The Brooks Visit Us!

This is what happens when you leave Alexa and Sam alone together!

Riding bikes was a favorite activity for the three boys all week

The boys made cupcakes (with our help,) Christie is a nicer mom than me and lets the kids crack the eggs. I don't think I'll ever be able to make anything again without my boys wanting to crack the eggs. Thanks a lot Christie!

We had such a great visit with Christie, Isaac and Alexa. Isaac is the perfect age distance between Jacob and Carter so they make a great threesome. Aside from a little bit of Jacob worship they all get along pretty well. It works out ok because if Jacob wants to do something, they all think it's a great idea! We hit the Zoo, the beach, the pool, the creek, the pet store; the fun for the kids never ended. Christie and I also managed to have fun ourselves going to Golden Spoon every night and even taking a day to go shopping and out to the Cheesecake Factory. We actually got to go to the Cheesecake Factory twice because the first night she got in we got a babysitter and Brett, Christie and I all went out. It was just like old times. When Brett and I were dating Christie was always our very welcome third wheel. Once we were engaged we thought it was a good idea to always have her around, and she hung out at our condo all the time when we were first married. We love you Christie! It was just more fun having someone around all the time to talk to, take the kids places with, do laundry together, make dinner together etc.... I will go through withdrawal all week!

Sam's Buddies

I love these boys! Sam doesn't even realize how lucky he is to have two best buddies at such a young age. Jack, Luke and Sam were born within three months of each other, one coming about every four to six weeks. I like to think they had that planned long ago....to arrive close together. It helps that I love their moms too, but I just love these boys. This age is so cute to me. Every new thing they say is just so darling!
The other day in the car we pulled up next to a big truck and here is the conversation that followed:
Sam: Mom I wanna buy that (pointing to truck)
Me: You want to buy what?
Sam: I wanna buy that truck, stop the car (he often asks me to stop driving, usually when he is mad at me for some reason)
Me: You want to buy that truck?
Sam: Yes I wanna buy that truck, stop the car.
Me: Ok Sam I will stop the car so you can buy that truck
Sam: HA HA! I just teasing Mommy!

What a crack up, I swear! How does a two year old think of that. Maybe it's just me being a mom, but I thought it was cute and clever. My brother in law Eric thinks Sam is going to be the biggest ham of all our boys. I think he's right. He is trouble, but funny too!

Mount Laguna

We love camping at Mount Laguna, or as Jacob used to call it Mountain Galluna. We missed our fair weather campers, not to mention any names, (Birds, Parmleys and Mendenhalls), but the Wimmers and Tylers had a blast! It's amazing how much the kids get out of a night of getting dirty, climbing rocks, shooting the girls with nerf guns, cooking their own dinner, making (not eating) s'mores, and sleeping in a tent. It's a lot of work, but the payoff is totally worth it. Camping is something I never did growing up, and it's something I totally want my kids to grow up doing. Brett's family camped a lot, and I think it's such a great thing to do as a family(and with friends!)


Sam watched closely as Brett and I set up our tent, referring to it as Daddy's boat. When I put the port a crib inside he looked at me and informed me that he would NOT be sleepiong in there. "I not sweeping in ere," he kept telling me. I guess he doesn't remember the last time we camped, it was almost a year ago. We knew we were in for a rough night with Sam. He did fine once we put him in our sleeping bag, and I think he actually liked sleeping in Daddy's "boat".Hiking to the meadow and playing on the rocks is a big hit at Mount Laguna!

Fun at the Paulsons

We had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend at Bret and Steph's in Thousand Oaks. I just love hanging out with my sister and watching our kids play. As an added bonus Brett's college room mate Matt happens to be in my sisters ward. What a small world! They came over on Monday to swim with us, it was great fun! Brett has taken to growing out his scruffy face every once in a while which I actually love. Saturday morning he decided it was time to shave, but stopped when he had a mustache left. It grossed me out and he left it for the whole day just to bug us all. The kids thought it was hilarious and made themselves mustaches to go along with his. He named it Terry and was he was sad to see it go, I threatened him to shave before we went out to dinner Saturday night. Thank goodness Terry is now gone! Stephanie and I seriously couldn't even look at him without busting up laughing!