Cornbelly's

We attempted a family outing to Cornbelly's before Halloween, but the day we had set aside to go was the colest day of October....freezing cold. You can see it in all our faces. We stayed for probably 20 minutes and got out of there.

I had to use mental power to envision the sun shining down on me!

The big rocking chair... Brooklyn said it was the giant's chair (from Jack and the Beanstalk)

Doesn't this picture just say "We are freezing!!"

Brooklyn was trying to be a good sport and not let the cold get in the way.

She walked in, stood for a picture, and walked out

There was nobody there but us pretty much, so we couldn't ask anyone to take a family picture of us with the pigs

Brooklyn going down the frozen slide with frozen mud at the bottom of it.

This jumping pillow would have been a lot of fun if they didn't make us take our shoes off...that's why I didn't.

The kids woke up exceptionally early one morning, so they snuggled up in blankets watching Baby Einstein. They were both so into it, and all I could see from where I was standing was their little profiles with their little round noses sticking out. Of course when I went to take a picture of it, they both looked over at me and smiled.

Uncle Tyler visiting his neice and nephew.

Packages from Monga and Papa. We have been trying to help Brooklyn stay in her own bed at nights, so Grandma sent her some presents that she could open if she obeyed mom and dad consistently... it was a nice try and worked once or twice, but she continues to wander into our room saying "I'm here!" each and every night!

She loves to pray....doesn't she look sweet!

Love the fall colors in the background...Brooklyn's not bad either.

While I Was Away...

Okay, so we have not had much luck in the camera department lately. Right before we moved, I lost my camera, with all my pictures in it. Then, we moved and my mother-in-law had captured most of the big events and fun stuff on her camera, so i was going to use her photos...but then she lost her camera!! Ahhhhhh. So sad. So, I don't have a picture of Brooklyn's birthday cake this year! But, as soon as I can find one, I will have to post it because it was pretty fun.

It's amazing how hard it is to get back in the habit of something when you have not done it in so long. So much has happened in these last few months, hence why I wasn't blogging, that I got completely out of the groove.

While I was away, out of blogging world, I discovered a few things:

1) I discovered how frustrating it was to hear that we can now get cancer from the BPA in our canned foods!! Even in cans that claim to be BPA-free. I've been annoyed with this, mostly because it is like the straw that broke the camels back. It's yet another way of putting toxins in our body without realizing it. Thanks to my homeopathic father, I have been trying extra hard lately to eat more of "the Maker's Diet" - all natural foods, more fruits and veggies of the organic kind and so forth. With kids, however, and energy being thrown out the window most days, I admit that mac 'n' cheese is sometimes my best friend. What can you do?

2) I have also discovered the truthfulness of losing yourself in service and how it makes you happier. There was a time period where all I had to do was sit and think of myself, my family, my own life, etc. and although I have nothing to complain about, It was rather boring. Ever since we have moved, we have jumped into our new community, our new ward, callings, and life and have found that life is so much more meaningful when you don't have time to think of yourself. I'm grateful that my new calling has kept me so immensely busy. Stressful, but productive.

3) I have also discovered that if you treat everyone like they really need a friend, that most of the time, you will be right.

4) I have discovered that the minute "summer" heat decreases by even five degrees, that my kids will get sick, then I will, then my husband. Then it will happen again the next month, and so on. This is where I have to say that LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE! Jason and I have been up all night the past few nights, passing each other in the hallway as we switch kids. Makes me laugh...maybe I'm just delerious at this point, I don't know.

5) I have also discovered that every time life seems that it is getting too hard, there is always someone who comes to the rescue.

6) A great one to remember is that someone thinks of you before they go to sleep at night. :)

7) Oh yeah! and one more discovery! Most of you have discovered this one years ago, but Jason and I finally put our iPod to use. We've had it sitting around for a couple of years...recently we sat down like two kids in a candy shop and downloaded a bunch of songs. The other night, Jason took the kids for a little while and I cleaned the kitchen...I saw the iPod staring at me, asking me to turn it on....so I did. I ended up dancing in the kitchen while I did dishes. It's actually a nice stress reliever. For the first time ever, I didn't want the dishes to end. Okay, maybe that's going too far.

