6.26.2009

summer vacay.

We started our vacation off with a little visit to Orange County to stay with my parents. Then we came back to LA to do a few things and then went back to my parents' for Father's Day. We went to Stake Conference with Mom and Dad and then celebrated the fathers in our lives with a big meal. I am surrounded by wonderful fathers everywhere. My father is an amazing man who has always supported and loved me no matter what. And Matt is a great daddy who loves to make the boys giggle and helps me do everything for them.


On Tuesday we headed to Las Vegas to visit friends and family. First we stayed with the Hammond fam in their beautiful home. We had a blast hanging out with them. They took us out on their new boat to wakeboard and Matt and I are still feeling the soreness! The boys loved being on the boat. They sat looking off the back the whole time to see their daddy wakeboard. And Bentley sat on the front of the boat on the way back to the dock and got a crazy hairdo! Matt and I did surprisingly well on the wakeboards for not going for the past two years. It must of been due to Tyler's excellent boat driving skills and his sweet boat. We also went to their amazing neighborhood pool, ate late night Wendy's and stayed up way later than I've been up for years just catching up and hanging out with our friends. Once again Tyler, thanks for marrying such an awesome girl!


On Wednesday night we headed over to visit the Morris's. They welcomed us with meat! Nate is known for barbecuing and we were treated like royalty when we showed up to some carne asada tacos. We had so much fun hanging out with them and their family. Erik and Isaac are such big boys now, and Nani is the prettiest little girl. The boys kept Bentley and Gaige entertained and even showed their war painting skills by painting Gaige's face with some blackberries! We went to this awesome park that has water shooting up from the ground too. Mostly, it was just fun to see our friends that we miss so much.

Thursday night we went to Aunt Diana and Uncle Donn's for dinner. We had so much fun and the boys had a hay day playing with all of Uncle Donn's matchbox cars. They wouldn't even eat the delicious dinner that Aunt Di made. We loved spending time with them and are so grateful to have them as family, not to mention our favorite Aunt and Uncle.


And now we are back home and enjoying our small small apartment! We had lots of fun on our vacation and will enjoy the next few days at home. And Josie is coming to see us on Monday!

Gaige - 14 months
Gaige got two more teeth in the past two weeks totaling six teeth now. He weighs about 28 pounds and is 31 inches tall! He says choo choo, cheese, no no no, Jesus, amen, hurray, and juice. The folds his arms to pray, says mmmm when he goes to give a kiss, blows kisses, does the sign for more. His favorite songs are If you're Happy and you Know it, Patty Cake, Popcorn, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He does the hand movements for popcorn, "throw it in the oven", "pat it", spider, and hurray. He loves to shake his bootie, play hide and go seek with his daddy and brother, give zerberts, and cuddle his monkey or any soft blanky.
Bentley - 26 months

Bentley weighs about 25 1/2 pounds and is 33 1/2 inches tall. He wears small pants than Gaige! He loves to play with the new choo choos that Dane and Chance gave him. He also loves to color and draw, ride scooters and bikes, play legos with Grams, say "no" really really loud, tickle his daddy and brother, swim, and play with his cousins. He speaks a lot now and loves to show off his hi ya kicks!

6.10.2009

shut it.

Today I was walking with my friend Bonnie and some old guy walked out of his house to throw something in his garbage bin and shook his head in disapproval of something. So I said "Good morning" to him. In response he said, "You are endangering your children's lives." I said, "Thanks for the advice." I had stopped on the side of the street to give the boys a drink of water out of my water bottle, but apparently I was not far enough off to the side and was endangering my kids' lives. There hadn't been a car drive on that particular street for the past 30 minutes!

2 days ago I went to Toys R Us and had both boys in the stroller. In order to put Bentley in the car I parked the stroller, with Gaige in it, behind the car because there wasn't enough room to park it between cars as my stroller is a double wide. Some lady said to me, "You should probably move him over on the side of the car." I told her "Thanks, but I'm not really worried about it."

Last week some lady in Rite Aid came over to talk to Bonnie and I about our kids. She decided to tell me that she was glad they were mine and not hers even though the boys were being super good.

