The Harrison Family Blog

What Matters Most?

2011-11-08T20:47:00.012-07:00

This has been a post a long time in the making... Trying to figure out what to say, how I feel and what really MATTERS MOST!!!

It really started nagging me a few months ago when a dear friend of mine died after a long struggle with cancer. She was an inspiration to me in her years of health and years of trial. She never let much get her down and never passed a moment up to show her love and compassion to those around her what matters most to her. She had these trials and she lived through them with the best attitude! I thought about this a lot and wondered how I would handle what she went through, I most definitely would not have handled it as well as she did. She was remembered by her friends and family in such a great light. It really made me think of what matters most to me and how I would be remembered.

*How do I want my family and friends to think of me? If they were asked to describe me what would they say?
*What would or do church members say about me?
*What would my children say about what type of mother I am?
And the list could go on for ever! And this made me start thinking man am I a little conceited! So I started asking more and more questions.
*Am I selfish at wanting people to think so great of me?
*Was I trying too hard to have the approval of the world?

In some aspects I believe I was, and in other I just wanted to feel like the Lord is happy with me. I have great examples in my life of people who focus solely on what matters most. This knowledge is what is going to keep me going. All of these wonderful people in my life were not doing what they were doing because they wanted to be recognized by those around them, but that they truly know what the Lord wants for them. This gives me great comfort! I want my life to be focused on what MATTERS MOST! I believe that this is going to be an ever changing aspect in my life. Because what matters most to me right now will be different in a few years. I will have hopefully grown spiritually so I will have to set new goals and challenge myself to be better.

I have pondered this quote I read on my friends blog. "Life is God's gift to us, and what we do with our lives is our gift back to Him." What little time we have to show our Heavenly Father how much we appreciate what we have been given.

Today I was looking for talks to study so I could prepare for my talk on Sunday and I got a little side tracked and found this wonderful Mormon Message. So I am going to share it. It made me want to finish this post. So here it is...

This is just the beginning of what I am going to do as I prepare to focus on what really MATTERS MOST!

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." I love this quote, it keeps me wanting to be better to those around me.

To make me accountable I am going to post my goals of becoming a better mom, sister, friend and companion.

Autumn Time!!

2011-11-01T15:27:00.023-06:00

Well once school started for Brody our lives changed funny how that happens. He had to be up and ready to get on the bus at 8 in the morning. Which does not seem that bad, but he is my child that loves to sleep in so I have let him. He still was usually up by 8 but he was never ready for the day. It just takes time for him to get moving. So we now have to wake him up by 7 to get him moving. This made him very mad and he would cry having to go to school. He just needs his sleep. So he now has to go to bed at 7pm so he wakes up happy. This one simple change has made all of us change our routine. But it works out and well I really love that my kids go to bed so early, a lot more free time for me!!! We couldn't do as many of our evening family outings. But it is great we still have the week ends. We now get the joys of doing homework in the evening and making sure we get reading in. Ok so it really just makes us have a routine. We are really enjoying it. Brody had his Paddington Bear for a week and we had fun taking it around with us when ever we went some were.

Brody and his silly faces. He loves to stick out his tongue!

Brody and Paddington Bear on a train. He loves, loves, loves trains.

He had to share ice cream with Paddington Bear.

Reading with Cole and Paddington Bear.

Showing off for the camera! He has BIG muscles.

Just love this picture of daddy and Brody!

Camilla has just grown and started to repeat words and talk. She really is so fun. Most of my pictures are of her making funny faces or closing her eyes or looking at something and plotting what she is going to do next. I just can't seem to get too many pictures of her with her great smile. She is just non stop and too busy. But that is what I love about her. She is so inquisitive and always wanting to run and play. I love that she will bring me books so she can read them and really it is me pointing to a picture and saying what it is and she repeats me. When Brody is doing homework she has to do homework also. She really loves to learn, I hope she stays that way through out her schooling.

No pictures mom I'm busy!

Trying to drive the train, getting mad at dad because he is trying to move her away from the edge of the train so she does not fall off.

Loves to pull out all the containers to find the perfect one to play with.

I love shelves!!!

Loved the water and dirt!!!

I just love this time of year! We always try to get out and have fun playing in the leaves and looking at all the beautiful colors. Here are some pictures of what we have done.

We did not get to eat our watermelon!!!!

This critter loved it.... And he ate more than just this watermelon from our garden. He loved the spaghetti squash too.

We has a wonderful Halloween. It was such a wonderful night. It was pretty warm and clear. We loved going first Trunk or Treating at church and had fun going around with the kids and seeing everyone. Brody getting mad that Camilla is breaking his lego...

Camilla waiting to go trunk or treating. She loved using her bag as a hat.

The trunk!

Camilla and Brody had so much fun getting to go Trick or Treating also. We only went to a few homes and that made them soooo verrrry happy. Brody just wanted to say "trick or treat" and get his candy and then he would try to ask about something he saw in the peoples homes. Our little busy body. Camilla figured out that she could smile hold out her hand and everyone would say how cute she was and then give her a handful of candy. She was not really ready to stop when we got back home. But she found the bucket of candy that grandpa was handing out to the tricker treaters ( that was left on the piano bench at her level) and she started taking handfuls of candy from the bucket and putting it in her bag. She would not let go of it or share at all. She loved getting all the candy, and sorry but she did not get to keep the candy she took from the bench. Silly little girl. Brody just saw his candy and wanted to start eating it. I am such a mean mom and only allowed him to have a couple of pieces. He did have to get up and go to school. We more fun this year now that the little ones understood a little more of what was going on.

Tayloranne, Mallory, Camilla and Brody

I almost forgot... My mothers dear friend Kay came to visit so we took her around the Springs and got to go to one of Brody's most favorite places. The United Stated Air Force Academy, because of all the planes. He loves them. Camilla just loved being able to run and play. We have decided that we are going to be the parents that just focus on the Air Force Academy and hope that is were all of our children go... A good education and a job that follows. Hope it works out for us. (wink wink)

He loved looking in the plane.

His thumbs up to seeing the plane.

Yay we get to run.

Wow big plane!

We are such a cute family!!!!!

Summer

2011-10-28T10:04:00.006-06:00

This summer has gone by so fast, yet slow at the same time. We have had a lot of fun just being able to go and do. We love to stay busy!!! My summer job ended and we still had plenty of time to get out and have fun.

We loved getting out and going up into the mountains to go hiking. Which with little kids is not really hiking but slowly walking a whole 25yards. Camilla is at the age that she wants to be like big brother and walk every where. She is so independent that she wants to do everything by herself. She is so cute about it too. She is my little explorer when we hike she has to touch and feel everything that she sees. She will pick up leafs, twigs, dirt, rocks and really anything else she can fit in her hand, as we are trying to "hike". Brody also likes to hike and will ask us if we can go hiking. He starts out great for the first little bit until he gets distracted. This is really a constant occurrence for him. If you have ever seen the movie "UP" you will understand my wonderful Brody. He is that nice dog that is doing something and then yells squirrel and he is off chasing that squirrel. He always keeps us on our toes. He likes to look and see what there is around him while we walk, so he will stop and look at the different leafs, bugs, rocks, and animals but never really stops to explore. There is just to much he wants to see. He also jumps at any noise that he does not recognize and screams at anything that comes near him. Needless to say our hiking is fun! But I would not have it any other way. They love the outdoors just as much as Mike and I do. So it just makes me happy being with them "hiking"!!!

We also have found that we like being "Rock Groupys". My moms cousin Calvin is a major rock hound and he this summer has participated in a few gem, rock and jewelry shows out this way and we love to go see all the different booths. Brody loves collecting any of the free rocks that most of the booths have for the little ones that come around. And he loves anything that has to deal with dinosaurs at one of the rock shows there was a booth that was letting the children dig for dinosaur bones. He was in 7th heaven and did not want to leave. He talked about those for a long time after that. Being able to go and be groupys was just fun and we learned a lot about ROCKS!

We chased balloons with the Davis clan and we ran across fields that the weeds were almost up to my hips just so the kids could get close to the balloon. And that they did! They had fun helping to bring down a pig balloon. They were able to play under it as adults played with the balloon like those parachutes you played with in elementary school. They helped get the air out by rolling on it. This just made Brody happy until he realized that he was not going to get to go up in it. He still had fun! We also got to see the balloon glow with our friends Tara and Chris Rhoades. It was too windy that not too many balloons were able to get up. That was a bummer but it was fun going.

We were able to go out to Laramie WY to visit with one of my dear friends Trish and her family before they moved to New Hampshire. They were making the long trip to New Hampshire so we decided to meet them at one of their stops that they had along the way. It was great to see them especially knowing it will be a while before we get to see them again. We loved being able to see their new baby Caiden and hang out with them. It was not the best place to stop and met up with them, there was nothing to do and the hotel was pretty crappy. But really it was just about seeing friends! Love and miss you guys!!!

We visited the Temple with the kids and they loved walking around the Temple grounds and taking pictures for mommy.

Really I am not sure what else we did. We stayed busy being a family. I was not the best with taking pictures all the time but I will put the ones that I have on.

Well that is our happenings this summer. Now on to post about our Autumn time!!!

Brody turns 3!!!

2011-08-15T15:46:00.014-06:00

Well it has been a crazy summer and I am just now getting around to posting about Brody getting so big and turning 3 he turned 3 in May! I know I suck!!!! I love that he can show me how old he is now and that he can count to 3 on his fingers. He is just growing so fast, it seems that he just keeps getting taller and taller. He is now in size 4-5 pants and sometimes even they seem short. He wants to be such a big boy, if I even say that he is my little boy he will firmly correct me and tell me "I'm not a baby, I a big boy". He wants to do as his older cousins and friends do, like play on the wii or play on the game boys all by himself. He knows how to play some of the phone games better than us adults do. We have to make a rule that he ask before he uses any of the cell phones to play with, because he will start playing and run the batteries dry! He now hums the music from the games. He is my little or "big boy" (as he would tell me) singer, I could come home from summer camp and teach him fun camp songs and he will be singing them to himself as he plays, he loves to sing Old MacDonald and Defiying Gravity! I know we must listen to that song way to much, but it is great to see him belt it out!

He is getting so big and is being so protective of Camilla, when other people are involved, but he can pick on her all he wants. He loves to play and tickle Camilla and make her laugh. He is such a good big brother.

Brody is starting to be a mommy's little helper! He loves to clean up the dishes when I am doing them. He loves to sweep and mop. He is always willing to pick up after him and Camilla. Most of the time it is cheerfully too! Which I love!!!!

He is having a little bit of a speech problem so we have been able to put him into a pre-school that he will be in speech therapy through our school district and he is getting so excited about it. We met his teacher today and he already feels comfortable around her. I really think he is bored and I am just mom and he does not want to do anything that I ask him to do, even if it is going to be fun. He is my little social butterfly and I think he will just thrive with new friends and a new setting. I really cannot wait to understand him better. So we don't have to play the guessing game of what he wants or needs. It is very odd to know that he will be starting school in a couple of days and I am finally realizing that he is really getting to be a big boy! Even if I don't want him to! I am excited to see him grow more!

