Trip to Utah

So, I know it's been almost a month since the kids and I went to Utah, but, like always, I'm playing catch-up. It was such a fun trip and I'm so glad I had a GREAT excuse to go up there. A really cute young Marine family in my ward had just gotten the green light to get their endowments and to be sealed together in the temple. Since they had just gotten out of the Marine Corps and moved up to Utah, that's where they decided to get these ordinances done. Thankfully, they let be apart of thess special days and gave me a wonderful excuse to make a trip up to Utah, visit a big chuck of my extended family, and revisit a very special temple.

On our way up to Utah, we stopped in Las Vegas for the night and stayed at the BEA-U-TI-FUL Mandalay Bay Hotel. I LOVE this hotel. Ok, so I've always wanted to stay there, but it's always been too pricey for Scott and I (reminder that Scott is more of the penny pincher in this equation then I...). Welp, I found a great deal and booked the room! It was a total treat! It was 110 degrees outside, so we spent over 3 hours playing in their AWESOME "beach" pool. It was sooo relaxing, even with my two little monsters splashing all over the place! A great way to start this road trip.

For the first few days we were in Utah we stayed with my Aunt Susan up in Kaysville. We had so much fun hanging out with the whole Wiser clan (minus two sons, one on a mission and one busy with work). This is where the kids fell in love with Lego's (saved from when Susan's 4 boys were much younger) and since then I have succumbed to buying a basic set for the kids to play with. Thanks Aunt Susan and Uncle Jerry for letting us stay with you!!

Our busiest day of the whole trip was on Sunday when after packing the car back up and saying good-bye to my aunt & uncle, we went to church with my Uncle Quin's family (thankfully also in Kaysville!) and I was blessed with sitting in on my Aunt Heidi's lesson for her Mia Maid class and then my Uncle Quin's Gospel Doctrine Class, where I learned a bunch of cool stories about my ancestor's that I've never heard before! Such a treat! After church we drove down to Sandy and had a huge (& delicious!) meal with my Uncle Mark's family. They caught me up on all of my 7 cousins and their 6 grand-children, crazy! We even got to see my cousin Paul and his wife and baby, who were visiting from Pennsylvania. We finally made our way down to Orem, where we stayed for the rest of our trip with my Aunt Judy and Uncle Vern. So, in one day I saw all my Aunt's and Uncle's on my father's side and none of them saw each other. It was a really good day, long, but good! ;)

While in Utah I took the kids to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was so awesome to walk through! I really wish I could've enjoyed it more, but having Lindie in a stroller that didn't want to cooperate and then having her break down into hysterics because I wouldn't let her run around, was a little bit of a distraction to say the least. I'm just extremely grateful for the cookies they provided to everyone after the tour- the quickest way to silence my kids!!

And the high-light of the trip was attending my friends endowment session and then their sealing the following day (which also happened to be my birthday!!). They had both ordinances done at the Mount Timpanogas Temple in American Fork. The same temple that Scott and I got sealed in 6 years ago, which was also the only time I've even been to this temple. I was so excited to be there for Natasha and Josh, but I felt really bad because I was an emotional wreck! Being there made me miss Scott so much and I know the people around me thought I was crazy or something cause I'd start crying (ok, mini-bawling, I was trying reallllllly hard to not make any noise!) every 10-15 mins! Even though I was totally worrying about and missing Scott, the opportunity to be there in the temple was exactly what my soul needed and I was so excited to be there for Natasha and Josh. The next day, when they were sealed, was even better! I think the whole room was proud of themselves for not breaking down during their sealing ceremony, but the second they brought in their 1 year old son to be sealed to his mom and dad, you could hear all the women start sniffling and reaching for the tissues! It was such a special moment! I'm so happy and excited for Natasha and Josh! Way to go you guys!

You can kinda see my baby bump...

When Scott left on deployment I really didn't give much thought to my birthday this year. I turned the big 3-0 last year, so it's not like this year was going to be anything special. I've always been excited for my birthday (I'm one of those people who believe your birthday is a week long celebration!), but didn't want to get all excited and have it be totally anti-climatic and get depressed about it (which I'm totally guilty for on past birthdays...). This year, even without Scott, I was pleasantly surprised on what a good birthday I had. The kids and I had a wonderful morning going to a museum and then to the Creamery for lunch (YUM!) on the BYU campus, I got to go to my friend's sealing, my Aunt & Uncle toke us all out for dinner at Red Robin's (I LOVE their steak fries- one of my big preggo cravings!), and I got to talk to my WONDERFUL husband for a full 30 minutes! I love him so much!! Thanks baby for calling me!

