Baptism Day

I have many nieces and nephews. And they just keep coming! They are all the cutest things in the world and so I love to blog about them! I decided to personally blog about each of them when they are baptized into our church. (click to check out the LDS church)

Carter Dunn (my sister Rachelle's first son) was baptized yesterday. Carter is the first grandson in our family and I love him so much. I can't believe he is already 8 years old!

A few things that describe Carter: He makes the BEST sound effects you will ever hear! He has the most amazing and contagious laugh! He is the sweetest and kindest and most honest kid! He reminds me a lot of my Grandma Ila! I can tell he is growing up because last time I saw him he came right up to me and gave me a big hug! (Usually he is busy playing with toys or something else!) He is a really good big brother! He loves it when I come over to his house and sleep with him! He is a really good student! He loves the solar system! He loves animals/bugs/sharks/reptiles! I love how he still calls his mom, "Mama"! He skips everywhere he goes, rather than just walks! (really it's so cute! )

I am so happy that Carter has chosen to be baptized! He is being raised by amazing parents and is growing up to be such an amazing boy!

24?

so I am turning 24 and I'm not sure how I feel about that number. First of all, its even and I'm not a fan of even numbers and it just sounds old and .....old!!!! I mean honestly how many single old 24 year olds do you know? Most of my friends have been married for years and are having babies (multiple) by now! But don't worry.. I am completely content with my life right now! I am happy, having the time of my life and carefree! I love the single life (dating, countless ward functions, spontanious trips with the roomies, following the own beat of my drum, doing what i want when i want, having silence when needed..) but I am just saying that 24 is getting up there in age...

I thought of some numbers to represent my life thus far!

24- my age

23- plus 3 is the number of kids in my first grade class that i will have

22- number of kids I miss dearly in the African Orphanage!

21- the number of hoodies/sweatshirts i own! I love them!

20- the number of people in my family! I love them all!

19-times i have listened on repeat to the shakira song on my blog.

18-miles I am running on Saturday to train for my marathon in Logan

17- day of my Birthday!

16- minutes it takes me to get ready from wake-up, shower, eat, walk out the door!

15- add a couple zeros and you have guessed the price of my car... you could say i will have a payment on her for a while!

14- jeans... a D.I run is in order

13- Temples in Utah Danielle and I are traveling to before the end of the year

12- girls I worked with at EFY and LOVED it so much!

11- amazing traveling experiences around the world!

10- number of pigs I raised growing up! :)

9- food items i could eat with peanut butter! (sandwich, pretzels, celery, toast, crackers, chocolate, strawberries, apples, bananas..I love P.B.!)

8- How many plants I have!

7- number of years i have been driving before i got my first speeding ticket (just this last month)! I accepted the ticket graciously knowing that I have well earned it!

6- AMazing, Wonderful best friend SISTERS!

5- states I have lived in (idaho, washington, utah, hawaii, california)

4- longboarding accidents!

3- boquets caught at weddings!

2- hands down i have the BEST parents you will have or ever had!

1-awesome Brother who puts up with a lot of sisters but we still love him!

Roommate FuN!

I love my roomies! They are so much fun and we get along so well! There is no drama which I love! They were so welcoming and nice when I first arrived and we have all been friends since!
I love the late night chats with the girls, watching the Bachelloette with Kristen, talking about boys with Marianne, running with Kristen, going to institute with them, singing Kareoke, and being able to talk about the gospel! It's a fun house and best of all... we like to PaRTy!!!!



Watching the fireworks with Marianne and friends !

Seven Peaks with Kristen

Rodeoing it up!

At the park!

feeding the ducks

unforgettable class

I finished teaching in West Valley a few weeks ago. My last day was a bitter sweet day. I had such a great experience teaching! I loved the opportunity I had to teach these children and be a part of their lives. I will never forget my first class and these kids! They made me laugh everyday with their cute smiles, funny stories, and innocent ways! They made me cry from frustration. They made me angry when they stole my things. They made me happy when they were so eager to learn new things. They consumed my thoughts after school and well into the nights when I sat awake trying to think of new ways to teach them, how to teach respect, love and kindness better. I am so fortunate to have a job and do what I love. I had such an amazing mentor who helped me tremendously and when it was all over gave me boxes and boxes of school/teacher supplies for me to take to my next school!!

I remember the first time I taught the kids about the "golden rule"! Something had happened that made one kid start to cry, and so i stopped everything we were doing.. called everyone to the rug and had a 'class meeting'. I figured that if my kids learn anything.. it will be respect for one another! I started to talk firmly and looked each of them in the eyes and talked about respect. love. friendship. and treating others how they wanted to be treated. i told them this was called the golden rule. After that.. i heard them constantly talking about the golden rule in the hallways, at recess, in the classroom! it was the neatest thing! They loved being taught something besides academics and they really payed attention! If someone was mean, they would say, "Miss Bradshaw, I don't think Jimmy used the golden rule right" or "you're not following the golden rule!"

