Christmas Day!

I have to start by saying I was just as excited getting everything ready Christmas eve night as I was going to bed as a child waiting for the next morning. I loved creating the magic of Christmas. This was the first Christmas morning we did at our house and it was so fun!
Christmas morning we got up and Derrick went down stairs to get my present first (a new camera). It didn't have a memory card so I only got 2 ten second videos and two pictures but I was really happy because I have wanted a new camera for well over a year. While we were still upstairs Brynn kept saying, "Let's see if Santa got his bell." (Since he left it there the night before--see previous post)
We saw Santa did take his bell, the carrots, cookies and milk (Here's where the video gets cut off because of the lack of memory).

The kids were patient to open their presents until after I took a picture. We got this tree for free from one of Derrick's co-workers because the lights were broken. I took off all the lights (it took about 2 hours) and now we have a great tree. I totally made Christmas seem more real.

We got lots of fun presents. Brynn's favorites were her Rapunzel, Flynn and Cinderella dolls, nail polish and Frozen book. Caleb loved his jet airplane from the movie Planes and Legos. The biggest present Santa got the kids was an air hockey table. I was most excited about them getting this one.

Then we went to Paul and Lynne's house. We ate brunch, opened presents, went to the church to play basketball, had lasagna for dinner, played games and just hung out. It was a lot of fun.

 
Everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was so fun. In the morning we went to Dimpledell and swam. We think we will make it a tradition because hardly anyone was at the pool and the kids had a blast. Brynn kept saying the rest of the day that we should go back again to splash.

The afternoon was busy getting ready for family coming that night. Derrick took some time to play with Caleb in the snow. Derrick built an awesome fort!

That evening we had dinner at our house with Paul, Lynne, Rudy, Ruth, Scott, Julianne, Kent and Lisa. Santa (Rudy) came and the kids were surprised  for sure. Brynn was a little scared but she knows he's a good guy so even though she is scared you can tell she is trying not to be. Caleb was a little nervous but overall, excited.

 

After Santa left we played songs with bells. I played hymns on the piano and Lynne passed out bells for everyone to play. This has been a tradition in Derrick's family in the past and Lynne wanted to start it up again. I'm happy she did because it was really fun. We also played games.
Before the kids went to bed they left out cookies, milk and carrots for the reindeer. Santa forgot his bell at our house so we left it out as well.

Christmas Fun!

Two weeks ago we bought Stockings and each day throughout the week I decorated one. Caleb picked baby Jesus for his stocking and Brynn picked reindeer. Derrick's is the Santa and mine is the angel. Caleb was so excited about them. The day we first hung them all up he had Derrick close his eyes when he came home from work and open them to see the stockings.

Sunday was crazy. After church we were backing out of our parking spot and Derrick noticed the truck right behind us was coming out at the same time. Derrick stopped and beeped the horn but they kept coming and hit us. The tailgate and bumper were both damaged. We dealt with that for a half hour before Derrick ran off to home teaching. He was out for about an hour and as soon as he came back I ran off to choir. While at choir a friend came in and told me Caleb got hurt and Derrick was on his way to the ER with Caleb. I left choir and went home with Brynn (a neighbor stayed at our house until I got home). I later found out Caleb was putting his jacket away when he slipped on the tile floor and just landed on his chin wrong. He held a towel on his chin while crying on the way to the ER. When they got there Caleb got some gauze with anesthetic on it and he calmed down. While waiting, Derrick turned Despicable Me 2 on his phone and Caleb said, "This isn't a Sunday movie." Derrick told him it was ok if you were really hurt to help you feel better. After waiting about 3 hours Caleb finally got stitches. Derrick said Caleb was really brave. When they were giving him a shot he stayed stone still but little tears were leaking out of his eyes. Caleb came home and seemed totally normal.
Monday we took the kids to see Santa at the outlet mall near our house. The kids were both timid but not scared. Caleb stayed a step away from Santa and I kept bringing him closer to talk. Brynn hid her face in Derrick's arm at first but eventually kept her head up to talk to him. He asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Caleb brought a paper with pictures of toys he wanted from the Toys-R-Us booklet. Santa told Caleb to put it in his mailbox outside and he'd remember to get Caleb what he wanted. Brynn said she wanted candy for Christmas. At the end he gave them an activity pad with coloring pages and games. Afterward Brynn kept saying, " I like Santa. He's a good guy. We should see him again sometime." Because you had to pay for pics with Santa we just took a picture outside his house in front of this awesome tree.

Thursday was Caleb's preschool Christmas performance. He did a great job on his part and singing. The night before I told him Grandma was coming but Grandpa had to work. When we showed up Lisa was there, which made them excited. Lynne told me she was running late so the performance started and half way through Paul and Lynne walked in. Caleb saw them and said loudly, so the whole room heard, "Grandpa's here!" It was cute.

