Monday, December 31, 2012

Trucks

I have plenty of Christmas videos and pictures to post but for now I just want to write down a few stories before I forget them.
We have been looking at F150s. We are thinking it might be our next car. We have taken test drives, and looked up a lot of info on them. Caleb loves trucks and the fact that we have been looking at them makes him super excited. Once when we were leaving a dealership he said, "Let's come back tomorrow and get it." Derrick explained that we still have to save up a little more money before we can get it.
While in San Diego, Caleb was in the car with my parents. They drove by Christmas display of Santa driving a tow truck with his sleigh in the back. Caleb said something to the effect of, "Santa is driving a truck. Daddy is saving his money so he can buy a truck. Maybe Santa lost his reindeer. Maybe he is using his delivery truck to find the reindeer." Later they saw some reindeer and Caleb said, "There's his reindeer."
Last night we had dinner with Derrick's family. We told them the above story. Julie asked Caleb, "Are you going to get a truck." Caleb said, "Yes. I've never had a truck before." Julie said, "Neither have I." Caleb said with a confused look on his face, "You haven't?" His face relaxed and he continued, "You should get one."
Here's a funny Brynn story: My mom had some trail mix in her hands, Brynn was eating out of it. She ate the M&Ms first, then yogurt raisins, then pretzels. She put a sesame seed stick in her mouth and spit it out. Someone told her to go put it in the trash and she did. She looked at the 4 raisins left in my mom's hand and my mom asked her if she liked raisins as Brynn grabbed them all out of my mom's hand. Brynn answered her by turning around and walking away saying, "Trash."

Friday, December 21, 2012

To remember

I think I've mentioned before that Caleb always says to us: "Tell me a talking scripture story." A more recent one is Moroni hiding the golden plates and Joseph Smith finding them. The Friend this month had paper puppets of this story. We did it with him last night, then today he was doing it all on his own. Later I heard him say in a powerful, superhero-type voice, "Angel Moroni, go to the top of the temple!"
I also heard him say yesterday, "I'm Captain Moroni!" I thought he was going to say Captain America. I love that he plays scripture characters instead of superheros. They should be the people we admire anyways right?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Pre-school Christmas Performance


Caleb had his pre-school Christmas performance this morning. He was sitting next to his 3 other friends from the playgroup we do. They totally bring out the silliness in each other, as I am sure you will see in the videos. Caleb is usually the one to start it too. He does the same thing with Brynn. At one point three of them started scooting their chairs toward the front of the stage. A few times they were kicking their feet and saying silly words. All the other kids were so well behaved. I don't know what to think of his behavior yet, hopefully it is just that he is still so young. Time will tell.
Also, Grandma, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Kent came to support Caleb. Brynn had fun sitting on their laps and clapping for Caleb. She loved his performance!

I took a lot of video, if you only want to watch a little, watch this first one. it is Caleb saying his part: H is for holly and Santa's red hat.


Saturday, December 15, 2012

Songs and Happiness

In music class we sing the C scale with, "Do, rey, me..." We also sing a song that goes, "So, me, so, me" and Brynn sings it every once in a while. I have caught her a few times now, on the piano, playing and singing, "so, me, so, me." When I showed up with the camera here she stopped singing but I got her to do it again. She was doing it all by herself though.

This week was the last week of music class for the semester. All of the kids brought an instrument. We brought Derrick's snare drum and maracas. While the drum was still out at our home, Caleb would play it and sing, "I am a Child of God." I didn't film that but today he got his guitar out and started singing and playing that song again. It's a little blurry but still cute:
We bought some Christmas candy for the kids, Reeses peanut butter trees, Brynn was so cute, I just had to take a video:
When Caleb saw me filming Brynn he had to get his picture taken too:
Also this week we went to a play place called Jungle Jim's. Caleb had been there twice before and was so excited to go. As we pulled out of our driveway to go there Caleb said, "Tonight we will have to pray that we went to Jungle Jim's." I love that! Before he prays at night we always ask him, "What made you happy today?" He knew right away that would be something that would make him happy.
Friday the kids and I went to pick up Jenna so she could stay with us for the weekend and we could give her a ride to the airport. As we drove up to BYU Caleb started chanting, "BYU, BYU, BYU, BYU."

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Before I Forget...

We went to Home Depot tonight. Caleb saw a couple get out of their car and said:
"Look a mommy and a daddy. They did not bring their kids though. He must be home with his grandma."
Grandma is always the one that watches him. His observations are really funny.

