Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

We are finally settled into our beautiful home in the mountains that are covered with snow. Aside from missing my friends terribly in Idaho, I have to secretly admit that I have loved living here. There are a million things to do! We have gone to the dinosaur museum a number of times, the aquarium, the discovery center at gateway mall, the shopping centers, and we have played in the snow for hours. My favorite room in the house is the toy room, it is my kids also. They occupy themselves for hours on end and I can get things done really quickly. I am slowly getting to know people here but am really glad that Amber and a good friend, Staci, from my mission live here.

Our Toy Room

Corban looking trough glasses at the Museum


Playing in the snow in the back yard!

A few new updates, Isaiah and Corban are officially potty trained. Isaiah has been potty trained for some time but has been inconsistant with going #2. Corban one day decided to take his diaper off and poop in the middle of his bed! That was the sign that he could start going on the toilet. So, two down and one to go!




Corban is saying more and more everyday! I said something to him the other day and he responded, "ya think?" What a turd! I love that he communicates with me and is talking to Isaiah. Isaiah is coming along quite well. We are already receiving therapy for him down here and the program "kids on the move" is wonderful. He will start going to Pony Express Elementary in March a couple days a week.



Emerson is a smiley little guy. I don't think that there are better babies. He is by far the best I have ever met. He loves when Isaiah and Corban are around and he stares at them intently. I wonder if he ever says to himself, "please don't hurt me." Luckily, they kids have been very soft and gentle with him. We have had a couple of scares but overall, I am impressed.



Our ward is huge. There are 5 nurseries, so we are surrounded by kids that are our kids' age. I love it. I don't know what I thought that it would be like going to church in Utah prior to moving here, but I have throughly enjoyed it.


Jake likes his job. Him and a buddy that he worked with on the Idaho State Capitol carpool to the tracks in Sandy and then ride the train down to their jobs. Jake is enjoying the time that he gets to read on the train. I think that his whole budget for entertainment went to buying books for the next couple of weeks. :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday!

Where to begin....

Since the birth of Emerson, we have had lots of new things happen in our lives. Let me begin by saying that Emerson is about as perfect as they come. He sleeps and eats really good and has even given us up to 5 hours of sleep at night. He sleeps through his noisy brothers, he catches balls that Corban throws at him, he shares his blankets with Isaiah, and you name it! He is a blessing in our lives!!

Isaiah has been going to developmental school with Ms. Jodie and Ms. Shelly and has loved it. They have been working on social interaction skills with him and he is doing much better! His speech therapist, Ms. Rebekah, has been working with him for about a year and says that his progression is fabulous for a child that is speech delayed. Isaiah is so funny as he is starting to initiate conversations. He is still a little hesitant with Emerson but I occasionally see him touch him and give him kisses! Isaiah loves to read! We read the same books over and over. When he has quiet time, I find him reading the books to Corban, which is hilarious in and of itself because Corban tries sitting on his lap! What would I do without him, he is such a joy in my life!

Mr. Corban keeps me on my toes. He is a very curious little guy and gets into any and everything! The other day I was doing something and smelled this burning smell. Sure enough, Corban had pushed the ottoman into the kitchen, grabbed the butter dish off of the microwave, and put it in the toaster! In the following days, he told me that he needed to go potty and I was feeding Emerson, so I told him to go in the bathroom and take his pants off. And where did I find him, in the tub with the water on. Apparently, he wanted to take a bath! That little buddy loves his brother. Corban doesn't understand that he isn't old enough to do what he wants him to do. He always puts toys in his boppy and then takes them back saying, "my turn." By the way, Corban is a jibber jabber. He is always saying funny things!

Jake is finishing the job on the Idaho State Capitol and so we were in limbo for quite some time about where he would be going! Not knowing, we put our house on the market and luckily it sold very quickly! (We even got out of it a lot more than we thought we would! YEAH) Assuming we would go to Utah, we went there to find a home to rent, without any luck! I was getting really nervous! The following Monday, Jake received a call that he would be going to Utah to work at the University of Utah! We were excited knowing that he would have a job and that everything would be falling into place. Now that everything was in place, we just needed a place to live and we found one in Eagle Mountain, UT. I love it!

I am not going to lie, this month has been very stress filled with the unknowns and getting everything done with three little ones attached to my legs! But, I am grateful for my husband, my family, and my friends that have helped me without hesitation!

Stay tuned for further updates!!

The Long Awaited Update

It goes without saying that this blog has been neglected more than kids from Jon & Kate plus 8, but we are going to try and change that right now! Obviously there is a lot to mention, but due to the amount of time that has passed, I am only going to highlight the main events. Really there are only two main events that have taken place over the last few months. First, back in July we went to Hawaii with my sister Tenille. She hadn't been there before, so we got to go around the island and see all the sites again. We had a lot of fun, but I didn't find out my sister was afraid of the ocean until the end of our trip.

