cali

this summer we got to on two different vacations to the beach. in june we camped on the beach in carlsbad with the weights and in july my dad got a beach house for our whole family to stay in. both trips were so much fun! maddix couldnt get enough of the sand and ocean!

CARLSBAD

  

first time in the ocean

                   sand mustaches!

                brig playing home run derby

padres game

and….maddix sneaking out of the tent!

IMPERIAL BEACH

 

                             out on the pier

sister love

playing some football with trevin

 

grandpa d and maddix

beach house in the background

A big thanks to my father in law and my dad for the fun vacations!!! 

best fathers ever

i love that i can say that i am married to my best friend. brig is such an awesome dad. every day we wait outside until brig gets home. maddix see’s his car pull up and smiles so big. they love to play ball together. brig can make maddix laugh so hard. brig works so hard to support our family. he’s always trying to make us happy and always thinking of fun things for us to do together. our personal favorite as of late is going to costco, walking around and eating samples then buying one thing. the other day brig said, “i love us, we are the only ones that would go to costco and only buy bananas”! haha. so true. we also love going to the gym together and playing racketball. brig loves his family so much. he loves taking maddix swimming in the pool. he has such a fun personality and is such a fun person to be around. he loves making jokes and making people laugh. he is so talented. he can play the piano {and the ps3 ;)}, he sings, he’s smart, he funny, he’s good at pretty much every sport he tries, he likes to bike, workout, swim, family trips to the beach, and spending time with maddix and i. he loves the gospel and loves our Savior Jesus Christ. he makes maddix and i feel so special all the time. plus he’s super handsome! we are the luckiest. thanks for all you do brig! we love you SO much! 

i am so lucky to have such an amazing dad. my dad has taught me so much. he is the most patient, loving, smart, organized, hard working, kindest man i know. he is always serving others. he never talks bad about anyone. he was such a good example of that to me because growing up he would always be the one to stop us if we started to gossip. my dad is so strong in the gospel. he has an unwavering testimony which shows in everything he does. he is truly amazing. thanks for being the best dad ever! i love you!
 
i also have an awesome father in law. he loves his family so much. he is always playing with the grandkids and making them laugh. he has a great sense of humor. he taught my husband to be the hard worker that he is today. he has a strong testimony and has a great love for our Savior. thanks for being awesome Bryan! we love you!

family fun

yesterday was good. oh besides brig getting a flat tire on his bike ride :/. but the rest of the day was good :) we had a busy day up until about 3:00. we decided to go to costco to walk around, eat samples, and buy a few groceries. they have the best samples! after costco we decided to go walk around the mall. since we didnt want to spend any money we went into stores and told each other what we would buy if the price didnt matter. it was fun to dream! after the mall we hung out at home and started making dinner. brig grilled steak (we normally dont buy steak, but there was a deal for buy 1 get 2 free so basically we bought $75 worth of steak for $23. and it will last us several meals. we were excited), i made mashed potatoes and gravy and cooked up some squash and zucchini from my parents garden. it was all soooo good! we decided that was way better than going out. brig gave maddix a bath while i cleaned up the kitchen, we played a little longer, put maddix to bed, bathed jimmer, got in our comfy’s, and started watching “Saving Private Ryan” (edited tv version). it was a super good movie but we were both exhausted and fell asleep after 1/2 hour which was 8:30pm! we are old.

sweet 16

maddix is 16 months old today. and soon enough he will be 16 years old……{gasp}…..but dont worry, he’ll be a perfect teenager :)

his vocab as of late:

hi, buh bye, ice = eyes, daw = dog, mama, daddys, tiss = kiss, baby, buh = banana or bath or baby einstein {he says buh to lots of things}, baw = ball, and his newest word as of today is “uh oh”. my personal favorite.

maddix loves to dance, loves to sing in church by saying “daw daw daw daw” and holding the hymn book, loves playing with kids, loves being outside and swimming, loves balls, loves to play chase around the house, loves food, loves books, loves our dog jimmer, loves his silky blanky, loves baby einstein, loves giving hugs and kisses, loves to run away from me, and loves to wave at everyone!

he is such a friendly little guy. we love him sooooo much. he makes life so fun for us and teaches us something new every day!

today i babysat my nephew. isnt he adorable? him and maddix played so well together, it was precious. maddix would give him kisses and he would give maddix hugs. so they were standing by the window looking at jimmer and when i look over, maddix is standing there rubbing tates back with one hand. it was priceless!

yumm

this is what i’ve been eating for breakfast/mid morning snack/mid afternoon/mid night snack :)

