marco island

We had a great trip to Marco Island! This could be a long post- sorry about that. I do promise to not post every picture I took- I think it numbered in the 700's.

Sunday, June 7

Sunday started off with something I've been looking forward to for a long time: The Children's Hospital NICU reunion party! Since we were in the NICU, Children's has moved to a new location. I thought the old hospital was fantastic, but this one is just spectacular! We didn't get to see much of it, just the lobby area, but WOW! Upon entering, we went to the registraion table and who was there registering people, but our favorite NICU nurse! Betsy was the one who gave Brecken his first bottle, and was the one who was the most instrumental in getting us transferred back to Laramie. The day we got released from the hospital for good was her first shift back from her days off and was supposed to be assigned to Brecken. He wasn't there so she called me to make sure all was OK! That meant a lot to me. Anyway, we walked in and she looked at Josh and said, "Hey... I remember you!" THAT is an amazing thing too- how many babies and parents has she worked with since Brecken was there? I wouldn't be able to remember one specific one, that's for sure!

The party had tons of games for the kids to play- golf, basketball, a bean table to dig in and find prizes, craft stations, the most amazing face paintings I have ever seen, a bicycle safety course, etc. Of course, my child wanted to do golf and basketball ONLY. Sound like someone else we know?

They served lunch and had their slideshow of kids- after it was all done, Brecken clapped and said he loved that! :)


Then they gave away some door prizes. Each family was given a ticket when we got there and they started calling numbers. They only had about 15 things to give away, and there were a couple hundred people there, I would estimate. They gave away some boring ones, like tickets to the railroad history museum, but was I ever thrilled when they called OUR number and gave away a fantastic prize- tickets the Denver Zoo! Woo-hoo! We love zoos, so that will be great to go back to Denver later this summer and go to the zoo.

After the party, we went to the aquarium to burn time until we could go to the hotel for the night. Brecken had a BLAST. He could have spent all day at the aquarium. He ran from exhibit to exhibit and was in awe of everything. And it wasn't crowded at all in there, so it was a fantastic visit!

Since we were so busy Sunday, Brecken only had about 10 minutes total of nap. You would think he would be tired and go to bed, but NO. We finally turned the lights off and he ran around the hotel room in the dark at 10:00 p.m. He finally got the hint and laid down and went to sleep.

Monday, June 8

Monday started off very early! We made it through the flights and landed in Fort Lauderdale with no problems. Hooray for that!

Tuesday, June 9

Tuesday we took it kind of easy. We explored Marco Island a little bit, and went to the Marco River Marina, which is owned by my uncle's company, Rose Packing Co. The lady there found out I was the niece, and gave us fabulous service. :) Josh and Jeff and Brecken all got new fishing poles to use on our boat dock at our house. Brecken was so dang excited he could hardly contain himself. We also reserved a boat for later in the week- and imagine our surprise when the marina called Josh later and said they had called my uncle and they were waving the fee for the boat! YAY!! That afternoon was spent hanging out in our pool and teaching Brecken how to fish. Yes, at the same time.

Wednesday, June 10

Beach day!! We went down to the public beach and prepared to have fun. We did have fun, too! To get to the ocean part of the beach, you had to cross water over a sand bar. Josh and Jeff checked it out in the morning while us girls and Brecken stayed back and played in the sand there, and then after lunch we all went over the sand bar. It was a lot deeper then than it was when the boys crossed over in the morning, and when we came back at the end of the day it was deeper still!

Brecken LOVED swimming in the ocean. He giggled and giggled when the waves came. He had so much fun and didn't want to leave! We had a good time looking for shells, playing in the water, making sand castles, and relaxing.

