Happy Happy Happy

   My mama heart is happy! Today when Nolan woke up from his nap (notice the bed-head), Kyle gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek! Kyle has given Nolan a hug before--rare-- but it has happened. I cannot think of a time, however, that he has ever given him a kiss on the cheek! 3 years later! I am so happy and proud of Kyle. Bear's face lit up. That boy loves to be loved. These two make me happy, happy, happy.

Trip to CA June 8, 2013

When I heard my brother Chris and his family were going to be in Southern California I really wanted to drive the kids out to see them. A 6 hour drive sounded much more doable than a 12 hour drive to see them where they live in Northern California. Except there was one problem, I am direction deficit and do not trust myself and my GPS to get my kids pretty much anywhere outside of a 30 minute radius.
  I thought it would only be a dream when Chris called and suggested we just leave Friday after Tim got off work. What a great idea!! (He's always smart). Tim had a deadline that Friday so we were nervous he would have to work really late, but we were still hopeful. Luckily we got on the road by 6:30 that night!
  Saturday morning Chris spoiled us with donuts and then it was off to the beach!

   Bear didn't care for the freezing cold water much, but he LOVED looking for sand crabs. He had so much fun picking them up and holding them in his hand. He loves animals.

He insists on wearing this shirt backward. He likes the, "lifeguard," to be on the front. I also tried to buy him a new suit that actually fits, but he didn't want it. Saved me some money I guess. Now we just roll the waist and hope he doesn't moon people like he had at the splash pad. 

 

Kyle and Kate were crazy and played for hours in the frigid water. I can not get over how much fun these two have together. All I could hear from the ocean was non-stop laughter from these two. I hope they will always be good friends.

I told them to put their arms around each other. Kate listened and Kyle didn't throw a fit about it. I consider that a win-win.

 Kate was brave enough to try the boogie board. She was the only one who did it. 

 

 Cute Jenny and sweet Pierce watching Kate go!

 Lots of playing in the sand!:

 Fun mom Jenny running with the girls:

 

 These 3 make me happy!

After the beach we went and spent some time on Balboa Island with Uncle Roger and Aunty Cheryl. They have quite the little set-up there. We went on a nice walk and then had some yummy dinner with them and Lisa, Audrey and Brady. On the way home we stopped off at the frozen banana stand. Bear devoured mine and told Kyle, "These sprinkles are healthy Kyle." It was delicious!

Playing Uno with Uncle Roger. Nolan called Roger, "Papi." Last time we were with Roger he got him confused for my dad too :).

 Love these kids. Getting all four of them to smile was impossible. Their faces crack me up.

On Sunday morning we woke up and went over to Lisa and Dave's for a delicious breakfast with some cousins. Here is the second generation of cousins:

 Joe, Cara, Chris, Jenny, Dave, Lisa, TRay and Me! I think Kyle was our photographer.

 Wonderful Aunt Cheryl and I:

 We figured out that Dave and Tim had never met even though Tim has been in the fam for 7 years. I bet taking this picture made their dreams come true:

I am so grateful we were able to make the quick trip to CA for the weekend. It was so wonderful to spend time with Chris, Jenny, Kate, Macy and Pierce and my Heyman cousins. We always have fun when we are together. I am glad we were able to make memories with my little family. Some of my favorite memories are road trips with my parents and siblings growing up. Thanks Chris for letting us tag along and thank you Roger and Cheryl for all of your help!

Hopefully we can make another beach trip when it is actually warm and sunny!

The Jack in the Box

About three weeks before Nolan's birthday we were reading a Fisher Price lift-the-flap book. One of the flaps was a jack-in-the-box. Nolan pointed to it and said, "I want that for my birthday. This." "A jack-in-the-box?" I questioned. "Yes!" he answered. And he was set on it from then on out.

