Beach Time

Sunday morning we got up and decided to drive PCH and take the kids to breakfast and the beach!  This is ONE of the BIG reasons why I miss living in So Cal!!  The beach is so calming, and beautiful!!

We walked out to the pier and had dinner at Ruby's!  It was to be "walking" on the water!!

After breakfast we went down to walk on the beach and walk out to the ocean.  Neither of the kids had ever been to the ocean before!!

Natalie didn't like getting left behind by the boys!!

Of course we had to take pictures!!

They loved this!!  Brandon loved it because he said the water kept sliding us around!! So much fun!!  Can't wait until we can go back to the beach and play some more!!

Vegas!!

We've made it to Vegas!!

On Monday we were blessed to spend the day with Matt, Katie and CJ!! Then Joe and Chelsea came over to join us for dinner!!  It was great to see the boys playing!

Natalie was able to play with the boys too!!

Tuesday we spent a lot of time outside! We took the kids to Rainforest Cafe for breakfast. We thought it would be fun, but Brandon was afraid of the animals!!

After breakfast we went to the "castle" that Brandon wanted to see.

We went back and played at the splash pad and took turns taking naps!!

For a late lunch we headed over to Gordon Ramsey's burger place. It was really good, but very pricey.

After our meal we took the kids back to the splash pad to play with grandma and papa. Brandon was out there for over an hour! He loved it!!

After we got the kids to bed I was able to go have dinner with Chelsea. It was so nice to be able to spend time with her and catch up. I miss her!!

Thanksgiving

I'm playing a little catch up, I apologize!  My goal for 2014 is to be a lot better about blogging now that I am back to work full time!  I will get to those later though!

For Thanksgiving break this year Tyler stayed home.  Christ didn't go to Palm Springs for teacher's conference, so just I went and the kids went to my parent's house for the few days I was out of town.  

Bubba checking in on his sissy!

My beautiful baby girl!

While I was in Palm Springs I was so excited to be able to spend some time with Chelsea!  I miss her so much, and it was great to see her!  We even were able to go and see the Catching Fire!  Chelsea and I had been planning this since we found out that she was going to move to Vegas!  We dragged some friends along with us too!

Chelsea, Ellen, Ashley, Lotus and I at our Catching Fire

My BFF Chelsea

The kids had a great time at my parent's house, and when I got home from Palm Springs we headed up to my parent's house to spend time with them before Thanksgiving.  My parents hosted Thanksgiving this year since my dad had to work the entire week!  It was crazy!  He has been working at K-Mart so he has been putting in a lot of hours over the holidays.

Brandon and Natalie have been spending so much time together it is cute to see them laugh, and have fun together!  Brandon loves his sissy, and he loves to give her kisses!

Natalie made quite a cute turkey too, if I do say so myself!

We love our bow from Aunt Ashley!

While we were at my parent's house Bubba was able to play outside a lot!  He enjoyed walking up and down my parent's block, pushing his stroller, and riding on his car that my grandma gave him for his birthday!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was so much fun this year!  Brandon was so excited to celebrate this year, it made Christmas that much more exciting for us as a family.  We took Brandon and Natalie to visit Santa on Monday at the Prescott mall.  That was quite an experience!  Brandon didn't want to wait in line of course, so daddy and grandma entertained Brandon will Natalie and I waited in line.  Natalie didn't have a problem waiting in line, and even loved having her picture taken with Santa.  She kept looking up at him, trying to get a good look at the game!  She didn't even cry until I went to take her away from Santa.  Then she got upset, and wanted me to put her back on his lap!

On Christmas Eve we talked with Brandon about how he had to go to bed so that way he could get lots of sleep because Santa was going to be coming that night to bring us presents!  He was so excited because all he asked Santa for was a new puzzle!  He couldn't wait, which kept him up past bed time, but that was okay!

Christmas morning Natalie and Brandon were both up around 5, 5:15, but we made them stay in bed until 6!  Finally at 6:00 Natalie wouldn't stay in bed any longer, so we went and got Brandon up.  Much to my surprise grandma was in bed with Brandon when we went in to get him.  (I didn't know at the time that he had been up since 5, and that was the only way grandma could keep him in bed!)

Brandon loved presents!  He loved them so much he helped everyone open their presents!  He got tired of opening his own presents, but as soon as it was time to open someone else's presents he was right there ready to help!

