4!!!!

Yep, we're having baby #4! We're super excited and the baby should be here around mid September, which should make for a very interesting summer here in HOT & HUMID South Carolina. This better be a boy Randi! (We always seem to follow Bart & Randi's order of kids and their baby boy will be here soon!) We would be totally happy with a girl too, I'm just sick of Dane complaining that he's bored because he doesn't have a brother to play with....like I could control that. And Lily is already calling the baby "her" baby, 2 1/2 yr olds are funny. I LOVE my kids and can't wait to have another, hopefully I'll still be sane after this one ;)

New Jeans

Some of you may already know this, but jeans shopping is torture for me...and always has been. So when I find a pair I actually like it's a big deal, big enough to blog about! Which reminds me, I wish I could go back to my pre-baby body and try on jeans when I "thought" it was torture. It's bad enough that I only do it every 2-3 years and I wear them till they have holes and can't anymore for modesty purposes. Lily didn't even know what a dressing room was, she said "where are we going?" with big eyes as we walked in. Anyway, my new jeans are super comfy and pretty stylin' and under 30 bucks from Target, not as good as my last pair from Old Navy for $10, but not bad. I need them to be comfy because my belly's gonna grow soon....yeah, new jeans!!!

yoga

So, lately I've been doing yoga at home with Namaste Yoga on FitTV and I didn't get to do it while the kids were at school yesterday. So after they got home and were playing upstairs I started it up. By the time I was nearly done, this is what was going on...... Silly kids! Well, atleast they're always up for trying something new!! ;)

Christmas Chaos

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas..... we did! The kids were thrilled by all the fun gifts from Oma & Opa, Grandma & Grandpa & Rebecca, and Uncle Josh~ We had a lot of unknown gifts this year from them which made for many moments of begging to open presents early. One of our traditions is to open a present Christmas Eve (usually pajamas or a robe), so here is Lily, Lexi & Dane loving their cozy robes ;)

Another tradition is for the kids to get delicious Dutch chocolate letters from my Dutch grandma...that was always one of my favorites as a kid~ YUM!

And of course.....the Christmas morning chaos! From this picture you wouldn't know that my kids know the TRUE meaning of Christmas, but don't worry~ we had already read about our Saviors birth from the Bible.

Lexi enjoying her iPod and iDog after all the mayhem. My kids were acting like teenagers for a couple days after getting these, but have since mellowed....thank goodness!!

Our pup Cooper enjoying one of his Christmas toys on his first Christmas :)

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Hope you all are enjoying your Holiday! We are hangin' out here in South Carolina away from family :( But hopefully we'll get to see family soon for Dane's baptism! Packages & cards are all sent and finally I have a moment to blog...sorry for the break. We miss all our friends from Bethesda & Yorba Linda & from growing up in the AV, but have had so much fun catching up with you guys on facebook. We feel blessed by this season and the great opportunity we have to spend a bit more time teaching our children about our Savior and the miracle of his birth and life and Atonement and reminding ourselves too, ofcouse. Love to you all and safe travels!

cowboys & cowgirls

Dane & Lexis' school put on a hoedown the other day....it was very cute~ the kids worked so hard learning their dances and they were so excited when they finally got to show off their moves. The videos are mainly for the grandparents~ if you want to hear what they're dancing to you can pause the music on the music box. Lily loved watching them danced and clapped and jumped up and down at the end of each performance.

Lexi is front and center wearing jeans, boots, braids and a hat. She's got a huge grin~ she was so happy to see us at her first school performance :) Dane's is the second video....he is behind the girl that is front right. He's wearing brown chaps and vest and if you watch closely at the end of his dance you can see him panting in exaggerated exhaustion and pretending to wipe sweat from his forehead~ silly kid!!

10 years!

3 great kids
9 houses in
5 states
8 years of education
1 year of 100 hrs/wk internship
7 cars
17 weeks away from eachother
3650 days sealed together all in...
1 wonderful decade!

adding a new member to our little family!

Meet Cooper...... After ten years of not having a dog we finally did it! I couldn't resist Lexi's BEGGING puppy dog eyes any longer. Can I just say....I love craigslist! We found this little guy (we even found one of our houses on there), who's owners were gone too much and felt bad leaving him alone a lot. He's 7 mos. old and a handful, but very sweet. We actually got him free and he came with all his posh supplies....we're so happy to have him!!

Presley Morgan Camp

Joe & Mandy had their beautiful baby girl last week....this makes 3 girls! Joe always thought I was way too dramatic as a kid....and as a teenager.....and probably as an adult too. And now with these darling little girls he will REALLY have his fill of drama, but no man could handle it better...love you Joe. What a blessing!! Congratulations guys!!!

Warning: a ton of pictures

Last week my mom & dad, Rachel, Eli & Brynn left after a VERY FUN 2 week visit. Our house has felt kinda empty since they left.....as you can imagine our house was very lively with 10 people (and a cat)~ everyday we played "musical babies" as we strategically put kids down for naps in different rooms and then moved them for the next kids needing sleep. Bremen & I also finally had a good excuse for going to see a bunch of local sights, which were more gratifying to experience with family!

It was so fun to see our kids playing with their cousins, because we're so far from any family it doesn't happen often enough. We all loved getting to know Brynn, she's so much fun and such a smart & sweet baby girl.

Lily & Eli are quite a pair~ they're 5 mos apart and love all the same things (Elmo, Thomas trains, Mickey, Little People) which made things easy and difficult at times. Above, they were playing in the rain. Below, they loved climbing into the wagon~ they'd have a conversation (interesting ones) or dance like in this picture, funny kids.



Boone Hall Plantation Pumpkin Patch

Still such a cute aunt to my kids, even after having babies of her own :)

Peninsula Grill

I mentioned before that for our birthdays Jake & Rach gave Bremen & I a gift certificate to this amazing, world famous restaurant in Charleston. My mom & Rach watched our kids while we enjoyed the best food since we were in Italy a couple years ago, if not ever. (We were walking by the next day so we stopped for a picture). The service was amazing, you seriously don't believe there are places like this until you experience it for yourself....imagine it being like Ratatouille but without the rats of course and instead of french accents, there are gentlemanly southern accents.....quite the experience! Thank you Jake & Rach & mom, it was a great night. Oh, we're celebrating our anniversary this month that explains the writing on the plate and this is their amazing coconut cake....yum!

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is a 2 hr drive away so we ventured out (all the kids in tow). It is such a charming place....this is the old part, it reminds me of Italy, I love how old architecture has so much European influence. The cobblestone is original from the 1600's.

Since we were in town, we HAD to stop by Paula Dean's restaurant~ Lady & sons, but our timing was off so we didn't get to eat there, it was satisfying enough just to see it though.

Isle of Palms

This is our beach that's just a few miles away, we love it~ shallow, warm water, perfect for the kids.

Angel Oak

Isn't this amazing? They say this may be the oldest live oak in North America and maybe even the world~ it's 1500+ years old (it's true, I looked it up to be sure I heard right), it is truly majestic!

Magnolia Plantation

We heard the Magnolia gardens were breathtaking, and they did not disappoint. Lexi found this garden which is the first garden in America, dated to the 1600's.

They loved it so much we had to drag them out of there! Very sweet antique garden.

They also had this beautiful maze which was a fun surprise.

Random Fun-ness

The kids attacking Opa....literally! They always love running around and wrestling with Opa.

One of Eli's many early mornings (poor Rach), but on the upside, Dane & Lexi loved seeing him every morning before school.

A walk around the neighborhood, the wagon is a must!

We had such a fun, memorable time. Thanks mom, dad & Rach, and also Jake for being so supportive of Rach coming out here.