So here is the question...Why do people feel like they have the right to say something like that? They don't know me, they don't know my kids, they don't know what my life is like? So next time my response to any of these comments will be, "What makes you think you can say something like that to me?"

It is ridiculous how many people gawk at me and the boys, how many people stop me to talk to me, make comments while they walk by, stop to talk to the boys, ask if they are twins....I am so sick of people! Even if they are nice I am sick of talking to complete strangers about my kids. So please don't even look in my general direction and keep your freaking comments to your stupid self!

Thanks for letting me vent. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

6.07.2009

seriously.

Today in Sacrament meeting Bentley picked his nose and wiped his boogers on me. Matt gave him a high five.

5.31.2009

jerry and heather's wedding.


We spent this weekend in Santa Barbara with Matt's family for his brother Jerry's wedding. On Thursday Ranae, Richard, Celeste, Alayna, Emily and Sofia came to spend the night. We spent the day shopping for food and cooking for the rehearsal dinner. Then we packed up and left Friday morning for Santa Barbara. The whole family rented a vacation home, a very beautiful vacation home. It was perfect, equipped with everything and an awesome place for the family to stay.


On Friday we cooked all day again for the rehearsal dinner once we got there. We made 7 batches of pasta, 2 ginormous salads, 2 gargantuan coconut cakes, and lots of appetizers. I decorated with candles and vases filled with purple flowers and greenery. It turned out beautiful, but man it was a lot of work. This is probably my first and last rehearsal dinner!


On Saturday Matt spent some of the day with the wedding party since he was a groomsman. He went over and got ready in his tux, rode in the limo and had lots of pictures taken. I kind of felt like he was going to prom without me! I stayed with the girls and did hair and make up and primped for the wedding. The boys thankfully took a very long nap to make this possible! We went to the Natural History Museum around 5:30 pm for the wedding. I won't lie, I don't know if the ceremony was nice or not. The boys were keeping me busy. Bentley brushed his teeth and used almost a whole tube of toothpaste the whole time. Thankfully Celeste helped me out a ton. Gaige wouldn't let anybody hold him except for me, whatta momma's boy. This pretty much sums up how he was the entire weekend.

Bentley, Gaige and I were able to meet Matt's dad for the first time. He came with Alicia and Bridgit, 2 of Matt's half sisters. It's really crazy how much Bentley and Gaige look like him because Matt looks so much like his dad and they look just like Matt. All four of them have the same eyes. We had a great time getting to know them. I just wonder how Matt ended up with so many pretty sisters, they all make it hard for me to keep up with them, and now there are 2 more to keep up with!

Bentley and Gaige loved hanging out with all of their cousins and especially their Grandpa Richard and Uncle Rob. They really loved looking for frogs in the stream that ran through the wedding site.

After a very busy and fun weekend we came to the same conclusion as always, there is no such thing as a vacation with 2 small boys! But we are so glad to have them in our lives. They make everything so much more meaningful and memorable. And we wouldn't have it any other way, even if people do think we are weird for actually doing what Heavenly Father intended us to do (have a family). The boys help us keep our priorities straight and definitely know how to keep us humble! And even though they drive us crazy we can't help but kiss them all over! They are too cute for words and we are grateful to be blessed with their sweet spirits.


Bentley can now put his velcro vans on by himself, and even gets them on the right feet. He can now say his name: "Bentey", and loves to squeal the word "NO". He also likes to play copycat with me. He'll stick out his tongue, make funny faces, click his tongue, put his finger up his nose, smile and lots of other things for me to copy. He thinks it is so hilarious. We play for at least 5 minutes straight.


Gaige adores his stuffed monkey, still shoves everything in his mouth (he'll have a cracker in one hand and shove rocks in his mouth with the other), blows kisses, loves to sing "Popcorn Popping" and can do the motion for popcorn, loves peek-a-boo and follows his brother everywhere.
Ashley and Gaige
Matt and Bentley
Me and my baby
Me and Celeste

Rob and Madison
Ashley, Kaylee, Alayna, Madison, Emily, Sofia
Grandpa and Gaige
Bridgit, Alicia, Jerry, Ron, Matt, Bentley
Gaige and Alicia


Mother's Day 2009


Bryn's Baby Shower - Michelle, Bryn, Jaime, Emily