Brody loving sticking his tongue out for the camera, and standing in front of the door! He was pretty excited to be going to pre-school. He really couldn't wait. We took him to school his first day, but he normally gets to ride the bus!

I think his face tells it all on how excited he is to be riding the bus to school.

Well here are some other pictures of his birthday cake and him getting so Big!!!

Brody at the Aquarium! He loved all the fish but especially "Nemo and Dori"

Playing with the canon at Old Bents Fort

Brody's cake and him loving the cake! He has so much fun swimming we thought it would be fun to make him a swimming pool cake! He even named the kids on the cake! So is so funny.

I love to mow the lawn. He wants to be just like daddy. And I can't wait until he can really mow the lawn.

He loves panning for gold and finding special rocks. Guess he is just like grandpa and is going to be a rock hound!!!!

We all love being together outside looking for animals. He decided because he did not have binaculars that he will make them himself, that is what he is doing with his hands on his eyes. He is so creative!

Catch up time!!!

2011-06-17T11:10:00.011-06:00

Well we have lots that have been going on!!! So I have not been the best at keeping up the blog, if you have not noticed!

Mike is working on finding a new job, he just found out that the doctors he works for are getting out of the medical group they are in and cutting down how many patients they will see and in turn cutting down staff. They will also not be giving health insurance, so we have decided it be best that he find a better more stable job, one that will hopefully be less stress! He has had a few interviews so we hope one will work out. He is also really wanting to be done with school, he only has 4 more classes and has is often called senioritis. But he is finishing strong and will be finished in Dec. We are so excited!!!!

I am enjoying my life being a mom and finding little things to do! My new hobby this time is crocheting. I have found it very fun and sometimes relaxing. If anybody knows anything about my mother she is absolutely elated! She has always wanted one of her girls to pick up knitting or crocheting. I am glad I can help her dream come true!!! I also have a summer job, I feel like a college student that is so excited about getting a summer job for extra money! It was funny how I ended up getting the job, I was having problems understanding how I can get my CEU's to keep up my certificate so I can continue being a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, so if I ever need or want to work I can. So I went to the city of Colo. Spgs. Therapeutic Rec department asking for help on this and we talked and then asked if I wanted to be interviewed for a job. I said sure. So I got a job as director for a summer camp for children with developmental disabilities. I have worked for a week and just love it! I have a new BFF, and she happened to tell me that I was "as cool as ICCCCCCCE"! Love it! So I think I will be using that saying often!

What can I say I just love being a mom and wife doing fun things with my family who also make me laugh and keep me on my toes. They make me happy when I walk in the door and they come running to me so happy to see me.

Brody is still growing like a weed and he just keeps getting taller and taller! He has finally hit his terrible twos, but the problem with that is he is three, so I call it the terrible threes! He has mood swings that really keep me on my toes. Most of the time they keep me rolling laughing about some of the smallest things he gets upset with. We are noticing that a lot of his atittude is that we are not understanding what he is saying. The doctor noticed that at his 3 year check up so she wanted us to get his hearing check, which is fine, and also get into speech therapy. We have started paperwork to get him into preschool through our school district. And we also have an amazing sister in our ward that is a speech therapist who has givin us some stuff to work on with him! I think his mind is just moving way to fast for his mouth and his words do not come out like he wants them too! But it is coming.

He loves to play and be outside! If he could live at a park I think he might. I love to watch him interact with his sister, and help her even if it is not needed. This does not always make her happy but it's the thought that counts, right? Can't help but love my cute boy.

Camilla is such a funny little girl! She is not nearly as friendly as Brody, it takes her awhile to get close to someone. But she will at her own time get to know you. She is my screamer, she loves to let people know that she is upset, happy, mad or laughing. She loves to scream especially if Brody is or is not doing something to bother her. She is a tiny little girl, she is only in the tenth percentile for her weight. She really does not like to eat anything healthy. But we are working on that. I don't think I could say one thing that I know she will eat, it changes from day to day. She is healthy that is all that I care about.

She is all girl she loves her dolls and stuffed animals. She is always hugging them and pushing them in her dolly stroller. She does not like to have things stuck to her hands or being dirty. So she is always coming to me with her hands held out wanting me to wipe them off. The only thing that is not so girly is she is a climber!!!! She loves to climb anything, she is getting so brave and is not afraid to climb! This scares me so much, not sure I like this, but guess I have to make due. I just love her.

ONE

2011-03-01T14:07:00.009-07:00

Camilla is one!

Camilla is such an inquisitive thing! She wants to be apart of everything and gets into absolutely everything. And she is already testing the waters of how much she can get away with. You will tell her no and she will look at you with her big blue eyes and do it again. She will then look at you and smile with her big blue eyes and written all over her face is how can you be mad at me I'm so cute!

She was walking before she was one, enjoying being free. She loves to sing, she will sing in the morning when she wakes up, unless she is rudely woken up by her brother, then we get screams! She wants to be so grown-up, she only wants to eat grown-up food, and gets up set if we are eating something different than she is. She loves to hug and kiss on her brother, and tries so hard to have him love her back. Brody can make her laugh sometimes just by smiling at her. They are so cute together. It is also very funny to watch her try and take Brody down when she gets bothered by him, and sometimes she can!!!

We just love our Miss Camilla, Millie Moo Who, Peanut!

We had a little Birthday Party with the family, and in tradition I made her cake! It was my first time using fondant, and I have never had any classes. But mom has and she was there helping and teaching me along the way. I thought it turned out ok. Still learning, so there are plenty of mistakes. She loved taking all of the decorations off the cake. It was pretty funny, She made a huge mess!

The cake with candle was the cake just for Camilla, thought it would be easier without the fondant. She didn't want it! She wanted the other one.

We ended up having to strip her down so she could open her presents.

We are just so grateful she is in our family!

Cabin Fever

2011-02-28T15:44:00.005-07:00

It has been crazy here this winter season. Not to snowy but at times down right freezing! So there are on off days of to be able to do things out and about, so really we hadn't been doing much so we all had Cabin Fever bad. So one nice warm Saturday we met mom and dad up in Manitou Springs and meandered through the shops and had lunch up there at the Stage Coach in. We got some fun pictures of the family, not easy to get us all together, mainly 'cause I am always behind the camera. This is usually on purpose, I'm not fond of being in pictures. But here are some cute ones.

We have been really grateful for the nice days that we have had.

Serena came to visit...

2011-02-28T14:36:00.007-07:00

We were so excited when Serena took the time out of her oh so busy life to grace us with her presence!!!! When I went to pick her up from the airport Brody kept saying "Rena", "where Rena?". I would say she was flying in on an airplane, he then said "airplane, I go?" I guess he really just wanted to go on a plane. But he was so excited when he saw Serena.

We just had fun together and we just loved having her here! We were able to go to the Air Force Academy with her to see the Cadet Chapel it is gorgeous.

2 views of the outside

2 pics of the inside, they really don't do the beauty any justice.

a plane Brody wants to go in.

We also went to Old Colorado City and went through all the fun shops there. Really it was much to short of a visit, but we will take what we can.

WE LOVE and MISS YOU SERENA!!!!!!

Come back soon!!!

Christmas

2011-02-28T13:41:00.007-07:00

Christmas is in the Air!

This year we did not set up Christmas until a week and a half before Christmas eve. We still had fun and enjoyed not having to keep Camilla out of the tree and ornaments. She loved to put them in her mouth.
Brody helping to put up the tree
Camilla not wanting to touch the tree.
Camilla touching and eating any ornament she can get her hands on
Brody being such a big help putting up ornaments.
It was fun to remember the days when my siblings and I were younger putting up the tree at Christmas time. Singing and playing as we listened to the old readers digest records full of Christmas music. I do enjoy this time of year!!!

The finished tree, and two adorable children!

Our Holiday!

This year was pretty calm and relaxing. We had Christmas Eve at Janette's and Eric's with simple easy snack items. It was fun and enjoyable, we just talked and played games.

Because we stayed up late at Janette and Eric's we were able to sleep in, because the kids were so tired that was very lovely. We just got up leisurely and opened presents. Brody was so much fun this year really animated in opening his gifts and helping Camilla with hers. He just loved everything and ooh'd and aah'd everything that he saw. Camilla was just fine opening one gift playing with that one gift until she was done with it. I finally had to start taking her toys away so she would finish opening her other gifts. Although it was nice to sit and enjoy the kids I wanted to be done with opening the presents.
Brody running to the tree and his presents

Camilla enjoying her stroller, now she had the freedom to walk without any ones help.

Brody was so excited to get his Woody, he just wanted to sit and say what he says in Toy Story 3

Camilla just was laughing and squealing at this toy that sings and spins.

I was just great to spend time together and enjoy our little ones, because the grow so fast.

I am truly grateful for the joy the season of Christmas brings to me. I know we are truly blessed!!!

I am not sure if I covered everything we did. I guess this is what happens when it takes forever to blog about something.

SPLISH SPLASH......

2010-11-28T18:24:00.002-07:00

Both our kids LOVE bath time!!!!

Fun...fun...fun in the leaves

2010-11-28T18:18:00.003-07:00

The kids absolutely loved playing in the Fall leaves. Brody was so good with Camilla and was very careful to NOT jump on her head.

Halloween

2010-11-28T17:28:00.004-07:00

This year for Halloween we decided to do things different and make our costumes. Elena had this grand idea and made Camilla a black widow spider using the Bjorn and she was the wall with cob webs. We used tights for her other legs. Brody was a stick figure and I was Ronald Weasley again.

We had a few minor glitches with Brody’s costume. The first run through we used glow sticks with tape. That idea soon was disaster because anyone who knows Brody will attest that the boy cannot sit or stand still for longer than 2.1 seconds. So for the second run around we used silver reflective tape. It was a success!!! Overall we had a blast for Halloween and Brody loved running around saying,”trick or treat!!!”

Take time...

2010-11-27T22:34:00.002-07:00

In life, it is always important to stop and take time to smell the flowers. UNLESS you are covered with 2 feet of snow and the only way you can smell flowers is to drive to a grocery store or flower shop, and you can't do that because your car won't start because of the snow and the fact that it is 20 degrees below zero. Otherwise you will have to wait for the Spring.

Random FUN!!

2010-11-27T22:07:00.005-07:00

Kids grow too fast.

Thought you all might enjoy some random fun AND adorable pictures of our kids that we have taken in random fun places.

Hot Air Balloon FUN!!

2010-11-27T21:43:00.005-07:00

September 4-6, 2010...Labor Day Weekend.

For Labor day weekend here in Colorado Springs they have this awesome tradition for flying hot air balloons. We decided to join in the fun and went balloon chasing. Janette, Eric and the girls were doing the same thing when they found a balloon owner allowing the children to go for a ride. Brody had a blast riding in a balloon while it was tethered.

At night, they have a balloon glow. It was sweet to see all the balloons up and glowing in the dark. There were thousands of people crammed into Memorial Park that night. People were stacked on top of each other. It was amazing.

Camping!?!?!

2010-08-24T15:37:00.007-06:00

We took our little ones camping for the first time. Oh, it was great... OK really it was a little crazy. Definitely something that we'll have to keep practicing. I think we might have tried to much to fast for them.

