Jack's 2nd B-day and Lagoon

We made the trip up north last weekend to celebrate Brooks' cousin Jack's 2nd Birthday. I can't beleive these boys are turning two already. Brooks loves his cousin, and the day before we left I told him what we were going to be doing and he got so excited! However, he then proceeded to keep asking me that we go see Jack every hour for the next 24 :). We had so much fun celebrating with the Bennetts. Brooks "helped" Jack open all his presents as you can see. We didn't have a fight until later that evening when we were getting all the toys out of their packaging and Brooks and Jack did not want to share the Thomas the train. Pat's mom took some really funny pictures of them screaming at each other... I'll have to get them from her and post later.






































The morning before Jack's party, we all went to Lagoon. We had a really great time, the boys loved all the rides and Lagoona Beach. Brooks loved the car and boat rides. When I showed him these pictures after we were home again, he kept asking... Mom, me... cars? Meaning, can we please go to Lagoon right now so I can do that again. I wish we would have taken some of them all playing in the water too. These boys love each other!! Thanks Aunt Erin for inviting all of us!

This picture cracks me up.... so serious, they really are having fun!

Probably pictures they will kill us all for later... kissing cousins - isn't it cute though :)

Quick and Dirty... mostly pictures

This is just gonna be a quick post... just mostly of recent pics. We've been really busy since we made the move back to So. Utah. We have finally finished cleaning, painting, replacing and unpacking the Duplex. It's been nice to be able to relax and enjoy the pure joy of living in something large then 900 sq ft that has a yard!!

Pat built me some flower boxes for Mother's day which have been fun to plant in, and I love having flowers to care of! We also have a birds nest in one of our pine trees not too much higher then eye level. It's been really cool watching mom take care of her babies... I've taken a ton of pictures, but because of the needles in the foreground you can't really see the birds.


















Pat's little Bro got married on the 8th and Pat and I were both in the line, we had a lot of fun walking down the isle together.... again ;). And Brooks was such a stud all dressed up.

























We are really enjoying the warm weather and being close to our families... please let the storms keep coming so it doesn't get too hot :)

Pat's 30th

Not only did Brooks turn two in March, but Pat hit the big 30 as well. We had a combined party for Brooks, Pat and Pat's younger brother Daniel who's b-day is on the 25th. We had a really good time with all our family there. Pat's mom has one of those smart cars, the kind you wiggle the wheel to get it to move. She rode it and then let all my nieces and B push her, while she took turns giving them all a ride. These pictures are so funny!







































B, trying to keep up....
















Brooks thinks that the smart car is his, and usually has a meltdown if anyone else tries to get on it.

















Then we opened presents and blew out the candles on the cakes.

























(Pat's actually had 30 candles, and Dan's had 25... they look like they are on fire! he he)















mmmm yummy cupcake!
















The three boys really liked the kid's furniture Brooks got from his Mimi and Papa. These boys are so cute it's going to be so much fun when we can have sleep overs and they are running around getting in to trouble together.


























The aunt Erin found the funnest present of all.... the empty box that had his basket ball hoop in it that her, uncle Kyle and Jack gave Brooks. I think next year we'll just give him a big empty box :)

How old are you? "Do"

I can not believe it, but Brooks turned two on Sunday! Where have those two years gone? He is getting to be such a big kid. I love it because he finds new ways to make us laugh and new ways to amaze us everyday, but it also makes me sad that he's becoming a big kid. He's not my little cute, chubby baby anymore. I actually looked at him the other day and caught a glimps of what I think he'll look like as a young man.

We celebrated his birthday by filling his bed room floor with balloons while he was asleep. That was really fun when he woke up. Then we put candles on his pancakes and sang "Happy Birthday", which he hid his face through. Then we opened some presents. I have been trying to teach him his pleases and thank you's, so after every present he opened he said "taint toe". This kid is freakin adorable!


























Favorite toddler moments so far:

B - mommy?
Me- yes?
B -Be happy.

When he wants Pat or I to come over to where he is, he calls out mommy or daddy and then makes kissing noises like we do to get the dogs to come.

He's learning signs and random times during the day he tries to show us all the ones he can remember. In between each sign he says, "uhm" with a really furrowed brow of concentration look.

Lining up all his toy cars like a mini car show.
















Boondocks

My best mommy moment yet

I had the most wonderful moment with Brooks two weeks ago. It started out as a normal Friday and Brooks and I were busy playing and cleaning the house while Pat was at work. Round about 4:00 I got a call from Pat with some rather bad news. UTA was doing a mass layoff and Pat did not survive it. We were devastated! After a few brief exchanges to make sure that Pat wasn't joking (my husband the Joker) I hung up the phone and started to cry right there in the kitchen. I sat down and covered my face and all I could think of was, "What are we gonna do". Then I felt this little hand on mine. I looked up and there was Brooks. Looking at me with the sweetest expression of concern on his face. He started to pat my hand very softly and say "mommy" in a tone meaning, it's okay. Then he started to wipe the tears of my face with both his hands and kiss my checks, all the while in that same sweet tone saying "mommy". It was the sweetest moment I have had with him. I'm getting a little teary eyed just remembering. He did such a good job making me feel better. And despite how upset I felt, I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling that came over me that everything was going to be all right. Thanks to my baby boy.

Off to a busy start...

We have had a pretty busy new year so far. We went to the snocross at the Rio Tinto stadium. It was pretty cold but we bundled up in all our snow gear and had a great time! It was pretty cool watching them jump those snow mobiles. Brooks like the really loud noises they made and he thought watching them race was pretty cool.











































Pat got us some Jazz tickets for Christmas for the game against the Caveliers. It was pretty cool, mine and Brooks' first Jazz game. We didn't stay for the whole game, since they are so late. Brooks started to get pretty grumpy around 8:30 so we missed the game winning three pointer at the buzzer.
































































A few weeks ago We took the boys (Brooks and Jack) to an introductory tumbling class at "The little gym". It was really fun, and Brooks had a blast running and jumping around. He even did a forward roll pretty well (with a little help). He really like jumping around on this mat that the teacher filled with air, like those bounce castles. The boys had such a great time that we decided to sign them up for classes. It'll be a good way especially through the winter to get some energy out! Then after the class and nap time. We watched Jack for Erin and Kyle while they went to dinner. The boys had tons of fun playing with each other, especially when they both decided to attack me on the couch.












































































Then just today we went to the Living Aquarium with the Bennetts. Brooks loved all the fish! The best part was the open tank they had and we were able to touch sting rays. It scared the crap out of me... I'd never felt one before and they were soft and a little slimy and just as I touched his wing he turned really quickly around towards my hand and I yelped! Everyone looked up and I was totally embarrassed! Brooks was braver then mom and we couldn't get him away from the tank. Before we left Brooks managed to get a blue stuffed animal clown fish from his dad, which we he loving dubbed Moe and gives fishy kisses to!