We were very blessed this year and Brandon received many clothes, books and puzzles!  Natalie got some new cups, shoes, and toys from Disneyland!  Tyler got his new video game and some movies.  I got a new computer!  I am so excited for my new laptop, and am so thankful to my parents for always providing so much for us!

We are doing Christmas with Tyler's parents on Saturday, so that will be exciting for Brandon as well!  We can't wait to see his excitement with what they get him!!  I know when we get home it will be time to go through some old toys though and find ones that we can start to give away!

We had a great Christmas up in Prescott, and were blessed to spend the day with my parents, Tyler's parents, and my Grandma Ellen and Mills.

Merry Christmas everyone!  I pray that you all had a blessed Christmas too!!

Catching Up

Sorry everyone, I know it's been a while since the last time I posted!  Things have been so busy around here for us!

On October 1 Brandon started going to school four days a week!  He LOVES it, and loves his teacher!  It does make for many long nights though, as he is pretty tired by the time he gets home at the end of the day.  I also started volleyball season October 1, so that has been hard trying to juggle him and the volleyball season.

Hanging out in Mrs. Chapman's room while mommy is talking

Moving away from the table when he was done with lunch, October 29

He loves looking for "yellow bus" on the drive to school

For Fall Break Natalie and I went on a little trip to Northern California!  We were able to go up with my mom to visit!  We were able to see many people we love!  We spent time with Bree, my grandma, great grandma, aunts, cousins, and my second grade teacher!!  I love those women, and I know each one of them helped play a very special role in who I am today!!

We love Aunt Bree (and our nephew!!)

Four Generations 

Brooke was so excited to hold Nat

Sleepy baby on the flight home!

While I was in California with Natalie, Brandon was able to have a sleep over at Grandma and Papas, and then have some special bonding time with daddy!!

CHEESE!!

This kid LOVES to eat apples!

Natalie has been growing like crazy!!  We went in for her six month appointment on Halloween, and she is now in the 98th percentile for her height!!  She is only in the 14th percent for her weight, but the doctor isn't too worried about it.  While we were there for Natalie's appointment we did confirm that Brandon might be allergic to peanuts!!  EEK!!  My next step is to get him in to an allergist so we can have him tested for that.

Boo for Trunk or Treat 

Mommy and Batman for trunk or treat

Big boy loves showering in mommy and daddy's room!

Tyler has been working hard on his grad school stuff.  He has finished his student teaching, so now he is just finishing up classes!  He is very excited to have that part behind him, and can't wait to be done with classes either.

I am sure that there is so much more to fill you in on, but that is all I have time for right now!  I am getting ready to head to Vegas for a conference, and I was at work until 9:30 last night trying to get everything ready for my sub on Monday and Tuesday!!  Our grading period ended yesterday, so I have to work on report cards while we are gone too.  I'm excited about the trip though, spending time with friends, and seeing CHELSEA!!!

Newborn, 6 months - man how time flies!!

B's funny Christmas shirt

Family of four . . . 10 weeks

New things about Brandon: Brandon is now a fish!! This past week he started swimming by himself and he now jumps off the edge of the pool!! That took some building up to, but he has no fear now. Up at my parent's house, he jumps into his little kiddy pool here too. I'm just afraid that he's going to break something jumping here. Brandon is loving playing outside up at grandma and grandpa's house, and playing in his pool.

New things about Natalie: Natalie has been sleeping longer at night! She has been going down between 7:15 and 7:45 for the past couple of days. She has been getting up around 3:30 to eat, and then goes back to sleep. The only downside is that she is then up again around 6:00 and is then up for a little while. She is loving her new swing that we borrowed from Abby and Sarah. She enjoys her nap time in her swing, but still loves taking a nap with mommy too.

New things about Tyler: Tyler was able to take this week off, as we have been up at my parent's house. He enjoyed being able to relax, and read a lot! He is having fun playing with Brandon up here in the cooler weather as well.

New things about Cassandra: I am enjoying being up at my parent's house. It is so much cooler up here. Tyler and I celebrated six years of marriage this week, and we were able to escape to Sedona for two nights to celebrate. It was nice being able to watch a movie without having to pause to change a diaper, get a bottle, or put a baby to bed. We were also able to go out to eat, and eat our own food! Plus we were able to go to the movies too!! We are so thankful to my parents that they watched the kids for us so that way we could go and do this.