Josh is turning 8!

My oldest baby will be 8 on Saturday! He is in 2nd grade in Mrs. Gardners class at Park Elementary. He is an amazing reader, he is the best one in his class at math, and is the second fastest runner in his class. He has lots of great friends from school. He loves playing video games. He likes sports. He plays basketball, soccer, and baseball, but soccer is his favorite. If there was track and field at school, I would sign him up. At recess he chases kids and they chase him. That's funny because that is what I did at recess in 2nd grade. He's a skinny little guy, probably because he's always been a super picky eater. He's probably only around 45 pounds. His willpower is strong, so I learned a long time ago that trying to force him to eat something he doesn't want to will just end up in wasted food and everybody crying. Here's what he will eat at this point: McDonalds hamburgers and chicken nuggets and fries, pepperoni pizza (his favorite is Papa Johns and we always have a supply in the fridge), apples, nacho cheese Doritos, bacon, fruit roll ups, rolls (they have to be warm), frosting and some candy (suckers, tootsie rolls, some chocolate, laffy taffy, swedish fish) Ummmm....I honestly can't think of anything else right now. He goes through phases and stuff that he ate every day 2 months ago, he won't even touch now. He LOVES to scare me. He probably sneaks up behind me or stands around the corner and jumps out and says "Boo!" about 20 times a day. And every time he asks "Did I scare you?" If I say yes, he asks "Really bad?" Jarom used to love to scare us. When a friend calls him and I give him the phone, he says "Yo! What's up?" When his friend Kelton calls he says "Hey Kelt! What's up, dude?" He is very rigid at sticking to the rules. Especially if it is school rules, teacher rules, or laws. He makes sure everybody else sticks to the rules, too. He is definitely the oldest child and he won't let the other two get away with things that I will let them get away with. He is so much like Brad. He's got the most amazing freckles. He looks kind of like the Mad comics kid, only not as goofy. He's lost 4 teeth so far and 2 are very wiggly. He was soooo excited when he got on level 10 in math. He is speedy at math and always asks me math questions. He is learning his times tables by asking me all the time "Mom, what's 6 by 6? What's 100 by 200? What's 7 by 8?" If he thinks he heard something from someone who knows, he will not back down, which is why he says "by" instead of "times" or "multiplied by". He wants to be a game tester when he grows up. He is really good at video games and is really rockin' the guitar in rock band. He's been doing the expert level--the highest one. He doesn't get great scores doing expert, but he's still crazy good. He has to always be on time or early. If Connor's not ready for school yet, Josh urges me to just take him to school and take Connor later. He loves money and toys. I think he may be so good at math because he is so interested in money. That's just the way he thinks. He gives awesome hugs and gets clingy with some people like Cami and Amy. He's a funny kid and he is definitely getting easier as he gets older. Happy Birthday Joshy! Love you, kiddo!

Haunted house

I was chatting with a friend--my old roommate's hubby--about this haunted house I lived in in Provo. I wrote a bunch of stories and sent them to him and decided to put a copy on my blog.



Go to sleep Cara! :)
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

I'll get fired, Tony!
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Hmm, OK, you can stay awake then
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Thanks

I went and saw that haunted house in Provo today.
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Oh yeah? Anything creepy happen?
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

You know, the one that Liz lived in for like, 2 days, and had little kittens running around?
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

The one with all the pig statues/figures? Yep
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

It's vacant. It's been winterized, and there is no trespassing by unauthorized persons
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Let's break in and stay there with the lights out!
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Totally forgot about the pig statues!!

Funny!
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

There was something weird about that place, I told Liz that when I visited
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

When Brad came to visit, he would stay there alone at night

while I was at work, and he was so totally freaked out

he said he would never step foot in that house again

and he doesn't believe in ghosts or anything
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Scottish people have an affinity for ghosts I think

Did he say what happened?
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

I think you're right!
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Maybe the pig figurine roomie came onto him? LOL
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

He just felt something that made him so scared. He slept up on the couch in the loft and kept the biggest knife in the house next to him
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

There's a dark male presence there, I wish I had more time to examine that
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

You are so right! This is fascinating to me!
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

I love this stuff. Liz tells me not to dabble in it, but I think it's fascinating
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Did you feel it by the stairs that came up from the garage the most?
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Yes!

That's the first place I felt it
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Brad too!

Goll, I always thought maybe somebody got pushed down those stairs or something

not a guy, but the guy did the pushing
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

The two places I felt it most were the stairs, a little in the downstairs garage, and in the loft/balcony area (?)
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Yes!

