My Trip to Cali!

About a month ago, my sister, Mary, called me up and wanted to know if I wanted to go on a quick trip with her to Monterey, CA to surprise my brother, Bobby, and his family. Bobby's wife, Sarai, was due with their third baby at the beginning of March and Mary thought that it would be a good opportunity to go down there as my parents were already going to be there too. I decided that I could use a weekend away from the kids and thought that it would be fun to just hang out with my sister like we use to. I was a little worried about Jarom handling all three of the kids by himself, but he assured me that he would be able to manage. Luckily, his dad decided to make a last-minute trip down to Logan to spend some time with him and the kids, so I'm sure that helped. Anyways, Mary and I left on Friday, March 18, and after dealing with a few flight cancellations and delays, we were able to make it to Monterey by 9 pm. After we landed, we quickly rented a car and drove straight over to my brother's house to surprise him. When we rang his doorbell, he came to the door and looked at us in complete shock. We walked in the house and everybody was so surprised, especially my dad. It was so fun to see everybody's reaction. After we stayed and visited for a couple of hours, we headed to our hotel which was a complete dump that had something in the room that would randomly make loud noises. That first night was definitely interesting. The next day, Mary and I were anxious to head out to the beautiful, sunny beach. Not! The weather was horrible and we both decided that it was probably warmer in Logan than it was there. Oh well! I still managed to get some pictures of the ocean though. We were also able to see a couple of holes on the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course.

After the beach, we headed back to Bobby's house. His new baby, Caitlin Isabelle, was born on March 10, and is their third girl. She was still in the sleepy, coma state, so I was excited to actually get some pictures of her when she had her eyes open.

Me, with all three of his girls: Camila, Caitlin, and Cayley.

That night, I convinced my Mom to take me to downtown Monterey. This area is called Cannery Row and it houses all of the little souvenir shops and awesome restaurants.

This is Bubba Gump Shrimp which I have never eaten at, but Jarom has told me that it is a definite must for seafood lovers.

Cannery Row is right off of the beach.

These are sealions just hanging out on the beach. I couldn't get very close to them, so they sort of just look like rocks along the beach.

That night, Mary and I ate at one of my favorite restaurants, P.F. Chang's. I love the orange chicken.

The next night, Mary and I flew back home. It was a quick trip, but long enough to get me rejuvenated to get back into motherhood. Jarom was able to hold the fort down and I'm so greatful that he was willing to let me get away for a couple of days. I definitely needed it.

Braylon's Birthday Parties

On March 17, Braylon turned 3 years old. In the days leading up to his birthday, I tried to get him ready and excited for his party, but for some reason, he did not want a party. On the day before his birthday, he finally admitted to me that he didn't want his birthday to come, or party, cake, or presents because when you turn 3, you are "big," and he wanted to be little forever. I honestly think that he associates being "big" to having to wear underwear, and he definitely doesn't want to start doing that. So, needless to say, I think potty training is going to be a challenge with him. Anyways, when the day finally arrived, he got a little more enthusiastic about it, and was definitely looking forward to his presents. When Jarom got off work that night, we went to our favorite family restaurant, Aggy's. Here is the Birthday Boy waiting for his food.

After Aggy's, we headed home to party. Usually my mom makes the kids' birthday cakes, but she was in Monterey with my brother this year, so I decided to purchase one from the Walmart Bakery. $20 for a nasty tasting cake, but it was cute and that is all that matters, right?

Braylon loves Buzz Lightyear, so I bought all of the Toy Story decorations and wrapping paper.

The Birthday Boy with his cake.

Dillon and Sadie joining the Birthday Boy.

Braylon loved all of his presents especially his 5 foot tall Buzz tent.

Last week, my mom returned from Monterey and quickly made her way down to Logan to give Braylon her presents.

To keep up with the tradition, she made him a dinosaur cake. It turned out really cute. She is so talented.

Braylon with his Dinosaur cake which he loved way more than his Toy Story cake. It tasted so much better too.

Braylon with all of his presents from my mom. Aside from these gifts, he was also given a lot of presents from Jarom's side of the family. He was definitely spoiled! Hopefully, in the next month or two, we can get pottytraining down so that he doesn't have to worry about it for his next birthday.

My St. Paddy's Day Baby

Today, is Braylon's 3rd Birthday. It seems like it was yesterday when I was on my way to the hospital to deliver him, and now he is 3! Braylon has been such a pleasant and content child. He has brought so much joy into our family and we can't imagine our lives without him. Happy Birthday Baby Boy! Here he is in his green shirt for St. Patrick's Day. It seems like whenever I take a picture of him, he always has a nice, big bruise in the middle of his forehead. Poor kid!



All three of the kiddies in their St. Patrick's Day attire.

Disney on Ice

A couple of days ago, Jarom and I decided that it would be fun to take advantage of living somewhat close to Salt Lake City, and take the kids to the Disney on Ice event that they hold every year. We decided that going there would be the fun activity that we would do for Braylon's Birthday, which is next week. I was sure that the boys were going to love it, but I was a little worried about Sadie being able to sit for the whole show. So, I made sure that I loaded my purse with plenty of bribery treats. When we got there, we were really impressed with our seats and thankful that we lucked out in getting an aisle seat in case we needed to take Sadie out midshow. Here are a couple of pictures of us right before the show started.

I sat on one end of our seats while Jarom sat on the other end so that we created a little path for Sadie to walk around.

This was the final performance of the show where all of the characters came out together. They had characters from almost every Disney Animation.

After the show, we decided to head to Layton to eat dinner. After dinner, we went to the Super Target in Layton as I had to get my "Target Fix" as we don't have one in Logan. We finally got back to Logan around 7:30. Overall, it was a fun, family day and I am so grateful that we have the resources to create such wonderful memories as a family. We are looking forward to Braylon's 3rd Birthday on St. Patrick's Day and then I'm headed to Monterey, California to visit my brother and his new baby. I can't wait!