Weekend in Nevada

Brian and I just had a super fun date. We went to Vegas for the weekend for Brian to take a firearms class and to visit Caleb, Linsy and Kylie. Right after his class finished on Saturday we left the kids with a babysitter and the four of us went to see the Lion King musical. We got tickets for $25 each, and they were great seats. The costumes were incredible! The giraffes were men walking around on stilts, there were elephants, a cheetah, zebras, gazelles...between the acting and the costumes they really moved like the animals. We enjoy going to plays, and both really like the lion king story, so this was a fun evening!
Aunt Linsy put Chandra's hair in curlers for fun. When we took the curlers out though, it looked like she had an old lady hairdo and made us laugh.

I didn't get any good pictures of Kylie and Bracken, they were too busy playing together to look at me while I took a picture. We spent the weekend playing in the backyard, with toys, at a little community water park, and swimming in their subdivision's pool. The kids loved playing in the swimming pool. Bracken learned how to hold his breath and kept dropping our keys in the water and going under with his eyes open to get them, then he'd come up gasping for breath and run to the edge. We laughed so hard. Thanks for letting us come visit guys, we wished you lived closer!

Our Mornings

Bracken is usually eating breakfast when Chandra wakes up. As soon as he hears her coos or crys he freezes and says, "Mom! Chandra is awake!" then scrambles down from his high chair to run to her side and talk to her. "Good morning Precious, hello Little Sweetheart! Did you sleep like a duck? It's okay, Bracken is here." When I change her diaper he always grabs the dirty diaper to throw away for me, walking slowly and looking at me until I notice him and make a big deal about it.

Then our morning continues: Green smoothies and pancakes for breakfast, dishes, do our Big 5(bed made, hair combed, say prayers, brush teeth, get dressed), sing our scripture song and read scriptures, and then play on the floor with these adorable munchkins. After our little routine we either do house chores, some activity at home, or go play with Bracken's friends Bella or Jairus. Our days are not always smooth, but sticking to this little morning routine makes a huge difference.

4 Months

We love Chandra's smiles and laughter. Bracken and I make fools of ourselves to get her laughing, and she always lights up when Brian talks to her. She coos, squeals, "talks" and gurgles like crazy. Especially during the prayers at church :) ...oh well, at least they're happy loud noises.

Chandra's been rolling over for several weeks, now she's scooting as well. She's not very fast, but between rolling, rocking, pulling the carpet, and pushing herself forward with her legs she can get to the toys she wants. It's so funny to watch her move.

Pals

Bracken loved having Brian around so much this summer. This picture is from Brian's birthday in June. We went to the park and they tried making paper boats to float down the canal, but they all sank, so they used sticks instead. They went on bike rides multiple times a week, usually to buy $.75 day old bread from the Nut and Candy shop. They go to Parowan each week to mow the Parowan lawn. We'd go to the park, on walks or play baseball or football on our front lawn in the evenings. Brian is busy with studies and work now that he's back in school, but he still tries to have quality time with his little guy in the evenings as often as possible. Brian is such a good dad!

Life on the "Farm"

Tyson (4), Dallin (7), and Bracken (2). You can tell they have so much fun together!

Bracken, Chandra and I were able to stay with my two littlest brothers while my parents and other younger siblings went to Lake Powell for a "work" trip for Dad. We had so much fun! We missed Brian, who stayed at home to start back to school, but we kept busy playing hard.

Breonna hates it when anyone refers to my parents home as a "farm" or "ranch." But for us little city dwellers, it's about as close as we'll get. They have a big field to run around in, ducks, chickens, dogs, horses and a goat. Plus a good sized garden and all the gravel around the storage units to play in. When I went outside to bring them in for dinner I'd usually find them in the sand box, down at the chicken coop chasing ducks or trying to catch the chickens, purposely letting the goat out so they'd have to catch her, feeding the horses, riding bikes, or climbing up the gravel pile with sticks and yelling, "I'm the king of the mountain!" One day Bracken said, "Mom, we're playing on the farm." he waved around and said, "This is a farm." Close enough!

Tyson with his very own chicken "Nicely."
Bracken and Tyson feeding the horse Nawaka.

This is Dallin milking his goat Brooklyn. He bought her with his own money, goes out to milk her morning and night, and sells her milk to neighbors and friends. He's an efficient little milker, and it takes a lot of hand strength! Bracken got to help milk Brooklyn too, but he usually only stuck around long enough to get a stream or two of milk in the bucket, or have Dallin squirt milk into his mouth (grimace from me, but oh well), then he would feed the goat, chase the chickens or climb the rock pile.

When Grandma came back we went to the city pool. Bracken wanted to do everything his uncles did. He'd tell me to watch, then I'd see him looking at me from under the water while he blew bubbles. "I went all the way under like Ethan and Dallin and Tyson!" He went down the water slide over and over, and kept jumping into the deep pool before I was ready for him. He kept trying to get to Dallin over by the diving boards but it was too deep for me, and when I finally told him it wasn't safe he looked at me and said, "Mom, I have no fear!" Very true, and a little scary. He looks up to his uncles so much and wants to be big like them and do everything they do. I'm glad they're such good kids!

We went on walks on the dirt roads by our house almost every day. They took "Little Pup" (the wiener dog that is staying with my family until it finds a home) with us, named every cow and horse they saw, and looked at the neighbors chickens to see if they were cooler than their own chickens. They picked cattails and made a fuzzy mess of them and looked around to find a good place to release their pet tadpoles. Every little boy should have a place like this to play.

Chandra was such a sport as she was toted along from one activity to the next through the week. She liked being outside so much.

She's become a thumb sucker, but doesn't know what to do with the rest of her fingers so they usually end up covering her entire face. She tries to get all the fingers of both her hands in her mouth at the same time, and just ends up gagging herself. She's not all dressed up here, but I love her big blue eyes!

As much fun as we had, we were all ready to go back home and see Brian, and he missed us too. Thanks for a fun week Dallin and Tyson, we love you guys!