for real.

nola!

2016-04-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

jason and i took a little trip without the kids to new orleans a few months ago. all i have to say is, what a cool city. i couldn't get enough of all the pretty architecture, the delicious food (hello, beignets), and some of the best live street music i have ever heard. i came to love this city in just a short 3 days.

Day1: beignets for breakfast, bourbon street (yikes), trolley rides, the garden district, lafayette cemetery, a delicious dinner in the french quarter...wish i could remember the name of the place, and a live jazz concert at preservation hall. that was hands down our favorite part of nola.

Day 2: walked around the french quarter stopping and listening to as many live street bands as we could because it was just that good, jackson square, st. louis cathedral, a horse and carriage ride through the french quarter to hear some of the history, cafe du monde, the mississippi river, and the french market.

day 3: we were only there half the day so i wanted to walk around the french quarter some more to take in all the colors of all the buildings and we both wanted to listen and watch some more of the street performers. i seriously could walk around all day long for many days just stopping and looking at all the architecture. it would take a long time before it got old.

it was so nice to get away for a few days with just jason and explore a new city that I've never been to before, but of course it's always nice to go home too and reunite with my crazy kiddos. but it's safe to say, i love nola!

saying goodbye to my little brother.

2016-04-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

back at the end of january, my sweet little brother passed away. it was sudden and unexpected. it was obviously a sad situation and many tears and "why did this happen" were expressed but at the same time, i was able to find comfort in knowing that he is in a much better place and he is free from all his demons that were keeping him from achieving all that he wanted to do here this earth.

we drove him to thatcher, az for his final resting place. he was buried right next to our grandparents and i know that he is beyond happy being there in the gila valley with grandma and grandpa daley. after a very private and spiritual final goodbye, we all got in our cars and my father, who grew up in thatcher along with many of my other relatives in which some still live there, showed us around the town. it's a quaint farming community with some adorable homes and an old town feel. i remember as a little girl visiting my grandparents and my dad refreshed my memory by showing us the home he grew up in, which was the same one we would visit when i was younger. he also showed us the home that president kimball grew up in. my grandpa and president kimball where actually very good friends. my kids thought that was pretty cool and so did I ;) after a little tour of the town, we had dinner at garrett's (my little brother) favorite mexican restaurant in thatcher. on our way out of town, we stopped to take some pictures of the gila valley temple. i love seeing temples all over our country and the world and will always stop and take pictures whenever i can.

this was a beautiful day filled with sad and happy moments. it was spent with close family and friends. i will always remember my brother as fun, loving and full of life. he loved people and he loved serving others. he was an organ donor and upon leaving this earth, he was able to save the lives of the 3 other individuals by giving his liver and both of his lungs. this gives me peace knowing he is still living on through 3 other people. love you, gar-bear!

Jack's first guitar show... (and the return of the blog posts!).

2015-07-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

^^^his nervous face.^^^

a long time ago, like march 31, 2014, jack had has first live guitar performance. he was really nervous but he killed it. he played and sang "best day of my life" by american authors. his niece, mckenna, sang back up for him and he was really excited about that. i remember feeling so proud of him. proud that he did something he wasn't sure he could do and proud for all his efforts to prepare himself to preform his song. his guitar teacher talked him up right before he preformed and he followed with a solid performance. it's been fun watching his musical talent grow and seeing him get better and better with time and practice. i just hope he sticks with it becuase i really enjoy listening to him play his little heart out.

a night at the museum.

2014-05-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

we hit up the children's museum a few weekends ago. we like to wait until the first friday of the month to go because from 5-9pm it's free. and i don't know about you but i like free. i really love our children's museum and so do our kids. for me, it's kinda one of the only unique places in the valley that exists.

we try to expose the children to all the activities and different themed rooms that the museum has to offer, but the grocery store is the crowd favorite. they would spend hours in there if we'd let them. they can't get enough of pretend grocery shopping, being the cashier, restocking the shelves and working in the back room. it's kind of amazing how these young kids assume roles and keep this make believe grocery store running without the parents help! i like to just sit back and watch all the action.

for eden and jonah, the mail room came in a close second to the grocery store. some other favorites were the car wash and the music room and many more fun little exhibits that intrigued their little minds. such a great place i tell ya. and even better when it's free ;)

jonah's third birthday.