The next day we left to come back home and the kids were so sad to leave! They had a blast hanging out with cousins and playing with all the fun toys my Aunt Judy had in her basement! Brennen is still asking to go back and play! Thanks Aunt Judy and Uncle Vern for letting us stay with you and especially, thank you Aunt Judy for watching my kids so I could attend the temple! We had such a great time. I can't wait till we can go back and visit!

News from Scott!!

Great News!! I got a call from Scott today! I was so excited to see the number on my caller ID cause I knew right away it was Scott. It took about three tries before the call actually went through, but third times a charm and we were able to talk for about ten minutes. :) Happy Day!!!

He's doing good, which is the best news I can report! Such a relief!! He was able to tell me a few things and some other things that I won't post for security reasons. He was under fire for the first few days of the operation that started last week, but since then things have been really quiet and calm for him and his guys.
No, he still has not showered (last time being on June 30th- make sure you thank God for running water and showers!!) but said he was looking forward to rinsing off with a couple of bottles of water after getting off the phone with me. He said it was extremely hot and some of his guys have suffered from heat issues, but all-in-all they're all doing well and his guys are getting the water they need. He was excited to tell me about the IED they found and their disposal of it. And also about how his CO was called away for something which left him in charge for awhile. During that time Scott (and his guys) had to detain an Afghani man and later, after being able to talk to the village elders, he was able to release the man. He said it's a cool experience to communicate with the village elders (and the people in the area), and that he's learning tons everyday. He said it's really weird because they never see any women ever. Whenever the Marines are around the women won't come out of their homes. Scott also said they found a AK-47, he seemed pretty excited about that, too, but I'm not really sure why (other then it's a cool weapon).
I wish I had had more time to talk to him and I wish I could have found out more (stupid security!! ;) ) but I'm sooo grateful I was able to hear Scott's voice. It's amazing what a simple thing can do to your spirits! After saying 'I love you' and 'I miss you' over a hundred times between the two of us during that 10 minutes, he did mention that he should be able to call once every couple of weeks to let me know how he's doing. HUGE blessing!! Oh, I should explain, the reason he's able to call is because his company has a satellite phone, so all the guys in his company should be able to make a 5-10 min morale call home every couple of weeks which is seriously the best thing ever! When Scott had last called me (June 30th I think) we pretty much thought he wouldn't have use of a phone till November, so anything we get now is just icing on the cake. :)

Welp, I found this video online and thought I'd share it with you. It seems to give a really good idea of life for the Marines in Helmand Province right now (minus all the actual fighting). It's a little boring, but still interesting to see. Enjoy.
P.S. Scott is currently sporting a mustache and there's a 3 second bit in this video (somehow I managed to still frame it below!!) that I swear looks like Scott, but it's hard for me to say cause I really have no idea what Scott looks like with a mustache!! Although, it most likely is not him, dang. ;)
~OK, so after staring at this photo for hours, it's totally Scott. Even with the mustache there are two things that seal the deal with this photo- his nose (it's a Stewart nose!) and his dimples. I love his dimples, and even though he's biting his lip, I know that dimple. I didn't want to get my hopes up the first few times I looked at this, but the more I look at it the more I see Scott. It's totally him.

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A Fallen Hero

We all know war is not to be taken lightly and sadly our country has lost many military servicemen and women while in combat. It is a huge worry for me, and always has been (especially now that Scott is there in the thick of it), but no matter what Marine (or any militray member) is killed it's a loss for our whole Marine (military) family. When I first heard we had lost a Marine only after a day into Operation Khanjar, I cried and prayed for that Marine and his family, not knowing who he was or with what unit he belonged. Whenever you heard of a death you automatically worry if it's your loved one or if it's someone you know. As a Family Readiness Assistant, I help "take care" of all the spouses and families here at home and I'm constantly praying that I never have to help one of my families go through this. It still hurts my heart knowing we have lost Marines and allied troops during this operation that are fighting alongside Scott. I came across this information about the Marine that was killed and felt I should share so we can remember him and his family in our prayers. I know society is more concerned about Michael Jackson's death, but there are others out there that deserve more of our respect and attention for what they have sacrificed.





