Gone Witching at Gardner Village

Brock and I went with Luke's sisters and their kids to Gardner Village last week to the Witch Festival. It was so much fun!! There were people dressed as witches everywhere! This was our first time going, but next year we are definitely dressing up. Brock had a great time with his cousins, thanks for inviting us!! (L-R) Jace and Izzy Wetsel, Brocko Man, Gabe and Lincoln Sanchez. Izzy was dressed as a witch, but she's not wearing her hat in this pic so you can't tell. She was scaaary! :)

Mr. Mano sittin on a bale of hay all by himself. I love fall, babies look so cute bundled in their jackets don't they?!

Mommy and Brocko. I didn't even have to dress up and everyone thought I was dressed as a witch. I guess if the broom fits, ride it!

We walked past this witch and I thought I was looking in a mirror! Brockton didn't like her too much if you can't tell. Oh well it was a fun night!

My Bigger Boy

Brocko in his jumperoo toy, he loves this thing! Of course he has his finger in his mouth because he's holding his "loving". The minute you hand him his little blankie his finger goes straight in his mouth. I love that about him.

Brocko snuggling with his other "loving" aka his mommy. These moments are few and far between with a busy little one always wanting to explore, so I never take these moments for granted. What a sweet boy.

It's these moments that make the hard work of motherhood completely worth it. There is not a better feeling in this world than to have your precious little one fall asleep in your arms snuggling. I'm so lucky to be his mommy!

Brockton wanted to try out his cousin Lincoln's toy car the other day so I was pushing him around the room and he was just loving it! Boys just have an instinct when it comes to cars and stuff, no one even showed him how and he was steering with the steering wheel and everything.

He kept trying to stand up while inside and the car would slide back and he would end up underneath the car. He couldn't figure out how that kept happening! He looked like such a big boy in the toy car, I can't believe I have an 11 month old baby!!

Cake Class Week 4

I finished my last cake class for Course 1 a few weeks ago!! I thought I should probably post these pics to redeem myself from the pics I posted of the cake from week 2 of my cake class. This was a really fun cake to make and I'm so excited that I can actually do something like this! The next class I'm going to take is learning to do tiered cakes and fondant. Wish me luck!!

I've been inspired, so...

I'm going to start blogging even when I don't have pictures to post. Brock changes daily and I feel like if I don't write some of the little things down then I'll forget to tell you later, so cut me some slack if my first try is boring, I'll work on it.

So first of all, he is growing up so fast right now. He'll be turning 1 in a little over a month and its starting to freak me out. I just keep thinking - ok when I got pregnant I signed up to have a baby, right? What is this baby thinking turning into a toddler?! I'm loving every minute of it, but it is just starting to hit me that he's not going to stop getting older...ever... {sniff sniff}

Seriously though, he's adorable. I'm thinking that the stork may have gotten the wrong address when he dropped Brock off at our doorstep, but we are KEEPING him anyway!! Some of his new favorite things are:

1. Naptime.... Not because he likes to sleep, but because he's figured out that if he stands up in his crib he can pull the soft toy things off of his mobile and play with them, or stand up in his crib and bounce to the music in his mind, or just talk and sing as high and as loud as he can until his mom comes in to tell him that it really is time for nigh night, that wasn't a joke.
2. Letters. He has his name spelled out on the wall in his room and I'll point to each letter and say it's name and then tell him that it spells Brock. He'll keep pointing to it until I repeat the process about 20 times. He'd better know how to spell his name by kindergarten is all I have to say!
3. Say Jesus. He can audibly say the word which is amazing to me because most of the other words I try to teach him usually come out as dada, mama, or baba.
4. Watch Nemo. Finding Nemo is his favorite movie and he will watch it from the "first day of school" scene (I skip the beginning cause it makes me cry) until the very end of the credits... and if I try to talk to him while he's watching, he'll lean over and peek around my head so he still has a clear view of his movie. He even gets into some parts, like the part when all the fishes are saying "swim down", Brock will get really excited and yell right along with them. We decided it would be appropriate that his first birthday party was a Nemo theme. Or "Noono" as he calls it.
5. Flexing his muscles. I don't know if he saw his dad flexing in front of the mirror (hehe) or where he learned this one, but if anyone flexes their arms and grunts, he'll do it right back. It's a classic.

