Friday, January 24, 2014

August Events of 2013


 In August I got to see how much my toes had healed via x-ray. They were pain-free, but not completely healed. Still, I got the okay to start running again, so I was a happy camper.

We also had our first visit from Dad and Terree in August. They were so much fun to play with! They set us up to go to the beach for the first time (not in the winter) -- yay!

 
 To this day, Ellie never forgets to pray for "Terree Grandma and Grandpa Brough" and of course, the beach. Every. single. prayer.
Of course, we have to document Noah's saggy baggy hospital shorts when he got another abdominal x-ray....
 And an example of a perfect play date for Ellie...
 Isaac's first tooth (finally!) lost the night before his first day of school...
 
And the first day fun! Isaac is in 2nd grade (with Villarreal), Noah is in Kindergarten (with Garcia), and Ellie didn't know it on the day of this picture, but she would soon be starting preschool with "Miss Sue"--our wonderful friend, Su Ellen.
Yes, they are growing up!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Summer Times

The weather was pretty chilly here for a few days lately. What better time to document last summer? I am so far behind it's sad. But picmonkey is making my blogging less bulky, so I can't complain too much.
So...we enjoyed the Fourth of July. Did you? We like to think we're a very patriotic family. Got the Declaration on our wall and such. Ellie was super good for this hair experiment that actually turned out (thanks to My Little Pony).
 
In July we went to Utah for our 3rd year in a row. This time we took an extra day to see the caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico (see below). And Ellie and Noah had to ride a bull at a Walmart. And I made seat-belt pillows (also below).
 


 We made some wonderful memories! Mom's house, Noelle's house, in the mountains, at the Kamas Demolition Derby, at the Cousins Party with Ryan and Carrie. I never take enough pictures. Here's what I've got:


 The main excuse for coming was to see my beautiful friend, Katie, get married to Russell Warne. It was beautiful and I'm so happy we were able to be there.
Three cheers for a SLC temple marriage!

Our trip seemed to go by so fast. Before we knew it, we were packing up and heading home.










Thursday, October 17, 2013

You Don't Skip the Middle Child!

SO I was helping Noah find some pictures for his Kindergarten timeline and, to help me sort out chronology, I used the blog as a reference. AND THEN it hit me: I never posted about his birthday! I completely skipped January through...May. Wow, that's bad. And I was so proud about only being 2-3 months behind!

How did I miss this guy?!
Now I'm going back in time (what else is new?) to make up for it. At least a little.
In January we went to see the Texas coast for the first time. We stayed at the navy base near Corpus Christi and toured the USS Lexington:

These three monkeys had a great time and we all learned a lot.

We went to the beach to say that we did it. Even though it was pretty frigid and windy.



Somehow, even after sampling the weather in regular clothes, Ellie still thought it would be a good idea to climb back in the car and get her suit on while we weren't looking.
It was a fun and memorable trip.

Noah's 5th Birthday

While waiting for his bus, Noah got a  birthday hug from his favorite sister.
As soon as the door opened when school let out, Noah's class sang Happy Birthday to him. It was hilarious to see his funny, embarrassed walk as he came outside!

Noah had a great birthday.
Isaac had some excitement in January, too: his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby! He even won the Cub Choice Award for having an awesome tank that appeals to elementary school-aged boys. 

So that was January! If I stay up any longer, this blog will make even less sense. Good night. :)

Saturday, August 3, 2013

June Happenings

Now that summer is almost over, here are some things that happened at the beginning of the season.


The boys had their last day of school. They brought plants to each of their teachers with measuring sticks that said, "Thanks for helping me grow this year!" They did grow this year, in so many ways.

 We said goodbye to Ms. Valadez, who taught Noah for her last year before retiring.


Two years ago she taught Isaac. She's an amazing teacher!


 Isaac joined the swim team and enjoyed it.

On a less-cool note, I broke some toes. Wanna see a gross picture of two days later?

Jared went with the scouts for High Adventure and came back looking like a mountain man. He had a blast; maybe I'll steal some pictures from his phone for another post just about that.

Ellie fell asleep at the dinner table (random, I know).


We finally painted our living rooms and put in some nifty new blinds. If you could see the "before" picture, perhaps it would be more impressive. That was a project that felt good to finish. Next up, the kitchen....


After the garden yielded a couple of potatoes, I let some mysterious plants grow. Turns out, they were sunflowerish weeds. But, nothing else was going on there, so there they stayed. Jare took some pictures of Isaac after church there.



We went to Government Canyon for a family hike, but instead attended a snake presentation/exhibition which was really cool. It was mostly about Texas snakes. 




Iron Man was melted in a preheating oven. He was placed there during one of Ellie's pranks and promptly forgotten. Noah was extremely distraught. Some very kind neighbors who'd heard of the affair had pity on Noah's poor heart and surprised him with a new one within a few hours. Did I mention the new Iron Man was about five times bigger? Yeah, that made Noah's day.
 And, randomest of all, this is what happens when Ellie dumps out all her toy bins to make beds for all of her babies.

June happenings, people. Just reporting the facts! July and Aug are going to be more exciting.