Bits and Pieces Part Two

Here is Bits and Pieces part two!

HAPPY "2" BIRTHDAY BROOKLYN!

Brooklyn turned 2 on June 19th! I can't belived how much she has grown since then! Last year we celebrated her birthday in China! Look at how much different she looks from a year ago! She sure is blossoming into such a fun and cute girl!

Last year's birthday in China! She dug right into the chocolate cake the hotel manager prepared for her. Brooklyn was so famous in China, everybody loved her. She was basically being chased by the Chinese Paparazzi! Everywhere we went people stopped to take pictures of her and wanted their kids to be in a picture with her. They practically pulled her right out of my arms... for some reason, I wasn't nervous about that... Chinese people are really sweet. Of course I was still cautious. I think she grew weary of all the attention because people kept wanting her play with her and make her smile. What can a mother say... She is cute you know!

Our family in China, here we are with the hotel managerz(far right) and another worker. The manager is the one who surprised Brooklyn with the cake. He was really sweet and loved holding her while we ate our meals (try bird heads and chicken feet!).

Isn't she such a little grown up girl? I had fun decorating her cake! She actually didn't even eat any because she was so enthralled by all her gifts she got from her family and grandparents. Her favorite toy so far has been Mr. Potatoe Head (thanks G and G Kelsch), bubble gun (thanks G and G Bailey), magic markers and coloring book (thanks DJ, Ashley and Kash), and her red and yellow car (from mom and dad).

Brooklyn looked like she was going to dig into the cake, so cute as she patiently waited... Although she forgot all about it after she gots her gifts!

Brooklyn and Uncle Cody. I just love this picture and had to post it. Thanks for all of our family who came and celebrated Brooklyn's birthday. We had cake and rootbeer floats!

The bubbles Brooklyn loves so much.

We recently went to a wedding that had such  beautiful flowers, bushes and trees outside the building. I just had to get a picture of Brooklyn with all the green in the background. She must have been so happy to go to the family cottage in Bear Lake since that is where we were headed after the reception.

Daddy and Brooklyn getting ready to play at Bear Lake. She loves the water but loves the sand even more!
Mommy and Brooklyn hangin in the sand. The weather was great and we enjoyed such a nice and relaxing weekend. While there, we were able to visit our good friends, Nicole, William and their daughter, Peyton. We had a yummy late night snack eating the famous Bear Lake raspberry shakes. They were sooo good!
Brooklyn loves the wave runner, well most of the time when its not cold. She doesn't seem too afraid of anything that has a motor running in it, but she is afraid of anything that is small and moves, even a fake fish that swims on its own in the water and she does not like cats! Wierd that she likes these big toys... she takes after her dad I suppose! :)
Playing in the water!
Basking in the sun!
Brooklyn and Natalie (her cousin). My sister and her kids were visiting from St. George for a couple of weeks and we were able to hang out with them when we could. Natalie is such a cutie and loves to play with Brooklyn. She actually loves to hold Brooklyn or hold her hands all the time. Its cute the way she cares for Brooklyn.
We attended my cousin's wedding at a church across the street from the state capitol building (I am so silly but didn't think to get a picture of the special couple who got married...) I did get a picture of Brooklyn next to this huge oxen by the general store that was next to the church.
If anyone knows Brooklyn, she just loves to jump off things. Here at the general store she was jumping of this small cliff and landing on her feet every time. Maybe she is practicing for the gymnastics team? I am excited to get her signed up for tumbling. She could use the time to vent all her energy she has everyday. 
The Groen family hangin at the general store after the wedding. It was fun to catch up and see what all of our cousins, aunts and uncles were up to. Of course this isn't all the family. Some couldn't come but would be going to the reception later on that evening. While hangin out, my Uncle Brad who is a state legislature took us all on a tour of the state capital (in the background). The architectural work is amazing! Thanks Brad for giving us a tour!

Okay, there will be a Part 3 since I had more than I thought... Part 3 still to come! 

Happy 24th of July everybody!