Well there's much more, but I have a feeling that if I keep going I'll never stop...

But I just have one more thing to say...I'm so glad that Brock has such a wonderful dad. He is so helpful with Brock, and has such a way with him. Sometimes I feel a little jealous that I'll never have the special bond with Brock that only a father and son can share, but I'm so glad that he has such a wonderful role model to look up to in his dad. I can always depend on Luke to pick up right where I left off when I have to go somewhere without them and Luke knows exactly what Brock's schedule is and what to do...it's really incredible. I'm so lucky to have two amazing boys in my life. I don't think I could love them more, but I know by tomorrow I already will.

First Day of School

Ok so no one in our family really started school this year, but I started taking cake classes a few weeks ago, so Luke took pictures of me like it was my first day of school. I'm really excited about the stuff I've learned so far, and I can't wait to get into the really exciting stuff (and really hard) like the fondant and lace work. The picture below is my very first cake. It's really ugly, but I was just trying to impliment all of the techniques we learned in week 2 on one cake so it's really um...pretty. As you can see, I have a LONG way to go, but you gotta start somewhere right? Mrs. Flinders is well on her way! :)

Entire Summer Update...sorry!

What a summer! Just so you can more fully appreciate this post, I want to preface by saying that it has taken me an hour and a half to upload these pictures so I hope you appreciate each picture thoroughly. :) We'll start off the summer in June...I'll give a description below each picture. Here we go!!!

Jace Andrew Wetsel was born to Luke's sister Brianne and her husband Scott and big sister Izzy on June 10! I got to see him be born and it was incredible. He was 9.4 lbs and 20 in; a big boy and had a few health complications at first which gave us all a scare, but he's doing great now! What a sweet boy!!

In June we took a trip up to Washington to visit the Black family and to perform for Brook's youth in her stake for youth conference. She is in the YW in her ward! It was so good to see them and the cousins again, Eliza was so sweet with Brockton, she just loved him. While we were there, Brook and Dan announced that they're pregnant again!! They recently found out its another little boy! We are so excited!!!!

We went to the Columbia river and to the park on saturday and it was so beautiful! I can't believe they have such an awesome place to go only 5 minutes away from where they live! We had a picnic and the kids played at the park and all the guys skipped rocks on the river it was a lot of fun!

The weather was so beautiful and Brock loves being outside on a ride in his stroller. Luke loved the river and kept joking about us moving up there. It was such a pretty place!

The boys all left washington on sunday and the girls stayed until wednesday so it was fun to relax and let the kids play for a few days and catch up with Brookie. She was a wonderful hostess and a REALLY good cook. Luke kept telling me to get her recipes at every meal cause they were delicious! Brock was being cute while the kids were outside playing so I took some photos of the kids.

Cute mano sitting in a chair like a big boy. He was only 7 months then!

All three babies in th matching outfits that Mimi got for them. Eliza was sharing her otter pop with Brock which he was enjoying a little too much...he wouldn't give it back.

We were there for Porter's first birthday (so crazy!) and he was such a cutie with his cake and presents. He is such a sweet boy, we love our Ports!!

Porter got some balls for his birthday cause he loves balls, he was just pushing them around the room it was way cute. He's wearing his new birthday jammies we got him!

Crazy Daniel and Eliza...He's gonna love that I put this picture up. hehe

Luke thought it would be funny to tie my scarf around Brock's head. He looks like a beautiful ninja.

This was Brock's first 4th of July!! We went to the Centerville parade and then over to Founders Park for the festivities. Later on we went swimming at Brooke and Gus's pool it was super fun!

