2 weddings 2 weekends

On June 5, we headed to Mesa, Arizona for my cousin's wedding. We stopped in Las Vegas at Jennifer's house to drop Jordi off and spend the night before we started our trip to Mesa. We got up early Friday morning and headed to Mesa. I thought it would be a good idea to get Krispy Kreme donuts before we headed out. It did not turn out so well. I always get sick when I eat them. We were about 2 hours into the trip and I got super sick. I was sick the rest of the day.

Trace had to have his juice and two types of cookies to be happy.

Kambri was so good for the 6 1/2 hour drive!

We got to Mesa about an hour before the wedding and tried to check into our hotel early, but no one was there. It took us 15 minutes to find someone to tell us check in was at 2. I tried to get a hold of my aunt and uncle to see if we could change in their room, but there was no luck.  So we changed in the car and headed to the temple. We were so lucky to have Jessica and Nolan watch our kids while we attended the sealing. We were so excited for Caitlyn! She looked beautiful and it was awesome to be with family.

Kambri and Elizabeth loved playing with each other.

Saturday morning we got up and headed home and I had a hard time again in the car. I thought it was the donuts, but maybe I had a bug. I was sick for 5 days. I couldn't eat or drink much without getting sick. The thought or sight of food made me sick. The upside is I finally kicked my soda habit. It might be a long time before I can enjoy a Dr. Pepper again. 

The happy couple!

  The next weekend we headed to Mount Pleasant for Courtney's cousin's wedding. This time it was only a 3 hour one way drive and we did it in one day. Kambri and Trace did so so good on this trip. The only downfall was our outlets in our car went out and couldn't run the DVD players. I fortunately had my iPad and let the kids watch one show on the way there and one on the way home. We got really lucky because Trace fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep for the transfer to the crib! It was a great trip and was really good to see family that we haven't seen for years!

He's smiling with his eyes...

Fathers Day!

 We didn't do anything special for Father's Day, but we wanted to make it a little special for Courtney. Kambri did a survey about Courtney, colored a picture of him, and gave him a watch. She was so proud of the watch she gave him. She thought of the gift all by herself and picked it out for him. Before church Kambri and I got to work on the Homemade Raspberry Ice Cream we were making for him. Kambri loves to help me cook. After the ice cream we made him his favorite breakfast, griddle cakes with homemade buttermilk syrup.

 After dinner we watched the Heat/Spurs game. Trace was so excited when he saw basketball on T.V. Trace was laughing and waving his arms because he was so happy. He kept pointing to the T.V. Kambri was happy to see LeBron James. I think seeing the kids so happy about basketball made Courtney's day. The only disappointment of the day was that the Heat lost the Finals.

Courtney is truly and amazing person. He is a wonderful dad and has a lot of patience for the kids. Kambri often kicks and hits Courtney, but he is very patient and tries to teach her not to hit. Kambri always runs to him, when she is stalling to go to bed, to take care of the monsters and big bad wolf in her room. He rotates baths and bed time with me and often cleans up at night if he isn't putting the kids to bed. He loves to play with the kids and often takes Kambri on dates. Courtney does so much for our little family. He works so hard in school to try to better not only his life, but ours as well. We are so lucky to have him. He is my best friend and I couldn't imagine my life without him.

Trace watching basketball

2014 in Review

Kambri:
Kambri is now 3 1/2. She has always had a hard time playing with her toys if I am not right there playing with her, but she is getting so much better playing on her own. Her best friends are a little girl across the street who is 8 and her 4 year old brother. She loves to have the two come over and play. She also loves to make new friends. When we go to the park she always makes a friend if there are other kids there. She is getting really excited to start pre-school in August and can't stop talking about it. She often says she is going to ride the bus to school and when I tell her I have to take her she cries.

The last two days she has been telling me she is hungry non-stop which is a big change for her. She is finally starting to understand the concept of counting. If she says two she will only hold up two fingers instead of 3. She doesn't say everything is 3 or 5 anymore. She actually counts the number of items.

I thought Kambri would, over time, would stop stalling when it's bed time, but it has only got worse. She comes out of her room 5 or more times just to tell me she loves me or wants me to read to her. Courtney and I take turns putting her to sleep and when it's his turn to put her to sleep she cries and cries. She only likes me to read to her.

Kambri has become the sweetest little girl. She loves Trace so much. She loves to hold him and cuddle with him. When he cries she wants to comfort him. She is finally starting to allow him to play with her. Their favorite thing to do is play in her tent. If she has a drink or a treat she has to have one for Trace as well. They are so cute together.

A few months ago we got Kambri a life vest so I could take the kids swimming by myself. Kambri loves to swim and loves that she is able to do it all by herself with her life vest. She is always a little hesitant at first when she gets in the pool, but after a few minutes she just takes off.

Trace:
Trace is now 15 months old. He is getting so big! I love all the new things that he is learning. If you ask him to do something he will do whatever you ask. He loves to throw things in the garbage. His favorite thing to do is clear his plate off. If we don't find his plate in the sink we know it's in the garbage.

Trace looks up to his big sister a lot. If she has a certain drink or food he has to have the exact same. If Kambri is down and playing when we are eating he has to be down too. He loves to play whatever it is she is playing. He even loves to dress up with bracelets and necklaces.
Trace is currently getting 5 or 6 teeth. He just got his top molars and we didn't even know he had them. This time we know he is getting teeth and it's not good. He just wants me and only wants to sleep on my chest.

Traces favorite song is "Happy". He loves to clap and dance to the song. Since that is his favorite song the movie "Despicable Me 2" is his favorite movie. He doesn't care to watch the movie, he just likes to carry it around the house. He has recently learned to shake his butt. It looks more like he is trying to twerk than shake his butt.

 For months Trace has been in love with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. If we are in the car on a road trip Mickey is the only thing that will calm him down.  Recently he has started to sing and dance to Mickey. He will carry around Mickey books and point to Donald Duck and say Duck. He gets really excited to see Mickey or Minnie. He has a little Mickey stuffed animal that he has to sleep with.
When Trace sleeps he has to be put down a certain way. You have to give him 2 binkies and Mickey. You then have to sway back and forth with him for a minute before you can put him down. He is one picky little boy.

Trace went to the dentist for the first time a few weeks ago and he has to get rid of his binkies. They are pushing his front teeth forward and we are hoping taking them away will correct that. We are waiting a few more months before we actually do that, because I'm not sure he is going to sleep without them. I know he needs to learn, but I'm not ready for it yet.

Trace loves anything to do with balls. His favorite thing is basketball. He loves to watch basketball, and play with basketballs. He has recently started throwing the basketball at the hoop and not just putting it in the hoop. He also loves to golf. Kambri has a little set of golf clubs and Trace runs to them anytime we are in the garage. He loves to drag the clubs around and hit golf balls.

Us:
We are loving living is Hurricane. We love the little complex that we live in. We have a pool down the street and try to go once a week. There are always kids playing outside. We are excited that we are able to stay here for Courtney's last Clinical.

It took us 4 month of every week e-mail to Courtney's school, but we finally found out Courtney's last clinical is in Mesquite. We aren't very happy that he has to drive, but we love that we don't have to move to Price. We really hope that we can find a job down here so we don't have to move again.