I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

We LOVE it when Daddy comes home! Brynlee has been such a Mama's Girl! It is a great feeling to be needed, but Bryn has been needing me a little too much. I talked to Mike about instead of me taking care of all her needs (feeding, changing, etc) that maybe he step in a little more. Don't get me wrong-Mike is FABULOUS to help. (I am a very lucky wife!) But I often run on auto-pilot and just do what needs to be done instead of asking for help, especially anything with the kids. So in this conversation, I suggested that when he gets home, to play with the kids and while I finish up dinner/housework instead of having him help me. After a few days of this, as soon as Bryn heard Daddy she got so excited saying, "Dada-dada!" and rushed to the door. She gave him BIG snuggles! It was adorable! Not much warms my heart more than seeing my Sweetheart with one (or all) of his little girls! They LOVE their Daddy!

Good Friend

This is my friend, Teresa. I truly believe that Heavenly Father places people in your life when you need them. Teresa is one of these people! One of the first times I met her at church she invited me to join a walking group she was in. It was a great way for me to get out and make friends, and get some exercise as a bonus! She was also the first one to invite our family to dinner when we moved here. We immediately became friends. Quickly we realized how many things we had in common, including clogging. In May, for our Culture Enrichment Night-we worked up a clogging number. (Mike posted it on YouTube if anyone NEEDS to see it.) It was fun to clog again and fun to spend time preparing the dance. Her family was the one who adopted us at ward camp. We have so much fun together and laugh a lot. I love how we understand each other. She is really another sister to me! And I'm enjoying developing an Aunt-like relationship with her kids. She has been (and continues to be) such a blessing in my life in so many ways!

Look Who's Walking!

Bryn took her first steps! (10 1/2 months) I was amazed at how quickly it went from one or two steps to four or five the next day and so on. In a little more than a week she had pretty well converted to walking. This day the girls had just gotten home from school and Kenna was having her practice walking and she just did it on her own. So we made a little triangle and she would walk from Kenna to Whitney to me. They loved it! And so did I-I love how excited Whitney and Kenna get over everything Brynlee does. She has such a fan club! After a few times around the triangle we decided to stop encouraging it so that Daddy didn't miss out and then he captured these first steps when he got home from work.

Bryn's Snug

Brynlee is still VERY attached to her Snug. She usually just gets it in her crib so when it is getting close to naptime and anyone mentions her snug and binki she gets so excited. It is so cute!

I think it is funny that the graffe is in between her legs.

This day it must have come out of her crib and she was carrying it everywhere. Kenna and Whitney thought it was so funny that she would carry it around in her mouth like a little puppy. But when your hands are busy, what else can a girl do?

Entrepreneurs

Our little budding slaeswomen set up an airhead stand. The first day they made over $13 in less than an hour, selling them for 25 cents each. The best part was how much fun they had doing it. On selling days, they would run home from school so they wouldn't miss anyone passing by. It was so fun to see their excitment. I love it that they love doing things together. It is so fulfilling to watch them work together and enjoy it. I hope that never changes!

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

We LOVE the rain storms here! It will start to sprinkle and then all of a sudden it down pours for 5 or 10 minutes. Then it will lighten up and stop and within 15 minutes or so, it's all dry and there's no sign that it even rained. It is also warm outside (and the rain is too) so it is fun to play in. And yes, believe it or not-I do even let my kids play in it sometimes.

The girls come home for lunch everyday and this particular day the downpour started as Kenna was running from her math class back to her homeroom. By the time they came home it was only sprinkling, but Kenna was soaked! You can't really tell in the picture, but there are no dry spots on the front of her shirt. I love her expression!

Soccer Camp

The BYU Hawaii Men's Soccer team put on a soccer camp for kids. I've wanted to introduce the girls to soccer and thought this was a perfect opportunity. They had a lot of fun-but decided they like gymnastics better. So now to find a gymnastics teacher here.

Little Piggies!

Our first attempt at little piggies (or antenna) at 10 months. What a cutie! Makenna barely had this much hair in her 1yr pictures. So Bryn's a little ahead of her, but behind Whitney-she had this much at 6 months.

Super Dad and the 1st Day of School

The girls started school Aug 3rd! That is crazy early! We only had 8 weeks of summer. Usually they start the last week in July, but in an attempt to make the summer longer next year they pushed the start date back a week. They took out some breaks and added them to the beginning and end of summer. So hopefully next summer won't be quite so short.

