Winter Break Vacay

Tuesday we drove to OC and jumped in my sister's car just in time to go get Nix from school. Then we went to the animal hospital where they rescue and rehabilitate seals and then return them to the ocean. They only had 2 when we were there, fun to check out.

 Went back to Briana's and got swim suits on and went swimming...well Briana and the kids did, I just watched. :)
We watched "Smurf's," ate some yummy leftover soup, clam dip :), peppermint hot chocolate!
The kids and uncle Brett made a movie that is so cute! He posted it on youtube so you can check it out, it's titled "The Barefoot Baddy."
This morning Briana made a yummy breakfast with eggs and mixture of white and orange potatoes. Then we went to the beach! YAY! We were at the beach for about 6 hours, you can only do that when you live 10 minutes away. It was hot, the sun was hot, so warm, so wonderful! The ocean was freezing but the kids didn't care, I care, I tried to get in the ocean with Sierra but I really couldn't, icy coldness! But I can sit in a chair in the hot sunshine with all my sunblock on and soak it up and watch her boogie on the boogie board! :)

 We went to the rocks and found all kinds of interesting sea creatures! Fun to explore!

Went to Cafe Rio after the beach, LOVE Cafe Rio! Went to Briana's and made the kids grilled cheese cause they don't appreciate Cafe Rio like I do. Enjoyed my delicious salad, showered me and the kids and then headed home. Love to visit my sister at the beach! We don't get to go often enough. Thanks Brett and Briana! Love your family! xoxo
Thanks Briana for all the photos too! :)

Ashton's Day with Mommy!

Sierra got her day with Mommy at Disneyland and I had a free child's ticket to Legoland so it was Ashton's turn. Last night we got packed up and loaded up, kissed daddy goodbye and headed to the OC to stay with my sister. We arrived and were greeted with pure excitement from some pretty cute little boy's. We played and then we brushed teeth, got tucked in blankets on the floor and then I (mommy and auntie) told not just 1 but 2 scary stories. They weren't that scary, in fact when the first one was over Nixon said "that's it?!" I got to sleep on Rossi's AWESOME tempurpedic mattress topper with Sierra and it was heavenly! :) I got to sleep with all the kids! :)They are such good sleepers. Corbin is a wonderful sleeper, at just barely 3 months old he completely sleeps through the night and then until about 8:30am, Briana=so lucky! We arose and got going, made pancakes for the kiddos and gave Rossi his chocolate milk, hurried and finished my makeup and then Ashton and I were off. Sierra got to spend the day with Aunt Briana and the boys...


She had such a fun day of watching Corpse Bride, going to the store, out to pizza for lunch, the book store, painting a jar, making sugar cookies. Thanks Briana for being so sweet with her and keeping her for the day! :)
After a beautiful drive along the coast we arrived at Legoland. It was raining on us the whole night at Briana's and still in the morning, worried that we were going to have a wet day but it was beautiful and didn't rain on us once.
First things first, Ashton needed to practice his skills and dig for dinosaur bones. He wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up and he LOVED digging through the sand and brushing the bones. We first uncovered a Triceratops and he also found a big T-rex bone and an egg too.
We were off to ride a dino-coaster and then a safari trek. The favorites of the day was DIGGING for DINO BONES! and the Project X that was just like Mulhulland Madness at Ca Adventure. Oh, and driving the cars. He got to drive a car by himself on a rode that had no track. He got a drivers license too!
We had to get a hopper ticket to use the free child's ticket so we went to Sea-Life. We saw them feed the baby sharks and we learned that Octopus like to play with toys, there was a ball in it's tank. They are as smart as dogs. Ashton liked the hammerhead shark too and the scratch quiz card he got to scratch off the circles to find the right fish to win a sticker at the end of our adventure. After he got his sticker he said, "I would have rather kept the quiz!"
We finished our day back at digging for dino bones and uncovered a Stegasaurus.
We had a great day together, I cherish the time I have with my children. and the intimate one on one time is unforgettable, really special! Love my big boy!
We made it back to Briana's and they were making the cookies and she was making dinner. I got to give Corbin a bath, sweet baby! We had yummy stovetop mac and cheese and asparagus with their family and a cookie :) and then it was time to get back on the road. SAD! Thanks Briana for having us and keeping Sierra for the day and feeding us. We are so appreciative, love you tons!

and Corbin James is his name...

Update from Brett...he's doing better today.

Inspiring!

