4th of July in IDAHO!

So, our vacation to Idaho has come! Kayla and I are going to be here for 3 weeks so I'll post our trip in sections. :) We'll start with the 4th of July holiday! We flew out early in the morning of the 3rd. Kayla was such a champ on the flights and was her happy self the whole time, even though we had to wake her up extra early to catch the flight.

Mommy and Kayla on her 1st flight!

Kayla and her Papi!

We made it to Utah and Kayla was so excited! It felt so nice to be out of the humidity.

We stopped for lunch at Maddox on our way to Idaho! YUM!

Kayla was so excited to see Grandma Betsy!

 I was worried Kayla would be a little nervous being around so many new faces, but after riding in the backseat with my mom all the way back from SLC, she warmed right up to her. After that, she's been great with everyone, as long as either Brett or I were not too far away.

Papi teaching Kayla a few tunes.

 On the morning of the 4th, Brett, Haley, and I did a 5K. We intended on jogging, but with the elevation change, I had a bit of a struggle! I have not missed that burning in the lungs that comes with jogging at 6,000 feet! We had a nice time chatting while we walked though. It felt so great to be out in the open air and not be uncomfortably hot!

 After the 5K, we headed to the park for the Lion's Club Breakfast! It was tasty, as always. Just as we got to the park, Kayla had an accident and ruined one of her cute festive outfits. Luckily, we had an extra one! We hurried home to shower and then headed over to the parade. Kayla loved the parade, and thankfully, she didn't get scared by any of the sirens or loud noises. It was so fun going to our usual spot to watch the parade where we saw my cousins and so many friends. Kayla was a hit and even got a few shout-outs during the parade from people on the floats. Yeah, small towns are great for the ego! :)

Kayla and Brett

 My dad came up from Pocatello to hang out with all of us for the festivities. We wandered around the park for a few hours after the parade, visiting with old friends and eating great food. Haley brought her boyfriend John with her. It was fun to get to know him.

Our little group!

Our festive little family!

John, Haley, Kayla and Brett

Grandpa Kelly, Kayla, and Brett

She's such a little cheeser!

Kayla loves her Grandpa Kelly!

Such a happy baby!

We had a BBQ with steak, potatoe salad, and fruit salad in the afternoon. It was delicious!

The little lovebirds all tuckered out! Nothing like afternoon naps on the 4th! I think I'm the only one who didn't take one.

Kayla with Grandpa Corey and Grandma Betsy

Kayla giving Grandma loves!

The world famous geyser!! Kayla was back in outfit #1. :)

Kayla was in awe of the natural wonder!

I love these two!

 After the geyser, we went out to Kelly Park to watch the fireworks. They put on such an awesome show! We got there early and I saw a few friends that I was able to visit with. They had a great band playing music and we brought our traditional flag cake to snack on.

Kayla was so excited!

We're goofballs! And despite how it looks, that is not an earring on Brett! haha!

Haley and John

I love this photo! Kayla was great with the fireworks! She didn't get scared at all and sat watching them in awe.

 The next morning, we had my 10 year high school class reunion! It was so fun to see so many old friends and to catch up with everyone! We had about 23 out of 93 graduates show up. A big shout-out to Kendra Keller for putting so much work and effort into it to make the reunion happen! I'm so grateful we were able to work it out to be here for both the 4th and the reunion. Hooray for holidays! More to follow of our trip!

SSHS Class of '03 

Kayla 5 Months

My precious little lady is 5 months old! She's changing so much! I look back at her newborn photos and can't believe her transformation. I love watching her personality show through. 

She now follows Brett and myself everywhere we go. 

Whenever she sees us looking at her, she flashes a big smile. She loves getting a reaction out of us. 

She rolls onto her belly and back without hesitation, although she prefers to be on her belly. 

She now grabs everything in sight and it goes straight into her mouth. 

She makes all sorts of funny noises. 

She squeals, grunts, hollers, and blows little spit bubbles. 

She loves hanging onto the couch or our legs and standing. 

She sits up pretty well and can maintain the sitting position for some time before she topples over. 

She giggles more and more. 

She loves looking at herself in the mirror.

She sleeps 9-10 hours a night.

