Brooke's Birthday

After a long day Brooke was so tired from playing with her birthday presents and having fun that the cake part seemed a bit too much for her.

I set the cupcake down on her tray and then realized that the candle was missing. I shouldn't have taken it away!!!!!

Much happier with the cupcake within reach.

She used one little finger to lick the frosting off the cupcake.

Uncle Josh couldn't handle the suspense anymore and stuffed it in for her!

She was so excited to jam the whole thing in there! It was permission to make a mess. Thanks Josh, you made her cupcake the best!

Brooke is usually really excited to see Grandma, but was really tired.

Josh and James convinced Eryn that there were "barking spiders" in our house. They kept farting in the same locations and she is now totally convinced that there are spiders in our house that make weird noises and smell bad.

Brooke's 1st birthday was fun. We learned that it takes 2 hours to make brown rice in the rice cooker. Not a fun lesson for Mommy to learn while hungry and easily irritated. Oh well. Next time it's pasta!

Birthday Time

Wednesday is the cupcake day for our little cupcake! I am still in denial that she's almost a year old. It really doesn't seem like it.

Pictures From My Day Off

I realized that I didn't post any pictures with my last post and that is so rare for me. This is my make up post. I put some of the pictures from the wedding on my photography blog, but figured I'd post a few of these others on here. A couple might make it to the other blog, so sorry for the few of you who will have to suffer seeing them twice. Ha ha!

I managed to find a few birds while searching for the perfect flowers. This quail kept chattering at me and then the sprinklers came on. It was like the bird was trying to tell me to back off or I was going to get wet!
Young Robins are always a good sign of summer.

"All creatures of our God and King..." I couldn't help but think that with so many birds around the temple that day. Especially when this female mallard kept looking at herself in the reflecting pond where she could see the temple and herself. I know they're just birds, but still... It was touching to me.

Mental Health Day

I decided that it was time for a "mental health day" as my good ole math teacher/football coach used to call 'em. Yes, a day where you abandon all of your responsibilities and just do and do something that makes you happy all by yourself.

A friend of the family was getting married so I tagged along to take pictures in SLC. The pictures turned out really great. I also took pictures of birds and flowers while enjoying the cool breezes and getting a little sunburned. After that, I went to the temple and was able to have a nice break from everything that can become overwhelming from time to time.

The migraine from over exposure to light and heat wasn't so fun. Neither was the bumper to bumper parking lot that is the local freeway system. Needless to say, I managed to find a Vanilla Coke to drink while I did some photo editing tonight. I am trying to cut back drinking soda, but tonight I definitely needed it!

Overall, it was a good mental health day. Thanks to Mike for playing Mommy today and letting this caged bird out for a little while. I love you so much!

Eryn's Randomness

While roaming through a couple of stores yesterday trying to waste some time Eryn started mumbling. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but it was so funny that she kept laughing to herself. I finally got her to say it louder and clearer so I could understand it. This is what she said:

"My knee hurts... My elbow hurts... And I have to go to the bathroom..."

"Good afternoon. My name is Russel and I am a wilderness explorer."

"Are you in need of any assistance?"

I think that we might have seen UP one too many times. While Mike's brother Andrew is away on his mission he loaned us his DVD, Eryn wants to watch it all of the time!

Monday's Child

One of our good friends who is pregnant with twins right now has been on bed rest for a few weeks and to help her out every Monday their 2 yr old has been coming over to play with us. Thankfully for my friend, her time being miserable and pregnant is almost done. The downside is that out Monday fun will be cut down drastically. Eryn was soooooooo excited to have a friend come over at first that she was in her face all of the time and our guest was a little less than enthused with such an overwhelming welcome each visit. Over a few weeks their little friendship has really blossomed and our company is like one of our own.

She was so excited that Brooke was wearing the same colors of clothes. She said that they were twins like the 2 babies her Mommy's having. (Except that she's getting a sister and a brother!)