Camilla and Brody loved being in the outdoors. Camilla loved hanging out in her baby sling. She just loved looking at everything. Brody loved being adventurous and looking at every bug or leaf. He also thought it would be cool to go running and try to jump off a little cliff. We are truly working on boundaries now. I guess at the age of two he didn't understand the danger... He will learn in time.
It was great we had a great hail and rain storm the first afternoon so we ended up in our tents for sometime. We brought a portable DVD player and a game boy to help keep Brody occupied while we were doing things this was a great time use them. He had to get in watching his Finding Nemo. We then had to dry out and clean up the campsite. That was fun!

Then that night Brody really struggled sleeping. He cried almost the entire night. That was fun. I'm sure all the other campers around us just loved hearing him cry and scream all night. Camilla did really well sleeping she woke up to eat more than she normally does, but at least she did not cry all night. The funny thing about the next morning Brody kept trying to get into the truck and he would say "go". So we ended up not staying as long as we wanted but we still had fun. We'll just have to practice out in the backyard more, before we go camping again.
I really was fun watching my kids enjoy the beauty of the earth and love being outdoors like I and Mike love.

Brody and his dirty face!!! So cute.

campsite.

This the view from our campsite. Gorgeous!

Morning at the lake

Camilla sitting on a stump with Mallory in tow.

We ended up going through Victor and Cripple Creek, small mining towns up where we were camping. They are fun little towns. Brody was able to pan for gold, He got some fun rocks and gems he loved playing in the water.

Catchin' UP!

2010-08-17T16:20:00.001-06:00

Well I have not been as faithful at keeping the blog up to date. I am trying to be better, just isn't working. So I am hoping that I will at least get one up a month. If I can get more that is great, sorry if I don't.

There will be more to come also!!! Lots to catch up on...

3 years and counting...

2010-08-17T15:53:00.005-06:00

Can we believe it? It has been 3 whole years! And what a fun 3 years it has been. We have been blessed in so many ways. Our health, our two lovely children and each other. What else can we wish for.

This year we went out on a date and had fun at the Airplane Restaurant. Yes we ate in an old airplane that was made into a restaurant. It was pretty good food and just a fun atmosphere.

After dinner we wanted to go get some dessert so we ended up in Manitou Springs getting the most expensive grocery store brand ice cream ever. What can I say I say the first place that said ice cream. It was a place that sold their own candy so I figured the ice cream would have been better. Oh well, it was still ice cream and still good. I just had fun walking hand in hand with my husband with out the stroller in tow.

Fun Pictures

2010-08-17T15:35:00.007-06:00

I have been enjoying trying to figure out my new camera. OK so it is not all that new, but I am just now finding time to figure out all the settings and how it works. I just have fun taking pictures and see what turns out. I see something and think ooh that is beautiful I want a picture. I have a vision of what I want on the picture and I'm slowly learning how to get what I want. So I thought I would post some of the pictures I have taken.

So I guess I'll keep practicing and having fun...

Alyssa and her girls...

2010-08-15T20:49:00.009-06:00

Alyssa and her girls came out for a little vacation a little while ago. I am just now getting around to write about it. OOPS! Well, we had fun just seeing each other and being together. We did get out and had fun doing things together. We visited Helen Hunt Falls and hiked around for a little bit, it was gorgeous and we had lots fun.

Brody did not want to stop for the photo, he was having way too much fun playing in the dirt and picking up sticks.

We also went to the zoo. We always love going to the zoo. We split into a few groups so I didn't get very many good pictures. This time we let Brody ride in a wagon he really enjoyed the freedom of the wagon rather than being belted in a stroller. He also liked being able to walk around more with his cousins at his side telling him what to do. He loved all the attention a little boy could get with 6 girl cousins smothering him.

This is really the only good picture I have at the zoo.

We also had fun at the splash pad. Brody watched this little boy there licking the ground. Well he decided that was fun so he kepted licking the ground too. Monkey see Monkey do!!!

Here is Brody and Jodi playing together in the water.

This is what the other adults did while the kids played in the water.

It is always fun to be with family especially when they don't live very close. Thanks Alyssa and girls for coming!!! We loved seeing each of you. We miss you guys already!

Camilla

2010-07-14T15:38:00.006-06:00

Camilla is getting so big. She started eating rice cereal and fruits and veggies. She is beginning to really understand the eating process. She has been fun to feed. She is a very messy eater. She gets food everywhere. Brody never ate like she did, he was such a clean baby. It is fun to see the difference between both of them. They are also very cute together. They both smile when ever they see each other. And it is adorable to see Brody say "sister" and run up to her and kissing her all over. What can we say we have CUTE Children.

She loves her green beans, can't you tell?

The Garden!

2010-07-14T14:44:00.009-06:00

We are both real excited to be living somewhere with a back yard and a place we can have a garden. I can truly say I never thought I would ever say that I ever wanted a garden. I just remember not being very happy when I had to weed. Mike really was the one pushing for the garden and asking my parents if we could have one, they did not mind at all, such a silly question. In my mind Mike was the one that really wanted it so I thought he would be doing more with it, that is not true. I really like to do things with my hands and to see progress of something that can be so tangible, that I enjoy. I really like going out early in the morning while it is still cool and weeding. I have great conversations with myself. I love getting my hands nice and dirty. Looking back I really don't think it was the weeding that was the problem, I think it was the time I was unable to spend with my friends that I did not like.

Our little garden

Tomatoes, lettuce and radishes

Green Beans

Squash, can you see the little one growing?

We also have been trying to help my parents with some changes they want done with their yard. We have made a new flower bed, planted new plants, put some grass under the swing set and just keeping up on the maintenance.

The new flower bed

We enjoy the beauty of it. And love having a place Brody can just run and play. And that he does! If we'd let him he would play out back all day everyday. And really Camilla is always happy out there too.

Daddy is home!!!

2010-07-14T14:25:00.003-06:00

We're so glad when daddy comes home glad as we can be... Mike is finally out here in CO. Well, it has been a little while now, I am just getting around to posting anything. He got home and got right into the groove of trying to find a job and getting all ready to start graduate school. He has been applying for 5-10 jobs in a day and hopes to hear back from some to have interviews. Nothing yet, but we are praying that something will come soon. He is getting all of his schooling figured out and know he will be starting October 3rd. He will be taking one or two classes a session, each session is about 5 weeks long(I believe) then he gets a one week break and starts all over again. I think he is really excited to be starting grad school, a new adventure. And well, the sooner he starts the sooner he can be done! It is just nice to have him here with us.

Water fun!!!

2010-07-12T17:48:00.009-06:00

We love water in our family!!!! Brody really loves to run and play in any water. When ever water is on Brody is there ready to play and enjoy it. We have to be careful he does not see the water on anywhere in the yard or he will be in it with all his clothes on. I have even found him with a step stool at the sink playing in a dirty pan that is soaking. Yes friends that is my son, all water is fair game in his mind. If he finds a spray bottle and can reach for it he will start spraying himself and anything or anyone in his path. I guess he is a kid after my own heart, I love the water too.

Here is a picture of him playing out back in what my parents like to call the kiddie wash. (They got this idea from a family in the ward, kids love it.)

Here are some more fun pictures of him at the Deerfield Hills Spray Grounds. (Just a little side note, this was at one time a swimming pool that I was a lifeguard at a few years ago.) He was unsure of all the water spraying fast and hard at anytime. But by the end he started enjoying himself. I do love the faces he made when the water caught him off guard.

Where's the water mom???

Nursery

2010-06-14T09:26:00.003-06:00

Brody has had a lot of trouble going to nursery since we moved out here to CO. He would cry and scream pretty much the entire time he was there unless one of us stayed in there with him. Well this Sunday I was teaching in primary so Grandpa took him. He stayed 5 minutes got Brody playing and he was fine. Brody stayed and played with all of the kids without crying. I'm so happy that he is getting in the routine and beginning to like nursery again. It makes church so much easier. It has been almost 6 weeks, 6 weeks of crying and screaming and not wanting to go. I'm glad he went and enjoyed himself. Hopefully that phase in his life is over, and he continues to go to nursery with no troubles!!!!

Camilla

2010-06-08T22:04:00.006-06:00

Well I seem to post a lot about Brody so I thought I would post a little about what Camilla is doing and how she is growing. She really is becoming a happy baby and I am so thankful for that. I don't feel like I want to pull my hair out with her anymore. She is growing so much I think she is going to be tall also. She is only 3 1/2 months and she pretty much doesn't fit in her 3 month outfits anymore. It does work out because it is summer and her pants are just short on her so I can just say they are carpi's... She is getting so strong she can stand up when she wants to and can stay there with just holding my fingers.
Camilla loves to be lugged around by her cousins and just doesn't have a problem with them flinging her around. She smiles all the time, and is really beginning to giggle at everything. She is very ticklish and laughs when she is tickled. I love that she thinks her brother is so funny and laughs when he pretends sneezes at her. And they both laugh hard at each other. I love that she loves to cuddle! I love that she will look up at me when she is eating and just have the biggest smile on her face for no reason at all. What can we say we love this little girl!!!! And she is so darn CUTE!!!

Holiday Weekend

2010-06-08T21:21:00.006-06:00

Mike was able to come out for the Holiday weekend. We were so excited that he was able to come out for the long weekend. It was such a beautiful weekend that we got out and had lots of fun together and with my family. Friday was Brody's birthday and we had fun celebrating. Saturday we went to our "Frontier Days" in Old Colorado City, there were lots of booths of people selling their handmade goods and lots of fun entertainment. It was fun watching all of the people dressed up in period clothing. I was roped by one of them, he said I was just trouble. There were so many people their, that it was very hard to walk. But I love to people watch so that made it lots of fun. It was great to be out in the awesome weather with the family.

Monday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We always love going to the zoo.

Brody trying to feed the giraffe, not liking it very much!!

I surprised Camilla with this picture. She was so cute resting her feet on the tray in front of her. SO CUTE!!!

I think Brody liked the train more than the animals. I guess he isn't really ready for the zoo yet. He'd rather just run and play. But he is getting better at looking at the animals and pointing them out.

He did like trying to feed the birds. I'm sure if one landed on his stick he would have really freaked out. I probably would have laughed hard.

After the zoo Mike had to pack and I had to take him to the airport. It was just great to be a family again. And I can't wait until he is moved out here for good. Only 2 more weeks.

Brody's B-day

2010-06-07T23:01:00.008-06:00

BRODY TURNED 2!!!! Brody is getting so big. I love watching him grow and learn. He is such a blessing to have in our lives. Mike was able to fly out for the holiday weekend so we decided to have Brody's birthday party on his birthday it worked out perfect. Not that he would really know the difference anyway. He is only two. I again made his birthday cake but this time Mike decided to help. He decorated the butt of the catapiller. For his party we decided to have just the family that live out here over for a BBQ. It was a beautiful and fun evening to have his party.

He had fun with his new things and really love the ice cream that Uncle Eric bought him from the ice cream truck.

