Family Ho-down

Daddy REALLY wanted to go to the Bluegrass Festival in Wickenburg, so we decided to give it a go. Drove an hour and a half (Momma had a bad sinus infection) and had a good time listening to the music and dancing with the tamborine that Brailyn made. Brailyn really wanted them to play 'Down to the River' (Oh Brother soundtrack) but we didn't hear it. I still think she had a good time. Of course Clint liked it!


Making our Tamborine


Bluegrass Boogie

Christmas Cheer

Since we're heading out for our cruise (yay!) the week before Christmas, we're trying to get all of our Christmas traditions done this week. So last night we saw the Christmas lights on Cherry Street (a whole street that has really cool lights on every house. My favorite this year- the Santa airport). On Sunday, since Brailyn was still sick and we stayed home from church, we made a gingerbread house. My mom got the kit from Costco, really cool, and we spent almost 2 1/2 hours putting it together! Brailyn did a GREAT job putting in the sidewalk and the fence around the house. By the time it was the green frosting's turn, my hands were cramping, so we just did the wreath and called it a day. I still think it turned out wonderfully! I tell ya, I don't know how those cake decorators do it- frosting is HARD! And I consider myself pretty artistic...I guess not!


In the Beginning...


The Proud Architect


The finished product!

Thanksgiving Time

We've had a fun week this Thanksgiving week. Clint's Grandparents and Uncle and family from California came to AZ and we've been visiting with them a lot. We had a night at the Val Vista Lakes Clubhouse where we watched a house catch on fire and Clint's twin brother Ken helped warn the people and hose it down until the firetrucks came. He was in a paddle boat near the house and jumped into their back yard yelling at them "your house is on fire!" The rest of us were watching from the pool. Clint called 911 and we think was the first to call. The homeowners didn't even realize it for a few minutes!


Brailyn with her Great Grandparents Meine

Brailyn has had fun playing with her 2nd Cousin Hannah, 5 years old. They've done pretty well together, although sharing is a little hard for a not quite 3 year old and a five year old (only child). But they're both good girls and liked getting to know each other. They also enjoyed playing the Wii MarioParty game. Of course Brailyn likes seeing Lexi and Dylan, and of course her favorite Uncle Kenny!

Hannah and Brailyn

Playing with the Dolls

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Shanda's with Grandma and Grandpa Meine, Uncle Kelly, Janelle, Hannah, Aunt Kelly, Lexi, Dylan, Uncle Bill and Jen, Kenny and Tia, and all the animals. Good food. Fun dollhouse. We even had a holiday craft (Turkey Hats).

Turkey Hat

Clint and Kenny singing while they did the dishes

The Culberson/Meine Clan
Brailyn was wiped out by the time we got home. Tomorrow is Dylan's baptism then back to normal for a couple of weeks until the Price Family Cruise!

Funny House

Here is the house that we call the "Funny House". They do all these blow up decorations in their front yard for seriously all of the holidays- Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter. I wouldn't be surprised if they even do St Patrick's Day! Brailyn always asks to drive by it on our way home from the gym, so I wanted to take a picture to remember.

Little Miss Hollywood

Brailyn loves to wear her sunglasses, and I'm just glad that I got her to wear them from a young age so that her beautiful eyes are protected from the sun. She asks for them when it's "too bwight" and it's (thankfully) just part of the routine of going out, like putting our shoes on. (on a tangent- she also knows the routine of coming home- shoes off, glasses on the table, wash hands- so well that when Daddy misses a step, she very kindly informs him of what he's missed!) Everywhere we go people comment on how cute her sunglasses are, or how she looks like a movie star (not what I'm trying to do, mind you, but that's okay). And I have to admit, she does look cute in them.

Not only does she look like a movie star, lately she's been into "doing the actions" when I read stories to her. Today we acted out "When You Take a Mouse to the Movies" and "Platypus" (where she collected an occupied sea shell, complete with "ouch!" when the hermit crab pinched her toe). She is quite the imaginative girl. It's just really fun to watch her doing new things while she plays.

Halloween Fun

I know it's tomorrow, but we had our ward's Trunk or Treat last night, so here is the first round of pics. Brailyn is having so much fun with her first real Halloween. Now she's old enough to get it, and last year she had a fever and we were in Glendale. So no trick or treating. But not this year. This year we get to get candy on TWO days!!