 After the program we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house where the kids watched Christmas movies, decorated gingerbread men, played in the snow and had fun with family. We had dinner together that night with Derrick joining us after work.

Stories:

• Derrick was telling Caleb he thinks about the kids at work and he loves to look at the pictures on his desk of them. I told Caleb that it was so nice of him to give those pictures to Daddy for Father's Day because it makes Daddy happy. Caleb asked, "When will it be Son's Day?" It took me a minute to realize what he was saying. I thought Sunday before I realized he said Son's Day. We had to explain there was no Son's Day, we celebrate birthdays instead.
• When I told Caleb about Grandpa not coming to his Christmas performance because he had to work Caleb responded, "Grandpa has to work everyday until he dies!" We then explained about retirement.

Snowed in but having Fun!

After a warm Thanksgiving week we had a freezing week of snow. We still found ways to have fun.
On Monday I had a doctor appointment (the one with a glucose test). Because this appointment would take a little longer than normal I told the kids if they were good we would stop at Deseret Industries on the way home and they could each pick out a toy. Well, they did great so we stopped by DI. Caleb picked out a four wheeler and Brynn found a pony. She had been playing with ponies at Grandma and Grandpa's house a lot and when she saw the pony she was so excited (it had a few markings on it and the hair was kind of ratted but she didn't care). She has spent much time in the tub giving her pony a bath in a 13x9 pan. Her pony is very clean. Brynn says all the time, "I love my pony." Here's what her fun looks like:

 On Friday we went to see Frozen. When I told the kids the day before we were going to the movie theaters they were so excited. At the movie theater they found these cutouts and they asked me to take their picture.

Stories:

• Caleb asked me this week if the baby in my tummy could hear things. I told him they can hear their mom's talking and if someone gets close to the mommy's tummy the baby can hear it. He went right next to my tummy and said hi to the baby. The next morning he did it again saying, "I'm glad you're a girl. You'll be my sister." It was so cute.
• I made stockings this week for the family and Caleb would get so excited every time I finished one. On Friday the stocking holders came in the mail so we hung up all four stockings. When Derrick got home from work Caleb said, "Close your eyes Daddy." He told Derrick to open them to see the stockings. Like I said, Caleb was excited.
• On Friday night we helped clean the church building. I really like when we do this because it teaches the kids the importance of Heavenly Father's house. First Brynn and I gathered the trash from every room and put in new trash bags. Brynn would push the big trash can all over the church, following me. Then Caleb, Brynn and I each got a feather duster and we dusted the baseboards and picture frames. The kids loved doing that too. It makes me happy to see them finding joy in service.
• The night before we went to see Frozen Derrick told Caleb he should tell Daddy about the movie when he got home from work. Caleb said told Derrick, "I will. And if I can't remember something, Mommy can tell you." I thought it was funny he knew he doesn't always remember things like that.
• I put together a little flower for a headband for Brynn. Caleb picked it up and asked how it worked. I told him you had to stick a headband through the loop. Next thing I knew Caleb said, "Mommy look!" Caleb had gone upstairs to get Brynn's headband, he put the flower on it and then put the headband on Brynn.

Thanksgiving Week

What a great Thanksgiving week! My parents were able to get in on Tuesday instead of Wednesday which worked out well for lots of reasons. First off, James was flying in Tuesday morning. We didn't tell Mom and Dad he was coming. Second, it allowed us to get tickets to the Carl Block art exhibit at BYU. So, on Tuesday I get James from the airport and we come back to our house. In the afternoon we headed over to the art museum at BYU to meet my parents. When we got there James waited outside and I went in with the kids. I told the parents that Caleb and Brynn had a surprise for them outside. They didn't seem to think anything of it. When we walked out James started walking toward us but Mom and Dad didn't notice him until he was right in front of them. The look on their faces was priceless. Mom cried and Dad looked amazed. It was a fun moment.
Wednesday the kids went to the park with Gram and Jenna. Then Pop and Uncle James took them to Arctic Circle for a milkshake and play place while Mom, Jenna and I went to see Catching Fire (it was just as good the second time).
For Thanksgiving Day the boys played football with the ward in the morning. In the early afternoon we went to Paul and Lynne's house for our Thanksgiving meal. The food was so good! Derrick took pictures:

Then we played games and hung out for the rest of the day.
Friday the parents saw some friends in Salt Lake City in the morning so the rest of us went to Hogle Zoo. Caleb's favorite part was the statues. He would look at the animals for one brief second before trying to get us to go on to the next thing. Brynn however, was fascinated with all the animals. She wanted to stop and look at them and watch them play or walk around. It was really sweet. When we were at the giraffes Brynn said, "He's looking at me. He likes me."