2/8 Marine dies in Afghanistan
Staff report Marine Corps Times
Posted : Monday Jul 6, 2009 12:45:25 EDT

A North Carolina-based Marine was killed July 2 while serving in Afghanistan, his family has said.
Lance Cpl. Seth Sharp, 20, of Adairsville, Ga., died just six weeks after arriving in theater, his uncle, Shane Rogers, told the Rome News-Tribune. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, from Camp Lejeune.
Sharp was killed during Operation Khanjar, a massive operation launched last week to banish Taliban fighters from villages and towns in Helmand province. His remains arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on July 4.
Sharp played football at Adairsville High School but left early to join the Corps, his uncle said.
No other information was immediately available.

WAR NEWS UPDATE
I wanted to share this link to a blog that I found that has AMAZING coverage of all news world-wide. I have found more information about the war in Afghanistan on this site then anywhere else. If anyone else is interested in learning more about the world around them (and not just Afghanistan) or wants to have everything about Afghanistan right in the same place, check this site out.

Baby #3

Here's a sonogram of our newest baby at 10 weeks. I can already tell it's going to be as cute as it's siblings! ;)

Scott on the move

A month has gone by since Scott left and I'm finally getting out of my "Depression/auto-pilot" phase, meaning I better get on here and share what's going on. If any of you have been watching the news you might have heard that the Marines are on the move in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Scott is one of those Marines. I got my last phone call from him last night. We've been really blessed while he's been at Camp Leatherneck that he had the occasional opportunity to call home over the past couple of weeks. For the past couple of days Scott has been warning me that things were happening and he'd only be calling one or two more times. Thankfully I have a husband who loves me so much that he made the 30 min walk to the nearest phone to call me 4 times in his last 4 days at Camp Leatherneck.

I thought I'd share this link to the 1/5 Family Newsletter. It's from Scott's CO of the Battalion and it has a bunch of pictures showing the process of getting the Marines to Afghanistan and what life is like for him and the Marines. It was a little difficult for all the Marines because this camp had a massive influx of over 5,000 Marines in the space of two months and they've had to set up random tents everywhere to accommodate all of the Marines, Soldiers, Brits, Docs, etc. Now that a majority of the Marines are leaving (or have already left, like Scott) it's getting back to "normal". Unfortunately, for Scott and the Marines who've left, they no longer have basic luxuries like showers and a chow hall. Scott was excited that he was eating three FULL meals a day (and ice cream every night!) and now I'm worried how much weight he's going to drop since he's only getting one or two MRE's to eat a day. And yes, he will no longer get to shower. So if you would like to send baby wipes in your care packages, that would be great.

Otherwise, he's doing well. He's really excited to do his job and put to use 11 years of training. From what Scott tells me we'll be hearing a lot on the news about his Marines and that they're going to be doing some "serious damage" trying to get to the Taliban. So, if you're watching the news and hear anything about the Helmand Province, just pray that Scott and his Marines are ok. I'll try and keep everyone posted on how he's doing and what's going on with him. Thank you also for all your kind thoughts and prayers. We're so blessed to have good friends and family who are so willing to help us out while Scott's deployed. It really means a lot and is so greatly appreciated. Seriously, more than words can say.

Off to Afghanistan

Ok, I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to write this and honestly, just thinking about makes my eyes water up and gets my brain all disarrayed. Scott left for his 7+ month deployment on Friday and it sucks. Scott got up around 1am that morning to finish packing and Brennen somehow woke up, too. The saddest part, when Scott asked B what he was doing up and B said, "I want to spend time wif you, Daddy". How do you tell your kid to go back to bed after that? So B stayed up and helped Scott till we had to drive him up to San Mateo on Camp Pendleton. He had to be there at 6am and thankfully he kept finding excuses for us to hang around a little longer. We stayed till about 7:15 and finally got around to saying our good-byes. Which is good, because if I had stayed around to wait for them to load the buses at 11am I would've been a total mess. Scott had called me right when they started loading the buses and made a comment about how the waterworks were starting and I replied, "They started when everyone woke up this morning." Then he said, "Well, I guess this is the grand finale." Glad I wasn't there for that.

