Splash Park Fun

This week, we decided to try a new splash park not too far from here. We invited Lala, Jocie and Hallie to join us for a morning of fun!

The boys both loved these water spraying frogs. They had a blast trying to squirt each other!

And cute little Hallie!

After we got done at the splash pad, we picked Daddy up from his office for a quick little picnic at one of our favorite neighborhood parks. It was a fun, fun day!!

**Thanks for all the photos, Jocie!!**

Brutus

Last night, my sister called saying she was on the way to the emergency vet clinic with Brutus. He has been pretty sick on and off for the last few months, but meds weren't working this go around. He was scheduled for an appointment this morning, actually, for cancer screening.

As soon as Ashley walked into the clinic with Brutus last night, they just took him to the back without her. And as soon as she told me that, David and I decided that I needed to drive out to Scottsdale to be with her just in case.

Unfortunately, the "just in case" was for good reason. The vet told Ashley that chances were good that he had lymphoma, and because of the symptoms he was showing last night, she suspected that he had a tumor somewhere in his brain. After a lot of discussion and a LOT of tears, it was decided to just let Brutus go peacefully and not have him suffer through his illness any longer.

Brutus was 9 years old: old for a boxer. A boxer who was considered an "abnormality" due to his white coat. But Brutus was the best dog I have ever seen (sorry Kodi!). He was fiercely protective of Ashley and was just as protective of my children. He and Kehlton had a special bond from the day we brought K home from the hospital. They loved each other tremendously. Even on Brutus' sickest days, he would still allow Kehlton to climb all over him. As I was sitting with Ashley and Brutus last night, I just kept wondering if I had taken enough photos of him with the kids over the years.

My sister has seen a lot of heartache over the 7 or so years that she's had Brutus. She has experienced trauma and pain that no person should ever have to live through. And through all of that, Brutus was right by her side. He was her protector, her confidant, her best friend. He will be greatly missed by all of us!

1st Sunday in Nursery

When did he get so big?!? Well, maybe "big" isn't the right word (because he is still quite small). Grown up? I can't believe Kehlton is old enough for nursery already. If somebody could figure out a way to make time slow down, I'd greatly appreciate it!

As I mentioned earlier, we started Kehlton's transition into nursery an entire month early. If you know my son at all, he does NOT like to be left with other people. He doesn't really even care for meeting other people. I've been taking him to YW with me for months now just trying to get him to warm up to the girls. He is just perfectly happy hanging out with his family. He truly doesn't need to be bothered with anybody else. Pretty much the polar opposite of his big brother.

So this was his first Sunday in Nursery last month.

He looks like a willing participant,

And he looks like he's happy to be there,

But don't let these photos fool you! These were taken the first 5 minutes of his very first visit...before he realized that Mom and Dad don't just stand there next to you and watch you have fun. 5 minutes before the blood curdling screaming began. I really wish I would have gotten a photo of his true feelings for nursery, but my hands were too full of my baby climbing desperately up the front of me, clinging on for dear life.

He is making progress, though. Just this week he decided that he is completely in love with our babysitter (the same one we've been using for months). So maybe this will be the Sunday that he decides he loves nursery, too.

Our Happenings

The last month has been absolutely insane around here. Hence the lack of blogging. But here's a quick re-cap of events:

May 8(ish) - May 18: My parents and brother came for a visit. It was the first time we'd seen Nathan since he got home from his mission, so that was lots of fun. And the boys had a blast spending so much time with Grandma and Grandpa. Well, Brychan had lots of fun. Kehlton waited until the last 3 or 4 days of their trip to decide to be social. We went to the zoo, the library, and had several trips to the park.

May 13: Mark, Jocie and Hallie move to Phoenix!! Dave and I went to help unload their truck, and unfortunately, I haven't seen any of them since! They have come over a couple of times since they've been here, but I was gone. Hopefully we can get together and play soon, because I've heard that the kids already love each other!

May 21 - May 25: I left my boys behind while I went up to Camp LoMia for Girls Camp with our ward. IT. WAS. COLD!! But, it was also a lot of fun. We had over 30 girls from our ward at camp this year (ours is by far the biggest ward in the stake). I love going to Girls Camp and am looking forward to next year. While Mommy was gone, Daddy and the boys worked on lots of projects, made several trips to the park, played with cousin Hallie and even made a few visits to the office.

May 21 - right now: More sick bugs at our house. The day before I left for camp, Kehlton spiked a fever. The morning I left, he was covered head to toe in hives. When I got home, both boys had nasty noses and coughs, and within 2 days of being home, I had the crud as well. We are all much better now with just minor coughs lingering.

May 31: Back to work for me! I had originally planned on not working at all this summer, but when the opportunity arose for me to just work the field trips for summer camp, we decided it would be worth it. So for 2 months, I am working 6am - Noon, 3 days a week. The boys have an amazing babysitter that comes to the house to play for 3 hours or so. So basically, I'm getting paid to accompany a bunch of elementary school kids to the movies every Friday, and other fun places around the valley (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) while my boys get to play with Lexy (Brychan cries every time we take her home).

June 5: Kehlton's first official day of nursery! He's been going for the last month because we knew it would be a hard transition for him. I was hoping that having big brother in there with him would help ease the transition, but Brychan is so busy with his little girlfriend, Bella, that he can't be bothered to play with his little brother. :) Hopefully, Kehlton will soon decide that nursery really is an okay place to be!

I do have some photos from all these events that I hope to get posted soon. Just wanted to let all of you know we are alive and doing well!!

4 Years Strong

Today is our 4th anniversary.

4 years doesn't sound very long.

But, in the most positive meaning, it feels like it's been longer than 4 years.

It feels like we've been together forever; like we're "home".

I think the number of trials and difficult situations that we have already weathered together in our short marriage outnumbers what most "newly married" couples have to endure.

Some that would have torn other marriages apart.

However.

I married the most perfect man for me.

A man that loves me, loves our children and loves the Lord.

And because of that, we have been able to turn those trials into stepping stones, and make our marriage stronger rather than weaker.

We celebrated our anniversary on the 19th since we had too much going on on the 18th. Dave surprised me with tickets to the Phoenix Symphony, which was performing The Red Violin and A Midsummers Night Dream.

Spring!!

Okay. So it really feels more like summer. But it is still just spring around here, and here are a few things we've seen on our walks lately.

The adorable goslings. We have 3 of these cute little families that live around here (one major benefit to living in a water community!). We love watching them waddle all over the neighborhood and have just as much fun watching the little ones swim in the lake.

Beautiful cactus flowers. Who knew something so pretty and colorful could come from something so ugly and pokey?

I am still waiting patiently to get a picture of my absolute favorite thing about springtime around here: the quail families that live in our yard. I am in love with those baby quail. They are too cute!! They are also very fast, though, and make it near impossible to catch them.

While You Were Sleeping

My favorite time to clean the boys' bedroom is after they have gone to bed for the night. They both sleep like logs, so I don't bother them and then I don't have 2 sets of extra hands trying to "help" me with the clean up. If I clean during the day, it never gets done. If I clean at night, I'm done in 10 minutes tops.

The other night Dave came in to help me clean. Kehlton started stirring, so we both froze as to not get caught. He sat up in his crib and it took us a few minutes to realize that he was sleeping like that.

We just let him be...after I was done cleaning, I laid him back down. Two seconds after he laid down, his eyes popped open, he got up, took a drink of water from his sippy cup and just stared at me. I told him to lay down and go back to sleep - which he immediately did.

Turns out that sleepwalking and night terrors are the same sleep disorder. Looks like Kehlton may end up with the best of both worlds!