family hike!

 Saturday we decided to have some family fun and go on a hike together. We have this gorgeous  mountain about 2 miles from our home and it has a great trail for hiking. Penny was SO happy to go with us on this adventure! We packed up some Subway sandwiches and lots of yummy snacks, then headed out on the most beautiful (but chilly) day.

Brandon's eyes are closed in this shot but I LOVE the way Penny is looking at the camera! ;)

She seriously had the best time! She even decided to roll in "mud" and get completely filthy. Okay so what I thought was mud was actually poo. :( So gross Penny! We were cracking up.

We stopped at a picnic table and had our lunch. YUMMY!

The view from the top is amazing! If you look really hard you can see the Benicia bridge. What a great day for some outdoor fun. We had a blast! 

When we got home Penny was quickly put into the bathtub for a good scrubbing. 

She spent the rest of the day like this! SO tired. 

cousins

My wonderful mother and father-in-law came out for a visit and they brought this awesome guy! Donovan is one of Brandon's new cousins from John's side and Brandon LOVES him. They are only a month apart in age and get along really well. While they were here we took them to Sky High Jump 

(a fun trampoline place.) Donovan had SO much fun the first time that he requested to go a second time, which we did. :)

 Since it was raining we canceled our planned San Fran trip and went to Jelly Belly instead. We thought the boys would have a great time...they did. 

 Brandon was SO proud to take his cousin to primary. They looked adorable in their Sunday best so I had to snap a picture on the way home. 

Thank you for coming to see us Dennis, Judy and Donovan! We sure do love you. 

Come back again soon!

L.O.V.E.

I had the BEST time doing the "12 days of Valentine's" for my two favorite guys this year! Each day starting on February 3rd, I had something special to give them. Brandon LOVED looking forward to the surprises. I had fun getting creative with what to do! I think Brandon's favorite day was the first one...he got a pair of "Perry P.J.'s." 

Here he is after opening the Valentine that 

Nana and Papa John sent him...sporting the new pajamas. He was one happy boy.

The 1st day...

The 11th day...

I told him that we can read it together each night for 11 minutes! :)

I did not get many pictures of the past 12 days, 

but hopefully my guys remember how much I love them anyway. 

 I got to make cookies for the class Valentine's Day party. I love being a room mom!

 Some homemade Oreo cookies with pink icing for Brandon's primary teacher. 

 We decided to make candy IPOD's this year for his classmates. Thanks for the idea Wendy!

 Can't wait for the party tomorrow! 

Jelly Belly Factory!

Aunt Angie, Lily and my mom came to visit us for a few days! It was so much fun to have them in town. They even brought their dogs so Penny had friends to play with as well! We did NOT want them to leave...ever! Although we just hung out most of the time, enjoying each others company, eating yummy Kinder's BBQ and relaxing, we did have some fun adventures as well. We decided to go to the Jelly Belly factory! My mom left a couple days before Angie and Lily did, so she did not get to go with us. :( 

Maybe next time Nana!

 The tour of the factory was awesome! Brandon and Lily had a great time looking at all the jelly beans that were being made. It really was amazing! Our tour guide explained every step in the bean making process. They let you sample Jelly Belly's throughout the tour so that made it super exciting. ;) 

They don't allow you to take pictures inside though...bummer!

After the tour was over they gave each person a little box of beans to take home. That made this guy very happy!

This is the sample bar. SO much fun to try all the different flavors! There are even gross flavors like booger, tooth paste, baby wipes and canned dog food! 

John told Brandon that he could pick out ANY flavor and he would try it! Brandon chose "rotten egg" for John to eat. He said it was so disgusting...and he spit it out! Ha! What a funny dad!

 The kids ate so many jelly beans that day! 

 Thank you for visiting us! We love you! 

Penny the Puggle and Piano Practice!

The only thing we have been doing for the past two weeks is potty training this cute little thing. What a lot of work! It's really like having a new baby in the house!! Good thing we think she is adorable and totally worth the work. ;) 

 Brandon has started taking piano lessons and he is loving it. He really likes his teacher so that makes it even more fun. So far is likes to practice and never complains. Hope it stays that way!

our new little sweetie...

We are so in love with our new Puggle! After searching for weeks we found the dog of our dreams, and she flew in all the way from Oklahoma to join our family! We love her so much already!

Brandon's new buddy.

Giving some kisses.

We just love her BIG ears! So floppy and soft!

She is super active and loves to play with her toys. What a cute lil thing! Now Brandon just needs to figure out what to name her!

This boy...

He

makes me laugh

Every. Single. Day.

I am so grateful that I get to be his mom.

I am so thankful for my little man. Without him, life would be very boring!