Reese Bronson and Kendall Starr

On the road again!

2011-12-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

The arrival of November meant it was road trip time again. Despiteonly being 2 ½ years old, this road trip back to Tucson was going to be my 5^thlong distance trip (1500+ miles) and Kendall’s (16 months) 3^rd! Mom andI out voted Dad, so we got to turn Kendall’s car seat around for the road trip soshe could face forward and see the movies (and scenery). Even though Kendall has an unhealthyattachment and love for Elmo, the road trip theme quickly became Mickey MouseClubhouse. Mom and Dad usually limit and persuade us away from the television,but the road trip was the exact opposite—by the time we got to NorthernCalifornia we rarely got in the car without the promise of watching a movie.The road trip was about more than just movies though, we left Chelan onNovember 10^th and stayed with seven different friends and saw manymore before we rolled into Tucson on November 21^st. The highlight ofthis year’s trip was being able to play with so many new young friends alongthe way.

The trip came with some rough spots. Both Kendall and I gotsick along the way. The hectic life didn’t stop with our arrival in Tucson. Wecelebrated a great Thanksgiving with mommy’s family and then a couple dayslater flew back to Seattle to give BB a big hug as she had said goodbye toGrandma Hannah while we were on our road trip and Mom and Dad thought she coulduse a hug from her granddaughters.
Since we got back, December has been about two things—gettinghealthy and getting ready for Christmas. We are healthy and ready or notChristmas is just around the corner. We want to wish everyone a very MerryChristmas and tell them not to forget that it is Jesus’ birthday and He lovesyou.

During the road trip Kendall really dialed in her walking and now she is fully mobile.

We stopped with friends in the Bay Area and got to go to the beach!

My new Nigh-Night showed up while we were visiting friends in Salinas, he isn't the same but I am still happy to have a Nigh-Night back in my life.

The pig-tails lasted long enough for photos and haven't returned yet. Sorry Nana and Auntie Mel.

This is just one of my friends I saw on the roadtrip. Hi Brayden, Lexi, Josiah, Luke, Kendall Marie, Gianna, Hayley, Trevor, Samuel, Noah, Evan, Luca, Bella, and Daniel.

During our last stop on the road trip we saw a retired Southern Pacific Locomotive. We thought Bop would appreciate a picture with three of his favorite girls.

Back in Tucson, Camden and I helped prepare Thanksigivng dinner.

Camden and Ashton like to sleep over, this arrangment lasted 5 minutes.

One of the best parts about being back in Tucson is spending time with our cousins.

Kendall is loving her mobility and the plethora of toys Nana and Bop have.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson and Kendall Starr

To walk or not to walk...

2011-11-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

Technicallyfor the record I am credited with taking my first steps at Camano during thesecond week of September, but after those first couple of steps my progress regressedfaster than the national economy. I had heard the slogan, “watch your step” andI didn’t really feel like watching all my steps, so I decided to keep crawling.After Reese filled me in on what the saying actually meant, I went right back topracticing my walking. I love taking two or three steps and then lunging for mydestination with a smile and laugh—I’m also known for giving myself a round ofapplause after a successful journey across the room.

We tookmultiple trips to GP and BB’s house in October to visit them and GrandmaHannah. GP is a great walking assistant. As I was learning to walk during ourtrips to GP and BB’s, Reese was perfecting her craft as a dog walker. She lovedto take Devlin for walks with GP or BB. I think Reese is going to love havingDakota around at Nana and Bop's.

Our trips toSeattle also included multiple trips to the zoo and Grandma Hannah's. At the zoowe saw animals in semi-natural habitats that were fed a strict diet on a regulatedschedule and had lots of visitors come to see them, at Grandma Hannah’s we saw… On our last visit to Grandma Hannah’s weshowed off our Halloween costumes and they were a huge hit.

ForHalloween we showed off our costumes on Woodin Ave in downtown Chelan where allthe shops gave out candy. The street was full of kids in costumes and parents withcameras and of course candy. Reese did her best to keep up with our cousins andget as much candy as possible—though I did share her frustration that afterlots of hard work collecting candy all night it seemed unfair to just have Momand Dad take it away when we got home. Personally it was easier for me because Ionly had two pieces of candy that I had gotten on our last stop, ourlandlord/neighbors.

After a longday of traveling and visiting friends Reese’s love for pizza may have beencemented when she made this comment one night; “My tummy really hurts, I needsome pizza.”

Slow to walk, Mom says I have become a world class crawler

Reese warmed up to the goat at the pumkin patch and led him eat out of her hand

Reese loves her rain boots and mud puddles, fortunately at the same time

GP & BB came to the pumkin patch with us to help us find the perfect pumpkin, unfortunately there wasn't any room in the wheelbarrow for a pumpkin

With her costume, Lighting McQueen candy bag and her purse Reese was ready to trick or treat

We got to trick or treat with our cousins at the shops in downtown Chelan

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Here comes the off-season

2011-11-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

For the pastthree years, September has always marked a dramatic change in our lives.Slidewaters closes Dad returns for weekday dinners, bath time and bedtime andeven made a couple appearances in the middle of the day. The past two years westarted our road trip back to Tucson, but this year we decided to stick aroundWashington a little longer.

Kendall andI made sure we spent as much time as possible at Slidewaters. During the lastweek of the season, we got to slide with our cousins, and we started to teach Kendallto slide solo on Bugaboo. Sammy took me down three different big slides andtook his job as protector very seriously, which Dad says gives him great peaceabout the future.

AfterSlidewaters closed and we settled down a little bit, we took our friends thePeterson’s to the Bordner family cabin on Camano Island in Puget Sound. Our weekwas bookended with beautiful sunny days and we had a great time with greatfriends playing in the sand, on the hammock and with our food. GP & BBvisited on our last days and we loved sharing our time with them at thisspecial place.

We spent the rest of September catching up onfamily time we miss from our busy summers. We took a couple boat rides, checkedout the lazy river project at Slidewaters, and went on more family jogs in twoweeks than we had in four months. And as some of our loyal readers havecertainly noticed, we have worked hard to catch up on our blog.

As the Slidewaters season was ending, I made sure to get in plenty of sliding with my cousins

Mom and Kendall always have a great time sliding together

For Dad's and my money, two of the greatest smiles ever

I love to slide with Mia

Sammy and I went down slide 1, 4 and Whitewater by ourselves!

Kendall took a tough fall at Camano, but rebounded quickly and had a great time

Kendall joins a long list of Bordner's who have enjoyed this beach

Bathtime may be Kendall's favorite time of the day

We love to go to the park for some dry sliding

Kendall loves to drive the boat

Mom and Dad tell me it is important for me to look out and protect Kendall

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

August was a blur

2011-11-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

We started August off with a rush of visitors from dad’sfamily. Reese and I got to renew friendships with so many of our young cousins.During the week we played with; Ryder, Payton, Owen, Siena, Hunter, Gage, Cody,Jackson and Peter. It was especially fun because GP and BB were there plusUncle Rhett, Uncle Roy and Aunt Erin. Not only did we get to go sliding witheveryone, we got to spend time at the beach at Wapato. Now to me the sand wasas appealing as a diaper rash, but the water felt great. Reese was the opposite;she was so in love with playing in the sand that it took her until the last dayto get in the lake (Mom’s blood I guess).

Some of our favorite guards started heading back to schoolin August, so we spent a lot of time at the park making sure we could saygoodbye—as well as making sure we got in plenty of sliding before the end ofthe season. August was a fun month.

Not much beats splashing in the shallow end at Slidewaters

Ok, this beats it.

I've been building my walking skills slowly over multiple months.

Any chance we get to help dad at work is openly welcomed and when the time to go home comes we dramatically protest.

Reese showed Aunt Erin the best rides at Slidewaters, they have similiar taste in rides. Uncle Roy has a bet with me that Reese will ride purple haze before Aunt Erin

The Bordner's visited in August and we hosted them for some after hours sliding

Notice a theme, the Slidewaters season was winding down and we wanted to get as much sliding in as possible

Reese became a pretty good solo slider this summer

Reese and baby Hudson are usually together. Reese is a great mommy to baby Hudson (not to be confused with Cousin Hudson-who lives in Tucson)

Mia is a great cousin to both Reese and me, as you can see we look up to her a lot

Mommy chose to go on the boat to the Alpenhorn for her birthday dinner. We had a great time.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Happy Birthday Kendall

2011-10-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that parents are suckers for a little guilt trip, but I’ve learned that as I grow up I have to break in new material. My golden gem, go-to line at bedtime is full proof. I’ve found its effectiveness is heightened if delivered with just a touch of sadness in my voice. When Mom or Dad try to give me a kiss good night and leave, I follow it with; “Snuggle with me a little bit.” They fall for it every time. If they try to leave a couple minutes later I just add a new ending, “snuggle with me a little bit more.” Works like a charm.
Slidewaters started July off with the busiest stretch of days ever, which meant the lines were a little long for my taste. By the time the Fourth of July arrived, we were all ready for a good family night. We got a family adventure. While Dad and Uncle Burke were battling boat batteries, my cousins house sprung a leak in the downstairs crawl space—so Dad and Uncle Burke quickly switched gears to stop the leak. The leak was solved, but the boat battery debacle was never completely solved and minutes before the firework show was going to start we all had to jump in the car and drive down to Wapato Point Cellars. Fortunately our friends were there to play with us and offer Mom, Dad, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Burke a glass of wine.
We were blessed to get some Tucson visitors in July. My friend Garrett came and brought his parents, Rob & Kelsey. Yes his parents really are named Rob & Kelsey and rumor has it that Dad had to talk Mr. Rob out of naming his son, Reece. As great as all our visitors are, no one can compare to when grandparents visit. And in July, Nana visited for two weeks and Bop joined her during the second week. We love when Nana & Bop visit because we get spoiled with treats, clothes, toys and love. We celebrated a lot of birthdays in July, none bigger than Kendall’s first—as if my adorable little sister needed an extra reason for people to admire and shower her with affection.

Kendall loves her personal chair she got from Nana & Bop

Like any good 1-year old's birthday we got down and dirty with our desserts

We took Nana & Bop on a boat ride up lake and I got to wear my new life jacket

Kendall loved watching the water behind the boat. (For you worry-warts pretend her life jacket was only off for this picture)

My mom and sister are very very beautiful

Kendall got a special teeter-totter for her birthday, she can ride solo or we can ride together. Mom says when she has a face like this she wants to be left alone to ride solo.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Let the summer begin

2011-10-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

When you are a part of a family business you never know when you may be called on. Mom, Reese and I spent most of June being called upon to help out at Slidewaters. Clearly it was a smart business decision, having three beautiful girls in the gift shop can only help sales. When we weren’t working in the gift shop, we spent a lot of time sliding and playing in the water. Reese’s favorite slide was Bugaboo and I enjoyed the comfort, warmth and security of sliding with Mom (Dad always tries to push my comfort zone). We were all super excited that the park was open again and even though it was hardly summer outside, we enjoyed it as much as possible.

I knew that as the summer went on we were going to have a lot of friends and family visiting, so I made sure to practice my waving, blowing kisses and smiling so that I could be everyone’s favorite. I knew it would be tough to be the favorite because Reese was really starting to talk a lot and her speech was already sounding better than Lou Holtz. She was even starting to produce some pretty good one liners. Directed towards her baby (who she named Hudson) with a finger pointed directly at her, “and that’s a no.” We really are little sponges. Dad’s family came to visit in June. Grandma Hannah and Aunt Penny came, but I’m sorry to report my camera battery died so I didn’t get a picture of them on the Tube Blaster together—next time.

Auntie Starr visited in June and Reese & I showed her all the best slides at Slidewaters

Dad and I love to go sliding on the big slides

Reese is a great big sister, she is very helpful in making me laugh, scream and cry--sometimes all in the same minute

Esther is one of Reese's best friends in Chelan. The word handful always comes up when they are playing together

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Another move

2011-10-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

May brought a lot of exciting things like water in the pools at Slidewaters, a trip to Spokane for a Sysco Food Show, opening day at Slidewaters—but none was more exciting than finding a new home. After being stoned walled much like when Kendall comes after my toys, we suddenly found ourselves with two living options. We chose the more affordable duplex with a nice little yard over the larger, nicer more expensive condo. It quickly proved to be the right choice as Kendall and I are huge fans of the lawn, gravel and porch. We are less than a mile from both Mom and Dad’s work, so our location is perfect for stroller trips all over Chelan.

When we noticed that Dad’s free time evaporated faster than the hopes of a good season from the Mariners as training day and opening day approached, we offered to help in any way we could. Sammy and I took it upon ourselves to dry test the slides, while Kendall closely inspected the grass. Everything checked out and the park opened without any issues Memorial Day weekend. We wasted no time getting in some good sliding.