Kids and New Job!

 Brynn is just as sweet as that picture looks! Sorry, it's been over a week since I've blogged. I've been working on a quiet book for sacrament meeting for Caleb and that has consumed a lot of my time but I know it will be worth it. I brought a few almost finished pages to church on Sunday and Caleb was so focused on it. I'm trying to make it high quality so it will last through all of our kids!
This past week Caleb was sick on Monday and a little on Tuesday with a fever and a little throwing up right after meals. He seems all better now though.
In that past week we have driven around to look at Christmas lights 5 nights. The kids love it and how can you say no to such a simple request? Brynn is obsessed with Santa. Whenever she sees one she points it out immediately. We have also been practicing the song "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" because it is one of the songs in Caleb's pre-school Christmas performance this month. Brynn is even learning it. She sings, "Santa, coming, town." I tried to video it here but she was a little silly and wouldn't say the word "town."
On Saturday night we had gyoza (pot stickers) for dinner and Caleb loved them! The next morning he was jabbing about how he wanted them for breakfast. I told him we were having waffles but he could have them for lunch, which he was totally fine with. He started talking about how we have waffles and pancakes and cereal for breakfast and gyoza for lunch. I tried to get him to keep talking but I asked poor questions for that so this video is mostly him saying "yes" but it's all I took of Caleb so here it is:
And other big news is that Derrick handed in his 2 week notice on Monday. He will be starting a new job at a profitable start up called Lucid Chart. He is going to be paid a little less but he will get to do what he has always wanted to with his skills. He will get to be a manager where he will help junior engineers and he is even heading up the recruiting committee. If, within the year, he does well in his position he will be the director of engineering! We are so excited for Derrick to have better opportunities.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Outfits

My mom bought Caleb and Brynn Christmas outfits. They wore them today for the first time and got many compliments.
 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Thanksgiving

 Just like last year we had Thanksgiving at our house. The only difference is that James wasn't there :(
The food was good:
 The kids loved having family around to play with all the time. Caleb loved that Gram let him watch fun shows on her Kindle:
 Jenna read a lot of books to Brynn, especially one called DW All Wet. She probably read that one 2 dozen times because Brynn loved it so much. Jenna also taught Caleb a new song. After only singing it about 5 times Caleb knew this much of it:

Brynn knew this much:
We also went to Salt Lake City. Jenna and the parents went to an art museum while the rest of us went to the children's discovery museum. Then we met for lunch at Denny's. Lastly we hiked Ensign peak. This is the mountain top Brigham Young hiked, with a few other people, 2 days after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. He surveyed the area and planned out how the valley should be organized. It was at most a mile long hike (luckily you can drive up pretty far) but it was steep. Caleb did great. We hurt a little from having to carry Brynn but it wasn't too bad. The view was amazing though!
I loved playing games at night together and going to the temple together today. The family left tonight and are driving through the night to miss the traffic tomorrow.
I'll post my mom's pictures soon!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Slide

We bought a used slide this week and it was such a good purchase. It may be a little silly to have inside but when it is cold out it's a great extra thing for the kids to do.
Alright so this is kind of a funny picture but it is the best I got. We found out that Brynn has to be wearing socks when she goes down the slide or her feet stick and she will go forward in a face plant. Bust she is great with sock on!
Caleb had a friend over and they played on the slide the whole 40 minutes.They loved to try different ways to go down and up the slide. Caleb loves to show me his tricks:

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Winter is a grand old time...

Caleb was so excited for the snow to come and boy did it come! The deepest snow was probably about 8 inches but mostly it was about 3 inches. It didn't stop snowing for about a day and a half. Caleb begged to help me shovel the snow off the driveway yesterday. Then today he wanted to sled, build a fort and build a big snowman. Here's the fort:
He loved sledding too! It is so nice to have a little hill in our backyard so we don't have to go anywhere to sled. We actually went to Walmart this morning and bought this sled. The whole time we were shopping Caleb said, "Don't forget the sled."


