I guess it's a good thing we didn't get rid of all the baby gear

This little guy loves every bit of it. Rattles, teething rings, bouncy seats...maybe we'll try carrying him in the sling next.

B13 reunion time

sun
pine trees
puppy
sand pile
worms
lizards
watermelon
playground
water balloons
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, country biscuits, corn on the cob, and Grandma Ruby's apple pie (all made from scratch)
over 400 aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
All this adds up to a very fun day at the B13 ranch. :)
The fun begins...

Griz and Britt fought over who got to play with cousin Abby.

Marnie and Britt with cousins Milly and Abby

Abby has the best laugh I've ever heard. :)

It was pretty funny watching Justin and his cousin Jeddy (Abby & Milly's dad) chase lizards. This one lost his tail, but let the kids check him out for a while.



See lizard? {On Britt's leg}

Griz and Liz(ard)




Milly was cracking me up with her crazy tricks. Each time she'd say, "see...dat's easy fo meeeee. I'm not even scared!"

Filling water balloons/running like crazy when the balloon breaks and water goes everywhere.

Britt was so hungry by the end of the afternoon, that he kind of went crazy with his corn on the cob... ate every kernel in about 45 seconds.

a little catching up

After 2 days, we decided on 'Griz.' {Britt's #1 choice.}
Adjusting to life with a puppy is a lot like adjusting to having a new baby: you have the same haven't-slept-through-the-night-yet fog, you have to deal with the "siblings" acting up for attention, and you have to clean up more bodily fluids than you care to mention. It's been fun though. Especially at 6:30 this morning, as Justin was leaving for work and I let pup out to do his thing. We had wondered where Britt's sticky hand (the prize he picked from the dentist's treasure basket yesterday) ended up. As the dog ran around (freaking out a little) with a bright green hand dangling from his behind, we laughed like we hadn't laughed in weeks. Truly a shining moment in our family life together. haha.
I really shouldn't blame my lack of blog posts on the puppy though... he does sleep a lot. Okay, then I'll blame it on Marnie. She's cut 7 new teeth in the last couple weeks. She honestly has the strangest teething pattern I've ever seen. She got 2 at once, then nothing for 3 months. Then 4 at once, and nothing for 5 months. Now 7 (or 8...who knows) all at once! I don't blame her for being a bit moody. I would be too.
and now, for some totally random pictures

She's got a thing for gloves... Britt loved hats, Marnie loves gloves.




Amid all of this, we took our first real family vacation. We tried to think of the most traditional American family vacation spot of all, which led us to...The Grand Canyon! It was fun to hike a little and see the kids marvel at the size of the canyon. We've come to the realization, though, that once you have kids there really is no such thing as a vacation. It's a lot of hard work, but as long as we made some good memories, we're happy.

I gave Britt one of my old cameras and he had a blast taking pictures. Future blog post: Pictures from Britt's Camera.


Yup...that's the dog in the stroller.

We made a trip to Mesa last week to celebrate the life of my amazing Grandpa, Mel Jones. We will miss him dearly. He was a hard-working, giving, loving, athletic, hilarious, and always happy man. I'm so proud to be part of his legacy. He was the world's best prankster too. I always loved hearing him tell stories of the jokes he played on people. I think I've heard them all enough that I can share them with my kids as they grow too. When someone asked Britt how his Great-Grandpa's funeral was, he said, "so funny!" It was too! His best friend (and next-door neighbor for over 50 years) told of a conversation just a few weeks ago, where my Grandpa asked him to speak at his funeral. Grandpa told him, "but, if the funeral goes over an hour, I'm getting up and walking out!" :)
1 week old Britt with Great-Grandpa Jones

2 year old Britt and Grandpa

10 month old Marnie with Grandpa

Our #3

He fits in perfectly. Isn't he the most adorable little fella you ever saw?




Cousin Abbi loves him too. :)




We welcomed him home yesterday. We decided to get to know him for a day before we settle on a name. For now Marnie calls him "pup-pup" and Britt calls him "my very own puppy." {As in, "Mom, I think My Very Own Puppy needs to go out and whiz again."} I can't get over how in love we all are already... He reminds us so much of her.
We feel complete. :)

Good times at the Brimhall house/backyard...

Britt has a love of stick-on mustaches. Every.Single.Time. we go to the store, he wants to take 2 quarters out of his change jar and get a new one from the "mustache machine." Here, he models a regular over-the-lip number, with a smaller "Chaplin/Hitler" style one under-the-lip (appearing to be more of a soul patch). The hat and glasses were just the icing on the handsome cake. :)


These ones coincide with Marnie's current favorite word... "BUBBLES!"




Britt and Marnie planted some sunflower seeds in the backyard, and between the two of them watering like crazy... we may end up with 25 foot tall sunflowers. (which wouldn't really be that much of a stretch from last year's sunflowers)

what's cooking?

A huge thanks to my brother Beau for having his friend make us these adorable matching aprons. She's super talented and we LOVE them! We decided to get red,white, and blue so we'd always remember that Uncle Beau had these made for us when he was serving our country in Afghanistan. Staci (the seamstress) has tons of fun prints and is always posting great tutorials on her site. She makes lots of different things too. Check out all of her cute stuff here.