Gram and Pop Visit!

Gram and Pop drove in on Wednesday and the kids were so happy to see them. Caleb had a count down calendar until they arrived and was so happy the day was finally here.
Thursday we went to the park and then the tulip festival after Brynn's nap. The weather was perfect and the tulips were gorgeous!

At the gardens we saw a snake!

We also bought food to feed the fish:

That night we went to BYU men's volleyball game. They lost the first two and won the final three to come out winners!
On Friday was Jenna's graduation. That night we had pizza for dinner then went up American Fork Canyon and hung out by the stream. Brynn loved throwing rocks in the water:

Saturday we went to the park. Pop helped us fix our sprinklers. After Brynn's nap we went to Provo where we fed the ducks at a pond, went out to dinner at Olive Garden and went to another BYU men's volleyball game. They won it in three and that made them MPSF Champions!
Here's a pic from the duck pond:

Gram, Pop and Jenna went home right after the volleyball game. We can't wait until they come again. And thanks Gram for taking all the pictures!

Derrick's the Man

This is a blurb that was sent out in Derrick's weekly company update. I loved how they appreciate Derrick and all his hard work because he really does so much! I definitely want to remember this:

As many of you know, Derrick joined us from Domo in mid-December.  He immediately took over and has been running our engineering recruiting efforts, and has done a truly fantastic job of taking this ball and running with it -- in particular deepening and broadening our recruiting efforts at BYU, leading our effort to build recruiting relationships at the U, and also just keeping our other recruiting channels well organized and running efficiently (i.e. promptly reviewing candidates and getting back to them quickly).  Though this job is largely unseen, it is safe to say that our recruiting efforts are far more organized and better run than they have ever been previously.  In addition, Derrick quickly took over a new team in Jan/Feb when we made the decision to split into three scrum teams, and has been doing a great job there.  And finally I think you will all agree that no one has worked harder or taken ownership more than Derrick to ensure that we are making progress and staying on schedule in our product and engineering efforts -- from researching different ideas for quarterly planning, to business development ideas, to the long hours and weekends spent recently on the user service.

So I'm really happy to announce today that Derrick has been promoted to Director of Engineering.  Derrick will continue to lead one team in our new eng structure (more below).  A big thanks again to Derrick for all his hard work and this well deserved promotion!

Family, Caleb 4 Year, Brynn 2 Year Pics

 

 

 

 

More Birthday Stuff

Both kids had doctors appointments this week. Brynn was on Monday. I threw away her papers before I wrote down her numbers but for height she was in about the 17th percentile. I do remember he weight was 24 pounds and she was in the 70's for percentile. She doesn't look that short and chubby to me. She is perfect!
Caleb had his appointment on Thursday. He was 38 pounds (68%) and 41.5 inches (77%). The day before his birthday he got a birthday hat and a little toy snake. He came home very happy that day.

 On his birthday we gave him a bike. Last week he saw a bike at Walmart with a pouch on the front and told us his bike had to have a pouch. We had already picked out a bike for Caleb and it didn't have a pouch so we ordered one online and put it on the bike. It was a good thing we did that too because that was one of the first things he pointed out. He told me, "It has a pouch and I wanted one!" It was kind of a bummer because it rained all morning and he couldn't take it outside but the early afternoon cleared up and he got to ride it. On Friday we took him to the park and started teaching him without the training wheels. He gets nervous but we can tell he is getting the hang of it.

Birthdays

So, we celebrated both Caleb and Brynn's birthdays on Sunday. We had cake and presents for both kids though we are holding out on a new bike we got for Caleb until his birthday on Thursday. 

Morning wake up:

Presents:

Caleb got a scooter from Grandma and Grandpa. The first time he got on it outside he could totally put both feet up and balanced while riding. It was amazing! I can't wait to see how he does on Thursday without training wheels on a bike.

Birthday song!

Brynn looked so cute at dinner I just had to take a video. I sure love this little girl:

For Brynn's birthday I just want to say all the things I love about her. I love her cute little curls, even when her hair is absolutely crazy in the back. I love her blue eyes and her smile. I love her funny faces, she has a lot of them. I love her girliness with beads, pony tails and remarks of how her clothes are "pretty", yet I love that she has a little tom-boy in her too.One of her favorite things to play with is balls. She even likes dirt and will play in it forever. I also love that she is so good at sharing when you ask nicely, like she wants to make you happy. I love that she tells me she loves me without me asking her to. I love when you are holding her and she gives you a hug around the neck out of no where. I just love her!

No Pics this Week...Sorry!

Stories:

• Brynn found a washer in the street. She put it on her finger and while smiling said, "It's a ring Mommy, a ring." She loves her bling!
• This is a sweet one. We went to a birthday party at a park. While sitting down to eat dinner there Brynn put her arm around me and said, "I like sitting by you Mommy." Melt my heart!
• While in the car we were listening to the song, "Nephi's Courage." Brynn was trying as hard as she could to sing and her words were always behind the song. At the end she said, "I was singing Mommy!"

A Story I didn't know until today

I had to add one more story because it is rather funny. We went to the park one day this week and actually saw three families we knew. One of the moms that was there that day came up to me at church and said, "I have a confession to make. My son laid one on your daughter the other day at the park."
There was one point where I was pushing Caleb in the swing and Brynn was off doing her own thing, it must have happened then. The mom said, "She was sitting down and my son went up to her and kissed her on the lips. I thought he was going to talk her her. She looked a little startled." The funny thing too is that this family usually sits behind us in church and today that little boy gave Brynn a smile and wave when he saw her. The mom said he usually isn't like that. Haha! It's too cute!