I didn't get any videos of Brynn in the snow because she was very needy. She was super timid of the snow at first and didn't like it at all. Once we cleared some of the ground away and I took her down the sledding hill, she started to ask to go sledding again. And when I got the window to the fort built she loved looking through it and saying, "I see you." Then we sent Brynn and Caleb down in the sled together they fell over (Brynn face first in the snow) at the end of the hill and Brynn was just crying and miserable. We went inside at that point and had a nice warm bath. All better!
Brynn has been feeding herself for a while but I finally got a video of it:
Also, Derrick had to go to a Young Men ice skating activity and brought Caleb with him because he wanted to spend more time with Caleb. The cool thing about it is they went to the Olympic Skating Park. One lap was so big there were 2 hockey rinks in the middle of the track. Derrick stood behind Caleb and held his hands. After one lap Derrick worried Caleb was tired so he took him out but Caleb quickly asked, "Why are we stopping?" They went around a few more times. Caleb had a blast!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Halloween Night

Since we took pictures at our ward Halloween party we didn't take as many on Halloween night but here are the few we did take:

You can't really tell in the picture but I carved a Woody pumpkin for our little Woody.
 Derrick took both kids out trick-or-treating for a little bit, then came home and I went out with just Caleb. We went up a cul de sac and down one street. We had one more street to go up and after 2 houses Caleb said, "I'm all done trick-or-treating. I want to go home." I said ok but kept asking him if he wanted to go up to any of the houses we were passing and he politely said no. Crazy huh?
They loved the candy though:

Friday, October 26, 2012

Halloween Party



Are they not the cutest Woody and Bo Peep you've ever seen? Brynn is finally starting to like the camera...yay! She was saying cheese right before this picture:
  
I was so happy with how her dress and bonnet turned out
 At the ward party we found a Buzz and Rex too. We tried to get Brynn in the picture but she was scared of the other boys. I don't get that, they are so cute!
Here's the family picture we got:
 


















I was the lovely Katniss Everdeen! Did anyone just get that movie quote? I didn't even think to do her until 2 days ago when I realized I had everything for the outfit. It was perfect because a few people told me I really look like her. I attribute that to my brunetteness. I hated my hair as a child, I always wanted blond hair but I really love my dark brown hair now.
I even did the Katniss braid (we took the pic at the end of the night so it was kind of falling out). I was proud that I even got the cute twists in there.

Conversation

Caleb: Brynn isn't a baby anymore.
Derrick: Nope, she's getting to be a big girl.
Caleb: We need to get a new baby.
Derrick: We will someday.

Haha. Glad Derrick added in that "someday" because I'm not quite ready yet for another baby!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Ice Cream!

We just bought an ice cream maker and I am so excited to make all kinds yummy treats! Caleb has been loving it and he especially loves that it isn't very loud. When he was little he would crouch in terror and cry at loud sounds, now he just runs away.
The first time we made ice cream I grabbed a little spoonful and gave Brynn a bite without telling her what it was. The second she tasted it, her face lit up and said, "Ice cream!" That's my girl.
When Brynn says a pig noise it is the snorting through the nose. I have no idea where she picked it up because we didn't teach it to her. I've never seen Caleb do that either. I tried to get her to make that noise in this video but she got distracted by the camera. She was still so cute though, I had to include it:
We picked a jalapeno from our garden and it was sitting on our counter. Caleb picked it up and sucked on the outside. Derrick said, "Caleb you don't like that it's spicy." Caleb replied, "I don't like to eat it. I just like to suck on it." Silly kid.
Brynn loves to say, "I did it." She always says it at the right times too. It's cute. Also, she is starting to really love books. She will sit for a while and listen to them. She is at the sweetest age too. If I ever feel frustrated or sad or disappointed in myself for doing something wrong, I will hold her in my arms and soak in all her goodness. How could you not feel at peace holding someone so precious? When I am holding her in these times of sadness the spirit quickly overcomes me and I often cry because she makes me so happy. I know why Christ loves little children so much.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Barnyard Boo

We went to the farm on a special day when they had Halloween activities. There were lots of games like croquet, horse shoes, ring toss, "eye ball" toss and an obstacle course. He especially loved that they got to pick a prize at the end, sometimes it was candy.
Brynn was in the stroller most of the time but she was fine with that. Especially when she could still see the farm animals and eat treats.

Ashes, Ashes...

This is what we have done almost everyday the past month. Brynn loves the tramp and whenever she sees one she says, "Ashes, ashes."
I was trying to record Brynn talking about her blankie. Usually when I say that it is bedtime she says, "Blankie. Oh, nice," while putting her hand to her face. This reaction was more funny, though I still want to get the other reaction on camera.
I stopped giving Caleb naps, though I don't think he's completely ready. Twice he has fallen asleep on the couch while watching something. Transitions are difficult.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Life Around Here

Here's another watermelon from our garden. Huge, I know, but again it wasn't ready. Plus there were a ton of seeds, blah! I loved how Caleb posed for the picture though, his little personality is really starting to show!