We got back to the rental van and that's when things went downhill. We could not find the keys ANYWHERE. We tore apart all of our bags and still nothing. The last anyone remembered was they were in Josh's shorts pocket and he couldn't remember if he had put them in the bag or not. A nice lady in the parking lot gave us the phone number for the local Enterprise. Jeffrey went back to the beach to see if he could find them anywhere. Beth and I stayed with the kids. After forever (it seemed), a family asked us if we lost our keys because they had found some. Oh, thank goodness! They were our keys! We thanked them up and down and they left. We went to unlock the car, and nothing. It's those new keys where EVERYTHING is electronic. We were able to take the electronic cover off and get the "old fashioned" key out to unlock the doors, but then it would not start the car. At all. We called Enterprise in Marco, Enterprise in Ft. Lauderdale where we rented the van from, and got nothing. An Enterprise guy finally came to get Beth and I and the kids since it was HOT and a storm was coming, and brought us to the house. Josh and Jeff stayed with the van. They finally had to get it towed to Naples, where they kept it overnight, to get the stupid key re-programmed. This was the second time we have had one of those van keys where it's all electronic, and the second time that it has quit working on us. I'm not impressed with the new Chrysler Town and Countrys right now. I won't be renting one of those again unless they give us the good ol' "old fashioned" keys!

Thursday, June 11

Another low-key day, partly because we didn't have a car for the morning. Josh and I went and got it and got back around lunchtime. We hung out around the pool and in the afternoon the boys went fishing. Didn't catch anything except a palm leaf but they sure had fun!

Friday, June 12

What a fun day this was!! We went out on the boat we rented from the Marina. Beth and the kids and I dropped the boys off at the marina and then went to the store to get lunch to pack. The boys brought the boat right to our back yard to pick us up! Brecken thought that was so funny. We spent all day out on the water. What a blast. I haven't spent a lot of time boating because let's face it- not a lot of boating options in Wyoming. Brecken had so much fun that he didn't even fight the fact that he had to wear a life jacket. We saw dolphins playing, lots of birds, a ton of boats, and it was a beautiful day out. We even stopped for fishing. Jeff caught one!! We also went to this place where you could park your boat and get out and wade in the nice warm water, look for shells, and walk on a little trail to the beach. SO. MUCH. FUN. I didn't want it to end!!

Saturday, June 13

Today we went to the swamp. I'm glad I went to see what it looked like, but I can live without going there again. Talk about HOT, MUGGY, and BUGS. Ugh. Remember that scene in Monsters Inc. where the monster was banished to the swamp and he ends up in a trailer and the lady thinks he's a 'gator? Yup, that's exactly how the swamp was. But Brecken was so excited to see alligators so off we went. We found an airboat place so we took a ride on one. That was kind of fun- I've never been on one before and it created a breeze! :) We saw alligators, so the trip was successful.

That night, Jeff and Beth went out on a date and we got to babysit Bryell. Brecken took that job super seriously, and was so much fun to watch. He read her books, helped me give her a bottle, even insisted on using the wipes when he helped me change her diaper. What a good babysitter he was!

Sunday, June 14

Took it easy again today- we went up to Naples to explore a little bit and found a nice air-conditioned mall. :) Other than that, nothing exciting happened.

Monday, June 15

Another fantastic day on a boat! A few days before, a Rose Packing guy called our house. Am I glad we answered the phone- because he offered us a day on the Rose Packing yacht- the Ramblin' Rose.

We had so much fun on this boat too. It had an airconditioned cabin, but we mainly stayed upstairs where we could see everything! Did you know that when huge boats go through the water, the dolphins use the wake to body surf? We got to witness it and let me tell you- it is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen!!

(I tried positing a very cool video of it but it was taking too long. I'll try again later.)

We saw some HUGE houses (I'm talking in the 13 milllion dollar range), some fantastic swimming pools in these huge houses' screened in porches, the house of the Stanley Steemer guy, a famous country singer's house (hold on... trying to remember which one it was...), some amazing scenery, had all the food we could eat, and had a really fun time. It was hard to believe that 4 hours passed as quickly as they did!

