On Friday morning, I was trying to get ready for the day and I left the boys downstairs to play. I do this quite often, and usually they do fine. However, as I was stepping out of the shower, I heard a loud crash, followed by Brennan’s “pain” scream. I ran and picked up my screaming child and then set him down to see where he was hurt. That’s when I noticed all the blood and the broken glass in the kitchen. I looked down at his hands and saw a HUGE gash on his right hand and blood dripping from both hands. I figure he got into the dishwasher and got a glass out, broke it, and tried to clean up his mess. I called Nick and told him to “come home now”. Then I wrapped up Brennan’s hands and set him in the tub so I could get dressed. Right as I finished getting dressed, Nick got home and we took him to an urgent care facility where he ended up getting two stitches in his left pinky finger and 6 stitches in the palm of his right hand. As strange as it may sound, I was very stressed that morning, but also relieved to have our first emergency situation out of the way!
On to happy times, now. Saturday morning we headed back down to Utah to celebrate the boys’ 2nd birthday. (They will actually turn 2 on Wednesday the 24th). We had a great time! The boys always enjoy playing with their cousins, although they missed Camden and Bri this weekend :(. For their birthday, Nick and I got them bikes, which we were really excited about, but even though they are for ages 18 months and up, their little legs are a little to short to reach the pedals. The boys also got some fun toys from Nick’s family. They got a basketball hoop that they love, from Nick’s parents and siblings and some toys from Matt and Caramie. Thanks guys! Nick also made the boys a cake that looked like a turtle. It was so cute! On Sunday, Nick’s brother Matt was kind enough to take some 2 year pictures of the boys. They turned out so cute! Thanks to everyone for giving the boys a great birthday party! We had a great time and can’t wait for their next birthday party on Wednesday!
Last week, we had to put our little guys in big boy bed (really just their cribs with the front part taken off). Unfortunately they had learned to climb out of their cribs, so our choices were big boy beds and broken bones, so we chose big boy beds. They have good nights and bad nights. The first night we only had to put them back in their beds 7 times and that was great! However, they have had some rough nights too. We hope it just keeps getting better. I can’t believe these little guys are growing up so fast! They will be 2 in two weeks from today! As a side note, we have a birds nest filled with little eggs just outside our back door!
Nick putting the big boy beds together. Or is it taking the cribs apart?
The boys showing how they can get out of bed all by themselves!
All done! Brayden was excited to go night-night!
The nest with little eggs that is right outside our back door!
So, the last two weekend were spent in Brigham City with Nick’s family and we had a blast. Well, the first weekend, we actually went for his Grandma’s funeral, and although it is always hard to lose someone close to you, it was her time to go and we are greatful for the knowledge that families are forever and we will see her again. We really enjoyed the time we got to spend with the family too. We also took the time to let all the kids play in the pool and take pictures of all the grandkids together. I was also able to get my hair colored for the first time ever–thanks Caramie! Michelle also cut my hair. I now have bangs for the first time since about sixth grade. Thanks, Michelle! This past weekend, we went down for Steph’s final choir concert. She is graduating on Wednesday! At the end of the concert, the director invited everyone who had previously been in the choir to come up and sing the last song, so all of Nick’s siblings got to go up and sing together! It was really cool! On Saturday, we decided to go to Hogle Zoo with everyone. We even got to meet my mom and Lynn there and it was fun to have them go with us! It was a lot of fun and a little chaotic trying to keep track of all the kids! We had 6 kids that were 4 and under! It was kind of funny because we were walking through the zoo with 3 twin strollers! If we had been anywhere besides Utah, people probably would have been looking at us like we were a freak show. The boys really enjoyed seeing all the animals. Their favorites were the elephants and I loved hearing them tell me what the elephant says. We had a great time! Thanks everyone!
We had a very fun and productive weekend this week. Friday night and Saturday morning, we planted flowers and our tomato plant! I was so excited and the boys were super helpful. They really do like to help pull weeds, and dig. They also got to carry the flowers to Nick so he could plant them. After the flowers were planted, the boys helped sprinkle fertilizer on them and give them a drink of water. It was a lot of fun! I really expected the boys to be so much more work than they were. They did such a good job. Oh, they also loved pointing out all the bugs and worms for mom and dad! It was cute! We planted purple, pink, and white petunias. For those of you that don’t know, petunias spread out during the season, so we’ll have to put some more pictures up after they do that.Saturday afternoon, my brother Jeff and his cute girlfriend Brittney came to our house to see us (ok, so really they came to pick out a diamond and a ring so they can get engaged). It was so good to see them and she picked out a beautiful ring that will look perfect on her!