Last night my mom called at about 9:45pm and told us Briana was in labor and we needed to get ready and come. I left about 10:50pm to get Sophi and our Grannie and we headed down. We dropped Grannie to be with boys and then we headed with mom over to the hospital. We got there about 1:15am, my sister is truly inspiring! She is so strong and so determined. She has now had 3 babies totally drug free. She was totally in control and made it seem doable, made it seem easy. She is A.MA.ZING! Brett was so sweet with her too! He was right there the whole time holding her, leaning over her, talking to her, helping her breathe, helping her focus, feeding her ice chips, showing her a picture of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. The whole experience being there with Brett and Briana, mom and Sophi was emotional and beautiful and I'm grateful I was able to be a part. She delivered at 3:19am. A BABY BOY!

8 lbs. 11oz 21 in.
A big strong boy!
He is a meconium baby. They put him up on Briana's tummy for a few seconds after delivery and he was looking at her. What a sweet moment! Then they rushed him off to the bed and worked on him. They had a tube down his throat sucking out poopy from his belly. Then he started crying, another great moment!
Briana had said after she delivered, "it's Pioneer Day, I had to do it natural! They had their babies in wagons." and then mom said, "and in the dirt!"
Then they took him to the NICU. After further tests they determined that he has a bacterial infection and fluid in his lungs. They want to keep him for a week.
We went back to Brett and Briana's about 4:30am and got lost so we finally got there about 4:45 and in bed at about 5:00am. We got a few hours of sleep and I woke up to my mom telling Nixon and Rossi that there baby was a baby boy and I heard Nixon say, "3 brothers!"
We got to take the boys to the hospital to see their mommy and new baby brother.

Nixon was concerned and had a lot of questions. He is such a sweet boy!
We had the privelege of watching Brett through the glass give his baby a blessing, his brother James was there assisting him. Another sweet moment! James said Brett gave him a beautiful blessing.
Brett and Briana are such GREAT parents! I love them dearly! Congratulations to a beautiful family!

OC

Day started off at 6am. Got a shower in and packed some clothes, bathing suits and food and water. My dad picked us up at 7:15am. Headed to the OC. We spent our day with Briana and family. Sophi and family were there too. We got there about 8:30am right in time for Nixon's Gymnastics performance.
We were all goofing off while Nixon waited for his turn. Lincoln did "fire power."

Rossi was my vending machine buddy. I took him there with the first $1 and then I created a monster. "What, treats comes out of there?" We made several trips back with Brett's dollars and dad's dollars. The other kids were into it too! :) Look at this face though! How could you not want to buy him another treat when he grabs your finger. Sierra got some sour skittles. :0 She loves them! Ashton does too!
Nixon was showing his skills.

"TA DA!" He got a medal and a certificate! Way to go Nixon!The day was cloudy and cool. Us mom's were not up to getting wet. What we were up to is laying around. Dad and Briana went and got yummy things at the Mexican market. Dad bbq carne asada and we made guac and ate tacos and chips and watermelon. So Yummy! While they were out dad got Briana her new carseat for her new bundle coming soon. So cute! We just watched movies and ate while the kids played. I felt like I was on vacation. So wonderful! We got to help Briana do a couple of things too, we weren't completely useless. :) So fun to go and visit her, I love where she lives. Went to Yogurtland too! Got home super late. Such a fun day!

Sea World and the OC

Tuesday night at about 10:00pm my mom picked up me and my kids and Sophi and her kids and we headed down to OC to Briana's house. We spent the night and then got up and ready and went to Sea World. We had a great day!!! We got in as a field trip which blocked us from seeing most shows but we saw a sea lion and otter show that was educational. They taught us how they train the animals. It was more educational than other times I have been to Sea World, I thought it was great!

We are waiting for the show to start. Briana's friend came too with her 2 boys. Isn't Rocky so cute with his glasses, they are new.

The Shark Encounter was a favorite of the boy's, Sierra was not so sure!This was my favorite! The Bat Rays! My mom bought food for us to feed them, dead squid.
Sierra loved it too! She even attempted feeding them.

Ashton did not want to touch them but I made him because I knew he would think it was so cool!
He did it! :)

I got to help Nixon too! He was nervous too but he did it!DOLPHINS

Sierra was trying so hard to touch the dolphin. She finally did!We left and got Cafe Rio and took it back to Briana's place and then left from there to go home. Thanks Briana! Thanks Mom! We had a GREAT day!