Lucky #25

I know it has been a couple of months since I have updated but I have really good reasons. First of all, I lost my camera in California somewhere months ago :( Secondly, we had 25 days to get into our house, so we were in hyper move mode. I forgot how stressful and overwhelmingly tiring and exhausting moving is!!! You need help from so many people between juggling kids around, cleaning, packing, moving, loading and unloading. We could have NEVER done it without all the help from our family, friends, and our amazing ward who we are so sad to have left. boo-hoo. But we are loving our new house and are so happy here.

This house was our lucky twenty-fifth offer finally accepted. Yay! We had waited so long to hear back from a pile of offers that were made, and after more months than I can count, our 25th was accepted, not countered, just nicely accepted. They wanted us to move in within 25 days, so we put ourselves into gear and I spent weeks cleaning, organizing, and packing. Whew! I was probably running off adrenaline because I was so excited the whole time and covering every little detail of organizing and cleaning that I possibly could- Jason was amazed at my over-achieving efforts, I think.

Brooklyn recently turned 3, but all the pictures are on my mother-in-law's camera, so I will post them when I get them. I can't believe she is 3... well, 3 going on 13 that is. This year we made a fairy cake and Brooklyn wore her fairy wings around all night- I'll post pics later. We're getting a camera soon so I can start updating.

Family Pictures

We finally got family pictures taken for the first time. We kept meaning to get them done since Brooklyn was born....but hey better late than never. We have tons more that we absolutely love, but that I don't have time to post.

Our photographer was Ciera Boyd, who is dating Jason's brother. She has been trained by the best of the best and is awesome with her camera. She is offering a discount off of her already amazing prices for any of my friends, family, etc. so if you are interested in having single or group pictures done, you can visit her blog at cieraboydphotography.blogspot.com

Thanks Ciera!!

An Up-To Update...

What are Brooklyn and Beckam UP TO?

They of course continue to amaze me everyday with the things they say and especially the things they pick up on!

Brooklyn:

Grandma asked Brooklyn the other day if she needed to go number 2. She responded by saying, "No, I'm turning 3 on my next birthday party."

I always sing her a song or two when I put her to bed. Keep in mind, Brooklyn has fetish with the color pink. I asked her what song she wanted me to sing her and she said, "Pink Pink God" in the tune of I am A Child Of God. She then did the same thing to Grandma who had no idea what song that was!

I was helping her brush her teeth and I told her she had beautiful pearly white teeth. She said, "No, mom- they're pink!"

"Hey Brooklyn, what movie should we watch?" drum roll.... "the pink one." (but of course)

She has been saying:
"You're bugging me!"
"don't talk to me like that"
We were singing a hymn at church and the introduction played and it was time to start singing and Brooklyn leaned on Jason's shoulder and said, "Go for it!"
"I'm just so tired"
"I'm heading to pilates"
"Hey mom, is the A/C on?"
"Mom, Jesus got the monsters for me!" (so applicable in so many ways)

She is more and more fun and more and more independent as the days go by. She LOVES her brother and especially loves that she is bigger than him...which won't last long.

Beckam:

Beckam mimicks everything we say. He now says Mama, Dada, Sis, what's that?,Amen (at the end of a prayer),the number 2 (when we count 1, 2, 3...), up, yes, this, that, coke (which is funny because we don't even like Coke and have never bought it -or any other soda for that matter) and anything else we tell him to say. He'll mimick any animal sound he hears or even a horn that drives by and honks. Funny kid.

He has walked since he was 10 months old but we did not encourage it. Finally at 11 months we knew there was nothing we could do to stop him and he's been on the go ever since. He's still my snuggle bug and is the perfect size for snugglin'.

He laughs at everything Brooklyn does and copies everything she does as well. He'll laugh, scream, yell, talk, and jump like her (although his screams are about 2 octaves lower than Brooklyn's so it's manageable for the ears).

The other day Brooklyn was crying so Beckam went up to her and wrapped his arms around her, put his cheek right up against hers and just held her. He's only 13 months old and has already developed a compassionate little heart. It was the most precious moment to see him giving and her accepting. She stopped crying and started smiling- oh, the power of love!

