Tower City Annual Tradition

The has sort of become a tradition for our family every year around Christmas time. We head down to the Tower City Mall, in downtown Cleveland, and watch the Toy Solider and other Christmas activities they put on every year. The kids enjoy heading downtown and love to spend time with their cousins. We were fortunate enough to have Uncle Spencer in town this year and he joined us for the evening. The kids really love it when Spencer comes into town even if it is because he brings his IPad and IPhone for them to play on. We always have a good time and are glad that we can share it with our family. It just wouldn't be the same without everyone there. The above picture is really good of the whole group. It was kind of funny because neither Cambrie nor Payton would take their eyes off of the Toy Solider. They wanted to make sure that they knew exactly where he was at all times.


The Beard family with the Toy Solider and the Fairy Godmother.


Some of the kids in front of Bruce the Talking Spruce tree.


The kids with Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.


Brooklyn, Maddux, Payton and Nolan sitting in front of the fountain.


Kenzie and Brooklyn with the Princess.


The kids looking out and watching the show. Thanks to Tacie for the idea to go down below and get this picture.


The setting for the show along with all the other characters that were involved.

If you are even in Cleveland around the holiday season we will have to take you to the show. Our family has a lot of fun and the more the merrier.

The Big Dawg gets Hitched

Well it only took 32 years but the "Big Dawg" has finally been tamed and Jennie and I had the opportunity to be there as witnesses. On November 19th, 2010 Brian "Big Dawg" Bogdin and Shelby Richardson were married in the Salt Lake City Temple for time and all eternity. We are so happy for the both of them and wish them the best in their new journey. Due to some Delta issues we almost didn't make the wedding. We boarded the plane in Cleveland and then preceded to sit on the runway for 30 minutes as we were told the Detroit airport was so busy and they wanted to wait for things to clear out. So we get to Detroit and of course of connecting gate is on the other side of the Detroit airport so Jennie and I are running across the airport to make our flight in time. We show up at the gate about 5 minutes before the plane is suppose to leave and they won't let us on. There were actually 8 of us from the Cleveland airport who were connecting on that flight and they wouldn't let any of us on. The plane was still sitting there and hooked up to the tunnel but because they locked the door a couple of minutes early they would not let us on. There was almost a fist fight between two customers as they were upset and had to be split apart by the police. What makes matters worse is the ticketing representatives at the gate were not really interested in helping anyone out. They booked us on a flight the next morning that would get to Salt Lake at 11:00 which would have been an hour after the wedding. They were not willing to look into other options and instead gave me a number to call on my own. I called and complained from the gate and spoke to a supervisor who was able to get us on a flight to Las Vegas that night. We had to sleep in the Las Vegas airport, which is not comfortable at all, and then caught the 6:30 flight out of Las Vegas into Salt Lake City. We got into Salt Lake at 9:00, tracked down our luggage, which happened to make the original flight, and then picked up our rental car right away. We got changed in the airport bathroom and drove straight to the wedding. We arrived about 5 minutes before it started and were able to see the whole thing. It is funny how these things work out. If we would have had one person in front of us waiting for a rental car we would not have made the wedding. It turned out to be a long 48 hours for us as we had a luncheon after the wedding then pictures and a reception after that. We didn't get to sleep that night until about 9:00 (11:00 our time) which made for two very long days. Even though the trip was short and filled with challenges we were able to get there safely, be there for our friends and returned home to our children.


Big Dawg and I at the reception hall before pictures. You will notice the glazed look in our eyes as neither of us slept the night before and still had a long night ahead of us.



Jennie with Big Dawg at the reception hall. It was a very nice house that was well decorated and the perfect place for a wedding reception.


Here is the Bogdin family outside of the Salt Lake City Temple. We love them and appreciate their treating us like family during the entire weekend.


Big Dawg with his proud papa. He looks like one mean dude but is one of the kindest and nicest people you would ever meet.