She hugs my neck when I'm holding her. It melts my heart!

She is generally a happy baby, although at a pool party the other day, we had a pretty rough night. It may have been separation anxiety because I was busy and others would hold her, but it was sad when I couldn't get her to calm down. I've never seen her so upset and it broke my heart.  By the time we got home, she was back to her happy self, thankfully. I hope it was just a rough night and not a new trend.

 Regardless, I love this little girl more than life itself. She brings Brett and I more joy than we could ever imagine. We are so blessed to have been entrusted with the task of being her parents. 

The big 5!

She got worn out taking these photos! 

My happy little princess

Good thing we were done taking photos - the 5 didn't survive.

EVERYTHING goes in her mouth!

Getting brave!

Kayla with her favorite toy, Mr. Monkey

Due to her splashes, Kayla graduated from baths in the kitchen sink to the big bathtub tonight.
She loves bathtime!

My little pool baby! She looks so sweet!

Happy Birthday, Kayla Rae! We love love love you!

#1 Fan(s)

The wife of a news reporter is an interesting one. Brett often comes home late. He has to go in early quite often. He is on call for crazy news (which happens more often than I'd like here in the Valley). His schedule is really unique, working EVERY weekend and many evenings. While it may sound like it, I'm not complaining. I'm so grateful for how hard he works. I'm also very grateful he has a secure job that provides for all of our needs. Although his work can be stressful, I know he enjoys it. He's also going to school online to become a meteorologist. He's working as a weather forecaster currently and in a few more semesters, he'll be a Meteorologist! 

One of the perks of having a handsome husband that works in television is that even though he is gone many evenings, we get to watch him on TV. I know its not the exact same as having him home, but it sure helps to see him 2-3 times an evening. :) Before I had Kayla, I could get somewhat lonely, but again, it always helped to watch Brett's reports/forecasts. 

Brett's more seasoned colleagues have teased him that my watching most of his shows won't last. While I'm sure that could be true when life gets busier, for now, I love watching as many of his shows as I can! I feel it helps us be the team that we strive to be when I can give him pointers/critique and more importantly, compliments. I have loved watching how he has improved so much in the time since he's been doing weather (which was right when we met). His reporting is also improving, although it was already really great. 

It's so sweet when Kayla and I are home because when he comes on the TV, she turns towards his voice! Though I try to avoid letting her watch TV, I love how she'll watch him. She doesn't get quite as excited as she does when he's here in person, I think she recognizes the face that she loves. I get a lot of compliments from people I meet that Brett is such a great weatherman/reporter, but no matter how popular he gets, Kayla and I will always be his biggest fans!

Kayla turned immediately when her Papi came on TV

She's learning how hot its been today!

She's saying, "Mom, what's Papi doing?"

Now she's wondering what I'm doing taking photos of her. :) 

KGBT Action 4 is #1

On the set. This was during a baby shower the station threw for Kayla

Kayla's 1st time on the green screen!

Father's Day

The best dad's in my life!

Father's Day is a bit more significant this year. I made Brett a father (okay, I know it was a team effort). Its been such an amazing journey so far! I love being on a team with him through this life and the eternities. Watching him with Kayla makes me love him more each day. She's so blessed to have the father she does. He works hard, honors his Priesthood, loves his family, is so fun, treats everyone with kindness, and can always make me laugh. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father brought him into my life! 

For Brett's first Father's Day, we went to surprise him at work yesterday since he works weekends. We took him out to dinner and then had gifts today at home. It was a fun, memorable time and we sure love our Papi!

Brett's Father's Day Cake

Kayla with her sign that says "You're the best 'POP' in the world!" 

Brett decided to give Kayla a taste of the lemon - look at that face!

Lemon face! Haha!

Mommy and Kayla! Hooray for Father's Day!

One of Brett's gifts - Kayla and I worked hard on this! :)

My two favorite people!

I'm also so grateful for my wonderful dad! He is the most kind, loving, genuine man I know. He has nothing but love in his heart. I never hear him speak ill of anyone. I hope that I can live up to that example. Kayla will  always have her fun Grandpa Kelly! I'm excited to see her grow up with him around. He's so wonderful with children and she'll be lucky to have him!