Our new home and my new room came with a new bed

Kendall's favorite part of the new house was that her pack-n-play had a new role

The fall is going to be tough because Sammy will be in kindergarden and we won't be able hang out during the week

"Yeah Camden, I think most of my toys will fit in our new house. When are you going to come see my new room?"

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Do you remember April?

2011-10-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

One thing has plagued me during my first 9 months of life—pack-n-plays. I can’t completely complain about my sleeping arrangements—Mom and Dad broke some rules early on and let me sleep between them and let me sleep on my stomach from week 1. But that doesn’t change my hate, hate relationship with pack-n-plays. I finally got Mom & Dad onboard with my hatred. When we were in the doorless 1-bedroom apartment at Slidewaters, they had to move my pack-n-play at least 5 times a day. They moved my pack-n-play in and out of the bathroom more than a two year old asks; “why?” The close quarters of the apartment made everything a little more difficult; but overall it was a pretty fun time for all of us—of course we could have had the same fun in two weeks instead of six.

I felt the size of the apartment was hindering to my new activity of crawling. I had just picked up the skill, so it was frustrating to be stuck inside such a small space. If only I had started earlier, I could have been doing marathon distances at Nana and Bop’s house. I began trying to explain my frustration in a new way, but apparently no one understood the words that were coming out of my mouth. Eventually they picked up all my clues and I gained free reign of the empty sun deck at Slidewaters. Reese and I covered a lot of ground on the sun deck and I even learned to climb the stairs and Reese learned to take her Pooh-Bear toy down a flight of stairs and not get hurt.

In tight spaces we all learned everything needed to be multi-functionalReese wanted to get a jump start on her tan for the summer

Did I mention the apartment was a tight living space?
We had a great Easter. With a risen Savior and a dress as cute as mine how could we not

We spent Easter at our old place with Uncle Burke, Aunt Jen and our cousins

The apartment was small but came with great views

Daddy's office was a short walk from the apartment, so Reese and I went over to help him all the time.

With love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

A whole lot of chaos

2011-04-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay between posts, both Kendall and I thought it was the other persons turn to write. Well it turns out it is my turn and I am glad because I have a lot to report. Our copy editor (Mom) complains when the blogs get too long, so I am going to hit the highlights and post some pictures because if I tried to cover all the milestones, events and funny things I’ve said in the past 6 weeks, I’d have enough for a novel. Our time in Tucson was wrapped up with building a wall with Dad, swimming everyday with Mrs. Pam, and sorting, tossing, storing and packing for another life transition. We hit the road for Washington on March 27th. Before we left though I got to have an early birthday party with a lot of great friends, spend multiple nights in a row with Camden, Ashton and Hudson and spend some special time with Nana & Bop (shopping!). After two nights on the road in hotels, we slowed down our road trip and spent two great nights with the Boise Bordner clan. Almost as soon as I got there, Payton and I were introducing our babies to each other. Fortunately they got along great, it can be so frustrating when your babies don’t get along with your friends babies. After a night of just kids (plus a nanny) and a trip to Zoo Boise, we were on the road for our final destination. Lake Chelan was a beautiful sight for our eight eyes as we were all very tired and weary travelers by the time we rolled into Chelan on the last day of March. I could have gone another 1000 miles, but my Elmo DVD mysteriously disappeared as soon as we got to Chelan. Despite the lingering winter in Chelan, it has been great to be back. Seeing my Chelan cousins and running around the empty waterpark has been a blast—FYI the frog slide is just as much fun without water. We are currently bundled up in the apartment at Slidewaters while we look for a place to live this summer. It is pretty tight quarters, but at least we all smell pretty good. And if we don’t, we get changed right away and given baths. Mom & Dad say there isn’t room for smelly people in the tiny apartment. We made a trip to GP and Gigi’s for my official birthday and had a blast seeing everyone. I got to go the Seattle Zoo and see my first hippopotamus and picked up a couple great new toys (thanks for the piano Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin). I decorated cupcakes with Gigi, went on an early Easter egg hunt with Grandma Hannah and got in a little food fight with Uncle Rhett. A great trip! Kendall seems to still be in love with life and is thoroughly enjoying her ever increasing mobility. She stands up on things, crawls faster than I ever did and gets into anything she can reach. I really need to be on the lookout for my toys now, because if I have to rip something out of her hands that I want she cries and I get in trouble. So it really comes down to who is faster.

I had a great time celebrating my birthday with GP, Gigi, Grandma Hannah, Uncle Rhett, Uncle Roy, Aunt Erin and Great Aunt Debbie

Mom painted my toes for my birthday. It didn't take Kendall long to break out her smile after her turn in the pool was over Kendall hasn't fallen out yet Between tears and screams, Kendall learned to float.

Now that Kendall is standing up she can get her own toys out to play with. By the way, has anyone seen my couch full of toys? It has been missing for almost a month.

Kendall loved the opportunity to break free from the restraints of the car seat at Zoo Boise

My cousin Payton and I loved looking at all the animals at the zoo together

We had to get a little more bundled up for the zoo in Seattle, but we braved it like we were natives and didn't let the cold temperatures and rain scare us away.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

PS: We know that it is birthday season, so happy birthday to all those March, April and May birthdays.

Preparing for the family business

2011-04-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

I think I am almost ready for the Purple Haze!

Hudson's here!

2011-03-04T15:26:00.000-08:00

February is a short month so I am forgiven for skipping a month, right? It was such a fantastic month that even if it was as long as the others I probably wouldn’t have had time to write. The day after Reese wrote our last blog, Hudson Allen Odell was born, though it was more of a life changer for Camden, Ashton, Auntie Mel and Uncle Adam, it still meant quite a bit of change for us too. The first great change for Reese and me was that Camden and Ashton became our roommates for a week!
I hit a couple milestones in February and I don’t plan on slowing down in March. The quick update is that I’m up to two teeth, I’m sitting up on my own and even becoming semi-mobile. My dad believes my best talent to be what he calls insta-tears. It seems the second I start crying marble size tears began to roll down my cheeks—should come in handy later in life. Mommy says Reese is a sponge, but she still just looks like my sister to me. By Reese’s request (she pushes me in my walker into her room and says “bye-bye now” to anybody that tries to enter her room) we have started to play together. She loves to bring me toys and then take them away and show me how much fun they are, she also loves to read to me and share hugs and kisses.
February was fantastic for many reasons, but one of them was that I had all four of my grandparents under one roof—talk about a grandkid’s dream. GP and Gigi came to visit us for a week from Washington. Aunt Biza flew out for a long weekend from Fort Worth and Uncle Rhett took a weekend off from skiing to visit as well. With so many people to hold me, I was in heaven. We had such a good time with our visitors that a week after they left we decided to be the visitors, so we drove to Camarillo, CA to visit the Rankin 5! The last time we were there the twin boys were born! I had a blast hanging out with Trevor and Sammy, Reese had a blast playing with Hayley and Mom and Mrs. Laura are basically two peas in a pod so of course they had fun together.
February may have been a blur, but I’ve been told it is just preparation for what lies ahead. On the last day of March we are scheduled to drive into Chelan! We are still looking for a place to live, so keep us on your prayer list, Mom & Dad promised that when we get to Washington I get a real bed and can so goodbye to my pack and play. In the next three weeks we will begin packing and saying goodbye to our numerous Tucson loved ones. It will be devastatingly sad to say good bye, but we are also all extremely excited to get back to Washington to our loved ones there.

Sitting up on your own comes with so many benefits!
Don't be fooled by my sisters sweet smile.

GP is an instant favorite with us!

Aren't grandparents the best!

Uncles aren't too bad either.

Reese made fast friends with Hayley in Camarillo.

I'm still learning to tell them apart, but I think this is my new friend Sammy.

If Mom knew what I was thinking, I don't think she would be smiling so much.

Love to all,

Kendall Starr

Life is good!

2011-01-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

Do you like my earrings?

Christmas and New Years came and went about as fast as my entourage and I can take a clean house and turn it upside down. And since we hauled in enough toys to make any preschool jealous, we have that much more ammunition to work worth. Some of my new favorites are my tricycle, bath-time baby, and all of Kendall’s new toys—she got a lot of fun stuff! Our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all very generous and we are very, very grateful. Mom and Dad also got me a new potty, that I have sat on many times but have yet to christen.
A couple days before Christmas Mom, Dad and I took Kendall to get her ears pierced. She was very brave (braver than Dad, who chickened out and said he should stay with me in the waiting room because it could be traumatizing for me to watch). Kendall got the same earrings as me and looks very beautiful with her new bling. Mom says that my vocabulary has taken off the last 6 weeks and I try to take advantage as often as possible. Despite clamming up a little, I love to talk on the phone and Skype with friends. I also love to read to myself and Kendall. Mom says that I fall in a great place amongst some great talkers from Daddy’s side of the family. When I am at my most talkative she thinks I talk a little more than Uncle Roy, but not as much as Uncle Rhett.
Since 2011 started, Dad has started to have to do a little more work, he tries to do his work at home and I try not to let him. I can be pretty persuasive, so much so that he has started to leave the house or lock himself in the den because he can’t say no to me-which bodes well for my future.
The biggest Arizona update right now is that we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Hudson Allen Odell. Auntie Mel is due February 1st, but nobody believes she will make it that long. Since we are heading back to Washington at the end of March, we are all strong supporters of the sooner the better. Plus I’m told that Camden and Ashton are going to spend a couple nights at our house when Hudson comes, I suggested a couple test runs at these sleepovers but no one else seconded the idea.

Dad says I'm a natural climber Kendall is always smiling, laughing and cooing; easily the happiest baby anywhere

Kendall loves bath time and I can't wait until we can take more baths together

Dad says there is more to potty time than just going the bathroom

I try to help Bop out as much as possible

If Kendall isn't smiling and laughing, she is sleeping

I have a very extensive library and I love to share it with Kendall and even read to her

An hour rarely passes that I don't ask about Ashton

Kendall started eating rice cereal and pureed fruit, it is helping her bulk up a little

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

What's a conundrum?

2010-12-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Reese and I were having a sister talk the other day. She was explaining to be a conundrum she was experiencing—something about 22 catches. Her problem centers around singing. She loves when people sing to her and by singing to her you can accomplish almost anything with her (fix her earrings, wipe her nose, calm her down), but that means that Dad does some singing. I think that pretty much sums up her dilemma.
We’ve been spending a lot of time with Camden and Ashton and Reese and I thought it was important that we be able to tell Mom and Dad when we want to hang out with our cousins. I’m still working on effective communication, but fortunately Reese can say both Camden’s and Ashton’s names. Mom says I am much chattier than Reese was at my age, but then again she was usually busy sucking on a pacifier. I tried a pacifier and decided it was no where near as good as the real thing, go ahead, call me a purest. I have started to branch out with my diet. Mom makes a lovely rice cereal that I enjoyed for my first Thanksgiving meal, it didn’t taste as good as everyone else’s food smelled, but I was still thankful for it.
When I finally made it to the doctor for my four month check up I was greeted by a strange face (Dr. Brice had the day off), some needles and a measuring tape. I tipped the scales at 13 pounds 8 ounces, was 24.5 Inches tall and had what is considered a normal size head. All I care about is that I am big enough and strong enough to start trying to keep up with my cousins. I’ve learned how to roll over and I didn’t have a tape measure out, but I know that during one tummy time session I started in the middle of my mat and ended up at the end of it—now I call that progress.
One of the most adorable things that happens around our house daily centers around Reese and her baby, she loves to take care of her baby. Baby gets dressed (in my dirty clothes usually), baby gets wipes, diaper cream, diapers, kisses, naps, hugs and the occasional toss across the room. Reese loves her baby!
With Christmas just around the corner, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If we aren’t too busy playing with new toys we will try to write a little to tell you how wonderful Christmas was at Nana and Bop’s. Mom & Dad want us to remind you that Christmas is about Jesus and his gift of unconditional love and mercy is the best gift you can ever receive.

In this family you better know how to get a good car nap in, I learned from Mom

Reese and Nigh, Night go everywhere together

You wouldn't believe how good this tastes

If only you could see what I see

My sister is nice enough to sit down and read to me every once in a while

I really don't have any reason not to be this happy all the time

Reese loves to wave and say bye, bye

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Words are great, but pictures are better

2010-12-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

Camden likes to take me for drives. Dad says Camden has been chosen as one of my protectors.

With our lives I've learned to take a nap whenever and wherever possible.Happy is the way to go!

I was at the first Husky/Nebraska football game this year; I don't have high hopes for the second.
You turn four months and apparently they put you on an exercise routine. I must get 90 minutes a day in this thing.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

A duck says...

2010-11-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, Mom and Dad really started to work with me on my animal sounds. It wasn't until I saw my Halloween costume that I realized why. We spent Halloween with my cousins at a local church playing games, bouncing in inflatables, and watching puppet shows. I had read of rumors in a couple of my under 2 year old chat rooms that candy was a big part of Halloween, but apparently Dad is worried about the childhood obesity and diabetes epidemics so I was limited to a couple pieces.