On Saturday we had the chance to meet up with some old friends and catch up on each others lives. First we went and had lunch with Mark and Jill, who are friends of mine from Price, UT. They took us to a place called Rodizio Grill which I am addicted to. If you are ever in the Salt Lake area you need to make a special trip to this place. They have people who walk around with skewers of different meats and seasonings and shave out pieces right at your table. It is all you can eat and you don't even have to leave your seat to get food. The food was awesome and well worth the trip. Then we got to meet up with Jennie's college softball catcher and her family. Finally Jennie was able to meet up with an old family friend from Ohio who had moved to Salt Lake. It was a very quick and busy trip but Jennie and I had a lot of fun. It was Jennie's first time away from the kids for more than a couple of hours and she did quite well.


We were able to drive around and go to a couple of places that Jennie wanted to stop and while out we decided to drive by a couple of the smaller Temples in the area. This is the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan. It is one of the newer Temples and is located on a ridge that overlooks the Salt Lake Valley.


Here is the Jordan River Temple which is where Jennie's brother, Aaron was married. The night before we were to leave the Salt Lake area was hit with about 10 inches of snow. It had just started to come down when I got this picture.



This is one thing that I miss being in Ohio, the mountains. This was before the big snow storm. The entire mountains and surrounding area were covered after that.


Jennie and I at the Salt Lake Temple after a morning session.


I know it looks like the sun but this is actually the moon from 35,000 feet. We were on our way from Minneapolis to Cleveland when Jennie noticed the moon out of her window. The picture almost looks like the sun setting over the ocean but is actually the moon over a pillow of clouds.

Anyways we had a very good trip and despite some obstacles we made it there in time for all the activities and were glad to be a part of this special moment in Big Dawg and Shelby's lives. We are so happy for them and look forward to being a part of their new family. We are grateful to Jennie's parents for taking the kids while we were gone and enjoyed the time to ourselves. This was our trial run for Jennie and I's trip this June without the kids.

Fight Night

Here is a our version of Friday Night Fights. This is the boys the other night going at each other. Maddux was being a good sport and not going all out but Nolan had no problem giving it all he had, that is until Maddux got him with the knock out kick. It won't be much longer until Nolan is able to take out Maddux.

Justin Bieber Concert

I decided to get the kids an early Christmas present and take them to see Justin Bieber in concert. Both Brooklyn and Maddux love him so I thought it would be a fun surprise to take when he came to Cleveland. So this Thursday we headed downtown for a fun filled night of some Justin. I didn't tell the kids where we were going and even once there they weren't sure what they were there for. They didn't actually realize that it was going to be Justin Bieber until he got on stage and started singing. The concert actually wasn't all that bad but I wouldn't be sad if I don't have to do that again any time soon. There is just something about 25,000 screaming girls that I am not all that fond of. My ears were still ringing the morning after. The kids had a very good time and despite getting home at 11:30 they did a very good job at getting up and ready the next morning for school.


There were a couple of opening acts and then Sean Kingston came on before Justin Bieber. Justin was ok but I thought that Sean Kingston put on a better show than Justin did. The kids also liked Sean as they know a lot of his songs from listening to the radio.


This was Justin coming out for the start of his show.


It is amazing that a skinny little 16 year old boy can drive millions of girls wild. I have never been inside a building that was as loud as this concert was.


Justin floating above the crowd singing his songs. I was surprise at how many of his songs I actually knew. I can thank the kids for that one as they play his song over and over and over.


This was everyone holding up their cell phones during one particular song.


Justin along with his band and other members.


Justin performing his last and most known song "Baby". He wasn't moving so well by the end of his concert as he twisted his knee during the middle of the concert. Maddux just couldn't make it through the whole concert as he fell asleep for the very last song. Jennie asked him the next morning how the concert was and Maddux replied it was good but he didn't sing "Baby". I don't know how he did it but I can't believe that Maddux fell asleep being as loud as it was. The place was going nuts and he didn't even move.

The worst part of the whole night was getting out of the parking garage and getting home. We parked on the first floor of the garage and it still took us over an hour to get out of the garage. It was absolutely ridiculous. The concert got out at 10 and we didn't get home until 11:30. Overall it was a very fun night but one that I won't be doing again any time soon. I think next time I will let Jennie take them.