I know the family has been waiting for me to post Scott's address, and if anyone else wants to send letters or care packages (let me know if you want to send packages cause there's some guidelines and other things to know before mailing things) please feel free to!

Lt. Stewart S.A.

1/5 A Co

Unit 40325

FPO AP 96427-0325

Can you tell how much I had been crying?

Mini Va-K

Ahhh! Our trip to Virginia was everything we had hoped it would be and more! Not only did the kids and I have a great time while we were out there, but we got to spend soooo much time with Scott! Seriously, every little penny spent on airfare (yes, I came to my senses and decided not to drive) was TOTALLY worth it! It was amazing that Scott was done with classes by 4pm at the latest (most days even earlier!!) every day! I was shocked. I didn't know what to do with myself. It was crazy to see Scott while the sun was still up on a weekday! In fact, every night felt like a Saturday night. We went out to dinner, went to Target (hehe), or other fun places, and just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Funny and true story: we went out one night and on our way home I commented to Scott about how the week had flown by and that when we got back to the hotel I needed to find out what time church was in the morning. Scott gave me a funny look and said, "Chris, it's only Tuesday!". See how unused I am to spending time with him during the week?!?

The kids had a blast while we were there. Every morning while Scott was in class I would take the kids somewhere fun. We went to museums, to parks, to the beach, went bowling, and to several malls! Scott's joke was that I was on a full shopping tour and I was having more fun spending his money then anything else. I spent a little and might have spent more if I had more luggage space! ;) I took tons of pics so here's a few of the fun ones:

So, some additional good news (my favorite thing to do: brag about my awesome husband). The course Scott attended was great. Scott learned a lot and loved everything he did. It's even made him more excited about his deployment to Afghanistan and all the "fun" things he's going to be able to do while there. So, when his class first started the instructors warned Scott and the 3 other guys (who are infantry and not pilots, which are who made up the rest of the class) that they would have a harder time with the class and should be really happy if they passed with an 80%. The pilots would obviously have the advantage because the have been working with planes for years and have a better understanding of the fundamentals, etc. Not only did Scott beat that 80%, he made Honor Grad! (Graduated #1!) Yes, he out-scored and out-preformed all the rest of the pilots. Amazing! The reason I'm really amazed: I was with him for a little over two weeks of his class and saw how much (little) he studied and that none of the other guys in his course had the HUGE distraction of having their wives or kids around! I mean seriously, how does Scott do it? This course is the 6th (out of the 7 since we've been married) that he's got Honor Grad. Way to go, Scott!!

And, there's more good news. I know I might have shared a little TMI with everyone about how clomid works in my last post, hehe, but it does. It really works and it only works one way and that one way worked and we're having baby number 3. Yay! So, we brought home a little souvenir from our trip to Virginia. Don't have an official due date yet, but it should be arriving the middle of January. And since both of my kids have come two weeks early, it might even arrive on Brennen's birthday!

More Mania!!

OH MY WORD!! Our family is getting dealt some more crazy twists and turns!! (thankfully nothing life threatening or critical, just crazy) ;)

So, most of you know (especially if you read my earlier pathetic post) that Scott has been gone for the past 5 weeks. Well, Scott called me last Thursday night (the day before he came home) to give me Good News and News.

The Good News- he's not going with the Advanced Deployment Group. Meaning he's not leaving May 1st, but more towards the end of the month (20th-28th). Yay! I get a whole extra month with him!!
Hahaha, at least that's what I thought until he gave me the News (notice there's no Good or Bad if front of it??). Scott has been blessed with the opportunity to go to this awesome school called JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller). He's super excited about this course because he gets to coordinate (and call the shots) dropping bombs from flying things (fixed wing and roto wing) to bad guys on the ground. Plus a bunch of other cool reasons that are a little more complicated to explain on here. The reason it's not Good News, the school is 4 weeks long, and on the other side of the country in Virginia Beach, VA.

I mean, seriously, am I going to see my husband at all this year???

So, Scott is here all this week (still working crazy hours) and then leaves on Easter (gone 4/12-5/9). Now, the other part to this story that has been in the works for the past couple of months: we're trying for #3. (Yep, crazy Marine couple is trying to have a third child when the husband is never home and he's deploying for 6-12 months.) Annoyingly, I've got some medical things that are totally working against us in this department so I just went into the Doc's on Monday and we are (read: I am) starting the wonderful process of Clomid. Yes, fertility drugs. But, they only work if I have sex. With my husband. Hard to believe, I know. So, what are we to do?

