Braedon Turns Eight!

Braedon's Favorite:
-color is green
-food is candy (or hot dogs and pizza)
-subject is art
-pastimes are Legos and making sculptures and art projects out of everything including stuff I throw away and he digs back out. We encourage him of course and he has his own art project area but sometimes his projects get out of hand...a box full of yarn fuzz comes to mind. I wouldn't let him save and add to it for a sculpture, mean mommy! (hey, you get tired of vacuuming it up all the time)

-Has been to the emergency room more than once just days before Christmas either for stitches or staples.

-Would play video games all day if I let him.

-Is rather smitten by bald eagles and Harry Potter.

-Loves holding and helping me with the babies.

-Says some pretty crazy things at the most random times "Ahoy Butt Naked!" or "Chicken Nuggets!" (click for those posts)

-Is an early riser every day...genetics from Kris, not me.

-Wants to be a forensic scientist or ICE special agent like his dad when he grows up.

-He had his first acting debut as baby Jesus during the 2001 Seven Hills Ward Christmas party in Colorado. Kris and I were Joseph and Mary, Weston was a lamb who 'grazed' around the stage throughout the program. He really didn't add to the reverence but he was sweet when he'd crawl over to Braedon and lay down next to the manger. Braedon slept through the whole thing, I wish I could find the pictures.

He was baptized this past Sunday by his daddy. I have yet to meet an LDS 8 year old who doesn't choose to be baptized and accept that covenant but Braedon was more serious about it than I expected. His usual reaction would be to joke around and make light of things but that wasn't the case as he prepared for it and met with the Bishop. That alone proved to me that he had an understanding of the meaning of baptism and was ready to enter into a covenant with God to take upon himself the name of Jesus Christ, keep His commandments, and serve Him to the end (see Mosiah 18:8–10; D&C 20:37):

Braedon up until now:

This is my all time favorite picture of him because it captures him 100% then and now. It is framed and makes me smile every time I pass it on the shelf:









With Birdie, one of our rats:



Always one to pose for the camera:



When his hamster Stinky died, Weston, Kris and he made a nice little wood box to bury Stinky in. They buried him across the creek in our backyard in a little flat area. (By the way, Stinky wasn't stinky because I made sure of it)



Shooting pumpkins in our backyard: (no it's not a BB gun, those were the days when we could shoot in our yard, I'm tempted daily to take it up again, our terrace would work nicely).



Tempting the Emergency Room Gods:



Cuddling with Jamison:



And with Bronwyn:



One of my favorite memories of Braedon took place when he was 5 years old. I took him to the store to pick out a pack-n-play for Jamison to use once he was born. While there we were startled by a woman in hysterics yelling for her little girl who had wandered off. Braedon was scared at first by the woman's yelling but when I told him what was going on he just said matter of factly "Oh, I know where she is" and he showed us where the little girl (about 2) was hiding.

I could write several pages about Braedon and I often do in my 'Kids' journal. I love the dynamic he adds to the family.

Only in Mexico Monday--Camotes Man

About once a week we hear this noise:



We finally got curious enough to figure out where it was coming from and what he was selling. I was told by a neighbor "he sells camotes and platanos" (sweet potatoes and plantains). The next time I heard him I handed Bronwyn off to Kris and ran downstairs with my cash in hand. I am a sucker for sweet potatoes but I think it's a pain to prepare them so to have someone else cook them for me, I'm all over it. I like plaintains usually but I don't like them roasted.



The whistle is from the release of the pressure building up in the roaster and does double duty as a way to announce his arrival. You can see the whistle part to the left of the plank of wood hanging out of the burner. There have been some nights he "hangs out" so his roaster turns into an aggravating noise contraption, loud enough, we think, to warrant a sweet potato shoved up...well, you get the point.



It's nice to think I have sweet potato service to my door and I try not to think about where he is getting the wood to use in his roaster, he's not exactly carrying around a stash of it in his back pocket. Now all I need is a Chocolate Dude and an Ice Cream Chap and I'll never have to leave the apartment.

Speaking of Sweet Potatoes...

This is my favorite sweet potato. I just started her on oatmeal cereal. Forget that rice cereal crud, oatmeal rocks and I'll tell you why. After her first feeding, which she inhaled, I cleaned her up and leaned in to give her a kiss and smelled oatmeal cookies on her breath! Thinking I must be imagining it I get the boys involved.