{granola, yogurt, and fruit}

i’ve been making my own yogurt. it tastes just like store bought kind, only way cheaper! check out how to make your own plain yogurt at my friends blog here. its soooo easy.

i’ve been slacking lately so i’ve been getting my granola at fresh & easy. but this next week i’m going to start making my own again since brig and i are both eating it WAY too fast! my friend has an awesome recipe for granola.

top it off with berries, bananas (my fave), strawberries, or any other fresh fruit!

and if you’re not into tart stuff, add a tiny bit of honey, maple syrup or agave nector.

even maddix loves the plain yogurt!!

and these are my new favorite indulgence. if any of you know me well enough, you know that i am obsessed with peanut butter and chocolate anything. these are perfect because i dont feel guilty eating them! they are healthy and so yummy! oh and even Brig loves them which is huge.

check out the recipe at my friends blog here.

picture also from here

thanks kami for all the yummy healthy recipes!!

what we do

we’ve been doing lots of this lately

sunglasses, outside time, water, swimsuits, walks, jimmer time, family time, baseball, books, enjoying my free time before school starts, watermelon, costco ice cream bars {yummmmmmmmmmmm}, piano playing, and some more family time.

there is nothing better than the sound of hymns being played on the piano in my very own house. i love it. especially when its coming from my husband. we are loving the piano as you can tell. i love being able to just sit down and play. i missed it so much.  oh, and instead of having dance parties to youtube, we now have dance parties to our very own piano music :)

…………….

speaking of school starting. i am SO excited/nervous. i am trying to soak up every minute i have with maddix and brig though because i know it will definitely be limited in a few months! 56 days {8 weeks} from today i will heading off to dh school in my brand new scrubs :) can’t wait to live in those for 2 years. seriously though.

speaking of family…please watch this. i love President Monson. he is an incredible man and most definitely a prophet of God.

triathlon & mothers day

On Saturday Brig had his triathlon at Tempe Town Lake. He did SO good. Especially considering he was the only one NOT wearing a wetsuit and the only one that didnt have a fancy road bike {he used a mountain bike…there is a huge difference incase you didnt know}. Luckily he’s a fast runner so that helped! It was so fun to go out and watch him. Such a stud. Awesome job Brig!!

   

…………………………

sunday morning brig woke up with maddix and let me get some more rest. he made me waffles and then we just relaxed and enjoyed the day! i wasnt feeling super well so brig was such an awesome help to take care of maddix so i could just rest. for mothers day brig got me a lay out bed for the pool {so i dont have to lay out on the floor :)} and some of my very favorite chick flicks EVER. he is the best at gift giving. he always gets me stuff that i would never buy myself but that i would love to have. thanks so much for everything brig!! i love you! after church we went to my parents for dinner and had a little program and got a sweet gift from my mom :) then we went to his parents and had dessert and just visited. what a great day. {saturday brigs dad paid for all the girls to get pedicures for mothers day. so nice!} 

happy late mothers day to my mom!! she is so kind, loving, thoughtful, spiritual, happy, beautiful, always serving, and thinking of others, so helpful with maddix, talented, amazing voice, and so incredible in every way! we love you mom!

happy late mothers day to my mother in law! she is hilarious, fun to talk to, stylish, always willing to help with maddix, kind, fun to be around, smart, dedicated, always serving, loves her family, and just plain awesome! we love you gaylene!

i just love moms. arent they just the best thing ever?? and im so happy to be a mom. i wouldnt change it for the world. i never understood how much a parent could love a child until i had my own. being a mom equals pure happiness. it is so hard sometimes, but that just makes it more worth it. i have learned so much as a mom. i love that maddix can now say mama and wants to be around me, and loves when i sing and read books to him. i love that he brings  us the ensign so that we can flip through the pages and point to pictures of Jesus with him.  I love that he can now recognize when he sees pictures of us or of Jesus. I love that he wants to feed himself and wants to do what we do. I love that i’m learning patience and forgiveness and just really how innocent children how. I love that i get to be the one to get maddix out of bed every morning and have him greet me with a big smile or with his arms reaching for me to hold him. I love how he picks up his “silky blanky”, pulls at my leg, then walks over to the rocking chair so i can just hold him and cuddle with him. I could go on and on…

 

motherhood is such a special role that we as women have. i am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mom and to raise my precious boy. i am so grateful for my Savior that gives me the strength and guidance everyday to be the mom he wants me to be. i am not perfect, but i sure am trying to be a better mom everyday! luckily i have such awesome examples to follow.

i hope everyone had a wonderful mothers day :)