Here we are at the beach. This was without a doubt Corban's favorite place. He is Definitely a water dog. He would just run right into the waves, and the would knock him down.

We had to see the fish! I think this might have been Isaiah's favorite part.

Tenille & Brooke at the International Market Place. Tenille is just a real sucker for a deal, even thought I'm pretty sure she never really got the best deal.

Here we are at the Buddhist Temple with the boys. The boy really liked to ring the bell and the fish in the pond.

Family visiting the International Market Place

We took almost a thousand pictures so if you would like to see more you can go to the following links:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bclaridge2/20090725Hawaii2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMn_tYHC54TbtwE#
http://picasaweb.google.com/bclaridge2/20090725Hawaii2?authkey=Gv1sRgCPinl77Au6P87wE#

The next big thing that has happened to us is we added Emerson Tyce Claridge to our family! I think that Brooke is glad to be done having kids. And don't worry about trying to talk us into having more because she had her tubes tied, and the doctor told her he doesn't recommend it. He has been a great addition to our family. Corban has been in love with him from the start, although sometimes he gets a little rough with him. Isaiah was a skeptic at the hospital, but it appears that he grew on him when we brought him home. Most people think he looks like Isaiah, I think he is a mix.

This was one of the first pictures I could get with his eyes open.

Here is a Picture of the Family before we went home.

Birthday Boys

March is such a fun month at the Claridge home. Corban turned one on March 12th and Isaiah turned two on March 26. We threw them a cars party and all of their little friends came to celebrate.

It was as yummy as it looks.

Isaiah and Corbans friends that joined us for the party. Siennah, Isaiah, Corban, Jaron, Noah, Drew. Missing are Maycee and Lane! :)

Corban enjoying his birthday cake. Unfortunately, we couldn't get Isaiah to eat his cake for the second year in a row.

Exciting news:

Corban started walking about a month ago and I love it. He weighs 26 lbs and is getting to heavy to carry all of the time. He says "ball, mama, dada," and you can rarely find him without one in his hands. Corban has 8 teeth now and enjoys eating. :)





Isaiah is starting to talk! Yeah, I thought that this day would never come. He repeats everthing that we tell him to say but is still working on saying it by himself. Isaiah goes to "school" 3 days a week for two hours. He loves going and it has been a great environment for him to socialize! Isaiah is the sweetest older brother. He is very protective of Corban and makes sure that he is not doing things to get into trouble. I often hear "no, ban." In the morning they jibber jabber for a long time before they want me to come and get them. I am really blessed to have them in my lives! We bring me happiness, joy, and much laughter.




We are also expecting another baby in late Sept. or early Oct. We are quite excited about this addition to our family. I think that I am the most excited! :) People keep asking if I am hoping for a girl.... and the answer would be no! I would be excited either way, but I already have everything for a little boy. If it is a girl her name will be: Elia Marie, and if it is a boy: Isreal Benson or Ezekiel Benson. We will let you know soon!


I have loved the weather outside and have taken the boys to the park almost everyday for the last couple of weeks. If I don't, I have two boys standing at the door saying, "park, slide, swing" over and over again. Plus, if I take the boys between 2:00 and 4:00 Sonic has their blue coconut slushies half off. I crave them all of the time. (Which is good because I am trying to cut back on my addiction of at least 6 cans of Diet Coke a day.)



Jake is very busy at work as they are nearing the end of the capitol building. It will be a great ride to see where life takes us after this next project.

Until the next time.....

Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story"

It has been a long time since our family has updated this blog. As you can see Brooke got distracted and has not been able to return to finish her story. Truth be told, it has been so long I'm not sure I remember what the rest of the story is, but we did have a lot of fun down in Mesquite with the family. I do remember that we had a birthday party for two of the kids, and that we went golfing a couple of times. Since then we have obviously experienced Christmas & New Years. We spent Christmas with our family in Rupert, which was enjoyable, and for New Years Brooke Aunt Nicki came to visit us. I'm sure that most of you know that Brooke has been really involved in coupon shopping, and that is why I believe she has neglected our blog. She really loves it, and has taught many others the techniques on how to save money. That seems to be important in these troubling times. After posting this blog I'm going to encourage Brooke to get back into updating this thing. One last note of interest, we just got back from a trip to North Carolina where we visited our friends Evan & Gina. It was a lot of fun, and definitely different back there. I thought it was the funniest thing that after an inch of snow all the schools were cancelled and most of the businesses closed for the day. I guess we just are used to the weather here. I wish I knew more about what Brooke's experiences were there, because she spent an extra week there, but I do know that they have great barbeque restaurants there. I do know that we are very grateful to have a friend like Gina, she is a speech pathologist, and the time she spent with Isaiah and us, teaching us, has really helped Isaiah's language skills. Hopefully we can continue following her advice and he will continue to develop. Well, that about sums up the last few months, I will have to see if I can get Brooke's input added to this, but I do know we have been very blessed. I'll have Brooke add some pictures later!