We Love CA!

Because moving back to Utah is getting closer and closer, we have been really trying to enjoy our time here. I keep thinking about how much I am going to miss the beach. We decided we are going to try to make the best of our last few months here and not sit around any of the Saturdays. Last Saturday Wes had his speaking competition in San Francisco. He won 2nd place! We are so proud of him! The boys even recognize that he did a really great thing. They keep talking about his cool trophy.
While Wes was gone we went to an awesome event recognizing military children. They had bounce houses and pony rides and food and all sorts of fun stuff for free. I forgot to take my camera, but it was a blast.Anyway, the week before that we went on another excursion to the beach (that's probably our favorite thing to do here). We went to a state beach and hiked to Sea Lion Point. We were able to use the stroller at the beginning of the hike, and then we took Halley out and went exploring on the beach. It was an amazing beach. There were sea lions out on the rocks, and we could hear more barking out on the point, but it was a little foggy so we couldn't really see them. So we don't get very many pictures of me, but I made Wes take a picture of me with the kids. Unfortunately the wind was blowing from behind so my shirt is all puffed up, and I look like I've gained ten pounds. He he he . . .at least there's a picture of me though. Oh, and Wes took one of both of us together too! Cool!
It is always so amazing to go to the different beaches here. This beach had so many cool rocks and formations! It was absolutely awesome! Here is Halley loving Daddy. She is such a Daddy's girl. All day long she says or screams, "Da-da, Dad, DAAAAA-DAAAAAA!" And then, when he finally comes home, she cannot get enough of him. She follows him all around the house. I was giving her a bath tonight, and every time Wes would talk she would yell, "Da-Da," and reach for the door. She LOVES her daddy!
There were a ton of people at this beach, and all Bradley and Connor wanted to do was throw rocks. We kept telling them not to, and then we had to make a threat. "If you keep throwing the rocks, we will leave." This is Bradley's reaction, and this is Connor's. Ha ha ha . . . luckily we were able to stay out and enjoy our hike. This was probably my favorite part of the hike. This little part of the beach was so cool. All of the rocks were all curvy from the waves crashing over them.These pictures don't really capture what was happening. The boys are actually standing on a huge rock made up of all sorts of rocks and sea shells. They were both really proud of themselves for climbing up to the top of it. And, yet again, it was impossible to capture them both smiling, but at least they are making the same kind of face at the same time. :)Moving on to the squirrel part of our adventure - when we were hiking back to the car we saw a squirrel climbing all over this lady. We were a little ways away, but we all saw it and were fascinated. Well, when we got up to that area there were two squirrels running around all over. They were so funny, and totally not afraid of us! I mean, I am not kidding, the boys and Wes got within inches of the things, and they didn't move a muscle! The boys were loving it!
I was trying to get a cute picture of Halley with her doll while we were waiting for the boys back at the car, but it didn't work. Every time I had the perfect shot she would move. This is a funny picture though because it shows how she sticks her legs out straight in her car seat. She does this all the time when she's in the bath or in her high chair or car seat. I always think she looks like a little ballerina. Maybe she is just practicing and building up muscles for when she decides to walk.
Anyway, I know this post is terribly long, but I had so many fun pictures!! I really am going to miss being 10 minutes from places like this!!

Our Little Sweetheart

Halley is such a sweet little girl. She is growing up so fast. I haven't done a post for her birthday yet, but she turned 1 on April 4. She still isn't walking, but she just figured out how to pull herself up to stand on furniture and things. She is so nervous about using her feet. When we hold her hands to try to help her walk, she very rarely actually moves her feet. We have to help her along. Now, I am not complaining, it's nice not to worry about her moving fast, but it's just funny that she is so worried about it.
Here are some cute pictures of one of the first times she pulled herself up to standing. She was pretty proud of herself. This trick with her tongue comes in very handy when she eats something off the floor. We just have to say, "Halley, say ahhhh," and she'll stick her tongue out like this and show us what she ate.This is a way cute outfit that my mother-in-law got for Halley's birthday. She is so adorable!
I wish I could explain how sweet and special Halley is. Pictures just don't do her justice. She has been such an angel her whole life. Last week I was thinking about how to start weaning her, and, of course, I was worrying about it. Well, on Thursday night and Friday morning she just refused to nurse. Yep, she decided she's done, and there have been zero tears! Wes has been putting her to bed, just in case, and she has been totally fine. Isn't that crazy?!?! The awesome thing is that she has been that way for her whole life. It seems like she is really tuned in to what we are feeling and can sense when it's time for her to grow up a little or take the next step in life. Ha ha ha . . I mean, she hasn't taken any real steps, but you know what I mean.
I love this little girl!

2 Side Notes with 0 Pictures

So, Wes is practicing a speech for a language competition that he is going to this weekend, and it is crazy. I should take a video of him, but I am too lazy. He is telling a story about Connor for his speech, and I keep hearing Connor's name mixed in with a bunch of crazy words. I cannot believe how well Wes speaks his language. It is fascinating to me. Go Wes! You are an amazing husband, father, and language learner!
Ok, here's my second thing to post about. I have officially decided I am not so good at the whole scrap booking thing, but I do like to blog. Because of this I have decided to use my blog as a scrapbook. Does anyone out there know the best way to print off blogs? My sister copies and pastes her stuff into a word document, but I am wondering if there is any other way. I've heard there are programs and things, but sometimes I feel like it's all rumors because I haven't found anything like that online.
Let me know if you have any input!
Thanks!

