A Day of Sweet Reunions

Yesterday morning we met up with friends, Kristi and Merrill, for the blessing of their precious baby Alexa. It was just so so great to see them and the blessing was beautiful!

The kids had a good time playing in the park with some of Merrill's nephews after the blessing.

Yesterday also was a reuniting of cousins. Brayden was so excited to see his cousins and he has been having an absolute blast ever since. We took this picture this morning before church as they were all coincidentally wearing the same shirt. What cuties!

Makenna wanted to be included in the picture but she was distracted by her bracelet in all seven of the photos I took. I put on her little pearl bracelet but she was a bit confused. She was positively convinced it was a candy bracelet. Fortunately I wrestled it off her before she actually got a good bite of that cute and special little bracelet.

Getting into the BYU spirit.

Last week we went to the BYU Football Kickoff party and had a great time. At first Brayden was overwhelmed and esspecially weary of the "Cosmo' the cougar mascot. It only took a short while for Brayden to get right into things, getting his cougar shirt autographed and practicing his own football skills. Eventually he worked up to standing next to Cosmo but as you can see he never stopped being a bit nervous about him.
This picure of course has nothing to do with our BYU football party experience but it just seemed appropriate to add after my last post about the trouble my kids like to get into. Its hard to get the full effect of this lotion explosion. In addition to her legs and hands she also had thoroughly lotioned her tummy, which soaked right through her shirt. At least I dont have to worry about her getting dry skin!

Our Favorite Ways of Getting into Trouble

Of course we love our children dearly but that doesnt neccesarily mean we love all that they do.Makenna's favorite way of getting into trouble is sneaking into the bathroom and playing with the water until she's soaking wet and so is the bathroom counter and floor. She just loves the water. Just last week we started "time outs" with her. She had her first one for hitting and I wish I had taken a picture of her pouty little face as she sat on the big green time out chair. Having watched Brayden suffer through many time-outs, she knew exactly what was going on and she seemed to hate the experience but feel proud of herself all at the same time.

Brayden's favorite way of getting into trouble can't really be captured with the camera. He just has quite a knack for being his loudest and most attention demanding self at all the wrong times. We know obviously why he does this but that doesnt mean he doesnt get in trouble for it.

Raising Kids is Just So Much FUN!!!

Whats up with us...

Today our neighbor blew up their big waterslide and Brayden and his new friend Joseph (or Jofus, as Brayden calls him) had a great time

I just put this picture on because I thought their facial expressions were quite humorous.

Kevin is still a bit of a kid himself

We are really enjoying our time that we have to relax and spend time together without work or school. It's been nice. Its also been very nice to have Scott around to keep us entertained. It's just a party everyday!

Our Busy Move

Alas we are finally settled into our new abode. The trek here was really not too bad. It was long and tedious but the kids did fairly well- thanks to the help of portable dvd players and video games.

We had a few days in limbo between arriving in Utah and taking possession of our new house. We stayed at Kevin's Aunt's house in Clinton and had a lovely visit. They had a pool which Brayden quite enjoyed, esspecially the diving board, where he did at least a hundred cannon balls (ok maybe not quite that many but you get the point). He asked a few times if we couldnt just live there instead of Provo.

Last Tuesday we got possession of our house and our moving truck arrived that evening(after much hassle and delay). Kevin and I set out to unload the truck ourselves but were blessed when a few neighbors arrived to give us some much needed help. It was hot! hot! hot! that day and heavy lifting wasnt the most appealing activity at the time.

So now we have officially been residents of Provo for one week. The boxes are unpacked and all our possesions have found a place in our new home. The children are adjusting. Both of them are exhibiting behaviors indicative of such a big change. Makenna likes to give a big long cry every night when we put her for bed and Brayden saves his adjustment anxiety for the middle of the night when he wakes up in need of comfort and reassurance. While he is excited about his four new friends here, he still says he would rather move back to Calgary. None of these adjustment difficulties are unexpected though. It all just takes time.

We put the kids in some swimming lessons at the local outdoor pool. Brayden is really quite the fish and is becoming a very good swimmer. These are Makenna's first lessons and well..she has her moments of enjoyment but mostly she just has a lot of ATTITUDE. Today the teacher asked to see her blow bubbles and Makenna screamed "NOOOO BUBBLES." I think she just enjoys putting on an angry face more than a smile- that must just be her way of having fun. Makenna's lessons are parented so today it was daddy that tolerated her. The first two lessons we were lucky to have Opa take her.

We had a fun visit with Oma and Opa this past weekend. Brayden got a new spiderman outfit that is really quite hilarious to me. What's really funny is the posing he does while wearing it.