Bits and Pieces Part One

Boy, it sure has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Honestly I just never had time and life has been pretty busy. I do have a lot to say but instead of writing such a long novel about all that has happened I am going to do a picture novel with little descriptions about each picture. We have had fun with many of our family and friends so here goes:

We went to a BBQ where the world's best hamburgers are made by Eric! I could eat 5 burgers in one setting if I wanted to get fat! They are so yummy! In the above picture Larsen and I were pretending to be all natural in a picture, hahaha, not sure it looks natural though. It was good to visit with Matt's swim mates from college. We got to see Eric, Cody, Larsen and Andrew. There were others but I can't remember... We sure love our cool friends!

That night after the BBQ we went to a wedding reception and Brooklyn found a basketball to play with....Hmmm is she going to be a ball player like her mom? I love the feminine but sporty look!

Even later that night, we met with some friends, Nicole and William Gough, and played badminton and raced on roller racers. It was an eventful day! Our forearms were so tired and sore the next day! Its funny that something like that would make us sore, but obviously we don't work our forearm muscle as often as I thought!

On our way to Arizona for a funeral, Grandma Lena Bailey, we broke down about two hours outside Mesa where we were headed. Luckily Randy, Matt's dad who was already in Mesa, drove out to help us and get Dena's, Matt's mom, van fixed and started. We really appreciate him helping us even though he was going through a tough time with his mother's passing. The picture above shows Matt and his brother DJ working hard on getting the van fixed... Not really they were just horsing around!

Here is sweet Grandma Lena Bailey... This picture was taken a couple of months before when we had gone down to Arizona to visit with her and all the family. We had a good time and were grateful Brooklyn was able to meet her before her passing. I will never forget the story of how she pronounces the word wash, she says "warsh", a southern accent. How cute is that? She was a great wife to Papa, who never complained and always worked hard. One thing we didn't know about her was that while at open sea with her husband one day, she pulled out a map and charted the course home! That takes intelligence to do that! We love her and miss her but we know she is in a high and glorious place.

After the funeral and graveside service for Grandma Lena, there was lunch provided by the ward in the area for close family and friends. I couldn't help but sit behind all the pretty flowers that were sent in memory of Grandma Lena. Matt had fun taking pictures... I felt like a 

flower girl!

Brooklyn is such a cutie! I was trying to get her to make a big smile and she made such a cute smile! She really makes me happy as you can tell! I love you sweet Brooklyn.

We love Papa! We were all so worried about him because he missed his dear wife, and still misses her tremendously. Papa is a great man and full of energy! It's comforting to know we can be with our loved ones again after this life. I love the teachings of the Plan of Salvation and how families are eternal. Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's plan. I always want to be with my own family and the Lord can show me how I can, the Lord can show me how I can! 

Also in Arizona lives Grannie! Grannie is Dena's mother. These are all of her grandkids, Kash, Brooklyn and Jaxson. This was the only picture I had of them together with Grannie and the kids were all so tired. Brooklyn may appear happy but she was just tired and hyper, I get that way when I am tired. 

Bailey Boys! DJ, Matt and Randy. Aren't they a handsome three? It's not often we see all three of them together so this is a sweet picture to have. They aren't as innocent as they look!

Bailey grandkids... Like how Brooklyn is trying to keep Kash upright... hahhaha so cute and Jaxson is sitting up straight trying to be all cute like he is! We sure love you three!

Matt had this cool idea to sleep in the tent out on our deck, the tent barely fit! We watched a movie and of course I fell asleep and couldn't begin to remember what movie we rented... It's a good thing we didn't set up out on the lawn because in the morning we woke to some water hitting the tent, the sprinklers came on! I dunno how the water could climb so high and hit the tent but it did! 

Brooklyn enjoying the tent in the morning... She was already asleep in her room when we decided to sleep out on the deck. The deck is next to her window so we were able to keep the window open and listen for her. She loves tents! She has her own smaller version we got from Ikea a while ago but I had to put it up cause it took up her whole room basically. We are going camping in a few weeks in Tabiona, Utah so maybe I will set it back up for her again.

Well, this was part one of my Bits and Pieces entry. Part Two still to come! Any maybe part Three!