Calling ALL Parents...

Well it all started w/being woke up by some footsteps downstairs...it's always Brooklynn but this time was different. I yelled down to Brook and the response was a little 2 yr old's mischievious voice saying "hi mommy"... I went down and found him w/the freezer open getting into the ice cream...then his hair was covered w/hand sanitizer, our electronic system on the wall was all messed up & all my papers on the counter all over! He had climbed out of his crib and came down the day before during his nap so now he thinks he can come down any time he wants -- let the game's begin ~

I didn't get pics of the early am mess but here is the rest of our morning! The pictures should tell the story quite well...

YES this is PERMANENT marker... It was all over the glass of these doors too but I luckily got that off -- the walls had to be completely repainted... Daddy your such a trooper -- that's what his whole Saturday consisted of, we've been needing to do a lot of touch up places in the home anyway so he was painting throughout the whole house all day!

On our furniture .. Thanks to some paint thinner that came off w/out taking the varnish off -- lucky boy!

"Daddy that wasn't me" -- On our hardwood...came off w/paint thinner as well!

It's okay daddy -- I really don't know any better, promise!!!

Not even 1 hour later... Purposely threw his cereal bowl on the floor food, milk and all!

WHO ME??!!??!! How can you not still love me w/this cute face!!! I didn't get a picture of it but as he was in Time Out for the wall ordeal he would sneak over to his tools and shove them into the vacuum hole in the wall trying to stuff it full of his toys -- thus almost getting one stuck inside & ruining our central vac system. And all of this happened before it was even 11 am & he gets up at 8. It was a really rough morning .... let's put it that way... The lord was really trying our patience for sure!

And to top it all off the exact moment I caught him writing on the walls I looked outside to this--snow at the END of April!!! The pictures don't even do it justice...The size of the snowballs coming down were humongous and so depressing. I wanted to cry at that very moment of punishing my son and really not sure how we would fix the mess...I'm so grateful for Brian he is Mr. fixit around here and we appreciate it so much!

So to all you mom's out there...please tell me I'm not alone--sometimes I feel like I'm the only one w/a CRAZY little boy... I really mean he's CRAZY--we love him but he's so CRAZY!!! Are boys just more wild then girls?!?! I really don't remember Brooklynn giving me this much of a challenge, or maybe I just supressed it and don't remember!!! Anywho that was our day on Saturday hope yours was better than ours!!! :)

Silly & Crazy little boys -- Gotta Love Em'

So I forgot to put this on my last post and had to add it! This was such a funny moment at the baby animal days, Easter weekend. Gavin (right, blue & grey jacket, Spencer's cousin) & Spencer are so cute together (most the times) ;-) They feed off each other and it makes for great entertainment. In this video their watching the sheep being clipped (getting it's wool clipped off for the summer). Spencer is making it's maahhh noise, Gavin is laughing so cutely at the sheep making the noise, then Spencer mimics Gavin and laughs...they are two peas in a pod! Love those boys!

Easter Hoppings

As our Easter week began we wanted to color Easter eggs w/Brooklynn since she was going to her dad's for spring break and Easter. So we had grandma, grandpa, Aunt Randi & Gavin over Wednesday evening before her dad picked her up that night! It was nice to fit in one Easter activity w/her and share it w/our family! I made Raspberry Soufle' and they were really yummy! Thanks for coming out and sharing that night w/us...it was fun!

Easter weekend at our house was packed w/fun, family, friends and good food! It started out w/Friday at baby animal days w/a lot of Brian's family. We met up w/his sister and her kids, his brother and his family and his parents. Thanks Brent and Randi for inviting us that was a lot of fun! Spencer did great the beginning of the day but we were there for so long and he started getting really cranky b/c it was way past his nap time! This kid has a lot of energy and spunk but when he's tired he is a crab!!! But it was fun and when the animals were around he would smile and loved our time outside! It's funny how sometimes I don't get a lot of pictures at all but then when I do I get a ton so there's a lot to look at this time! We had a picnic on the grass for our personal intermission and went back at the fun afterwards! All the kids had a blast and that makes for happy parents :)

(So if you look closely you'll see a picture of a sheep being shaved..then Spencer crying...kind of fits doesn't it! At the end of the poor animal having to be shaved the guy let all the kids go up to it and pet it...So Spence went up and the sheep called out for it's baby really loud and it scared Spencer...he's such an emotional boy--hhmm wonder where he got his emotional side from!! ;))

Then we had some friends come in from Utah County to stay w/us for the weekend. Brian's best friend from his mission came up w/his dog Maggy on Friday night and he helped me make my first Creme Brulee'... That was the highlight of my weekend I think! Check out my recipe blog for the picture and recipe which I'll be posting soon! Then Saturday Brian's friend from the Dominican Republic came up w/her husband & kids. It was a rainy day so the kids were stuck inside to play and that doesn't always go so well when it comes to sharing toys but they have to learn sometime, right!! But we all hung out, Ilonka made Dominican food and brought it up for dinner and I made some Bruschetta for the appetizer -- like I said GOOD FOOD!!! I'll also be posting my Brushetta recipe on the blog soon as well just havn't gotten to those yet! Then caught up on good conversation, good Dominican music and once the kids went to bed we all jumped in the hot tub to relax and enjoy the peacefullness and friendships. Then we started talking about Pina Coloda's and we had to make them as our midnight snack -- sooo good! Brant complains that he always gains 5 lbs when he comes to our house... I guess he could be right b/c I think my sister, Rachel, has made the same comment before -- there's a trend here I think! We just like to have fun and eat good food, is that a crime!!!

