B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.

Orcas Island

(Sunday 26 June - Friday 1 July 2011)

OK, so this trip was filled with SO many beautiful, colorful, pittoresque things that I had an especially hard time narrowing down the pictures. Hence the collection of collages. Remember that you can click any of the pictures to enlarge. Without further ado, our trip...

(courtesy of Rach)

(some of my favorite moments were cooking
delicious & nutritious meals alongside of my family)

(a view of the rental's grand room. )

(Girls' Day Out...then a Girls' Day In, while the guys were whale watching)

I had to dedicate two collages to our last evening on Orcas. We ate at New Leaf Café. The food was AMAZING (best crab cakes I've EVER had), not to mention the view...

*beautiful ferry ride from Anacortes to Orcas Island * the fam working together to make meals * taking a few strolls down to the water * evening s'more making * a lovely rental * Em doing a mini photo shoot of our little family * sibling name exchange * Mom (& Dad) treating us to lunch at Rose's Café * Sibling Super Market Sweep (with master grocery list) * family pictures on patio (with remote) * making chocolate chip cookies * taking Brie to "Swim Suit Beach" * gorgeous views on way/from Mt. Constitution * Girls' Day Out (Shopping, artisan chocolates) * guys watching the kids and making the girls dinner * girls' day in (painting nails, herbal tea and cookies) * tidepooling at Obstruction Pass * watching Brie so content playing on the beach with her sand toys * hiking through a few of the beautiful and lush forests on the island * guys going whale watching * Dad & Mom treating us to a very nice dinner at New Leaf Café * looking out at sound during golden hour * all the siblings working together to get rental picked up * fun day of traveling together (Orcas ---> Anacortes ----> Bellevue ---> SEATAC airport---> SLC) *

From here to there.

Second...Seattle.

Seattle, WA
(Thursday 23 June - Sunday 26 June 2011)

For the Sheets' Family Vacation this year we went to Seattle and Orcas Island. Bry and I were able to help plan most of it...and it was fun to see how relatively smoothly things went. I learned not to plan TOO much each day, to not have too much structured time and to be more flexible. BUT, it definitely was beneficial having lots of the details (meals, grocery list, activities, etc.) planned out ahead of time so we didn't have to worry about it during the vacation.

Thanks again, Mom & Dad, for a wonderful trip!

(Oh Grandma Graden, we sure love her...
her spunk, sense of humour, stories, etc.)

Our Seattle Sound Day
(Alki, Spuds, Aquarium, Harbor Tour, and Clam Chowder to top it off.)

(I'm so glad we got to spend the day with my Uncle Paul and his family. They live in Olympia, WA and we don't get to seem them enough. What good sports they were to come along on the good-intentioned-yet-very-overly-scheduled-site-seeing-in-Seattle day.)

*Getting to see Grandma Stevenson and Grandma Graden on the same day (if only we could have seen Grahams and Kim too ;0)) * Michelle putting together an awesome BBQ * Seeing Marlene and fam * Grandmaw making us breakfast * Tide pooling at Alki Beach and lunch at Spud's * Seattle Aquarium and harbor tour * Grandmaw's clam chowder * Doing sealings at the Seattle Temple with Sheets' Fam * Tilamook ice cream :0) * Meeting up with Paul Robertson and family * crazy & fun cram-packed day at Seattle Center--Science Center, Space Needle, EMP, Bambino's pizza and gelato by Pike's Place * Seeing the cute IMAX, Born to be Wild * Seeing so much family in such a short time * Beautiful weather *

P.S. Michelle and Marlene were our sweet life savers as always...helping to plan our stay in Seattle, making us meals, showing us around, lending us rain gear for Orcas, etc. Love you two! Thanks again for everything!!

Up first...Utah.

We did a little bit of hopping around while we were gone on vacation. We were in Utah for the biggest chunks of time (13 June - 23 June 2011, 1 July - 11 July 2011) so I'm starting with those highlights...

(oh how I love my parents' backyard!)

(It is SO special to see our kids interact with their great grandparents!)

*Alex meeting more of his relatives!* being with my siblings * enjoying the natural light and openness of Mom & Dad's house * swinging on the garden swing with Brie & Alex * Café Rio shredded chicken salads * playing games with Matt & Tim * family watching the kids while I ran errands * jumping on the trampoline with Brie * having Alex meet his Grauntie & Gruncle, Gramps & Grahams and Grandpa & Grandma Stevenson * Em sharing Sees' Chocolates with us * having time to plan Sheets' family vacation * seeing friends at church (pv 6th ward) * hanging out with Rebecca & Julia * going to Texas Roadhouse with fam & Cordons * having a sleepover with Em * Staying at Grandpa & Grandma Stevenson's for a night * dinner & Cannon Center and games with Soderquists * play dates at Julie's * breakfast with my whole family * Bean Museum and Wendy's picnic * Girls' Night Out with Graden and Sheets' sisters * Surprise Bday part for Bry * Seeing family and friends at Alexander's open house *

(Although our AWESOME Graden Family Retreat also took place in Utah, I'll be dedicating a whole post to it...coming soonish :0))

Back at it.

