Mon September 12th

Lisey was so cute this morning on the shower! She was singing "I want to follow Jesus" to the tune of "I hope they Call me on a mission". It was so sweet. Her little tiny voice is the sweetest. Whenever something goes wrong in her life (like she falls or she can't find something) then Lisey says "I think I need Jesus". She also randomly says "Jesus is Lord". Lisey loves Jesus so much. Later in the day Lisey told me she wanted a "movie about how much Jesus loves me" for her birthday. 

The other days Lisey got woken upearly. As she sat at the breakfast table she said her tummy hurt then she said "I need breakfast and sleep and Jesus." Then after a pause she said "and water". Lisey you're the best. 

Blast from the past... A note from 5 year old Brooke

Anne found this paper that I wrote when I was 5 and typed it up and put it on Path. It's pretty funny haha "I am Brooke I am five years old my family likes to tease me there are lots of people in my family my mom likes to cook and so she makes doll clothes and pajamas for me and my sister she likes to jog to get skinny my daddy makes Fires for us he likes to clean the garage and cook pancakes he goes to work and works hard to get some money I have one sister she likes a tease my big brother she is 7 years old my big brother likes to do his homework he likes a tease to my little brother just sleeps a lot and he never hardly does anything my favorite food is chicken noodle soup my mom makes it for me she is a good cook we don't go to restaurants only my mom and dad does my favorite TV show is Looney Tunes it is funny I like school I like to play activities and cook and stuff when I grow up I want to be a vet because I like animals I will get married when I am 10 years old I want to have 4 children like  in my family" Not bad for a 5 year old--pretty good summery of our family life haha. I guess I see where Ella gets her love of chicken noodle soup. 

Sunday July 29th

Today during the sacrament Lisey turns to me and says "I'm grateful for my brother Jesus Christ." Then she got a huge smile on her face and with a twinkle in her eyes she added, "He's handsome!"  I suppose this is one crush I don't mind so much. Then later she turns to me and says "Ella is going to get me a car". Lisey you are hilarious and I love you. 

Saturday July 16th

We went swimming today at the lehi pool, then went to the library and Costco for samples. I made homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. The kids had fun playing outside while a big bucket of water. It was a good day. 

Today at the library, while I was looking for new books for the kids, a lady taps me on the shoulder and says "is that your son?" I turn around to see Link with his pants and diaper pulled down around his ankles. "Uh yeah that's my kid..." I guess the naked stage has begun...Oh boy! 

Sunday July 17th

Lisey wanted hair extensions in today. She looks so cute and grown up. 

All the kids helped make roll-ups this morning. We all wore aprons, even link. 

Tonight for my 11:11 wish I wished that Nick could be happy in his job, that we could somehow be able to buy a house next year, that we'd be better with our money and save it, and that Nick could finish school. I got quite a few wishes in before it turned 11:12. I know it's a silly thing to do but when I do I can see more clearly what I want and the things I need to start praying harder for. The thing I wish the most for is that Nick can be happy in his job. He really is not liking his boss right now and I'm pretty darn sure that his boss hates him. Not a good position to be in. Poor nick is stressed out all the time. And he's gone all the time. Things need to change in the job. It's just... Change is scary. Change is hard. Change is the unknown. I need to be braver and face it. But it is scary and that makes it hard.  But it is possible. You can do it! 

Sunday June 12th

Were driving home from San Diego today. Nick and I were holding hands. Lisey sees is and asked "why are you guys holding hands?" I told her it was because we were in love. Then she said "I'm not in love. I'm just a kid". Haha Lisey you are so funny! 

On Fri we went to the point loma tide pools. There were these really cool red crabs that I'd never seen before. I guess they came in from Mexico with the sana Ana. They looked like baby lobsters. Ella wouldn't pick them up but Lisey would and loved to do it. They were fun to watch swim. They used there tail to propel themselves forward, while holding their arms in stream line form. When they wanted to stop they throw their legs out. It was fun hanging with Jordan and Bri and of course cute little Harper. 

