Happy 4th of July!!!

I know! I'm a tad bit late in posting this! We were really lucky and got to be in Philidelphia over the 4th! It was awesome and such a neat experience! I got goose bumps while I read about the different historical things that happened there. Nathan's parents met us there and we had a FABULOUS weekend!! Here is the abridged rundown (check out the picture album for more details):

Friday 7/4 - the trip there went a million times faster this time around! Instead of 6 hours it only took us 3.5! We got there a little early so we went and perused the Babies R Us that was across the street. I love that place! When Mom and Dad West arrived we went to Mickey D's and then hung out in the hotel while the girls jumped around wearing glow bracelets. They were in heaven. We did catch some fireworks at Sesame Place that night but it was a really short show!! It lasted about 10 minutes but it was still really fun!!

Saturday - We took a trip to Hershey, PA and got to visit Chocolate World and Hershey Park! It was AWESOME! Hershey, PA is beautiful. I could live there. There were some seriously crazy roller coasters there! Someday I am going to go back when I can ride them! The girls loved the rides and the hershey kiss character and the zoo!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then went and saw the sights in Philadelphia. 2 things cooled us off - the M&M man that was giving away free ice-cream and the downpour of rain right as we were leaving! It was SO fun! We walked about 5 or 6 blocks in the pouring rain and it felt amazing! We were drenched and I loved every minute of it!

On Monday we went to Sesame Place. The girls were in heaven! They met several Sesame Street characters and went on tons of rides! Keslie is our little daredevil and is still talking about the roller caseter (that's how she says it) she went on Papa. Anika is all about the rides that go round and round. =) We did get her to go down one of those HUGE white water slides all by herself though! I was shocked! I thought Nathan would be able to go down with her but they wouldn't let him so she had to do it alone and she did great! We loved the lazy river and the live shows. I love this picture!

Best of all we loved being with Mom and Dad. We love living in New England but it's hard not getting to see them as much. We are so glad that they came out and we had such a fun time!! Thanks guys!!!

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One Word

I know, I know. I should be posting about our fun trip last weekend but I'm wanting to do something mindless. So here ya go!

One word. That's all you can write as your answer. Can you do it?

Not as easy as you might think. Change the answers to fit you and post! It's hard to only use one word answers!

1. Where is your cell phone? .................... couch
2. Your significant other?....................... Nathan
3. Your hair?.................................... dirty
4. Your mother? ................................. inspiring
5. Your father?.................................. hardworker
6. Your favorite thing?.......................... family
7. Your dream last night?........................ weird
8. Your favorite drink........................... milk
9. Your dream/goal?.............................. happiness
10. The room you're in?.......................... office
11. Your ex?..................................... none
12. Your fear?................................... death
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years........... together
14. Where were you last night?................... home
15. What you're not?.............................fake
16. Muffins...................................... delicious
17. One of your wish list items?................. rug
18. Where you grew up?........................... Arizona
20. What are you wearing?........................ clothes
21. Your TV?..................................... old
22. Your pets?................................... none
23. Your computer? .............................. needed
24. Your life?................................... lovely
25. Your mood?................................... productive
26. Missing someone?............................. always
27. Your car?.................................... shrinking
28. Something you're not wearing?................ bra
29. Favorite Store?.............................. target
30. Your summer?................................. green!
31. Like someone?................................ lots!
32. Your favorite color?......................... pink
33. Last time you laughed........................ today
34. Last time you cried?......................... yesterday

Almond JOY!!

For those of you that guessed BOY you were right!! =) We are so excited!!

I'm really sorry I didn't call everyone personally! We had a CRAZY day and weren't home for very much of it. Now I have to hurry and get ready for book club (it's at my house tonight!) so I'll fill you all in on the details later! But here are some pictures!!

What's Your Guess?!

Is it a BOY:

Or a GIRL:

Put in your votes! I'll let you know tomorrow!!

Going to the Movies!!

We splurged and took the girls to see Walle yesterday morning! It was super cute! I don't think we will take the girls to a movie for a long time though! $28 is just a bit much to pay all at once (sorry mom and dad! - I'm remembering all the movies you've taken us to! Yikes!). Their policy is that children 11 and under are $7. WHAT??? We had to pay for our 2 year old. Our 2 year old that only paid attention for about half of it and who sat on our lap almost the whole time. AND I think if she'd been one they'd still have charged us. I was a bit bitter about that. Otherwise the whole experience was delightful! Go see Walle!

Summer Haircut

This morning I practiced my haircutting skills on Anika. Don't laugh - I know you're remembering our little tragedy we had with Nathan's hair last year!! But I've improved drastically! As far as his hair goes. I've never cut Anika's before. I thought there was a pretty good chance I would butcher it but I figured - WHAT THE HECK. It's the first day of summer and it will grow out! I actually think it turned out rather cute! I attempted to do layers - not sure how that went. And I know that it's a little uneven in places - but luckily it's not too obvious! Right???? Anyway - she's happy! And that's what matters. She pretty much thinks she's the cutest girl in the world. And she's right. I love this little miss. Here she is!