Brooke had a hard time when the older girls would run upstairs. She'd cry at the bottom of the stairs to go play too. Once I got her up there, they'd go back down stairs again. It was a fun back and forth up and down day!

They played doctor with stuffed animals and baby dolls. Her Mom has been to a lot of doctor visits and hospital runs being a high risk pregnancy. So, I guess that doctor visits are one of the first things on her mind.

When you hold up the camera and say, "smile!" this is what you get! It made me laugh so hard.

Lots of tutus and twirling.

Then bike riding in the basement. They had fun taking turns and trading bikes back and forth. Eryn's bike makes music, but her friends bike had streamers... It was the best of both world to trade frequently!

Eryn's been into playing grocery store lately and she sucked her friend into it! They'd ride their bike to our favorite grocery store, get a few items, put them in their bikes, and then ride over to another spot in the basement and pretend to eat their dinner.

"Smile!"

I guess that it's only fitting that I get this response from my own daughter when I say smile to her.

Riding bike with Eryn can get a little stressful from time to time!

Our time with our little friend has been a lot of fun. It made me realize that maybe someday I can handle 3 children all of the time. Maybe...

Day to Day

I have learned one things this week that I figured I would share with my blog stalkers. Each of us is a part of something bigger than ourselves. When we are doing our small part in the big picture things work out somehow. The day to day things might not seem very glamorous, but they are what keeps us going. The simple things that we should be doing to stay on the right track are the things that will help us to learn, to grow, and to know that we are being watched over and that we are loved.

I'm not usually one of ambiguous posts like this, but this time I'll leave it vague. Thank you to those of you who've help me realize what's really important in my life this week. You know who you are. For those of you who might not know, maybe someday you will. Each of us has a strong influence over the people we come in contact with each day. You might not know it, yet but perhaps someday...

Memorial Day

The really quick version of the weekend is that is was an amazing roller coaster of emotions for me. The car is having issues again and it's not cheap (like somehow it would be?) and then I saw cows and they were close enough to pet!!!! Fun fact about Val is that she really LOVES cows. I really can't explain why, but they make me happy. I love the black and white ones the best and that is the kind that live in my Sister-In-Law's backyard!

Who cares about USDA choice, this one is MY choice!

Of course, this one was really pretty too.

Also friendly! That tongue is like sandpaper.

Eryn ran out in her pjs and was saying, "Here snipie snipie." and clapping like the little boy in UP. The cows loved it! All 3 of them cam over to see us. When I told her they were cows and not snipes, she started saying, "Here cowie cowie cowie." You probably had to be there to hear it from her, but it was really funny!

I was so excited to see the cows that I didn't even worry about getting officially dressed for the day.

She really could swing all day if someone was there to push her.

Brooke was deep in thought.

She decided she was either tired or hungry. This is what we call, "the hungry elephant."

Grandpa stopped pushing and got a tantrum! How dare you Grandpa. Ha ha.

Brooke and Shaylie shared a swing.

Chance and Sarah's neighborhood just finished a full court basketball court in their park. So, we had to test it out. It is slippery concrete. Thankfully, no knees were injured in the playing of this game.

Sam just generally looks confused when we're not playing football.

Go Defense! Just watch the other team score and wait for 'em to come back.

Chance's cousin Eric played with us too. He and his girlfriend hung out with us all and played games late on Sunday night. It was really fun. The more tired you are the harder it is to play games that involve logic, strategy, and memory.

After a long day of being the solo grandparent at this event Grandpa had to take a little snooze in honor of Grandma who would have taken a nap if she was there. He he he...

Grandma is waiting patiently with Tammy who is ready to have our second nephew at anytime!!!

Another fun family filled holiday in the books. This one went off well and without much injury. The girls played with their princess shoes, the tiny girls were happy to mooch food from their aunts and uncles, and the rest of us all just had fun playing and hanging out. This was a great way to kick off summer and to kick Andrew out of the house for 2 years! (He went to the MTC this afternoon to go to learn Korean and serve his mission in CA.)