Road Trip

After two days of a rainy weekend and feeling a little couped up inside we decided to take a road trip to Cabela's in Reno. We purchased our very first family tent and are excited for our first camping trip with Clayton that will be in June with our church.

We have been to Cabela's a couple times with Clayton but this time he really enjoyed all the animals. He thought they all said "moo" so daddy is now teaching him how to bugle like an elk.

He got a "pull and pop" shooter which he loves to operate and walked around the store showing everyone.

On the way home we stopped to visit a friend of Brody's who named his son Brody after meeting Brody a couple years ago and liking the name. I forget how "baby" they still are at 11 months, Clayton seemed like such a big boy in comparison.

He loved Clayton and gave him kisses. Clayton wasn't sure what to think of Brody following him around and holding on to him.

We also got to see two deer close up in their yard and Clayton thought they were dogs. Did you know a deer squats to pee like a female dog? Well they do and you had to be there to be awestruck like me.

A little bit of Paradise....

We took about 200 pictures and I feel like we didn't take enough; sometimes I get so caught up in enjoying the moments I forget to capture them on film.
We were greeted with fresh flower leis when we got off the airplane. Hawaii was much more beautiful than I imagined. It was so green and lush with vegetation and beautiful flowers, and the ocean was amazing. There is something about being at the ocean that bring such peace to me. Our week was filled with sight-seeing, sandcastle building, morning walks along the ocean shore, admiring the fish, snails, frogs, and chickens, swimming in the pools, and afternoon naps. We were up at 4:30 or should I say Clayton; and were the first ones in line at starbucks across the street in the morning. Clayton loved walking in the sand and after the first time he would say "off" to take his shoes off when he hit the beach. He also didn't mind tasting it and even enjoyed sand covered strawberries.

The waterslides were lots of fun, and after we went down once, it was "more,more" even if his mouth was chattering because he was cold.Brody and I would both say that the luau we attended was the highlight of our trip. It was complete with a pig roast and all the fixings, bottomless mai tai's, and hawaiian dancing. Clayton was highly entertained by the dancers and at the end (the guy that he is looking at in the picture) did a hawaiian dance with fire. I wished I would have got a picture of Clayton's face because he was just facinated with the guy. Brody took him up to talk to him afterwards. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to capture him high fiving the guy and giving him nuckles. We had such a wonderful time and I really enjoyed every moment. It was great to disconnect from our everyday life. I even took time off from some of my everyday roles, Brody grocery shopped and cooked most of our meals. I felt very pampered! It was a great way to celebrate the beginning of my last year of 20s.

Easter fun

We had a busy week full of Easter tradition; we made cookies, decorated easter eggs, did an easter egg hunt and went to church. I am now exhausted and have a head cold. It was so exciting to get to do all these fun things with Clayton for the first time and watch his reactions. Clayton enjoyed the Easter egg dying. By the end of it his hands were green and he was a bit distraught that they weren't coming clean when we wiped them with a towel.Our street has an Easter egg hunt for the kids every year and this was the first year Clayton got to particpate. He is the youngest of all the kids. He had fun picking up the eggs and was more interested in seeing what was in them than collecting them. He likes instant gratification I guess. Today we went to church and celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Although Clayton doesn't understand what Easter is all about I found a cute book that we have been reading to him called My Easter Basket and the True Story of Easter by Mary Manz Simon. When we ask him where Jesus is, he will point to the man in the book. This will be a great book that I look forward to using next year to put together an Easter basket for him and teach him the Easter story.

The Easter basket Clayton is holding was mine when I was little that my great grandmother made. Our neighbor was so kind to come over and take a family photo. Notice Brody has a tie on, he was the only one at church wearing one. Not a big deal but it is just crazy to me how casual dressed we have become, growing up I always remember my dad wearing slacks, a dress shirt and tie to church. Times have changed!

7 day and counting.....

On tax day (how appropriate) we leave for Hawaii for a week! I am so excited I can hardly sleep at night. Our vacations since we moved to California have been to visit family. The bonus to this trip is that it is all expenses paid through Brody's work. He won the trip and I am going to enjoy every bit of it because he says it is unlikely that we will get one again. He also planned this trip over my birthday, how sweet it that, what a great beginning to my last year of 20s. We are staying at the Outrigger Resort & Spa. Clayton is going with us so we will probably be building lots of sand castles, playing in the pools and taking lots of naps. Whatever we do will be fun just me and my boys.

My Favorite Day of the Week

Fellowship and worship is such a wonderful way to start off the day; followed by a catnap while soaking up the sunshine. The day couldn't get much better. After Clayton's nap the day is complete with some family fun. Today we took a bike ride and even took Farrah along (I think we figured a way to burn some of her energy in the off season of hunting). Our ride was followed by dinner on our new patio set watching the hummingbirds. I love Sundays! My serious faced boy.

Brody's Birthday Party

I was talking to my friend Laci last week, and her son overheard her talking about Brody's birthday and he said "I want to go to Brody's birthday party", so we had a party on Sunday. I made him a lemon cake with fun-fetti frosting per his request and we had friends over to help us eat it. The kids sure enjoyed their cake and ice cream. I was so excited to sit outside in the back yard and use our new patio furniture we bought last fall because we have hardly used it, but it turned out to be super windy so we stayed inside. Friday night I took Brody to a Sacramento King's game and we went out for sushi. We hadn't been for sushi since before we moved to California. It was a fun night out, just the two of us! Clayton stayed the night with my aunt and uncle for the first time, and he did wonderful. I could tell he had fun when I picked him up.

Brody had a lot of candles to blow out, he is getting up there in his years. Haha! ( He is the youngest of all our friends including me.)

Saturday was a beautiful day, I think it hit 80 degrees. I bought Clayton this sink from Costco. I just couldn't resist; he loves playing in the water! Brody and I enjoyed watching him, relaxing in our new Cabela's chairs we got for Christmas. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon.

My baby is 18 months!

Wow, has the last 18 months flew by! You know when you were a kid and your birthday felt forever away, time couldn't move fast enough for it to be here. As a mother now, I can't believe how fast my little baby boy has grown right in front of my eyes. This time last year Clayton was just learning to sit up and we started introducing solid foods. Now, he is running all over the place and eats anything!
Clayton loves being outside! We loves to watch daddy mow, run down the side of the house through the bushes and sit at his picnic table and eat a snack. He loves to pick up the neighbors rocks and throw them or put them in his mouth for a little taste. Daddy has been teaching him how to play baseball and yesterday he hit the ball all by himself.

Clayton is fascinated with trucks. His new thing is to point and grunt at trucks he sees and I have to respond with "firetruck, delivery truck, garbage truck, pickup truck". Every Friday we watch the garbage truck come by and empty our garbage. This morning, he was standing at the front door watching as soon as he heard the garbage truck coming up the street.

Clayton loves to wave and say "hi' to everyone he comes into contact with. It is fun to watch as people are taken off guard, but they always respond with a "hi" and smile. His vocabulary is increasing more and more everyday.

Clayton just got his 3rd tooth; at this rate he could be teething for the next 6 years!