That evening, Josh and I got to go out on a date. We went to Naples and ate at a crab shack- we at so much shrimp that I'm not sure there are any left in the ocean. :) After that we bummed around in some cute little shops and then headed out to see a movie- "Angels and Demons". We had a good time together.

Tuesday, June 16

It was Father's Day for Josh and Jeff today! Beth and I got them a round of golf at a golf course for Father's Day and today was the day they got to go out and play. Beth and I had every intention of having a girls' day out (with Brecken and Bryell) but the guys played so fast that we only had time to get ready and have lunch!!

We went and picked the guys up and then we all went to the Naples Zoo. I'm not a fan of this zoo. Part of it was our fault- we went in the heat of the day (and let me tell you, it was HOT) and all the animals were resting where we couldn't really see them- but part of it was the zoo was pretty terrible. They didn't have a lot of "normal" zoo animals like elephants and zebras! The animals they DID have were behind two sets of fences so you couldn't hardly see them because of the two sets of green chain link you had to look through. We walked through the paths and then headed out. We ate dinner at a restaurant that was my Grandpa's favorite while he was alive. I never knew my Grandpa because he died when I was a year and a half old, but it was great to be somewhere that I knew he loved- I've never really gotten to do that before! That made it worth it, even if we were too hot to really enjoy the food. Next to the restaurant is a shell shack so Brecken picked out a special star fish to bring home for his friend Dylan. He kept telling me, "Dylan will LOVE it, Mommy!"

Wednesday, June 17

Today was the day we had to pack up. :( We ran a few last minute errands and then came back to clean out the fridge for lunch, and then took off for Ft. Lauderdale for the night. Our plane left really early on Thursday and driving from Marco Island to Ft. Lauderdale early on Thursday morning didn't sound fun. It was sad leaving the house- we had so much fun there. 10 days kind of seems long, but we all decided it was about the right amount of time for a trip. We were able to have fun-packed days and days where we did nothing but hang at the house- and we came back refreshed instead of feeling like we needed a vaction to recover from the vacation. We checked into our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, ate a yummy dinner at TGI Fridays, and Josh and Jeff returned our car to the airport.

Thursday, June 18

Flew home today. We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again sometime!! Rita and Pudge, if you read this, we had the time of our lives and we thank you SO MUCH for your help in our vacation. We had a blast!

More pictures can be seen on Beth's blog.

we're back!

And I'm slowly going through photos. Once I'm done, I'll put a full recap of our FABULOUS trip on here! We had a great time!

macro

I got a new toy for my camera this week and was outside playing with it today. I got about one shot of this:

and then it was quickly pulled out of the ground. I looked up to find this face:

He's such a boy!!!

can't wait

Brecken is so excited to go to Florida. He keeps talking about it. He's terribly disappointed that Daddy has to work this week and we can't go until next week. Today, he was sitting here and then all of a sudden asked me, "Mommy, can you wait?" I said, "Wait for what?" and he said, "To go to Florida!" I laughed and said, "Nope, I can't wait!" and he said, "Me too." Monday is going to be super exciting for him!

after the rain...

...this is what we woke up to. I can handle seeing this out my front window every morning.

first of the season

Even though it rained all day and was quite chilly in the evening, we had to end our walk with a piece of watermelon on the front porch. Our first watermelon night of the summer. :)

happy birthday to nobody

Today was Encampment's graduation. I had told Brecken that we were going to my school for a party. He thought it was a birthday party we were going to, and even practiced singing the "Happy Birthday" song. We were going to stay for cake after the graduation, but they weren't going to cut it for a while and Brecken was getting hyper, so we went home. I told him I would make a "birthday" cake when we got home. Of course, with him, you can't just make a cake- you have to have candles and singing too. We had quite the laugh tonight. :)

(oh, and forget the fact that it looks sloppy- if it had been for a REAL birthday, it would have had pretty edging, I would've taken more time making sure the {homemade!} frosting was nice and even, and the sprinkles, done by Brecken, would have been not in one huge pile. :) )

something old, something new...