Brody is such a cute kid. He is really starting to talk more. He will say full sentences if he wants to. Just today he was playing in the water and wanted me to play in the water too, so he was trying to push me in and said clear as day "I want to watch you". He is really a happy boy, I say that knowing that he is beginning to go through his terrible 2's and he does not always seem happy. Everything is "NO" and if he doesn't get his way he wants to hit. The good thing is I know it won't last!!! I think it will get better when Mike is here to stay and he begins to understand that this is his new home and we are here to stay. I love the little "big" guy and all the funny things he does and says. I love how his feet never stop moving, my sisters family has nicknamed him Happy Feet because of that. And I feel it is very appropriate. I love that in the middle of a song in sacrament he will belt out the song at the top of his lungs. I love that he loves his sister and always wants to give her hugs and kisses and will lay next to her on the floor, and if she is unhappy he will try to make her happy by shoving her pacifier into her mouth.

I am glad you are in our lives little boy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Piano Recital

2010-06-07T22:19:00.011-06:00

I remember when I had my piano recitals. They were in one of our ward buildings and I thought that was great. Oh and don't think by any means I know how to play the piano, 'cause I don't. I just had to take lessons. But what brings this up is my niece Tayloranne had her first piano recital and she had it in this awesome chapel. It is called Shove Chapel, it is very pretty. I tried to take some good pictures, but well lets say I'm not a photographer.

I actually was not able to see much of the entire recital, Brody did not want to be there. So he decided to voice his opinion. By sheer dumb luck I was able to get back in to see Tayloranne perform. And then he was done.

I was thinking and had totally forgot about the chapel. I had actually performed there myself some many years ago. So the evening brought back memories of different performances and my days of recitals. Kinda funny but I really do love to perform. I think I miss those days. Maybe I'll find a group that I could join so I can start to perform again. We'll see what life brings...

This is Tay's practice recital at Grandma's house... This is the one I could get downloaded.

The Move to Colorado Springs

2010-06-07T21:31:00.004-06:00

The move to Colorado Springs went pretty smoothly. My nieces Tayloranne and Mallory came out with my dad to help with the kids. My dad and my nieces came out on a Thursday, we packed the cars that night and left early Friday morning. We were grateful for all of our friends and family that came and helped us out that night. And also happy we were able to say our good byes. We were able to fit everything that was necessary and some extras, like my scrapbooking and craft stuff, all in my dads van. It worked out that the girls took turns sitting with the kids in our car and keeping dad company in his. The kids were good on the drive, I am so grateful for that. We got settled a little on Friday when we arrived at my parents and then finished on Saturday. Mike stayed until Monday night and then hopped on a plane to go home. It was a crazy weekend and an even crazier couple of few weeks trying to get Brody and Camilla in their new routine. Oh and I forgot to remind Mike to keep the camera out so I could take pictures along the trip. But, because I forgot to remind him, he packed it and I did not get any pictures. Oh well, we will survive! I'm glad it's done for me. Mike now has to pack and get all the rest of our stuff out here later this month. So much fun for him. At least there are no kids to slow him down. He won't have to stop every three hours to feed a growing baby.

Update

2010-06-02T18:39:00.004-06:00

Well, just a little update to say we are still alive. The children and I made it out to Colorado. It has been fun, with a lot of adjusting with the kids. We have had to help Brody understand that this is his new home and he still has to obey and follow rules, just because grandma and grandpa are here he is not always going to get his way. So we have had many tantrums the kind he falls to the ground and screams and cries. I love it. It does make me laugh. He is starting to even do them as we walk into church. That is fun. Camilla went to her crib when we moved here and surprisingly enough she is doing rather well. She is sleeping pretty regularly during the nights and I am grateful for that. Camilla is really starting to laugh and smile so much. Brody can get her to laugh, so we all end up just laughing. LOVE IT!!!! Mike is still out in Utah he leaves on the 23rd of this month and we can't wait. He was able to come out for the holiday weekend and was able to celebrate Brody's 2nd birthday with us. So here is a little just to catch up, we will post pictures and more at a later time.

We did it!!!

2010-05-04T22:27:00.004-06:00

I have not wanted to post anything on what I have been preparing for this month, because I was so afraid I wouldn't do well. I was horrified that I would have to tell everyone that I suck...

So to explain a little bit... I graduated in December knowing that I wasn't done yet. I knew that in May I would have to take a National exam to become a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. I have been studying for it for awhile now and I took it today and I PASSED. Yaaaahooooo that takes a load off for sure.

This test has taken a lot from me. I was so worried that I would not pass that I was having nightmares about it. Poor Mike has had to put up a lot with me being crabby and snappy. He was so good to reassure me all the time that I would do fine. But I was so nervous and afraid that I would not pass, I did not always listen. He has been awesome coming home and taking care of the children so I could study. What a great husband I have.
He did this all while he was studying for his finals so he could graduate!!!

So on that note... Mike is FINISHED with his Bachelors in Psychology. He says it won't seem real until he has that stinkin' paper in his hand! It has been a crazy semester. Mike taking his final 5 classes me preparing for my national exam all while having a child in the middle of that. We are glad that is over.

But now the fun begins... The kids and I move Friday, Mike moves in June, and Mike starts Grad school in August for his Masters in Health Care Administration. Oh what fun lies ahead! BRING IT!!

Changes

2010-04-23T08:08:00.003-06:00

Well, I love change! This is no joke, I really do enjoy change. But this one came very sudden. Mike and I had been planning on moving to Colorado Spring for a while now. He is going to be starting Grad school out there and we were going to move in with my parents for a little bit while he is in school. We were moving at the end of June. So the change is Mike is still moving at the end of June, but the children and I are moving the first week in May. Kind of crazy. But it works out perfect. I can help my mom out while she is healing after her glaucoma and cataract surgery. And I can start looking for a job. It just doesn't give me much time to see everyone and say good bye to everyone. I do hope to see everyone before, but I'll be back to visit.

Fancy Notebook

2010-04-16T14:05:00.007-06:00

I was trying to think of what we could give to Mike's nephew Braxton for his baptism. I wanted something that he could use and it would be only his. So I thought a journal would be great for him at this time in his life. I found this blog for these fun notebooks. So I thought I'd make one. It was simple enough decorating a composition book. I really didn't follow the instructions, but they gave me an idea of how to do it. I really like this because there are so many decorative papers out there you can personalize it to anyone. This was my first attempt so it took about 3 hours. I think it turned out pretty good. Now that I have the basics of what to do, I can do it again and hopefully it won't take as long. It was fun to figure it out.

Yummy in my tummy!!!

2010-04-16T13:29:00.006-06:00

Well I found this yummy strawberry tallcake recipe. It looked so easy that I just had to try it. So we had Mike's parents over for dinner one Sunday, and thought it would be a great time to try it out. I ended up making the dinner and Mike made the tallcake. And it turned out soooo YUMMY! And I think Mike really enjoyed making it. And we all loved eating it! But we only got pictures of Brody eating, he kept asking for more with this great big smile on his face.

Oh so GOOOOD!

More please!!!

Side note: This does not keep very well, it gets all soggy. So I would make them smaller of make sure there are a lot of people there to eat it...

Yay for SPRING!!! Finally...

2010-04-12T13:51:00.009-06:00

The weather has been crazy lately. Snow and rain. We have been wanting to have a BBQ for awhile now. But because of the weather we have not been able to. Finally we had a great day and invited our friend Amy to enjoy it with us. So we had a BBQ! Brody loved helping Mike out. Just look at that joy on his face. And Mike did a great job on the steaks. Mmmm Mmmm GOOD!!! (Side note, that is one of Brody's favorite sayings.)

We are so happy when it is nice spring weather. It just puts a smile on my face!!!

Happy Easter

2010-04-12T13:13:00.006-06:00

I was so excited to buy both of the children's Easter outfits. We bought them way early, we had Millie's before she was born and bought Brody's bigger thinking that it would fit by the time it was Easter. Well we were wrong it was to small. We decided for Millie's blessing to put Brody in his nice Easter outfit. He grew way past what we thought he would, no big surprise there. So he was able to use it that once. We had to go and buy him a new one that fit. Man can that boy grow. And Millie's was way to big. So we have the extremes, Brody who is huge and Millie who is tiny. But it all turned out great and they both looked so adorable...

And I did dress them up even though we did not have regular church, because of General Conference. I bought the clothes for Easter and thought they should use them for Easter.

Mikes family got together for an Easter Egg Hunt, because of the Weather we ended up at Heidi's church in the Gym. Brody had a blast picking up eggs especially the plastic ones in the shape of balls. He was so happy to be able to get out and run!!! Camilla was happy just being held.

We then had Dinner with the Webb family which was great also. For most of them it was their first time seeing Camilla. It was fun watching the kids interact with Brody and Camilla. It was just an enjoyable weekend with family.

Camilla's Blessing

2010-03-23T15:14:00.006-06:00

We decided to bless Camilla while my parents were here, because we were unsure if they would be able to make it back if we did it at a later date. We had only Mike's family and my family (that could make it) there. Our Bishop opened the Relief Society room for us to do the blessing. It was so spiritual and it is so amazing how special this little girl is already. It was a fast evening, but we are grateful for those who were able to make it and and be a part of this special night. Thanks mom for the beautiful blessing dress!!!

Brody and Camilla

2010-03-23T15:04:00.007-06:00

I have had a lot people ask how Brody is with his little sister. He really does love her. He gets so excited when he sees her. He'll start saying "Milla" and run up to her and rub her head. It is really cute. He loves it when she kisses him. He just laughs and screams with joy and wants her to do it again. There is only one time that he really gets frustrated with her. It happens to be when he is watching one of his morning shows and she begins to cry and he can't hear his show. He will look at her and give his death look then find the remote control and hand it to me and look at me like I know what I should do. I really have to just laugh...

Here he is rubbing her head. And she loves it...

He even gave her his beloved dog and wanted him to kiss her too.

Sorry about the pictures, they are from my cell phone. Not the best of pictures.

She is here!!!

2010-03-10T14:36:00.007-07:00

Camilla Harrison

(sorry I could not get the picture turned the correct way.)

Born: Feb. 19th 7:56 am

Weight: 6lbs 15oz

Height: 19 1/2in

Camilla is a finally here and we are so grateful. She is an added blessing to our little family. I do have to say she is just simply adorable, especially when she is sleeping. She loves to use her lungs and lets us know when she is unhappy. That is most of the time her eyes are open. For the first few nights she was up ALL night letting us know she wanted to go back, this was great fun. And Mike is buying stock in ear plugs. I forgot how fun it was to be able to stay up all night. I remember those days not so long ago when I was a night owl... Now I really like my sleep. I can say she is doing much better and only wakes up every 4 hours to eat, this I am so happy for. I can't wait 'til she sleeps all night.

We have started calling her our little DIVA!!!!!

Brody loves his little sister. He is most happy when he can burp her. I'm not sure this is because it is the only time I will allow him to hit her. But he will move my hand out of the way so he can burp her. He really loves to rub her head and point to her nose. He tries to copy everything we do. If we bounce her a little in the bouncy seat he will try, but this usually ends up in her looking like she is going fly out of her seat. She is going to be a tough little girl.