Easter Sunday was fabulous all except for missing our Brooky. We really missed having you home Brooklynn:( but we celebrated it w/her when she got home Monday night! After church Brian and I decided it would be best to do the Easter basket then b/c our church starts at 9am so just not enough time for him to enjoy it and of course he would of threw a fit b/c of not being able to play w/his stuff and eat his candy - good choice I say! So then we had an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard w/our friends and their kids since they had to leave later that afternoon and it was beautiful outside! Then that evening after Ilonka and Jared went home we went over to Brian's parents' house for Easter dinner and another egg hunt, lucky Spencer! Especially since grandpa puts money in his easter eggs for the kids to find - how fun! The dinner was fantastic, thanks to Marcile as always, she's amazing when it comes to feeding so many people every Sunday, not sure how she keeps doing it after all these years but it's very much appreciated and we love her!

After dinner we walked across the street for some airplane flying, cannon shooting and playground playin fun! Brian loves his airplane and that's a good thing since we're getting our money's worth out of it :) Brant left that night and back to life on Monday! Brooklynn came home Monday night since she was out for spring break and at her dad's. So Brian blew up the new bounce house we bought off the internet for the kids to play on and try it out! We got it for a party we're throwing in May b/c of course it was cheaper to purchase one online then it was to rent so Brian just bought one and then we can use it at Bear Lake in the summer!

Well that's finally it...there was so much to fit in this one blog post but that was our weekend so I just did it all together! Hope everyone had a great Easter and remembered why we really celebrate it and remember Jesus and what he did for us! There's an amazing post on my sister's blog about the true meaning of Easter that I'd like to share it is amazing!!

Bear Lake House Update...

Hey all! I've had some requests of pictures to see what our house is looking like these day's so here they are!!!

(This will have black shutter's on each outside window soon, a deck and sidewalk to the front door when the house is complete)

Kitchen still has some odds and ends to be finished up but almost there!

Definitely my favorite part of the whole house!! :)

Our Pantry (we had to have a second fridge for all the drinks we have at the lake, was a must have!)

1/2 Bath

Laundry Room/Mud Room

Master Bath...still some odd's and ends as well but almost there!

Looks like we are a little less than two weeks away from it being completed and ready to move stuff in! Just in time so we can get settled before the hectic summer begins! We are so pleased w/the results thus far and actually for the first time can't wait for summer!!! I always dread the summer's b/c of how hectic and stressfull it is plus not having a safe and private place to live w/the kids so needless to say I am very excited and actually anxious for that time to start! So we can enjoy our summer home! It will be so good to live on a quiet street, have more space inside and eventually have a big yard w/a fence to send the kids out in to play and not worry about them constantly b/c of traffic! Also the park is just a 10 minute walk from our front door so that will be a big plus!

Kids & Guest Bath...

So anyway the inside is pretty much finished except for the last few odds and ends to be finished up like a couple electrical things, hook up appliances, paint touchups and the final cleaning to be ready to live in! Also they are leveling out the dirt to pour our sidewalk and get the deck built next week! So we are so happy and hope you enjoy the pictures!

Birthday's and Vegas!!!

OK so I know I don't blog much anymore...at all...but I really want to it's just the extra time it takes that I don't have!! But here is our latest adventure and I'm squeezing in Spencer's 2nd b-day in here as well since he's been 2 for a month but have I blogged it...NOPE! So here it is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY big boy! He turned 2 on March 5th and after all the big parties we've been having lately mom was too tired to throw yet another big one so we just had an intimate small celebration at home w/cupcakes and our good friend Kris next door and Duncan! He got some fun gifts from the grandparents, his aunt and uncle's and his buddy Duncan & Kris! He loves them ALL and plays w/all of it frequently! I can't believe he's 2 already where has the time gone?!?!

We just got back from Las Vegas on Wednesday and had a fun, hectic at times, weekend w/all my side of the family! My sister Rachel and her hubby Adam adopted 4 beautiful babes from Columbia last summer and were able to be sealed to them for all time and eternity on Saturday! It was so special and such a great experience! Their eldest, Danny was also baptized on Friday evening and he asked Tio Brian to give him his confirmation in Spanish! That was really cool to witness and also his Dad baptized him in Spanish (which he didn't know a word of it before they adopted them, so he has learned so much since then) also his Tio's gave their talks in Spanish as well so Danny could really understand what was going on. They've all come such a long way in their language but to fully comprehend things it is still much easier in Spanish! So that was all really special and the food was GREAT!

Also we did family pictures since we had all my family together, which doesn't happen much at all and they turned out really nice! I don't have a copy of that yet but I will post it when I get it! We did a lot of fun things in that week...After things calmed down on Saturday w/the sealing, BBQ and blessings of all the children we had Sun - Tues of fun! So we played games of course, went to lots of parks, went on a hike, many trips to the grocery store ;), Target (my fav part), Diet Coke trips and so much more...The only downer was that their was a lot of sickness going around which is pretty much inevitable when you have 10 kids & 10 adults all living under one roof for that long of time, it just happens...So Brian and I feel a little under the weather but luckily so far our kids didn't catch anything and I would so rather feel sick than take care of sick kids any day!!! So now it's back to life and routines which I was ready for but do miss my family already! Can't wait to see mom & dad again in June!! And thanks so much to the best hosts ever, Rach & Ad's...You have a great home and we felt very welcomed there! We appreciated all your hard work in making the trip the best it could be! We love you:)

So there's our fun Vegas trip...I was so bad at taking pictures this trip, not sure why just kept forgetting--so this is all we have but at least we have something I guess!