My vocabulary is growing by the day, with my newest favorite word being Kota, as in Dakota-Nana and Bop's large German Shepard. Kendall is more vocal than ever too, of course I am the only one that can understand what she is saying and I'm sworn to secrecy by the bond of sisterhood, so don't even ask.

Camden & Ashton were first runner-ups in the costume contest. We were in line for food during the judging because Dad knows how important it is to keep his girls fed.

I think we can all agree that Kendall would have run away with the contest had she entered.

I love holding my sister, but I get the feeling she doesn't always feel that safe with me.

It can be tough to find a quiet place to read, so I often have to improvise.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

West Coast Tour 2010

2010-11-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

The end of our Camano vacation sparked the beginning of chaos. During the next thirty days, we spent the night in 10 different places, drove about 2000 miles, were separated from Dad for 5 days & 4 nights and flew back to Seattle from Arizona. It wasn’t until October 12th that we were in Tucson and not leaving. Despite all that chaos the toughest transition may have been getting kicked out of Mom & Dad's bed for a pack n’ play. Reese told me to get used to the pack n’ play—reminding me that she has spent more nights in her pack n’ play than on her organic mattress in her crib. I told her I’m not getting my hopes up for leaving the pack n’ play because I don’t even have a crib, let alone an organic mattress.
We packed up in Chelan, said goodbye to our summer roommates and hit the road for Tucson. Before we headed south so I could meet all Mom and Dad’s friends, we got to stay with GP (Gigi was in China sharing the Good News). During our stay, I learned where I get all my baby tendencies. We went to the Washington/Nebraska football game and Dad might as well have been wearing my diaper he cried and whined so much. Reese missed out on Dad’s tears because she spent the afternoon with Aunt Erin. I heard that Aunt Erin is a great babysitter and next year she wants to watch both of us if Mom and Dad ever need a babysitter.
We spent the next two weeks on the road seeing a lot of our good friends. Some were super excited to meet me (Grandma Rudy was so excited she was doing donuts in her golf cart when we drove up), some were glad to meet me but really just wanted to see Mom, and a couple didn’t even know that I existed (I blame Dad for not spreading the word). Reese and I met a lot of new friends and have even been presented with a couple potential husbands. The highlight of the trip was in Camarillo when our friends, the Rankins, had their twin boys—while we were staying with them! It cut into my mom's and Mrs. Laura’s Nertz time, but it was super exciting.
Things were so crazy and disorganized the first couple weeks in Tucson that it seemed Reese was in charge of unpacking. It didn’t help that Dad had to go the Waterpark Conference or that we went back to Seattle for a weekend. The chaos is subsiding now and both Reese and I are already loving being in Tucson with our Cousins Camden and Ashton, not to mention our new roommates—Nana and Bop.

My sister Reese is in denial about the musical genes she inherited.

We had a great time on the road trip, but as far as I'm concerned I've put in the car seat miles of 9 month old--so now when Mom & Dad put me in my car seat I "nicely" communicate that I've done my time.

One of the best parts of being back in Tucson is spending time with our cousins.

Dad and I have been watching the Huskies play this fall. I think this face says it all.

It's not my fault, these things don't come with a users' manual.

Love to all,

Kendall Starr

Another summer in the books

2010-10-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

I learned last year that the last month of the Slidewaters' season is bitter sweet and it was even tougher this year because I was just starting to get my sliding technique dialed in when it was time to drain the pools. It is going to be extremely important for me to be an expert next summer around the park, because I’ll have to show Kendall how everything works. After all our help thinned out and it was just us and our summer roommates, Mom, Kendall and I spent a lot of time at Slidewaters. Kendall was making fast friends with a couple of Dad’s employees which freed us up for some serious sliding. By the end of the summer I was a self-sufficient slider (provided someone would catch me at the bottom) on my favorite slide, Bugaboo.
I’m sure they would have visited even if my sister wasn’t so adorable, but the entire Bordner family descended on Lake Chelan at the end of August. I got to introduce Kendall to Grandpa Roy, Uncle Rhett and the rest of the family. Dad said that he hopes my relationship with boys is like my relationship with the ducks at Wapato—I can get close, but the second they come towards me I am to run. With so many hands around, Kendall led the plush life during Wapato week—not that her normal routine is that tough, eat, sleep and work on keeping her eyes uncrossed. When we took Kendall in for her month check-up she had grown over an inch and gained 2 pounds, but I was most impressed with how strong she already was. Since she was born Kendall has been able to hold and support her own head and it wasn't long until she was supporting her own weight for a split second. From the very beginning Kendall has been the most beautiful baby girl—of course as her big sister I do offer the jaded opinion usually only reserved for parents.
By the time Slidewaters closed for the season on Labor Day, we were ready for a little more dad time. Of course Mom had gone back to work the week before so Kendall and I were really anxious for some great family time. We packed up and headed to Camano with the roommates. It was a great time-no work, no stress (other than making sure all the right toys got packed for the three night adventure). Camano offers more adventure and things to do than any 16 month old can handle. The best way I can describe it is to imagine having your favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same day while playing with your best friends and favorite toys and not having to share. And to top it off we had Uncle Tucker's boat! I love Camano.

I've been trying to perfect my pouty lip, Reese says it works like a charm on Dad.

You would think my Dad's bone body wouldn't be a cozy place to snuggle up for a nap, but it is actually the second best place to nap (Mom is untouchable).

I was reading some of Reese's early blogs and I think I saw almost an indentical shot of her. Everyone has a different opinion as to who I look like-Dad and I are just hoping I get Mom's and Reese's gorgeous smile.

Well Reese's smile has been better, but look how adorable my mom is.

Dad moved the camera at the last second, otherwise I would be looking right at it too.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Kendall's here!

2010-08-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday had been moving along pretty slow and Mom, Kendall and I were starting to feel a little cooped up at home. So when Dad got home for an afternoon visit, I decided it was time to make the most of the day. Between two o’clock and nine o’clock I went for a very quick dip in the lake, a swim in the pool, had some play time in the bath, went to the waterpark for a couple hours of sliding and finally had another bath. I’d say the day wrapped up nicely.
Since my sister Kendall Starr arrived on July 19th, life has been drastically different. I didn’t know that so much more was expected of me as a big sister. I’m doing my best to help out, but sometimes I get frustrated and have what Mom calls melt downs. The first couple of weeks were a piece of cake. Nana and Bop were here to help; GP and Gigi came for a couple days too, and Uncle Roy and Uncle Adam even came to visit, so I had plenty of people to help me with Kendall and lots of people to play with.
Kendall loves to be held, receive kisses, sleep and eat. Our roommates and all our visitors seem to specialize in holding her, Mom obviously specializes in feeding her and I specialize in giving her kisses. I guess that leaves Dad for changing her diaper, but he doesn’t seem to be taking his job as seriously as the rest of us. When Kendall was born she weighed 8 pounds and was 19.5 inches tall, the very next day she was holding her head up and turning it from side to side—Mom says that is a good thing because in order to see everything that is going on around the house she’ll need to be able to look in a lot of different directions. I was hanging out with our roommates but I heard that Mom was very brave and worked very very hard to bring Kendall into our lives—and I am so thankful that she did because I already love having a little sister.
July ended with fire season starting in Eastern Washington, but it also ended probably the busiest birthday month of the year for us. With the addition of Kendall we celebrate 9 family and one close friend’s birthdays in July. I mentioned half in my last blog, so happy birthday Grandma Hannah, Kendall, Aunt Jennifer, Cousin Charlee, J.W. Emery and Daddy. August doesn’t slow down that much in the birthday department—mom’s present budget takes a huge hit this time of the year.

I can't believe I was almost 2 pounds smaller than Kendall when I was born.
Kendall will sleep just about anywhere.

My sister is so cute!

They are so sweet when they are sleeping. This was during Kendall's first night in the hospital.

One of my jobs as big sister is to check in and make sure Kendall is always safe.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

I have a button!

2010-07-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

I don’t know why Mom & Dad didn’t tell me earlier but apparently I have my own button on my belly. It turns out everybody has their own button on their belly—Dad has a button on his belly and it usually has a little lint in it and Mom’s button is… well Mom’s button looks a little different because my sister, Kendall Starr is behind it—growing by the day. In addition to my belly button, I’m learning where my eyes, ears and nose are too.
The past month has flown by and none of us can believe that Kendall could be here any day. I’ve been so anxious and ready that I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night to see if it is time to go to the hospital. After I realize it isn’t time, I have trouble going back to sleep—sometimes I stay up for hours. I’m anxious for my sister to get here because I have so much to teach her. In addition to signing “please”, I’m mastering “all-done” and “more.” Dad says that no one has ever said the word NO cuter than I do. With as much as I say it, I’m at least glad that I sound cute saying it.
Dad and I have been doing a lot of sliding lately at the park. I love sliding by myself on the frog and dinosaur, but my favorite is going doubles on the big slides. It gets a little annoying having to wait in line at the top of the slides, but Dad says that we need to wait our turn just like everyone else. Mom and I visit Dad at the park often, but I don’t always get to go sliding and that really bugs me and I must admit that it can bring out my bad side. One time Dad just made a loop in the parking lot and I let him know that was unacceptable.
Mom and I were pretty disappointed on the Fourth of July when it was too windy to go out on the boat to watch the fireworks. Instead of the boat trip we all piled in the Slidewaters bus and drove to Wapato to watch from the beach. The show was great and I couldn’t believe how big and loud the fireworks were.
July is a huge birthday month in my family circle and I want to wish a happy birthday to my cousin Ashton, Uncle Adam and Uncle Burke.
Love to all,
Reese Bronson
I learned from Dad that it is very important to have things to snuggle with when you are watching tv.
Now that summer is here I am getting to wear all my cute summer clothes, including these cute shorts and shirt.

I have a lot of great dresses, and I am trying to wear them as much as possible before I out grow them.

The magic word

2010-06-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else realize that if you pat your hand over and over again against your chest that your parents will give you what you want? Apparently it is this secret sign that tells other people that you really want something. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been using this secret sign to my advantage to get more of the things I want—like cheese, water and my new favorite... ice. Sometimes Mom and Dad don’t separate the ice from the water so I have to go into the glass to get it, it slows me down a little but it is still worth it.
We had our first visitors in Chelan a couple weeks ago. It was great to see my Washington family again; they had changed so much since I saw them last. GP and Gigi came with Grandpa Roy and I got to show them how well I’m running around. I also got to meet my newest cousins, Cody and Jackson McLemore. It was weird to see mom and dad holding a baby, but I guess I better get used to it; I’m going to be a big sister in less than 5 weeks!
Since Slidewaters opened almost three weeks ago, I’ve learned that things are a little different once the season starts. I’ve taken naps in multiple closets, helped Mom in the gift shop and helped Dad keep an eye on the park and his employees. Earlier this week things slowed down enough for me to finally get into the Aqua Zoo. I checked out the dinosaur slide, frog slide, the new turtle-totter and loved them all. Dad even took me on a couple of the bigger slides and I can’t wait to give the Purple Haze a try.
As much fun as I’m having here in Chelan with my cousins and at Slidewaters, I do want to make sure I let everyone in Tucson know how much I miss them. Bop and Nana I can’t wait for you guys to get here so I can show you all my new skills, including how I clap, give high fives and blow my lifeguard whistle. Uncle Adam, Aunt Mel, Camden and Ashton I really miss being able to be carried down to your house to play and it is even tougher now than that I could just walk down. Uncle Matt I really look forward to seeing you again because Dad tells me that you are going to take me and my sister to the zoo.

We live in the apple capital of the world, so I thought I would give them a try.
Maybe I'm not ready for apples yet.
One of the best parts of Cousin Peter's wedding was seeing David & Katka. It was a long day and I was exhausted (as you can see) so I slipped into my pj's during the reception.

You don't have to hang out with Gigi for very long to learn where Dad gets his desire to give Mom and me endless kisses. Plus as you can see she signed the magic word.

We were only in Seattle for one night, but it was so much fun to hang out with GP and Gigi. One of my favorite things was playing with Devlin.

I am very lucky to have multiple contributors to my wardrobe. Thanks Nana! I wanted to sleep with my new sandals on, but Mom said they wouldn't fit in my sleep sack.

If I have learned anything during my second summer in Chelan it is that Sammy can always make you smile.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

Oops, I blinked.