As I said in my last posts-I was in Oregon for the first week of school. Mike was Super Dad! I'm married to a good man! I'm grateful he let me go be with my family and had so much fun with the girls while I was gone. He is such a great Daddy! He was able to arrange his work schedule so that he could get the girls off to school and then be home when they got out of school. A few days he took them to work in the afternoon for awhile and others he did some work here after they were in bed. He said he gained a greater appreciation not just for me while I was gone but also for "us". We make a pretty great team!

The First Day of School is a pretty big deal at our house and the hairdresser was MIA. Most of you know I'm somewhat particular about the girls' hair. We had a few hairdo workshops before I left and it turns out that Mike isn't too bad!

I took the girls school clothes shopping for the first time this year. In past years I have been able to clearance shop and find things all summer, but since we are an hour from any stores, that doesn't really happen anymore. When we dropped Madi off, I figured it was my only chance so we headed shopping and it was SO FUN!!! We were in one store for 3 hours! It was a little (scratch that-a LOT) too long for Bryn-next time she gets to stay home with Daddy. She really did well considering, though.

I don't love shopping, but it was so fun to do with my girls. And they LOVED it! I let them pick things out (mostly without my input) and try them on-keep some, return some, pick out more things, try them on and so on. Hence the 3 hours. It was a great time to teach them about modesty and why some things (even though cute) weren't ok to wear. It was also a good opportunity to teach them about budgeting and how much things cost. They picked out their favorites and we talked about choosing something more expensive meant that you can't buy as many. Even though it is a hassle to be far away from stores, I was grateful for this fun time with my girls. I'm sure we didn't get as great of deals as I did before, but I'd trade that for the memories we made that day!

One of the things they both chose were brown silky/stretchy gaucho pants. Before we even bought them they had both decided they were going to wear them for the first day of school. They call them their "shaggy pants" (not sure where that came from). Sorry-you can't really see them in the picture-but they are super cute!

Super Dad even had brownies and milk for their after school snack.
(I'm lucky they wanted me back!)

He sent me this picture as his idea of how to do hair. Ha ha!





Check that out! He braided and everything!

We're not even talking just Plain Jane!

Some days they got a little creative even. :)

He was a little nervous doing their hair for church, but everyone said they were highly impressed!

Saturday they did a little "work fun"

Then a little "play fun"

When I was in Oregon, the girls liked to think that if they were at the beach and I was at the beach-we were on opposite edges of the same ocean and we could look towards each other and wave. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful husband who was willing to do this for me! I am continually reminded what an amazing husband and father he is! I am one lucky girl!

But next time I think everyone should just come!

Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Kern

I extended my trip one day so we could visit Aunt Elizabeth (mom's sister) and Uncle Kern. It was a fantastic visit and so great to spend time with them! We had gorgeous weather-not too hot, just perfect!

Brynlee really took to Uncle Kern. She hadn't willingly gone to anyone upon first meeting them our whole trip. When we first got there, he reached his hands out to her and she reached back and stayed with him. It was very cute! And I think Uncle Kern liked it a little too. :)

This is the only picture Bryn and I have with Grandma from the whole trip. But at least we got one. (On Mom's camera).

Our beautiful little butterfly! Isn't that the neatest bench?

Aunt Elizabeth picked these beautiful flowers from her flower beds and had them up in the room Brynlee and I stayed in. They have a beautiful home and an amazing yard!

On other trips to the mainland we may fly into Seattle and I asked Aunt Elizabeth what was the best way to get from Seattle to Prosser and she said by way of her house. :) We hope to see you again soon! (Next time with the whole family.)

More Reuion Pictures

Mom to the rescue! Thanks for sending these pictures!

This is a shipwreck on the sand at one of the beaches in Oregon. The kids enjoyed climbing around on it (one of the things I know my girls would have loved).

I caught Grandma being silly with the kids. We don't steal her camera often enough so that she is in the pictures. When I saw them playing I knew it needed to be documented. I'm not even sure what started it. Grandma would do something silly and then everyone would erupt in laughter. Then each of the kids would take a turn-it was so cute to watch them enjoying each other so much. I love seeing how intent the kids are on her. Laughter is such a beautiful and refreshing sound!



The whole crew (minus Kev's family and Mike and the girls) the day we broke camp and headed to Washington. Kevin and Brittney and their boys met us at the Bowman reunion.

The whole Bowman group. Some of my Grandpa's siblings and their families were able to come too. It's been a long time since I've seen some of them!

This is my "Twin Cousin" Alain. She is just a little younger than I am. People have gotten us mixed up since we were little. They moved to Ephrata a year or two before we moved away and it was so fun to live close again. Alain, Lynette and I spent a lot of time together. We have many fun memories together, from telling scary stories and blond jokes at her house in Quincy to sunburns in Montana to girls camp and the mile-swim. Fun times!

