Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!! We hope you've had a great weekend. We sure did. We were glad to have Dave and Staci Chavez and their kids in town to hang out with. We had to ignore them for a couple days because Brennan had a fever, but luckily we had a good chance to play yesterday and today.

We tried not to let the illness get us down. We decided as long as we were outside and he couldn't slime anyone we would go to the Medieval Festival thing at the fairgrounds on Friday night. We got to take a hayride and watch knights joust. That was entertaining. What a weird sport.

Here you can see the boys at the Splash Pad on Saturday. We didn't stay long because it got really windy and Brenny didn't feel good, but it was fun to watch them play for awhile.

Sunday was busy with church and callings, then after dinner we walked to the park and fed the ducks (sorry, no pictures)and talked with lots of neighbors and friends. Yay!!
Today we went to the lake. Here is Kwint catching some air....

...and Gina wimping out, staying on the boat with the kids....

...and the kids having a blast building sand volcanoes with the dry ice Dave brought. Huh? Who randomly shows up at the beach with dry ice? Dave Chavez does, that's who.

While they played Staci, Tam and I chilled out in the hot sun. Luckily it wasn't crazy hot like it usually is this time of year. Just 92, and with the breeze it wasn't too bad.

Little Estella stuck her toes in for a few and made us all look bad because she was so cute.


Now I am too tired to elaborate, but we had a great time.
Last on the blog but earlier this week... Wednesday was Kaeleb's last day of preschool.

He had such a great year. Preschool was the best thing in the world for him. He learned a lot academically, but more special than that was the social experience with all the cute kids in his class and the relationship he developed with his teacher. Oh, Miss Mary! I will miss her more than he will!! I love her for what she has done for Kaeleb. He learned to follow directions and keep the rules. He learned to respect his teacher and the kids in the kids in the class. He learned to trust a grown up that isn't Mommy to take care of him. Most importantly he learned that he can find love and acceptance from a grown up who is "important" and isn't Mommy.

Mary went out of her way to make the class special for all the children. They had field trips and parties and the last day of school was "Water Fun Day". She made a DVD with a slide show of pictures set to fun songs and gave one to each child. Kaeleb has watched it every day and I well up with tears every time. Sheesh! How will I handle college?

Alan and Angie

Breathe in, breathe out... ah....

Does it get any better? We just spent 4 days in the great state of Washington. Green!! Our very bones were basking in the green of it all.

This, by the way is the exact spot where Kwint proposed to me more than 9 years ago, under a full moon, in the frigid cold that we didn't notice, when I had to all but beg for him to kiss me because he was so nervous.

This is the beautiful Snoqualmie Falls.

This is mom and Brenny enjoying the scenery.

And, this is the real reason we went there.... My big brother Alan got married on Saturday! We are so happy for him and so grateful for his beautiful wife, who is his perfect match and so sweet.

This is my family. Yes, as you can see, I am the shrimp of the family. I don't know how I got the short end of the stick. L-R, Gerritt, Ira, Mom (Dorine), Me, Alan.

Alan and Angie with his kids, Brittney and Tristen

Last but not least, me and my little crew of guys. They were quite handsome in their matching ties, I must say. The boys were little troopers. They were well behaved on both plane rides and pretty darn good at the wedding. We all had a blast playing with cousins, aunts, uncles and Nana.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy day to all the moms in my life. I hope Mother's Day has been a wonderful day for all of you!!

Today was the single most relaxing day I have spent in two years. I rather enjoyed the whole day... except for the part when Brennan stopped breathing and turned blue... He is alive and well and that is the best present I could have today. (The story is not that exciting, I just said that for an attention getter-- did it work?)

Brenny has had a fever for two days and it got high in the middle of the night. He got nauseous and started to throw up, gagged on his bile and couldn't get it out. He did turn blue and we were panic stricken, then he finally threw up all over Kwint's shirt and everything was fine.

It did remind us how precious our children are and how grateful we are for them. I am so grateful to be a mother. As hard as it can be, it is the only job I have ever wanted and I can't imagine greater rewards.

So, I stayed home from church with the sickie and took two naps. We had a picnic outside for lunch since the weather was very nice and not too hot. We went to Tam's for dinner and her kids cooked and did the dishes. (Paper plates- it was rough for them) but it was very nice to not cook or clean and we had sooo much fun. We truly love our sis.

This week Kaeleb got to go to a pizza place for a field trip. He made his own dough but says he didn't like the pizza he made.

Kaeleb's imagination runs away with him sometimes. Tonight on the way to Tam's there was a gorilla in the car which he punched into a bush and then a frog fell through the roof and nearly took us all out. My favorite K-dude story of the week was when Kwint asked him to do something and he ran through the house yelling "Not now Dad! I can't do anything right now! There's a boulder chasing me!"

Brennan is continuing to add to his vast vocabulary. He loves to bang on the door to our bedroom early in the morning and yell "Dad! C'mere! Soccer ball, rard!" (rard means yard) He also begs to "dig a hole, rard" He would be outside 24/7 if we could. We'll have to get creative when the heat sets in.

I have decided to move to Disneyland and try out for a Disney Princess. Last week I curled my hair for church and bore my testimony. When I stood up, my friend's 3 year old asked his Dad if I was Giselle. (from Enchanted) He said, "No, that's Sister Kemp." The little guy thought for a minute, then shook his head and said "No. It's Giselle." Is it weird if I'm flattered?

My Little Talker

Brennan and Mama


There hasn't been too much in the way of excitement around here lately, unless you count the worldwide panic over the swine flu. We are aiming to keep that in perspective.... on one hand, it's just a flu, right? On the other.... ugh.

We are having so much fun watching our boys grow up. Brenny has been changing so fast and is getting so big!! Our baby is a big boy! If we didn't have such an aversion to me being pregnant we would be baby hungry.

Bren has decided to go ahead and speak in sentences. They are short, but we have had some actual conversations. For example, tonight Kwint and the boys were waiting in a parking lot while I ran in to pick up a quick item. Bren said "Mommy go?" Kwint said "She will be right back." Bren asked "When?" We didn't know he knew that word.

It is always fun to hear what toddlers come up with for words. Brennan says "wongy" when he's hungry-- it took us forever to figure that one out-- and asks for "daburs dandy" (starburst candy)or "boo suck-errr" (blue sucker). Then he either says "Dink yooou" or "dinks".

He has been tattling on big brother lately, though if Kaeleb hurts him it is usually because Bren has antagonized him. :-) He will come to me crying and say "Budda push me!" or "Budda bonk me!" Tonight he said "Budda puh Hair!" One day this week Brennan ran into something and hurt himself, so he came to me crying and said "Me push me!" So cute. I usually say "Do you need a kiss?" He will stop crying and say "Diss? Uh-huh!" and then "Dinks." and go on his merry way. He is such a fun, playful little person.

Kaeleb is awesome, as usual. One funny little Kaeleb story that made me smile happened on Monday. He and a friend were playing that they were pirates and arguing about whether pirates used guns, swords, or both. Kaeleb finally settled it by saying "We will just have to ask my Grandpa because he LOVES pirates."

So, like I said, not too much, but sometimes a boring week is better than a crazy one.