Of course we had to carve our pumpkin. Daddy got a gigantic one, and Momma carved a skeleton behind 2 gravestones. But two days later it was wilted and falling inside itself. No support beams. Oh well. We had fun. And Brailyn colored her very own mini pumpkin too.






Brailyn LOVES Bear. Pearl is a little too energetic sometimes, but she's not scared of them. But Bear will let her sit on her and just hold still. Perfect for a little almost 3 year old!


And finally. Here are our costumes. I LOVE Brailyn's "Baby Minnie" costume (she has a big Minnie Plush doll-red dress- and a little Minnie plush-pink dress- so she's obviously BABY Minnie this year!) Clint is a Hell's Angel turned Vato-Gangster. He built it around the mustache. And I must say, I look pretty good in the political realm!

Family Fun

Here are some fun things we've been up to lately.

When Brailyn wakes up in the morning, she often want to read books right away. So Momma, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, reads a couple of stories until our tummies are growling and it's time for breakfast.



When Brailyn would come with Momma to visit Grandpa Treguboff, she always wanted to see the Nativity snow globe he had in the kitchen. She would sit at the table and wind it up and look at all the figures. I wanted to get a picture so we could remember.



And finally. Last week I came home from errands and Brailyn had got into the bin in the hall that had our swimming stuff in it. She lined up all of our shoes and had fun playing hop scotch with the diving rings with Holly. Too funny.

Little Miss Sassafrass

You are such a big girl now, and are really trying to become and independent girl too. When Momma asks you to do something (get dressed, come eat lunch, get ready for quiet time) often times you say, very strongly "No, I don't want to" and after continuing to ask you I then hear "No! I never wanna, never, you never let me, I don't want to never wanna never!" It's pretty funny, although it's exhausting too. And we've had to have some time outs because you are fighting me so much and sometimes swat me when you tell me "no!". But after you've screamed in time out for a couple of minutes, you're happy again and we get hugs and kisses and then you are happy to listen to Momma. I'm trying to praise you more for the times you do listen right away so that the positive reinforcement shows you how much easier and nicer it is when we can obey. At the same time I'm trying to let you make more choices and be more independent, while still being the Momma. Boy, almost 3 year olds are lots of fun and lots of patience. But I love you and am so proud of the girl that you are. You love your books, wanting to read first thing in the morning, and even when you don't sleep during nap time, and Momma wants to nap, you are happy to read by yourself in the room. You've been playing with Shaylee Clouse across the street, which you love, and I am so happy to see your social side coming out. And you take such great care of your babies, taking them on walks in the stroller, the train that Grandma made from some boxes and feeding/burping/changing their diapers. It's so funny how little girls like to do this all by themselves! I can't wait to see you in your Minnie Mouse costume, or for our family vacation to Disneyworld and a Disney cruise!!

Backyard Fun

Here's a look at what we do most evenings (and it's so much nicer now that it's cooling off...) Clint plays fetch with Pearl, who is seriously OCD about it, Brailyn and Momma hit tennis balls and play with Bear, then we all go out in the pasture and look for the turtles and try to avoid the mosquitos. Then we water the Sunflowers we planted this summer.

Today though we went on an extra bike ride down the street. Momma rode the cruiser and Brailyn rode her trike- the first time outside of the driveway. We rode down to the Wyeths to "see if Carter is there" then rode back. Hopefully we'll look back at these lazy days of summer and remember our evenings in the backyard and how much fun it is just to meander around outside together.


Brailyn Posing on her trike (note the pink ribbon belt)


Clint and his precious garden

The Little Sproutlings


Yep, we found a Praying Mantis, but no one was brave enough to pick him up!

My First Campout

We finally did it. We went camping. This is the first campout since Clint and I have been married, and thus Brailyn's first campout. We had so much fun at Sharp Creek with the Cullumber Ward, even though we were short a sleeping bag, and Momma was freezing the whole night and Brailyn woke up crying at least 5 times (yeah, we were tired). We drove up Friday afternoon, set up the tent, ate some dinner and then made s'mores. YUMMY!

Setting up the Tent

Cutie Pie


Playing Catch with Momma

Kid friendly Horseshoes


After our not so good night sleep, we had breakfast and then played games with the other kids. Brailyn really loved playing down by the creek, which made the whole trip worth it. We stayed there for an hour and were one of the last families to head home. We made friends with Hunter and his family and practiced skipping rocks (Momma's record=5).