It wasn't in the master bedroom

not really in the front room

It was in Liz's room
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Liz and I went to a frind's house in Draper that they said was haunted and we got some EVPs on a voice recorder. It was a voice saying that they had died of old age.
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

and a little in the upstairs bedroom and in the bathroom

Crazy. That would creep me out.
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

The front room was OK, Liz's was a little creppy but I thought maybe it was just because it was small and we were afraid of peeping toms
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

She said she always got the feeling someone was watching her in that room. Could have been either! I guess they arrested a guy in the ward for peeping around the neighborhood
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

What a rush. I wish I had the equipment and the free time, I'd love to do ghost hunting
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

We'd definitely find something in that house

5 years ago when we were looking for houses, that house was on the market

It had been for a long time. I wonder if people would look at it and feel whatever is there and not buy it.
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

I wonder if we could convince the owner to let us go ghost hunting in it one night. I bet with how empty it is (unless it's furnished) you'd find a lot of noises and activity
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

I wonder if it's been vacant this whole time.

All the houses around it were full.
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Man, who knows
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

The original blinds were on the windows-the dark brown ones.
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

That place needs to be exorcised and renovated
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

The blinds were pulled most the way up and I could see up to the skylight in the loft
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Why did you go back?
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

couldn't tell if there was furniture, but got the feeling there wasn't

We were waiting for Franklin Covey to open at the mall and were going to go to Albertsons that used to be down there to buy cupcakes. Albertsons was gone and you can only turn right to get out og that shopping center, so we went past the street and I asked the kids if they wanted to see the old house that I used to live in

Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Awesome

Well if you ever decide you want to go back in let me know, I'm in!
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

I told them about it and they were fascinated

we should totally do it!
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

I'm game
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Brad wouldn't go. Would Liz?
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

We can bring Liz and Brad, we need Scooby and Shaggy on our hunt
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Maybe Brad would go, but he said he'll never stp foot in tat house again.
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

Hmm, I'd have to ask. She'd say no at first, but I think curiosity would get the best of her
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

that would be fun! and creepy!

have I ever told you my host stries from that house?

ghost stories

I'll email you. gotta go do a check
Tony Knight
3 hours ago
Tony Knight

OK, I'd better get to sleep but yes, tell me. And I'm serious - let's make this happen

Take care Cara! Give Brad a kiss for me
Cara Adair Bradley
3 hours ago
Cara Adair Bradley

Oh,my gosh. Brad will love a kiss from you.

Hahaha!

Goodnight, tell Liz hi, and let's do it! Do you have access to the stuff? Cause I have no idea where to get it. K, I'll write my stories for you--it'll keep me awake :)
Cara Adair Bradley
49 minutes ago
Cara Adair Bradley

K. I think my first real story from that house was when my roommate, Melissa, and I bought some wicker furniture from DI to put in the loft. We were making a "make out room". Scandalous, I know. We got some of that sparkly blue star and moon material and hung it from the ceiling to the floor on the fireplace side of the loft. Then we put that egg carton cushy stuff down on the floor and covered it with a navy flannel sheet and bought like 30 pillows and put them in the corner on the floor. We had a multiple metal black candle holder that we put on the brick fireplace and strung up some red lip lights that my sister bought. Then we put the furniture in there to kind of block the view from the banister. A wicker table and two wicker chairs on either side of the table. I ended up sleeping in there most nights and put my tv and vcr in there. I don't know why I just told you all about that, but it does have something to do with another one of my ghost stories. It was nice and cozy. Anyway.....we bought that furniture and brought it home in Melissa's truck. She parked the truck in the garage and we had something we had to do, so we just left the furniture in the truck. You know I'm a night person, so I was home later that night around 2 or 3 a.m. Melissa was sleeping and I was bored, so I decided to start making the make out room. I went down the garage stairs to get the furniture. I grabbed a chair and started heading up the stairs. You know how there were 2 corners in that stairwell. Well, I got to the second corner and I heard the stairs below me creaking. I figured someone was out and about and saw me because the garage door was open and was coming to say hi or hang out or something. So I threw the chair in the house and went back down the stairs to see who it was and there was nobody there. I figured whoever it was thought I had just gone in the house and turned around and left. So I got another chair and started up the stairs again, and heard someones creaky footsteps behind me on the stairs again. I figured they had turned around, started back home, then saw me come down again, so they came back and were coming back up the steps. It wasn't the normal creaking that came from me going up the steps. There was definitely somebody there--there was no doubt in my mind. So I threw the chair in the house and went down to see who it was and again there was nobody there. Then I got scared. That scary feeling just hit me. I knew it was a guy, not a girl, and I knew somebody was there. I wanted to just run into the house, but I thought that was stupid because I was already down there and I might as well grab the table, so I forced myself to be brave and grabbed the table as fast as I could and ran up the stairs and totally felt someone running up the stairs behind me. Someone not nice this time. I ran in and shut the door. I was really scared. When I got the stuff up in the loft and started working on the room, I felt better, but I was seriously freaked out!

