HSM3!!! that's High School Musical 3 for those of you who don't know the lingo

Yeah, so my friend Janeece and I love HSM. We first found out about this love when we went to see Mama Mia a few months ago and the preview came on for HSM. We both got excited and then got even more excited when we both knew we could go see it together and relive being 17!!

I first found out about HSM when a missionary that served in our ward 18 years ago...Elder Bart Johnson...(that's crazy!) emailed my parents to tell them he was in a new Disney movie. So we watched it and fell in love. By the way, he is the coach/Troy's dad in the movie.

So Brooklyn was almost two when she first watched it with my sister, Laini and I, and she absolutely loved it! So of course, we bought the movie and the CD and that whole summer all she sang in the car was HSM. Well, then last year, the 2nd one came out and she loved it too! So we even got her the karaoke HSM for the Wii and we sing it together and she loves it.

So when I told her that HSM3 was coming in the theatre, she freaked out and every time she saw the commercial she'd yell, "HSM3 mommy, HSM3, can we go see it!" So we decided we'd go. We went to walmart and she picked out a HSM3 shirt, it's pretty sassy, with sequins and she wore her red shoes to match! Then we curled her hair pretty and painted her fingernails and put some glitter makeup on to go to the show. OH, I forgot to tell you the best part.....we were in Target before the movie even came out and we saw that the CD for the 3rd one was already on sale....Chris just put it in the cart and I was like, what are you doing....and he said, well we are going to end up buying it anyway (yeah, whatever, he secretly likes it too!)

Janeece and Linus came and picked us up, we popped in the CD and headed down to Southcenter mall. Brooklyn requested her favorite song on the CD....which she already knows them all..."The boys are back" and she was trying to teach Linus the words. We went to eat at Olive Garden and it was oh so yummy! Brooklyn liked going to a fancy restaurant. When we were done eating and walking toward the theatre, Brooklyn and Linus got really excited and said, "There it is, the big theatre!" and they chanted "High School Musical 3" the rest of the way. Sorry I am being so descriptive but it was just too cute to forget.

We got the tickets and the kids were both excited to hold them.

We went and got popcorn, juice, gummy treats and m&m's and went into our theatre. The kids were way excited about the big screen and they both looked so cute sitting there holding their treats. Then the movie came on and Brooklyn loved it!!! She shouted "High School Musical 3, woooo!" and sang with the songs and danced in her chair a little bit. She kept sharing her treats with me and was so animated the whole time. And when they were spending too much time on Sharpay, she would lean over to me and say, "Where's my Troy?"

Well, after the show, Janeece and I were both like, Wow! that was awesome and we aren't afraid to admit it. It was really really good. I loved the songs and the choreography, it was really well made. The kids were all pumped up too and danced around all the way out of the theatre.

We had a great night and when we got home Brooklyn had to call GG and Papa and tell them how the movie was since they are fans too! She was cute telling them all about it. That night she slept and when she woke up she said, "Guess what I dreamed about mommy?" "I dreamed about Troy singing to me." I asked her if Troy was her boyfriend and she said, "Yeah!"

So cute!!!

Pumpkin Patch!

So yesterday was the perfect fall day. Gorgeous weather, the air was crisp, but the sun was shining and the fall leaves were amazing. I had a photo shoot out near Fall City just past Issaquah. So we decided that we would go to a pumpkin patch out there. We had a great time, the kids had a blast. It was so fun because it reminded me a lot of our farm in Montana. The barn was the same shape and Brooklyn recognized that, she said, "This barn is like Papa's". They had a produce store set up in the bottom of the barn and then up the stairs was a hay maze that Brooklyn did awesome at, she found our way out! After doing the maze, we went on a hay ride pulled by a tractor and Brooklyn again said, "Papa has a tractor!"




The kids both enjoyed the ride out to the big field of pumpkins. They both ran around hugging the pumpkins, trying to pick them up, it was pretty cute! We found some perfect pumpkins and headed back to catch another ride on a tractor. This time we were on a little wagon and the man driving had a long beard and overalls on. (We thought maybe we could do a pumpkin patch at my parent's farm in Montana and make my dad dress like this guy!)


We rode by some scarecrows out in the field and came back, weighed our pumpkins and had hamburgers, corn on the cob, and hot cider for lunch while we watched them catapoult pumpkins, and that was pretty cool too!

It was a fun morning out and the kids were good on the way home so since we were in the area where we want to buy a house someday, we went cruising the neighborhoods, daydreaming and falling in love with the houses and landscaping. Only another year or so hopefully and we will have a house of our own.

Enjoy the cute pics of the kids in the slideshow above!!