On Sat we went to Sam Fry's wedding in the San Diego temple. Then we went straight out to Mission Bay and went sailing. Jordan and Bri just bought a boat! It was so fun speeding through the water! And I got to go tubing for the first time. It's very exilerating. Way fun day! 

San Diego was great as always. On Tuesday we went to del Mar with Nick. On Wednesday cam and I took Nick to the airport at 6 am and then went straight to La Jolla to go snorkeling. It was really really fun. We saw tons of sharks and rays and the orange girabaldi fish. We swam all the way across the Cove to the sea lions. There were lots in the water swimming right by us! We snorkeled for about 3 hours. It was pretty cold even with our wet suits on, but it was so worth it. 

On Thursday I ran 5 miles and then walked 5 miles worth my mom, all while pushing Link in the stroller. Then we went to Cam's graduation. We made him candy leis while we waited for things to start. It was at 3 and we had to be there at 2. It was so hot! Luckily sweet Anne watched the kids so they weren't dying in the heat with us. It was great to see Cam's big day. 

On Friday I ran 20 miles with Amber! What an accomplishment! I've never run more than 13 miles before in my life. I don't think I could do it. But it really wasn't that bad until the last 2 miles. I thought I couldn't make it but we set out with a goal and decided to see it through. I'm glad Amber and I did it together.  Neither of us would have made it without the other. It felt good to succeed in the goal but my goodness it was hard! Sore legs! But just to make the day crazier, after a short rest I went to La Jolla with Anne to snorkel! We probably swam a mile and a half to 2 miles. Lots of calories were burnt today! Anne and I had a blas. We saw tons of girabaldi and the seals swam right by us. It was probably the closest I've gotten to the sea lions in my life. They were literally inches away from me! So cool!!

Then on Sat we went to the temple with cam so he could get his endowments out. So great! It was a wonderful day!

Thurs May 26th

Lisey wow up saying she had a dream about Giga, Jesus and daddy. She woke up yesterday saying the same thing. Sometimes she adds in Disneyland but Giga, Jesus and daddy are very common dreams for Lisey. 

Lincoln said a new word today: bubble. We were blowing bubbles this morning and he said it a few times. Link was a major crank this morning. I hope he's not getting sick. 

Tues May 24th

"I can't! My blow hurts"--Lisey when I told her to blow on her hot soup. 

We helped out in Ella's school today for field day. Ella took Lisey around with her from station to station while I worked at my one station with Link. 

These two girls are great sisters :)

Friday May 20th

I feeling motivated today to make a budget that we actually keep and take control of our spending so we can become truely wealthy. Because it doesn't matter how much money we make, it only matters how much we spend and how much we invest in assets. We can buy things we want but only after we've saved it, not before. I think we should also go to using cash/debit card  for a month or two so we can get used to keeping better track of our spending. We can do it! It will be a lot easier when we have that regular monthly income. I figure if it's $7000, about $2000 will go to taxes and I'll have $5000 to work with each month. We can make that work. We can't just buy anything we want but we can live and save and feel happy knowing we are living within our means and saving so we can be financially free! OK I'm done with my little tirade. Let's be financially free!!

The crippling effects of food stamps: how I fought my way out of the welfare system!

May 19th Thursday

Why do all the stresses of life threaten to over run you most commonly in the wee hours of the morn? I've been up since 3:30 am and cannot fall back to sleep. It's almost 5am now. All the stress of trying to get a loan for a house and not having enough for a down payment is eating away at my stomach. It doesn't help that I let the girls sleep with me and I get an arm in the face every so often. In the book Rich Dad Poor Dad it says you need to stop letting money keep you up at night. Stop letting it control you. Easier said than done. I want to be good with money. I want to invest and save and be financially free. It's such a hard change to make. We need to invest in things that are assets not liabilities. Assets are things that make you more money, liabilities are things that don't. Brooke, take control of your spending. Take control of your fear. Use your brain to think with instead of your emotions. Don't just make money. Have money work for you. You can do it! You can be financially free. You can have savings. You can have investments. You can live without fear. You can be a millionaire. Saving is the key. Acquiring assets is crucial and investing is wise.  you can do it! 

