I just signed my life away

So, I decided to go back to school. Crazy, huh? I have always wanted to be able to cut hair and do it from my home, and now is my chance. Matt is working from home, so I am able to leave the kids with him and do school. He is being so supportive, I am so blessed. So today I went and paid my deposit and am wondering if I am half crazy, but I am excited. I start March 10th. I had to put this picture up because I always think of Grease when I think of beauty school. Wish me luck!

Why I love my husband

I just felt I should do a little shout out to my husband for the great man he is. Here are a few reasons why

1. Not only does he put up with me day in and day out now that he is working from home, but he helps out around the house and never complains when I ask him to do things.

2. He watches the kids any time I need time away or even just to go shopping. A few weeks ago he watched the kids and my friends kid while we spent the day shopping.

3. He is so supportive no matter what and keeps me on my toes.

4. After a fun weekend in San Antonio we had to come home early because Brennon was sick and I was bummed, so he took me to see the movie Fool's Gold with Matthew McCaunahey. This is huge for any of you who know that I am a big fan of his and the movie was a total chick flick.

Love ya babe and thanks for putting up with me for 5 LONG (J/K) years coming up on March 7th!

Fitting in at the Wildlife Park

I surprised the family for Valentines Day with a trip to San Antonio. We had such a fun time even though we ended up coming home a day early because everyone but me got sick. First we headed to a wildlife park and it was probably our favorite event of the whole trip. We got up really close and personally with the animals as you can see for yourself....





Matt tried to get Brennon to pet the goats and here is the before picture....
Here was his reaction.... Poor guy!
Matt got to feed a Buffalo! It was so crazy to be that close. I was worried for our van. It was sooo big.
The zebras actually tried to attack me. It was crazy. They were a little over friendly. It was so fun to have three or four of them sticking their heads right by us in the van.

Having Fun in San Antonio

Seeing the Alamo gave us a greater appreciation for Texas and our freedom.

The riverwalk is beautiful, we walked along it and took a boat tour.
Katelynn was so excited to see a huge dinosaur in one of the museums as you can tell
Katelynn posing it up on the boat.


We took a minature train ride around the zoo. It was nice to take a break from walking!

San Antonio Rodeo

We headed to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and had fun watching pig races, a petting zoo, lots of horses, and lots of great BBQ. We were hoping to last for the big rodeo and Clay Walker concert, but the kids were tired and sick, so we only made it through most of the rodeo.
Katelynn in front of the San Antonio Spurs boot at the rodeo.


Brennon learned to clap at the rodeo. He was just excited to see everyone cheer. Although he wasn't feeling well, he was such a trooper.

After having to leave the rodeo early for tired kids, Matt said "Uh oh, the gas gage is really low". So he headed to find a gas station and this is a picture of where we ran out of gas. What are the odds! The van was on a hill, so we couldn't even push it over to the pump. He had to go get a jug and fill it. It just adds to the memories~

Brennon walking

So Brennon officially started walking this week. He can even stand up by himself from the floor. Uh oh. I do love the wobble walk and will enjoy it before he is running!

Katelynn dancing

We got a monkey valentines gag gift and Katelynn was dancing to it, so I had to get it on tape. Yes, she started singing "I'm a model and I do my little dance on the catwalk" Uh oh.

Bedtime saga

So Katelynn has had so much trouble sleeping in her room lately. I wanted to see if others have had similar experiences with their little ones. She begs to sleep anywhere except her room. We tried to take her room away for a few days and told her to sleep in the guest room and she still would rather sleep there. Every morning we find her down sleeping on the couch or she comes down in the middle of the night and begs to sleep in the chair by our bed. She would rather sleep anywhere else and I can't figure it out. Any suggestions?? There is always something to deal with isn't there...

P.S. I just went upstairs and asked Katelynn why she doesn't like her room and here was her reply:
"Because I don't like my room purple, I like PINK!" (I think there is more to it than that, but I'm still not repainting it to find out)

Good thing he's so cute

So after a wonderful Monday, of course we had to have plenty of trouble on Tuesday. Brennon has turned into a mischief maker and found our bottle of corn syrup. He dumped it all over the kitchen floor and crawled around in it and tried to eat it. OK, so if you don't know exactly what corn syrup is, let's just say its the absolute worst thing you could have to clean up. It is just like syrup, but thicker and stickier. I cleaned the floor 5 times already and Matt says he is still sticking to the floor. Whew! And brennon had a nice big ring of syrup all over his mouth. We'll see if his sugar high is gone by bedtime.... Oh well, at least he is a cutie, so I didn't have the heart to get him in trouble.
At least we had a few minutes where the kids kept themselves entertained. They do play well together when they are both in good moods (rare moments).
Brennon loves to push this around the house. We think its funny because it looks a lot harder than actually walking since he has to bend down so far. He is just being stubborn, because we know he could walk if he really wanted to.