Beckham and Brooklyn's School of Miss Mommy

I started doing my own little preschool with the kids this week thanks to the great info I got from my friend, Heather. She found a website that found lessons plans for each week, it had ideas for the older toddlers and the young ones to keep them both interested and occupied. Brooklyn has been so fun to teach, we only take about a half and hour but we have lots of fun. We have a weekly theme, letter, number, shape, color, vocabulary word, nursery rhyme, primary song, and scripture story. Then we have arts and crafts time. Beckham likes to sit at the little table with Brooklyn and be a big boy, it's so cute and Brooklyn helps teach him, she is so sweet.
This week we have roll played as cows, made a cow craft, found things in the house that were red, that were square, that started with the letter A. And she recites her nursery rhyme and scripture story as well as already knows her new primary song. I am having a lot of fun doing this, it helps give me quality time with the kids.
My friend, Heather, is doing the same thing with her son and daughter. She lives about an hour away or else we'd love to do it together everyday. So we came up with getting together once a week and having a playdate as well as going over our school stuff and doing little field trips and projects.

Conference Weekend

I always love conference weekend and love it now even more because Chris got a cable that hooks up our laptop to the TV so now we can see it on TV instead of the laptop screen. All the talks were awesome and gave me that spiritual boost that I needed. I always love President Monson, he's got the best stories, but I love how he really emphasized living in the now and being happy with who we are and not taking anything for granted. I thought about this and feel so lucky about my life and decided to start taking those opportunities to live in the now and just slow down and enjoy life rather than rushing through to the next thing all the time.


I also loved Elder Wirthin, always always love Elder Utchdorf, Elder Bednar and just all of them, it was really good.


Lori and Preston came for the Sunday morning session and then we had brunch and made Abelskivers (pancake puffs), we had to rename it because Chris said it sounded like a skin disease. We also had the usual sausage, eggs, hashbrown,mmmmmmm yummy!

Beckham has refused to eat in his booster high chair. He always sees Brooklyn sitting at her little table and wants to sit there. So I started letting him sit there, he is such a big boy and eats his food better than when he's in the high chair. So anyway these next pictures are of the kids eating together, I thought it was so cute!

Check Beckham out with his foot all on the table

And here they are later that day, hanging out with daddy. Check out Beckham's cute cowboy jammas.

Naked Man On The Loose!!!!!!

I'm sure many of you have experienced the baby who doesn't want his diaper changed and tries to get away any chance he has. Well, Beckham got loose, a naked baby running around the house! He had wanted to ride his little ATV when I wanted to change his diaper and then this happened, it was too cute, I had to take pictures....who can't resist a naked little boy on an ATV!!!

Halloween Fun!

Last week we decorated for Halloween, the kids love it! Then we made some halloween crafts, here are our candles and here is Brooklyn's spooky tree house, pretty stinkin' cute. Tonight, the kids got a package from my mom that had halloween socks in them that blinked when you walked in them. Beckham's had blinking bats and Brooklyn's had blinking cats. Brooklyn put hers on right away and Beckham saw them and got all excited to put his on. Then he was walking around all funny trying to look down to see them......cute!!!

ATV action

So, craigslist is the best. We've sold some stuff on there and we've bought some great stuff on there. We happen to find this little ATV for the kids for $20 and it was here in West Seattle so we had to snatch it up. The kids love it and it's so fun to watch them on it. Beckham is a little dare devil. Last night he was standing on the seat while riding it. Sometimes he'll run across the room, get on it and then drive off nodding his head like, "Yeah, that's right baby! Check me out". And just today I was changing his diaper and right before I could get another diaper on him, he raced across the room and jumped on his 4 wheeler naked, pretty stinkin' cute.
Here are some vids

Kalispell, Montana.....love it!

We spent half of the week at my parent's house in Simms and then half of the week in Kalispell, a few hours away where my sister just moved. It was my birthday present from my parents to go visit my sis and have a night out on the town and to just hang out and have fun in Whitefish and Glacier too. Refer to the slideshow above for the pictures of this trip.

The drive over was gorgeous with the changing leaves. We drove on the outskirts of Glacier into Kalispell. There is just something about those mountains, too pretty to describe. We met Laini when she got off work and then we got ready and headed to our friend's Jesse and Brooke Lee. They are such a fun couple, we really wish we lived closer to them. It was really fun to catch up with them, they have 3 cute kids and our kids got along with them so well like they had always known each other, it was so cute. Brooklyn just followed Mia around and Mia loved it. They dressed up like princesses and when Brooklyn lost her princess show, Luke came and put it on like Cinderella, awwwww.


Jesse builds spec homes and they had just sold the one where we visited them that day. He does amazing work. Chris and I want him to build our cabin someday. It was so fun to see them, I can't wait to go back more often now that Laini is there.