Lisey had her preschool graduation today! It was so cute watching her sing with her classmates. I keep giving her the thumbs up and she'd light up with a huge smile. I could tell she was so prou. My one regret was that Nick couldn't make it. I'm glad he's helping his family though. It was definitely a sacrifice and service from the whole family! 

Way to go Lisey!!

After tutoring we went back to Trafalga. This time I wore my tennis shoes so I could play lazer tag and rock climb with the girls. We had so much fun! The little roller coaster was open today and we went on it about 6 times in a row before they shut it down because of lightning. By the time we left a big storm was on us and it was pouring rain! We had a great time! 

The girls and I as we wait to go on the roller coaster! I love mommy dates! 

Wed May 18th

We just spent the last three hours swimming, just Lisey and me. We had a great time doing flips, going down the slides (even the big one that Lisey never wants to go on and I can't usually take her because I have Link), and throwing Lisey into the air (we got this awesome trick down where Lisey stands on my hands and I throw her while she's standing). When we were in the bathroom changing, Lisey turns to me and says in her cute tiny voice, "I really like you". My heart melted. I guess these mommy dates are really important. We'll definitely have to more individual child and parent dates. They are awesome and full of bonding. 

Were at the lehi fun center. There are these bumper boats that squirt water. Lisey and I were together. There were these little boys that keep spraying us. Lisey wasn't doing much staying so I took over the wheel and got them good. They were asking us to stop and I just keep saying I'll stop when you stop. I was debating after if I was being mean or teaching a life lesson haha. Nick says I was teaching a lesson from the school of Hard Knocks. 

Look at my girls climb!!

Tues May 17th

This is not a sustainable model: mom cleaning up the whole house, late into the night. It takes way too much time to do it all on my own. Then as the kids get older the mess is only going to get bigger. As we have more kids, the mess will also get bigger.  I need to teach my kids to work. I am doing them a disservice and myself a disservice. Ella is very talented at figuring out ways to avoid hard labor. I just need to be more consistent and more persistent and help her to see the joys that come from working hard. Lisey wants to work hard but she often makes messes of things on accident. I need to let her work. Even if it makes more of a mess at the time, the future of her being a hard worker will be well worth it. Come on Brooke, you can do it. Be patient and long-suffering and teach them an important life lesson that will change their lives.

We went to Stephanie Caswell's baby shower tonight. I brought Ella and Lisey along. They had a surprisingly good time. I think they were a little bored at first, but then they played outside for a while and were ecstatic when the presents were brought out. They ooo-ed and awed at all of the cute little girl clothes and helped Stephanie unwrap each gift, showing each one around the room. We of course stayed way later than planned and the girls were wrestling by the end of things, but overall they were good. Unfortunately they didn't get to bed till close to 10 and that's when I begin my cleaning trek. I only could get the kitchen cleaned, not the whole house. It's just takes too much time. It's time to teach the kids to pick up after themselves. Things need to change.

Sunday May 8th Mothers day

I got breakfast in bed of delicious cheesy eggs. Nick really spoiled me this year. I got a bike, a bike trailer, new dishes, flowers, and the dishes done for me. Nick is so cute about giving gifts and he's very good at it. What a sweetie. 

Link was crying at church (the sacrament cup got stuck in his mouth), and Lisey said "I'll make him feel better" and she started singing "I am a Child of God". Lisey is such a sweet girl. On the way into church it was pouring rain. As we walked into church I commented how went and cold it was and Lisey says "it's okay, Jesus will protect us". 