It was so much fun to welcome my brother, Greg home from his mission last week. The boys and I stayed in Boise the whole week so Greg could spend some time getting to know his nephews. Saturday, the 18th was a busy day. We dropped the boys off at my sisters’ house so I could take Nick to lunch for his birthday. After that, we met everyone at the airport to welcome Greg home. It was really emotional for me and I had a hard time holding back the tears as I saw him walking toward us. After Greg got his luggage, we headed back to my Mom and Lynn’s house for a few minutes before going to see the Stake President to have Greg released as a missionary. Nick and I went when Greg was released and it was really neat to hear about his experiences and to hear how much his testimony has grown. The next day was Sunday, and it was Stake Conference so it was nice to be able to go to church and have Greg, my mom and Lynn there to help with the boys. We spent time that day just talking and hanging out with family. Sadly, Nick had to leave that night to go back to Idaho Falls so he could work during the week. It was sad to see him go. The next morning Greg headed to Utah to visit my grandma and take care of some business for school in the fall. It was fun to spend time with the rest of my family and enjoy the nice weather. We went to play on the playground one day and the slides were too hot, so we went over to my sister’s house and let the boys play in the sprinkler. They had a lot of fun! Unfortunately, when Greg got back from Utah he had to start working, but it was nice to talk to him in the evenings as I helped him clean his room. I have really missed being able to talk to my friend. Greg gave his mission report on Sunday and it was amazing. I think I may have even cried more than when he gave his farewell talk, and I was pregnant then. I was so sad when his talk was over. I enjoyed spending time with Greg and my family this week. It is so nice to have him home and I can’t wait to see what experiences his life will bring next.
Ok, I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I wanted to wait and spotlight Greg when he got home, and he is home now! On April 17th, we headed over to Boise for the homecoming. The next day we headed to the airport to welcome the Elder home. (It was also Nick’s 30th birthday, so I took him to lunch first.) I could hardly contain my excitement while we waited for Greg and my mom and Lynn to get off the plane. As soon as I saw Greg, I started crying and gave him a huge hug. It was so great for the boys to finally meet him and get to know him. I will write more about our week in Boise in another blog. For now, let me just spotlight Greg.
Greg has always been a fun-loving kid. He is always happy and tries to see the good in people and situations. He is always making me laugh. One time, when he was about 7 or 8, my mom and I heard something outside. Greg was walking home from school, and I don’t remember if it was windy or what but he was doing a monologue that makes me laugh to this day when I think about it. He was saying something about “Forget about me and SAVE yourselves!”. He was also using this crazy accent. Also, when we used to watch “Fiddler on the Roof” he would get up and dance to “If I Were a Rich Man” when he was about 4 years old. He danced just like the guy on the movie and it was hilarious.
As everyone knows, Greg has been on a mission the last two years. I am so grateful for the example he has been to me and to my boys. It’s amazing to see how much he has changed in that time. He is still the same Greg, with the humor and everything, but he is just better. He is one of my best friends. I enjoyed emailing him every Wednesday while he was out and I am really happy that I can talk to him face to face or over the phone now. For any of you that don’t know, Brayden’s middle name is Gregory after this brother of mine. Also, for any of you that are confused about the Sir Gregory Scott III thing, that’s just one of the nick names he has chosen for himself. Another name he has given himself is G-baby. I love Greg so much and I’m thankful that I get to be his sister. Welcome home, Elder!
