8 Months of Brooklyn

It's hard to believe that Brooklyn is eight months old today. It sure seems like she's growing up a lot faster than Ethan did when he was little. She's hit a few milestones that we haven't mentioned here on our blog yet. She's been 'scooting' all over the house for a while now and loves to practice pulling herself up on her hands and knees, although she hasn't quite learned how to crawl yet. She is also able to sit up from a laying position. She's also been able to hold herself in a standing position as long as she is supported for a few weeks now. She also has enough hair for a little pony tail on the top of her head. We need to take a picture of this.

Ethan has been as cute and silly as ever. Earlier this week Ethan and Jen were talking about growing up and marriage. Ethan said, "Grow up and be a daddy." She asked him who he would marry when he grows up. He exclaimed, "Marry Grandma Morrey!" We thought this was funny, but the best part came next. He then said, "Brooklyn grow up and be a mommy. . . . Brooklyn marry Loni!" Loni is our new sister-in-law. Oh boy! It is overwhelming to think of all the things we still have to teach him.

Jen has been having fun learning new things in Photoshop this week. The pictures below show some of the things she learned to do this week. Kyle hasn't done anything particularly fun this week. He's been working hard on the class he's taking this summer (only two more weeks until he's done, then there will be room for fun).

The other day we took the kids to the park near our house. It was Brooklyn's her first time down the slide (assisted, of course). As you can see, she really loves the swing.

Ethan had a good time swinging with his sister.
Rather than have Ethan push the stroller with Brooklyn in it all the way to the park, we let him ride his new bike (or, "bicycle" as he likes to call it). This ended up being a bad idea, since he is very slow on his bike, and insists he go the entire way "by self."

This last picture was one taken at John's Wedding in June. We liked how it turned out with the layer adjustments Jen made. (Ethan looked so cute in his little suit!!)

4th of July Weekend

We went up to Logan again for the weekend to spend time with the Morrey family for the 4th of July holiday. The Morrey's have a party each July 3rd to celebrate Kyle's grandma's birthday and to see the Logan fireworks. We had a great time visiting with everyone.

We took the kids on Saturday to feed the ducks at First Dam and to play Pooh Sticks. Ethan thought it was fun to jump on his uncle John's tummy.
We didn't know how Ethan would react to the fireworks this year. Last year he seemed a little frightened, but still watched them. We tried to prepare him days in advance to get him used to the idea that we were going to go see fireworks. Kyle showed him footage of them on youtube and everything. Sometimes he liked the idea, but usually when we'd bring it up he didn't want to see fireworks. We thought that since Grandma was going to be there he would want to be there too.

He was pretty tired, being that it was way past his bedtime. Here he is waiting for the show to start.
Before the show started, Kyle asked him if he wanted to watch the fireworks or go to sleep. He said he wanted to sleep. He was faking being asleep in this picture.

During the fireworks he refused to take the blanket off and cried if we tried to show him any of the fireworks. He said repeatedly said things like, "all done," "want to go home," and "watch something else."He eventually fell asleep. (In the meantime, Brooklyn loved the show.)
The next evening on our drive home we asked Ethan about his trip to Grandma's. He talked about playing Pooh Sticks, and going on a hike, and watching the fireworks. We asked him if he liked the fireworks, and said he enthusiastically said that he did.

Trip to Logan

Ethan, Brooklyn, and I spent a few days in Logan this week to give Kyle more time to work on a project for school without disruption. We had a good time staying with both sets of grandparents. We went with both my mom and Kyle's mom to the Cache Valley Parade of Homes. We had a great time, though the homes weren't as fully decorated as we'd hoped they'd be. Kyle's mom and I have made it a tradition to go to the Salt Lake Parade of Homes together for the last few years for decorating ideas. We also thought it was a bummer that the tickets for the Logan show cost the same as they do for the Salt Lake show where the latter usually has four times the homes to see. Oh, well. We did pick up a few fun ideas and had a good time together.

On Saturday, we went with Kyle's parents and brother Michael up Logan canyon on a nature walk and a picnic. Ethan and Brooklyn both had lots of fun.
Michael tried to show Ethan how to skip rocks into the water. Ethan loved finding big ones to throw.
He also loved walking over bridges with Grandma.
Here are a few pictures from the Parade of homes. These chairs were just the right size for toddlers.
We had fun putting Brooklyn on some of the toys in one of the houses.

Ethan had a really good time visiting family. Kyle asked Ethan when we got home what fun things he did and he started naming all the foods he ate. He started by saying, "had some rice milk!" (Rice milk seems to be his new favorite 'treat' at Grandma Morrey's house).

Father's Day Weekend

A message to all dads everywhere.....

We had a great weekend. It was the first weekend in at least six weeks where we didn't have somewhere that we needed to be. It was so nice to be home and catch up on some things we've wanted to get done.

We finished painting our banister. It used to match the floor. We aren't the biggest fans of oak and wanted something different.
We went on a small hike as a family on Friday afternoon. Ethan loved being outside and especially sitting on some big rocks.

Friday evening I got to translate a first discussion between the missionaries in our area and a wonderful Chinese woman I met in the park a few weeks ago. It was a neat experience. I've been home from my mission for nearly 5 years and was happy that I could still understand and communicate well enough. I couldn't remember how to say everything I wanted to say though. It definitely made me want to get back into studying Mandarin so I don't forget any more and so I'm prepared if the opportunity ever arises again.