Ragnar race weekend! 5/13-5/14

I had my Ragnar race this weekend. It was crazy hard. I had my eight miler last in the hot hot sun finishing up my total 15.1 miles. It was more like a crazy hike than anything. It was way fun though! I had my first run starting at dusk (3.9 miles) and finishing in pitch black night, my second run (3.4 miles) at dawn, and my last (7.9 miles) starting about 2:30pm. I was thinking things were going very well after those first two runs. I didn't feel sore, I got some sleep. I felt good. But oh goodness, the 7.9 mile in the heat of the day up the mountain was killer. The other two were definitely hard but nothing compared to that last one in the hot burning sun. Still fun though, but killer hard. 

Wed April 27th

Lisey's new favorite phrase is "that happened". Her other favorite it "need a little help here!" This one is most often used when she wants helps wiping after going potty. My sweet little funny girl. 

Lisey slept in till 9. She was coughing all night and I thought that that would make her sick and tired today. But she woke up happy and said she felt well. I tried giving her some cough medicine in the night but she was so out (even though she was coughing like crazy in her sleep) she wouldn't take any. Good thing she's such a deep sleeper. 

We went to the pool and swam hard till nap time. 

Thurs April 21st

Lisey stuck this vitamin C drop to her face and said "this is my pimple!" Silly girl.

After we got Ella off to school, I took Lincoln and Lisey for a little run/walk down to the trail. We went 2 miles and stopped at the park to play. Then went 2 miles back. I was so tired from my 10 miles yesterday that I couldn't do much running, but the kids loved being out and I loved it too. And walking actual felt very nice on my sore muscles. 

When we got home I started pulling the weeds in the front yard. We had a dandelion infestation. I'll admit I was going to just let them be, but the landlord was coming over today to fix the bathroom toilet handle and I didn't want the front yard looking terrible. My wonderful neighbor Britney came out and helped me while all the kids played together. I'll admit, it wad actually kind of fun to get them out of the ground. We had an enormous pile of weeds and after an hour and a half the yard looked pretty good. 

Sat April 9th

On wed we played outside a bunch. On Thursday we went back to the fun center. We took link this time. We had a great time again. It was more crowded this time, but they did have inflatables  so that kept link happy too. 

On Friday we went up to Ashlie's house and played with the kiddos and hung with my cousin. It was a beautiful day we spent a lot of time playing outside. Ashley's boys have these cool motorbikes that both girls really enjoyed. Ella even rode one by herself, which she was nervous about since she can't ride a two wheeler yet. She did great. Lisey loved riding with and Emmitt. 

We had fun exploring the farm and riding trackers and four wheelers. Ashlie and I were able to go for a run together. The only bad part was that Ashlie's little 2 year old kept scratching Lisey. Like bad. Like bleeding bad. Poor Lisey was super scared to leave my side. I'm sure it was just a fourth boy thing, but Lisey didn't like it one bit. 

We made it back at 4 and Nick and left the kids at Sian's house and went on a date. We went to Bombay house and just talked and talked. It's been months since we've been on a date. I miss it. 

Tues April 5th

During Link's nap today, I took the girls to the Trafalgar fun center. They had so much fun! It's free to go with our pass of all passes so that makes it even more awesome. 

Lisey and I riding the airplanes

Lisey and I riding the rollercoster. 

Both girls did great on the rock wall. 

Tues April 19th

It's been a rough morning. Link woke up super early and super cranky. The girls both came into my bed at 5am and Ella couldn't fall back to sleep for a long time. I had to wake her up for school and she was still so so tired. Luckily the bus was a little late or she would have missed it. I've been up since 5 as well. I prayed this morning that I could not be grouchy and not yell at the kids. I will have to try very hard to succeed.   

Oh and PS Link has pink eye SUPER bad. He couldn't open his eye because of the mucus. Then Lisey also got pink eye! Her was also bad, not as bad as link's but still bad. I ended up getting drops from the doctor for them. Unfortunately neither of them like them at all. I had to pin them down and force open their eyes to get even a small bit in. I did the best I could but honestly I don't feel like the drops even help. Ella's went away so quickly on its own and it's torture giving these drops to the kids.  I miss my husband!! We couldn't go to church on Sunday because of the pink eye and that was craziest too. I can't wait for nick to come home. Unfortunately it's still a week and a half away. I must live on.