2010-05-23T19:22:00.001-07:00

The fact that we left Tucson over a month goes to show you that time flies like an afternoon nap. One of the reasons I am so surprised that it has already been a month is because our "summer life" got off to a start that even a snail would considered slow. Despite traveling over 80 mph (90 when Mom was driving) we spent three days in the car and on the road getting to Washington. We were blessed to get to spend a night with Uncle Rhett, a night with the Mormons in Salt Lake and a night with the Bordner Boise clan. When we got to Flagstaff, Dad turned my car seat around so I could see him and Mom, not to mention where we were going. I also got to watch singing vegetables during the drive, so it wasn’t all bad. I did my best to be a big girl and apparently I did well enough because I overheard both mom and dad tell people that I did great on the road trip.
It didn’t take long for us to get into the swing of things in Chelan. Mom was back at her original Starbucks within a couple days and Dad was shopping for a boat on Craigslist before we had the car unloaded. At first I was a little unsure of our summer life, but after a couple days it was business as usual—play, play, play. During the week Lucy, Mia and Charlie all have school so Sam and I get to hang out a lot. At first Sam was by my side every moment I was awake, then he found out I was a girl and played with me a little less. I guess I’ve won him over though because we play together all the time again. Lucy loves to report my activities and whereabouts to my parents, Mia loves to carry me around, watch over me and make sure I’m safe and Charlie has yet to get over the word BOO! He can yell it pretty loud, it never scares me but I find it hilarious and he stills gets me to laugh better than anyone. Uncle Matt you will be glad to know that my Pooh Bear airplane is a hit with all four of my cousins and Uncle Burke had to put restrictions on its use.
Even though the summer hasn’t officially started it feels like we are right in the middle of it. Mom is gone to work almost every morning, Dad is working long hours, we all went to the pool on Sunday and sometimes I am even woken up by the yelling of the word Nertz.

Since we got back to Chelan, I've had some good laughs and great times already.

I get a lot of great clothes from a lot of great people. I usually check out the shoes first.

My cousin Mia is a lot of fun to play with and I do my best to always try and keep up with her.

Even when I can't play with my cousins, I like to watch them from afar.

Dad caught me practicing for the gameshow Minute to Win It.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

Holy birthdays batman!

2010-05-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Our departure date for Washington was less than a week away, but we still had three important birthdays to celebrate before we left—including my first! With all the packing and utter disarray going on in our house I told Mom and Dad we didn’t need to do anything special for my birthday but like most parents they didn’t listen. My swim lesson with Mrs. Pam was especially important because it was my last chance to practice before I had to swim fully clothed. My birthday swim lesson went great and the next day I was able to successfully float with all my clothes on. After my clothed swim lesson my diaper felt like the time dad forgot to change me all afternoon. I finished up my swim lessons a couple days later and now Mrs. Pam says that as long as I make good decisions I can play around water and feel safe.
After swim lessons, Mom, Dad, Nana, Bop, Uncle Matt and I went to the Zoo to see all the animals. The zoo is like a retirement home for animals, all the older, slower animals hang out all day, eat and wait for people to come and visit them. The most exciting part of the trip was when one of the visitors decided to get an up close picture of the tiger and the tiger charged him. After the zoo, I had a birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant—In’N Out. All my Arizona family was able to make it—Uncle Rhett even drove down from Tempe to help me celebrate!
Normally anytime you go to In’N Out it is the highlight of the day, but on my birthday after my burger we went home and had just a couple people over to help me celebrate my first birthday. Dessert, presents, lots of pictures and tons of fun. I can’t seem to figure out why people don’t have more birthdays—all your friends and family get together, you get to eat your favorite foods and you get presents. My loved ones gave me enough great toys, books and clothes to keep me occupied for at least a week and a half.

Mom picked out my birthday dress.

Can't think of a better birthday meal, next year I might try mine animal style

The next time I see Camden and Ashton I'll be able to introduce them to my sister!

Brownies, birthday cake, donuts, ice cream and candy-Mom put together an incredible desert bar for my first birthday.

Thanks for a great birthday Mom and Dad!

I've been testing out new snacks for the road trip to Washington.

Some of the best toys have been around a long time and have been broken in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE MATT, AUNT MEL,

UNCLE DAVID & GREAT AUNT PENNY

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

Older, louder and happier

2010-04-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

As I close in on my first birthday I’m reflecting and trying to think of a month that compares to the 11th month I’m wrapping up next week. Everyday has been a true adventure and the past 30 seem no different, I’m in love with life and using my smile to prove it to anyone who will take notice. Mom and Dad say my smile and laugh are the greatest stress relievers in the world—and the good news is they are only getting bigger and louder.
A couple weeks ago I had my first visitors to swim lessons and I was so excited to show off what I had been learning. Mrs. Pam and I had been working on my face down swimming and I just knew that the added pressure of an audience would push me to succeed. It is tough to know what they are thinking when I’m swimming because my ears are under water, so when I come up I make sure to make eye contact with everyone on the pool deck and smile at them to see if they saw my hard work—I usually get some applause and congratulations. I’m usually on top of what is going on around me, but I was caught off guard one day when I turned around in the pool and saw Dad in the water with me, the next day Mom was in the pool and then last Friday they were both in the pool and I got to swim from one to the other—an 11th month olds dream!
Adding to the excitement of the past month was that we had out of town visitors, GP & Gigi flew down from Washington, Uncle Rhett drove down from Tempe, and Aunt Biz came from Texas. Other than Uncle Rhett I hadn’t seen them in over 6 months—which is a long time since I’m only 11 months old! We had a great time hanging out, watching basketball and getting caught up. They were all amazed at how I had grown, and I told them it is easy when you love to eat.
Before my visitors arrived I had been working really hard on my walking, and they were all very helpful in assisting me during my daily practice sessions, and even though I improved dramatically during their visit, my walking still resembled someone with Jell-O legs when they left. However with a renewed since of determination in the weeks since they left I’ve become a full-out walker whose stability and speed I’m happy to say both my great grandmas would be jealous of.
As great as the month has been the last week has been tough, Dad has been in Washington interviewing for his summer staff and Mom and I have missed him more than he wants a boat and private ski lake. He comes back today and we are super excited to see and tell him all about our week and my first Easter. I had the cutest little Easter dress for the party yesterday at Nana and Bops. I’ve been practicing for weeks for the Easter egg hunt; Saturday night I was able to hold three eggs at once! When the Easter egg hunt started I got extremely lucky and found the best egg first, so I stopped and played with it for the rest of the hunt.

Last Easter was my last day in mommy's tummy. This year I got a new dress for the occasion.
When Dad was packing for his trip I tried my best to slow him down so he would miss his plane.
Unfortunetely it didn't work and he was gone for near eternity.
After swim lessons I like to encourage and offer advice and help to the other swimmers.

Once my grandparents started coming to swimming lessons, I stopped crying so they wouldn't worry.

I'm a natural when it comes to feeding myself.

Catch me if you can Dad.

Float, Cry, Float

2010-03-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Many times with age comes wisdom, and during the past ten months my age has doubled more times than Mom, Dad and I have gone to Babies ‘R Us, so I am feeling pretty wise. Though I haven’t started my e-trade account yet, I am continuing to learn and experience new things, including greeting friends and family. Mom is teaching me to wave goodbye to everyone and Dad is always looking for kiss hellos and kiss goodbyes—Mom tells me that I better get used it. I’m not quite running to the door to open it for people yet, but I am putting together consecutive unassisted steps and on the verge of taking my independence to the next level. I love to go into the kitchen and open and close cabinet doors, knobs on the stereo are like milk in a bottle—irresistible, despite Mom and Dad’s warnings. I figure that while I’m learning to walk I might as well practice climbing too, so I try to find as many things as possible to stand on around the house. At Uncle Adam and Aunt Mel’s I am practicing my stair climbing because at our summer house all the action happens upstairs, and I will need to be able to get there as quick as possible. Since I last updated everyone, I’ve had two more teeth break through and even though they are barely sticking out I can already tell a major difference when eating. Mom was happy with the timing because just about the time the top two teeth broke through we finished nursing. Mom thinks one of my new teeth is coming in less than ideally, and I’ve noticed that she is quick to throw Dad under the bus for providing those genes to me.
With Dad’s unique work schedule, we are lucky to get to spend a lot of time together as a family. I’ve noticed that as great as all my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are it is tough to compete with Mom and Dad. I can tell some people’s feelings get hurt when I insist on being held by Mom or Dad, but I want to let everyone know not to worry, I’ve heard sooner or later for some reason those desires will become the complete opposite. And when that happens I’m going to need some of you to console my Dad, because I don’t think he is going to be able to handle it emotionally.
Finally I have a shout out to give to my ISR Swim instructor, Pam. After two and half weeks of crying, some shivering, huge burps, and spitting out more water than a new born baby spits out milk, we are making great progress in the pool. Lessons still consist of lot of crying, but that is only part of the learning process. Multiple times last week I was able to recognize the progress I’d made and smile and laugh about the fuss I put up about getting in the water every day. Mrs. Pam told us last Friday that starting next week we are going to add to my floating skills and start learning the swim, float, swim sequence. I am so excited because I am already able to turn myself over from a face down position and float, and soon I’ll be able to move in the water. Thanks Mrs. Pam for being super patient and supportive while teaching me to swim, float, swim.

I was extremely excited when I found out my Pooh Bear airplane had Dad's approval for items going to Washington with us this summer.

This was the first time Mrs. Pam held me, I was a little naiive about what was going to be happening next.

Swimming is hard and tiring, but just like any workout I always feel great afterwards.

After swimming I love to watch the other kids during their lessons. It is also a great time to soak up a little vitamin D and work on my tan.

I hear it is very important to always drink water and stay hydrated.

I love to hang out with Dad, he has a great view from up here.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

New foods & new activities

2010-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

After a fall and early winter that consisted of milk and oatmeal, I was ecstatic when Dr. Brice told Mom & Dad it was time to start expanding my diet—I’d been looking forward to putting my two teeth to use for something other than making Mom jump. Since getting the news almost a month ago, I haven’t found a new food I didn’t like and to Dad’s delight cheeseburgers are one of my favorites (In-N-Out makes a mean burger). Mom likes the fact that I devour blueberries because they are full of antioxidants--which are great for countering the effects of free radicals, at least that’s what Mom tells me. I also hear that it is important-especially for girls-to get a lot of calcium, so I insist on a lot of dairy: cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, string cheese and yogurt are some of my favorite sources of calcium. I am looking forward to combining two of my favorites to try a Bordner classic—pancakes and apple sauce (GP & Uncle Rhett swear by it). With the addition of all this food I also had to add brushing my gums and two teeth to my daily routine. At first I wasn’t so sure about brushing, but Mom & Dad let me help so I got use to it real quick. When I was at Dr. Brice’s I learned I was still in the 50th percentile for weight (18 pounds 13 ounces), 80 percentile for height (28.5 inches) and 30th percentile for head size (17 inches).
I wish I could report that I had taken my first step, but all I seem to be able to manage are longer balance times and throwing myself from ottoman to couch. I am finding new ways to practice my walking and my newest strategy involves walking with my hands on the wall and following the wall all the way around the room—not a great view, but good practice for learning to walk. While walking is taking a lot of work to master, I am clapping, waving and even starting to give kisses—Dad says I already give world-class hugs.
I am excited and nervous to report that I started my swimming lessons this week. I’m not quite sure what to think of it all, but we did learn that my instructor graduated from Mom’s high school and was friends with Uncle Matt. I figure that has to be a good thing. I have six weeks of lessons and it is our goal that by the end I’ll be proficient at what is called, Swim, Float, Swim just in time to for our departure for Washington—where we actually see bodies of water.

I love pancakes. I love blueberries. Blueberry pancakes, are you kidding!

Sometimes I need a free hand, but I also need two golf balls.

It may be Mom's putter right now, but I've got my eye on it. Hello, it has a cute pink grip.

This is my friend Juliette. She was over at our house having dinner and had a diaper incident, so our parents turned it into bath time. No complaints from either of us.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

Preparing for Sisterhood

2010-01-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

Hi friends, love you

The famous philosopher Bueller once said that life moves pretty fast and if you don’t stop and look around you could miss it. As time passes I am getting more and more excited about the upcoming year. Now that I’m going to be a big sister, I feel a little pressure to learn to do as much as possible before the baby comes so that Mom, Dad and I can take care of him or her. Mom is due on the 19th of July, but since it is hard for us to be on time to anything these days I think the baby will probably be late. Dad will be in the middle of the waterpark season and Mom will be exhausted, so I am going to have to help as much as possible.
I’ve been working really hard on my vocabulary lately. Besides the benefit of being able to express myself, I’ve also heard that an extensive vocabulary is important for the SATs. Dad says that so far most of my “words” won’t be on any test. He loves to practice with me and seems stuck on the word-dada. I say it a lot because it makes him happy, but I don’t know what it means yet.
Mom is a tougher audience, but I’ve learned a couple tricks that make her smile. I love to see my parents smile; it brings me so much happiness. Mom is a sucker for facial expressions. I have one that gets her every time. I’ll put a picture of it at the bottom of the blog. I’m not whistling yet, but I can click my tongue against my lips to let Mom know I am enjoying my food.
The biggest thing I am working on so that I can be more helpful this summer is standing and walking. Walking with my Pooh Bear toy is as easy as dirtying a diaper, and I can walk when Mom or Dad hold one of my hands too. But I am still working on that first solo step. I have a few balance drills that help me practice. The best one is leaning against my new padded ottoman while holding a toy in both hands. It forces me to balance without my arms—which is a huge step in the walking process. The ottoman is our new coffee table because the old coffee table was brutally hard and Mom was gasping every time I fell near it, so we used Great Uncle David & Great Aunt Debby’s Christmas gift to buy me something a little safer to play near—I can thank them for helping keep my face clear of cuts and bruises.
Speaking of injuries, last week I endured pain for the sake of beauty; Mom says it probably won’t be the last time. I received two permanent holes in my ears and filled them with adorable silver ball earrings. For Christmas I got a pair of earrings with my birth stone and I can’t wait to put them in after 30 days with this pair. The process of getting my ears pierced was similar to trying to give a cat a bath, but less than five minutes later I had forgotten about the torture and haven’t fussed about them since—other than a couple times when they are getting cleaned. Everybody seems to love them and I can’t wait to show them to GP and Gigi when they visit in March!