Me: Hey Weston come here! Smell Bronwyn's breath and tell me what it smells like.
Weston: Ewww! No way!
Me: Trust me, just take one little sniff.
Weston: Mmmm! She smells like cookies!
Braedon: Let me smell!

So now they line up after she eats her cereal just to smell her breath. How weird are we?


(yes, I am beating myself up for cutting off her chin in this picture)

Only in Mexico Monday--Teotihuacán

After being here for over a year we finally made it to the pyramids at Teotihuacán. It's not that they are far from Mexico City, about a 30 minute drive, the problem has been timing and just trying to have everyone healthy enough to go when we have it on the calendar.

The day was slightly cool, very comfortable and overcast, just how we like it.

Teotihuacán, "The City of the Gods", is one of the largest archaeological sites in Mexico best known for its pyramids. The site is still an active archaeological dig. The construction of the Pyramid of the Sun began in 100 BC by some estimations, the city's history is still shrouded in mystery. No one can agree on who built it or why it was suddenly destroyed around 700 AD. When the Aztecs found the ruins, they believed from the size alone it could only have been built by gods. Because of this belief, the Aztecs used the site for religious rituals.

To say Teotihuacán is impressive is an understatement. Some of my favorite college courses were those covering Mesoamerican and Pre-Columbian periods so to actually stand in the middle of this archaeological site was extremely overwhelming for me. I told Kris and the boys to run ahead just so I could sit with Bronwyn on one of the stone steps along the Avenue of the Dead. I sat for some time looking towards the Pyramid of the Moon and just soaked it all in.



I am not an apologist for the savagery that took place at this site and graphic details from my professors have always stuck with me not to mention disturbing finds uncovered recently. In spite of this, to actually be here rekindled my fascination, it's one of those subjects that just won't ever bore me. I had one of those near surreal realizations; "Wow, I am in Mexico, in one of the largest Classic Mesoamerican ruins I used to dream about visiting". Like I said, it was pretty overwhelming and words just can't capture the moment.

The whole experience was perfect in spite of the overly aggressive vendors who follow you around. Kris would no sooner get rid of one when another would start following us. As you know, it's not like Kris or I are pushovers, but we even had a difficult time with these guys.

Kris and the older boys climbed to the top of each pyramid while I stayed back with the younger ones. I climbed up to the 2nd tier of the Sun Pyramid but couldn't go any higher. For those of you who know about my next fun filled "surgery" you'll understand why I was less than comfortable doing all that climbing. What I did see was amazing which made me all the more frustrated that I wasn't able to get to the top.






Climbing the Moon Pyramid:





Some of the ruins along the Avenue of the Dead (a misnomer by early archaeologists, the difference between these pyramids and Egyptian pyramids is the Egyptian pyramids were used for burials while Mesoamerican pyramids were used for worship so the avenue would not have led one to death):



The remains of the Jaguar Fresco:





Bronwyn channeling the Gods of Teotihuacán: (she does this right before she falls asleep and it just entertains us all. She can go on for quite some time and can get pretty loud especially when she sounds like she's yelling at someone.)




The Pyramid of the Sun is the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. It is also a possible misnomer, further research shows evidence it could be a pyramid to the Rain god Tlaloc who was the patron god of the city. References to rain and water are all over the frescos that survived throughout the city. Burials found at the pyramid's corners also suggest sacrifices to the rain god.



The view from the 2nd tier of the Sun Pyramid. I can't even imagine what I missed up on top, I'd rather not think about it.



The boys on the 3rd tier (there are 5 tiers)







It was a fantastic little getaway and the boys were really entertained by the whole experience. When they got down from the Sun Pyramid, the conversation went like this:

Braedon: "Mom, did you know the Aztecs would chop the heads off of their prisoners and roll them down the stairs?".
Me: "Who the heck told you that?"
Weston and Braedon pointing fingers at Kris
Kris: "What!? It's true!"
I shot daggers out of my eyes and replied: "you get nightmare duty for a month if this becomes an issue"

At least he didn't tell them what was found buried at the corners of the pyramid...

I'd love to go back (minus the kids) and explore quite a bit more.