Memories

In Honor of our trip to Canada I thought I would post a few pictures from last summers excursion. Of course Brookie enjoying the boat. Uncle Mike and Dad (Don), Tyler learning to drive the boat with Granddad and Steve learning to wake board. Yippy, I can't wait. The past two weeks have been torturous for me and the kids, we are soooo ready to get out of the heat. Although, the kids will probably be freezing the whole time.


While we are having fun in the Great White North, we will be missing the Empey family reunion! Sorry everyone, next year we will have to plan our lives a little better. I just didn't realize it was at the same time. Juggling the whole time off thing is sort of tricky. Anyway, we love you all, have fun, we will miss you and all the fun you'll be having. The plan right now is to drive up for Christmas, so we will see you all then!

 

Priceless

This kid is so cute! 

Star Wars Terms

Brooklynn's version of star wars

"Warm"

So here is our weather outlook for the next week. Notice that once it goes down into the 90's it says things like "warm" and "nice". That is so wrong, seriously since when is 98 warm, isn't that still bloody hot? I think it is. At least it will be cooler and I'm sure it will feel like heaven.

We are so bored of being trapped in the house because of this hot weather. I think the kids have been out of the house only 2 times this week. We are slowly going crazy. I need some sanity! Let cooler weather prevail!

The Countdown is On!

Oh Canada!! We leave so soon! I am so excited it has been over a year since I have been "home." I don't think I have ever gone that long except maybe when D & J were in Haiti. The kids are most excited and keep asking when we leave. We get to hang out with Marilee and her kids too, how fun. We will miss having Mike and Stephanie with us this year, but I'm sure there will be all kinds of adventure to be had. We will have all kinds of firsts this year while we are there. Brooklynn will get to tube behind the boat and go to dentist for the first time and it will be Josh's first time to Canada and to meet his Christofferson cousins! Not to mention that I can hardly wait to get out of this heat. I am so rambling, what a scatter brained spazz I am.

100 and HELL!!!!

Oh my gosh it is seriously (and I am not just saying this) hotter than Hell in Fresno! No joke, today I think the high was 112 degrees. What is wrong with this place. We were hotter than LasVegas and Pheonix today. It is supposed to stay this hot for about the next 5 days and actually be a little hotter tomorrow! My PG&E bill is going to be brutal for this month. My air is set at 78 and it has been running all day, literally. Until about an hour ago the house kept getting hotter, so the air kept running. The temperature in the house is finally coming down. I can't believe I live here, although in the winter it is really nice except for the foggy days and we do get a bit of rain. I would gladly take a few months of snow over this. At least in the snow you can bundle up and go out and play. Poor Tyler is going absolutely crazy because it is too hot to play outside, and really too hot to do much of anything. Oh well, I will count my blessings and be thankful for my overworked air conditioner. The next week of this brutal heat will just make me that much more grateful for our trip to the Great White North! Yippy only about 10 days.

Brookyism's

So, for those of you who know my Brooks she is one funny little thing. She always says the craziest things. For example, the other day she was playing with a tiny teddy bear and she told me that he was stuck in a saxaphone. I said oh really Brooks, what is a saxaphone? She looked up at me and I quote, "It is a means to make music." Like dah, are you stupid or what. Today, I was bathing Josh and said to both the kids who had their hands in the tub and were in the way, "Ok people get outa here." She replied, "I am not a people, I am a WOOOMAN!"

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Joshua is 6 months!

I thought I would post some pictures of my tiny boy when he was born. At 4lbs. 110z. he was so itty bitty. I use to call him Tiny Mite because the kid never complained! When Mom Empey came to help I don't think she heard him cry once. He was and is an angel and I am so blessed to have him!






I can't believe I posted this one. What a beauty queen. Seriously, I know the hair is bad I can totally own it, but in my defense I did have a hair appointment scheduled for the day after he was born. I was planning on being much more glamorous for the birth, oh well what can you do!






What a cutie! 

A tribute to my boys!

Today Joshua is SIX months old. Boy does time fly by. He is getting cuter and cuter as time goes on. He is now giggling when he gets tickled, getting mad when we don't pay any attention to him, and smiling all the time. So, as a tribute to my baby and my big boy I thought I would post pictures of them at the same age. Everyone tells me how much they look alike, so, I thought I would compare at the same age. Not to mention that these pics of T-Diddy are so totally adorable. I guess this is kind of a tribute to both my boys! They are so adorable.

Sister-Cousin

So, just a few minutes ago I was tucking Brookie into bed. The kid really is so darn cute. She was asking me questions about going to Nana and Granddad's in two weeks, you know things like, Where will I sleep? Does she have a bed for me? All the regular things that kids are trying to figure out. Then she asked me, "Does she (meaning Nana) have space for my sister and brother?" I said, "You don't have a sister." "Yes I do. Nanowie (Natalie) is my sister." "No," I conteded, "Natalie is your cousin." "No, she is my sister-cousin," she said. So, Brooklynn now has a sister-cousin named Natalie Brinkerhoff. I think that is pretty dang cute.

