Idaho Visit

Kyler over intercom: "Welcome on a board everybody!"We took a trip out to visit my family in Meridian, Idaho for my sister Camille's HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION!! I can't believe she is all grown up. I'm sad to say that we neglected getting pictures of a lot of things and people, we were very busy every moment! It started with a graduation party that Camille shared with a couple of her close friends that she survived High School with :)
Grandma Kathy and Kyler have a very special bond :)

Sisters ;)

The big day! Here is me with the Graduation girl - I wish I had a pic of Camille and Mom and the girls and I together!! Camille has done so well, our brilliant busy bee, graduating with High Honors, qualifying for scholarships, and even got the only female solo that was performed with the choir at Graduation... and will be attending BYU in the fall!!

Here is my Aunt Connie, cousin Cassidy & Uncle Dan. We actually went up to McCall for another Grad party with Cassidy(who also graduated) and a visit with Gma & Gpa Brown(which I don't have a pic of!!!). We relaxed and spent some wonderful time with Gma & Gpa Brown, played our progressive rummy card game, and Gma Brown is the cutest, sweetest little busy-body in the kitchen all day and fixes the most wonderful meals, and Grandma Kathy took Kyler "hiking in the mountains" which he has been looking forward to for months!

And on our way home, Dan & Connie gave us a tour of their beautiful property, we played with animals(ducks, chickens, dogs, horses) found some elk tracks, skipped rocks on the river, and explored so many fun things in nature! (I even got to go on a little horse ride with Dan!)

Camille and I also took a little post-graduation road-trip that was a blast! My mom was working and Kimberly and Holly had school, so Camille and I took off down to Provo so she could show me BYU, and we went on a (not so)little hike to a natural hot spring!! It was SOOO amazing, beautiful and fun. We had a little adventure, and spent some time at temple square on our way back. We even wished the same wish in every fountain on temple square... so we're hoping it all comes true :)

(this one is for you Camille hahaha!)

I could add so much more if I had more pictures!! We did so much, Kyler loved the trampoline with the girls, my mom SPOILED the kids every moment, with a remote control truck for Kyler and a tutu for Brynlee even on our way home from the airport. Every minute just FLEW by. So. much. fun. I miss you all!!!!!!!

Easter & Mother's Day(and everything in between)

Happy Mother's Day! I am so grateful to have such healthy & happy kiddos and a loving, hardworking hubby - I thank them and the Lord for everything. Kyler made me an adorable impression of his handprint at preschool - he explained he painted the outside my favorite color(purple) and his handprint his favorite color(blue). I LOVE it! Josh also made monkey bread for breakfast, gave me a pretty orchid corsage to wear to church, and a beautiful boquet of 100 blooms of mini colorful lillies.

Kyler and I picked these lilacs and some sort of pink flowers from our tree, and Kyler took this picture of them. Nice to see how different things look from his angle sometimes :)

Kyler is such a good kid! (well... most of the time... haha!) If Josh or I are working on something, he is right there wanting to help - and he's such a hard worker! He loves to please us, and he gets so pleased with himself when he does something he knows is good. This weekend he washed the outside lower windows all by himself, and was so excited about doing it, and then even helped Daddy fix the screens. I paid him $1.00 for doing it, and I was so surprised that he could have cared less about the money. Then, after all that, he noticed a nail was sticking out of the fence, and I supervised him asking Daddy for a hammer, and going over and hammering the nail back in all by himself(I stood a couple feet back the whole time), and returning the hammer to Daddy. I'm already so impressed with my little boy!

Josh has been awesome about taking the kids out for wagon rides a lot lately, enjoying the welcome spring weather. It is something that they both are CRAZY about, even though they are a couple years apart in age, which is nice. Pretty pink toes!

Easter was so much fun this year! The kids both had a great time searching for eggs, Brynlee was at a perfect age for it, as she moves all over the place and loves to find new things she thinks she's not supposed to get into ;) We didn't actually get many pictures, just tried to enjoy what was happening!

Spring Break

Here are some pics from our little spring break here in Des Moines. Josh's family took us over to the Ramada indoor waterpark/hotel where we stayed overnight, had some fun there and went bowling the next day.

Brynlee LOVED the water, and she is so brave! She kept dunking her whole face in, and didn't care if she got splashed. Kyler was a little bit more reserved, but he definitely enjoyed the water and playing with the kids - and even went down the big waterslide! Standing at the bottom, waiting for them to come out and worried I wouldn't snap the picture right at the correct moment, Josh comes around the corner using his arms to push them the rest of the way down it haha! Apparently, sitting upright with a kid on your lap slows you down a bit :)

The Artist & The Teether

Hello again... two posts in one day, wow! Just wanted to share what a little artist Kyler has become. His attention span for sitting and creating is very long for his age, and I like to think his artistic talents are above average as well! Seriously... he is only 3!! Here is a picture of a dragon he did, that has people all around who are fighting the dragon(so he explained). He has been working on using scissors and glue at preschool, so he has taken over my craft table and spent all weekend making creations there.