  I'm not sure where besides the book he has played with a jack-in-the-box. I asked him what the toy does and he made a turning motion and sang, "Pop goes the weasel." So he knew what it did... I just still don't know how he knew.
  At his birthday party he was about to open an action figure when I asked him what he thought it was. He said, "I think it's a jack-in-the-box!" (When clearly the package was much too small). Imagine his surprise when he actually got what he wanted on his actual birthday morning:

I could watch that video a million times. Here he is winding it up for the first time:

 He was surprised it was a clown even though this is the one he picked out online...

He was also spoiled with other gifts from family. Musical instruments, Power Rangers book, a drill set, nursery rhyme CDs that the boys giggle at everytime we are in the car, and this pirate ship from Papa and Grandma. I was getting big smiles from Bear, but for some reason he just couldn't open his eyes that morning.

After dinner we sang to him again with his leftover b-day party cupcakes. For some reason he ends up being just in underwear on Sunday evenings. I guess I should enforce getting dressed after taking off his church clothes.

 Love these handsome boys!

How sweet is this pic of Bear and GG smiling at each other? We are so lucky to have GG close to us!

A lot of the day was spent Skyping with Papa and Grandma and Nolan's cousins. I am so grateful for technology and the amazing way it keeps us all connected!

I do have to say that Nolan was wild on his birthday. He was unusually irreverent during Sacrament meeting and tried to be Mr. Funny boy all day long. He sure did love all the attention! We love you Nolan!

Happy Birthday Bear!

We celebrated Bear's third birthday this weekend. It's hard to believe that my baby boy is 3! Nolan is the best. He is shy when he wants to be and Mr. Funny when he wants to be. He loves Power Rangers, go-gurts, playing with friends and of course being with his big brother Kyle. He is a cuddly boy. He loves his dad and we had problems the past month with him waking up really early in the morning and coming into bed because he wanted to eat breakfast with Dada before Tim left to work.
   Nolan still loves to be on the go. He loves running errands, but his three favorite spots are probably the, "blue grocery store," (Albertsons), Costco, and the pet store. We only go to the pet store for pure entertainment. He often requests to go to the Children's museum, Chuckie Cheese and random places like a farm, "to hold a baby ducky." He is currently saving any change he finds for Chuckie Cheese. I hope he forgets about that place.
  We had a small party at the park nearby that also has a splash pad.

 Look at cute Bentley's smile:

 Look at cute Bear's smile. He's been waiting for this moment.

 Haha. I loved that he sang to himself as well. 

 The gang.

 Benson:

 Beautiful Bailey:

 Ninja Turtles!

 Pushing Dad in the water:

 Mi Familia:

 Uncle Matt and Aunt Ruby were so nice to come and hang out:

 Nolan giving Kyle a, "My lady!" Pete's family taught this to the boys. They run up and grab your hand (or in this case your arm), kiss it, and say, "My lady." Kyle was not happy about this afterward.

My beautiful cousin Christi is always so nice to come out to Chandler to celebrate with us. Love you Christi! (We were even college roommates before :))

Mason was nice to take a break from his conversation and smile (inside joke). He wins Dad award for bringing Benson with sunscreen on and everything to the party while Jenni was out of town. 

Nolan and Lily. Nolan is the only boy in his nursery class at church, but he has found a good friend in Lily!

I love little Benson standing directly under the water.

I learned that you can pay to reserve a ramada for birthday parties. I learned this because a frantic lady came up to me and asked if my party was the one set up under the ramada. I told her yes so she said, "Well I paid for it to be reserved at 10:30!" Ok lady, simmer down. It was 10:06, so we hurried everyone to the table, sang to Bear and opened presents. We had everything cleaned up and moved to the bench at 10:27. The rest of the party was celebrated on this bench :). Hey, the kids were happy. 

I will forever hold this picture dear to my heart (and not because my arm looks gigantic), but because sweet Bear is in his mama's arms and looking at the camera! He has such a hard time looking at the camera. I love my Nolan Bear so much! He reminds me to take pleasure in the simple things.