Vala's Pumpkin Patch in one word....AMAZING!!!

We have lived out here in Omaha for almost 3 years and this was our first time at Vala's.  We didn't think Isabel was old enough to enjoy it very much.  Man we should have been coming every year, because we had as much fun, if not more than Isabel.  This place is incredible!  We were there for over 4 hours and we didn't even see half of it.  I wish some of you could come out and visit us this month to go to Vala's, it is totally worth the trip out here:)  Here are just a few pics of the fun stuff we did last night.

My two greatest blessings...

We have been keeping busy, but not doing much at the same time. How does that seem to always happen?
I love my children! They are more wonderful than I could have ever hoped for. I have seen even more lately how lucky I am to be a mother and raise these sweet children. Here is some fun facts about each of them so I can remember how great life is right now!
ISABEL:
-She LOVES to help. She has always been such a wonderful help to us. She stayed after music time last week to help put the chairs away because she saw some girls stacking the chairs and she wanted to help. Isabel loves to help cook or prepare food and empty the dishwasher and wash the dishes.
-She is learning how to be soft with Brigham. Since he has started crawling, she has had her world turned upside down and is learning that it is not the end of the world if he comes over to play with some of her toys. Those sweet moments when they are sitting together and playing and giggling just melt my heart and make me forget the battles they have.
-She is talking a lot more. She has started to form small, broken sentences and it is hilarious to hear the things that come out of her mommy. I love to hear her say, "Ohh, so cute!" or "ooooh, thank you mommy." She really has pretty good manners and learns to say things even if we don't want her to (guess we better watch our words:)
-She finally loves nursery. She has always had pretty bad separation anxiety, but she is finally able to go in there and let me leave without tears. She is growing up and it is so bittersweet.
-She is still as petite as ever. I love having her little because I don't break my back picking her up.
-She is always reminding us to say our prayers before meals. She says her own prayer at night. We don't understand much of it, but starts out by thanking Heavenly Father for this day, she blesses the missionaries and brigham and daddy and mommy. She asks for help being nice and to sleep good. I love her example and the innocence that she has. Do they really have to grow up???
-She loves to snuggle. She will go grab a blanket and say "coldy mommy, coldy" and want me to wrap her up and cuddle. Oh she melts my heart!
I love Isabel so much. I have felt bad lately because I feel like I am getting after her all the time for beating up, pushing, kicking, smacking Brigham. She will always be my little princess and I get teary eyed just thinking about her sweet spirit and all the happiness that she brings into our family.

BRIGHAM:
-He is now 9 months old: 19 lbs 5oz
-Since he has been crawling he has thinned out a bit. He is up and down the stairs like crazy and starting to cruise all over the furniture.
-He loves music. Just like Isabel, they can't help themselves when they hear a beat. He headbangs, but it is back and forth like he is shaking his head. It is pretty funny to watch him.
-He is learning how to voice his feelings when Isabel takes something away from him. He has learned from her how to scream in outrage and flail limbs in panic. What a temper!
-He no longer likes baby food, he wants stuff with texture.
-He loves it when David comes home from school. He crawls towards him with the biggest grin on his face and opens his arms for David to pick him up. I always love when little kids start to recognize people.
-He gives the biggest smile when you go get him from his crib and starts jumping up and down. He is so affectionate and loves to give hugs. If he needs me and I am in the kitchen making dinner, he will crawl in and stand up underneath me and hold on to both legs. It is so cute but really hard to walk around the kitchen.
-He can say mama when he is fussy. He loves to babble and talk back to ya. Sometimes it even says like he is saying his name...too funny.
-He now has 4 teeth and is working on 2 more. He got his upper laterals before his centrals so he looks a bit like a baby vampire (ooh good halloween costume idea, too bad he already has his costume) -When I am feeding him, he closes his eyes and shakes his head when he is done, like he is trying to make the food go away. If I try and give him another bite, he just closes his eyes again and shakes his head. Kind of a mean trick, but it is good for a laugh.
-Brigham is my special little man. I didn't know I could love someone as much as Isabel, but it happened. I love those moments with the family when we are all just hanging out in the living room and we can sit and enjoy these kiddos. It really is amazing the way they make my heart so full.

Here comes trouble!!!

Better grab a chair and a snack for this one!

This is gonna be long! I have been dreading this for a long time cause there are so many pictures and it takes so darn long to load them up (my camera is set up right now to take pictures as REALLY large files, and I can't figure out how to change it) Anyway, enjoy the pictures, we have been busy lately.

While David was in the Dominican Republic, we treated ourselves to homemade icecream cones. Can you tell she was loving it?

We finally decided to give Brigham a real haircut. He was 7 1/2 months and had quite the mop. I love his hair and didn't want to take much off.

Our little Kennickie! He was being so silly, wish I could dress him as Danny Zucko for Halloween, that is quite the hairdo!

After: What a cute little man, even with his crazy face he is pulling!

I hope they call me on a mission, when I have grown a foot or too!

Sibling love. I love these moments when they are getting along, they are few and far between right now!

We went to Kansas City at the end of July for David to do an externship at their program there. We stayed in a nice hotel in downtown KC, and it was so fun! There was a rooftop pool that Isabel and I swam in, she was crazy, I couldn't take my eyes off her!