Valentines is in the air...

2010-02-11T14:08:00.003-07:00

Well really I am not a big Valentines day person. I don't need all the flowers and candy stuff. But I saw these fun Valentine treats and wanted to try and make them. Mike also thought they were fun, so he pitched in and helped put them together. When I saw them, they used an ice cream sundae glass but we didn't want to have to buy them. But we had these glasses that we have not used. So we thought we'd try it out. This is how they turned out. I think they are pretty cute. These are some of the things that I am trying to fill my hours with now that I am graduated and just waiting for our little girl to come.

More fun pics!

2010-02-11T13:41:00.006-07:00

Brody is just so fun and entertaining. He always keeps us on our toes with different things he likes to do. So here are some of the things we were able to catch in picture...

Brody is beginning to really know what to do with his clothes, can't you tell. ;-) He thought he was the funniest person around. He just laughed at himself all night.

Brody loves ravioli... He will eat every last bit of it, even down to licking the plate. And this is how he usually looks after eating it. He is always so proud of himself. I did have to give him a bath after he ate, I couldn't get all the sauce out of his hair.

So we usually keep the bathrooms all shut and with the child proof doors. I guess the door was not latched all the way. He was, one minute playing in his room while I was doing some laundry, the next playing in the tub with all of his bath toys and no water. He was having a blast!!!

Oh Boy!

2010-02-05T15:01:00.008-07:00

Our Happy Helper...

Brody is getting so big and wants to be involved in everything we are doing. The other day I was trying to sweep and he kept grabbing for the broom and just yelling at me because I asked him to go back into the living room, at that time I did not realize that all he wanted to do is sweep. So I finished up and gave him the broom and he started sweeping with the biggest smile ever. And every time I would point the camera at him he would stop and say cheese... So needless to say this was the best picture I got of him sweeping. Hopefully soon I will not have to do it at all because he will always want to do it, for awhile at least.

Our creative little guy...

Brody also loves to draw and write. One night I was sitting at the computer which is now next to our bed and Brody wanted to be on the computer and I just needed to finish what I was doing. So I put him on our bed so I could finish, he wasn't having any of that either. So I gave him a pencil and paper and he laid back on the pillows and began to create. He was so into his drawing that he even talked to himself. He would stop look at the paper and then add more to it. I didn't think about taking a picture of what his creation was, so you will just have to imagine what an almost two year old could possibly draw.

Great Big Bro...

Brody is going to be a great big brother. We babysat cousin Isabella one morning while her mom had an appointment. Once Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jeff left I was holding Isabella and Brody wanted up in my lap. Well that doesn't work very well right now since I am huge. So I told him to sit next to me on the couch. He climbed up and held his arms out like he knew what to do. He wanted to hold the baby. So I put her in his lap and he just sat there holding her with a proud smile 0n his face. I am sure this is what he will want to do when his little sister comes.

72 hr kits

2010-02-05T14:25:00.005-07:00

Mike and I are the emergency preparedness couple for our ward. For the past year we have been teaching every 5th Sunday on something to do with emergency preparedness. It has been a fun task to do. We of course are probably the ones that learn the most from this calling, and we love doing it.

Mike has really used his organization skills to put together a ward emergency plan. It is using what the stake is putting into place, but adding his own flare to make it fit our ward situation. Our ward is unique due to the fact that our entire ward is comprised of several apartment/condo complexes. This makes it a little difficult, for example it would not be only one family displaced by a fire, it could be anywhere from 6 to 10 families displaced. So it has been a lot of work to get things started and on its way.

But this last Sunday we were trying to think of what would be a good thing to teach on. We feel we have touched on a lot of stuff and were struggling to know what to teach on. So we decided to teach on 72 hr kits. Side note: we did decide on this before the disaster that hit in Haiti. So we had used our resources and found a few people that had theirs put together and had them explain what they did to get theirs ready. It worked great. There were all different stages of personal kits put together.

A year or two ago Mike’s mom gave us food for our 72 hr kit. So we tucked it away and really forgot about it, until this lesson. Well come to find out that ALL of the food had expired and many of the items had exploded. Whoops!!! So we had decided to save some money to get everything back in order. We really thought it was going to take a ton of money to get it all back together. We were pleasantly surprised…

This is the outline that we used to put together our food part of the kits…

72 Hour Emergency Food Pack

Day 1

Breakfast: granola bar, hot chocolate, orange juice
Lunch: 2 beef jerky, trail mix, fruit cup
Dinner: ravioli, crackers with peanut butter, fruit snack, bottled water
Snack: gum, candy pieces

Day 2

Breakfast: instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, orange juice
Lunch: 2 beef jerky, crackers with peanut butter
Dinner: ramon noodles, apple sauce, bottled water
Snack: gum, m&m’s

Day 3

Breakfast: granola bar, hot chocolate, orange juice
Lunch: 2 beef jerky, peanuts, fruit cup
Dinner: cup of soup, crackers with peanut butter, bottled water
Snack: gum, candy pieces

MISC: emergency blanket, tooth brush, tooth paste, 6 spoons

Of course you can change things around and make it fit your own families, but this was simple and so cheap. Each bag only cost about $16. Not bad at all, I know. We have to finish getting everything else in our 72 hr kits. But we have food at least.

Well I hope that everyone as some plan together for their families needs in case of an emergency…

Can I get a Woot Woot!!!!

2010-02-05T13:57:00.004-07:00

Well, with the time and credits I have spent on getting my diploma I probably should have come a way with triple majors. But that is not how it worked. I only have one, and that is OK by me because I am now finished. I really couldn't be more ecstatic with just finally finishing. I really have a love for learning and enjoy taking classes. But I really hate writing papers and taking test. On that aspect I am glad I am done. I will have to find other ways to fulfill my love of learning and being active. I already have lots of ideas of what I want to do to keep me busy.

Oh and yes I am very proud of myself... And oh so humble too...

Christmas

2010-01-13T14:53:00.001-07:00

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Well, we had a great Christmas together with family… We spent Christmas Eve with Mike’s family and enjoyed the company of his family. Brody loved being able to run and play with his cousins and smile at his brand new cousin Isabella, this might be fun to explain to him. He now has cousins on both sides now that go by Izzy. He is pretty smart he should catch on fast.

Brody loves playing the piano! He would quietly sneak away and next thing we all heard was the piano. So this will be fun when we move in with my parents in June. There will have to be lots of patience as we teach him he can’t always play the piano. He also found he has a new love of drawing on the chalkboard. He got real angry when I had to take him away so we could go home.

I do have to admit that this Christmas was even more fun with Brody. His face was priceless each time he opened a new gift. He even gave the best smile when he opened up his new PJ’s before he went to bed on Christmas Eve. He was so inquisitive about all that he got. He wanted to play with each thing he opened before he would touch another gift. It was so much fun. Mike and I wanted him to go faster than he did. I’m sure this is going to change when he gets older and it is a race to open all of his gifts, and all I want him to do is slow down.

On Christmas Day we had lunch with my aunt and uncle and their children. Always fun to be with family… Brody again loves to run and play with all of the other kids.

On a more spiritual side, we also wanted to start our own traditions with our little family. So we tried to think of things we wanted to do. This being difficult because Brody is still young and does not sit for long or is too young to really get into things. We decided this year to try and read Luke 2, it was helpful that we had a picture book that had the pictures of the story. He loved the pictures and had no idea about the story. We of course will keep trying to find the traditions that will work for our family.

It was just great to be together. That was truly our favorite part.

Getting Christmas Up!

2009-12-29T15:14:00.005-07:00

This year was a blast with putting up Christmas! Brody wanted to be involved and help with everything. And we all know that this made it a little more difficult to get things done in any kind of timely manner. But he had so much fun, how could we pass up all the smiles and laughter we saw and heard? He even helped with putting up the lights he didn't know what to do with that and finally handed the lights back to Mike. We had our Christmas music going and we all sang and danced and had so much fun!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My internship is Complete....

2009-12-23T14:22:00.007-07:00

So I am finally FINISHED with my large internship or my final one. It was a great experience. I enjoyed the different projects I worked on. I did a lot of office work due to the fact that being pregnant prevented me from doing a lot of the physical work. But I really did get to see a lot of the behind the scenes things that went on. Two major projects I worked on were a wheelchair rugby clinic and a wheelchair basketball tournament that we called the "Turkey Shoot". I had a blast. I and the other interns were able to get things all prepared from the beginning to the end. It's a lot of work but well worth it.

Here are some pictures of the rugby clinic. It was great for these guys, they had one of the Paralympics USA team members there to run the clinic. They not only learned a lot, but I did also. I learned how to run score, timers, and some of the penalty calls. It kept me on my toes. If you would like more information visit http://www.quadrugby.com/.

With the Turkey Shoot we were able to get 14 nationally ranked teams from across the US come and participate. This was a unique ordeal. Many of the teams admitted that it had been a long time since they have played other teams that were of the same levels as them. I also had the opportunity to work hands on and face to face with all that needed transportation which was, oh yah, was everyone. That was a crazy ordeal, trying to figure out everything to make it run smooth. I also learned the time, scores and some of the penalties that are called also. It was a crazy and fast week but it went great.

I learned a lot and am happy it's over now too.

Our Fun Crazy Halloween

2009-11-24T14:47:00.001-07:00

Well this year we did not know what to do for our costumes. We had to do something very inexpensive to make this work. We also did not know what to do to decorate our trunk for the trunk-or-treat. We wanted to keep some kind of theme so we did. We won the best trunk award last year and everyone was expecting us to out due what we did last year. That was a little difficult to do. So really we just ended up with this… This might be a little crazy but we had a blast and everybody loved it.

It was to light out side to really see that everything was lit as if it were Christmas Morning. We even handed out candy canes! No prizes were won this year only because they didn’t hand them out. But I am sure we would have won!!!!

Family Visits!!!

2009-11-24T14:09:00.004-07:00

So a little while ago, meaning sometime in October, Kaelynn and her family came out to Utah from Alaska. So mom and dad decided to come out also. It was fun to see Kaelynn and her fam., and also to see the parents. We had fun going to the zoo and really just hanging out. Here are some pictures from our adventures.
Yes, Brody is the same size as Isabelle! He is a giant...

This big elephant made funny noises all I wanted to do was run away.

I want out of the stroller so I can walk with cousin Isabelle.

My 2 AMAZING men!!!

2009-10-04T15:33:00.001-06:00

I started this post a little while ago, and never got it finished, so here it goes.

Well these last few weeks have been crazy! I have really learned to allow people to help me. Which is really hard for me to do. But I made it through it with the best help from my amazing guys!!! Well a few weeks ago (August 18th) I ended up in the emergency room with severe pains in my side. Well I found out that I was in a need of an appendectomy. This was a huge surprise for me being 14 weeks pregnant. It was a scare with everyone telling me that this could be bad for the baby. But I knew it would all work out. I just needed all of those at the hospital to believe that all was going to be OK. Everything just worked out, I knew I was being blessed. But I pretty much ended up being on bed rest for the next 3-4weeks. This was not easy with a one year old and a husband that was working 40hours/week. Mike took over everything and was good coming home fixing dinner, taking care of Brody and doing all the house hold things. He is the BEST husband ever!!!!