This face is very similiar to the one I had when Mom and Dad told me I was going to be a big sister.
If you have a great sleeping buddy, you can fall asleep in any position.

Mom & Dad thought the new ottoman would be great because it has a large storage space. Camden & I found a better use for the storage area.

God Bless,

Reese

A big big year ahead

2010-01-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

The start of a new year is a great time to reflect on the previous year and set goals for the next year. Although last year was only about 8 months for me, I still made more lasting memories than I could possibly write about in my blog. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t list a few highlights. I guess I should start with last April, I was born. Though at first it didn’t seem that great-it was cold, loud, and spacious-it quickly grew on me and I fell in love with any warm body that was willing to hold me—while standing. Cousin Camden’s kisses came early and often and haven’t stopped since, he and Ashton are great cousins and playmates.
In June we relocated to Chelan, WA for our first summer in the waterpark business. All I can say is that it is going to be tough for future summers to compare to the fun I had in my first summer. Between bonding with our roommates, our visitors to Chelan and all the milestones I reached, it was one unbelievable summer.
We came back to Tucson at the end of September after a fantastic road trip down the West Coast and have been enjoying each other, our Arizona family and friends and the weather daily. I try to let Mom & Dad handle the stressful stuff and just smile as much as possible—God is good, so why not smile.
2010 is going to be an adventure and I have some goals to make sure I take full advantage of all of God’s blessings. I am getting closer and have already been working really hard on my first goal—walking. I am pulling myself up on anything and everything in sight and I’ve taken more falls than the housing market. Mom & Dad are worried I’m going to look like Rocky at the end of a fight before I figure out how to balance, but I am going to continuing with my adventurous spirit and hope for the best. My second goal of the year is to learn to swim before we go to Washington for the summer. I am going to start lessons this spring and will learn to turn face-up in the water, float and breathe without swallowing water. I already love bath time, so I figure I should move onto a bigger tub.
My last goal for this year will have to wait until July, but come July I hope to be the best big sister possible.

Next year my Tucson crew will be rolling four deep.

Dad was doing the dishes and I wanted to help so I stood up on the dishwasher by myself and offered a helping hand.

I find that smiling is a great way to make other people feel good.

The holiday season can be exhausting. Dad and I were surfing the web and I fell asleep in his lap with my head on the table. He was nice enough to move me to my bed--after he took a picture of course.

Our Savior was born...

2009-12-30T12:10:00.001-08:00

And it seems I get to reap all the benefits; unconditional love, forgiveness, family time and presents, not a bad combination if you ask me. It has created a rather hectic three weeks though, to give you an idea how crazy busy and tired we’ve been, Dad and I forgot about two Husky games—not only did we forget to set the TIVO, we forgot to check the score the following day. I have been spending a lot of time with Dad lately. Mom has been putting extra hours at Starbucks because during Christmas Vacation Dad can’t substitute, and because Mom has what they call the love language of gift giving it is important to keep the income coming. We are so lucky that Mom is both a hard worker and a gift giver, wait until you see some of the presents I got for Christmas.
I could tell that something big was on the horizon because we redecorated the house (which made exploring the top of the coffee table an addiction of mine), Dad put colorful lights up on the outside of the house and we put a real tree inside the house—not sure how that fits the season but it makes it smell good and gives me something else to pull on, so I didn’t complain. Another reason I knew it was a special time of the year was because Dad got a haircut—that doesn’t happen every quarter. Actually I went with him and got my first little professional trim—I was a little nervous so Mom came too with Camden and Ashton for emotional support.
I knew that it was a busy stressful time of the year so I tried to be as helpful as possible. I am pretty much an extra when it comes to assisting with present wrapping. My job was to always inspect the paper, ribbons and bows for durability against slobber damage. I can tell you that Mom bought high quality goods, because as much as I searched I couldn’t find anything that failed my tests.
Our holiday season kicked off with a quick trip to Phoenix for dinner and a gift exchange at Mom’s cousin’s house. Never one to miss an opportunity to shop, Mom and I went up early with Nana, Bop, Mel and the cousins to get a little shopping in before the party. It paid off because when Camden, Ashton and I saw a toy kitchen/grill set, Bop was putty in our hands—it was loaded in the car moments later. After church on Christmas Eve we went over to Uncle Matt’s and Karey-Ann’s place. We had dinner and opened more presents. Then Christmas morning we got up and Nana, Bop and great-grandma Ruby came over and we opened more presents. Then after breakfast (and a long nap), we went over to Nana & Bop’s for dinner, games and to see what Santa left in our stockings. It was a whirl-wind three days.
It is tough for us to be away from half our family for the holidays, but we are trying to make the most of it. In the past couple of weeks we were able to make Sykpe video calls with Biza, the summer roommates, GP & Gigi, and even Cousin David in Slovenia. After only 8 months I not only have loved ones spread out across the country but across the world too—it is great that we can talk face-to-face over the internet. Look us up and give me a call, I’m creating new words daily.

Wrapping took a while, but imagine how long it would have taken if I wasn't around to help.

Everyday with my new mobility I find a new place to play.

One of my favorite new toys from Christmas.

"Yep, this one is for me."

Since I've learned to stand myself up I've stood up on; my diaper box, my crib, the coffee table, the armoir, the couch, Mom and Dad's legs, the dishwasher (open & closed), the sliding glass door, the curtains, the stereo speaker, my new Whinne the Pooh walking toy, and this chair.

Love to all,

Reese

A lot to be Thankful for

2009-12-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

I have a lot to be happy about and thankful for.

I was all geared up for my first Thanksgiving; Cousin Camden had given me a quick overview of this holiday. He told me that it involved three of my favorite "f" words...food, family and football and was all because the Indians (now Native Americans) were nice to the pilgrims (who were the first to settle and steal the Ind...Native American's land). Next year if we spend Thanksgiving in Seattle, I'm going to Hannah's home because I'll bet some of those people were at the first Thanksgiving. Mom wanted to start the holiday off right so she went to work to give to other people (while collecting time and a half pay). When she got home we went over to Nana & Bop's house for the three F's. Football was a success because the Packers dominated the Lions like a dirty diaper dominates any room it is in. I got to see almost all my Tucson family, so that was near perfect (missed you Uncle Matt). I must admit though I felt a little deceived by the advertising of the Thanksgiving meal. I had heard it was a spectacle of Turkey, stuffing, yams, potatoes, gravy, and veggies-more than one plate could ever handle. Mom and Dad must have missed the memo because all my tray saw was Organic Green Puffs and the same old oatmeal cereal, washed down with some of Mom's finest. Next year I want the good stuff!

Dad was particularly busy with the camera this week, so I can only assume that means he thinks I've done something spectacular. Mom came home with a new box of diapers and I was trying to see if she had gotten the right kind. The information I needed was on the top of the box so I pulled myself up so I could see it. One thing led to another and now I'm pushing my favorite diaper box all over the living room, standing in my crib waiting for someone to get me, pulling myself up on anything I can reach and taking the customary falls that come with learning to stand and walk. Dad lowered the crib one level, but I can still reach the top and pull myself up. He doesn't want to lower it again because he won't be able to bend over and kiss me while I'm sleeping if he does. Sweet, but I think he is going to have detachment issues when I get older.

We've backed off our 1/2 marathon training for a variety of reasons. Let’s just say I was still going strong and hadn't complained once, which is more than I can say for mi padre. Dad was able to negotiate the running down to three 4-mile jogs a week, which is better than nothing I guess.

My thank you shout-outs:

Thank you Nana, Bop, Gigi and GP. My parents love me so much and I know it is because you love them so much.

Thank you Uncle Rhett for coming to see me last weekend, I hadn't really seen you since Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin's wedding and that was way too long ago.

Thank you Starbucks (& Mom for averaging over 20 hours a week). Our health benefits started December 1st. Thank you Jesus for keeping us safe and healthy while we were briefly without insurance.

Food can be messy, but it is always worth it.
Thanksgiving with Ashton and Camden.

My new favorite toy, my Pampers box.

After every nap I stand up and anxiously wait for Mom or Dad to come get me.

To stretch my legs sometimes I have to put on my track suit and take the walker outside.

Mom & Dad don't always bring me the right toy, so I've learned to take matters into my own hands.

One step at a time.

A couple important shout-outs!

2009-11-25T19:11:00.000-08:00

Who's in there?

A couple weeks ago Mom, Dad and I went up to Phoenix to see Aunt Emma (Uncle Rhett was in Vegas working on his social network) and to watch Dad's old golf team defend their state title. It was a great trip and I loved watching the golfers as much as I love playing with my own golf clubs. Without Dad's coaching, the team could only manage a fifth place finish, which is pretty impressive considering how hard it is to hit a golf ball. I still can't get the ball air born.

We finally found a time where all three of us could make it to a doctor's appointment, so my 6-month doctor visit was squeezed in 1-day before I turned 7-months. I came in at 28 inches (90th percentile), 16 pounds 12 ounces (50th percentile) and left with 6 holes in my thighs. Mom and Dad promised the shots will make me healthier, so I did my best to shed as few tears as possible.

I spent the weekend a little under the weather, with a temperature that peaked around 102 so my agenda was pretty simple; sleep, eat and be held. It was my first real fever so I was a little worried to be by myself. Fortunately Mom & Dad are always around to offer hugs and kisses.

I owe a lot of people recognition for all they do for me, so below are a couple shout outs...just to get started.

Cousin Camden & Cousin Ashton. When we got back to Tucson I was extremely worried that I would miss my summer roommates too much to be able do anything, but my Tucson cousins are always around to make sure that life is always an adventure (and we typically leave evidence of that adventure where ever we go).

Aunt Mel. Can't say thank you enough for what you provide for me.

Mom. Moms are wonderful and mine is exceptional. I think a lot of people forget what it feels like to be held by your mom. To be in her arms, to lay your head on her shoulder as she sways back and forth whispering loves in your ears. As a baby who still gets to experience this pure joy of life let me remind you that it is second to nothing.

I love hats.

And my mom has a great eye for fashion.

Reason to smile again, college football season is coming to a close and basketball season has already started.

2009-11-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

Rather than settling in to a normal routine after Disney World we decided to play host to some friends from California. Mom's last California roommate, Marsha, and her husband brought my new friend Noah to spend the night and hang out. It was the perfect visit. We went out to dinner (Noah and I have special diets and brought our food from home), went shopping and Dad and Dave went golfing. It seems everytime I turn around I'm meeting a new friend.
Later in the week we went over to Karey-Ann's place for a pumpkin carving party. The party has been going on for a couple years, but Mom and Dad needed me so they could finally get invited. We had a great time, everyone was there (except Uncle Adam who was on a ride-along with border patrol). One of the pumpkins was big enough for me to get in, but everytime I went for it someone stopped me. Mom had to work on Halloween, so Dad and I were in charge of handing out candy. It seemed Dad's strategy was to give out handfuls of candy to every kid so that he ran out and could stop answering the door (can't blame him, there were good college football games on).
The following week brought more out of state vistors. My friend Brayden came from San Francisco. We had stopped to see him on our drive back to Arizona in September and now he was in town with his family for a wedding. We got to hang out when his parents went to the wedding. I shared my new hobby with him, strollering. Mom & Dad push the stroller at a pretty good pace and I enjoy the view. We borrowed Camden & Ashton's duel stroller so we could ride next together. It was a great 4 miles, I barely broke a sweat.

Mom worked again Sunday morning, so Dad & I went to church together. We had a great time together. I am happy to report that I made it through the entire service in our seat; it helps showing up at the end of the worship (it isn't easy for Dad to get us both ready in time, especially when Mom doesn't lay out my outfit for the day).