Sat April 16th

"Respect the bubble...Right now your popping it". --Ella in the tub with both Lincoln and Lisey. 

I turned my back for one minute and Lincoln hopped in with his clothes on. He loves his sisters haha. 

This little boy is hilarious! And wet. 

On Thursday we went to the curiosity museum with the cousins. It was super fun except I still didn't have a voice, which I didn't even realize how terrible it would be out in public where I usually can just call for my kids to come. Oh and Ella has pinkeye. I guess the only good part was that I could let her stay home from school to play with the cousins without feeling bad about it. I still let her go to the curiosity museum with us, which probably wasn't considerate of other people but what else could I do. 

Friday I had to take Nick to the airport. I brought Anne with me so we could hang out a little bit more. Amber took her kids down to Provo to hang out with Eliza. After taking Nick to the airport, we went down to Provo and went to Walmart and then the mall. Then it was time to send Anne and amber's crew on there way. It was sad to say good bye but also kind of a relief. It was hard to be perky all the time when I didn't feel that well. 

Today is Kim's bridal shower. Hence the tubs for the kids this morning and Lincoln's double dip in the water. The shower was fun. It was nice talking to Eliza and Sian and being kid-free. Ammon and Steve watched the kids at the park while we hung at Kim's. I gave her a $50 Amazon gift card, which sounds lame but that is what they wanted, so they wouldn't have to move things. 

Mon April 4th

It's Spring break!!! We were supposed to go down to Zions for the next few days but Nick has the flu. It's a bad flu of diarrhea and vomiting. Poor guy. He went out of town this weekend only to return early (he paid for a ticket home) because he was so sick. He's been in bed all weekend. 

Conference was awesome this weekend. I was definitely spiritually fed! One of my favorite quotes from conference is something along the lines of "if life was fair, Jesus wouldn't have died for us". It was great. The family came over on Sunday for dinner. Nick stayed quarantined upstairs but everyone else had a great time eating lazagna and playing. 

I think I'm getting sick. I feel weak and tired. 

Today we went to the pool. We all had a blast. Link is a very observant little boy. He enjoys looking around at everyone at the pool and just watching. I enjoy doing that too so he and I are good pool buddies. 

The kids were in bed, but then snuck down because they heard the Star Wars theme music. Instead of sending them back to bed, per protocol, Nick says "this is Star Wars. This is supposed to be part of your childhood. Let's let them watch the light saber scene". And here they are.  

Wed April 13th

Lisey was sitting nicely at the table eating her breakfast and Nick asked "who taught you how to be such a great kid". Lisey thought about it for a second and says "Jesus did" pointing at the picture on the wall. Lisey loves Jesus so much! 

Amber, her kids and Anne came last night. The kids had a blast playing together. They'll be here till Friday. 

My voice is officially gone and it stinks. I can't talk to amber or my kids or anything. Luckily it doesn't hurt that bad during the day. Unfortunately it hurts so so bad at night. I've been having to take NyQuil just to survive (I've never taken NyQuil in my life!). I'm sure it's worse bc I've been trying to talk, even though I can't, and I'm sure that wears out my throat so that at the end of the day it hurts like the dickens. Oh well. At least I have more compassion for sick people.  That's probably what Heavenly Father wanted to teach me. I promise to have more compassion in the future. I promise!! 

Mon April 11th 2016

Lisey wanted a drink of gaterade. It was Nick's gaterade and I wasn't sure if she should share Nick's germs because he was sick last week. I told Lisey "you can have some but I'm not sure if it will be good for you." Lisey responds with "we'll find out!" As she took a big drink. Then she says "I'm not sick!" 

Cleaned all day. Amber, her kids and Anne are coming tomorrow! Oh and I most definitely have the flu but I'm pretending that my throat doesn't hurt like crazy and I'm not losing my voice. 

Thurs Mar 31st

We went to cabellas during Ellas tutoring today. Lisey is prending to potty on the camp toilet. Silly goof! 