My camera finished getting repaired and arrived in the mail last week (YAY!), so I'm back to documenting the fun happenings around our house. I realized that I didn't have any current pictures of our little man so I laid him on the dining room table for a mini shoot...






I can't believe Alex is already 3 months! These days he is SO squirmy...rolls and scoots all over the place, so we have to be careful where we set him down. He is still drooling up a storm and takes after his Uncle Tim in the spit up department (as a baby Tim was known as Little Geyser because he was constantly spitting up!). He is DEFINITELY a thumb sucker like his sister and has, on occasion, unlatched while nursing to stick his thumb in. Hmm. Not sure how I feel about that one :0) He is getting more and more giggly which is SO fun! He still enjoys his bouncer (he swats at the dangling toys), but definitely prefers being held and is rather particular about how we hold him. He loves to babble and we love to listen to him...it's too cute. And there's our Alex in a nutshell. Sure love you little guy!

Hang 'em in the sun.

As follow up for my one question (referring to liquid stain)...
my friend Cynthia told me to hang poop-stained clothes in the sun. I tried it today with a onesie (that got creamed yesterday by a blowout after church--thanks for cleaning that one up, Bry!). The spots disappeared like magic. Oh it's too good to be true :0)

Round 2.

Apparently I wasn't the only one that got excited about the potty training chart and rewards. Within 3 days Brie earned all four! (I think the excitement is working wonders for us here. What little kid doesn't have to go to the bathroom when they're excited? ;0))

So now we're on to Round 2...

This time I made each prize worth a few more Skittles. We've got grapefruit (grapefruit? Yep, grapefruit. Brie LOVES grapefruit and we don't get it very often so thought I'd experiment with this one to see if even it could be an exciting motivator. We'll see :0)), Dollar Tree bubbles, homemade fruit smoothie popsicle, and for the jack pot...watching a movie with Mom (& Dad) at home with popcorn.

In any case, this weekend it was really exciting to see Brie keep her diaper clean and dry for the majority of each day. And for times when she didn't, I'm grateful for friends advising me to keep things positive. That's really been helping.

**Side Note: The Skittles have proved a great way to work on colors too. **

Potty Training in Progress.

(door hanger)

At the beginning of the week Bry and I decided that, as a precursor to potty training, we'd reward Brie with a Skittle if she was able to wake up in the morning or after a nap with a clean diaper. Then on Wednesday after coming home from swimming I asked Brie if she wanted to try going potty, instead of the alternative. (The 2 previous times after coming home from the pool she would said that she needed to pee, would stand there in her swim diaper (already saturated with water) and make a puddle on the floor.) She sat down on the toilet and went! I was overjoyed! I decided that the Skittle rule would apply for any time she went in the potty as well. Little did I know that I was committing myself to potty training!

Yesterday I think we practically lived in our half bath. Brie was constantly asking if she could go potty and honestly it was making me anxious (it didn't help that I was trying to take care of an unusually fussy Alexander). I was so happy that she was actually using the potty...it was just the fact that 2/3 times was a false alarm. I know, I know...I should be happy with her progress, it's true...but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that just the thought of potty training has stressed me out for the last several months. Brie's been ready for awhile, it's Brie's Mom that hasn't been ready ;0)

In any case, today has been better and I think that I am ready to jump in and run with this! We went to Walmart this morning to buy her a little step stool. While there I found a few inexpensive things that she could use ($1 arm floaties, $5 pink sandles). When I got home the thought dawned on me (inspired I'm sure) that since I was going to give them to her anyway I might as well use them as part of her reward system. And from there I decided to put together a chart and a few other finishing touches...

(I couldn't resist :0))

Funny how little things can make a difference. They even make ME excited! In any case, I'm sure there are a million ways to potty train, but this is what we're going to try for now. Wish us luck :0)

In the works.

(click to enlarge)

I'm just now getting to my trip pictures. In the next little while (if both kids keep napping at the same time :0)) I'll narrow down the pictures to a few hundred ;0)...and will have some posts ready to share. Fun stuff! Til then you'll probably get some random in-the-meantime posts from me. Toodles.

Brie's first crush.

Yep, I'd have to say that Brie's first little crush is her Uncle Matt. Who blames her? Matt's such a great guy (both my brothers are). Plus, I think it has something to do with the fact that she didn't meet him until she was almost 2. In any case, it's fun to watch how coy she gets around him. Oh Brie, you're too funny! :0)

One beautiful evening while in Utah we went out back to do a little impromptu photo shoot of Matt--thanks to my Dad for letting me use his camera! At one point he was just goofing off and swinging around on the little rope swing and Brie of course she wanted to join him. I love this little series of pictures...

being at Bompa & Mémé's + swinging with Uncle Matt + summer =
a blissful little Brie :0)