Pictures From Disneyland and the Beach!

Here is a small sample of the pics we took this week. I had a hard time choosing which ones to post, but this is a good summary. Enjoy!

Alrighty, our first item of business was to check out the updated Pirates ride. Tyler was absolutely terrified as you can tell by the look on his face. Uncle TJ and Daddy (on the cell phone), convinced him he would survive and he did. He plugged his ears the whole time and was brave and true. In the end it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

Here are all four cousins. They are so adorable and love each other so much. Brookie told me that "Nanowie" was her best sister. Of course Julie and I had to take a self portrait. "Damn Fools"

Brooks loved meeting Cinderella. She ran right up to her and gave her a hug. They then had a wonderful conversation about something. It was super cute.

Brady loved all the characters, but really wouldn't get to close. He would wave and blow kisses, but that was as close as he got. That is until Alice. I didn't put all the pictures up, but she really worked for this smile. Below of course is Budda at the beach. He couldn't stand the sand and mostly sat in this chair chowing on chips and stuff. He would ask everyone to bring his food to him because he hated the sand! Everytime you would try to convince him to walk to you he would try to put his foot down and then look up and say "Ow" He is one funny kid.
Julie let us bury her in the sand, of course we had to pay her to let us, but the sand hater embraced it. She became one with the sand on this day. (So did all her cracks)
This is a picture of Justin, Jack, Ty and Ben after some football in Papa Greg and Grandma MarJane's backyard. They had lots of fun playing together.Here is me and my Josh at the park. He was a trooper and mostly slept (of course).

I love this photo of Tyler and Jackson. They had so much fun together and I'm glad that they got to hang out. Jackson is such a cute kid, we just wish they lived closer!!!!

And finally, the lady who made it all possible for me and the kids to see Julie! Horray for Nana! We had a great week. Thanks Nana for being as wonderful as you are, we love you!

Disneyland FUN!

Well, what can I say, we had a fantastic time (Thanks to Nana) at Disneyland. My kids braved some big rides met a few fun characters, listened to "Night Ryder" (the coolest 80's band that Uncle TJ couldn't get enough of), went swimming at the Neverland Pool, beached it. Of course the best part was playing with the cousins and seeing the family. I will give a play by play with some pictures tomorrow, but first I have to post one of the sights we saw at Disneyland this year. Of course because of my sick personality I had to take this picture. I know you will all appreciate it as we did!

I've been trying to come up with something clever to write about this picture, but really it speaks for itself!

1, yes only 1, more sleep!!!!!!

Tyler, Brooklynn and I are most excited for the arrival of Nana today! Tomorrow we head down to southern cal for our Disneyland excursion. The best part of all is that Julie and TJ will be there too! Horray, Julie can finally meet Joshua. We can't forget that we will also see the Miller six pack and they haven't met Josh yet either. We thank Nana the most for making it all happen with her wonderful idea (if I don't mention Julie's quiet nudging I'll be in trouble). Yippy!

Now, lets just talk about how lame I am. Last night we went to the Grizzlies Baseball game, they are a AAA team here in Fresno. Our friends had some tickets. Anyway, on the way to the park I said to Steve, "Dang, I forgot to grab the camera." I learned DON'T ever forget the camera. Tyler's buddy Tyce was all set with his glove to get a foul ball and guess who got the foul ball, that is right my Tyler. He was on the big screen and all. Everyone was cheering for him, it was pretty cool. Tyce was so bumbed and so everyone tried thier hardest to get a ball for him. Then, Brooklynn went and shook hands with the mascot Parker the Grizzly bear, which by the way is the ugliest mascot ever. Anyway, she was all excited and then when she got close and realized how big he was she got a little freaked out. It was way funny, but she worked through the fear and shook his hand anyway. Then of course she became the expert and tried to talk her little friend Asay into shaking his hand. She said, "Come, hold my hand and I will take you to Parker." She is so funny!

Jerusalem Reunion

I am so lame and didn't take any pictures this weekend, but I had a blast catching up with my friends from my Jerusalem trip 10 years ago. Time really does fly by! It was wonderful to see some of my friends and catch up. It always amazes me that with some people things pick up right where they left off. For those in my family I got to see "fat Jenn" and her cute little baby Gracie, I also got to meet her husband again and get to know him a little. I saw Tirsa and Kortnie and her newest little baby. ( By the way my friend Tirsa is trying to adopt again, so if anyone knows of anyone who is giving up a baby or anything let me know. )
So, it was a great weekend.

Josh and I also got to see Kari, J, and Jakey again. Kristin and her kids, my wonderful inlaws, Mike and Steph and of course I stayed with my Grandma. Although I don't miss living in Utah, I really do miss living by family! Anyway, next week Nana is coming and going with me to see the Brinkerhoff clan at Disneyland. Tyler asks me everyday, "How many days until we go to Disneyland?" We are very excited! Only 7 more sleeps!!!! I miss Julie so much and I can't wait to see her.