We had a pumpkin carving party a couple days before Halloween. I helped with the pumpkin on the far left. It was harder than you think. The more mobile I get the more places I find to play. Dad-who sometimes I think has the camera glued to his arm-took this piture through the bottom of the coffee table. Mom and Dad keep magazines down there so it is usually the first place I go to look for something to play with (taste).

Sometimes Mom leaves me in the living room and goes to the kitchen, so if I want something I have to crawl over to her. Not even my sleep sack can slow me down now.

This is my friend Noah. He came to visit from Glendora, CA. We had a great time laughing and playing together. Our parents are already scheming about our future.

My friend Juliette lives in the same neighborhood and our families have dinner together almost every Monday. Our Moms have been friends for years and we are already planning for a long long friendship. We already share secrets about how to manipulate our parents.

Now that I'm more mobile, Dad is always looking for ways to keep me in one place. You'd be surprised how comfortable a laundry basket full of towels and sheets can be.

Hmmm...where to begin.

2009-10-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

I heard somewhere that life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get....smart man. I woke up last Monday morning in my own crib (Mom & Dad have been sleeping me in my own room for a over a week now) and before the day was over I was laughing and playing with my six summer roommates at Walt Disney World! Not that it came that easy. After rushing up I-10 to Phoenix, picking up chauffer Uncle Rhett, moving through security as smoothly as bathtime with Dad (out of order, awkward, discombobulated, and slow) we finally made it to our crowded gate in time to board the plane semi-early. The next four hours were full of orange spit up, cries for freedom and space and a whole lot of laughter mixed with tears from Mom and Dad. I was rewarded for my good behavior later that night when I got to hang out with Lucy, Mia, Charlie and Sam just before bedtime.

After we finally surfaced Tuesday morning we went over to a place called the Magic Kingdom. Even though we didn't show up until afternoon, we still got to go on tons of rides. The park felt crowded right up until it was time to get in line, and then we pretty much walked on-except the Whinnie the Pooh ride (not surprisingly...he is everyone's friend). Exhausted from rolling around the Kingdom all day we went back to our hotel and laid low the rest of the night. I had a magical time the next three days hanging out with my cousins. We spent a lot of time at the pool and Downtown Disney. I saw a rainforest, meteor shower, dinosaurs, and Dad dancing-only one of them was scary. Our vacation was so crazy that almost all my naps were in my Bob stroller, but that is the sacrifice you make when you hang out with the big kids.

On top of the Disney vacation I have some other big news. I cut my first two teeth last week. Mom noticed and said she could feel it when she fed me...my rice cereal. Then on our last night with the summer roommates I was in a hurry for Dubs (my new stuffed Husky) because the cousins are always snagging up my toys. Apparently I made a transition from scooting to crawling. I was just trying to get my toy. Dad said Grandma Hannah will be happy because crawling is good for my coordination. It is still a work in progress but my progression towards full mobility has taken another big move.

We had a magical time with our summer roommates at Disney World.

Cousin Mia and I loved playing with the fountains at the pool.

After the flight to Orlando, I was exhausted and fell asleep before we were off the jetway.

This was Mom & Dad's answer to giving me more space on the plane. Check out the orange stuff on my onesie (this was my second of the flight).

Sammy needed a ride and I had some extra space in my stroller for him.

We didn't get a great family picture at Disney World. We kept waiting to see some Disney characters, but apparently they have Tuesdays off.

Isn't Summer over?

2009-10-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

I've been told that summer is over but the weather here in Tucson makes it feel like it may be eternal. After three weeks of high 90's, I'm starting to think that I'll turn into an ice cube if Mom & Dad ever take me somewhere the temperature peaks at 65. But don't worry, we don't have any plans of seeing anything below 75 anytime soon.

Last Tuesday was my six month birthday. We haven't gone to see Dr. Brice yet because Dad was out of town and Mom doesn't think Dad should be able to keep dodging all the appointments when I get my shots. Mom told me she had my six month birdthday present planned before I was born so I'm super excited to get it. I have to wait until after my check up though.

I want to publically thank my four little roommates from this summer, especially Sammy. Cousin Camden and I hang out all the time and he likes to play rough; strong pats on the back, flying balls, dropped golf clubs (plastic not steel), not to mention the number of times he falls on me. Fortunately, Lucy, Mia, Charlie and Sam had prepared me for such physical play. I hope Ashton is ready for it in a couple months. Luckily, someone is always near by to protect me if Camden starts to get too rough.

Last week I was battling feelings of jealousy and a stuffy nose. Along with the rough play it seems Cousin Camden had passed on a little cold. It forced Dad to go out and buy what he has deemed his least favorite thing about parenting, a humidifier. And it introduced me to my least favorite thing about being an infant, the dreaded nose sucker. Mom or Dad will break this torture device out whenever they think I can't breathe well enough. I must say not once in the past week have I have been blue in the face, so in my opinion that thing is overkill. Nevertheless, they suck away through my cries for help, tears of pain and gasps of pleas to stop. It's been a week now and I'm trying my best to solve this problem, and I'm making a little progress-I only saw the narrow end of that blue weapon of mass destruction coming at me once today. My jealousy stemmed from Dad's trip to Washington to work three days with Cousin Burke. I knew he would get to see all my favorite Washingtonians and I miss them already. It won't solve the problem of everyone I miss in Washington, but tomorrow we are flying to Orlando and rumor has it all our roommates are going to be there.

Just another day with Camden and Ashton. Look out here comes trouble.

Cousin Ashton is nice enough to share his swing with me when I'm over at his house. I'm glad to do the same for him (mine is pink, I hope he doesn't mind).

Dad says my golf swing isn't bad, but needs some work. Who is he to talk?

Home Sweet Home

2009-10-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm waiting patiently because I know a road trip has to be just around the corner. After all, we've been in the same place for over a week now. I am starting to wonder though, because Mom and Dad no longer pull our clothes out of suitcases, when we go for rides in the car they are less than an hour long and there is nothing else in the car but us. I'm fine staying here for a while. Cousin Camden and Ashton are five houses down, Nana & Pop are around all the time too and it seems I finally have my own room. We spent this first week back in Tucson settling into our home. Our summer renter has turned into our off-season roommate, so there was a lot of adjustments that had to be made around the house. It took the full week to finally get things in order and feel settled in. Mom & Dad have gone back to work. Mom started at her new Starbucks the day after we home and Dad has been substituting at his old school. When both of them are gone I get to hang out with Aunt Mel, Cousin Camden & Ashton. So it is a win-win situation for me. I've been eating my rice cereal from my high chair, and breaking in some of my new toys and clothes from our friends the Rossi's. We may be staying put for a while, but I've got the feeling that doesn't mean life is going to slow down that much at all.

I'm loving my new high chair. It fits our family mantra of being mobile and easily adjustable.
My new bounce chair was a gift from the Rossi's. It is a great leg workout.

When Mom goes to work early, Dad likes to bring me to their bed to keep him company. It is nice to be able to spread out.

Dad and I were having a great laugh on Saturday while Mom was at Starbucks.

And I thought I knew chaos

2009-10-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

I didn't think my parents could keep up the chaotic pace we had been keeping all of September, boy was I wrong. Instead of slowing down, they took the chaos to a new level. After a 16 hour road trip from GP & Gigi's house to San Francisco (through the middle of the night) we spent Monday visiting friends all over the bay area. We started with one of Noni's dearest friends, Kathy Turnbeaugh, who was watching her grandson Brayden (14 months). For lunch we met up with Brayden's parents Amber and Brenden (Amber and Mom have been friends since they were my age). We headed south after lunch and had cocktail hour with a college friend of Mom & Dad's. She had two little ones for me to play with so that was a great stop. Then we headed to Santa Cruz to visit one of Daddy's best friends from college. Joey and Heidi had a little boy for me to talk to who was younger than me, but not much smaller. He was adorable--the biggest cheeks I've ever seen. His picture below doesn't do them justice. We were working on almost 30 hours of living out of the car, so we had to say goodbye to the Allen's and make our last stop of the day. We ended up with one of mom's best friends from college for the night. That was Monday!! Fortunately for everyone's sake, Monday was the craziest day of the week. We ended up spending two nights with Mike, Autumn, Luke, Kendall, & Gianna in Salinas and then driving to Corbett, Laura & Hayley's in Camarillo on Wednesday. We got to spend two nights there which seems taylormade for us. Mom played Nertz with Mrs. Lara, Dad golfed with Mr. Corbett and Hayley and I were able to play with each other. Friday night we switched back to visiting some of Dad's friends from college. We stayed with Jon & Amoreena, and they hosted the Erickson's who brought their 5 day old son Daniel. He was too little for me to play with, but I did get to play with their daughter Bella. Saturday afternoon we drove further south to see more friends. We stayed the night with Steve, Sara, Nick, Jake & Sasha in San Juan. Starr & her boyfriend Brian visited too Saturday night. That stop was fun because it felt a lot like our summer rental. Sunday we got up and had breakfast and hit the road again. Since we had started within hours of the Canadian border the previous Sunday and were now within hours of the Mexician border, we figured we would turn left and head for home (besides, mom had to work at Starbucks at 4am Monday morning!). The scenery got a little boring and I was starting to get car seat sores, but I pulled it together because I knew at the end of the this leg of our trip was Cousin Camden and Cousin Ashton. We did finally make it home. I got more hugs and kisses than I remember from not only Cousin Camden but all my family. What a trip. Approxiametly 1800 miles & 171 hours from departure from GP & Gigi's to arrival at home. We spent the night in five differnt places (including the car). We saw 32 beloved friends, two who were younger than me! And it all ended with a wonderful welcome home from our Tucson family. 30 days of chaos; We visited friends or family in 10 different cities all over the West Coast, spent the night in 11 different places, traveled over 2000 miles and watched the Huskies win their first football game in 16 tries. It can't get any crazier than that can it?

Part of my long Monday was spent meeting Josiah Allen.

I ended the longest Monday of my life by meeting three new friends in Salinas, near Monterey, near 17-mile drive, near a couple special golf courses.

This is my friend Mr. Corbett. He is dressed up because my friend Hayley was teaching me how to dress up a dad with cute accessories.

Friday night I met Bella and Daniel. Daniel was five days old. He was tiny!

We had one final stop before home. Mom use to babysit these kids when they were my age. Practice makes perfect, and my mom is just that!

Perfect ending to a perfect summer!

2009-09-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad & I cheered the Huskies to one of the biggest upset wins in Husky history!

Our Washington summer ended on Sunday when we left GP and Gigi's house for our road trip back to Arizona. The week ended up being the perfect ending to our incredible summer. My mom and I spent three days in Ellensburg with Aunt Jennifer and my cousins. We knew it was our last days together of the summer, so we just played and played and played. I got to see where each of my cousins go to school and live when they are not in Chelan. Dad and Uncle Burke were in Chelan working and water skiing, so we had a lot of girl time (mani and pedi's all around!!) Wednesday night after Nertz we had to say our goodbyes. It was really hard to say goodbye even though we are going to see them in Orlando for the Waterpark Convention in October. I miss them already. Thursday night we went to visit Grandma Hannah at the Madison House. It was a little awkward because everyone was staring at me, but at the same time it was nice to be in a room where so many other people were also wearing diapers. I felt so honored by Grandma Hannah all night because of how proud she was of me and how much she wanted to show me off to her friends. With the big trip coming up, we spent Friday lounging around the house—plus we had a real big day planned for Saturday. On Saturday, Dad took mom and me to our first Husky football game! Before the game, we saw the crazy tailgaters in cars, campers, rv’s and boats. I’m not sure if you heard or not, but the Huskies, 1-15 in their previous 16 games, beat the number 3 ranked USC Trojans 16-13. The game was absolutely unbelievable. The stadium was loud and shook (it reminded me of Cousin Sammy running around upstairs at our summer rental). After the game fans poured onto the field, Mom said it reminded her of diaper blow out, it just kept growing and expanding and pretty soon the field (or my back) is entirely covered. We stayed in our seats and took massive amounts of pictures, Dad couldn’t stop smiling. After the game, we had dinner with Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin. We couldn’t have dreamed of a better last Saturday in Washington than a Husky victory over the Trojans! Sunday was church, packing and goodbyes. We hit the road late in the afternoon and drove through the night to San Francisco—it was a piece of cake, I could do that drive in my sleep. Oh wait I already did.

Dad was leaving for three days, so I felt it was important to spend some quality time with him. Of course my idea of quality time is napping.

We rolled four generations deep while I was at Madison House. I'm lucky because my Great Grandma Hannah is a very young 92.

I was exhausted after cheering the Huskies to victory over USC.

It was tough saying goodbye to Grandma Hannah. I had to say goodbye to Great Grandma Hannah, GP, Gigi, Uncle Roy, Aunt Erin, Uncle Burke & Aunt Jen, Lucy, Mia, Charlie and Sam in Washington. And will say a great big hello in Arizona to Great Grandma Ruby, Bop, Nana, Uncle Matt, Uncle Rhett, Aunt Emma, Uncle Adam, Aunt Mel, Ashton and of course Cousin Camden!