Happy 5th Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

the "special" day

That's what Dylan called it, anyway. Today was B's last day at daycare, as school was out for me today. I won't lie- I cried when I picked him up. Amy cried when Josh dropped him off for the last time this morning. In Amy, we found an INCREDIBLE lady to hang out with my son this school year and we are beyond blessed to have her. Amy is fabulous and I cannot say enough good things about her. She has taught my son more things than I ever imagined he could learn this year. He now has a "bes' friend", her son Dylan, who can hardly stand to have Brecken away from his house over a weekend, let alone this whole upcoming summer. We'll have to make plenty of playdates with Amy and Dylan, so the two boys can continue to be "bes' friends".

If you know my son at all, he isn't fond of people. If it's not his mom or dad, he doesn't want you holding him. Or talking to him. He's getting better, but that's his personality. However, he will sit on Amy's lap and tell her, "No, I love YOU more." That's a huge thing!!

Here is what Amy and Dylan made for Brecken last night, as a "going away until August" gift. I LOVE them. Dylan has the same "best buds" one to hang on his wall in his room. :)

cousins

The five Sandlian cousins were finally together for the first time this weekend. We ALMOST didn't get this picture. We had four children sitting on the ground nicely, waiting patiently. One child was running away in a screaming tantrum saying he will NOT have his picture taken. The child screaming was mine. Of course. :) I finally bribed him with a popsicle, and it worked. Now Grandma can have a picture of her five grandbabies.

mini-me

On Fridays while I am at work, Brecken gets to have a daddy day with Josh. They have been going golfing after pre-school and B's nap and B has had a BLAST doing that. He talks about it for HOURS afterwards. After this Friday's golf excursion, we had to call Papa in Gillette to place an order for new clubs- we're afraid these little plastic ones aren't going to last much longer hitting hard golf balls down the fairway. While not at the golf course, Brecken practices in the yard. And practices. And practices some more. And if he doesn't have a tee, he will search until he finds one. We have a little mini-Josh on our hands.

signs of spring

finally.

NICU reunion!

We get to go to a Children's Hospital NICU reunion! We got the invite a couple weeks ago and then another one today with more information. It's for "graduates" of the NICU from 2003-2006. I'm totally excited. I've wanted to see the new Children's Hospital since it's been open but never thought I should just go there and say, "Hi, can I tour your hospital?" :) But now we get the chance. And hopefully we'll get to see some of our nurses that we really liked. (Though since I only remember one of their names, I sure don't expect them to remember us at all!!) It's June 7th, the day we were going to Denver anyway to catch a plane early the next morning, so it worked PERFECTLY! We even get to send in a picture of B from the NICU and a current one too, for a slideshow they are putting together.

Whoo-hoo! A NICU reunion! (And yes, you can call me a dork for being so excited. :) )

mother's day

What a great day! It started with Brecken sleeping in! Hooray! Then he and Daddy brought me to breakfast. After we got back, Josh mowed the lawn and B and I took a walk to the greenhouse. We picked out some flowers and strawberries. When we got home, we planted the strawberries. Brecken is so excited to grow them and is a bit impatient- I think he thought the plants would have strawberries on them already. He walked through the greenhouse saying, "HEY! Someone ate all the strawberries!!" :) He is loving it though- he insisted on going outside tonight before bed so he could check on them.

After we planted, we were able to chill out on the deck. It was wonderful. It was so warm that even I had shorts on! After lunch, B and I took a nap while Josh watched golf. After we woke up, we got to go swimming! It was nice and warm in the pool today! Then we came home and got ready for popcorn night.

Never mind the colors of his shoes- nor the fact that they are both left feet. That's how he has been insisting on wearing them lately.

It was a fabulous day! Happy Mother's Day to all you out there. And hugs to all my friends from the infertility board (and all others) that struggle to have children. You are in my thoughts today!

sign of the times

Brecken was in the car with me after I picked him up. He had my phone and was pushing buttons. When we stopped, he handed me the phone and said, "Here Mommy. I texted Daddy."