That night we saw the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point. A Santa and a polar bear light display each were waving. Brynn would say, "He's waving at me."
Saturday morning we went to the dinosaur museum. After Brynn's nap the parents took James to the airport. We then met them at the Clark Planetarium and saw the things they had there, which wasn't very much so we walked over to Barnes and Noble and let the kids play a little bit. Then we went to dinner at Chin Wah's. It was a yummy last dinner with family.
We then went home and Mom and Dad packed up and left. The kids had so much fun all week. They loved always having someone to play with and spoil them.

Story:

• Caleb and I cleaned the whole house for a few days before family got here. One of Caleb's jobs was wiping the light switches, doors and walls (he likes this job because he can really see those things getting cleaner). Derrick saw Caleb after dinner spill some milk down the front of the dishwasher to which he said, "I just cleaned that up!" three times with a little fist action. Caleb then got a paper towel and cleaned it up. He's even seen places on the walls or doors that he's missed and clean those up too. It's neat to see him take pride in his work and want to make sure he did do a good job.

Prequel to Thanksgiving

 This week I took Brynn to story time at the library while Caleb was at pre-school. I wish I would have taken a video at one point the lady reading the books turned on a song about a turkey dance and Brynn was totally getting into it, flapping her arms, stomping her feet. It was adorable. At the end they made these cute turkey hats. She wore it into Walmart later that day, she loved it so much.

Monday night for family home evening we made turkeys out of Ding Dongs, toothpicks and gumdrops. The kids had a lot of fun with it.

Stories:

• Before her night time prayer I asked Brynn what she was thankful for. She responded with her blankie. I told her that was good, what else made her happy. She responded with, "My thumb," while she was sticking up the one she always sucks. 
• Along with that story: Brynn held up her baby doll with it's blankie. Brynn told me, "She's sucking her thumb.
• Caleb loves to weigh himself. He has been between 40 and 41 pounds for a long time. This morning he got on the scale and it read 42. When I told him the number he put his fist in the air and said, "Yeah!"

Beautiful week ending with Snow!

Throughout the week the weather was awesome. We went out on walks in the morning and stopped at a park. After Brynn's nap we would take Brynn's baby on a walk and Caleb would ride his bike. It was a nice week!

 

Caleb always waits outside our bedroom door in the morning. This morning we could tell he was extra excited to come in. He told us with a big smile, "It's snowing!" He was excited to get out and play in it. He asked me if we could get dressed then he got on his socks, boots and coat on his own. Derrick got suited up, I got Brynn ready and they went outside.
The snow was perfect for making a snowman, Brynn enjoyed eating the snow...she ate a lot of it. Caleb loved throwing snowballs and they begged to get the sled out. We knew the sled wouldn't work but Derrick got it out and they had fun trying to sled down our hill.

 Caleb had so much fun with his Daddy!

It's a Girl!!!

We had our ultrasound on Monday and found out baby #3 is a girl. The pictures turned out terrible so I'm not going to post that. The kids came with us and we were nervous to tell Caleb it was a girl because he wanted a brother really bad. On the way home I talked to him about it and found out he just thought it was silly we were having a girl. He told me, "It's supposed to be boy, girl, boy, girl." It made no sense to him that it could go a different way. I told him about all the families we know that have a boy, girl, girl. I also told him about families with all other varieties. He seems totally fine now about getting another sister.
This week we also took the truck in for an oil change at Ken Garff Ford. They take forever to do oil changes! We love everything else about them. Anyways, we brought it in on Friday and I was told the wait would be 1 hour 40 minutes. Luckily I brought Caleb's big wheel bike and the stroller. We went on a walk and had so much fun. We saw a man-made stream and threw rocks in. We walked by a business building being constructed and saw a bulldozer, excavator, fork lift, steam roller, grader, crane and some other fun vehicles. We found a tree that shed a ton of leaves and made a pile to jump in (Caleb had been wanting to do that for some time). We saw a huge American flag and bird nests. We found another stream and threw more rocks in. It was a perfect day with perfect weather.

Halloween Week

It definitely was a week long event! Monday was family night and we made Halloween treats with oreo spiders and Frankenstein rice krispie treats. The kids had fun with that.

Tuesday Derrick's work had a party then we took Derrick to Cornbelly's with us. It was fun to share that with him too!

Wednesday was our ward Halloween party. The kids had fun playing all the games and of course the love being out of the house.
Thursday, Halloween, was great. Derrick took the kids out and I stayed home and handed out candy. Derrick said Brynn told everyone that she was "Tangled."

Caleb told me after I took this picture that he was making a pirate face. I love how he likes to play the part.

Kid #3 was my little speed bump. When Caleb saw my costume for the first time, he was way excited . He said, smiling really big, "You're a road!" He asked me what the sign said and I told him. He kept going up to me, pointing at the sign and reading it.

