Weekend Pics!

Brooklynd on our quick road trip to Kingsley Reservoir - near Hood River, Saturday!

Braeden smiling because he got his hair "tut" (cut) - I love how he talks
Smiling again with Brooklynd's sunglasses on and a tootsie roll.

Red...White...& Blue!

I've realized that 4th of July never works out the way we plan, but it always works out and we have good time! Yesterday was no exception. We started off our day by going to breakfast with my Gram Lorenz who turned 89...YIPEE! It was a fun time and afterwards I took Braeden & Darren took Brooklynd and we went shopping...WOOHOO! Brooklynd and Darren played at home and napped together :-) It was a beautiful day and a whopping 90 degrees I believe! Just about noon Braeden & I arrived home and after their lunch and Braedens nap, the boys and I headed outside to play a bit, it was so much fun and I snapped some shots of them playing in their new playhouse while Darren got to do a quick virtual flight on the computer. We had decided to head down to Meldrum Bar Park where we typically do to watch some fireworks about 6:30ish...we waited for Brooklynd to finish his nap, as per our usual we were running a bit late, but we got news from Trista that they were closing Meldrum Bar for the night and sending everybody home because some one got injured last year apparently....so as we were headed there we got the phone call, so instead we went to Oaks Park, but later settled just above Oaks Park at Sellwood Park. We played with the boys, ate and hung out with our family and some friends. When it got dark my dad & Darren set off some standard fireworks for the boys and some other people in the park let off some bigger (probably illegal) ones, which I love, however Braeden was terified, he didn't talk for the rest of the evening so you know he was really scared! He sat on Jason, Trista and my moms lap until the big fireworks began and he moved to mine, where we snuggled until it was over. He was so nervous he was sweating and so hot! Brooklynd loved the fireworks, and was cracking me up. Whenever he gets sleepy he gets so silly he is always happy but does silly things! He was so adorable, he kept laying himself down in the playpen and then standing back up....he was so exhausted by the time the fireworks were over and he fell asleep on the way home. I am sure Braeden will like the fireworks by next year and Brooklynd may be terrified, but all in all it was a fun evening.

Brooklynd drinking Braeden's water

Brooklynd mowing our patio!

Braeden riding his bike

Braeden peeking out of the window of their playhouse!

Braeden working with tools

Braeden attempting to put Brooklynds shoes on!!

Sweet & Silly Boys!

Here are a couple of recent pics, some random ones and a few of the boys when they were playing with hats they found in our bedroom...I just adore these baby boys!

Where did Braeden go?
(Apparently he had an itch!) Brooklynds trying to see the hat while it's on!

My little poser :-) Taking it off....again! Braeden liked the hats very much My sweet baby This was the first one I snapped when I walked in the room :-) It was a second too late as Brooklynd was already taking the hat off! Braeden makes his toys watch him eat! He placed them all around his plate himself! Brooklynd cracking up!

Happy Early 4th of July!!

Hello there! Tomorrow is the 4th of July and we are very much looking forward to a day off with the boys together. Darren is still working nights and we are becoming more accustomed to the schedule. Last weekend we were so busy all weekend I feel like we barely saw each other at all. I will be thankful when he changes jobs. My classes thus far are going really well. Both instructorw lay out in great detail what they are looking for and it is easy to follow, so I am not yet feeling overwhelmed. Tomorrow is my Gram Lorenz's birthday! So we will be taking the boys to visit her or going to breakfast, depending on how she's feeling and then tomorrow night we will head to Meldrum Bar Park for a fireworks show. We have always liked this one & it's close to home too! Sunday was my mom's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! We BBQ'd and had dinner at Trista's, Darren worked a little bit Sunday night so we missed desert, but luckily I got to spend some time that morning with my mom.

Weekend time flies by...

School starts again tomorrow! I am awaiting my books, so this should be interesting because I have reading to do for both classes starting the first week. We had a good weekend. Saturday we went (along with my mom) to the Eastmoreland Garage sales. Me and my mom usually find out too late to go, but this year we knew ahead of time and had planned to go. Saturday morning Darren decided he'd like to go as well, so we all went! We were there for the better part of Saturday and the boys (all 3 of them!) lasted for about 1/2 the trip and then Darren took the babies to get lunch and play at the park and once they were worn out he came back to get us and we headed home. It was a lot of fun, I love garage sale-ing! And I found an outdoor Little Tike's house for a steal of a deal that the boys are SO excited about, so it made the trip worthwhile (not including all the other stuff I got that we didn't need.) There weren't too many sales with tools or much manly stuff, so it was definitely not as fun for Darren, but he had a great time with the boys. With his new work schedule he misses them so, and he got some good quality time in this weekend to make up for it. Saturday night Darren stayed home with the kiddos and I went to a bachelorette party with my girlfriend...we had a blast! We went on a party bus, which takes you from place to place with no cover charges and the experience was definitely one of a kind!! Sunday after breakfast the boys, Darren and I headed out to run a few errands, and then later in the afternoon we went to my second cousins birthday party. It was a good time, because of the weather (with a few rain showers) we didn't bring the boys swimming trunks, which disappointed Braeden a bit. Brooklynd fell asleep on Darren while the guys watched a baseball game inside! Braeden had lots of cake which made up (mostly) for him not being able to go swimming! I can't believe the weekend is already coming to a close. I have been having bad allergy attacks lately, I hope whatever's blooming stops, the sneezing and congestion is wearing on me! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Grades Are In!