Easter

Not the best picture of Caleb but it is the best I got. Brynn looks cute though! We had an Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They loved the candy.

 Here's the videos I took from the hunt:

Show and Tell

Caleb had his turn for show and tell this week in pre school. Here is what he brought:

Story of the week: I gave blood on Thursday. When I got home Caleb saw my sticker and asked excitedly where I got it. I told him how they took my blood out, put it in a bag, then they will use on people who are really hurt and need blood. Almost teary eyed he asked, "How will you get it back?" I explained that our bodies are amazing and they make the blood again. By the look on his face I could tell he was satisfied with the answer.

Sickness and Cuteness

Caleb was sick on Monday and Tuesday. He had uncontrollable diarrhea and would go at anytime. He had no idea what was going on with his body and would ask me after he went with serious and scared concern, "What was that?" It was sad to see him not know what was happening with his body. He also threw up his breakfast once and had a little fever. Luckily Brynn didn't get it.
Here's Brynn singing I Am a Child of God:

Caleb was playing with the scrabble board. Derrick asked Caleb if he could help him and Caleb said, "Why?" I guess Caleb is becoming more independent.

Here's another cute picture I found of Brynn from a few weeks ago that I never posted:

Stories:

• Caleb saw a picture of a fork lift and said, "Those live at Home Depot."
• Caleb hasn't been liking my smoothies as of late. You know, the smoothies with the spinach and flax seed. He used to like it and now he avoids them like the plague. Brynn loves them and she wanted one tonight so I told Caleb I wouldn't put anything yucky in it. All I did was fruit, yogurt, milk and OJ. He still didn't want to try it but I eventually got him to do it. He loved it of course. Derrick came in the room and Caleb said, "Mommy didn't put any spinach in the smoothies. She just put in the good stuff." His facial expressions are what made the comment extra funny. He scrunched up his nose when he talked about the spinach and looked happy when talking about the good stuff.

Friends

I realized I never put this picture on here. This was from about a month ago but we got to meet Annette, Jared and Ellie for dinner. That was the first time I saw Elllie! She was cute and we all had fun together!

 Two Saturdays ago two of Derrick's college roommates came over. We had dinner and they gamed. It was fun to have them over. Sorry the picture is soooooo blurry!

The kids were flying airplanes around together, it was pretty cute:

Stories:

• Caleb and Brynn had to come with me to choir practice after church for a few minutes while Derrick did a temple recommend interview. I grabbed a hymn book from under the chair, Caleb saw me, looked interested that there were hymn books under the seats and asked if he could get one. I told him yes and he grabbed the one under his chair. Derrick said when he came and got the kids Caleb told him he wanted a book holder under his seat in the truck.
• This morning I was snuggling with the kids in Caleb's bed. I told them both that I loved them. About a minute later Brynn patted Caleb and said, "I love Caleb." She patted me and said, "I love Mommy." She patted herself and said, "I love me." It was so cute!
• Yesterday I asked Brynn what she wanted for dinner. Her response, "Milk." She would live off of milk if I let her.

Around Here

My camera is terrible but despite the blurriness, I thought this was such a cute picture of Brynn. I can't believe how big she looks! Isn't this a cute dress I made too?

I've been quite busy. Last week I went to the dental convention on Thursday and Friday, Lynne and Paul watched the kids. They took them to a place called Jump On It with bouncy houses and slides. Kids loved it. Derrick and I were able to go on a double date with Derrick's cousin Randy and his wife Marissa on Saturday (out to eat).
Caleb and I keep doing reading lessons. He is getting really good! He knows a few words by sight now, like is and cat. But the more important thing is that he is getting really good at sounding out words and hearing the word. He can get frustrated sometimes but I keep it positive and let him know he can get a treat when he is done and watch Rescue Bots.
Speaking of Rescue Bots, it is his favorite show and he always wants to play it. For example: he will flip a car over and pretend he is a rescue bot saving it. He comes up with all kinds of trouble and I or Derrick always have to go rescuing with him.
I got this video after Brynn woke up from a nap. The first thing we heard her say in the baby monitor was, "Come, brah brah, come" (asking for brother). He is usually the first one to go into Brynn's room in the morning and he will play with her, talk to her and get her toys. It is kind of cute. I tried to stay out of view for a little bit to get more of what they would say to each other. I didn't get too much but it is still cute:

Stories over the past 2 weeks:

• Brynn and I were walking around Hobby Lobby. Brynn sees some beads and says, "I love beads so much."She's becoming more of a girly girl every day. And the past 3 days she has wanted to wear like 6 necklaces all at once.
• We've been watching Brave a lot. Brynn will say things like, "Brave is sad," because she thinks Merida's name is Brave.
• Derrick's mom was going to borrow our Yonana. We have been using it a lot lately and Caleb loves adding in the ingredients. He asked why daddy was taking it and I told him: so Grandma can borrow it. Caleb got a really worried look on his face and asked, "Will Grandma give it back?" He got a little attached :)

Dinosaur Museum

We go to the Dinosaur Museum a lot so I don't usually think about bringing the camera, but I did today and here's what I got, nothing great but better than nothing!

F150

I've been waiting to post this until I finally felt at peace about this purchase. We bought a truck! Derrick has been excited from the beginning. At first I felt sick about it and cried. After a little time, I accepted it and started liking it. It has 6 seats and we plan on using it as our family car. We are excited about the convenience for scouting, getting large objects to our house and being safe when driving in the snow. Caleb loves it, and so does Brynn actually. I think it will be a good car.