I love to celebrate any special day with food. Since today was his day, I let Kyle pick what he wanted. This morning for Father's Day I made strawberry crepes, our old standby for breakfast. They tasted especially good this morning. For dinner, Kyle asked me to make Barbecue Chicken Pizza. It is really good and super easy to make. You can find the recipe on my food blog.
I love Father's Day. I am so grateful for the fathers in my life and for how they have blessed me and my kids. First off, I'm thankful for my own dad for the example he has always been to me. He has always been a great example of hard work and responsibility. Secondly, I'm thankful for my father-in-law for his kindness and love for me since joining the family. Last, but not least, I am so grateful for my sweetie, Kyle. He is such an amazing father and spouse. He is so unselfish and fun to watch as he interacts so lovingly with our kids. He always puts us first although he always has so much on his plate. You are the bestest, Honey!!

Rub a Dub Dub, Two Kids in the Tub

This week we saw lots of family. Ethan went to visit Grandma Morrey for a few days and I was reminded how much easier life was with one kid (though I think Ethan is probably the easier of the two because he is a bit more independent). We took advantage of his absence by painting our banister. Unfortunately we underestimated how long it would take and still haven't finished it. It seems like I only have time to work on it when I am able to get both kids to nap at the same time (and frankly painting isn't always how I want to spend those glorious few hours). I'm losing my determination to paint my kitchen cabinets like I wanted to do this summer. We'll see though. That project comes with a promise of getting new countertops and a sink when it is finished!!!

For the last week or so, we started bathing the kids together. Ethan absolutely loves helping wash Brooklyn. It has been so cute, though we've had to be sure he doesn't get soap in her eyes.

Jen's cousin Melissa got married up in Logan this weekend. Of course we forgot to take our camera. (Kyle has some cell phone pics that I don't have right now). We had a good time visiting with family and taking advantage of the free babysitting. Kyle and I went and saw the new Disney/Pixar movie Up in 3D. We really enjoyed it, though I thought the beginning was really sad (I didn't cry).

Here is a picture of Ethan playing piano with Grandma Morrey. He loves to play the pianos at both Grandma's houses. It is funny what Ethan associates his Grandma's with. Whenever we talk about Grandma Morrey he talks about cars and ice cream. She collects the toy cars from the movie Cars and usually has a new one whenever he visits. He loves those things so much. He talks about them all the time. Grandma Taylor is known for having chocolate milk whenever he visits. This is a big deal to him too. I have fond memories of going to my Grandma Taylor's as a kid and being given some chocolate milk and Creamies. It will be fun to see what our kids will look forward to in future visits as they grow up.

Congratulations John and Loni !

This weekend, Kyle's older brother John married his sweetheart, Loni. After over a year of dating, we say "it's about time." It'll be nice to not be the only married couple in Kyle's family. It was a beautiful day and the ceremony in the Salt Lake temple was lovely. We spent the last two days with them and somehow Kyle only managed to get a few pictures and this video of the happy couple. I guess that's what happens when half the time is spent chasing a two year old boy and the other half is is spent consoling a 7 month old baby.

Here's the other picture we got of them at the reception. We decorated John's car at the reception and Ethan contributed to the festivities. As the car was being decorated, we noticed that Ethan had a poopy diaper, which he happily let us put right in the middle of the windshield of John's car. (We were nice enough to leave the "goods" inside of the diaper.) Justin circled the diaper with whipped cream and wrote "your future." We thought it was quite funny.

When we were at the temple waiting for John and Loni to come out of the temple, we saw that Elder Dallin H. Oaks was walking around the temple grounds. Turns out he was there for another family's wedding. When asked if he comes out often he said he hadn't been in that area outside of the temple for three years. He was kind enough to pose for a photo with Jen and Brooklyn. This was especially meaningful for Jen since her lesson in relief society today was based on one of Elder Oaks' talks.

Brooklyn is becoming much more mobile lately. She's working really hard on getting up on her hands and knees. She can't quite do it yet, but as you can see here, she is very close.

The other day Ethan came out to Jen saying "yellow hat." He put this on all by himself.

Beautiful Brooklyn

I just wanted to share some cute pictures that Heather (our sister-in-law) took of Brooklyn recently. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful girl and an amazing photographer in the family. Thanks again, Heather!! (You can see another picture of Brooklyn with her cousin Allie on Heather's website here.)


Our family has had a busy week and weekend trying to finish up yard projects. Kyle is back in school starting this week and we've spent every moment possible trying to get our garden in, build a dry well, and do some landscaping in our yard. Kyle single-handedly hauled 8 tons of topsoil plus the several tons of fill dirt and compost he moved around the yard. We are almost done and will share pictures when we finish.

This weekend we were fortunate to be able to see Lonni (fiance of Kyle's older brother John) go through the Bountiful temple. It was so nice to be there and to go to the temple. It was the first time we were able to go since before Brooklyn was born. John and Lonni will be married in the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday.

We also had Heather, Brian, Jackson, and Allie stay with us for two nights while they were waiting to be able to move into their new home in Spanish Fork. We had a great time. Ethan was heartbroken this morning when they left that he couldn't play with Brian and Jackson today and keeps telling me he wants to go to their house tomorrow. Fortunately, we will see them again in less than two weeks for my cousin Melissa's wedding.