Neeley Family Blog

Well, we have been waiting a year to venture back to Dozer Day. The boys loved it last year and of course, wanted to go again this year. I think this will become a yearly occurrence for us. I keep inviting more people and telling more people about it each year. It is an awesome foundation that puts on this event each year. Everyone there volunteers their time and all the monies go back to local children's grants. The foundation's website is http://www.nutterfoundation.org/ . Check it out! Headin' out on the giant dump truck: We spent about 3 hours or so there. The boys got to help operate an excavator and a backhoe loader, as well as a garbage truck. Brayden getting his instructions on how to operate the machinery. A quick video of Brayden. And a video of Brock operating. They sat in the fire truck and went through the "fire house". And of course they got to DIG!!!! They were so dirty and tired when it came time to leave. They did however ask if we could go back t...

So, I have been a little out of sorts this last week or so. Our computer is not working properly. Brad says that he has ordered a new power box and I hope that takes care of it, but we shall see. With that being said, I cannot blog our put up any posts with my pictures that are now saved on the computer (deleted from the camera). I am currently at work (shhh don't tell) and thought I would just do a quick update of the goings on in our household as a preview for you all on what is to come in posts. I have a post waiting to be added (once I get the pictures that are on the computer added) on Dozer Day this year. The boys of course had an awesome time and ask me about every other day if we can go to Dozer Day again. Since this is only a yearly event, patience will be a virtue! We have also done some "redecorating" in the house due to our new purchase of a plasma tv. There is quite a story to this new purchase so I will leave those lovely details for the blog post. The boys,...

On the Monday prior to Mother's Day, Brayden's class threw a party for moms. Each child invited their mom to come in to class and celebrate Mother's Day with them. It was adorable! They each created a lovely hat for their moms to wear. Here is mine and Brayden took the picture. They also had all kinds of decorations in the room they had made. Watering cans (out of construction paper) and umbrellas. The kids recited a Mother's Day poem for us. Here is the video: I just love their little voices! We then decorated a pot and planted a flower in it. And finally we got to snack. Here is Brayden and I enjoying our snacks. It was so much fun and awesome to see all the pride the kids took in making a special day for their mommas! Thank you Mr. Brayden for a great Garden Party! Love you Buddy!

Happy May Day to everyone! Spring has sprung around the Neeley house. We have been getting some yard work done on a few lovely days we had. Brad has done a fine job cutting the grass and weeding the yard. I went and got some plants and flowers to re-do all my hanging baskets. I decided this year to do them myself instead of spending more money on ones that were already done for you. This way I could take a little more pride in the work that was done. And as always, Brayden was very excited to help. He planted some seeds in the class recently, so he is an expert gardener now! We also added some new bark dust or mulch (as Brad calls it) to the flower beds. Here are a few photos for you all to enjoy. The backyard. And the front yard. Happy Spring to you all!

Our March of Dimes 2010 is done! We had a great walk. It did not rain on us. Brittany and her family joined us on our walk again this year. We also raised $350 this year. Thank you to everyone that donated and sponsored us. We truly appreciate it and know that your monies go to a wonderful cause. Here a a few photos from our walk: Done and in line at the food tent! We hope next year more of you can join us on our walk and in raising money for the March of Dimes. It is usually the 3rd Saturday in April, so pencil it in on your calendars and I will let you know the date as soon as they publish it! We welcome all who want to walk with us :) Cheers!

Brayden recently had a fundraiser at school. It was a Jog-A-Thon at the Milwaukie High School track (which is right across the street from his school). He was so excited to do it because he wanted to run on the big track. I decided to help out and that also allowed me to bring Brock and Brylee. Brock thought he was a big boy too getting to run on the track! We asked a few people for donations and Brayden set a goal of 5 laps (really he counted to 20 and said he would run that many, but I told him that was a bit too much :) ). Here he is setting out on his run. Here is Brock getting going too. We made a pit stop for some H2O and some oranges. All done! Brayden did great! He ran/walked 6 laps. It was a really fun time and Brayden raised $50 for his school. We can't wait for next year!

A few weeks back now, we celebrated Brad's 33rd Birthday. He wanted to get away for the weekend and do something different so we decided to make a trip over the mountain to eastern Oregon. They call it the High Desert. We rented a house in SunRiver, which is a resort area for the whole family. My parents and my sister and her family joined us as well. The house was huge and had all the amenities. It was just over a 3 hour drive, but well worth it to see the beauty and peacefullness that surrounded us. The resort is just about 20 minutes from Mt. Bachelor. This mountain is huge and offers 360 degrees of skiing or boarding! Here is a nice vew from the Lodge of the guys at sunset with the mountain in back. Ahhhhhh! We also got to visit a new facility they have there that is a all in one recreation center. It is called Maverick's. It has a full gym of equipment, a basketball court, rock wall and indoor pool. We hit up the pool and the boys had a blast! Here is the wave pool that Br...