Justin and Ali blessed their twins a on the 27th. They did it at their house and Justin gave them both beautiful blessings. We had yummy sandwiches and desserts afterwards. Congrats! Here we are holding Ty and Meg:
Brooklyn found these Mardi Gras beads and wouldn't let them out of her sight. She also found her way to the dessert table while we weren't paying attention:
The kids LOVE to sit down and play the piano, with me or by themselves. It's so fun to see Brayden sing the primary songs or Mickey Mouse song while he is pounding away. Brooklyn's favorite part is to turn the pages of my music:
I've been super excited this summer to put up our little kiddie pool for the kids. We had no yard last summer so we weren't able to do it. Because we still have no backyard, we've had to put everything in the front yard...which means we can't leave it out :( But we still manage to go out a couple of times each week. Here's Brayden without any hesitation at all:
Brooklyn, on the other hand, wouldn't go near the pool. I hauled 10 gallons of hot water outside so that it was comfortable for them, and she still wouldn't get close. I finally sat on the slide with her in my lap so she could atleast get her feet wet:
Drying off:
The second day we tried getting Brooklyn in the pool it took 45 minutes. I was ready to take the kids in when I finally got her to go down the slide. After that there was no turning back! They stayed out for another hour playing and going down the slide. Here's Brooklyn finally enjoying it:
Brayden loving every minute of it:
So...apparently my brother convinced my dad to upgrade his nice digital camera, from a Nikon D200 to a Nikon D300 (whatever that means.) He called me up and asked if I could post his camera on KSL and sell it for him since I've sold a ton of stuff on KSL. I laughed and said that that was ironic b/c I have been on KSL looking for a nice camera. I've been putting away money here and there with intentions of purchasing a nice camera sometime in the next year after I save enough. Well...long story short my dad wanted me to buy his camera from him and "convinced" me that I was getting a good deal. I'm buying it for what he was going to post it on KSL for, he's just going to let me pay it off over the next year since it is MUCH more than I anticipated on spending. That means I have an almost new, photographer's camera!!! I have been SO excited since I got it I've been taking pictures of EVERYTHING, eventhough I really don't know what I'm doing yet.
N-e way, for Father's Day my mom gave my dad a grandparents season pass to Thanksgiving Point. So on Monday I took the kids and met my parents there for the FHE (Josh worked late.) We have never been to the Children's Discovery Gardens before and we absolutely loved it. My dad brought his camera so he gave me my first lesson while we were there. Sorry all the random pics, but I still can't believe how much better the pictures are than from my little camera. Here we are at Noah's Ark in the entrance. I expected the kids to get wet, but I didn't expect Brooklyn to tumble in and get soaked. My mother instincts overpowered the photographer's instincts and I rushed to her aid w/o taking pictures. So here's all the "before" pictures:
I can't believe that I took this picture. I'm SO excited to continue learning how to do all this stuff!
Playing in the bear cave: 
Brayden was pretending he was a monkey in the tree. It was really funny:
Playing in the water: 
Enjoying a little snack: 
Thanks mom and dad for such a great time!!! I'm excited to take advantage of your pass this year!We had such a wonderful and peaceful Father's Day. I made strawberry crepes for breakfast, our tradition since it's Josh's favorite breakfast. We didn't plan on everyone spending the night Saturday night, so I ended making a huge breakfast buffet with the crepes, french toast, eggs, and sausage. After breakfast all of our friends left and we got to just relax for the afternoon while the kids took their naps. Mike, Natalie, and Rachael were in charge of dinner. Josh's parents and Aaron came up for the evening and we all had a wonderful time. Here are the kids with dad: 
Here they are helping unwrap his presents. (I got Josh a new grill, but it's on backorder until July :( So we gave him a picture of the grill and a couple of spatulas).
The kids with grandpa Ericson:
The whole purpose of the trip to the cabin was to help clear away the dead trees from behind the cabin. Michael and Josh would load up the 4 wheeler than haul the stuff away. Brayden loved to help and loved to ride on the 4 wheeler.
This old moose comes by every morning. Today it stopped by after we were done with dinner. It didn't seem to care much that we were only 20 yds from it taking pictures.
Now that I have a new camera Brayden loves to sit by me and take pictures with my little camera. It's really cute.
Today was a lot of fun. Rachael, our friend Adam, his sister Katie and her boyfriend, and some of Michael and Natalie's friends came up. Josh and Mike spent the morning working outside, then we put the kids down for their naps. As soon as they woke up everyone headed off to hike to the waterfalls. I stayed home with Brooklyn since we didn't bring our hiking backpack. Natalie also stayed back with us. Here are some pictures from their hike:
As soon as everyone got back they couldn't wait to show me pictures of Brayden holding the snake they found. Apparently he is all boy and absolutely loved the slimy little thing:
While they were gone I took Brooklyn on our own little walk. I got a new camera (story to follow) so although at this point I didn't know a thing about it, it was fun practicing:
I love how clear the close up pictures are with this camera. And I LOVE all the cute faces Brooklyn made:
We spent the evening shooting bows and arrows, slingshots, and playing games.
Over Father's Day weekend we decided to take a quick trip up to the cabin. It was perfect weather and we had a wonderful time. We left after the kids' naps on Friday and made it up there before dark (I don't think that's EVER happened before!) Here's Brooklyn as we unpacked. She thought she was hilarious:
Josh and Brayden watching Open Season before Brayden headed for bed:
As soon as soccer was over, we found out that many of the kids from his soccer team were going to be playing T-ball and they invited Brayden to be on their team. Of course we couldn't resist so we signed him up the next day. I honestly can't say that I'm a huge fan of t-ball at this age. Brayden has to sit and wait to bat, then he sits and waits at the pitcher's mound for his turn to run after the ball. A LOT of sitting and waiting. Brayden has a hard time since he is such an active boy, but we are enjoying getting out of the house. Good job Brayden!
We knew we would be up at the cabin over Father's Day with Josh's family, so Wednesday night I took the kids down to visit with my parents. Here are the kids looking out the window (not sure why I think they're so cute when they do this):
Cute little Brooklyn:
Handing grandpa his card and gift:
Grandpa and the kids:
I'm so grateful that I was blessed with such a wonderful father. I love living so close to my parents and having such great relationships with them. Thanks for all you do for us dad! Happy Father's Day!