Sandals and Sun in February

We were so lucky to have 2 days in a row of beautiful weather. I think it hit 75 degrees today. We took the kids to the park and had a great time playing and feeding the ducks. Its amazing how being outdoors in beautiful weather can lift your spirits. It was actually a great Monday!

Murder Mystery dinner and Ward Party

We got lucky this past weekend and had two datenights. We had a murder mystery dinner with some friends and had so much fun playing our parts. We did one called the Chicago Caper and it was fun to all be mobsters for the night. Thanks everyone for a fun night!
We also had a ward party and had a barbeque and played games. It was great to see everyone really enjoy our dance game. There were even older gentlemen from our ward who tried it. We also played ping pong and realized that we have a lot of competition in our ward. We need more practice!

Hangin' out in January

Brennon was being cute with Matt's ballcap and I had to take a few shots. We will proclaim him as an early cub fan. Go cubbies!

Matt has had a lot of time at home lately, so he decided to get a small piano to play. It is nice hearing music in the home and fun to see Katelynn interested.





Brennon has started taking steps. He is actually a lot more stable now that it has been a few days, but here is a sneak peak. We will post more when he is actually walking around. My baby is still too little to walk if you ask me!

Stairs conquered

After staying at so many houses with stairs on our trip, Brennon has mastered coming up and down the stairs. He thinks its hilarious to go up as fast as he can and hide. The other day he was practicing on our stairs and halfway down, he had to take a rest. What a cutie!

Final Virginia Tech game

We had a family night watching the final Virginia Tech hokie game in the Orange Bowl. They were #3 in the nation going into the game, but unfortunately they lost. It was very upsetting for me as I seem to get into the games way too much, but it was fun to start the tradition of all watching as a family. Even Katelynn was yelling, "Go Hokies", even though she had no idea what it meant.

New Years Eve Party

Evan and Cinta (the host couple) through an amazing New Years Eve party. This picture is after midnight when Evan went in to kiss Cinta too late and every one was watching. I've never seen Evan blush like that before!
A picture of most of us playing Mafia. This was one of the few times Evan was actually still alive...
Danielle and Andrea trying our dance game. They were a little lost at first, but caught on quick. Nice face Danielle, we're going to save this one :)

A few of the couples that were at the party. I'm surprised we made it so late after all our traveling the day before.

Whittier Family Christmas Party

We went to Morgan, UT for the annual Whittier family Christmas party. It was so fun to be with everyone and see how fast our family is growing.
We always play Bingo and do white elephant gifts for prizes. We had 4 tables and 27 people playing.
Katelynn and Carley played together all day. It's fun to see cousins again.
Grandma Barbara was the perfect hostess as always. It was great to see her again. Thanks Grandma!
Jack and Robynn, my Aunt and Uncle.



We played a game where we had to suck M&M's with a straw. It was hilarious to watch, just see for yourself. Oh, and I was catagorized as the one with the least hot air. I couldn't hold it at all. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not :)

Seeing friends and family along the way

Dinner with 5 of my siblings and families. (That's a rare opportunity since we are all so spread out)
We went to dinner at Dick and Becky's house and Natalie was so sweet to give Katelynn a horse ride. This was more fun for Katelynn than Christmas if you know how much Katelynn loves horses.
Dinner in Hollywood with Rick and Ali's family. Thanks for widening my food preferences. It was amazing Tai food!

Katelynn and her cousins (Hailey and Erick)
Matt and his high school buddies. (We had Dusty there in spirit)
Dinner with my college roommates
Katelynn and Hudson. Thanks for fitting us in. Lunch was so fun. We love you guys!

Christmas in Utah

This year we spent Christmas in Logan Utah at Matt's Mom's house. We had so much fun with his family and the kids were so excited for all the toys.

All that Katleynn wanted for Christmas was a "Black Beauty (A Horse)" and it didn't take much to light up her world on Christmas morning. She was so excited.

Brennon was still trying to figure out what all the excitement was for, but he loved his Fisher Price train that goes by itself.

What's Christmas without Santa Clause. Out kids were lucky enough to have Santa and Grandpa all rolled up in one! Katelynn called him Santa the whole time we were there. Thanks Santa!