Uproot the whole family for a month and follow Scott to Virginia.

So while I'm typing this, I'm also stressing out about how to get myself and chitlins across country. To drive or to fly, that is the question. Yeah, I know a bunch of you saw the drive part and thought "WHAT is she thinking?!?", but since we're planning on being there for almost three weeks, and the kids require so much extra gear (i.e., two car seats, pack-n-play, stroller, clothes, etc), it's seriously cheaper to drive then to fly. And for those who really know me know I love road trips! I really do love driving all over the USA, but I'm not exactly thrilled about the thought of being by myself with 2 little ones. Is it doable, totally. Am I crazy, probably. Still undecided, so jury is out.

I really just want to be with my husband. I want to spend as much time as possible with him before he leaves for who knows how long. I also want the kids to spend as much time with him, too. They miss him and don't understand why Daddy isn't around to tuck them in at night. And, poor Scott hates that he's missing so much of their lives. So, we're going to try and do whatever we can to be together as much as possible. Even if it means only seeing him at night and on the weekends in Virginia rather then not seeing him at all in California. Oh-rah.

My Brother and his Starbursts

Ok, I just read my brother's blog and couldn't stop laughing. The poor guy was really upset and you just have to read about what he did! Click here to find out...

OOPS! Forgot that their blog is set to private. So, I just copied it and pasted it below. Thanks Eirian for sharing it! :)



I wanted to share this email that Johnny wrote the manufacturer of Starbursts a while back because I truly laughed for days about it and I think it could be a great SNL monologue.


From: johnnyXXXXXX@hotmail.com
To: askus@masterfoodsusa.com

Subject: Starburst Severely Disappoints


To whom it may concern:

I recently purchased a bag of Starburst original fruit chews and after reaching into the bag blindly for the first 8-10 times and pulling out nothing but lemon or orange chews, I grew suspicious and decided to empty out the contents and tally up exactly how many pieces of each flavor there were remaining. To start, as I just said, I pulled out and ate about 8-10 pieces of either lemon or orange Starburst, no other flavor. I emptied the bag and there were 31 remaining pieces of candy. Here is what was in the bag: 13 pieces of Lemon Starburst, 12 pieces of Orange Starburst, 3 pieces of Cherry Starburst, and 1 (yes, only one) piece of Strawberry Starburst. Meaning in the ENTIRE BAG of Starburst I purchased, there was 4 pieces of Starburst that WERE NOT LEMON OR ORANGE.... Sorry but that is just plain unacceptable. ONE PIECE OF STRAWBERRY? Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a joke, so I seriously asked my wife if she planted the bag. She is adamant she didn't and of course I believe her. Three pieces of cherry? Wow, I can't even tell you how dissappointed I was, especially since Cherry and Strawberry are my favorite flavors. What does your "STARBURST research" show as the most popular flavor? I doubt it is lemon or orange. I'm not saying I don't like those flavors, but I am saying if I could pick between those or cherry/strawberry, 10/10 times I'd pick the latter. Maybe there's economics behind it, maybe it wasn't a mistake, maybe Strawberry/Cherry artificial flavoring are more expensive than lemon or orange. My favorite thing is that you don't even show a lemon piece of candy on the package. It's 1 strawberry, 2 Cherry, and 1 Orange. Trying to sell cherry? Good ol' bait and switch. Nice work. You fooled me. The thing is, although I've never counted before, my memory tells me that this isn't a one time thing. I should know better since I eat more Starburst than I care to admit. Although that might change. Mamba's aren't bad, and they give me a proper ratio of all flavors... Please fix this.

Starburst lover on hold, Johnny J

Please feel free to email me back and ask any questions you want. I'd send you the Best Before Date and the other number below it, but it's smeared and fairly unreadable. Maybe while you're at it you should fix that machine also. It looks like it say 08/2009 (but like I said I can't really tell),the other number is 8182AWA??3, but the only ones I know 100% is the 81 at the beginning...I will save the bag, I can mail it to you if you want and you can see if you can read what it says. I've got it right here in my drawer.