And... Brynlee has teeth! Two teeth on the bottom finally popped in, a couple days apart from each other. I love her adorable gummy smile, so it's going to be sad to see her grow up a little bit and start flashing those pearly whites. She isn't crawling yet, but will rock back and forth on her hands and knees, so I'm sure it'll be happening soon. Any encouragement from Mom & Dad just makes her very angry though. Miss In-de-pendent! She loves baby food and munching on just about anything, and has no problem eating her veggies(unlike her brother!). I don't know how much longer we'll be nursing, she has been less than interested to say the least.

And lastly but most adorably... she SINGS! Yes, I will try to get it on video! It's sooo sweet, when I sing to her, she sings back to me. It doesn't work with anyone else, and when I stop singing so does she. I hope it's not damaging her natural ear for tune having to listen to my voice, but I just do what I can! I wish her AUNTIES were here, she clearly has had some influence from Camille singing to her so much as a baby!

The latest!

Well it's March already and I can't believe it! Time just keeps moving and when I get focused on the happenings and daily life, all of a sudden I look around and months have gone by! We've had some up & down weather, some fun activities, and the kids are both wonderful as always and growing like weeds!

Here are some random pics of what we've been up to... Josh's BIRTHDAY(he's 29 now!!), some *rare* nice weather, and an awesome Family Home Evening that Josh surprised us with(decorating plates with glue and beans!). I'll try to be better about sharing the happenings around here more often!

My baby girl is 6 months old!!

Looking back....

My baby doll. My angel. My little best-surprise-on-earth! ahhhh! I can't believe she has gotten so big. Brynlee Aline was 6 months old on Christmas Eve - my, how the time flew by. I'm in love with her, her daddy just adores her, and Kyler is.... a little obsessed! She has changed our lives forever, our little gem, our little jewel, our little sweetheart.(ignore my post-baby-fatness below... but she is just SOOOO little here! and where did all that hair go? haha)

Brynlee. 6 months old. Sweet little serious-face. Milestones? Yes! She has known how to roll for a while now, but only does it when she wants to get to something. Crawling, not so much, but getting there! She pushes up on her arms very high and scoots herself backwards. Sitting up very well now, but still needs a pillow behind to catch her just in case. She loves her baby food, and water from a sippy cup. And WATCH OUT! She is very grabby! I'm surprised I'm not bald yet... She is very kissy and has discovered how entertaining attention from people can be, even though she is still a serious-face while she watches them make funny faces at her. We love our little girl!!! (warning: large quantity of unnecessary pics below!)

Warning: "Churchy" Stuff!

Well first of all, Happy New Year! I usually am not much into New Years resolutions, but this year I definitely have some things I'd like to improve. I'd like to share a couple.

1. "No TV Night!"

Thursday night is now "No TV Night" in our house! More peace & quiet, and more time for more important things. Last week was the first time we did this, and to be honest, I was surprised how tempting it was to turn it on, and how strange it was to go to bed without having had it on all evening.

2. Study with Gospel Doctrine Class

Now I know, we should all, always, be studying and growing our testimony. But looking back over the past couple years, it sometimes feels like my Sundays are about just trying to handle my kids and completing duties for my calling, and then my physical & mental energy is spent. Sort of *surviving* and not *thriving.* And having the missionaries over for dinner a lot during the week has brought a certain spirit of learning and studying into our home, since I never served a mission myself.

3. Journal with Scripture Study

This year our Gospel Doctrine class at church is studying the New Testatment. I am very excited to refresh my memory and learn more about my Savior, His teachings, and His time here on earth. and... journal about it! I can't believe it, but I don't think I've ever journaled along with my scripture study before.

So, there are many things I am going to try to do this year, of which I've shared a couple. Each thing isn't important specifically - there is just a certain growth that I am searching and hoping for. I'll try to keep you posted on how it goes! Hopefully I will stick to it! Being a mom and raising God's children is important, comes first, and usually takes up most of me, but I'm determined to make the most of what's left of me!

Christmas Day

Sorry I'm behind! Christmas day was wonderful! The kids were both SO FAR BEYOND spoiled it wasn't even funny! It took all day long to open all the gifts under our tree, and Kyler was very excited to see the wagon that Santa brought him & Brynlee, as well as so many other gifts. Lots of family members spoiled the kids too, we are all grateful for everything that we received.

Brynlee turned 6 months old on Christmas eve, and she had soooo much fun opening things on Christmas day - we had to be very careful she didn't swallow any wrapping paper, she is so GRABBY these now! And everything instantly goes into her mouth, and man is she fast! Kyler is growing up so fast, this year he was so focused on and interested in everything he could hardly take a moment to smile for a picture. He helped every person open their gifts, and was very excited to spend all day playing with everything! We spent some time at Josh's parents' house with the family, and got to see his sister Ang & her family visiting from Texas, and we were also able to skype with some of my family out in Idaho too.