2014-04-28T22:37:00.002-07:00

jonah turned three on march 6, 2014. it's hard to believe that my baby is three years old! usually, i would have another one year old by this time but i don't (thankgoodness) and so we are all having so much fun enjoying jonah as our "baby" of the family. he get's lots of attention whether he likes it or not.

he was so excited for his birthday and kept telling me that he wanted a chocolate cake and guitar for his "birday". he got all those things plus he woke up to brand new teepee and a room filled with balloons. jonah and eden had fun all morning playing with all the balloons and running in and out of the teepee. it was a good day that ended with presents and cake and family.

i am so thankful to have this little boy in my life. he is such a funny kid and makes me laugh everyday. everyone says he is a mini jason and even though i don't see it, it must be so because literally everyone says it. he loves tractors, trains, and cars. his favorite shows are team umizoomi and peppa pig. his best friend is simon. his favorite conversation is to ask me where his dad is, and then he will ask where ava is, and then jack, and he will go through the whole faimly and then an hour later he will ask me all over again. i tell him daddy is at work, ava is at school, jack is at school, papa is at work, nana is at home and so forth. then he will smile and say "oh" and walks away. it's pretty funny how he never tires of it. but i seriously love this kid so much and so glad he's mine.

ava, the soccer girl.

2014-04-25T16:01:00.002-07:00

this little chica has really been getting into soccer lately and she is so fun to watch. she is all over that field and not afraid to get a little dirty. i kind of have a soft spot in my heart for soccer since it was such a big part of my childhood and young adult life. so, naturally, when i seen one of my kids playing and enjoying it, i get a little excited. i'm really looking forward to seeing her progress and develop some skills. she has already improved so much since starting back in january. she is my soccer girl, but don't assume that i will be taking on the soccer mom role because that aint my thang for the time being. mom to four kids and being a nursing student is about all i can handle. and i use the word "handle" liberally.

husband has a birthday.

2014-04-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

it's true...my husband turned another year. it's weird how that sort of thing happens once year. it always seems like your own birthday takes for ever to arrive but everyone else's sneaks up on you. anyway, we had a tight knit little birthday celebration with my ultimate favorite cake from nothingbundt cakes... i would've gotten jason's favorite cake but he has been eating healthy lately and i knew he wasn't going to eat hardly any at all. he's the kinda guy who doesn't care about that sort of stuff anyway that's one of the reasons why i love him so much. me, i get all worked up over cake or any kind of sugar for that matter. and since he barely even had a piece, there was plenty for me to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next few days. it was wonderful.

i do need to say, i am so grateful that this husband of mine was born and that i get to be with him forever. it brings a smile to face just thinking about it. he is the best dad and the favorite parent for sure. he's rarely in a bad mood and is always putting others first and never has a bad thing to say about anybody. i can learn a lot from him :) happy birthday, babe! xoxo

making valentines.

2014-04-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

yes, we made valentines this year. just wanted to document that this happened even if valentines day was like 2 months ago. they were made on a sunday afternoon while still dressed in church clothes. on a side note, my kids stay in their church clothes almost the whole sunday. not because i make them but because they want to. ohkayy. when i was a kid, i couldn't wait to get home and rip my dress off and put on my boxer shorts and t-shirt. it's funny how opposite they are from me. anyway, i just have to say that i am liking how my children are becoming more independent. valentines aren't as near painstaking as they used be. jack can pretty much do the whole process himself and ava is on her way there. eden is the only one who needs some help but she is so "let-me-do-everything-myself" that i have to kinda step back and let her do her thing even if it's not what i think is perfect. jonah stood by for moral support and to sneak a piece of candy here and there when no one was looking. what he didn't know was i was looking ;) but then he had to come ask me for help to get the wrapper open. so i guess that makes me a co-conspirator.

gilbert temple open house.