Another trip to the Lonely Marines Wives Club

So, I know, I've been a really bad blogger and it's been awhile since I've posted. I've got tons of good excuses, which I know all of you can relate to. Well, there's one excuse that maybe only a few of you will really get, my fellow military wives, whose husbands are always gone.
Scott's gotten to that point where deployment is getting closer and closer and there are more things for him to take care of, to fix, to plan for, marines to train, to discipline, etc., which means more time at work and less at home. He's been putting in 14 to 16 hour work days (Monday thru Friday) giving him enough time to come home and sleep- barely. And those are the weeks that he's in garrison (in the office and not in the field). When he's in the field he's gone for days at a time. Most recently he left for 29 Palms, a vast desert of dirt and mountains, to train for a full five weeks.
I'm not writing all of this to complain, believe me, I had full knowledge of what I was getting into when I married Scott, even though I swore I was done with long-distance relationships!! Ha, God really does have a sense of humor. When I was younger I was in a serious relationship where a majority of it was all long distance. I remember praying about that relationship and if it was something I should stay in and if I should wait for this guy to come home, and I always got the answer to wait. I've always wondered why I kept getting that answer, especially since in the end the relationship didn't work out. So, besides the fact that I did met the man of my dreams and things all worked out for the best (Yay!), I think the Lord had another lesson for me to learn through all that. During this previous relationship, the guy I was waiting for was serving a mission for our church and the only way we could communicate was through letters because it was against the mission rules for him to call home (except for Christmas and Mother's Day). I was a good girlfriend and wrote him letters several times a week, sent packages, and tried to keep him in the loop of my life while he was gone. This covered a space of two full years.
Recently I've been trying to mentally prepare for Scott's deployment to Afghanistan. He's going to be part of the "Spring Surge" going into an area that hasn't been occupied by UN troops. Meaning: he will have no internet access, no phone access, and the only time letters will be delivered/picked up is when they are in need of food/ammo (due to the high threat of IED's on any vehicle transport). Scott is my best friend, my other half, and as many military wives who have survived a deployment know, having that link of communication is what keeps you going. It's what you live for, what you wake up in the morning for, what keeps life some what sane. Hearing Scott's voice is the one thing that is guaranteed to make everything instantly ok. I never thought (especially with all the high tech advances) that my only form of communication with my husband would be through letters. It's funny that I'm now actually thankful that I was in that previous relationship where all I did was write letters. It kinda makes this deployment easier to face cause I know I already "survived" this before (well, except for now it's my Husband, not a boyfriend, and he's going to be in a full on war zone with real ammo being shot at him, and not in a friendly, non-threatening country like Finland- Haha, gotta love reality.)
I'm grateful to know that the Lord is watching over me and always has. I'm so humbled to have this knowledge that He has given me previous guidance and experiences to help when I am faced with harder challenges. I know the challenges haven't really started yet. Scott's training schedule at 29 Palms has been brutal and there's little cell reception, but over the past week and half he's been gone we've been able to talk a couple of minutes here and there. It'll be interesting to see how the kids and I (and Scott!) survive this upcoming deployment. I'm just so thankful to have the gospel in my life and the knowledge that I can and will always be able to turn to the Lord whenever I need to. In the meantime, I'll be another member of the Lonely Marines Wives Club.

The Next Super Star of Dance

This was just way too funny not to share! Enjoy!

It's all about Layers, baby!

So, the other morning while I was getting ready for the day, Brennen comes running into my room with all of these clothes on that he had totally put on by himself! Which is truly amazing because I've rarely seen him put anything on that I haven't told, begged, or yelled at him to put on. So, when I saw his style-savvy dressing skills, I just had to get it on film!

It all started with two shirts and a pair of shorts...

After he ran into my bathroom to show me his dressing abilities, he ran straight back to his room and proceeded to add another shirt to his ensemble...

And another pair of shorts...

And another shirt... (notice the very proud smile he's sporting!)

Now here's the funny part- we've been working on potty training all week and before he had gotten dressed, he had used the potty (when he woke up). Well, he was so excited about his outfit that he forgot he didn't have a diaper on, so he leaked a little and needed me to help him take his shorts off. As I was peeling off the two pairs of shorts I discovered two more layers!!! I had no idea he had a pair of boxers and underwear on, too! Four layers on bottom and four layers on top! And I forgot to mention that he even put on a couple of baseball caps on, too! My silly, silly boy.