Yup, he's growing up a lot differently than I did. :)

b

More on the other blog!

a list

I've had every intention of posting stuff in the past few days but haven't gotten around to it. Here's a few things that have been going on and I'll get back to post a "real" post later.

1. Sunday, we woke up to SNOW, so we didn't go see Bryell. :( We really wanted to, but figured the interstate would close so we couldn't get home, and we both needed to be at work on Monday. We'll try again this weekend.

2. Prom was Saturday night and it was a blast! Brecken could only stay awake until 9:30 so that's when he and I came home, but while he was there he had the time of his life.

3. I was selected for a jury yesterday. Spent a long day in Rawlins and go back today- and probably tomorrow, and hopefully not on Friday!

4. Brecken woke up at 2 am yesterday with a barking cough. Woke up at 6 am with a 102.7 fever. AGAIN. Josh stayed home with him yeseterday and then took him to the Laramie clinic yesterday around noon. Diagnosis? THE CROUP. The poor kid can't catch a break. Got a dose of steroids yesterday and has another one today. Poor baby.

5. Don't want to be late for jury duty, so I'll be back for a "real" post later!

said to me this morning...

(by Brecken of course.)

"I need to brush my teeth. My teeth all dirty. I feed the dogs, that why my teeth all dirty".

B: Mommy, what's this guy's name? (question of the month)
Mommy: I don't know, buddy- what should we name him?
B: (squinting and looking at him closely) ummm.... SANTA CLAUS!!
Mommy: Perfect! Looks like a Santa Claus to me!

in love

Brecken is in love with his new baby cousin and he hasn't even met her yet. Yesterday morning before school is when I found out Beth was in the hospital. Josh was in the shower while I talked to her, but Brecken was up so I told him. Josh came upstairs and B exclaimed, "Daddy! I have a new baby sister today!!" :) He also said, "She has a polka dot shirt." Last week while in Laramie, we found some little tiny dresses, and he picked out one for Bryell that had polka dots all over it. He remembered, a week later, that he was going to give it to her!

Just this afternoon, I was showing B a picture of Bryell. He knew exactly who it was. You should hear him say her whole name... "By-ell ewwabab0-beth." It's dang cute. Anyway, this afternoon after seeing the picture, he said, "I need to go see my baby cousin." I told him we would go on Sunday. He furrowed his forehead and exclaimed, very sternly, "No WANT to Sunday! Go 'morrow!!"

I think we need a new baby doll for him to play with- he has two right now and their names (given to them by Brecken himself) are Baby Hailey and Baby Brooke. Now we need one for him to name Baby Bryell!!

bryell

I want to welcome into the world my new neice, Bryell Elizabeth! She was born at 10:54 a.m. this morning weighing in at 6 pounds and was 19 1/2 inches long. She's a beauty!! I have another beautiful neice to add to my collection of beautiful neices and nephews!!

Welcome to the world, Bryell!! We can't wait to meet you!

the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

OK, it wasn't actually that terrible. :) Could've been lots worse, that's for sure! We made it though the night fine- his fever broke and he slept peacefully. I had him in bed with us, just in case it spiked suddenly again, so I could feel it. But we made it through the night, waking up every two hours to give the next round of medicine. It was weird- the alarm never went off, I always woke up exactly two minutes before it was supposed to. Mommy-intuition is a powerful thing sometimes!

We got up early this morning and left for Laramie at 7:00. The clinic opens at 8:30 so as we pulled into town, we called right away to get the first appointment available. It wasn't until 10:30, with a FABULOUS nurse practitioner who after today I will DEFINITELY see again. So we went to Wal-mart and got a birthday present for Amy's son for his birthday party on Tuesday. Brecken really, really, really wanted to keep what we bought Dylan (a set of little water guns), so I promised if he did a good job at the doctor, we'd come back and get him some. ALL HE TALKED ABOUT for the next three hours was "I need water guns to shoot Mommy with water!!!" :) Then we went to breakfast at Perkins- haven't gotten to do that in a long time so that was fun.