4th of July!!

The pictures are backwards starting with the end of the night. oops.

I kept forgetting to take pictures so the ones I do have are pretty lame and don't illustrate the day very well. But such is life.

This was Beckam and I watching the fireworks together. This is his first time seeing fireworks and he loved them. He kept saying "wow" at the fireworks and then laughing at himself, so even though it was pitch black, we tried snapping a picture anyway...and we actually got him laughing at himself like we were hoping to get.
Before the fireworks started. Beckam did not want to sit down and take a picture, but I made him anyway.
Our little Brooklyn was not with us tonight. She has been in California for a couple of days with her grandma and grandpa. It is so wierd how much you can miss and even crave to be with your children! With her gone, I kept feeling like so much was missing. No matter how much I prepared for the day, I kept feeling like I was forgetting something. I know she is having fun and getting spoiled from her grandparents, but I can't wait to see her again soon.

On our way to fireworks- which were really good this year! The grand finale had the whole sky lit up bright white almost like mid-day

Brooklyn watched the fireworks with Mike and Julie and loved it so much she asked if they could do it again.

Yvette, me, Treva, and Aliah

We all hung out at Yvette's pool all day and had a barbeque. Marcus cooked up some amazing hamburgers. Good food and good fun go hand in hand right!

Beckam and Aunt Treva by the pool

Aunt Treva thought Beckam needed another little dip in the pool after his swimming suit was off.

Aunt Treva also had little Draden, my nephew, doing dangerous tricks running from the edge of the pool onto a blown up tube board in the deep end. Yvette yelled to Draden, "Hey don't do that anymore bud, you'll get hurt!" Then, you hear Treva yelling from behind, "Hey I taught him that trick!"

Aliah, the fish! She swam alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll day long.

Father's Day Outing

In honor of JASON for FATHER'S DAY, we went to Temple Square and hung out for most of the day. The sun and the clouds were fighting all day. It was burning hot and sunny one minute, then rainy and cold the next. It kept us guessing all day that's for sure. We had a picnic at Brigham Young Park. The kids loved it! The grass was all wet from the last rainstorm that took place five minutes earlier, but we didn't mind wet bottoms.

Jason is such an incredible father!! Brooklyn kept telling him all day how much she loved him and gave him big hugs all day long, which isn't unusual. Beckam and Jason can laugh and get each other going so easily. It's so fun to see the bond they have with each other.

Jason makes daily sacrifices to spend any possible extra time with the kids (and me :) He is a dedicated worker and thrives at everything he does- he is amazing. He is one of those guys who can excel at a job without ever compromising his integrity- and he won't! He's also the guy you always want on your side because he can battle it out with his words until the death!
I'm grateful for his wisdom beyond his years and his complete love and dedication to his family and the Gospel. He is a powerhouse. I get comments from strangers who have met him for the first time how sharp he is.

Not only is he all of that, but he helps me clean up everyday (he cleans like a champ), he takes good care of me when I'm sick, he changes diapers, gives baths, plays well, helps with housework, and runs a lot of errands for me. I tell him he would be a much better house-wife than I am. Too bad I would be a horrible provider though.

Anyway, happy father's day to a wonderful father and man!!

And to think this used to be a normal sight to see for children. Brooklyn thinks it's a ride!

The Visitor's Center was a lot of fun to spend some time at. We also toured the Beehive house and went through some other things at Temple Square that we haven't done in the longest time.

When Brooklyn saw the Temple, she said "Mom, that's where you wore your pretty dress!"

It's amazing how much they recognize and the details they pay attention to.

Then...it started raining again. I tried capture how big the raindrops were, but this picture doesn't quite do it justice. They were big plops, but it was still somewhat warm this time. I loved the rain!!! It was a perfect way to end the day.

Going, going...

Gone!

Brooklyn loves to smother her baby brother.

My angels! They gave daddy a card with their hands and foot prints on it. Then, I wrote a poem about their hands and toes and the way they love their dad. Brooklyn was so excited to give it to him, that the day we made it she ran up to Jason as soon as he got home from work and yelled "Daddy, we made you a card!" What a little taddle-tell. I can't keep secrets anymore.