The second thing was one night when I wasn't working I came home from WalMart around 1 a.m. and was hungry, so I went and got my leftovers out of the fridge and was heating them up in the microwave, so I was facing away from the hallway with the bedrooms. I heard one of the bedroom doors open and creaking in the hallway, so I turned around and was ready to apologize to whichever roommate I had woken up, and nobody was there. Again, there was no doubt in my mind that someone was there. I heard and felt it, but nobody was there. I heard the door open, but heard no door shut, so I went around the corner to see who was up, but both the doors were shut.
Cara Adair Bradley
34 minutes ago
Cara Adair Bradley

The third thing was one night my friend and I were in the make out room (A girl--we were just in there watching a movie.) My friend had fallen asleep and my roommate, Melissa, had gone to bed. I knew Melissa had to get up and leave early in the morning. Jen, another roommate, got home and came in and ran up the stairs and called for Melissa. I told her Melissa was asleep and Jen asked if she had to leave early in the morning and I told her yes. So Jen went back out to move her car from behind Melissa's truck so she wouldn't have to wake up and do it early in the morning when Melissa wanted to leave. I was in the make out room with that material hanging from the ceiling. Whenever someone walked by, the material would kind of move with the breeze that people made while walking past, and you could kind of see a shadow behind the material. Well, it did that breeze thing and I saw a shadow, so I figured Melissa had heard Jen call her name and came out of her room to see what was up. I called "Melissa?" to her, but she didn't respond, so I got up to tell her why Jen was calling her, and nobody was there.

One other thing that happened.....this sounds stupid, but the light in the upstairs bathroom by the loft would flicker on and off. And I swear to you that when I was on the toilet, that light would flicker and go off. When I was in the shower that light would flicker on. There was another light in the bathroom by the mirror that was fine.
Cara Adair Bradley
8 minutes ago
Cara Adair Bradley

So Brad doesn't believe in the after life or ghosts or anything, but when he came to visit, I would go to work at night and all my roommates were gone, so he would be alone in the house. A few days after he got there, some neighbors were over and we were talking about the haunted house situation. His ears perked up and he asked what and I said "Oh, yeah. This house is haunted." I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but he was mad at me! He told me that he felt something there and he actually slept with the biggest knife he could find in the house (which was pretty big because Sarah was a chef and had an impressive set of knives) next to him. He asked me why I didn't tell him it was haunted. I never knew how scared he really was until years later. He says he will never step foot in that house again. I thought he was okay because he told me that he and the ghost came to an understanding. He told the ghost that he could watch tv with him as long as he didn't hurt him.

Liz said she always felt like she was being watched in her room. She said she always thought it was a peeping tom, but the ghost thing actually made sense. But who knows, since they arrested that peeping tom in the neighborhood. It could have been either or. Or both.

Okay, now that I wrote all this, I am going to copy it to my blog. Let me know when you want to go back there! I am going to try to find out more about the house now with a little online research :) I'll let you know if I find anything out.

Write a reply...

"I'm not your sister anymore!"

For quite a while Kaytlynn was calling her friends and others her sisters. When she would get mad at them, she would say "I'm not your sister anymore, HMF!" She also did this to me when I would not give her something she wanted. She got different replies from different people. Lola would come back with "Well, you're not my sister either, HMF!" Olivia would be sad and say "I can't be your sister anymore?" I would just kind of laugh. I haven't heard her say this for awhile, so I thought it was pretty much over. Well, she had some candy corn that I bought for her and she wasn't sharing the pumpkin one that I wanted, even though she had bunches of them. I thought it would be funny to say "Well, I'm not your sister anymore, HMF!" She asked what and I said "I'm not your sister anymore." Her little face crumpled up and I thought she was just faking it, but lo and behold, big tears came and she hid her face behind her hands. She was so sad and really, really crying. I could not get her to stop for 5 minutes. I finally just left her alone after she ran in her room and slammed the door and a minute later she came out with a candy corn pumpkin and said "Is this the one you want?" "Yes, thank you." I said.