Unfortunately, before our appointment, Josh had to leave us. He is in Laramie today and tomorrow for a coach's clinic with UW. So he didn't get to have "fun" with us at the doctor's office.

We got an exam room with a little electronic keyboard in it! Brecken had so much fun playing it. Until the nurse came in and had to take his temperature and stuff. He now dislikes that nurse. Then the NP, Paula, came in. She was so fabulous! She let Brecken look in her ears first, to see if there were monkeys in there. Then she looked in his ears and he screamed. And no wonder. The right ear is totally infected, and the other one is a little bit. Then she grabbed a quick peek in his throat and said how disgusting that looked, too. So she ordered a strep test. She also ordered an influenza test because he was telling me the other night his legs hurt bad. She left, and the nurse came in with a popcicle and some swabs. Swabbed the boogers in his nose for influenza and swabbed his throat. That was the "fun" part I was talking about. I'm glad the little guy only weighs 23 pounds because it was hard enough to hold him down while they did that! He cried and cried and cried. But then enjoyed the popcicle while we waited for the results. :) Both were NEGATIVE, thank goodness! So we left with a double ear infection and a throat infection. Fabulous.

So, we went back to Wal-mart to get his antibiotic filled and he got to pick out his water guns finally. He was in 7th heaven, I think. :) Then we got lunch to go, and he ate a great lunch and then slept the rest of the way home. He's feeling pretty good this evening- we blew bubbles and played and watched some cartoons. He even took a bath so he could play with his water guns- I wouldn't let him go outside to do it because it is snowing once again. So the bath was a good substitute. :)

Yay for feeling better!

i'm not cut out for illnesses

I'm not cut out to have a sick child. It scares me to death. I always assume the worst. That's terrible, I know, but I can't help it. I know I should stay calm because I'm the mommy, but it's so hard. Even tonight, while talking to the pediatrician on the phone, I was shaking so bad and had to try hard to not cry on the phone.

Brecken woke up in an absolute panic about 10:30 last night. We could not get him to calm down. I had a feeling he was getting sick AGAIN, because this weekend he was rapid belly breathing again. And Amy said he hadn't been himself at daycare Monday and Tuesday. I slept with him last night and every time I moved, he would panic. It was a LONG night. He woke up this morning with a 101 fever. I was right- he was getting sick. So I stayed home with him today, and after mid morning, he perked up a bit. His fever stuck around and would creep back up as the medicine wore off, but he was in a better mood.

Well, after an OK day, we almost went to the ER again tonight. Brecken's temp was 101 at 7:45 and even after Tylenol and ibuprofen, it kept climbing. I called the pediatrician on call in Laramie (Kristen told me to) and it was Dr. DeHart, the doctor who was at B's delivery. While on the phone to her it got to 104.7. His rapid breathing was back again tonight too. He had told me his ear hurt, and I told Dr. DeHart that, and she's pretty sure he has an ear infection. But she said the rapid breathing concerned her, given his full history of breathing problems. She said to watch the fever and if it didn't go down, and if his breathing stayed rapid, we needed to get him to the ER. She said if I couldn't convince myself that he was OK, we should bring him to the ER. And if we don't go to the ER tonight, she definitely wants him brought in to the clinic tomorrow. So, a sub again tomorrow... Josh has a coach's clinic in Laramie, so we'll go over together and then leave Josh there with the other coaches. We have bags packed for a trip in the middle of the night though, just in case. But the fever has come down some.

I'm quite tired of illnesses. I feel totally guilty of him being born premature, because I'm very convinced his immune system is so low because of that. I know it wasn't my fault, I didn't make my body go into labor, but I still feel guilty. And I'm QUITE glad I don't have two kids. I couldn't deal well with having Brecken so sick all the time and having another baby, too!!!