Wet and Wild!!

It was super hot today so I let the boys play in the sprinkler. I have about 20 pictures from this event so I have to sort through them and figure out the best ones. They were so funny! Here they are enjoying the water. I cannot believe how big they are both getting - especially Connor. He totally does not look like a 3 year old in these pictures.

Halley was hilarious too. She played up by me for awhile (this is her snuggling with my leg), but then she got bored and decided to go down and see what all the fun was about. She was so funny crawling all over. She hated crawling on the cement and on the grass so she'd get up on her hands and feet and do the bear crawl thing all over. I don't mind because maybe it'll get her up and moving on her feet!Here's one of Bradley telling her to go get the sprinkler. The boys REALLY wanted her to get wet.
I didn't even realize that she had made her way all the way to the water because she didn't make any noise. I got up to take a few more pictures and discovered that the sprinkler was spraying her in the face every time it came around. She was actually pretty wet. You can't really tell in this video, but if you watch carefully you can see her flinch a little every time it comes around. What a funny girl!

Here are some close-ups of the boys and one more cute one of Halley getting sprayed in the face.

Picture Pandemonium!

Holy Cow! I just put all my recent pictures on the computer. I was thinking I might have 100 or so. Well, 269 pictures/videos later - I was wrong. I have no idea how I'll catch up on all this, but I will do it. I still have some stuff from Feb. that I wanted to put on here. Oh dear, life is just too crazy, and our kids are too cute. I am always wanting to catch every moment, and then I end up having almost 300 pictures to go through!!
I guess we'll start with the most recent stuff. Today we had a lot of stuff going on. Bradley had "cowboy day" at school today so I had to take a picture of his cute outfit. Thanks to my parents for the boots and my sister-in-law for the vest and chaps, he was a pretty decked out little cowboy. He told me after school that he had the "funnest day ever, even better than yesterday!" Yesterday was "pajama day" so I guess cowboys are more fun!We drove to Big Sur with a friend of mine to see the sights, and then we had a little picnic on the beach. It was a ton of fun! Connor has such a hard time with the bright sunshine in his eyes so he didn't want to look at me for the picture, but that's him under there. You can see he had his cowboy stuff on too. He wanted to be like Bradley.So, Rochelle's little girl, Sophie, is an absolute doll. She and Halley are pretty close in age so it's fun to hang out together. By the time we got to the beach the kids were starving! Sophie was just downing this sandwich, but she also liked watching the ocean so I didn't get her looking at me. It was so cute!
Halley was pretty hungry too!

Fun in the Sun

So, a couple days after Bradley's surgery (yah, these pictures are from a month and half ago) we were all feeling kind of hungry for some sunshine so we went out and did some sidewalk chalk.Actually this was the same day as the jammie party. Oh, huh, I was confused. I guess we were hanging out at home because of Bradley's surgery not his class break. It's all making sense now . . .
Ok, so anyway, we had some fun, but I think Bradley overdid it a little. I remember that night and the next day he was kind of tired and a little sore. I probably shouldn't have let them go outside, but we were all needing it!
This was the first time we had spent a lot of time out in our yard since Halley had started crawling. Gone are the days when we can go out and Halley will just sit on a blanket. I remember this day feeling a little frustrated because she kept trying to crawl all over, and I didn't want her to ruin her cute pants or eat anything like grass and dirt. At least we weren't outside for too long.
I even took her socks off hoping that it would hurt to crawl on the sidewalk. Here she is trying to put them back on. She ended up getting chalk all over her pants anyway. Grrr . . .
Here is Connor working very hard on his picture - notice the tongue action. He is so funny.
These two pictures make me realize how big the boys are getting. I love this picture of Bradley because it shows how tall and skinny he is. You can tell he is a little pale too. He really was a trooper. This was only two days after his surgery.
And Connor, man, that kid is getting so big. I cannot believe he is only three!
Wes loves this picture of Connor. He thinks it captures his true personality. He is such a positive and happy kid.I have been thinking a lot about how much I am going to miss this place when we leave. I mean, I never could have taken the kids our for some sunshine in February in UT. Life is so interesting. In some ways I can't wait to get back to UT and have our family all around us, but then I think about all the great things about being here in CA, and I'm sure I'm going to really miss it.

Jammie Days

And we're back! We were in UT for a week and then I was sick for a week so I haven't been keeping up on blogging. That, of course, means that I am behind and have tons of pictures to post. Luckily I have to do some picture exchanges with my sister through regular old mail so I can catch up on all the old ones while the new ones from our trip are being sent.
Both of the boys absolutely adore Halley.
The two weeks before we went to UT Bradley had a class break from school. We did lots of fun things. I really enjoyed having him here. He is growing up so much, and he has totally changed since he had his surgery. He has a much better attitude and is sleeping better and is even more helpful around the house. It's wonderful!
Anyway, we were able to stay in our jammies for a little while longer than usual, and I got these cute pictures of the kids all sitting on the washer. I wish I could have gotten just one when they were all looking, but I think that is a lost cause . . .
Gotta love those funny faces! Halley is waving and making a funny face.I know it's a lot of the same pictures, but they are so darn cute, and their faces show so much personality in each one.
I love my kids, and I'm so glad they love each other!!