Later that night we went over to my family's house to do some fireworks. There's nothin like the good old firework show in the middle of the road. Dad had patriotic music playing from his truck and we sat on blankets and ate cherries.

Brockton sitting on Mimi's lap (my mom) watching his first fireworks. He wasn't scared at all which surprised me cause he usually gets scared of loud noises but he was loving it! We wrapped him up so the mosquitos wouldn't get him.

In July we went up to Flaming Gorge with Luke's family. Grandma and Grandpa Flinders live up there and they hadn't seen Brock yet, so I was anxious to get a 4 generation picture when we got there. Luke and Brock are in their swimsuits so it's not the prettiest picture, but I'm so happy we got it!!

Mary Ila and Earl are the sweetest people ever. She is WAY big into family history which is so amazing and I admire her so much for that! Luke's Aunt and her family were also there so I got to meet some new cousins for the first time as well which was fun!

This is our last boating day there before we left, I'm bummed I didn't get pictures of the first day because the weather was perfect and so was the water so Luke looked really good out on the slolam, but I did get a few pics of him on the wakeboard. Oh yeah, Izzy got up on 2 skis with Gary for her first time it was so cute and she was so brave for only being 3!

Luke was being such a geek and making us all laugh. I can't wait until I'm good enough at skiing or wakeboarding that I can goof off while doing it...pretty much right now I'm just concerned with staying above the water and getting in and out of the wake. Or if I'm slolaming, getting out of the water. :)

His first good jump. I missed his best one and I was bummed, but this one was pretty good too. The water was terrible so he was doing great!

I can't believe I got this picture! Believe it or not, he landed this. hah! He was so surprised that he landed it that he momentarily forgot what he was doing and biffed it...it was funny.

The kids love playing with Grandma and Grandpa Flinders play cars in the backyard. They had a gas tank and everything! Thanks for the fun trip Gary and Lisa, we had so much fun!!!

As soon as we got home from Flaming Gorge we were off to Nauvoo! We flew out to St. Louis with Michael and Jenny and then drove from there to Nauvoo where we met up with my family who drove. Our first night there we got to see Grandma Gibbons (on a mission there) and the pageant!! We had some cousins performing in the pageant so it was fun to see everyone and the pageant was incredible as always!

We performed as a family in the Sunday Night Sociable the next night which was so much fun and the weather was amazing for it! We did a variety of broadway selections; Luke sang "I turned the corner" from Millie, "Agony" from Into the Woods, and "Me" from Beauty and the Beast, and I sang "Not for the Life of Me" from Millie, and "A change in me" from Beauty and the Beast. After our sunday performance we got to do some sight seeing on monday! Luke had never been to Nauvoo before so I was so excited for him to see everything! Nauvoo is such an amazing place! Here we are at the Scovil Bakery. Brock was being crazy as usual! :)

More crazy Brocko! He's showing off his 2 new teeth in this picture! We shared a rental car with Michael and Jenny and they were teaching him all kinds of stuff while we rode in the car. Mikey taught him how to click his tongue it was so cute!

We got to go to Carthage Jail and it wasn't very busy which was kind of cool to get to spend more time there. Brock was really good and quiet for the tour and it was so neat. There is such a neat spirit there and the sister missionaries that give the tours are so sweet.

All 11 of us (yep, including little Chelsea in Jenny's tummy) at Carthage in front of the window Joseph Smith fell from when the mob attacked.

Our little family in front of the window :)

Next the window and the bed that John Taylor hid under.

Outside underneath the window

This is such a cool statue, and you can see the window in the background of the room where Joseph and Hyrum were shot.

We had the opportunity to do a sealing session in the Nauvoo temple with my mom and dad, grandma gibbons and Michael and Jenny. The temple is so beautiful and we got to take a tour and see how neat it is. The spirit of those saints of old is so strong in Nauvoo, but especially at the temple. It is a really special temple.

So beautiful!!!!