2014-03-24T21:56:00.001-07:00

oh gosh, these pictures make me so happy. back on a cool february morning, we as a family got to tour the gilbert, arizona temple. this is the most beautiful building i have ever been in. it's literally like a palace inside. and it's all ours, gilbert :).... and of course, anyone else who wants to visit.

we have watched this temple be built from the ground up and to finally get the opportunity to tour it and to share this experience with my children and husband, has to be remembered as one of the greatest days. we were also able to go with our favorite neighbors, dennis and mia. we were so grateful they could come with us and see a piece of something that means so much to our family and our beliefs. i am so thankful to know that families are forever and so thankful that this temple is right here in our backyard. what a blessing it is to have a temple so close (like two miles away, close!). can't wait for all the memories that will be made here.

pinewood derby | 2014.

2014-03-21T11:26:00.001-07:00

the pinewood derby went over pretty well this year. of course, there was a few of those parents who take it very seriously but that just adds to the whole experience. i do consider myself a competitive person so, when they announced there was no winner this year, i was a little disappointed. apparently, there was some cheating going on. intentionally, unintentionally, i don't know. but how could you have a race with no winner? even if it isn't my kid (which i always hope he wins) but i like to see a winner! anyway, it is what it is. jack still had some fun and he had a pretty great cheering section. (namely: jonah, eden, and ava). until next year, pinewood derby.

new year's day in the snow.

2014-03-13T10:10:00.004-07:00

we had a pretty awesome new year's day. it was spent sledding, laughing, making snow angels, and being launched cannon ball style into the snow. we also got an unexpected workout. hiking back up our sled trails was no easy task. by the time we reached the top, we were huffing and puffing. but it didn't stop us from sledding back down again. and again. and again. sledding is fun people but i'm still glad i don't live in the the snow. it's not fun when you're baby's hands are so frozen because he won't keep his gloves on. i remember him crying when we were back in the car as they were coming back to feeling. i felt so bad. other than that, there were lots of smiles and some good memories made.

new year's eve in durango, colorado.

2014-03-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

our new year's eve went a little something like this....

^^^our new year's eve posse on the hunt for some ice cream.^^^

^^^found the one ice cream shop in the ski village and thankfully it was open because we were having some major sugar cravings.^^^

^^^staring contest.^^^

^^^back in the condo...noise makers in action.^^^

^^^waiting patiently for midnight to come. (why is it so easy to stay up passed midnight on any other night except for new year's eve??)

^^^jack, ava, eden, jonah all set to ring in the new year... at this point i think it was only 10pm.^^^

^^^jonah blowing his horn.^^^

^^^at about 11pm we got tired of waiting and decided to celebrate an hour early. we figured it had to be the new year just a time zone away so why not.^^^

^^^the yawns started rolling in around 11:15.^^^

a few of us did make it to the official new year and poor ava tried so hard to stay awake but she just couldn't. i did wake her to see the ball drop in new york city and she opened her eyes for about a minute and then was back to sleep. jonah, however, was completely wired and i don't think he finally wound down and went to bed until after one. he was a true partier and was digging all the horns and noisy things. i'm pretty sure the people in the rooms around us were growing annoyed from our crazy two year old but it was new years so, we let him get away with it.

i know it's now march, but at the time we were very excited for 2014 and even now we have seen a few good things the new year has brought and we can't wait to see what more good things will come.

the breinholt's go skiing.