Wapato Family Time

2009-09-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

The crowds thinned out at Wapato on Monday and the weather started to make a turn for the better. It was the last day of the season at Slidewaters and it was marred by some pretty bad afternoon weather. Of course 30 minutes before close the skies cleared and Chelan hasn't seen a rain cloud since. By the end of the week Chelan was supposed to be setting record highs for September! Once the park was closed, Dad was anxious to hang out with the family, so he decided another move would make that easier. So he uprooted us again, and we left the apartment for a condo at Wapato. It wasn't fun moving again, but it was nice to wake up lakeside with family on both sides. It was almost like Burke, Jen, Lucy, Mia, Charlie and Sam were still around. One of the reasons was I had three other cousins to play with; Owen, Siena and Hunter-plus GP, GM and Grandpa Roy. I'm used to being around a lot of family, but this was above and beyond-everywhere I looked I saw more family. As the week progressed everyone headed back to their jobs and the crowd slowly dwindled until it was only Cousin Matt & Summer with my second cousins, Owen and Siena. The glorious summer was back and after loading up the car for home, we pulled out our beach essentials and kept out feet in the sand until the sun was almost gone. It was the perfect ending to our Chelan summer (I even got one more boat ride and boat nap!) We were anxious to get home and get a good night's sleep because (as Dad had been telling me all week) I was going to my first Husky football game! After a late night snack and a smooth drive to Bellevue we were all in bed before midnight. By the time I got up in the morning my Husky trip had been cancelled. Our late night snack had fought back and Dad was having a Seinfeld Black & White cookie movement every hour (he was throwing up). We missed out on the Huskies first win in 16 tries, but we got some much needed R&R. It's tough being 5 months old and living in a vacation town! A little more rest Sunday morning and then we were on the road again. Dad dropped us off in Ellensburg for a three day visit with Jen and my cousins and he and Burke went to Chelan to jump start the off season projects. Of course before Dad and Burke hit the road, we slipped in a game of Nertz.

One last nap at the beach. It was so nice, and since we were basically the only ones in sight we didn't even need my peapod.

We were really glad that Cousin Matt & Cousin Siena (plus Summer & Owen) were able to stay until the end of Wapato week.

I really hope that next summer my lifejacket will be the perfect size.

Won't be doing this in Tucson. Of course, I can't get Cousin Camden kisses in Chelan.

Goodbye work, hello vacation...& rain!

2009-09-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

After saying goodbye to our summer home and moving into the apartment at Slidewaters, it got cold. Burke and Daddy were constantly checking weather forecasts and praying for the sun to come back out for the last week of the season. But the glorious summer was over and we got clouds, 50’s & 60’s temperatures, rain and even thunderstorms. It was not pretty. It was a new feeling for me too because since I was born I’ve always been privileged to weather above 75 degrees. Sixty degrees reminds me of how cold my delivery room felt back in April—drastically different from what I was used to. The week ended on a high note because the Bordner family descended on Wapato. Friday night we had a family dinner with the newlyweds and Grandpa Roy. Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin had a terrific honeymoon in Fiji and then surprised us by changing their plans so they could come to Wapato and see me. Love them! Saturday night was my second cousins’ dinner of the summer, and it was great to get out and relax with family after one of the most stressful days of my life:
Mom called Dad from work Saturday morning saying that milk had gotten in her pump and it would need some TLC to make sure it didn’t get ruined. Of course Mom had the car and it was not quite walking weather outside. Fortunately, GP came to the rescue. We realized a vital piece had gone missing and the next 5 hours was a frantic search for parts to make sure we would be operational the next morning. Mom and I were on the verge of a 3 hour trip to Moses Lake when the missing piece was found. It was determined that Dad hadn’t searched the car well enough. We were all very happy to be heading to Cousins’ Dinner with Grandpa Roy. We had a great time sharing best moments of the year and wonderful memories of Grandma Mary. Then it was back to the apartment where we had a slumber party of 9 in the 600 square foot apartment. It was great to see everyone again. Dad was happy Sunday morning when I finally made it all the way through a service at church. It was another unique week in Chelan and now it is on to the final week of the summer here. It had been great, but I am getting anxious to get home. I’ll be home real soon Camden. Miss you!!

It was a great night in the apartment with all 9 of us back together. Sammy was especially happy to see me.
Cousins dinner with Grandpa Roy was alot bigger this time. I loved hearing about everyone's summer and favorite memory of Grandma Mary.

Happy Birthday Mom, Hello Moving Day

2009-09-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

I am getting the feeling there is no such thing as normal or routine here in Chelan. The only thing normal about last week is the fact that it was completely different from anything we have done all summer long. Well we did celebrate Mom’s birthday. We seem to celebrate a birthday every week. Of the nine of us living in the house, six have birthdays during the Slidewaters season!! I insisted on a girl’s day out for Mom’s birthday, so Mom, Aunt Jen and I went to Wentachee for some shopping and girl talk. When we got home everyone went out to dinner. After dinner…Nertz. Dad felt a little left out of Mom’s birthday, so he took us out on the boat Thursday. He is going to need to toughen up because I foresee 1000’s of shopping trips in Mom’s and my future. This week alone I broke in a new pair of sandals, a new outfit, a pair of sunglasses and a headband. Don’t tell Dad but he is going to have his hands full now that he has two all-star shoppers. On Saturday we had a couple people over for dinner at the house, but they didn’t stay the night. I’m pretty sure that is the first time this summer we’ve had guests to the house that didn’t spend the night. It turns out they were a young couple that work for Daddy and Uncle Burke.
Sunday night Dad and Uncle Burke loaded up all our furniture and took it to storage for the winter. Then on Monday we did the same thing with the rest of the house. We went from an extremely full house of 9 to an empty rental in less than a day. It was a chaotic 24 hours. Every time I turned around someone was carrying something. After making sure my wardrobe was carefully loaded, I hung out with my cousins because I knew they were going back to Ellensburg for a couple days. Not seeing them is going to be tougher than falling asleep without a pacifier. They left yesterday and I miss them already.

It is very important to have the right accessories for every occasion.

Dad showed me where to keep my glasses when I'm not wearing them.

Look out world, I'm becoming mobile.

I never had to wait to long to eat this summer. I had seven different roommates that could help give me a bottle. Of course, Mom is still doing all the work.

Check out the footwear. Mom and I live by Cinderella's mantra; One pair of shoes can change your life.

Tucson & back in a week

2009-08-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Life never seems to slow down and this past week was the perfect example. Mom and I spent the first half of the week in Tucson. Cousin Camden must have known that I was missing Dad's kisses because he was always giving me kisses. It also seems that Cousin Camden has taken a page out of Uncle Matt's childhood book. Uncle Matt used to take Mommy everywhere in her walker when they were little and Camden was doing the same for me. Let's pray that Camden doesn't copy anything else Uncle Matt did when he was growing up...I heard he always gave Mom a hard time. I also got a lot of great time with my new cousin, Ashton. I was able to tell him a lot about what to expect in his first four months of life. I am so excited to get back to Tucson and see them almost everyday. My trip to Tucson also provided the perfect opportunity to visit my doctor. I learned that I've grown to be 25 inches tall (the 70th percentile) and I weigh 13 pounds 2 ounces (40th percentile). My weight has more than doubled, but I've grown less than 5 inches. Does anyone else see a problem with that? It is alright, I actually started a new diet this week that I'm hoping will help me. Friday night, Mom & Dad served me something called rice cereal. I'm usually not one to brag, but I was tremendously polite and obedient to my parents. I ate the entire bowl, (not counting what got on my chin, shirt, pants, forehead, neck, arms, hands, or in my hair, nose or ears), which wasn't easy because it was not very tasty. Despite being able to tell that I was less than happy with the rice cereal, Mom and Dad made it again for me Saturday night. They must have done something different because it tasted much better. I'm not sure if it was the rice cereal, spending some great time with Mom & Dad on Saturday and Sunday or trying to keep up with Lucy, Mia, Charlie & Sam all weekend, but I crashed for 10 straight hours Sunday night! Mom was thrilled.

I really wanted to make Mom & Dad proud, so I ate as much rice cereal as I could.

Eating with a spoon gets messy, fortunately Mia & Sam were around to help Dad give me a bath.

Nothing like a game of Nertz with Mom. We always win.

No offense to anybody else in Tucson, but I think I miss Cousin Camden the most, can you blame me?

Congratulations Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin!

2009-08-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

My week started with an introduction to Bob and ended with an introduction to Cousin Ashton. After months of shopping and negotiations with my parents I finally got my new jogging stroller. I didn't want to rush into this decision, buying a new set of wheels is always a big deal. We finally all agreed that the BOB Revolution was the best stroller for me. I've heard nothing but great reviews from friends and family. I also have a special tie to BOB because I know one of their Mommy models. So far my BOB is living up to its billing. On my first jog with mom I fell asleep and stayed happy the entire hour! Normally I let mom know I'm done about half way through my roll.

On Thursday morning we drove to Seattle for Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin's wedding. Trying to get to GP & Bitz's place in time for a round of golf with Uncle Rhett and GP; Dad got pulled over by the state patrol. I was so scared I literally pooped my pants! But the officer was extremely nice and gave Dad a verbal warning...he called it a belated 30th birthday present. Thursday night was the rehearsal dinner. I learned a lot about Uncle Roy & Aunt Erin, everyone had a lot of nice things to say about the newlyweds. The entire wedding weekend went off flawlessly and now the happy couple are off on Mom's dream honeymoon-Fiji.

Sunday afternoon Mom and I flew to Tucson because we were going through Odell withdrawls. I am happy to report that it took Cousin Camden no time at all to welcome me back to Tucson with plenty of kisses.

Dad needed a little extra help at work one night, so I helped him with the nightly count.

It took us a while to find just the right jogging stroller, but the colors were never up for debate.

I finally got to meet Aunt Biza. She's great I can tell already she is going to be a fantastic aunt.

Calm Before the Storm

2009-08-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

This past week was full of more fantastic summer days. A couple more firsts, a couple new activities and plenty of great times with Mom, Dad and all my roommates. I can't seem to stop thinking about my upcoming weeks. In the next week, I will get to meet some people I have heard a lot about the past four months-including but not limited to Aunt Biza and Cousin Ashton! I get to go to Uncle Roy and Aunt Erin's wedding and see all of Dad's family and then Mom and I get to visit everyone in Tucson. I couldn't ask for a better week; four grandparents, all my aunts and uncles, and Cousin Camden and Ashton!

Mom & Dad finally got the hint that I needed a new play space-it took them long enough. I've been rolling over the same direction and getting stuck for over a week now. My new exersaucer is perfect. It holds me up so I can stand and scan the room. If nothing interesting is going on it has some toys attached to the edge that I can play with. I love it (for 15 minutes or so at least). Mom and Aunt Jennifer also took me to the park at Wapato and I got to go on the swing set. What a great toy; I told Mom we have to go back soon. With so much to do everyday I am keeping busy. Lucy, Mia, Charlie,Sam and I had a great week of hanging out. I'm realizing it is only going to get harder and harder to say goodbye to them at the end of the season. We all seem to be bonding really well in the house, Mom says I'm a great catalyst--whatever that means. I'm sure it is good, Mom never says anything bad about me. She's the best.

My new exersaucer was so much fun I had to bring a friend.

I tried the teeter-totter, but I needed Mom's help, so I prefer the swing.

The soon to be newlyweds are frantically preparing for their Saturday wedding. I think they will be natural parents. Do I see another cousin in the near future?

Rolling through the Summer

2009-08-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

I would like to say I can see the future, but in reality I knew that it would happen before the end of the month. I pretty much had it figured out last week, but the stars never aligned. Either my timing would be off, a toy would get in the way or someone would interrupt my concentration. Last week it was announced that I was on the verge of rolling over. Well last week, as a special birthday present to Dad, I made it happen--of course neither Mom or Dad saw the first roll. I could see the disappointment in their eyes, so now I roll over every chance I get. They get the biggest kick out of watching me do it. I haven't quite figured out how to roll back yet, so I just cry until someone puts me back on my back so I can roll over again.

Last Thursday was Dad's 30th birthday. Mom and I had a great time celebrating with him out on the boat. The water was choppy from the wind, which made it perfect for taking a nap. I wanted to show Dad this restaurant on the other side of the lake I had been to a couple of times called the Alpen Horn. He had never been before and I know how much he loves burgers and shakes so I thought it would be the perfect birthday lunch spot. He loved it. After lunch we went to the middle of the lake and just floated for an hour or so. I brought my peapod so I could nap. Dinner, dessert and presents with the roommates and I'd say Dad had a pretty good birthday party. The next morning the rumor was that Dad and Burke even beat Mom and Jennifer in Nertz!