Grandpa Kelly with his 1st grandbaby!

Kayla's blessing day!

Proud Grandpa

There are so many wonderful men in my life that have helped me become the person I am. I'm grateful for each one of them!

Texas Weather

There is a photographer back home that is always posting amazing shots of the sunsets and sunrises of Eastern Idaho. For those of you that have experienced this, you know what I'm talking about. Its one thing I really miss about home. For the most part, its always just HOT here. I'm grateful we have palm trees to break up the horizon and add a tropical feel to the place, but I really miss the mountains. That being said, we get some pretty great storms in late spring, early summer. The night we moved here was the worst storm the RGV has seen in decades. And we're susceptible to hurricanes, though I've yet to experience one (thank goodness!).

The other day, we had a pretty strong thunderstorm that rolled on through. I actually really love seeing the dark clouds rolling in and hearing the thunder rumble. Its a nice break to the monotonous heat and I've always loved a good storm. Brett got home from work just as the storm started to clear out. We looked outside and everything was cast in a beautiful orange hue, left over from the storm combined with the sun starting to set. It was beautiful! We saw a complete rainbow right over our home and decided it was a nice photo op. :) We hope you enjoy a little taste of the Texas weather.

You can see the one end of the rainbow! I guess we should have looked  for  the pot of gold in our backyard.

Kayla's 1st Rainbow

Look at that happy baby!

Pretty cool clouds!

Somewhere over the Rainbow!

Shocked

With the television season coming to an end, Brett and I decided to find a series to watch on Netflix for the summer. We decided on the 1st season of 24. I've seen the last season and Brett has seen most of the other seasons, but since neither of us had seen the 1st season, it seemed like a good choice. Now, first of all, let me say that I hope this doesn't come across as self-righteous to any of you who may be fans of 24. Maybe I've become hyper-sensitive since becoming a mother, or maybe I'm just sheltered, but after watching the first 2 1/2 episodes, we were both in shock and immediately turned it off, deciding it wasn't worth it to watch at all anymore.

First of all, I am aware that 24 is known for its violence. I also know the 1st season debuted in 2001. I thought with it being a bit older, it wouldn't be as bad as some other things on TV today. WRONG. There were very explicit sexual scenes, drug use (shooting up), crazy violence (including a thumb being cut off), and girls making out with each other, all within the first 3 episodes! And this was all on a show that was on TV 12 years ago.

Maybe I'm a prude, but both Brett and I had quite a few jaw dropping moments. Not the kind where we were shocked by a twist in the plot, but jaw dropping because we couldn't believe our eyes! I feel like it could have been a Rated R movie.

It makes me so sad to see what is on TV these days. Every thing is pushing the limits. I remember when I was a kid and some entertainment choices included Full House, Boy Meets World, TGIF, etc. And that was in the evening! Now, I feel like there is nothing on TV that I would want Kayla watching. And we don't even have cable or satellite, this is just on regular programming. Even several of the comedies that I enjoy are becoming more and more scandalous. Children (and adults for that matter) can be exposed to sensitive/inappropriate things on television so easily and so early.

I guess the point of this is that the world is becoming increasingly shocking to me. I pray that I can be the kind of mother to Kayla that will help prepare her for this world she is growing up in. She's going to need to have her guard up constantly. More and more, I'm grateful for the church programs that help our children and youth develop the necessary tools to survive in this world. On a final (and somewhat ridiculous) note, I was listening to the Saturday's Warrior soundtrack in the car the other day. When the final song came on with the baby being born, I couldn't help but tear up. The children being born today are really going to have to stand to fight the world and not bend with the wind or the chains that the world throws at them. (yes, those are the lyrics) :)

Parenting is such a humbling responsibility and I pray that I can be worthy of the task. I'm grateful for a good husband that will most definitely help me and who sets an amazing example.

Kayla Waking Up

On Mother's Day, I had to wake Kayla up so we could get to church on time (sometimes, she's almost too good of a sleeper). I layed her on my lap and she was so smiley, yet still sleeping. I love how happy she is! I'm so grateful for such a wonderful, happy, friendly, smiley baby! Enjoy!