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.