Time to get away!

Ahhhh, what a perfect weekend!  It was just what our little family needed.  Lately, Jeff has been extremely busy with work, so right after Sept. 15th rolled around, we headed up north for a bit.  We drove up to Flagstaff on Thursday (which happens to be just the right amount of driving time with a 3 month old and 2 year old!) and stayed at The Little America.

This hotel was perfect!  I want to go back and spend a few days up there more often...  the rooms are a decent size, the grounds were beautifully kept with tons of green grass, the pool was nestled in among the pine trees, and the best part about it- it had swings and a playground, a 2 mi. trail through the "forest" and horseshoes!!  You never would have to leave, well, except to eat.  Thursday afternoon we truly relaxed.  We played on the playground, swung on the swings, and Jeff and Maylee even took a dip in the pool!  Friday morning we woke up and hit the playground and horseshoes and then decided we better get on our journey to the Grand Canyon.

The rest of Friday was spent checking out views of the Grand Canyon and driving...

Then we headed down to Prescott on Friday night.  Our hotel was close to the downtown square, so we walked over there that night and then again on Saturday morning.  We just so happened to be there for some Corvette show.  It added some fun to the trip.

Then we pretty much headed home.  We had a great time just being together and saw some fabulous things.  We need to do more trips like this! :)

Oh- check out Maylee's souvenir from our big Grand Canyon trip... a light up squishy ball!  Perfect! :)

3 MONTHS!

Little Brooklyn is 3 months now and is the best baby ever!  She is so curious and active.  Here is what she has been up to...
- Aug. 22nd: chuckled for first time at church (but only once!)
- Aug.  24th: laughed several times while bouncing her on the bed
- Aug. 28th: rolling over from tummy to back and back to tummy!

She has been great at grasping objects for the last few weeks and is totally intrigued by them.  Her smiles are frequent and will seriously melt your heart!!  She also loves to sit and touch her toes, occasionally bringing them to her mouth... talk about being flexible!  She is one amazing little babe!

Quote of the day-

Maylee was sitting on the chair with a shiny pink necklace hanging around her neck.
Me:  "Are you a princess?"
Maylee: "No...girl!"

Oh, right!  I need to remind her she is both! :)

Out and about

 A couple of days ago, the girls and I hit up the Children's Museum.  I was a little nervous to go ALL by MYSELF with BOTH girls to such a crazy place, but it ended up being a fabulous outing!  Brooklyn was great and chilled in the Baby Bjorn and Maylee had a blast playing.  The favorites of the trip were the art center, shopping carts, and the bikes...  She seemed to choose the biggest trike there to try and ride!  She did it, but I don't think the kids that had to wait behind her were the happiest. :)

Dressed in White

On Aug. 7th, we blessed our sweet little Brooklyn.  We are so happy that we were able to share her special day with family.  Jeff went to his early morning meetings, so I woke up earlier than normal to make sure we would get there in time.  Apparently it wasn't early enough and I even had Kim helping me!  We were racing to the church and still weren't there at 9 o'clock.  We finally arrived during the opening hymn, being the last ones there from our families!

Brooklyn looked darling and was so peaceful during the blessing.  She had wide eyes through the whole blessing and the people in the front rows said she even cracked a smile when Jeff held her up!  Sweet Brooklyn!  We sure love this little girl!

Pay It Forward

I'm not such a fan of grocery shopping.  I don't really love the experience of pushing a basket around with Brooklyn taking up half the basket because her car seat doesn't sit on the handle bar and Maylee going from the basket, to walking, to the seat, to walking... all while paying attention to my list of things we need and things on sale and what coupons I need to use.

Today wasn't particularly a bad grocery shopping day, but but I was still grateful when we were ready to hop in the check out lane.  I noticed one woman was almost finished unloading her cart, so I dashed in line behind her.  As I began putting my groceries on the checkout stand I noticed the lady talking to the cashier.  And then she stayed there once her groceries were all bagged.  

The sweet woman then came up to me and said she wanted to buy my groceries but to remember it was from the Lord.  I told her that was sweet but she really didn't need to do it, but she insisted and kept reminding me it was not from her but from the Lord.  

I was touched.  I know I will never forget the day when a sweet lady bought my groceries.  I feel kind-of bad in a way- sure we try really hard to save money but we definitely weren't down to our last dollars.  So it is not the kind of story you hear where the family doesn't have enough money to buy groceries but then someone brings them food or buys them groceries.  But it is a story of love and service.  

This woman brightened my day.  I saw the light of our Savior in her eyes.  She was a great example to me of how we can serve one another and be more Christlike.  Now there is only one thing for me to do- pay it forward.      

Quiet book is finished (for now anyway!)

While being pregnant with Brooklyn I started making a quiet book.  I figured we could use any kind of help to keep Maylee busy and reverent during church, especially since we would have a new little one as well.  It was finished right before going to church with both girls (thanks to some help from Grandma and Grammie!)  I love the way it turned out and it helped me work on my sewing skills that I so lack!  It is far from perfect, but serves its purpose.  She can play with the farm puppets, button on flowers, drive cars, fix hair and create faces, match shapes and colors, and get all dolled up with things found in a purse.  Maylee's favorite page is probably a tie between the page with cars and the purse full of "girlie" things.