Happy Birthday Brennan!

Happy Birthday Brenny Guy! Today, our baby, who is sooo not a baby, turns 3. We celebrated on Saturday with a Buzz Lightyear party. Brennan loved Toy Story 3 and we have been talking about a Buzz party ever since.

Brenny loved his Space Ranger Station cake.


Here are a few of the party attendees: Krystal, Grandma, Bailee, Brennan, and in the background, Talan, Daddy, and Grandpa. I thought this was a sweet moment.


He got some really nice presents this year... A Leapfrog Leapster (so they can stop fighting over Kaeleb's)from money pooled by Mommy & Daddy, Nana & Great Aunt Marie...


Toy Story's big Buzz Lightyear that shoots lasers and speaks English and Spanish, a little green Toy Story Alien and a fuzzy Toy Story blanket from Mommy & Daddy...


Grandpa and Grandma gave him clothes and a Playmobil pirate ship. We love Playmobil around here, and this ship is amazing!


I still need to get a picture of his all time favorite present from Kris & Barbi-- a sword and shield. Yes, he has 15 or 20 swords already, but this one takes the cake and he has slept with it every night, and scarcely lets it leave his sight.

He was super cute when opening presents. He is an enthusiastic little chap and every present warranted a very loud and emphatic "Oh, Thank You Berry Much!! It is what I wanted for so long!" I love his gusto for life!

Speaking of gusto, before we finished singing to him, he had already blown out the candle, so this is the best picture I could get of the "make-a-wish moment".


Grandma brought make-it-yourselves candy necklaces for a fun little activity.


Last, while I was decorating the cake, Brenny begged me to let him help. Now, I know that my cakes are not professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I could only imagine the cake he would have if he did it himself, so I gave him graham crackers and let him at it with the leftover frosting. Ta Da!


Brennan is the spice of our lives. He is not quiet by any means, and never gets bored. His happiness is contagious and Daddy always refers to him as "exuberant". Indeed, he is. He gets excited about everything. Tonight while I was cooking dinner he was playing on the front porch. He yelled "Mom! Mom! Get out here!" I went out to see him pointing up to the sky. "Look Mom!" He yelled. "Up there! It's a berry DEEP storm cloud!"

Brennan loves deeply and snuggles us as much as he can. Every day at one o' clock we watch Sesame Street so I can take a nap. Until this week we were having a problem that as soon as I fell asleep he got lonely and woke me up. Now, I hold him while I sleep and he snuggles in without a peep for the whole show & I get a whole hour nap! Last night during FHE I complimented him on his reverence (it is rare, believe me) and how we could all feel the Holy Ghost in our home when he and Kaeleb are reverent. He put both his little hands on my cheeks and said quietly. "Mom. That makes me want to snuggle you." I love him so much.

Since he missed the preschool deadline by 2 weeks, I have him all to myself this whole year, and I am loving it more every day. I loved my one on one time with Kaeleb before Brennan was born, and now it is Bren's turn. He is so much fun and so energetic. We have a place to go or an activity of sorts every morning and each afternoon, after I take my nap during Sesame Street, we do "school". I am teaching him a new letter every week. So far, he has got Aa and Bb down pat. By March he will know them all.

How grateful I am for the day, three years ago, that Brennan came into this world and stole our hearts. None of us will ever be the same!

School Days!

I really haven't blogged for 3 weeks? Yikes!

I can't remember anything from that long ago, so I will just pick up with what's current, and that is... FIRST GRADE!!

Kaeleb started 1st grade last Thursday. I love my little Guy. He was very nervous the night before. Going to bed he was a motormouth of "What-ifs". "Mom, what if I get lost? What if I cry? Do you think I will cry? Do you think I will be embarrassed if I cry? Do you think anyone else will cry? Do you think I won't be embarrassed if someone else cries too? What if I can't find the bathroom? What if I can't find the lunchroom?"

Thursday morning I dropped him off and I could tell he was scared, but he didn't cry! He gulped and said a shaky, "Bye Mom!" I left wondering what the heck is wrong with America that we leave our tiny little, terrified, innocent six-year-old children with a school full of strangers for 7 and 1/2 hours a day, and I was ready to start home schooling right then and there.

It didn't help at all when I picked him up after school and he said "My teacher is really stern and I am so tired. School is too long." Or, when the next day he said, "My teacher isn't just stern, she is MEAN. And nobody wants to play with me at recess." I was so sad! I prayed about it a lot over the weekend and had such a good feeling that it would be ok, and that it was just his first day jitters.

I was right. He has bounced out of school every day this week, happy and excited. He has said for two days in a row, "Everything was good today! Not even was tiny thing was bad about school today!" I went and volunteered on Tuesday, so I got to see his teacher in action and she is not mean, but she is very strict and structured and doesn't like it when they don't listen well. That is fine with me and now that he is used to her style, he likes her. Kaeleb is making friends and loving the kids in his class. They are all really cute.

Kwint is also doing really great with his work. He has literally pounded the pavement marketing this month and is getting busier every day. His partner in Park City, Max, said that summer is always slow in PC and we would see things pick up in September. We were still nervous, but we reminded ourselves that the Lord sent us here and would back us up and He really has. I guess PC people go on vacation all summer and then come back needing therapy for spending 3 months with their families. (Just kidding) We are very grateful that God opened this door for us. Kwint is very happy with his work, happier than I have ever seen him.

So, when I left SG after serving in the nursery and as the ward choir director, I was looking forward to a little R&R, and spiritual enlightenment in Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society. While we were in Layton, however, I spent most Sundays in Nursery trying to help Bren with his separation anxiety. Once we got here we thought we'd really get him trained up to go on his own, which he is finally doing, albeit reluctantly. It's a miracle! Well.... after church on Sunday I was extended a calling.... in the Nursery. I can't believe it! I had this moment of thinking "Are you kidding me? No rest for the weary? Really? Nursery?" But I am actually really excited about it. There are going to be 67 kids nursery age soon, so they split it into 3 nurseries and they will have them rotate between 3 classes. I am going to be in charge of music time. I learned a few tricks from the music lady in Layton and from a music class I took Brennan to this week, and I am already so excited about it that I want to invite my neighbors to bring their toddlers to my house once a week for a little Toddler music class. I am going to bring a variety of instruments and little pictures on popsicle sticks (kids love those) and also get them dancing.

Kwint is still calling-less, but hoping soon to have a job. He has been Mr. Service Man around the neighborhood to make up for it. He sees people out working in the yard or moving furniture and rushes out to help as often as he can.

We are hoping to have pictures of our red fireplace wall next week. It is not red yet. I am still building the courage, but I plan to paint on Saturday. Then I have a couple hallways to paint tan, the master bedroom brown and the boys' room blue. Guest room and office are still undecided.