This last weekend was very fun and very busy. My mom and Lynn came to town Friday night because “they had a BBQ at BYU-Idaho the next day”. Saturday morning, after we did a little Wii bowling, we got up and took the boys across the street for an Easter egg hunt. I didn’t think they would really grasp the concept of finding eggs, but they actually did very well and had a lot of fun. After the hunt, Nick and I (at my sneaky request) took the boys to the zoo. The boys loved it even more than last year, which I didn’t even think was possible! Every time we had to move on to the next animal, they were so sad. I would have let them spend more time looking around, but I needed to have Nick home at a certain time. Of course, I couldn’t let Nick know that we were in a hurry. We went home and I told Nick he needed to show me something in the backyard. He was a little confused until he opened the back door. Most of his family, some of my family, and many of our friends were there for a surprise birthday party for Nick! I can’t believe I actually pulled it off. It was so hard to keep a secret from that man for 2 weeks! He turns the big 3-0 this coming Saturday, but didn’t want me to do anything for him because that is the day my brother gets home from his mission. So, I was sneaky and planned something for the week before. Man, I’m good! He had no idea. It was so much fun. We had a BBQ in our backyard, and even though the forecast didn’t look very good, we had perfect weather during the party. (By the way, that’s the real reason my mom and Lynn came up on Friday). It was fun to have people around to celebrate and my brother and his cute little girlfriend Brittney even stayed with us Saturday night and joined us for church on Sunday. For those of you that don’t know, Brennan has a HUGE crush on Brittney. It’s adorable! He was sad to see her leave. Sunday was great. The boys were excited to see that the Easter Bunny had come and brought them golf clubs and some candy. They were not excited that we wouldn’t let them eat all the candy before breakfast, however. Church of course was great and it was nice to be able to reflect on Christ and all that He did for us. I am so thankful for that. I just want to thank everyone that helped with Nick’s party. I couldn’t have done it alone. Love you guys! (Of course I had to do a slide show because there were so many cute pictures from this weekend!)
Easter is a special day for our family. It is a day we celebrate, with so many others around the world, the Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the testimony of our little family that He lives, and we want you to know that we know it.
We add our testimony to that of one of his Apostles, Jeffry R Holland:
I have been having tons of fun watching my boys play together lately. They are such good friends (most of the time). I am so glad they came as twins, even though it has been a lot of work. So, we went to the park the other day to enjoy the sunshine. When we arrived we saw that we were not alone. There were tons of people there! Most of them were from our ward, so I was excited to see some of my friends. The boys were so nervous about being around all of the other kids, though. For a few minutes they just clung to me and refused to play. After awhile, they warmed up and were having a good time. Brayden found a stick that he started playing with and when the other kids saw it, they wanted it too! They just kept trying to take it from him. When Brennan saw this, he immediately walked over to Brayden and stood right in front of him so the kids couldn’t take his stick. It was adorable-like Brennan was his little bodyguard! Needless to say, I was so proud, I was beaming. I love it! Also, the boys have been pushing each other around on this little truck we borrowed from Nick’s sister. It reminds me of how my brothers used to push each other around in my doll stroller. Aren’t they cute?
Ok, so I haven’t done very well blogging lately. I’ve been thinking I needed to spot my baby brother Doug for a long time, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I am sure Doug is tired of being called my baby brother, and he is almost 19, but I just can’t help it. Even though he is all grown up, I always think of him as a little kid. Even when I dream, he is a little kid. I guess it’s just hard for me to accept the fact that he had grown up.
There are so many things I could say about Doug. I’ll start with a few things I remember from when he was little. First of all, for those of you that don’t know my brother, he has curly, red hair. I love it! When he was little and people used to ask him where he got his red hair, he would say “from my sister!”, referring to me since we were the only ones in the family with red hair. Doug has loved working outside from the moment he was born. We have so many pictures of him helping my dad outside it’s crazy. When he was small he had a pair of pants that he referred to as his “tilling pants” because he wore them when he worked in the yard. Well, he wore the heck out of them, so my mom threw them away. He found them, took them out of the trash and continued to wear them! He would also beg my parents to let him mow the lawn when he could barely reach the handle of the lawn mower while standing on his tippee toes! They gave in and I can only imagine what people thought of my parents as they drove by and saw such a small child mowing a huge yard! Doug has kept his love of working in the yard and turned it into his career. He is going to school to get a degree in it and I am so proud of his work ethic!
Doug is a hard worker and he is very strong willed. However, my favorite thing about him is his big heart. He tries so hard to act tough (which he is), but especially when he is around my little boys, I get to see what a great guy he is and what a great dad he is going to be someday. The boys love him and I think “Doug” was one of the first names they learned to say! I am so glad to have Doug as my brother. I am proud of him and the man he is becoming. I can’t wait to see what the future brings for him. I love you, Doug!
