Update #1

Because I can't recount all the stuff I have missed from April 2013 until now, I will just catch up on what has happened more recently. And for posterity's sake, I guess we will just have a lot of gaps in my history. Which could make for some great storytelling!!

Update #1: we are expecting our third baby. In June of 2013, Mike came home from Japan and the plan was to immediately get pregnant. Well, as any of you probably know, I am a huge planner-- a little OCD, and God knows this about me and is constantly teaching me to trust in Him and his timing. For me, it is a constant teaching! So, my timeline of expanding our family was not in accordance to his timing...for reasons I am still not aware of, but I am beginning to see some light on that matter.

So, in October we found out that we were expecting. We have been looking forward to this for quite a while. Probably more Mike than me, but we are thrilled to be adding another sweet spirit to our crazy, circus-like home.

In March, we found out that baby #3 is a GIRL!! For me, I was shocked beyond comprehension! I was sure, even being 0-3 on guessing the sex of my children, that this baby was a boy. I had a name picked out and was so excited to follow that trend of boy- girl- boy. Well again, the Lord has a different plan than mine. I should just start expecting things to go that way, but I'm a slow learner, obviously!

In April we found out that Mike was offered a position in his job that would transfer us to the Washington, D.C. area and they were asking us to move by June 1, which would be 2 months before Baby #3 would come. I was excited about this change, and began the necessary preparations.

Now to the present...we are living in D.C. and are about 7 weeks from Baby #3, whom we have named Maycee, will arrive. We are working on getting prepared, but living in a temporary housing only allows for a suitcase with the preliminary items needed to care for a newborn baby. We are shopping for a new infant car seat and possibly a bassinet!

More to come regarding the baby, I am sure!

Wow! Has it been this long?!...

Wow, okay so this is the trend I continue to have in this life. As far as journaling, I will be good for a while, and then slack off for a year or more. To be positive, at least I am consistent. But, I guess I can always be better and try harder!

When I first began blogging, I was using it as my way of documenting for myself and out of town family and friends the moments in my small family's lives. Now, I am setting a new goal to continue this blog, due to some major changes that have recently taken place for us. So, I apologize, but it might be blogger overload for a while! So, let the overloading begin...

Girls Camp: Consuming my mind and my time...

Alright! So about a month ago I got put back into Girls Camp! That's right...I am going to Girl's camp, yet again! Don't worry, because I love being with the Young Women. I enjoy hanging out with them and helping them strengthen their testimonies of their Heavenly Father and their own divine destinies. So, I am very excited to be doing this again. So, I thought I would post some of our ideas and projects...since it has become almost a full-time job for me right now.

Our theme for camp is:



We are taking a spiritual twist on the Disney Movie "Brave". We are emphasizing the "brave" women in the scriptures who had their own destinies and how we as women, young and old, have been fore-ordained for our own destinies, if only we will be valiant and righteous. (I thought it was a great idea!)

I have been using a great website, which has been helping me find more than just the typical women that come to mind. It is: womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com

Anyway, so we are beginning to get to the real fun stuff. Our Camp Kick-off Event is coming up and I have some great things we are going to do. To help kick-off our theme of BRAVE, we are going to play a spin-off of the "Who Am I?" game (where you stick names on people's backs and they have to figure out who they are. If you don't know what I am talking about, I just explained it!!) Except, the names are going to be of women named, listed, described in the scriptures. I have given a scriptural reference to help the others. I can't wait to see how they do. Link to our game:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/134824941/Women-in-the-Scriptures-Who-Am-I

We are also going to do a little skit for the girls to help them understand what camp is all about. It is based on this: (it should be fun!)

This is the night we also get all the Secret Sister info and pass that around, so the girls have PLENTY of time to gather their gifts for camp. We also get some ideas of menu ideas for camp. (Not that we pick all the meals from those ideas!!) 

I am also putting together a little "Brave" bag for all the girls to take home! It will have some goodies, an general information sheet about camp and our fundraiser coming up, a packing list, and a few other things. I want them to go home so excited for camp, they wish it was tomorrow! I hope they will! 

So, like I said...the fundraiser is coming up. I will have more info on what we are doing in another post! Coming soon! Keep with me, because this what is consuming me...other than my two beautiful children! Until next time!

Kids Easter Photo Shoot

Well, let me first explain this post. I don't usually go out of my way to get Easter pictures done of my kids. It is usually on Easter Sunday, before church trying to get their cute outfits and beautiful faces. So, this is not a normal thing for me. But, with the fact that so many of my awesome, wonderful, important family members aren't around to see my cute kids grow, I wanted to capture this moment for them. So, please forgive the many pictures in this post, because there are quite a few, but I couldn't pick just 3 or 4 that were my favorite. So, for my family who keeps up on our blog, Happy Easter from E & B!