This kid on the far left is my ELL (English language learner) and he could only speak a few words in english. One day i gave a writing prompt for the kids to do and it read... "I Scream Whenever....." and the kids filled in the blank. this is what Jose's read... "I Scream Whenever..... I Scream is good. I like I Scream. I love I scream the berry best in a cone" Cutest thing EVER!

Y-Stone and Jackson Hole!!

My Roomies (Kristen, Kelly and Marianne) and I took a trip up to Yellowstone and Jackson, WY. It was so much fun! We met Kristen's parents up in Yellowstone and they have been traveling there for about 30 years and so they knew all the fun places to go and cool places to see! We went swimming at this place called Firehole. Its the river, but natural hot springs flow into it, so its really warm and you can body surf down the current! It was a ton of fun! The first night we stayed in a cute little cabin in Mammoth. We did a bunch of sight seeing and animal seeing! We saw a grizzly bear with her 2 little cubs, a black bear, a bunch of elk and bison, a coyote, and some pronghorn (they look like antelope!). We went to a lot of geysers that were so cool looking!
We saw boiling mud, hiked up to a couple waterfalls, saw Old Faithful!, and then we went down to Jackson for some fun!

we went white water rafting in jackson and it was a blast! i was really scared to go at first and didn't want to fall out of the boat, but it ended up being a ton of fun! Kristen fell out on one of the huge rapids and i just about dyed laughing! :)

Old Faithful erupting!

some of the geysers smelled awful!

yay!

a really pretty waterfall.. the hike back up was VERy tireing! you had to hike up a bajillion stairs!

Rock and Roll

Before at the biffy...

This last weekend my sister Danielle and I flew to Seattle to run the Rock and Roll 26.2 mile Marathon with our other sister Rachelle. It was so much fun!!! Rock and Roll Marathons and so fun because there is a band playing mile to pumps you up. The course in Seattle in especially pretty because you run by water most of the time and its a very beautiful course. I was hoping to qualify for Boston and just barely missed the cutoff.. I ran it in 3 hours and 50 min. Danielle was so kind to run the first 13 miles with me and then she ran the final 13 miles with Rachelle. My amazing Parents, Melissa and Paul, Megan, Parker, cousin Rob, and Rachelles friend Kristie were there to cheer us on! It was so nice to have a fan crowd! Everyone was amazing at motivating us, cheering and even running a little ways with us!

The weather was so nice and cloudy! It didn't rain but it wasn't hot and sunny! It was just right! I am so happy to be done with the marathon but really want to do another to qualify for Boston!

Mr. and Mrs. C

This last weekend, I traveled up to Idaho with the Warrs to go to one of our best friend, Brig's wedding. It was a super fun time.. i just love the Harpers! Let me just say, they are all beautiful people, funny, super chill and very creative! Mama Harper made all the Bridesmaids skirts and a really pretty quilt for Brig and Jared. Brig looked beautiful in her dress and Megan is like the prettiest girl I know! Their brother Matt cracks me up with how chill he is! After the Temple, we all went to the Harpers and helped from about 2:00 till 7:00 decorating, setting up, samlping the candy :), and doing whatever needed to be done. Matt calls around 6:30 saying that he ran out of gas after playing basketball this whole time! :) After someone comes and gets him.. he walked into the house about 15 min. before the reception started and just says... "Hey..." and walks downstairs to change! I thought it was the funniest thing.. maybe you had to have been there!

But the reception was really fun, the colors were brown, orange, and green and the food was yummy! Meg and I stayed by the drink table and served people their beverage.. (luckily it was RIGHT next to the chocolate fountain and I passed by there many times to snag a chocolate covered strawberrys!)

the sweets!


I dont know why i keep catching these things... the rumor (that you get married if you catch the boquet) is NOT true people! this is my third boquet catch.. three's a charm??? ehh?

did i mention the chocolate fountain!! YUM!!!

Harpers!!

Beauitful couple!

oh BBBBBB

So my little littlest sister graduated a couple weeks ago! It was so fun to go to Washington and be there for the festivities that took place in the Bradshaw home. My mom and dad sure know how to keep a house of 25 people happy and fun! We did a little Winthrop shopping, Rachelle and I went on a 20 mile run, we watched Bailey do an amazing RAP for her graduation speech, we had a BBQ, played games, and took some fun pictures with Tiffany 50's style! Tiff and Terry came up with their kids and it was so much fun to spend time with them!

one good looking candle holder!

B and her amazing, awesome RAP

sisters...sisters... there were never such devoted sisters

B, you are amazing and I love ya! I am soo happy that you are going to be in Provo! So close and snug to me, Sarah, Dani, and Meg... should have thought of that Mel and Shell! :) Your speech/Rap was funny, creative and very YOU!