So. Until the next update...

new blog

I'm very excited that I have had the opportunity lately to photograph a lot more people. I want to be able to share some of the photos I've taken, but I don't want to really have them on THIS blog because when I print this blog off in book format for Brecken when he's older, I don't want a lot of random people's photos in his book. :) Because of that, I've created a new blog just for the photos I've taken for people. Feel free to drop by!

hailey

Another beautiful neice...

nuggets

Josh won tickets in an auction that was a fundraiser for his football team to put lights on their field, so he and Jeffrey headed to Denver this afternoon to watch the Nuggets play the Sacramento Kings. THIS is where they sat- holy moly, what great seats! And a trip to the concession stand is worth it, because you burn a million calories climbing the stairs to get there. :)

uno, dos..

So Josh and I were totally amazed yesterday when Brecken had three balls, and while throwing each one said, "cuatro, cinco , seis..." Yes, he counted 4, 5, 6 instead of 1, 2, 3, but where did he learn the Spanish numbers well enough to say some in order? I'm telling you, the kid is a genius. :)

getting caught up

I realized there were quite a few movies on my little camera that I haven't gotten posted! So here they are.

This one is from December! (Actually, the next few are!) This is a house in Marco Island that had it set up for you to pull up in front of the house, tune your radio in to a certain station, and the music matched the light show. I know it's a bit hard to see, but pretty cool anyway.

This next one is from Disney World. There is an AMAZING light show called the "Osbourne Family Spectacle of Lights". It's the best Christmas light display I've ever seen. It was started by this dad that wanted to give his little girl all the lights he could at Christmastime, and then the neighbors started complaining about the light and traffic. (It was set up a bit like the one in Marco Island from the previous video.) He had to take the display down. Disney caught wind of it and brought it to Disney World. AMAZING to see. If you ever have the chance to see it, DO IT!

Here's a quick 360 degree view of the one section of street I was standing in at the time:

Brecken reading books with his Papa:

another beauty

I got to shoot another beauty yesterday. I'm 3 for 3 on good looking seniors! It was SOOO cold and SOOO windy so we didn't get to do everything we wanted to, but we got some good ones, none-the-less. Here's just a few of my favorites. I LOVED the color ones, because with such a dreary, dead-looking day, her bright colors totally popped. I think she liked the black and white ones best though. But since it's my blog, I posted my faves. :)

This fence was one she and her brother and cousins always played on when they were kids, so she wanted some pictures with it now that she's all grown up. Click on it to make it bigger if you want:

"whoa! big movie!"

We took Brecken to his very first movie theater last night. He keeps seeing the commercials for Monsters vs. Aliens and saying, "That's my favorite one!" so last night we decided to give it a go. He was so excited. He got his own little bag of popcorn and a little 7-Up and he was tickled to death. We sat down and the previews came on and he kept staring at the screen and squealing, "Whoa! BIG movie!!" The 3-D glasses were a bit big, so he didn't want to keep them on, and the beginning scared him a bit. But after hiding his face in my arm, the scary part was over and he watched the rest of it. I was impressed- I was figuring we'd have to leave halfway though because he got bored of sitting still! But he did great! We didn't get back from Rawlins until almost 10:00, but he fell asleep in the car and then slept hard all night. I was hoping that would be the case, instead of him waking up afraid of monsters! :)

hiccups

This morning we were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. In this particular episode, Donald had the hiccups and therefore couldn't sing in the singing contest unless they went away. They did several home remedies to get rid of them, and Brecken did everything with them. Jumped, turned around, counted to 3, and when Donald said, "My hiccups are gone!" Brecken turned to us and said,

"My hiccups are gone! They're in my bum now!"

I had tears, I was laughing so hard.

my new senior

I went out with this beauty yesterday to get some senior pictures for her. Isn't she gorgeous? And even though the wind was blowing SO. HARD., we managed to get some great ones. I had so much fun! I can't wait to go out again after this storm blows through and the wind dies down so we can venture out farther than the wall. :)