No, it's not what you think. Her pants got wet, she took them off, and continued to play in the creek. It's dirt.

Playing with Hunter

We were exhausted when we got home, but we're so glad that we went. Here's to the next family campout!!

Random update

So, it's been awhile. Sorry. We're busy trying to find a place to live and actually are moving in the direction of finding a great deal on our first home purchase. Exciting and scary. So much you have to think about and worry. Don't want to make a big, not so smart decision that can have long term effects. But I'm trying to just follow the lead and let go. Turn it over to Heavenly Father to lead us to the right place, having faith that it will turn out for the best. Anyway, we've still been doing the same stuff in the mean time: gym, library (story time is back!!), Sprouts, swimming...Here are some cute pics.


Brailyn LOVES to play the "lele" or "ditar" while I play Primary songs on the piano


Pop-O-Matic Trouble fingers


Playing Candyland (She has actually made it through a couple of times)- The new thing is getting out the games and playing with ALL of the little pieces. But she has fun and it's about the time to start learning board games...

Slug Bug

I don't think I've mentioned this, but it's kinda a cute and big part of our everyday life. Brailyn LOVES to look for Beetles as we're driving. It all started with the yellow VW Beetle that is at the gym most days we are there. So it was always fun to try to find it in the parking lot. And there's a blue one at the elementary school we drive by. Surprisingly we see a lot of them as we're cruising around town. So now Brailyn has become a big car afficionado. I'll tell her what another car is called if she thinks it's a Beetle (no, that's a PT Cruiser) and today we saw an orange Lamborghini in the parking lot. Seriously. So she was excited to tell daddy about the orange "zuchini" when we got home. Ahhh, she makes me smile.

I Love to Read

I'm so grateful that I have an avid reader...already. And I hope to keep nurturing this quality and Brailyn grows into a bookworm. A very beautiful bookworm. She will always want to read LOTS of books before nap and bedtime, and throughout the day she will keep busy reading to herself or her stuffed animals. I myself like to read, and I think that I could live without tv, even though there are a couple of shows I do enjoy. Clint, however, couldn't (football withdrawls), but I'm hoping to have the tv off most of the time while Brailyn is up. I just feel really strongly about keeping your kids interested in other things, and tv is really a "sometimes" activity. And so far so good, Brailyn loves to read and doesn't even watch Sesame Street very often (it's the one show that I'm okay with her watching right now, besides Disney movies with Clint on Saturdays) So I wanted to capture a bit of Brailyn "reading" on video, even though she gets a little distracted when there is a camera pointed at her. She keeps wanting to smile and say cheese (I used my digital camera recorder instead of our video camera. Still haven't figured out how to edit and splice).

Momma's Tummy

Brailyn did the cutest thing this weekend. We were playing with her Playmobile people and we could'n't find the little boy. "Where's the little boy, Brailyn?" "He's in the Momma's tummy." We have a book about the human body and how a baby grows in the mother's tummy etc. So we've obviously talked about it and how Brailyn was in my tummy when she was a little baby. Well, as we were getting ready for bed, Brailyn wanted to be in my tummy again. "Brailyn go in Momma's tummy again?" So I she curled up in a ball on my stomach and I put a blanket over her. Then she came out and said, "I be born again, Momma!" I tell ya, this girl has quite the mind. She did this a couple more times and I just thought it was sweet. It will be fun when we have another baby and she can see my tummy growing. She's going to be a great big sister.

My Superstar

Boy am I a lucky Momma. I have such a cute little girl. This week we went to the library to get some new books and they had a craft table set up to make Olypmic Torches. Pretty easy, but Brailyn had the wonderful idea to put on one of Amber's softball medals that she loves to wear. So of course we had to take a picture of my little Olympian!


Today we had a great time playing at Jaxon's house. We posed for a few pictures in Ashley's new in-home studio (I'll post those when I get them. Hope they are cute!) and we played baseball with Jaxon's super cool T-ball/pitching machine. Lots of wild and crazy, falling asleep in the car, and of course not going back down for a nap when we get home. So when Daddy got home we are super hyper and tired, but made it to bed an hour early. Whew! While we were waiting for Clint to get home we were having fun playing with my New Orleans Mardis Gras mask. So pretty.

