LOVING BEING BACK IN CALI

We are finally getting settled in at our place in Oceanside. We have an awesome house. Thanks to my good friend Jenny who found this home before we even got here. We really got a great house for our family. Brett was joking the other night about how we have this awesome house and the kids favorite thing is there "little home" made out of boxes. They are just happy with the simple things of life. :)

Brayden used his fingers more than the actually paint brush. He loved it although at the end he kept saying "messing hands mama".


OUR FRIEND'S "CAMO" PARTY

Some of our old friends from San Diego had a cute camouflage party for there little boy Eli. It was so fun to see them and all of our other sweet and dear friends that we had missed seeing while in FL. The kids had a great time seeing there friends as well. We went by our old place, and it was weird to think it was just 8 months ago that we used to live there. I remember leaving hoping that we would get to come back to the San Diego area, but not really know if it would be possible. It has been a great as a imaged it would be coming back. :)




BACKYARD

Beside the boxes, I think the kids like playing outside the most here. We have a beautiful big backyard. It has this cute little paved circular path that the kids love to ride around on whatever kind of transportation they can. This is Brett skateboard that he has busted out a few time here. We also live right across the street from an awesome park.


SEA WORLD

We have actually already made it to Sea World. We went with our good friend the Mathews, who are now our neighbors and some of our friends the Shelton from medical school, who were out here on a family vacation. Now that they have a new Sesame Street play land we spend most of our time there.:)



EASTER AT THE BANKS

The kids had a fun Easter holiday. We were actually at the Banks. We did a fun Easter egg hunt at Thanksgiving Point on Saturday, and then we had two Easter egg hunts on Sunday.

We flew there from Florida with Sharon, my mother in law, while Brett and Alan, my father in law, drove across country. They went through quite the elements during there drive. They went through a wind storm in Texas. The winds were so strong it blew our the our car top carry off the van. They also drove there fires and a snow storm in Utah. I am so indebted to both my Sharon and Alan. They helped make our move so much easier.

While I was in UT we got to see a few of my friends and some family. It was a quick trip so I didn't even get to make it to ID to see my family, but it was nice seeing those people that I could.

COLLEGE FRIENDS

These are some of my sweet college friends. Every year we do a girl trip. I am not going to be able to go this year, so it was so nice of my friend Sunny to plan a little afternoon together with those who could get together. We hung out at Sunny's and then when to the park by her house. That is Brynn and Sunny's girl Ellie at the top of the toy. It was so cute to see our girls play so good together. (Maybe they can be roommates together someday.:))


OUR LAST DAYS IN FLORIDA

Since Brett's parent were out for his graduation, we took them to some of our favorite places. Then salad in this picture is from a restaurant called Lambert's. It is in a very southern restaurant. It has huge portion if you can image from looking at the salad. We went to some fun restaurants, the museum, parks, and showed them all of Brett Navy places from his flight training.

Also the last day there we found out that we were having a GIRL. We are excited although Brett is a little nervous because now he is really going to be out numbered.

We spent the last weekend there at the beautiful beaches.


BRETT'S GRADUATION FROM FLIGHT SCHOOL

Brett had an awesome graduation. It took place in the National Aviation Museum. His parents were able to be there, and Brett was honored to have them "give him his wing". ( He now has a pair of wings on his uniform.)


BRYNN LAST DAY AT SCHOOL

Brynn was so sad to say good-bye to her school, and especially her teacher Miss Keegan. In fact yesterday after she got home from her new school here. She sat out our table. She had found a picture of her old stuffed duck that we got rid of after one of our moves. She got tears in her eyes as she talked about how much she miss the duck, and in the same conversation she said she wondered how the tadpoles were doing in Miss Keegan's class. ( I felt a little sad for her. She has been through so much change, and even though she is a pretty happy go lucky girl, and kind of just goes with the flow, I think having to keep moving gets a little hard on her. )

Anyways, I think for the most part we are adjust to our move. We love being back her by so many of our friends, and being a days drive away from family. I am also thankful that we had a chance to experience Florida together as a family. It has been kind of crazy having to move so much, but I feel it has made us closers as a family and a couple.

Catching up!

AUBREY'S 4 year old BIRTHDAY We met Brett for lunch at McDonald's on Aubrey's birthday. Aubrey loved it, and that explains why she has a happy meal box on her head.

Aubrey is all about Snow White these days. (Ever since she got her hair cut short, she thinks she looks like Snow White). Anyway's for her birthday she got everything to do with Snow White that we could find. I think she felt like a princess for the day. We had only a family party for both of the girls this year. I think they still had a good day. Brayden sure loved having a party. He has the "happy birthday" song down really good now, so it is cute to hear him sing.

I just want to say what a joy and a blessing Aubrey is in my life. Having her home with me everyday this year really has been good for both of us. She is a big help and a great friend. She loves it when Brynn comes home from school, but I think she also likes being the "biggest one" at home for the first part of the day. She loves being a nurturer and she likes to act like Brayden's second mother. It is so cute. She really likes to make sure Brayden is happy and well taken care of. If she is not taking care of Brayden she will be taking care of all her baby dolls. :) She really is a sweet and thoughtful girl, and I am so happy she is in our family.

A FUN BEACH DAY

The kids can never get enough of the beach. Brynn gets in the water ever time, but lately Aubrey has been joining her. I still think the water is too cold, but they are brave. Brayden will get his feet in, but he mostly likes to play in the sand.

FORT BARRANCAS

There are a lot of old military forts out here, and we haven't really taken advantage of seeing them. This one is on base, so we checked it out. It is really cool to see the history of out here. After the fort tour, we went to this fun park on Bayou Grande.

BRYNN'S 6 year old BIRTHDAY

Brynn was so funny about her birthday. She keep asking if I was going to have a surprise party for her or something. I had to keep explaining that this year was a family only party year. She has been having a friend party every year since she was 2, so this was a little harder for her to handle. Anyways, I think she had a good day, and she still got spoiled with lots of presents. For her family party we went Chuck E Cheese. (I only had my phone camera, so no pictures great pictures. We had a good time, and Brynn got as many tokens as she could ever want or use).

I just wanted to say on Brynn's birthday how happy I am that she is my oldest child. She is a very responsible, laid back kind of girl. She also loves to have fun and have/host parties. She keeps our life very action packed. She loves riding her bike and scooting around the circle by our house. She is a wonderful sister to Brayden and Aubrey, and I know they both look up to her. She has lived in a lot of places in her short life and has made a lot of friends. She never really seem to complain about all the change. I am so blessed to have her in our family.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY TO BE A MOM

When the kids go out and jump and play nicely together!

When Brayden insists on wearing a lion headband to the store. I was seriously laughing the whole time. We got some cute looks. :)

When Brayden tries so hard to put Brett's Navy boots on and then tries to walk in them. I got him to pose for this picture. I love that he is only 2 and he is doing the "tough guy" look. It is so cute to see him follow Brett around. He wants to be just like him. I love it!

When the girls write me the cutest letters. Brynn has been working on spelling in school. She had to translate a little for me, but for the most part I could read it. I keep both Aubrey and Brynn's letters on my bathroom sink, so I can see them everyday.

DAY WITH DADDY AT THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

Brett took the kids all day last Saturday. He went with some of his other buddies and there kids to the children's museum in Alabama for the day. I had a wonderful day off and the kids loved the museum. They got to be in the news, learn about the body, health, science, music and so much more. The video below is them in a virtual video game. I thought it was so cute.

Anyway, this is what we have been up to the last month or so. Next week we are starting the moving process, and by the middle of April we should be in our home in Oceanside. We have some busy and exciting weeks ahead. :)