Fall Fun!

So much fall fun around here. So far this month here is what we've done:
McDonalds while Daddy was at priesthood session of General Conference. Caleb was super nice and took Brynn with him in the play place, even though he would have preferred to go faster.

The Barnyard Boo: At the farm they set up games for the kids to play. Even had candy treats after playing some of them.

Time at the park before the real cold kicks in. The weather really has been gorgeous the past two weeks. Got to love fall weather!

Cornbelly's: At Thanksgiving Point they have this every year. There was a corn maze for kids (bigger ones too), a tractor that pulled the kids in these barrels painted like cows, tons of slides (usually attached to some kind of wooden vehicle like this one or the one in the background of the lower video), bouncy houses, potato sack slides (super long), a mechanical band of farm animals (Brynn could have stayed and watched them the whole time), rubber duck races (you pump water to make them go faster), a rat maze (a box that kids crawl through and have to find their way out--Caleb loved it) and you'll see below a huge bouncer for kids. I'm sure I'm forgetting something! The place is so big that even though it's crowded, it doesn't feel that way.
We stayed for 2 1/2 hours and the kids never wanted to leave. Derrick had to go to BYU that night so it was just me and the kids. Definitely going back again!

 

Creamery, Camping and Sewing

 Made this dress for Brynn. She was a perfect little model for my obsessive picture taking.

Wednesday the kids and I met Lynne at BYU. We fed the ducks and went on a walk. The ducks were really hungry that day and when Brynn started feeding them they grabbed the crackers right out of her hand (her hands being level with their beaks). She started crying and I held her while she fed them. At the end of feeding them she said, "The ducks won't eat me."
We then went on a walk and met Kent. Then we went to the Creamery and joined up with Lisa for dinner. The kids loved their food, especially the ice cream cone that came with the kids meal.

Friday night we got a campsite so the boys and Grandpa could spend the night. Brynn and I just went for the evening. Caleb was so excited to go and any time he talked about going he could hardly contain his excitement. We ate hot dogs and smores, threw rocks in the Jordan River and gave the kids glow sticks The kids also loved playing in the tent. It was a fun night.

Fun times!

Derrick left to speak at a conference for computer scientists in San Fransisco so I did some fun things with the kids. We went to the gardens on a perfect day. The kids loved it and there was almost no one there

 One night we went to the farm. The sheep were really loud that night, which wasn't normal. At one point we Brynn was standing right next to fence. A sheep walked up without her seeing and baa'd really loud. Brynn was so startled she put her hands over her head, ducked down then came up with tears in her eyes. She was legitimately scared. I picked her up and she calmed down but the whole night she kept saying, "The sheep are loud tonight." Once she said it while on the wagon ride and the driver told us it was the first day they were weaning the sheep from their lambs. Engorgement. No fun. Loud baa'ing explained.
This video shows Caleb's favorite part. The pieces have picture of food on them so the kids can harvest the food and put it on the truck. It's cute.

Caleb also went on a field trip this week to the fire station. Brynn and I came along (most of the parents do). While waiting for all the kids to get there the fireman (who is actually in our ward) was being funny and asking the kids all these questions of "Raise your hand if." At one point he said, "Raise your hand if you are the oldest kid in your family." Caleb didn't raise his hand. "Raise your hand if you're the youngest." Caleb raised his hand. "Raise your hand if you're somewhere in the middle." Caleb raised his hand again. It was really funny to see how confused the kids would get at some of the questions. The firefighter was totally playing off of that to make the parents laugh. It was a fun time.
I sing the song "Mother Dear" to Brynn changing the word, "Mother" to "Brynn". She loves that a song says her name in it. When I first started singing it to her she would have a sweet, satisfied smile. Now she enjoys singing it herself:

Story:

• Brynn asked me to point where the baby was in my tummy. I showed her and she pointed there. Then she said, "Someday I'll have a baby in my tummy." I told her she probably would. Then Brynn said, "I love babies so much." If she is baby hungry at the age of 2, her future husband better watch out!
• The next day Brynn declared, "I'm sick! I have a baby in my tummy."
• At the farm Brynn asked what the name was of the pony she was riding on. I told her I didn't know and she said, "His name is Maximus (the horse from Tangled).

Last Week

Caleb and Derrick got baseball mitts and a baseball and have had fun playing catch:

One night after bath time Caleb and Brynn were just being cute playing with each other:

Last week we also had our rock wall redone, put in six trees and had some sod put in where some of our grass had died. The kids loved watching the excavator, front loader and dump truck work in our backyard. It looks really nice and we are excited for the trees to grow and provide shade in the future. We bought the trees a little bigger so that we can enjoy shade earlier.