2014-02-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

way way back, like in 2013, we took a trip to the snow in durango, colorado. we actually went there with my family for the new year and it was really so much fun. jason and i were able to take turns skiing with all the kids except for jonah who stayed warm in the condo with my sister kayda and his nana. we enjoyed seeing the kids personalities shine through as they tried to learn something new and maybe a bit challenging.

eden was fearless and picked up on it way quicker than i ever imagined. jack and ava did ski school one day and then went skiing for a half day with us. ava has some natural athletic talent in her so things like this aren't really that hard for her but she was very cautious and took the time to make sure she was doing all the right maneuvers. jack was another story. that kid likes to go straight down the mountain and doesn't care much about control. unfortunately, that doesn't work out too well when you are trying to learn to ski so he had a ton of wipe outs and ate a lot of snow. by the time he was at the bottom he was frozen from all the snow that got all up in his clothes and gloves and boots. it didn't help that jason and i snowboard and that we were trying to help these kids ski. it's very difficult to help a skier when strapped to a snowboard. but we did it and we had the best time being with our kids and seeing them try and learn something new. can't wait for some future ski trips!

^^^eden was the happiest little skier.^^^

^^^my sweet dad, my sister kayda, and her friend cheyanna.^^^

^^^heading up the big mountain on the ski lift.^^^

^^^check out those colorado rockies!^^^

the end.

lemonade!

2014-02-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

^^^taking a short break from marketing.^^^

^^^cutest cashier on the block.^^^

for christmas, ava got a multi purpose stand that can change from a puppet theater, to a market, to a post office, to a lemonade stand. well she was dying to try out the lemonade stand so we did what any normal arizonian does the day after christmas...sell lemonade! we really are blessed with perfect winter weather but in turn, we pay for it in the summer. its a good enough trade off for me, though.

ava had quite a successful day. she had her marketing team making signs and her stand was well staffed with a server (eden) and a casheir (jonah). they had so much fun and even made a few dollars. she was, however, very generous and gave out plenty of samples to the neighbor kids and to those helping out. everyone was well hydrated...with lemonade ;)

scenes from christmas morning.

2014-02-14T14:53:00.001-08:00

christmas 2013

^^^little heads poking around the corner to catch a glimpse of what santa left behind.^^^

^^^"candy, mom." all jonah really cares about.^^^

^^^and let the present opening begin!^^^

^^^love that excited face.^^^

^^^eden was really excited about her lego house.^^^

^^^in train heaven.^^^

^^^an impromptu puppet show.^^^

^^^taking his new scooter for a ride.^^^

^^^looking pretty fly on the new bike with one hand on and one hand off.^^^

first off, this is really sad that i am blogging about christmas morning when it's valentines day. i keep trying to catch up but life keeps getting in the way. so, of course christmas was great and magical and happy and everything it should it be. lots of joyful kids. and this christmas was even better than past years because we mostly stayed home all day together. although, we did sneak away for a few hours to go see frozen (for a second time). my kids adore that movie and i think my husband does too. but then we headed back home for a quiet afternoon where the kids explored all their newly acquired stuff. we usually are racing from one family's house to the next all day long but this year we decided to stay put and like i said, it was wonderful.

well i hope everyone out there is having a happy valentines day and spreading some love! we can always use some more love in this crazy world of ours. xoxoxo

christmas eve.

2014-02-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

christmas eve was spent with my family this past year and we did our usual traditions. my parents usually rent a stretch limo for the night, this year it was a stretch hummer, (fancy shmancy) and we drive around the valley looking at all the lights. we always make a pit stop at the mesa temple to see all the beautiful lights and displays. it really seems to put us in the true spirit of christmas when so many other things are on the mind...(santa, presents, kids, candy, etc.) but really it's all about the birth of christ and i'm glad we are reminded of that especially on christmas eve. and the temple is such a special place to be.

after we driving around some more and checking out all the pretty houses all lit up, we made our way back to my parents where my dad reads the annual story of twas the night before christmas while we all sip on hot chocolate. then we hurry home to get all showered up and jammied up in new christmas jammies that our elf, charlie red, leaves for the kids. they look forward to this every year. once we leave reindeer food in the front lawn and a plate of some very sugary cookies with milk for santa, its off to bed. after all the giggles stop and the kids slip off to dreamland its now finally time for santa to come and do his thing. it was a perfect christmas eve.

the nutcracker!

