Brahm's Bday...Seaworld

Shamu the Whale was the funnest part of Seaworld for the kids. We weren't in the soak zone, fortunately.

Brahm really enjoying Shamu..

I always make a theme cake for the kids' birthdays. Brahm requested a rainbow cake for his 4th birthday, and I delivered.

Halloween Costumes

Emerson aka: Harry Potter
McKay aka: Dumbledore
Brahm aka: "scarey dinosaur...rahr"
You know you're scared of this group of threatening looking wizards and beasts.

Pumpkin Carving

Can you believe it? I was carving pumpkins while 6 months pregnant... just amazing. :) J/K Really, it was very fun. Emerson picked a pumpkin that was so small my hand could barely fit into it.

Brahm was a little grossed out by all the pumpkin guts. Luckily he didn't have to touch them. He let dad do all the work.
McKay had a blast carving out the pumpkin guts. We had a blast watching!

Our Backyard Entertainment

McKay and Emerson "Kung Fu Fighting" to dry out after a good swim.

Family Home Evening...swimming at night. Our pool has lights so for FHE one night the kids begged to swim.

Daddy is much braver than I -- the water was not very warm at night! Of course I stayed out to take pictures because someone's got to, right?

McKay shares with us the classic "karate kid" pose.

I am the worst blogger on earth...

So, hi everyone! Sorry about the lousy job of blogging. Being pregnant has really wiped me out...good excuse, I know! So, hereforth you will be given very condensed versions of the last 3 1/2 months.

The last week of summer

Brahm and I made this lovely long, colorful train. It was fun! I admit, I enjoy it much more than making buildings that Brahm just kicks over.
Saturday morning cuddle time. It's usually done in Mom and Dad's bed, but Brahm's bed was the winner today!
Emerson took these next 3 photos of us and our house. So, here's a chopped off view of the front of our house.
We love Brahm's dimply smile.

Sunshine and Water

Brahm enjoying kicking up the water. He loves to wait for the tide to come in and then run away from it.

Brahm and I spent lots of time picking up shells and clams.
Sand, sand, and more fun sand!
One of the best things about real beaches is the soft, feathery sand. No shoes, warm feet, the wind blowing....ahhh.

A day at the beach..

We spent an afternoon at the Navy Base North Shore Beach. It was WONDERFUL because only Navy members can go to this beach, so there were hardly any people there. The boys didn't mind the cold water or the sand and had so much fun! Here McKay enjoys making a "pool".
Emerson. Check out his little white waist line...there are some super white buns under there!
Rick playing with the boys. Emerson learned what a riptide is, and now he is always nervous that he'll get caught in one because of the "giant" waves. Both McKay and Emerson are dying to learn how to surf, as well. Hmmm..not sure if mom can handle the safety issues there. Rick being cute.Although Brahm's "OCD" would cause him a major tantrum under these circumstances, McKay thinks being covered in sand is a true luxury! I'm going to go with Brahm here...

Marius

This is Marius, a 9 year old boy from Romania. This is a picture of him before he was burned in a horrible fire, which also took his parents lives.
This is 9 year old Marius after the fire. He has recieved 4th degree burns over a huge portion of his body. He is coming to California to be fostered by a family in our ward here in Santee. He has been given an extended visa of 5 years, along with his 19 year old brother, so that he can be cared for at Shriner's.

His story is recorded on the website here and I hope you will go to it and read about and see who he is: http://www.teammarius.org He will be in primary with my boys and I hope they will be good examples of Christlike love to him. I hope he will feel loved and accepted here. We pray for his recovery and especially for his internal wounds to be healed. He will only have an interpreter for a month here so we realize this will be a bit of a scarey experience for him. Please keep him in your prayers!

Our move....

Well,for those of you who don't know, we have moved to the San Diego area for Rick's Navy Medical Internship. He's doing really well and of course they like him. We are exhausted! I say we because he's up at 4am every morning, and I'm pregnant! Anyway, following are some photos of our week long vacation/drive to California. We had a great time and made lots of great memories. It was our first vacation ever as a family, not including flying home for holidays to be with family.

Tuscon with the Packers!

We stayed a couple days with my sister Lenona and her 3 kids. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures except for at the pool. Rachel, my neice, really enjoyed Rick flipping her in the pool.
Brahm enjoying the sunshine.
McKay getting flipped.
Emerson just being cute!

Lenona enjoying some sun on the floatie.

Lake Meade

We practically had the whole beach to ourselves for most of the day. It was a blast!
The boys found lots of shells for collecting and enjoyed getting warm in the sand.
McKay.
Emerson.
Brahm kept sticking his head in the mud. The hard part was getting him cleaned up without getting dirt in his eyes. He's such a funny little boy!

The Virgin River

The boys practicing skipping rocks.
Emerson collecting rocks.
Brahm completely knocked out on trolley ride home from the hike. We were all pretty exhausted!

Daddy playing with the boys.

Temple of Sinawava hike ends here at this beautiful part of the Virgin River. Here Brahm plays happily in the muddy water.
The water was very cold, but none of the boys cared. I was the only woosy who wouldn't go in farther than my ankles. But, someone's gotta take pictures, right?