Christmas 2012

This year was quite a different year for our family for the holidays. We were missing Grandpa C and Kyle and his family. Mike's parents got their mission call, so we got to spend the holidays with them. It was so much fun! We had a great feast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! We played games, especially Just Dance 4! That was a riot of a time with all of the siblings that were up there. Mike's parents even got in on the action! We just had a great time. On Sunday, before Christmas, we decided to take some family photos in our Christmas outfits! This is what we came up with! Not too bad, if you ask me!

 Crazy photo with dad! 

 Family photo for the year! 

A little bored with this activity, can you tell?!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I hope we all have a terrific 2013! Happy New Year!

Ooooooklahoma!

This month we had the opportunity to go out to Oklahoma to see my brother graduate from Basic Training in the Army. A lot has happened to his little family since he left in August. The biggest thing was probably the fact that his first child was born without him being there. So, our trip was going to be very emotional for all of us, because he not only got to graduate and move one step closer to his ultimate career path, but he got to meet his daughter for the very first time! We couldn't miss that moment! So, we decided to pack up our family and drive across several states to be with him!

So, we took our sweet time getting to Oklahoma, because (1) we had a 4 year old who is still getting the hang of being potty-trained, so that worried me a lot! And (2) traveling with children is always the most fun a mother could ask for! NOT! So, we took advantage of this time to spend together and see quite a bit of things. We stayed in Colorado for the 1st night and the kids thought it was the greatest to sleep in a hotel and go swimming! So, we were off to a great start!

We arrived in Oklahoma City a day before the rest of my family was to arrive, so we planned to spend the day seeing all the sites in Oklahoma City. (Not to anyone going there: there isn't much to do!) We started our day at the Outlet Mall, more for mommy's sanity and just for some walking! It was fun! Then we decided to take the kids miniature golfing. They thought that was the greatest thing ever! More brownie points for mom and dad!!! Here are the kids having a great time playing on the greens, not much golfing going on!

 Then we decided we couldn't come all this way and not go see the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It was surprisingly neat. I didn't know there was so much at the memorial to see. We decided to forgo the actual museum, because of price. But, they have such a beautiful memorial garden to wander around and look at. Here is a picture of the reflecting pond.

 Here we are dragging the kids around, trying with all our mite to give them a little culture! They enjoyed being outside and seeing all the water!

 Mike really enjoyed the chair display. Each chair had a name of someone who was killed on it. It was quite neat to see the little chairs to represent the children. Humbling.

 Then, we met up with my family and traveled another hour and a half to Lawton, Oklahoma to Fort Sill to see Kyle. We got to stay in a hotel on base, which was a renovated dorm room! Not a lot of space, but it was fun to be so close. That next day, was Family Day on base. So, we got to see Kyle!! Here is the first pictures we could capture of my brother meeting his daughter. Side note: LOTS of tears were shed. It was a very special and tender moment. One that I probably won't ever forget!

All in all our trip to see Kyle was well worth the time in the car, the 3 new tires we had to purchase, and the special moments we shared. I am so proud of my brother and all the hard work he endured. I know that being away from his wife and daughter had to be the hardest thing he has ever done, but I know it was worth it. I am so proud of my military family members. I am grateful for their sacrifice for me to desire to defend our freedoms! Thank you for putting your life at risk for mine! I love my family!!

A Sunday Stroll through the mountains...

Yesterday was the Brigham City Temple Dedication so there was no regular church meetings for us. So, after going to the dedication, we decided that we would take advantage of the fall foliage and drive up the canyon. Mike took us up to Silver Lake, which is right by the Brighton ski resort. It was a cute little lake with picnic areas, walking path, lots of places for the kids to play. It was a blast. I have never been up there, but I think we might find ourselves going up there again. It was beautiful and the kids had so much fun! It was a great Sunday afternoon for our family!

 The kids thought that it was so much fun to play on the large trees that have fallen. Ethan was picking up sticks and rocks at every turn. Brynlee enjoyed climbing on every rock, tree, stump, etc.

 Our couple photo shot. We don't get this opportunity very often! I think it turned out okay.

 Just walking along the path, the kids loved that they could walk by themselves!

 A small glimpse of the beauty that we were surrounded by.

 Brynlee was kind of struggling to keep up, so Mike helped with the speed a little! Not without losing a few eyebrows!

 We had to stop on the rocks for a picture...each of them got a rock to themselves, it was very exciting!

 Our family photo! It was so fun!

 Again....photo op on the rocks! We did this a lot!

 How can you NOT love those faces?! 

 This is where Ethan said, "Oh Mom, it is just a piddle!"

 There were these great little paths all around that the kids thought were great to go hide in. It was fun!

 The drive back home through Midway!!

 Can you believe how bright and vibrant it is?! 

Loved every minute of our Sunday stroll through the mountains. I am so glad that we got to spend this beautiful Sabbath day in the beautiful artistic work of our Heavenly Father. What a treat!