Brody really understood and took everything with stride that I couldn't do the usual things that we loved to do. We had to teach him to do a lot of things all on his own. We put him in a toddler bed so he could climb in and out all on his own. We made a make-shift table and chair to eat at when Mike was not at home. He showed this very gentle side of who he is. He would come up to me and just put his head in my lap and just hug me.

I just love my 2 AMAZING men!!! They are the Best ever.

UPDATE

2009-09-21T09:09:00.001-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated anything. Elena is doing her large internship now. I am still in school and working full-time. Brody is growing like a weed. We find out the sex of the baby next Thursday. Life is busy, busy, busy! We will post more later. We love you all!!

Catching up!!!

2009-08-12T16:33:00.001-06:00

There is a lot to catch up on! So Here it goes... Hope you enjoy!!!

2009-08-12T16:20:00.001-06:00

School

2009-08-12T16:10:00.001-06:00

Schools out for summer!!! Well kind of. We have two weeks in between our summer semester and fall semester. Well, it is two weeks of freedom. Just what we need. Ok really we need lots more time, but we don’t get it. Two weeks will have to do.

My internship was approved and I will be working with the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, Adaptive Recreation department. This is where I did my small internship at and I just loved it. So I wanted to finish up there. I will be finished in December with my bachelors of science in Parks, Recreation and Tourism with the emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation. I am so glad I will be done!!!

Mike has figured out that going to UVU is really helping him out. He is able to take many of BYU independent study classes that transfer to UVU. This helps him to not have to drive down to Orem as often as he thought he would have to. He is really liking his teachers at UVU also. And really liking the fact that they are more family friendly. He has more options for evening and Saturday classes that help him out. He will be finished in May of 2010, and we are so excited.

A growing Brody

2009-08-12T15:58:00.001-06:00

Brody is getting so big!!! Now that he is a year old he just keeps surprising us every day. He is now walking and loving it. Well maybe I should say he is almost to a run most of the time. He has a new found freedom that he is not letting go of. He has to walk out of the house and to the car when ever we go somewhere. He will take our hands when ever he wants to go and do something. I do have to admit that at times him being able to walk is great. But at the same time it is a little crazy.

He still loves music and is now dancing when ever he hears something that he likes. He will even dance in his car seat when something he likes comes on the radio. I love that he appreciates music.

Something that was started out in Colorado is him doing the knuckle bump. This is the cutest thing ever. If you look at him and hold out your fist he gets the biggest grin and comes running up with his fist already made and bumps your fist. He is so darling.

There is probably so much more that he does I just can’t think of it right now. I just love that he is a healthy happy 1year old.

Our Colorado trip!

2009-08-12T15:31:00.001-06:00

Well can you believe this was the first time that we as a family have visited Colorado and it was not in the winter and it did not snow? We had a blast!!! It was so nice and cool and it rained every afternoon. We just loved it.

This trip also was great because Alyssa, Jared and family came up from Arizona. This was a treat for Brody, see he has never seen Alyssa and her family. Between Janette’s girls and Alyssa’s girls, Brody had it made. He just loved having all of his cousins taking care of him and loving him. He was truly spoiled. He was a handful when we got back home.

We were able to find very cheap plane tickets to Denver and this was Brody’s first flight. We were a little afraid that he might scream the whole flight. But luckily he did not he slept the whole way there and most of the way back. Such a good boy.

While in CO it was just casual. We did not want to get overly exhausted it was our vacation and we wanted to have fun and not over book ourselves. We did have a fun trip to the zoo. We can’t miss that.

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In these pictures there are some awesome views from where the zoo sits on the mountain down into Colorado Spring. There is one of downtown and one of the Broadmoor Hotel.

We also had fun going to the Flying W Ranch. This is a working ranch that they have made into a country town with general stores, old schools, and more. They also had Native Americans showing us different dances here is one of the top hoop dancers in the nation. And you get a real chuck wagon meal. With real live cowboy entertainment. The atmosphere is great. Just fun family times.

We also had fun going to the Rock Ledge Ranch. It was fun to see how People lived and worked in past times.

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Well the girls got to help chop wood with the homesteaders. The girls also go to help make fresh lemonade We got to see how the family lived from one time in their lives to the next. It was lots of fun for all.

Finally, Alyssa’s oldest girls had fun teaching Mike and their other cousins how to “skin the cat”

It was just fun times being together! Wish all of my siblings could have been there.

The 4th

2009-07-13T15:37:00.005-06:00

We had a great time getting together with my Uncle Mel and his family. We had a great BBQ and then went to Murray park to watch the fireworks. This was Brody's first fireworks and we were not sure how he would react. He HATES loud noises so we thought he would freak out about them. Well he did not, he actually slept right through them. He did wake up during the last couple of minutes of the fireworks and he was just fine with them. I guess we as parents worry too much about our little guy and don't want him to be afraid.

So funny thing as we were watching the fireworks, I realized that pretty much no one was making a noise. It was so quit, there was an occasional ooh and aah. But they were very soft. I thought it was very strange from what I am used to. There was not even any music. The fireworks on the 4th really need the 1812 overture to make it all seem real. With the cannons shaking the ground beneath you. Now that is the best. And there were no drunks making fools of themselves mud wrestling or thinking they are superman and flying off coolers and landing on their faces. It was really weird.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

2009-07-13T15:05:00.004-06:00

We had an enjoyable time going and walking through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We went to the first session at 8am on July 3rd. This was a great time to go. There were not a lot of people there at this time being as early as it was, so we actually got to really look at everything. And we were not pushed through. Brody loved being on his daddy's back and just looking at everything, there were times that he just started talking and smiling. He got very excited about the Celestial room and even squealed.

Because it was not very busy we enjoyed taking pictures outside of the temple. We enjoyed taking our time and feeling the spirit that was there. After the temple we found a park to let Brody get out his energy and just play.

Spit in motion!!!

The air we breathe. View from the temple

Such a cute family.

Family Photos

2009-07-13T14:42:00.006-06:00

Well now that Brody is a year we figured that it really was about time that we had family pictures done. Yes we know it is a little late. Better late than never, right? We had some taken by a friend in our ward and also some taken by my cousin Serena. We had lots that turned out nicely. We had fun, and we realized just how big Brody is getting. So here are some we liked.
Mike looks so serious.

Brody is so adventureous.

Mom and dad love me, they love me not, they love me!!!

This other photographer kept getting in our pictures.

This was just fun.

He is so darn cute.

Rainy days!

2009-06-15T15:16:00.004-06:00

It has been pretty rainy these past few days. So we all have been a little tired of being house bound. One day we had the sliding glass door open just a little to let the lovely smell of the rain in and to also let some fresh air in. Brody was playing so nicely and then all of a sudden he started singing and laughing. So I found him like this...

He left plenty of hand prints for me to clean up.

He was just enjoying watching the rain come down. He was happy there.

Our Little Play Area...

2009-06-15T14:48:00.006-06:00

We have this little play area in our apartment complex that is fun to go and play at when there are not a lot of kids running around and playing on it also. The bigger kids do not play nice with the little ones so we don't get to go much now that school is out for the summer. Brody just ends up hurt and unhappy. And I end up being the one stopping all the arguments. Not what I call fun. So one day there was no one there so Mike and I decided it would be fun to take Brody he had loads of fun. Once he got over the feeling of the wood chips he was fine and was crawling all over the place. He really liked being able to climb the stairs and make it to the top all by himself. He really thought he was the king of the world.

Brody loves to smile for the camera.

I really like this one!!!

First time crawling on the wood chips.

At the end of the slide, he was happy he was off.

Climbing up the stairs.

Looking down the slide.

He was ready to go!!!

Trying to climb the wall.

Brody's Birthday Party!

2009-06-15T14:35:00.004-06:00

Here is the long awaited birthday pictures from Brody's 1st Birthday. Brody had a blast!!! We invited family and one of Brody's friends. One of Brody's gifts was a baby pool, so we thought it would be fun to fill it up and let the little ones get in and get wet. They had a blast. Brody just loves the water. He also had a blast opening his presents!!! His face is priceless in most of the pictures!

Really what was I thinking?

2009-05-27T09:25:00.006-06:00

I really have no idea what I was thinking when I decided to make Brody's birthday cake. It has been a long time since I have baked and truly decorated a cake. And I think the last time I did it my mom was there to help me out. Although I did call my mom often to make sure I was doing things correctly. So I was thinking of what I could do for a one year old that he really likes so Mike and I decided that the cake would be a duck. I found a 3-D duck cake pan and so it was final, a duck it was going to be. I also wanted this duck to be sitting on a pond. So I thought what could I use to make a pond? Fondant, I thought! Well I have never used fondant before so I thought I would try it. I got help from a friend in my ward, who taught me how to make it. So I tried it. It was not the best, ok really it was pretty bad. But I just made it work. And in all the pictures it does not look so bad. I had fun making it.

The fondant

Here are some pictures of me completing the cake.

I really did have fun putting this all together. And Mike did not think I could really do it, I showed him:)

Crawling

2009-05-27T09:20:00.004-06:00

Well Brody is beginning to really crawl now!!! I think he has finally figured out that it is much faster to crawl on his hands and knees. We do have to be a little sneeky about taking pictures or he will stop and turn towards the camera. That is why there is a pillow in the picture too.

Yay. He is getting so big.

Spending time together...

2009-05-18T14:35:00.007-06:00

We wanted to spend time together before it got crazy with school and my internship this summer. Well really I told Mike I had to get out of the house and do something fun or I would go crazy, he agreed. He did not want me to go crazy either. So we decided to have a picnic in the park and than go to the Tracy Aviary. It was fun, Brody was having fun pointing to all of the birds that he could see, especially all of the brightly colored ones. I wish I could talk baby talk because he just talked and talked the entire time. He was sooo CUTE!!! We have some pictures of the birds, but the camera died. And I am sad to say it is not just the batteries that died.
:-( But here are some pictures of the birds that we saw.

Mama duck and her babies

King Vulture

You can't really tell but this duck has a beautiful
bright blue beak.

Pelicans

Great outing for Mothers Day!!!

2009-05-18T14:02:00.000-06:00

I love Mike and how he puts up with me. He is one that likes to have everything planned and scheduled weeks in advance. So for mothers day he wanted to take me out to eat and than on to a movie. He said because it was mothers day I got to pick what I wanted to eat and what movie we would go to. I think he asked me everyday several times a day what my choice was. Or if I had decided on what we were going to do. And I being the person I am had not really thought much about at. I do not need things planned out and organized, I just go with the flow. So finally on Saturday I decided that we would just drive taking random turns until will find something that neither of us had ever eaten at. I think this about killed Mike. But it ended up working out great and Mike enjoyed himself. We ended up downtown walking around and found this awesome bistro called Vienna Bistro, here is the website, http://www.viennabistro.com/. They were having a great deal where you could get a 4 course meal for only $30 dollars. It was great!! We got to try new foods and be with each other. This was also a big leap for Mike trying new foods, and he loved it. We both got different things so we got to try a lot of different things. It was great to get out and have a night out with just Mike. Oh and we didn't go to a movie nothing I'd like to see. Thanks Trish and Stephen for babysitting for us.