Mon Mar 28th- Wed Mar 30th

Mon evening and Tues I didn't feel too hot. I had diarrhea and a stuffed up head, but I did my best to pretend that I wasn't sick. I Monday morning and went for a run out on the freezing earth afraid that's probably what started my cold off. It started snowing about half way through and my face was frozen. By the evening I wasn't feeling well at all. But I still managed to have family home evening and get the kids to bed. 

On Tuesday I felt even worse and I had had diarrhea in the night. But I tried to pretend like it wasn't there and that seem to work at least a little bit. A nurse came by the house to take some blood and ask me some questions for our new life insurance policy. I guess they don't want to take people that are dying soon on their life insurance plans. The rest of the day I felt rather like a zombie, but I did get to do some painting and I got Lisey off to school. Plus I visited both my sisters for visiting teaching. I also folded some laundry why Link snoozed.  And then folded the rest of it in the evening. Nick had a bunch of big meeting so he was gone all day I didn't get home until about 9:30. 

I woke up still feeling sick but I decided to go for a run anyways. I walked about half of it and ran the other half. I still went 5 miles so I think it was good exercise. I was just too worn out to run the whole thing.

The rest of the day was rather unproductive. I hung out with Nick for a bit, who now has unfortunately caught the sickness. Hopefully he gets better today through rest because tonight at 1:40 AM he has to go on the flight to Indianapolis where he has to give a few big presentations. Poor guy. He's napping now and hopefully that will do him good. 

Bonnie and Johnny came over to play and we made play dough creations. This is the frog Ella made. She was very proud of it and wanted a picture. Nice work Ella! 

Sun Mar 27th

Happy Easter! Ella, Lisey and I all got up to bare our testimonies. Ella's was sweet and sincere about listening to the Holy Ghost. Lisey told me that her testimony was about how Jesus loves her and she loves Jesus, but when she got up to the stand to say her testimony she forgot what she was going to say and I wouldn't help her. I was very proud of her for trying and I know next time she'll be able to do it. My testimony was short and sweet about how the savior died for me and that I know he's real and that he loves us. I said I was grateful for the resurrection and that we can all live again because of the Savior's sacrifice for us. 

We had a ton of people over for the big day. We had Brigham and Spencer, Eliza and Sam, Chris and Camille, Grandma Great, Ammon and Kim and Will. Sian and Steve were supposed to come to but Sian fell and hurt her arm so they went to the hospital and never made it. Poor Sian. She's always getting it some kind of scrape or another. The girls had a fun time playing with cousins. We had a big egg hunt out in the back with 50 eggs. Then Nick set up a trading post and the kids learned a little bit about the economy and supply and demand. 

We finish the night with a spiritual video about Gethsemane. Nick said a few touching words. It was very good. It was a great Easter. 

Sat Mar 26th

In the morning we cleaned and went to target to get a birthday present for baby Claire and a baby shower gift for Eliza. We also picked up some Easter goodies for the kids.

At home for links nap. After you woke up we headed down to Provo for the birthday party and then Eliza's baby shower.

While I was at the baby shower, Nick took the kids to the mall, where he surprised me by getting their ears pierced. I would like to say it was a happy surprise but I was more shocked than anything and rather disappointed. I think it's just because I didn't want my baby girl looking so grown up.

Well I guess it was the ultimate daddy date.  Lisey was a brave kid. 

Fri Mar 25th

Ella had a hat parade at school today and her and I made this lovely peacock hat. Ella designed it, I drew the Peacock face and she made the feathers in the back. I think it turned out pretty nice and so does Ella.

Ashlie came down from Redmond today for a visit. We went to the Curiosity Museum. It was so much fun being with my cousin. It reminds me of when we were in college together and had so much fun. We used to go snowboarding all the time together and I would go over to her house at least five times a week. It's fun being back in Utah so we can make with that more. 

Here's a glamour shot of Ella, looking her beautiful glamorous self.