Family is a Beautiful Thing!

Brynlee and I got to fly back to the mainland for two reunions in August. Everyone would have come except the first reunion started on my girls 1st day of school. If it had been any other week, I would have probably had them miss, but I didn't want them to have to be new kids twice in one year.

I was going to rent a car, but my mom had a better plan. She met us in Seattle and drove us down to Portland. We got to hang out with her extra time-it was so great! Thank you, Mom! I didn't take any pictures though. :(

The reunion began in Portland at the fabulous Jensen House. I spent 1st-3rd grade in Portland while my dad was in chiropractic school and that is when we met the Jensen Family. Since we had moved away from all of our family, we quickly adopted them. They were much too young to be adopted grandparents, so we decided they could be our Aunt and Uncle. (I still refer to them as Aunt Judie and Uncle Norm.) I have so many fun childhood memories with them-and lucky for me, some great ones in adulthood too.

Unfortunately, our camera batteries were dead and I was too lazy to go buy more so I didn't take any pictures with my camera. :( Fortunately I was able to pirate some pictures that Melinda posted on her blog so I at least have a few pictures to document the trip. So any Joneses (or Bowmans) that have reunion pictures I could have-I'd love for you to email them to me. Until then, this is all I have.

We started out on the Oregon coast at a KOA campground by Fort Stevens. It was perfect! The weather was awesome-not hot or rainy. Yay! The Jensen's let Brynlee and me camp out with them in their trailer (THANK YOU!). We had a blast!

The only downside to the reunion was that Mike and the girls had to miss it. Everything we did, I wished they were there and thought about how much they would have loved whatever we were doing. Next time I think the reunion will be earlier in the summer so the whole family can come.
There are tons of bike trails so we were able to explore all over and ride down to the beach. Dale and Melinda have a training tandom bike attachment for Caloway and he requested that I ride with him. It takes some getting used to with 35-40lbs trailing behind. That was my first time riding a bike like that so we were pretty wobbly to being with. On the ride home, the final stretch was a big hill before crossing the street into the campground. By big I mean-needing to stand and pump like crazy even without extra weight in the back. So, I can barely breathe and in between breaths am encouraging Cal to pump his legs and help me. From the back I hear, "Aunt Trina, do you like red?" My response, "Yeah, (pant pant) red's great! (pant pant) Now pump your legs!" It was pretty funny! I just love him to pieces!

Grandpa, Bryn and Jake. I must say although it is the same ocean, the beaches are MUCH different than the ones I'm used to now! No swim suits for us!

Me n' Bryn - she's been a real mama's girl (at home) and so taking her to (I hate to say it) strangers didn't help that. She was pretty sad anytime anyone else tried to hold her for about 3 days. Not only was it exhausting being the only one she wanted, but it made me really sad that my family is strangers to her. I wasn't worried about Whitney and Kenna forgetting people, but it makes me sad to think it will be a few years before Bryn really knows our families.

Dale and Melinda moved to Idaho when Cal was only 6 months old and so we really got to share him. I LOVED it! Cal and I have a special relationship. We were so excited when I was prego with Bryn that now we would be able to share her too. There was a lot of family craziness when Bryn was born that didn't allow Melinda to be over to our house much and then we moved to Hawaii. So the sharing plan was foiled. Melinda spent a lot of time getting her fill of Bryn time. (And giving me a break! Thanks!)

The KOA had some playgrounds and Bryn LOVED the swings! I love that what little hair she does have is blowing in the wind-straight up! Camping with an almost walker is tricky-she didn't want to be held all the time, but I didn't want her to be down crawling around in the dirt.

Savanna and I spent a lot of time together at both reunions. On the way from Portland to the coast, she came with Grandma, Bryn and me so we could look for a baptism dress pattern and material. She was a trooper keeping Bryn entertained. She was an awesome helper with Bryn the whole week. It was fun to get to spend so much time with her.

One of the days, all the girls went to the outlet mall to shop. Lynette found this sassy hat for Bryn! So cute!

After Oregon we headed to Washington to Ensign Ranch in Cle Elum for my Grandpa Bowman's 80th birthday party. I have the best grandparents ever! I feel so blessed to have spent so much time with them as I grew up and have continued to be able to see them. I love it that my girls really know their great grandparents.

After several tearful goodbyes drawn out over two days, we were headed back home again. I'm pretty sure the girls missed Bryn more than they missed me! Mike picked us up from the airport and Bryn wouldn't even go to him. It even took some time for her to warm up to Daddy!