There was a big storm in Chelan last week and Mom says those types of storms happen all the time in Tucson during the summer. We saw lightening, heard thunder and could see the down pour of rain all across and around the lake. The lightening was unbelievable. It got a little scary because a couple wild fires started. One was so close we could see the glow of the flames. Fortunately the fire fighters (including a helicopter with a giant bucket) put the fires out before they could get out of control.

Another month gone. This month I'm looking forward to Uncle Roy's wedding, Mom's birthday, seeing Cousin Camden and meeting Cousin Ashton--oh yeah and I haven't forgotten that Dad promised I could do some life guarding as well. It is going to be a great August.

Look Mom, one hand!!

I suggest always traveling with a place to sleep. You never know when you will need to take a nap.

Mom and I can never get too many kisses from Dad.

It was a wild and crazy night!

Great Family & Great Friends

2009-07-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

The older I get the more I realize the importance of great family and friends. This past week was a great reminder of that for me. The work week was pretty normal, both Mom & Dad put in hard hours at their jobs, but they never ran out of energy for me. Not sure if you have heard or not, but babies are hard, demanding work. They say you never get to rest when you are watching a baby, but I don't believe that because I am a baby and I rest all the time.
This was a great week because my cousin Sam (who is the closest in age to me in the house) and I got to play all afternoon one day. I even let him sneak into my stroller for a little walk. Mommy & Daddy's friend John let us use his house that came with access to a fantastic lakeside park. I set up my peapod tent and took a nap so close to the water that the waves got me wet a couple times. Dad left at the end of the week to go to Uncle Roy's bachelor party, which freed up some of my time at home (normally Dad hogs me and only lets someone else hold me when I'm less than happy). So while Dad was out of town I got to play cards with Uncle Burke, hang out with Aunt Jennifer while Mom worked on Saturday, go for a boat ride in the pool with Sammy and get some great 1-on-1 time with Mom. I also had my first paid babysitter on Sunday. Erin works for Dad at Slidewaters and the first time I met her we hit it off immediately. Erin and I hung out for almost 7 hours on Sunday--we just did a bunch of girl stuff.
Mom & Dad said I have to report a couple of other things about me in this blog. My giggles are growing by the day and becoming increasingly cute Mom says. Dad is happy that I am starting to be able to help hold my own bottle and everyone thinks I'm on the verge of rolling over. Honestly, it is a little overwhelming knowing the expectations everyone has for me.

Cousin Lucy is teaching me to hold my own bottle. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I like to look to her for confirmation on my technique.

Nothing beats a nap at the beach. Actually nothing beats a nap anywhere.

Cousin Sam likes to hitch rides with me in my stroller.

This is my friend Erin. We met at Slidewaters and now we hang out sometimes when both Mom & Dad have to work.

Hot, but not Tucson hot.

2009-07-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

It was a hot week in Chelan, and it is supposed to stay hot for another couple of weeks. We hit triple digits a couple times last week and will again before the end of the month. I was talking with my cousins Camden and Ashton last week and they told me that 100 degrees is nothing, and that it was a 110 degrees in Tucson! Hopefully they are finding ways to cool off. To keep cool here I went swimming with Mom & Dad. It was a salt water pool in the neighborhood and was the perfect temperature. Dad says our friends J & Auna have a warm salt water pool in Tucson that we can use if we are nice to them. I told him I could be nice to anybody if it meant I could use their pool.

GP & Bitz came to visit at the end of the week. GP is funny and makes me smile. I even got my first alone time with them when both Mom & Dad were off at work Friday afternoon. And then Friday night GP, Bitz and I watched Lucy, Mia, Charlie & Sam so Burke, Jen, Mom & Dad could go out to dinner.

Mom's working more hours at Starbucks now that she has finished her training. She is gone some mornings when I get up and Dad gets to feed me, but I've been trying to help everyone out by sleeping in later. I made it past 9 oclock last week. Mom & Dad thought it was the greatest thing in the world. I told them now that I'm not the youngest in the family anymore I needed to be a role model to Ashton.

Nothing like a good day at the pool!

Finally a worthy opponent for a staring contest. The matching outfits was an accident.

Life really is this good. Mom says my smiles keeping getting bigger and that I am starting to laugh. With all of Dad's awesome jokes I've been laughing on the inside for months.

A lot changes in 3 months.

Life is good!

2009-07-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

We are finally starting to feel settled in Chelan. It took a while because I had a lot of visitors and road trips in June, but now things are becoming a little more routine. I'm loving life right now. I get to play with my cousins a lot and Mom and Aunt Jen have worked out a great system of sharing me in the morning so that we can all be the most productive. Then when Dad gets home I get some good time with him too (I usually have to be pretty patient because Dad's tired from work and needs to rest a little before we can play). In my normal routine week I did have a couple highlights. I went to listen to Ice Age 3 with the entire household (Mom was great at comforting me during the scary parts). Daddy and I had a great day on Saturday while mom was working. Sunday was rougher, Dad couldn't keep up. I could tell he was dragging. He doesn't seem to be as durable as mom. Mom and Dad taught me how to play the card game Nertz (Mom and I rock at Nertz and are thinking of starting a league).

But the best part of the week started on Wednesday. I found out in the morning that one of Daddy's best friends had a brand new baby. Josiah William Allen. Congratulations Joe & Heidi! And then to make the day even better, Uncle Adam, Aunt Melissa and Cousin Camden welcomed my newest cousin to this world. Ashton Guz Odell. He joined us 4 weeks early and was only 5 pounds 3 ounces! I love having friends smaller than me!! What a great day! Then on Sunday I told Mom and Dad we should Skype everyone in Tucson so we could see Cousin Camden and Cousin Ashton. My first video skype call went great. I saw Bop, Noni, Uncle Matt & Aunt Karey-Ann, Uncle Adam, Aunt Mel, Cousin Camden (he was little camera shy), Baby Ashton, Grandma Ruby and even Junie-B and Dakota.

Does Dad ever wear a shirt?

Dad is a sore loser at Nertz. GP says that after any game is over you shouldn't be able to tell if you won or lost through your actions.

Mommy and Daddy thought I was small, Cousin Ashton was less than 5 pounds for a couple days! With Grandma Ruby in the background of that computer we cover four generations!

Great start to July!

2009-07-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

We've had a great start to the month of July. Last Monday was Mom's first day of work at Starbucks, so I stayed home with my roommates. We had a blast. Then on Wednesday when Mom went back to work, I went to work with Dad, which was awesome. I went to my first lifeguard safety meeting, helped welcome people to the park, and we even did a little paperwork in the office--followed by naptime of course. Dad said I was a great helper and that in August I could do some guarding at the park. On Friday, I went swimming with Dad in the lake. It was too cold for Mom, so she took some pictures from the shore-I'm starting to see a pattern with mom and temperatures. Then on the Fourth of July I got to hang out with Dad during the day and after the barbeque we went out on the boat to watch the fireworks. We had 14 people in the boat, most of them kids, I couldn't have asked for a better Fourth of July. Now as I type this out I'm listening (I'm still not allowed to watch TV) to the Wimbledon Final on the Tivo. What a great match. Congratulation Fed on your 15th grand slam!

I'm learning that sometimes the things you want the most are just out of your reach.

Dad seems determined to make sure I love water as much as he does.

Thanks to Mom and Aunt Biza (thanks for the top) I won the contest for cutest Fourth of July outfit. Dad says it wasn't even close.

We watched the fireworks from the boat, we had a great view because we were only a couple hundred yards from where they were being launched. It was a pretty spectacular sight, hundreds of boats gathered around the barge to watch incredible fireworks. God Bless America.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

2009-06-28T23:09:00.000-07:00

What an amazing week. After leaving Dad last Sunday, I traveled with Mom, Nana and Bop (Grandma & Grandpa Odell) to Idaho for a few days, then we rushed over to Seattle so some stranger could stab me in the leg three times. I'm up to 10 pounds 14 ounces-50th percentile for weight; over 23 inches-80th percenticles. And then my week got really really great--dad showed up Friday night at GP & Bitz's (Grandpa & Grandma Bordner). Talk about the perfect setting for a 10 week old-ALL four grandparents under the same roof. I didn't have to lift a finger! GP was leaving in the morning so I snuggled with him some Friday night.

If I had any idea what Mom & Dad had planned for Saturday I would have slept more Friday night. Mom woke me up at 9 and took me straight to my second home (my car seat). We drove to the ferry dock and caught a ride to Whidbey Island (GP tells me it is one of the biggest islands in the continental US). Then we spent almost all day touring this gorgeous island,we saw historical old towns, low tides, high tides, fisherman, the famous Deception Pass. We even saw Canada way off in the distance. We ate dinner on the main land in La Conner and finished up the tour with a quick stop at the cabin on Camano (that's where Dad asked Mom to marry him). We got back home at 10:30. A pretty long day and a fantastic day. Check out my pictures below. On Sunday we got up and went to church and then had lunch and packed up to head back home to Chelan. We rolled into Chelan exactly a week after I had left. It was great to be back home. I crashed shortly later while my Cousin Mia was reading to me. I love my life.

The view from the ferry was unbelievable, mom and I enjoyed most of the ride from inside.

This one was at Deception Pass. It was tough to get a good view because mom was using me as a warming blanket.

Cousin Mia and I love to hang out. And after my long week this was the perfect way. She read me some great books too.

Father's Day

2009-06-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

I told Dad at the end of the day that everyday should be Father's Day. After church, we came home, took a nap on the couch and watched the US Open while Dad ate pizza and I had some milk. It was fantastic, nothing beats an afternoon on the couch with Dad. After we watched Tiger miss his putts and Phil drain his 30 and 35 footers we decided to test our putting skills at the putting course in Chelan. It was quite the outing. I was going to putt with Dad, but Mom was cold and needed me as her warming blanket. She did pretty good with one arm. After dinner we left Dad and drove to Sandpoint, Idaho with grandma and grandpa. I heard it is beautiful in Northern Idaho--the last time I was there mom and dad were just starting to tell people about me.

Can everyday be father's day? Tell me this isn't the best place in the world.

Bordner Traditions.

2009-06-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

I hit two months and Dad told me it was time to experience a couple Bordner traditions. So yesterday morning I took my first float plane and then in the afternoon we went for a boat ride. To keep me safe on the plane grandpa Dean held me. I loved the flight, you wouldn't believe the view of Lake Chelan from a 1000 feet up. Unbelievable! After the plane ride, we rented a jet ski. I couldn't get a turn because my GP and grandma wouldn't put me down. It looked like lot of fun. Then we went on a boat ride around Lake Chelan. The bouncing on the lake was just what I needed, other than a quick snack- I was the only one who brought something to eat with me--thanks Mom :) -I slept the entire time. Like Dad, I love boats. No need for a pony, dad lets get a Mastercraft.

My great-grandpa Roy, great-uncle Bret, and Uncle Burke are all former float plane pilots. My 14 year old cousin Ryan is even working towards a pilots license. Maybe one day I'll fly.

Dad never turns down an opportunity to go for a boat ride. Now I know why...perfect time for a nap.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

Visitors!

2009-06-16T20:24:00.001-07:00

Most of you know that Mom, Dad and I moved up to Chelan, WA for the summer, well this past weekend I had my first visitors. It was fantanstic. All my grandparents were here, my great-grandpa plus some cousins, aunts, uncles and other friends. It was fun to see all of them, they had changed so much since I saw them last.

This is right after Mom told me we were going to see all my grandparents at Wapato.

Then she told me Cousin Camden wasn't going to be there. It took a while to get over that. I miss his hugs and kisses.

This is my Great-Grandpa Roy. He and Grandma Mary are the main reason for daddy's great family.

I got to go to the Cousins dinner with Grandpa Roy. It was a special priviledge, normally only the grown-up cousins go. But Mom says I'm mature for my age.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson

Blog world here I come!

2009-06-07T18:42:00.001-07:00

Life is pretty good right now. I'm starting to figure things out, so I might as well start a blog--Dad tells me everyone else is doing it. I'm not quite sure what people want to know though, I'm only 8 weeks old; so life is pretty much eat, wake, sleep (in that order Mom says). But I can tell you what I do know... Dad seems to want to kiss me during all three of those stages and Mom tells him he better not wake me up. Apparently I'm a gulper and fast eater, I burp and fart like an old man and none of that changes the fact that my parents think I'm as adorable as anything ever made. Which is great because it pretty much gives me free reign to spit up on them, cry whenever I want and poop my pants and not worry that they still won't think of me as the cutest baby ever.
We're getting settled in our place in Chelan and are extremely excited about this summer. Dad is going to teach me to waterski he said--just as soon as he and Cousin Burke find a boat. I can't wait. Well this is a lot of typing for an 8 week old so I'm off to get back in that all important eat, wake, sleep cycle.

Love to all,

Reese.