I thought this was cute, Brynn wanted to ride and Caleb gave it to her:
This would be a good time to add that Brynn loves Caleb. When he was at preschool she came over to me and said, "Brah, Brah?" I could tell she was asking where he was. I told her he was at preschool. She looked around as though I had just told her a location in the house but she didn't know where and was looking for him. She misses him when he is away!
Here my phone is playing One Direction. Brynn loves this song. In fact, when I took her to Target this week she was singing, "Na, na, na, na" all throughout the store. I love it!


I posted this on FB but I will post it here too, for record sake, because I think it is funny. I finally got my first pair of skinny jeans. I really wanted some red ones for a while and I found the perfect pair for only $16 at Walmart. Good thing I've been doing Jillian Michaels workouts so I can look halfway decent in them!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Smart children

Brynn is so happy. I love this video I took of her just when I'm playing with her. She loves to laugh and Caleb loves to copy her when she is laughing, he thinks it is funny to imitate her.

She also is talking a lot these days. She picks up on everything we say and I will hear her say phrases I didn't know she learned yet all the time. We have lots of flies around our house now so "Shoo fly," is a popular one. I got her to say it on video:

Caleb a boy who wants to know how things work and why things are the way they are. This week we had the carpet cleaners over and he asked me what kind of vacuum they used. I told him I didn't know and he begged me to ask them. So right before they left we asked them and they explained how their cleaning equipment worked to Caleb.
This morning I was telling Derrick about an article I saw posted on Facebook about an off duty police officer who died in a motorcycle accident who had two young kids about our kids ages. Caleb asked what I was talking about. I told him a man died when he was riding a motorcycle. Caleb asked about dozen more questions. Here is about how the conversation went:
Caleb: How did he die?
Me: A construction truck pulled out on the freeway and the man on the motorcycle crashed into it.
Caleb: Where did it happen?
Me: On the road.
Caleb: Was he going too fast?
Me: Yes, they were going very fast.
Caleb: Construction vehicles need to go slow.
Me: Yes they do.
Caleb: Who was the guy?
Me: He was a police officer.
Caleb: Was he on a police motorcycle?
Me: No, he was going home after work.
Caleb: And he was killed?
Me: Yes, he went home to Heavenly Father. Did you know you lived with Heavenly Father before you were born? He went back to Heavenly Father but he will be resurrected someday. Who died so we can live again?
Caleb: Jesus.
Me: Yes, do you remember how Jesus died?
Caleb: On the cross.
Me: Yes, on the cross. And then he came alive again and we will come alive again too after we die.
Caleb: Did Jesus get his tools to fix the man?
Me: Jesus is going to use his priesthood to fix the man. The man will live again and be happy.

I loved this teaching/review opportunity. Caleb remembered the lessons we taught him at family home evening and he got to put it in perspective. I am so happy that his faith is growing so early in life.  I know his knowledge of the scriptures will help him throughout his whole life.
Here is a picture Caleb took of himself:


Johnny Appleseed

 At preschool this week Caleb learned about Johnny Appleseed. He came home with a "pot" for a hat. He said they planted appleseeds and watched a short video about Appleseed. Brynn liked the hat:

Though it was a little big:



Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Crazies

Caleb has been loving preschool. When I drop him off he forgets I exist the second he gets out of the car. He has been practicing tracing shapes and this week he started working on the letter A. I wouldn't have thought to teach a 3 year old how to write letters but he is doing pretty well. I totally under estimated the ability of a 3 year old.
Last week was my turn to pick up the 4 boys. For lunch they started doing going nuts. I had to get a video. I love Brynn at the end...hitting her head:
Brynn has funny quirks. Like when she is hungry she goes to the trash to find food. It's easy to know when she needs to be fed :) The sad thing is when I'm making her breakfast and she just can't wait...she gets a little impatient. Example: Last week she saw cookies on the counter and cried out for them saying, "I cookie, cookie, cookie, me." No Brynn, breakfast first not trash, not cookies. Haha.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Preschool!!!