Isabel loved to play with the controls for the Sleep Number beds, it was like sleeping on a moving boat:)

One word: YUM! We went to this wonderful BBQ restaurant inside a gas station, it was the absolute best and it is world famous. We stood in line for 45 minutes and it was totally worth it. I could have eaten so much more of that great food. I hope we go back someday, whether for his residency, or just to get some more of those sandwiches.

Brigham started crawling right after we got back from KC. He is so crazy and it is hilarious to watch him wander around and find things to tear apart. He moves non-stop and keeps me on my toes.

We were so lucky to have David's parents and little sister, Rachel come and visit us in August. It was lots of fun and we did so much, here are some of the highlights.

Rachel babysat the kids so we could go do a temple session with his parents. Poor rachel, she is soooo wonderful, but our kids were kinda naughty for her, I don't think she will want to watch them again for a while:)

We made baby back ribs one night (okay actually two, but they were soo good) and we couldn't resist giving our little monkey some of the bones to chew on!

This little girl is starting to dress herself a lot and this is the hat she picked to wear out to dinner one night.

David's mom treated us to a girls night out while they were here and we went to the Taylor Swift concert. It was incredible!!! Thanks so much Camille. It was so fun to go out with the girls and know the kids were having fun a home! The concert was amazing and we had lots of fun singing our hearts out with her.

We took them to the Kanesville Tabernacle and Mormon Trail Center. Here is little miss sunshine playing with the wagon wheel. She sat there for like 15 minutes just spinning the thing.

can't go there without getting dressed up in pioneer clothing!

What cute little pioneer men! Brigham was having fun having all the attention. Isabel was having a blast getting dressed up and showing off to everyone.

We had so much fun with family in town. The girls got to do some shopping, the boys did some golfing, we ate like crazy and just had a good time doing nothing!

We went with a bunch of friends to this really cute spray ground. Isabel didn't know what to do at first, but then she warmed up and started running around and splashing in the water. She was really good and could run through the whole thing without ever getting wet. I put Brigham down for a second and he crawled over to one and put his face right over it when the spray went off. He was very surprised and got his breath taken away. Too funny, I wish I had a picture of his expression when that happened.

The Children's museum had a sesame street/elmo's world exhibit here for a bit. They had a chance for us to go and meet Elmo. I thought Isabel might be nervous (you know how some kids get when it is time to meet Santa), but she was so cute! She got excited when she saw him and walked up to him and gave him a hug. I asked her if she wanted to sit on his lap, and she backed up a little, but then cheesed it up for this photo. Oh, what would we do without Elmo in the world???

Brigham LOVES the dishwasher. If he crawls into the dining room and sees that it is open, he goes from 0-60 in 2 seconds flat. He is into everything, but he is so adorable about it, you can't get mad. He has learned how to stand at the toilet and spin the TP roll, he pulls all the books off the shelf, he likes to eat magazines, paper, and shoes, and he uses me like a rock climbing wall! We love our little Brig and enjoy watching him learn and grow.

I love this picture. Brigham had just woken up right before David had to go to school. He saw David, got a big grin on his face and reached out for his Daddy. I love how Brigham looks when he has just woken up, sooo adorable.

My younger brother, Kyle came through town on his way back from visiting his girlfriend's family. We took them out to Lake Manawa and had a dutch oven dinner. It was lots of fun with them and great to hang out for a bit with family.

My brother Kyle, his girlfriend Lisa and Isabel all enjoying a cookie. I told Isabel to show me what she was eating and this is what I got from her! We are working on manners:)

This is her pose she has been pulling lately when we bust the camera out. How can you not love this little lady???

We swapped nights babysitting with some friends, so we were finally able to go out on a date without the kids, I think it is the first time we have gone out to dinner alone since Brigham was born. It was very relaxing and it was nice to be able to hold hands and have an adult conversation. We went to this yummy restuarant in Old Market called M's Pub. They have really good food, but it is a little different. David decided to go with the beer brats and he said they were great.

I tried this dish called Lavosh and Iwas so pleasantly surprised with it and really enjoyed it. I have been craving it since I ate there last week. I will definitely eat that again!

One thing I love about Omaha is all the beautiful flowers and greenery that grows out here. One of my favorites are the hibiscus'. Everytime I see one, it reminds me of Hawaii, and brightens my day.

Here is David's prized turkey. He shot it last spring and decided to get it taxidermied. We just got it back from the taxidermist a few weeks ago. It is huge, and the only place it will fit is on our bedroom dresser, how lucky am I? So every night when I go to bed and each morning I wake up, I have this lovely thing staring at me:) I told him when we have a house it can't be in the front room and it can't be in our bedroom. But he is so happy with it, so I am happy for him.

Brigham bonked his head the other day and got a black eye. You can't see it very good, but it was instantly blue and looked like a blood blister, the next day it looked like he had eye shadow and now it is finally black. He is already been beat up so much more than Isabel, he is gonna get some big bruisers in his day.

Whew!! I knew I was dreading this for a reason. My hands have carpel tunnal from typing so much. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I promise to do a better job keeping the family updated on our happenings!