Raise your hand if you have pregnant brain...

Yeah - that would be me.
I thought tomorrow was the last day of school for Anika. Woops. Wasn't prepared when everyone else was bringing their teacher gifts today. Never fear though - we pulled it off (late) and I thought our gifts were rather cute! =)

Here is my little missy with her teacher and teacher assistants.
Her teacher is on the far left.

In case you didn't see the link....

CAN I HAVE YO NUMBER

This little video that Kelyn showed me in ID is where I got all those lovely lines. =) Pretty darn hilarious. =)

disclaimer - the dangs aren't actually "dangs"

Can I have yo number???

(Kelyn and Tess - this is for you)

DANG!!
DANG!!
Oh, DANG!!
OK...ok...ok
Scu me, can I talk to you for a minute???
EXCU me - CAN I TALK TO YOU FO A MINUTE???

"Who me????"

Uh yeah - I just wanna let you know - the back of yo head is RIDIKOLUS!!

"Oh, thank you!!

Yeah! You are welcome!!
So listen, Can I have yo number???Can I have yo number? Can I have it???

"ha ha - ummm"

What's yo name delicate??

Oh Girl!! Don't be insecure girl!!! OWN that ponytail!!
Work that up do!

Oh Dang!! Your kind of sexy when you take my advice!! I like dat!!
So - Can I have yo number??

Alright - I know. I so don't have a ponytail. And I am so embarrassed to be posting pictures of me - but here you go!! ME at 19 weeks. Baby says hello!!

Whateva.

How accurate do you think these things actually are??

Really?... Bummer.

After waiting for an hour and a half and worrying that I had been forgotten the first thing the doctor and I got to chat about was my weight.

"Brittanie, let's talk about your weight."

"Um, okay."

"You gained 7 pounds this past month."

"Oh. Um. Is that not normal???" haha.

"No - 2 or 3 pounds is normal. So, what have you been eating? Ice-cream?"

*giggling nervously and about to burst into tears*

"How did you guess?!"

"Brittanie, Brittanie (he pats my belly) - you can't contribute to the giant!"

FYI - Kes was almost 11 pounds so we are trying to keep this pregnancy under control.

"haha - okay."

So. I guess I am only allowed to gain 3 pounds this next month. Don't people who throw up a lot their first trimester usually have a hard time gaining weight? Well, not me!! In fact I excel!!

THEN, to top it all off, when the appt. was almost over I a said - "So, do I get to schedule an appt. for my ultrasound?!!" He then says that they usually don't do the ultrasound until 28 weeks. WHAT?????? Sorry buddy. I am SO not waiting another 2 and a half months to find out what we are having (it's a boy - it's gotta be). I think he saw the disappointment on my face because he said he'd work it out so I'll get an appt. Thank you.

So, that's the baby update! I'm feeling good for the most part and the baby is moving lots so that is fun!!

G'bye Jenny!!

Behold - our vast amounts of beauty:

You know this picture is awesome of both of us!!
We miss you guys already and wish you the best of luck with everything!!

Idaho!

Here is the rundown! Our flight there was pretty good except that the movie screens were down so I didn't get to watch a movie. =( The girls are really great on airplanes! We got into Utah and were met by the whole crew minus a couple of the kids and dad. It's great when we are all together. I love it! Tragedy struck as we left the airport:
It was a rainy day and Kelyn's van started hydroplaning and they spun off the road. Nobody was hurt and the van only needed a new tire. Thank goodness!! By the way, that isn't Kelyn's van in the picture. =) Haha! I ended up getting to drive Kelyn's van the rest of the way because I get car sick and she had been driving for a very long time already. We rocked out to Sons of Provo and had a grand time. Favorite song of the trip: Diddly Wack Mack Mormon Daddy for sure. =) Favorite line from the song: My testimony keeps me warm - so flippin' warm. Haha! Those are some funny songs! Dad had made burritos - my favorite - and we all just hung out for the night!
Highlights from the trip in no particular order:

*Dad took all the older girls - Alyssa and up - out to dinner and a movie. We saw Prince Caspian and I thought it was fabulous!
*We watched family home videos and I'm not in them much. But when I am, it's pretty embarrassing! I think I just did my best to stay away from the camera. =) Except when we did music videos. =) We watched all of those too. A word of warning to Mandi, Jenny R., Heidi, Amber D. and Paola - don't get on my bad side or I might just be tempted to show the world your stuff. =) I'm totally kidding - I would only do that to Brittney! =) But seriously, I wish you guys could see these videos we made way back in the day - I laughed so hard I cried. Especially the ones with Heidi. YIKES!! It was really fun to see everybody when they were little and when our family had first combined. Kind of sad to think of all the years that have gone by and to realize how fast time goes. Hannah, Joseph and Alyssa were all so tiny and now they are all 12 and up!! *sob*
* Kensi's graduation. I can't believe she's 18 and out of school! She didn't even cry! I cried with joy at my graduation. I was so happy to be done with high school and moving on! Now I sort of wish I could go back and make myself LOVE high school so that I would cry over leaving rather than being overjoyed at the thought of NEVER GOING BACK to that place again. Anyway, she did great - she looked beautiful, didn't trip even though she was wearing tall heels and she even got to wear a special rope around her neck because she was an honor student.
* All the girls went to Amber's work - CRAIGOS. It was SO yummy! They have a lunch buffet and you get salad, pizza and you get to go to a pasta bar and choose the kind of pasta and sauce. THEN they have dessert pizza. So delish.
* Me, Dad, Kelyn, Mom, Kensi and Amber (at the end) gathered for the season finale of LOST. Oh Sawyer. I love you. Jin - I refuse to believe you're gone. Ben - are you a bad guy or not? And Desmond - all I can do is PURRRRRRR. <---that's supposed to be a rolling tongue sound because he is OH SO DREAMY.
* Tessa and I got into a mini water fight - she started it of course. But the best part is when I was running away downstairs and she threw a cup of water at me from the top of the stairs and it hit the wall and all of mom's pretty stuff and her beautiful table and it was right as mom was coming up the stairs and you should have seen her face!! She kept her cool, though. =)
* They have such a fun splash park with slides and everything!! It was pretty crowded with older kids - college kids included - but it was awesome!! We also got to ride on the carousel which always terrifies Anika. =)
* Two words - DAIRY QUEEN. Probably 5 times.
* Throwing up and such * Playing at the park
* Hannah's softball game and snoasis.
* Artco. Love that place.
* The Beatles Tribute concert - Rob and Cyneil and their kids came up to Idaho for a couple days and went with us to the concert! It was so much fun!! This is the same exact concert (same people and all) that I went to in North Carolina when I was 15!! At that concert I was dancing by the front of the stage and even jumped on stage to give George a hug but a security guard literally grabbed me and THREW me off the stage! Afterwards we all waited by their dressing room and then came out and gave us guitar picks and autographs. Too bad we didn't get pics!! We tried to be groupies at this concert but we asked to late - the front was all full. We just danced like crazy on the bleachers!! We had such a great time!!

We did lots of other little things and it was just so great to be with my family. My girls love Grandma and Grandpa and all their aunts and uncle Joseph and their cousins. It was such a fun time and we were so sad to leave!! We did have a fun surprise at the Salt Lake airport- when we got off the elevator we looked up and saw Carol coming toward us and for a minute I was beyond confused!! Were we in Phoenix and she had come to see us off? Wait, she has luggage - is she going to come home with us?! It turns out that she was their for her niece's wedding and had been waiting at the airport all day for us just so she could see us and take up to lunch! It was the best surprise ever!! She got the girls a couple prizes that kept them entertained for a lot of the trip. I totally threw up on the way home - because that's what I do on airplanes and it was so great to see Nathan when we finally made it home!! He is the best and had our house scrubbed and spotless. Mom and Dad - thank you so much for letting us come stay!! We love you so much!! BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Camping in Rhode Island

Finally!! We have had such a fun month! Over Memorial weekend we went camping in Rhode Island and then came home and turned around and left for Idaho the next morning! Camping was great fun but I can tell you that waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom is NOT pleasant when you have to walk to a port-a-potty a ways away from the tent. I imagined all sorts of things jumping at me. I was SO tempted to squat but just couldn't do it knowing that there were other campers mere feet away. I miss the AZ camping that I grew up with. I'd much prefer to find a tree in the wilderness and squat than to use a port-a-potty. Not my cup of tea I can tell you that. =) On Saturday morning we played in the stream that was right by our campsite and that was great fun! I wish that there had been crodads to catch! By the way- did you read about that 8 ft. fossil they found of a sea scorpion?!! Oh. My. GOSH!

The girls posing with purple bug repellent on their faces.

Anika and I by our pond. I'm still mad I didn't catch a frog...
I'm pure loveliness, I know.

Here is the stream!

Here we are on our "hike".

Connor and Anika busy being in love.

Jenny, Josh, and Jack came and hung out just for the day.

After lunch we went to the beach! It was SUPPOSED to be a beautiful day. =)

It was actually windy and very cold! But that didn't stop the kids...


She is in the middle of something very important right now - can you guess?
Happy Birthday Josh!! Scott and Jenn made a yummy cobbler for his b-day treat!
We ate lots of hot dogs, pancakes and smores and played some mean games of UNO. =) Then on Sunday morning we packed up and headed home! Lots of fun!!

Poor, Neglected Blog

I don't know if I've ever gone this long between posts!! Between being sick and traveling, I just haven't had the time or desire! We just got back from our trip to Idaho a few days ago and things are finally settling down so you can look for new updates over the next couple of days!!

I'll start by going way back to early May when we got to go to dinner with Jared (Nathan's brother)! It was such a fun surprise and we definitely didn't get to hang out long enough but it was still super fun! He was only in town for the night. The girls LOVE him!! Check out these adoring faces!!



He was a really good sport to squish into the backseat and have Anika's car seat falling on him the whole time. =) We are crossing our fingers that he gets to come again soon!!

I'm so glad I married Nathan. Happy anniversary honey!!