Fall Family Pictures

Here are some family pictures that we took a couple of weeks ago. We wanted some updated pictures of all of us so we headed out to the Metroparks. These are the best of the shoots.


The whole Beard family.


Brooklyn and Addysen.


Maddux in black and white.


Sibling love.


Jennie with the kids.


Jennie and Ted.


Payton with Grandma.


Grandpa with the grandkids.


Payton and Cambrie.


Maddux and Nolan down by the river.


All the kids.


Jennie with Payton, Maddux and Nolan.


Mama with her kids.


Dada and his boys.


Jennie and Payton. Look at that face.

Happy Halloween.

Well it is only a week late but I am finally putting our Halloween weekend pictures up. We had a very busy weekend and got way too much candy. Both Brooklyn and Maddux kicked off the weekend with Halloween parties at school. Brooklyn then had a party Friday night at one of her friends house. We then tried to take some family pictures Saturday morning but due to Brooklyn's attitude and lack of participation we were not successful. Her and Jennie fought all morning about what Brooklyn was going to wear for the pictures and it just went downhill from there. Brooklyn cried the whole way to the spot we were taking pictures and then had to change again in the van to what Jennie wanted. We did get a picture of two of all four kids before Brooklyn had had enough. We ended up taking a couple of pictures without her and then came home. I then took the other kids to the IX Indoor Park for Trick-or-Treat Street. You won't see Brooklyn in any of these pictures because of the choices she made earlier that morning. They had houses set up where the kids could go trick-or-treat and then some rides for them to ride. The kids had a lot of fun and started their haul of candy. We ended up staying for about 4 hours and then decided it was time to come home and get ready for the Church Halloween party that night.


Payton, Nolan and Maddux hanging out with the pumpkins.


Here they are again on top of the miniature ferris wheel.


Maddux and Nolan riding the dragon roller coaster. They love to keep their arms up for the entire ride.


The kids at the top of the regular ferris wheel. They loved it because the top of the ride is actually in a glass enclosure outside of the building and you can see downtown (where dad works) from up there.


Daddy with his little girl.


The kids driving cars on one of the rides. They did also get to do bumper cars which Nolan and Maddux loved. They got to go by themselves and had a lot of fun ramming into all the other cars.

That night we then headed over the the Church's Trunk-or-Treat Halloween party. They do a chili cook-off, games for the kids, and then everyone decorates and passes candy out of the trunks of their cars. There were actually quite a few people there and the kids were able to fill their bags up with candy and treats.


Brooklyn and Payton trick-or-treating outside. Brooklyn did a great job at taking her around to all the cars and making sure she got plenty of treats.


Maddux and Nolan posing for a picture as they walk across the stage to show off their costumes.


Brooklyn going for a donut during one of the games. I got some good pictures of the kids and their cousins at this game.

Then to wrap it all up we took the kids over to some of their friends house for a night of trick-or-treating. The weather was very cooperative and the kids got way too much candy. I think we may still have candy left over when next Halloween comes around. It is amazing at how much candy one kid can get in a two hour period. We had a lot of fun and the kids will have candy forever.


Payton as Wonder Woman.


Nolan as Spider-man.


Maddux as Darth Venom. That is right he was Darth Venom; a combination of Darth Vader and Venom. That is what happens when you wait to the last minute to decide what you want to be for Halloween. He was very indecisive so we had to concoct something from what we had.


Brooklyn as Cleopatra. Her latest obsession is with Egypt so when she saw this in the store she was hooked.


Here is Maddux and Nolan with Liam and Carter as the crime fighting squad. It was funny because after about 8 houses Nolan was tired and ready to call it quits. The bigger kids had run ahead a couple of houses and Nolan was lagging behind. Then he caught up to Carter, one of his friends, and got his second wind. The two of them spent the last hour and a half running all over the place going from house to house. They all brought it quit the haul. It was good for them to hang out with their friends and helped speed the pace along a little bit.

Anyways, it was a lot of fun and if anyone needs some extra candy just let me know. The kids won't even know that it is missing. Hope you all had a safe and Happy Halloween and don't eat too much candy.