San Clemente

We had a great trip to California with the Mortensen's.

We left early Tuesday morning (August 9th) and came home Saturday (August13th).
Brooklyn did GREAT during both car rides.  I was nervous because this was the longest road trip we've done with her...but she was a champ.  I sat in the back with her the whole way, which probably helped.

I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have liked...because I forgot to bring my camera most places and then my camera ended up dying on the day I did remember to bring it to the beach.

Fun things we did:

the beach, and lots of it
morning walks on the pier and downtown
shopping at the mall and footsies
Surfin' Donuts - the best ever
playing at the park
Maggiano's - sooo good and worth every calorie :)
roasting hot dogs, s'mores, star-bursts, and bananas at the beach
games at night - psychiatrist and the dice game (can't remember what it was called)
relaxing, taking naps, sleeping in

Here are the few pictures I did take:

sittin' in her stroller at the beach

 these two played in the pack 'n play a majority of the time

Jakob and Hannah

Brooklyn and Royce swinging together at the park

We love going to the condo and spending time with family....can't wait for next summer!

Brooklyn's twin

Want to see what Brooklyn's twin brother would look like if she had one?

..................................................

.....................................................

Crazy huh?!!

This is Brooklyn's cousin Royce.  He is John's brother James and his wife Sara's youngest son.  Royce and Brooklyn are only 8 days apart.  I think they look like twins and think this may be what John and I's boys look like.  We got to meet Royce for the first time on our trip to California with the rest of the fam...more to come on that soon!

7 months

Our little girl is 7 months old!

7 things about her...(and a few more)

• she is still a great sleeper - goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 6:30 on the dot every morning
• has started eating baby food and already has her likes and dislikes - doesn't like peas or bananas but likes pretty much everything else
• still loves bath time and doesn't mind going swimming or being dunked under water
• she is rolling over, sitting up, and is content playing by herself
• loves to watch and observe - she will sit in her bumbo and stare at what I'm doing, whether I'm making dinner, doing the dishes, doing my hair, etc.  She also loves to sit and watch what Jeannette's kids are doing when she watches her.
• loves her binkie, loves her blanket, loves her baby Einstein movies, loves reading books, loves to breastfeed or drink a bottle and gets quite upset if either one is taken away and she isn't finished yet, loves her mom and dad
• has the chubbiest cheeks and thighs and biggest smile

And 7 of our favorite features about her...

her smile 

her eyelashes - so very long

her cheeks - so fun to pinch

her things - so chubby and so much to squeeze

her little feet

her face - I. love. this. face.

and her big brown eyes.

And just a few more pictures..

We sure love our sweet, sweet girl.

Worland 2011

Brooklyn and I were able to go to Worland for the 1st week of August.

Unfortunately John had to stay home because he had finals that week (but he did great, so that was good).

As always, it was a good GREAT time.

All my favorite people were in one house and I got to spend the whole week with them.

I worked Monday (thanks again Misty for watching B) and then we drove up that night when I got off.  We made really good time...I may or may have not been speeding a little bit...and Brooklyn was a gem in the car.  She watched her baby Einstein movie a few times and talked to herself in the backseat.

Here are pictures from the week...

what we did and things to remember:

lots and lots of projects

daily  hourly Maverik runs

Taco John's for lunch

exercising in the morning w/ Jeannette, Ashlie, and Meg

rockets

boat races

Riley's purple pants :)

Just Dance Summer Party on the Wii

donuts from Blair's

thrift shopping for pig wrestling attire

fabric store shopping

PIG WRESTLING

games at night including psychiatrist and the drawing game - "I have a collection of orange coats" :)

kickball in the front yard

watching the girls perform the Ho Down Throw Down dance

catching up with my favorite cousins!!

4 baby girls to play with

lots and lots of fly's - darn those fly's!

the Spirit goes to bed after 11 o'clock :)

And last but not least, the pig wrestling videos!  We had 5 teams - the little kids, big kids, 2 men's teams, and the women's.  Each team had 1 minute to get their pig in the barrel butt first.  We were in a mud pit covered in this slippery stuff, sorry...I can't remember what it's called.  Everyone was slippin' and sliddin' and it made it hard to grab on to the pigs.

little kid's team

(Lindsey, Jack, Tom, and Kate)

*watch Lindsey pick up the pig twice

big kid's team

(Annie, Emily, Max, and Abby)

1st men's team
(Uncle Bruce, Ryan, Jon, and Rich)
*watch for Uncle Bruce's fall :)

2nd men's team

(Ryan, Jon, Rich, and Mike)

the was our only team that got the pig in the barrel, but it was barely after the time ended so it didn't count

women's team
(Ashlie, Meg, Me, and Riley)
*watch when the pig goes through my legs and I ride it backwards for just a bit

I'm sad this trip is over.  I had been anxiously been waiting for this trip all summer long and now have to start planning when we can go back.  It was an extra treat to have Ashlie and her family there, as well as Annie Cowden.  Thanks again Aunt Claud and Uncle B for yet another great time in Worland!!    

time with Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson

We just got back from 2 weeks of vacation.

I have a lot to blog about.

But I didn't want to forget this post...

We were spoiled in July to have my parents come home from their mission for 3 weeks.  My dad had been sick for a few weeks and was admitted to the hospital in Moscow.  Doctors discovered blood clots in his lungs and also a growth on the outside of his liver.  He stayed in the hospital for several days until it was decided it was best to send them back to Utah for further testing.  My siblings (except for Pete), the Bowen kids, and I all went out to the airport to pick them up.  It was such an exciting feeling to see them coming down the escalator.  I hadn't seen my dad in over a year and I have MISSED him.

I was so excited for my dad to meet Brooklyn.  Even though we Skype with them every week and he gets to see her, it just isn't the same as in person.  My dad was so cute with the 3 new grand-daughters and loved holding and playing with them.

My parents stayed at some friends house and we took advantage of their swimming pool.  It was so much fun to go over each night after work and have dinner and then swim.  I was also able to spend time with just my mom, sister, and our 2 babies shopping and going out to lunch each Friday after I got off work...nothing gets better then that!  

Here are some pics of Brooklyn with my parents:

They flew back to Russia 2 weeks ago and it feels empty here without them.  We miss them so much, but are very thankful for the time we had with them and grateful that everything with my dad's health is fine.