2014-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

a few days before christmas, i took my girls on a date to the nutcracker or as eden likes to call it, the peanutcracker. we drove to the big city (aka phoenix) and enjoyed some ballet at symphony hall. the girls watched in amazement at the dancing ballerinas and told me several times throughout the show that they wished they could do that too. when it was all over we went outside to take a few pictures and the girls just broke out into their own versions of ballet moves right there on the streets of phoenix. they were quite literally dancing in the street (cue that song...you know which one i'm talking about). it was pretty great. i love my girls so much and i look forward to spending more and more mommy-daughter dates with them as they get older. i hope that we will always be the best of friends, i mean BFF's. gotta use the right lingo here.

a christmas get-together.

2014-01-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

we got together with jason's family on the sunday evening before christmas. those cousins always have a good time when they're with each other. they decorated some cookies for santa and by the time the decorating was done there was enough sugar and sprinkles on those cookies to put even santa into a sugar coma. but the creativity was definitely present. the cousins also acted out the nativity. ava and eden were the sweetest angels, jack was joseph, and, well, jonah was a shepherd who kept sneaking away to the bowl of peanut m&m's up on the counter. that's my boy. we ended the night with a little gift exchange. jonah received a remote control lightening mcqueen car that sort of made his day. we had a great time visiting with family and eating lots of delicious mexican food and reflecting on the true meaning of christmas. love the holiday season.

christmas sunday.

2014-01-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

christmas sunday.

december 22, 2013.

christmas sunday is one of my most favorite sundays of the year. and i was really hoping that we could be on time to church since this was going to be our last chance to try and make it to 8am church before the opening prayer. (we haven't been on time the whole year that i can remember, minus maybe the one time when we had to say the opening prayer). well, it didn't happen this sunday either. we were all ready to go but of course we had to stop and take some pictures in front of the tree in our sunday christmas best.

i am so blessed to call these kids mine. they are great kids all with great personalities. jack had just gotten glasses and was so excited to wear them and show them off to the world. it's funny because now that the newness has worn off, i barely see him in them at all. anyway, we were again late to church, only by a few minutes, but i don't regret it. having pictures of my kids together (looking happy) is a little more important in my book than saying we were on time to church. and now it's a new year and we have 10am church so our goal of making it to church on time might be a bit more achievable.

caroling, hot chocolate, donuts, santa, etc.

2014-01-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

^^^not sure why jack looks so grumpy here...^^^

^^^but this donut sure seemed to cheer him up.^^^

^^^another donut lover with some of the best eyelashes around.^^^

^^^i'm pretty sure eden believed that this was the real santa. she did't want to let him out of her sight.^^^

we continued the annual breinholt tradition this year with a monday night filled with caroling through neighborhoods aboard a hayride followed by hot chocolate and donuts. (and lets not forgot conversations with santa claus. eden spent a good ten minutes talking santa's ear off.) my children look forward to this night every christmas season. they get all bundled up and cozy up with their cousins as they bring christmas cheer to so many. it really is a feel good experience and i'm thankful for jason's side of the family for all their efforts to put this thing together each and every year. i know my kids will remember this tradition for like ever. we heart christmas time.

eden's princess birthday party.

2014-01-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

^^^jack was trying to sneak into the party as a red headed rapunzel. brothers.^^^

^^^a good looking group of princesses.^^^

^^^everyone was so excited to have cinderella as the guest of honor.^^^

^^^she can give some pretty great expressions.^^^

eden had such a fun birthday party thanks to her guest, cinderella. she kept all the young princesses busy with so many activities. she first taught them some princess etiquette and then read them her story and sang some songs followed by a crowd favorite, face painting. lastly, she crowned eden as an honorary princess and did pictures and autographs with the girls. she was a hit and so was eden's party!

it's always a good ending to a party when the birthday girl tells you that she had the best birthday party ever. it makes all that cleaning and preparation worth it.

church breakfast with santa and mrs. claus.