Boy how he grows so fast...

2009-04-18T10:25:00.000-06:00

Brody is getting so big and growing so fast. He is doing really well pulling himself up on things and will do so when ever he can. He simply loves to cruise every where. He does get around mainly by doing the army crawl. He can crawl normally but is lazy and does not want to get on his hands and knees to crawl. He is always on the move and exploring everything. He is starting to really understand the word "no" and he HATES when I tell him "no". He just thinks everything should be his and if he wants to toss it to the ground he should be able to. Not the case. He loves to go and do and be active. He loves being outside and playing. He loves playing with other kids no matter if they are his age or not. He just wants to be doing what they are and gets a little frustrated when he can't do it all. He is just a happy baby!!! And I am ever grateful for that!

Brody's First Easter!!!

2009-04-15T11:18:00.000-06:00

This Easter was Brody's first!!! We went to our Easter ward activity on Saturday and Brody had fun just playing with all of the other kids there. Forgot the camera, for that, sorry. We found out that day that he really just likes to play with the plastic eggs. So that is what he did, and for a long time.

Easter Sunday he got up and got his basket. He really did not care much for it at first. I had to start pulling things out for him to look at and play with before he really started to do anything with his basket. That evening we went to Mike's parents, had dinner and Aunt Heather put on an easter egg hunt for all of the children. She fills the plastic eggs with fun little stuff and some candy. Thanks Aunt Heather for making it a fun day.

Brody again had no idea what was going on, but loved the colorful eggs. So he just sat with his eggs around him playing with them. And all of the other kids were great to not come and take the eggs that were around him. Oh and yes I forgot my camera again, but Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kathy came to our rescue and let us use theirs. Thanks guys.

An afternoon in the park!

2009-03-17T10:20:00.001-06:00

Saturday was a very beautiful day. Pretty warm and sunny, which was well needed. So we decided to take a walk around the park and stop at the playground for Brody. We had a blast!!! Brody loves to be in his stroller as long as he is moving and he can see everything. So he was just talking and smiling away at all the people we past, who of course had the same idea as we did.

We stopped at the playground and let him swing and go down the slide. He loved the swing, The slide he was not so sure of.

We just enjoyed getting out and having warmer weather to enjoy. We cannot wait for SUMMER!!!

FUNNY SIGHT AT THE PARK!!

So as we were walking around the park we saw a patch of sun with a couple sunbathing, mind you it was still only 56 degrees outside. As we looked further we noticed that only 50 feet in front of them there was still snow covering the ground. Needless to say we indeed thought this a funny sight. So we thought we must share!!

Our darling little Boy!

2009-03-17T10:19:00.001-06:00

Well what can I say we just have the cutest kid ever!!! Ok maybe like any mom, I am probably very biased!!! But I say it’s allowed… So I thought I would just show off Brody to everyone. Here he is…

Yes his new thing is sticking out his tongue.

We finally got moved in.

2009-03-17T09:55:00.001-06:00

Well just a little note to say we got moved into our townhouse. We are way excited to really settle down in our new place and to be done with unpacking. We will have pictures here soon. Probably when everything is all unpacked.

A Lovely Valentines Weekend!

2009-02-23T10:33:00.001-07:00

We had a great Valentines Weekend. We were able to celebrate V-day on Friday. Trish came over to watch Brody and Mike and I went to a movie, which we have not done in a very long time. It was great. Mike let me pick the movie we were going to watch, and he sat through Twilight with me even if he probably didn’t really want to. What a great guy!!!

Saturday was a very busy day. Mike had school then I had a baby shower to go to and then the fun began again. We were able to go to the Draper Temple open house with Mike’s family. It was beautiful!!

It was a very busy at the temple. It was a huge crowd and we herded through very fast. But we could still feel the spirit and enjoy being with each other. It was great to be able to be in one of the sealing room with Mike’s family and listen to the volunteer talk about how important families are.

Brody was so cute. He was great they entire time. There were times he would just stare off and smile. He loved looking at all of the pictures, especially the ones of Christ!

It was just a great weekend…

Feeding the Ducks

2009-02-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well with that not so great bread that I made, we ended up going and feeding the ducks. The ducks just absolutely loved my bread at least there is someone or should I say some animal out there that appreciated my homemade bread. It was pretty funny. Due to the cold weather there probably have not been a lot of people coming to feed the ducks so when they saw us they went crazy. Brody just watched everything and was a little frightened because they were so loud.

Just so you know I sound like a little girl in this video.

The month of January!!!

2009-02-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

This month has been getting into the grove of us starting school again after Christmas break. Mike started at a different school which he is really excited to be at. He transferred down to Utah Valley University (UVU) formally known as Utah Valley State College (UVSC). This is really going to help him out. They offer a lot more night classes and Saturday classes, which help him because of him working full time. He works so hard to make everything in his life fit. He really tries to balance work, school, homework, and us. Making sure we feel taken care of and loved. Mike loves to come home and see Brody, because Brody’s face just lights up and he gets so excited to see daddy. How couldn’t that just make your day!

This semester I was able to get all online classes which really help me out because I do not have to find a babysitter for Brody. But sometimes it seems like all I do is sit in front of the computer. Which is fun at times but it can get very old very fast. I do have a pioneer trails class in April that I am looking forward to. It’s a weekend trip that I get to take for my degree, guess I can’t complain about that. I have also been busy trying to get my new calling up and running. I was called to be the compassionate service leader. There was nothing really in place when I was called so I am starting from scratch. Which is just fine for me, I get to start it and run it the way I want to. I really am a control freak!!!

Brody is growing and living life as happy as can be. He is such a joy to have! It is so easy to make him smile and laugh. Which in turn make Mike and I just smile and laugh. He is growing so fast and getting so big. He loves to stand, while holding onto me or Mike and to other things. He does not cruise yet, but that is fine with me because he is not even crawling yet. He likes to just role to where ever it is he wants to get to. He is fast at it too. He loves people and will go to really anyone that offers to take him. I don’t know where he gets that one from?

CrAzy iDeAs!!!

2009-01-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to have a goal of being more resourceful. This meaning that we are trying to cut down in ways that will be more beneficial to us. So we thought we could save money by making more instead of buying more. We already have been making Brody’s baby food, so we thought sure; let’s make home made bread. This will help us to cut down a little more. Great idea right????

Well the thing with this idea is that I have never made bread without a bread machine or all by myself. So I found a recipe that looked pretty easy so I thought I would try it today. Just a side note I don’t even have a mixer that has the dough attachments. So I did pretty much all of it by hand. It is a nice work out for your arms that’s for sure.

Here is what they look like…

Oh sure they don't look to bad, but they don't look the best either. We have tasted them and well they need a lot of work. I guess I need to work on it just alittle bit. Ok practice makes perfect.

I am thinking that this was a crazy idea, and I am just not domestic enough. I might try it again when these loaves are finished. We might have to go feed the ducks somewhere with the left over bread. And hope it does not kill them.

Really, it was a fun experience and I will probably try it again! Someday....

CHRISTMAS!!!

2009-01-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

We had a very lovely Christmas!! It was rather relaxing. We spent Christmas Eve with Mike’s family and just had an enjoyable time. We got a cute picture of three generations with Mike, Brody and Grampy. How they all look alike, so cute. Christmas day we opened our gifts together and loved relaxing. Brody was cute opening his gifts. We told him for so long the he could not touch the gifts and he had to leave the bows alone that when we put the gift in front of him to open he pulled his hand a way and looked at us like we were crazy. It was funny! At least I know he was listening. Once he realized it was ok for him to touch the present he loved ripping it open. Really he loved the boxes and the wrapping paper more than his presents.

We than went over to Aunt Myrna and Uncle Mariano’s for lunch and loved being with their family. It was a beautiful day; we did get snow on Christmas and lots of it. It was a fun first Christmas with Brody. What great memories we will have.

Things to catch up on!!!

2008-12-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well as you can see it has been a while. These past couple of months have been very busy. We were able to go out to Colorado for Thanksgiving it was a blast, and I forgot to take pictures. So sorry there are none to share. It was our first long drive with Brody. He handled it very well. We thought at first that he would do better if we drove through the night so he would just sleep. That did not work as well as we thought it would. But he really did great. On the drive home we drove during the day and he was fine also. So maybe that is a sign that traveling will be fun when he gets older. He was just ready to not be in his car seat for a long time. While there we just had a fun relaxing time. Brody loved all of the attention that he got from his aunts and uncles but mainly he loved his nieces just oohing and aahing over him.

Mike and I finished off the semester and are enjoying our break. I have been able to read just for fun. Also I have done some long well needed house cleaning. It is just very nice not having to worry about homework.

Halloween!

2008-11-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Halloween was fun we had a ward party and than Trunk-or-Treat after. Here is Brody in his Teddy Bear costume, and Holly in her Pirate Princess costume. We won the best decorated car!!! Really we did not do much, we put it together last minute. We made the car as dark and black as we could by putting black trash bags over all the windows. We put up some caution tape and spider webs, played some halloween music and had a strobe light. Then Mike got in and layed down in the back wearing all black with a tub of dry ice. So you might be able to see where this is going... Mike would grab all the kids oh and all of the adults as they came by to take candy from the back. It was fun watching everyone jump. Mike enjoyed watching the little girls run away crying. We did not get a very good picture of the car, to dark. Sorry y'all missed out, it was AWESOME!!! And what can we say we set out to win and we did. And what did we get for winning? A Snickers bar, and it wasn't even the giant size one. That was fine, we just had fun...

TEETH!!!!

2008-10-29T09:41:00.000-06:00

Brody has two teeth!!!!! This past week Brody was acting more hungry than normal, so he was just a little fussy. So I just thought he was just growing more. Thursday I was feeling around his mouth and I felt a little bump. Friday I put my finger in his mouth to feel the bump and he bit me and he bit me hard..!! That was when I found out he had teeth. I looked and saw he had two teeth. He really gave no indications that he was teething, except drooling, which has been very normal for him ever since day one. He is just getting so big. We are having fun trying new foods and actually making our own baby food, it’s a great way to save money. He is really beginning to like green beans. Mike really likes that, they are his favorite.

What a cute laugh!!!

2008-10-17T16:58:00.000-06:00

I was able to take this and it turned out rather nice. It is a little dark, sorry about that, but I hope that ya’ll can hear his cute little laugh. Mike and I are always trying to find ways to get Brody to laugh. He will smile and just hold in his laugh and turn so red. I also have to make sure that Brody does not see the camera because he likes to look at it and grab at it so he will stop laughing or doing what ever he is doing so we do not always get the picture that we wanted. So I’m surprised that I was able to take this as long as I did.

Our life

2008-10-13T17:24:00.000-06:00

It is amazing how fast life changes. It has been four and a half months since Brody was born and life has just gone so fast. Brody is getting so big and we are having so much fun with him. He is really a happy baby. He always laughs and smiles at us and at everyone around us. He really loves the ladies, and just gives them all a look that they can’t resist. It is really scary how the girls just flock to him. I hope this is not an indication of what his teenage years are going to be like. Brody is growing and getting big. He weighs 13lbs. 15oz. and is 26 ½ in. long. Because he is doing so well we have started him on rice cereal, which has been fun to watch.