You are My Inspiration

Brailyn, I just want you to know that you are the reason that I am trying to be a better person. Even more than to be better just for myself, I am on this journey of cleaning up my past so that I can be as good a momma as I can be for you. I want to be healthy and happy with me so that you can grow up and be healthy and happy with you and know that you can do anything you want to do. You are a daughter of Heavenly Father, you have a divine nature, which makes you more powerful than any trials you may go through in life. I love you, and I am your biggest fan. I know that you can do and be anything you choose. And whatever you do choose, I will love you, always.

Favorite Movie

I don't like you to watch a lot of tv. In fact, most days you don't even watch Sesame Street. But you have watched a couple of Disney movies since we drove up to Utah, so when Momma is not feeling well, or as a treat with Daddy, you LOVE to watch a movie. You like the church Scripture videos (Jesus Movie), but right now your favorite is Disney's "101 Dalmations". You ask to watch it every day, and you love to pretend to be a puppy and need help walking on the slippery ice. You think it's so funny when Momma pretends to slip on the ice. Then we get all dirty like the doggies do in the soot and have to get cleaned off.

Playmobile Fun

I never want to forget how much you love to play with your "people". And this is one of your creative inventions. You turn your ice cream truck on its side and the people can sit and play inside. It's so much fun. And you looked so pretty today. Love the butterfly shirt from Pumpkin Patch, and your skirt- which I bought when you were still in my tummy.

2 1/2 Years

Brailyn, you are getting to be such a big girl, and so happy and kind and ready to learn. You love Music Makers with Jaxon Rogers and Parker (cousin), and this summer you’ve been learning how to swim with the neighbors, Shaylee and Caleb Klouse. I am such a proud Momma and swim teacher. You are only 2 ½ and can jump in and turn over on your back (rainbow dives), swim to the wall, and jump off the diving board and swim to your noodle. You LOVE swimming and want to do it every day! We’ve been living at Grandma’s house for the past few months while we waited for Daddy to find a job, and you’ve really enjoyed being around everyone. We keep pretty busy right now. We go to the gym in the morning and you play at Kids Club. Each time we pull into the parking lot, you always say “We find the Beetle?” There is a yellow VW Beetle usually, and we love to drive around looking for others. We have Music Makers once a week, we go to the library, Sprouts, play at Jaxon’s house, and have swimming every day after nap time. And on Fridays we’ve been going to the movies with Carter with the summer movie pass. It’s so much fun. We pack popcorn and grapes and you love to sit in the big chairs. We’ve seen Surf’s Up, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Imporium, and Wallace and Grommit. You are still a good eater, usually eating your fruit, veggies (broccoli, tomatoes etc) and eggs. You love to have bunny cereal in the morning, or some plain yogurt with granola and cinnamon and blueberries. Yummy. Your imagination is growing so much. Your favorite think to play at Grandma’s are the Playmobile people. “Let’s go play the farm, Momma.” We sit everyone down around the food and they eat. Or we build the fence and everyone comes in and sits down together. You also like to make breakfast for me in the play kitchen and then wash the dishes afterward. Daddy has been traveling for his new job in Houston, so we miss him during the week. This has made you want to be with Momma all the time, so it’s a little harder leaving you at the gym or with Grandma. But you are so happy when Daddy comes home on the weekend, and we call him everyday and read and pray together before bed. We are looking for a house for us to move into soon, and then we can have fun decorating your bedroom. HMMM, some other things you like to do: go to the mall-of course, sing and dance to music (I even hear you sing “I got it from my Momma” sometimes!) and my favorite- you sit on my lap at the piano and we play and sing primary songs together. You are so good and singing the words because we listen to them while we’re in the car. I think your favorite is “Reverently, Quietly” but you like “In the Leafy Treetops” too. I just love to hear you sing those sweet songs. You continue to be such a joy in our lives, Brailyn, and we are so glad that we have you.

Learnin to Swim

Rescuing a Bee from Drowning Jumping in the Pool Airplanes Swimming to the Wall Happy on her noodle

I'm such a proud momma/swim teacher this week. I've been teaching a swim class with a couple of Brailyn's friends. It's mostly to teach Brailyn how to swim this summer, but I also earn some spending cash too! Brailyn has done SO well. She is a pro at turning over on her back and doing 'airplanes'. She just pops right up. She loves to swim everyday and to do lessons with Shaylee and Caleb. They are doing great too, by the way. I'm so glad that I'm able to do this.