Brockton and Daddo outside the temple grounds across the street. Handsome daddy and son!!

They do such an amazing job with the gardens at the temple, I couldn't get enough pictures!

Brockton and Mommo in front of some more beautiful flowers at the temple!

As we were taking pictures at the temple Brock decided to say his very first word....can you guess what it is by the look on my face? Yep, mama!! He's saying it in this picture, SO cute!! What a happy day! It was such a neat trip and so good to see Grandma and her Rendezvous that she has worked so hard on. We can't wait to be able to come again!!

Next came girls camp! I am an advisor in the Laurels and this was my first girls camp in the YW! We have the sweetest girls ever and it was so much fun!!! Here we are on the first day right before our craft. We were just mingling and snacking.

More mingling and snacking. The woman with the big flower is our YW pres. Becky Lowder. She is amazing!! I love all these ladies!!

This was on our awesome hike. Joela (with her arms stretched out) didn't know I was taking this picture. hehe. Our theme at camp was "Treasure Seekers" and so we were on a treasure hunt on our hike and the leaders took turns explaining the different "treasures" of virtue when the girls found a "golden boulder".

More of the girls on our hike!!

and some more... I love Keara in this picture (the one sitting) she looks so sassy!

The last night Bishop Bianucci and his wife came up and the girls whipped out some cans of hair dye spray and colored his hair...which led to everyone getting their hair dyed. He was a very good sport...He is an amazing Bishop!

This is Libby. I braided her hair and they sprayed it different colors. Her hair is super long like mine was at her age. Such a cute girl.

L to R: Becky Lowder (YW pres), Kenzi Stratford (miamaid advisor), me, Allison Gunnell (2nd counselor). Do you like my pink hair?!!

All of us with our beautifully colored hair! I'm on the far right in the pink.

Me and Kenz (miamaid advisor). We have so much fun together...we are the same age. She's such a cute girl!

After girls camp and our family trips were over we had some time to relax, so this is how we spent our family night...making a fort for soldiers out of lincoln logs. You have to admit, it's pretty good.

This guy was strategically placed on the front lines of the barricade. Its cause he's the bravest.

Tubby time at Grandma Lisa's (Luke's mom) house! Tubbing with cousin Gabey (left) and Lincoln (right)!!

Brock learned how to crawl a few weeks ago, and his newfound mobility has gotten him into some sticky situations. This is one that happens pretty often actually...he gets his bottom half stuck underneath things; the bed, the changing table, his crib. Yeah, he's pretty good at this one.

Daddo and Brocko having Bahbahs. He LOVES his dad. When Luke gets home from work Brock will tense every muscle in his body cause he's so excited. We both have the same reaction!

Luke transferred branches from Salt Lake to Clinton which is closer to home and where he'll be going to school in January, so Brock and I visit him for lunch now! There is a park pretty close to where he works where we have picnics, and I thought it would be a fun idea to take Brock down the slide...well you can't really tell from the picture, but it's a really steep and narrow slide so I think I was more surprised than Brock when we got to the bottom!

Mr. Mano takin a nap. His new favorite thing is using his bumper pads as a footrest. That little blanket is his "loving" and he can't sleep without it. It's so precious! What a handsome boy!

Gramdy and Grandpa (Flinders) took the babies to the zoo recently and bought tickets for us to ride on the carousel. Brockton absolutely loved it! It was hard to get a clear picture with the movement, but Luke did pretty good! We rode on the bear! It was really fun, thanks Grandma!

Last but definitely not least, Brockton got his first haircut!! Doesn't he look so handsome in his robot cape? I took him to Smart Cuts in Layton and they put his hair in an envelope for me and gave him a certificate that said first haircut on it. He sat on my lap for his cut and he held pretty still...such a good boy!

So we had a GREAT summer! Thanks to both of our parents and families for the fun vacations and memories!! We can't wait to see what the rest of the year will hold! Hopefully now that I'm caught up with updating the summer I can be better at blogging...so sorry! Loves!!