2014-01-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

the best kind of church parties are the kind where you can roll out of bed and show up in your jammies. our ward christmas party this year was a breakfast with santa and the mrs. and i hope they continuous this idea for the years to come because with all the craziness the holidays bring having something low key like this is just what you need. plus the kids love it. this also happened to be the first of many encounters with santa claus for my kids this holiday season. it seemed as if we kept running into the man dressed in red over and over again as you will see in my posts to come.

eden's birthday!

2013-12-19T09:22:00.002-08:00

eden's birthday kind of snuck up on us this year (although i knew it was coming all along...kids seem to remind you of those things like all the time). but, being that she was born on the first of december and thanksgiving was soooo incredibly late this year, it was all of sudden here and so was december. and not only was it eden's birthday but it was the first day of the arrival of our elf, charlie red. he usually leaves her a birthday message along with a note for the other kids. jack happened to note that our elf's handwriting looks somewhat similar to mine. hmmmm.

we had a small birthday celebration for her in the afternoon after church. we were saving most of the birthday fun for her party that she was having later in the week. i got her some cupcakes which she wasn't very happy about because she said that she wanted a piece of cake instead. okaaaay. but it was too late for that so she decided that would be alright if she went along with the whole blow out the candles and make a wish thing without her "piece of cake". we got her some ariel jewelry which went over very well. as you can see in the last pictures she is decked out in her ariel bling. a crown, necklace, ring, and charm bracelet. ariel is her favorite these days and that's quite alright with me because she is probably one of my favorite princesses too ;)

happy 5 eden! you keep us on our toes but we like it (well, sometimes). you are so independent and confident and are quite funny. i love watching you dance/twirl in the halls of our house, be so opinionated about the clothes you wear, and your sweet drawings of me and your family that you bring home from preschool almost everyday. we love you to pieces, eden bear.

thanksgiving in mexico.

2013-12-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

i've decided spending thanksgiving on a beach isn't so bad. add some cousins, some mexican food, a poolside strawberry daiquiri (virgin, of course), some sand volleyball and warm weather and then it's really not so bad. we even had the traditional turkey dinner....on a large patio overlooking the ocean. it was pretty dreamy.

we changed things up this go around in mexico. we usually stay at jason's family casa on the bay but since his whole family (forty plus peeps) was there, there was no way we could all fit in one little house. so, it was a beach resort instead and i didn't mind one bit. the kids ran around with their cousins all day like they owned the place and when night came we all had our own private rooms to retreat to. i can feel a tradition in the making. but really, it was just so good.

gilbert days 5k.

2013-12-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

a few weeks back, we (jason, jack, ava, and i) ran in the gilbert days 5k. we have done it for the past 3 or 4 years but this was the first year that ava ran the 5k. in the past, she has only ran the mile so this was a kinda a big deal for her. she was quite the super star and she hung in there the whole time.

the plan was for jason and i to stay with her because for one, jason hadn't ran in almost a year so he was pretty much out of shape and i even questioned if he could hang with her and two, i had just had my appendix taken out two weeks prior and wasn't sure how much i should push myself. well, about a mile in i decided to try and catch up with jack. he took off pretty fast in the beginning but i thought i could catch him. i thought wrong. jack ended up finishing a minute or two ahead of me and jason and ava came in after me. i was so proud of my kids and so thankful for my parents who came to cheer us on and help watch jonah eden while we raced. it's nice to have family close by.

i could tell the next that day that ava had pushed herself to her limit because she kept saying how sore she was and every time she would go up and down the stairs she would say how much it hurt her legs. i realized a 5k to her is like a marathon to me. hopefully by next year she will forget how miserable she felt afterwards and she will want to run it again :)