P.S. After four full days of NO diapers and only two small accidents (including the fore mentioned one), and multiple trips to the bathroom for both purposes, I think I can say he's potty trained!!! YEAH!!!

161st Mormon Battalion Festival

Last Saturday we all went down to Old Town to enjoy and celebrate 161 years since the Mormon Battalion came into San Diego and helped settle it. We had so much fun going around to all of the different booths to see how the people lived way back when. We even ran into a few old friends!

Trying out some stilts that were way too short!

Much better!

Making the most delicious rolls I've ever had!

Ran into "our boys" from our old ward. We love these guys (and their awesome dance skills!).

We've got PIGTAILS!!

Happy day is here at last! Now that church starts a little later for us, I had a little more free time to play with Lindie's hair, and to my amazement she let me play with it long enough to get two totally cute pigtails on her! Proof her hair is growing! Well, at least in the back. We're still wondering how long she's going to have this mullet, it's just not growing on top... Even though, I still think she's the cutest thing ever. :)

You know it's gonna be a bad day when...

...it's only 8:30 in the morning, you're running late, you finally get your son dressed (after 15 minutes convincing him why it's important to wear pants), and then you smell something bad and you see this...
I mean, really?? I had JUST put these pants on the boy. Agh.

Summer in the Winter

Ok, for those of you who are stuck in multiple inches of snow and haven't seen the sun in awhile, I'm forewarning you that this post might create some feelings of jealousy and annoyance. The past couple of days are the reason I never want to leave San Diego. I love San Diego and the number one reason is the weather! No where else in this great country (except for south Florida and Hawaii) can you get weather like this in the middle of winter! Today Oceanside hit a record high of 85 degrees! It has been so absolutely gorgeous outside for the past couple of days that the kids and I have taken several opportunities to enjoy it. On Saturday evening I took the kids to the beach for a sunset picnic and to play in the sand. We had so much fun! (Scott has been in the field for the past 6 days so he's been enjoying the heat with a ton of gear on in the middle of Camp Pendleton with a bunch of dirty stinky Marines! So, poor Scott missed out. :( ) Anyways, thought I'd share some pics of us on the beach in the middle of January! :)

A little slice of heaven!

The best pic I could get of the three of us.The Oceanside PierThere were these awesome old-school "pirate" ships (according to Brennen) that were sailing back and forth. We got to watch them drop their sails and even fire quite a few cannons!

The stupid seagull that kept trying to steal our food (at one point right out of Lindie's hand- scared the poor girl crazy!) and eventually took off with the whole McD's bag!

My little princess

Even though the pictures don't show a lot of people around, you can see all the people and animal prints that were left behind...

Happy Birthday Brennen!!

Welp, our little baby boy turned THREE today. Which, doesn't really make him a baby anymore, huh? It even barely makes him a toddler, which really makes him a -gasp!- PRESCHOOLER!?!? WHAT?!? How did that happen? Where did the time go? Didn't I just bring him home from the hospital? (Ok, so if we hadn't moved so much since he was born, I think it really wouldn't have seemed like a long time ago. For some reason I keep thinking he's turning 4. Goes to show all these moves are messing with my head!) Seriously though, he just grew before our eyes and he's a real little boy now. And when I say boy, I mean genuine-thrill-seeking-action-figure-jumping-crazy-non-stop-moving little boy. It amazes Scott and I how active he is and that he hasn't had a cast applied to some part of his body yet! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and keep praying that I didn't just jinx him. Ha! We're just so thankful and feel so blessed to have Brennen in our family. He has the sweetest little spirit, and he's already proven what an awesome big brother he is with how protective and caring he is towards Lindie. He has been so much fun (even though his stubbornness has been trying) and is so loving and cute that we can't help but feel so lucky to be his parents.

To celebrate Brennen's big 3rd birthday we threw him a party at a fun place called PLAYWERX. Wow! We've been there a couple of times, but it was the best idea for a bunch of active 2-3 yr old boys and Lindie! They had such a great time. Not only did my little boy have a blast, my big boy had just as much fun! I think Scott spent as much time playing (if not a little longer) then Brennen! It got a little crazy during the party because Playwerx hit capacity (I'm sure due to the rain outside) and there were kids and parents everywhere!! But even with all the people there we all had a great time!