My grades are in and I got 2-A's and 1-B! I am fairly happy with that, would have loved to pull an A out of my Anthropology class, but I half expected a C from it and I found the telecourse more difficult. All in all I am glad about the grades. Right now is my Summer break, so I begin school again next week. (What a quick break that was!) Darren is working nights still, but is #2 on the union list and awaiting a call any day now! He is excited to start his journey in his new job! We had a fairly quiet weekend and celebrated Father's Day with my family at my parents house with a quiet dinner. We had a little unexpected grass fire on Saturday afternoon, nothing to be alarmed about...it started from Darren & the burn barrel, but it was eventful and it took Kody about 15 minutes to head back outside. All in all it was out in about 10 minutes (from beginning to end), but it startled us all a bit! No one was in danger, so I consider it a lesson learned. This weekend Darren's sister is coming to visit possibly with a friend and I have a bachelorette party I am going to (fun, fun!) My cousins birthday party is Sunday and should be great fun for the babies if the weather holds out, as there will be swimming (cross your fingers!) We hope everyone is well. Take Care!

School's Out for the Summer!!

I am SO happy to be done with school (for the moment at least.) Summer Term starts in about a week and a half and I am happy to have the break. This last term killed me! I took my last final last night and am happy that it's over. I have had NO time to do anything as you can tell by my lack of blogging. We have also been very busy with the start of summer and there's more to come, I am sure. Last weekend Darren, I and the kids went to Kim and Seans for a BBQ and the kids had SO much fun playing and afterwards the adults went out to celebrate Sean's birthday! We had a lot of fun. Darren has started a new job, he works 1pm-9pm so that has been an adjustment, and he has completed his second part of school as well. He hopes to get a call from the union any day now as he is 4th on the list (down from the 30's)! He is anxious to start working in that industry and it will be nice when he is back on the schedule we are used to- he had to miss softball yesterday and was disappointed about that. For the summer I am taking 2 classes and both online. I learned my lesson with the telecourse...some classes are better suited for normal classes! This weekend I am taking the boys to a friends birthday party and of course we will be celebrating Father's Day for Darren and my dad! Next weekend Darren's sister visits and we are very excited for that. We hope you are all well. Take Care.

Quick Update!

Hello all. It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog and I have seriously been slacking. We have been extra busy as of late with the end of my school term nearing and everything else we've had going on. We had a very busy memorial day weekend. My dad and Darren tore out our back porch and dedicated a day and half to working on that. We also had Jason's surprise birthday party on Saturday which was countless hours of fun for all of us! Darren got a new job last week welding and he is awaiting an opening through the HVAC union. He is very eager for this job venture to start, but in the mean time is enjoying the hard work he is doing now. He will be back in school for another week or two in June! Braeden and Brooklynd are growing so fast. Brooklynd just recently has started talking more and more which is very exciting for us all. Braeden of course talks a lot (like his mom!) but is forming full sentences. They are both happy & healthy babies that we are thankful for every day. We hope you all enjoyed your long weekend!

Our sweet boys...growing up fast!

Brooklynd James 15 months (April)

Fixing his lawn mower
Our little snugbug!

Braeden Donald 2 1/2 years (April) Blowing his flower (weeds!)

Showing us his rock! He is very proud

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you lovely women! I hope you all had a spectacular Mother's Day...we did! Our family, my parents, Trista, Jason & Kody all headed out to the zoo for brunch it was great and we took the kids through the zoo afterwards. It wasn't too sunny and wasn't raining so in our book it was perfect. We got to see the sea lions being fed and doing tricks which was pretty cool and ran into a few people we had seen the night before at Darren's friend Zack's baby shower BBQ. His wife Carrie is having a girl, expected in June. The clothes she received were adorable! After the zoo, I took a 45 minute nap for the first time in a long time. All in all our weekend was fun filled. As you can tell by the delay in posting we are even busier than before. I am taking 3 classes in school 1 regular, 1 online and 1 telecourse. Midterms were last week and the previous one...I did fairly well, but the reading in these 3 classes is killing me! I will be thankful for summer term. I have signed up for 2 online classes and will be thankful for the break. Darren's has started his softball season and his second game is on Wednesday I missed last weeks because I had a midterm, but they won and the guys were excited about it.