Here is a pic from Caleb's first day of pre-school. It was when he got home and at first he refused to take a picture. Then I said if he let me take a picture I'd give him a brownie. That worked.
All I really know about how is first day went is that he colored some pictures and made a crown. Caleb didn't tell me too much and I didn't pick him up at the end of the day since my neighbors and I are switching off. He also came home with some bubbles he was excited about.
Here is a skirt, shirt and headband I made for Brynn. She smiled perfectly! It will be interesting being at home with just this cute little one while Caleb goes to preschool.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Pretty and Prayers

Brynn says this a lot so I had to get it on camera. If you ask her, "Brynn are you pretty?" She will respond, "I pwee pwee." It is too adorable.
On Saturday night Derrick and I went to the Piano Guys concert--which was awesome even though it was an outside concert and raining for 3/4 of it. We got some baby sitters (twin sisters) and when we got home they told us when they lay him down to bed he started bawling. He was folding his arms and saying something to them. When they finally understood he wanted to pray. So cute he is adamant about his prayers.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Watermelon and Card

Here's the watermelon we grew in our garden. It was huge but it wasn't ready when we cut it open. Oh well, we still got a cute picture:






































When Caleb heard Grandma was sick (lip hurting long after surgery) he said, "What should we do for her?" I suggested a card he color and he loved the idea. Here's what we made:





















Also, Caleb said his first prayer all by himself last week. Right as we were sitting down to dinner Derrick called and said he was coming home from work. I told that to Caleb right before he started praying. Here's what he said:
"Dear Heavenly Father. We are thankful for this food. We are thankful Daddy is coming home." Then he mumbled something I couldn't hear, "In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
It was perfect. He is such a sweet boy!



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Tent, Blankie, Walking

Friday night Derrick went camping with the scouts. Caleb was bummed he couldn't go, so Saturday night we let him sleep in the tent in our spare bedroom. He wanted the window open so he could look at the stars. So cute! We left it open until we went to bed (since the sun shines directly into that room).
Brynn sleeps just like this. She did it while awake on Sunday morning and I snapped a picture. Right thumb in mouth, grabbing her blankie with both hands. It is adorable.
 
Brynn is now walking but before she was, she did this for a few days. Creative girl.



Thursday, August 9, 2012

Beeeeeeads


Brynn has an obsession with her bead necklace. Every time I go to get her out of her crib she is standing up, smiling at me and saying, "beeeeeads" before I even get to her. She will cry in protest if you try to leave the room without them.The crazy thing is that she knew how to put them on without us even showing her.
Another thing she starting doing was bringing me her headbands to put on her. I even painted her toenails for the first time this week. She is such a girl...I love that!

Monday, August 6, 2012

The Grand Piano Story


We got up Saturday morning and decided to go to the case lot sale at Macey's. For those of you outside of Utah a case lot sale is where they sell a whole box of canned food for a discounted price, and Macey's is like the cheapest grocery store around.
So we were headed down Lehi Main Street and we start seeing signs "Piano Sale." Derrick suggested we go. I kept telling him no because we've looked at pianos before, we never buy anything and I hate getting pressured to buy. Also, I hadn't showered that day yet and was in work out type clothes. But since Derrick was driving he pulled in to an elementary school, where the signs led us. We saw men in in nice clothes walking in, then I really didn't want to go. Derrick persisted and I went.
The men in suits were the salesmen, so I felt better. I tried out a few of the pianos but what could I say, I didn't think we were going to get one so I didn't say anything.
We ended up finding out that the sale going on was done by a non-profit organization called Pianos For Students Society. They give pianos to schools to use for a year. At the end of the year, they sell the pianos. The schools get the benefit of having nice pianos, the company gets the benefit of having the school help promote the sale.
We found out that because of the program, 40% of the price was tax deductible so the other 60% is the only part taxed. That really started to intrigue us. We were also told that the grand pianos were only used in auditoriums and were only used about once or twice a month.
We were there for about an hour when the guy running the whole thing gave us an awesome price of $9,500 out the door: after taxes, delivery, set up and tuning. I looked to Derrick and said I'd get it but it's up to him. We would be using our savings for my dream, not his of flying lessons or an F150. He said he wanted to get it.
We walked over to pay for the piano and the lady taking payments eyes bulged when she saw the price. She was sincerely shocked at the price they offered us. We really felt like we got a good deal.
Our piano is a Hamilton which is made by Baldwin. 5' 8" grand piano. It sounds and feels amazing. I am amused to know that it is worth more than both of our cars.
 