Mike is still working hard and going to school. He does not like his classes, and has not liked some of the things that are being taught. They bring up the church and say the church is doing things wrong. We have decided to take action and write to the dean of the department about the professor. We do not know what it will do, but at least they will know that it offended a student in the class.

I am enjoying my classes, and I am starting to figure out how to balance everything I get to do during the day. It’s pretty fun. I am setting up my internships and hope to be able to fit it all into my schedule next semester and summer semester. And then I will be done. Wahoo!!!!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Our new rides!

2008-10-13T16:49:00.000-06:00

Well, we only had Brody’s stroller for four months and it broke. So with the money we got back from the refund we bought Brody a new ride here it is… A jeep stroller, it is an awesome jogger and it rides so smooth!!!

Now that we have Brody we decided that we needed a more family friendly vehicle. We love our truck, but really I got tired of having to sit straight up. That was the only way we could fit the car seat in. We have been looking for a car and this is what we found and for a great price. Here is our new ride a silver Pontiac vibe, and we love it. And the gas mileage is great.

Brody's Friend

2008-09-18T19:32:00.000-06:00

Meet Holly, Brody's friend. During the day when I am at school, Brody goes over to Holly's house to play. And then on the days I don't go to school Stephanie brings Holly over to play with Brody at our place. It really works out for the both of us. I have someone to watch Brody when I go to school and Stephanie has someone to watch Holly when she goes to work. Both of us are grateful that it is working out. The price of daycare is outragous. They really have fun playing together. And Brody is nothing like his parents, all animated and stuff...

Here's the news with us...

2008-08-22T12:41:00.000-06:00

Well life around here is going so fast… It has been so fun just watching Brody grow. It seems that daily he changes and gets bigger. He is developing a great personality, and loves to be around people and be the center of attention. He really just rolls with the punches, and enjoys life. Unless he is hungry and then every thing has to stop and he thinks he is going to die if he doesn’t get food in his belly FAST!!! I did find out that Brody can sit through the entire movie A Bugs Life. He was calm the entire way through. Brody at just 2 ½ months likes to sit in front of the TV, oh so sad. He is always doing things that just make me laugh.

Mike transferred to a satellite facility that is only 5 minutes away from home. He is really enjoying it. He gets along so well with the staff he works with at the new facility and enjoys going to work. He is much happier there and I’m so glad. And he gets to come home for lunch so Brody and I like that part of it. He will also be taking a couple of night classes that will also keep him busy.

I am just enjoying being with Brody. School starts for Mike and I next week, and we can’t wait. Really I’m not ready at ALL. It is a little scary thinking of all of the things that I have to do now. It is one thing to go to school and have all that fun stuff, now there is a family on top of that. It will be lots of work. I just remember that there have been many people before me that have done the same thing. I’m not alone out there.

We are all doing well and love all of the new adventures that we have had and can’t wait to have more!!!!

Look who is going to be the next Olympian...

2008-08-22T12:23:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the bad video it's off of my phone. It was just so darn cute! Well Brody just absolutly loves the bath. He could stay in the tub for hours, he gets upset when I take him out, he could be turning purple and still get mad when I take him out. I'm even teaching him "on your marks, get set, GO". Right now he just loves the clapping and cheering him on. So look out everyone here comes the next Michael Phelps....

Fun Stuff!!!

2008-07-26T13:48:00.000-06:00

We have a cute kid!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Blessing

2008-07-26T13:28:00.000-06:00

On July 6, 2008 Brody was blessed. It was awesome to have all of our friends and family together. It was pretty sweet that with everyone that came we filled up over half of our chapel. We doubled the amount of people in our ward that Sunday. Brody was so very cute in his blessing outfit. And he stayed warm in his blessing blanket that my mother made. Thanks Grandma Linda. We enjoyed spending time with everyone that came.

Mike gave a very special blessing and know he was inspired to say all that he did. Brody is a great child and we just love him so much. Thanks to all that came and supported us on this very special day of ours. WE LOVE Y'ALL!!!!!

The 4th PARTY!!!!

2008-07-21T14:45:00.001-06:00

Well on the 4th of July many of my family was in town, mainly because they came for Brody's baby blessing, but none the less they were here and we had lots of fun. The whole family met at Aunt Myrna's and Uncle Mariano's house to have a fun BBQ and fireworks. It is always fun to get together when ever possible. Thank goodness for Myrna and Mariano and them opening up their home to have the get together. There was no way everyone could fit in our apartment. Keeping the guys busy practicing their putting...
Isabelle is practicing too!!!

The cooking of the food!!!

I just had to put this one Janette looks sooooo CUTE!!!

Dinner time! Yummy!!!!

A month later with Brody...

2008-07-03T16:09:00.000-06:00

It has been a month now and I think we are finally getting into a routine with Brody. It was a rocky start there for a little bit but it is getting much better. He is slowly gaining his weight back, just not as he should be. He is a month old and is not back to his birth weight yet, which he should be. He should be gaining about an ounce a day, he is not doing that. He has been at 7lbs 12oz for about a week. So we are now using a formula chaser after I feed him, we hope this will help him to gain the weight that he needs to. We just have to go in each week to check his weight and make sure he is gaining.

We are really excited that he is a very alert baby; he loves to just look at anyone who talks to him. He smiles and sounds like he is beginning to giggle. I know people say that smiling is because of gas, but I say it is because he loves me. So really I’ll take his smiles no matter what, if they are gas or not.

We just love having him here with us, so we can kiss and hug him when ever we want!!!! Enjoy the pictures of our sweet baby Brody. We certainly do…

Fun with Family...

2008-07-03T15:47:00.000-06:00

I can sit cross legged just like Uncle Mariano.

Cousin Aubrey is holding me so nicely!!!

Sleeping in the arms of my dad.

Hey look Serena is making funny faces at me.

Here are some pics!

2008-07-03T15:36:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!!!

This is his Sunday outfit.

His legs are toothpicks...

Isn't this great sleeping and smiling! I was smiling because he was sleeping.

What a cutie!!!

He's finally here. HOORAY

2008-06-12T16:03:00.001-06:00

On May 28th, 2008 our lovely Brody Michael was born, his weight was 8 pounds 1 oz and was 22 inches long. He is the cutest kid ever!! He is already showing his great personality. He is a very calm child and when he fusses he is pretty easy to calm. He does have very long fingers and feet which we just love showing off. I think he is going to be very tall when he gets older.

Well, it was a very interesting labor. I was in labor for 22 hours, when at 9 centimeters my body stopped progressing, I was dilated at 9 centimeters for about 3 hours when my doctor came in and said she was concerned, and felt it would be best for both Brody and I if we did a c-section. This freaked us out a little, but we wanted what was best for the both of us. It was not but a few minutes after that that our sweet bundle of joy was born. It goes pretty fast once they cut you open and pull him out. It takes much longer for the docs to sew you back together.

It has been a real adjustment healing from the c-section. You do not realize that pretty much all of your movements are helped by your stomach muscles. But all is going well and looking good. I can’t wait to be fully recovered from the surgery.

Mike has truly been a rock for me during this whole thing. He knew what to say and how to help me when I get frustrated because I need help doing things that I could do before. I’m so grateful for him and his love for Brody and I.

He is so Adorable

2008-06-12T15:59:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

No Baby Yet... Bummer

2008-05-13T15:00:00.000-06:00

So we wanted to just let everyone know that there is still no baby yet. Can you tell? We still have a week left, but are really hoping that he will come this weekend. Mike has it planned out that if he comes on Friday he can take 10 days off of work not just 8. This would be because of Memorial Day. I would just like to hold him in my arms, and not just my belly!!!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful. I ended up in the hospital because I found out that I have gallstones. And there is nothing I can do until after the baby is delivered. So there are many sleepless nights that I have to put up with the pain of passing the stones. I hear that this pain is much worse than laber, so I should be set. Right? Labor should come easy... I hope that is true, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Mike has been great, trying to take care of me and keep me as comfortable as possible as I am going through what we like to call an attack or an episode.

Mike has started his summer session of classes, and he is pretty excited about the classes he is taking. They are having him d0 lots of work, but he is grateful for the chance to be learning. He really thinks he will enjoy how these teachers are going to teach the classes, even with them just being online classes.

So that is our life right now, just doing the waiting game until our sweet baby boy comes.

Just a little update...

2008-04-21T17:23:00.000-06:00

Well Mike and I are just trying to finish getting ready for our son. Mike wants him to come as soon as possible, as long it is after the first of May. This is because I will be completely finished with my finals for the semester. Yah!!! But in actuality he is not due until the 20th. So I guess we will have to see when he is truly ready to come.

Mike is working hard at work and here at home. He has been great with helping me out, when I get to tired. Or I just can’t seem to work things out with my belly getting in the way. He’s my hero. He is also getting excited to be starting school again this summer. He will be taking 2 classes online, along with working full time. He will be busy.

I have been continuing to work on homework and stay sane while I am here at home and not working. I will be grateful when school is finished for the semester, and I don’t have to think about that for a few months. I have a new found love, which has been keeping me busy. It is that of putting different picture slide shows together. I just found that I like to be creative this way. And it allows me to use and show off our pictures we have.

I'm just going to show off a couple that I have completed.

A slide show of our wedding

2008-04-21T16:06:00.000-06:00

It was just fun to put this together!!!

So I have had a few technical difficulties. Hopefully this works better!!!

Some pictures of beautiful Utah

2008-04-21T15:52:00.000-06:00

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Taking a peek at our son's room!

2008-04-10T15:19:00.000-06:00

Well, we are so proud of how cute our son's room is. We are also very pleases with the way the crib turned out after Mike painted it. So we thought we would put up a little clip that shows what the room looks like. Hope you enjoy...

"us" now!!!

2008-04-07T17:19:00.001-06:00

Well, right now we are just preparing for our bundle of joy!! He is due May 20th 2008 and we simply cannot wait. We are enjoying putting his room together and making it as cute and boyish as we can. Mike enjoyed painting the crib and setting it up. When he finished he did say he was done with painting for awhile. His room is a safari/ Noah’s Ark theme. We know they really are not the same but it looks darn cute. Really it just comes down to more of a fun animal theme.

Mike has been working long and hard to support our family and I know I truly appreciate all that he does for our little family. He likes working and being busy. He is always ready for a challenge or should I say a project either here at home or at work. He likes setting goals and finishing them by the deadline he chooses. He is simply amazing!!!

I was advised to quit my job because all of the cute little kids I worked with kept me running around and they also enjoyed giving me every little illness that they caught. So I ended up sick every week and just could not fight it. I do miss them, but I am really enjoying staying healthy. I have been well now for 3 weeks straight now that I am not working. This has been an accomplishment for me, both staying healthy and staying home and being sane. I enjoy working, and can get bored easily. I have lots of homework to do so I work on that.

It really has been fun preparing for our little one! We really can’t wait to hold him in our arms and just love him lots.