group

Incredibly Cute at Halloween

Last year we ordered a size 2-3 "dash" costume from Disney for Braden. Interestingly enough they sent us size 4-5 . Not so great last Halloween since we were scrambling at the last minute as Disney was ignoring my customer service email ... grrrr ... BUT it WAS great not having to worry about what we were going to do THIS Halloween. Braden's costume got good use at "Boo at the Zoo," our ward Halloween party and all around the neighborhood on the 31st.

Braden with strangely spikey hair and shiny boots at "Boo at the Zoo"

Orange Juice Blues

On our trip to Arizona, a few things kept me from feeling my best. The first was cutting my toe in the middle of the night at the Bed and Breakfast on a sharp piece of floor stone. I stumbled back to bed, tried not to get any blood on the pristine white duvet, eminated angry vibes at the cosmos and then limped a bit for the rest of the trip. But I'm all better now :)!

The other one hasn't quite gone away. It began with nausea at around 4pm on each day that I had a nice breakfast in the morning. Breakfast allergy? No. Natalie'Christensen's own special brand of orange juice induced morning (evening) sickness. The second time it happened I remembered the feeling from last pregnancy and I knew what it was. Yay!

Arizona Trip

In October we drove to Arizona to spend time with all of the Yonally women (Aaron's mom, Aunts Carolyn, Marsha and Kathy and GG, Aaron's Grandma). The story begins as the tale of two trips - us with Aunt Carolyn driving south and the rest of them driving north to meet up near Sedona.

Our trip: we got off on time and completely missed a storm that was supposed to follow us all the way out of Utah. We had a liesurely stop in Kanab where we ate at a wonderful local restaurant, played at a great park. We took the scenic route thru Sedona on our way to the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at and rested while we waited for the other crew.

Their trip: Here are the facts as I understand them. An incomplete map lead to an accident involving a deer. The accident broke various parts of the car and caused Loyce to pour her drink on the ground. The broken car lead to difficulty getting a rental car on a holiday which was nearly impossible but finally worked out. The delay getting the car caused the group to leave late to meet us. Leaving late to meet us put them in trrible traffic in Arizona construction which cost them several hours. And all of it combined made them giddy and silly when they arrived late - having a good old time regardless of everything - a definite Yonally family tradition.

During the rest of the trip. We enjoyed a 4-hour train ride thru the beautiful Verde Canyon in 1st class accommodations. We went shopping in Jerome and spent time talking and laughing in the common area of the bed and breakfast. We visited the Tuzigut Indian ruins. On our way south we stopped for a great lunch, pie and pumpkin butter and later at a Phoenix casino for more good food and an overnight stay.

All of us with our bed and breakfast hostess - who liked Braden so much she let him leave with some of her grandkids toys!

What is left of the Tuzigut hilltop dwellings - the most impressive ruins I have seen thus far

We also visited the Phoenix and Tucson Zoos where Braden rode a camel, fed some giraffes and watched some monkeys going crazy swinging around their cage and making all kinds of noise. At the Tucson Children's Museum Braden finally got a see a replica of an Allosaurus - one of his favorite dinosaurs. In Tombstone he loved the wagon tour but was a little iffy about the fake shoootout shows and definitely disturbed when Aaron was sent to jail for wearing "half a pair of pants."

Riding a camel at the Phoenix Zoo

Still hot in Arizona in October!

Feeding giraffes at the Tucson Zoo

Aaron in Tombstone - jailed for wearing shorts

It was a wonderful vacation and we thank Loyce for having us and taking us to do so many fun things. The only thing I am a little sorry about is that I started feeling a little wierd on the trip and so we left a day early so I could get home and go to the doctor ... but more about that in the next blog!