Brad's new job at Clearlink

Brad switched jobs a few weeks ago. Now he works at Clearlink instead of SEO.com. He is a SEO technician (I think that's what he's called now). He was a SEO Senior at SEO.com. For those of you that don't know what SEO is (I know I didn't), basically they do all they can to get company websites on the first page of Google and other search engines. It stands for Search Engine Optimization. There is an amazingly huge amount to learn and do for this job. I actually got a contract job there once and went in for a few hours to learn just a small amount of what they do and my brain was pretty fried. Brad worked at SEO.com for about 2 1/2 years. He went in knowing nothing and became a Senior there where he had a team that he gave tasks to, and made sure they got them all done and done right. He ended up learning how to build websites and made his own website called MMAshortsandgloves.com. He loves that MMA stuff (Mixed Martial Arts) I don't care for it, but lots of people are really into it. He had links on his website to places that sold MMA stuff, and was making some money off of that. He spent a lot of time optimizing that and it was on the first page of google for a few different search terms. He ended up selling that website, and now has a company that sponsors different MMA fighters called Gladiator Fight Wear. He's made their walkout shirts and tshirts, hoodies, beanies, and hats. His website is gladiatorfightwear.com If you go to MMA gear, you can see some stuff that he's had designed and made and is selling now. They've been vendors at some different fights which has taken them to Las Vegas a few times. I have dreams of Gladiator Fight Wear being the next Tapout. Look around next time you're out and I'll bet you see a bunch of Tapout shirts, stickers, and hats. But it's a lot of work, time, and energy for Brad. And money.
So Brad felt like he wasn't going to really go anywhere with SEO.com, so he started looking around for other places. He had a couple interviews with Clearlink before our cruise, and then got the job offer while we were in Florida on vacation. The one big downfall to this job is that it is out by the SLC airport--further than his SEO.com job in Bluffdale. It takes 1 or 2 hours to get there and to get back, depending on traffic, weather, and construction (Stupid never ending construction in Utah!) The commute really stresses him out. There are a whole bunch of good things, though. This company seems to have more money than they know what to do with. What they do is kind of confusing, but basically Brad is doing the SEO work for the local Verizon Wireless part of Clearlink. He optimizes the site and gets traffic to it. He's excited to have been assigned Verizon Wireless and he can basically do what he wants and what he thinks needs to be done.
Perks of the job: There are 2 company trips each year. One to Las Vegas and one to Mexico. All expense paid for the entire company and they look like fun! Somebody just got back from a trip that he won. The guy who won it got to choose his dream vacation--anywhere in the world that he wanted to go for a week. So he and his wife went to the Galapagos Islands for a week. Nice! I think we'd have to go to New Zealand. After Brad has worked there for a year, they pay 100% of our insurance premiums. Every day for the entire ski season (Which started 2 days ago!!) they will pick one person and give them a paid day off and 5 lift passes to any resort they want to go to and can take whoever they want--up to 5 people for free. This one got me really excited!! They bring in good food for lunch a lot like Cafe Rio (this one got Brad really excited!) and they take people out to lunch all the time. They have 2 company cars. One is a Cadillac Escalade that is way nice, which they took Brad out to lunch to Squatters in last week. I guess it has steps that automatically unfold when you open the door and automatically fold back up. The other car is a Porsche and that is for the employee of the month to drive. They seem very laid back. Like as long as Brad gets all his work done, they don't care if he does 40 hours a week, and he can go into the office any time during the day. Too bad my work schedule leaves him less flexible or he could go at random, odd hours and miss rush hour traffic. They do lots of different fun things at work. They are doing Movember and handing out prizes at the end of the month. Good ones. They just had a trip where they took a private jet to Vegas and stayed at some nice new hotel on the strip. They also just had an Ipad bingo game. And Cafe Rio and Happy Hour. Yes, Happy Hour. Anyway....I kind of wish I could work there for all the perks!

I am very proud of Brad and how he's done professionally. He was in college in Scotland for one year for computers and then in the Royal Navy for 4 years, so there was not much he could do in Utah with that. When we first moved here, he did the pre-concrete work, which my friend Dave calls the "job appreciation job" It makes you appreciate any other job you've ever had, no matter how bad. Then he was a used car salesman, and then worked at the call center for myfamily.com. Then Seo.com, and now ClearLink. He's probably making more than I could ever make getting a job with my Bachelors of Science degree that took me 6 years to get. That's how long we've lived here. Way to go, Brad!!