The next day we went out to Whitefish and had lunch and went to all the little tourist shops and to the park and to Whitefish Lake. When we were driving back to Laini's we were just going through town and saw deer just hanging out in people's backyards. Then behind the Super 8 motel, there were 3 bucks, weird, it was kinda cool. That night Laini and I went out on the town to celebrate my birthday, we went out to eat and saw a movie, it was so fun to spend time with her. My parent's watched the kids and had a great time with them. When Laini and I got back to the hotel, she asked Brooklyn if she wanted to have a sleep over at her house. Brooklyn jumped up and said "Yes, Yes I do!" She grabbed her toys and was ready to go. She was so excited. On the drive over she asked Laini, "So you are going to take care of me?" and Laini said, "Of course" and then Brooklyn smiled and said "Ok". Even though Laini had moved, Brooklyn still remembered sleeping with Laini's stuffed mountain goat in her San Diego house. She asked if she could sleep with it again and Laini thought it was funny that she remembered. They painted fingernails and made a bed for Brooklyn's little toys. The next morning Brooklyn was just fine and said "I'd like cereal and I want to watch Sponge Bob". So they had lots of fun....cute!!



We all met up again that day to go to Glacier Park. We drove up the Going to the Sun Road all the way to the top. It was so pretty up there but freezing!! We hiked around a little bit and then headed back down to Lake MacDonald where we saw a moose swimming out in the middle of the lake, it was the weirdest thing. He was just out in the middle just having a good time, it was pretty cool to see. We hung out at the lake for a while and went to the gift shops and had lunch, the best part was the huckleberry pie! Then we headed back to Simms.



When we got back to Simms, we had missed all the excitement. A bear had wandered down in the Simms area raiding bee hives. They caught him and took him back to the mountains....scary!! Which reminds me, Zane and his buddies were up hiking in Glacier about a month ago and on their way back down the trail, people were yelling at them from the road. They couldn't tell what was going on until they got a little closer......there was a grizzly bear on the trail in front of them. Zane wanted a picture but his buddy said no way....they waited until the grizzly moved on....here is a picture that someone from the parking lot took, Zane is on the left and looks like he is going to pee his pants!! Crazy!!



So my early birthday weekend was great! Anytime I can get to Montana is always the best. Oh, yeah so my birthday was on the 1st of October and I'm officially in my 30's....where did the time go....I don't feel 31, and Chris says I don't even look 24 so I guess that's good. Chris made me breakfast and Brooklyn sang to me. They gave me my favorite perfume, Light Blue by Dolce and Gabbana. Then my friend Heather and her kids came and we had a fun time playing all day, it was a good day.

More of Montana

So, my mom is the best Grandma. She is just so much fun with the kids. Brooklyn knows all the places that grandma has toys and knows that grandma always has fun little projects to do while we are there. Beckham got in on the fun this time, it's so fun that he is older now and can do more things.

One of the days we were there, I came in and heard giggling in the dining room. I walk in and Brooklyn and Grandma GG are sitting there eating a banana caterpillar they made. They made it with a banana, peanut butter, pretzels and coconut. They were having so much fun. My mom had just bought a cute kids recipe book that had fun ideas in it, so they were trying one of them out.

The kids also enjoy reading books with my mom, Beckham would go get book after book and hand it to her and then turn around to sit in her lap. It was so cute. They both would sit in her lap for bedtime stories and they loved it. We had a lot of fun coloring, painting pictures, playing with play dough, and playing polar bowler on the computer. Beckham also had a special love for a singing bear my mom has that sings "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch", he would get it out and dance and smile so big.
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Last time we were home, Brooklyn noticed a big trunk in the living room my parent's use as a coffee table. Brooklyn asked if it was a treasure chest and my mom said yes it is and next time you come to my house it will have a treasure for you, but first you'll have to find the key. So my mom put some treasures in it and we had a little scavenger hunt. I drew pictures of the places she was supposed to look for her next clue. We went from the microwave, to the bathtub, to the dryer, to the piano and finally we found the key in the refrigerator. She was so excited to open the treasure. Inside was candy, a note from GG and Papa, and some little presents. Beckham got some trucks and cute books, Brooklyn got some little mickey mouse figurines and some cute books. They were both so excited. And it was funny because when Beckham got his new book, he took it straight to GG and sat on her lap ready to read.
The treasure chest




Another fun thing the kids got to do is go have lunch at the high school. Lori's mom is the head cook/chef there and we got to go eat. Brooklyn and Tallulah had a blast eating at school, afterwards we went outside and played on the lawn and then went to the park to play and catch lady bugs.


Now for Beckham's favorite part, going to see the cows. The cows were still out on the range land so we headed out to feed them a little and both Brooklyn and Beckham got to drive the truck. Beckham would moo at the cows and just point at them and stare with big eyes. Our rangeland has some interesting sand stone formations that I used to call smurf village when I was little. They are so fun to climb on and explore or play hide -n-seek. We went and checked them out and both kids loved it. We even found a rock that looked like it had a face. We also have tons of deer and antelope we see as we drive around our land. One night we saw 3 does and 3 fawns another time I was driving out of the driveway and almost hit a buck. And when we were out on the rangeland we saw a huge herd of antelope running and we heard coyotes in the distance. The kids just love it!

Brooklyn thinks Grandpa is so strong

jumping off the haystack

checking out a little cave out in the smurf rocks

The rock face

check out these videos of Beckham and Brooklyn talking to the cows and see how pretty the dark blue sky is against the rangeland, awesome!