Since we brought it home Derrick is always asking me to play. He loves it just as much as I do and that made me feel so much better about getting it. It will be a well loved piano!










Here is a recording I made with my camera. It doesn't give the sound justice at all but I had requests so here it is. The song is the 1st verse of an arrangement I did of Homeward Bound. I'm really bummed though because the original songwriter isn't giving out permission to distribute sheet music of other arrangements. This is one of my prettier pieces and I feel sad every time I think I'll never be able to let other people have it. Sorry, little tangent there.



Saturday, August 4, 2012

Cecret Lake Hike

We hiked up to Cecret (yes with a C) Lake last night with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Kent. It was a mile long and Caleb walked up the whole way on his own! Derrick carried him down.


When we got to the lake Brynn wanted to go in the water the whole time. Caleb had fun throwing rocks in the water. It was a great Friday night activity.






Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Chalk



On Sunday after church we got out the chalk. The second Brynn saw it she got so excited. Why? Because she loves to eat it. Don't worry, we limit the amount of chalk she eats, just 2 sticks per day. Just kidding, just kidding! We stop her as soon as we see her, or right after I take a picture.
Also I got the first picture of her standing. She is starting to do it more and more.


Friday, July 27, 2012

"Baby Steps to the Door"

First off, can you name that movie quote? Second, Brynn is taking her first steps! I am so happy about this! The funny thing is that when she sees us clapping, saying "yay" and just being so excited for her, she starts laughing so hard that she will lose her balance and can't walk anymore.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Big Brother Caleb

I was cleaning up a little accident in the bathroom (Caleb does this funny thing where is in front of the potty and completely misses it--no idea why or how, I never see it). Anyways, I left Brynn in her high chair with some snacks. When I came back her snacks were all eaten up and Caleb took initiative and started feeding her. I grabbed the camera because it was so cute:
Also, Brynn is taking her first steps finally! She gets really excited when we cheer her on...I'll have to get it on video somehow.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

San Diego Trip


What a fun 8 day trip to San Diego Caleb, Brynn and I had. We got there July 3rd, in time for James' commissioning. He is headed to medical school through the military and will be with the navy. That was a special event to be at, very touching. There was so much support there: family, friends, ward members and even a high school teacher (Mrs. Bagg-Rizzo). My Grandpa Jim even present James with the sword he had from 53 years back when he was in the navy.
 The next day was the 4th of July and we did the traditional Coronado parade, BBQ and fireworks.


The next day we all went out to Yogurt Mill, our favorite El Cajon frozen yogurt spot :)

We also celebrated James' 24th birthday that night!


On Friday we headed up to Huntington Beach and got a cousin picture (Andrew isn't in it because he wasn't there yet and James had to leave for the airport).

Then on Saturday was Jodie and Brent's wedding! In the morning we took the kids to the park to get out their energy before the wedding.
The reception was really fun. We ate, danced and had fun being with family. Here is Brynn getting her groove on (she's got my genes for sure!)
Me and my best cousin growing up. Fun times we had together! She was so pretty:

Sunday we went to church and the ward we went to was a family ward mixed with a single's ward. I had never seen that before. We sat in the back (a lot of singles were back there). There was a single girl who told me Brynn was so cute and she played peek-a-boo with her. I could see her yearning to have a baby of her own. I was totally that girl when I was single. It was good to see that because life with kids can be so frustrating and hard! I do terrible on little sleep, can't concentrate at church because I'm just trying to keep the kids quiet, Derrick and I cannot go on dates whenever we want to, I can't get to the gym very often and a hundred other things. It is good to open my eyes and realize I would much rather be a mom that makes sacrifices rather than not have my babies. They do make me happy and are so lovable.
After church we had our traditional bean bag tournament. Pop-pop and I were a team and we got second place! (I made the skirt I'm wearing in this picture)

Sunday night we headed back to SD. We took the kids to the beach on Monday and Caleb couldn't have had more fun. He loved making sandcastles and filling up the watering can and emptying it in a pile. He did this over and over again. It was pretty cute. Brynn loved the water, and squishing her fingers through the wet sand.



The last day there we went to Santee Lakes and played in the splash pad, fed the ducks and played at the park.

The kids had fun and Caleb asked if he could stay at Gram's house. Brynn loved the beads lying around for the kitty. You will see in many of the pictures above she is wearing them, she put them on all on her own...she is totally a girl and I love it!